City Council Meetings: This Is Why We Do This

By Brian McNary

Photo by Mike Franzese from Shangri-la Heights

Ya know, every time it is my turn to report on city council meetings, I have this internal dread that manifests itself as bellyaching, whining, and depression. My wife assures me that I am susceptible to these afflictions anyway.

Then, as I sit there in the back row, I learn new things that have long been mysteries to me. I am suddenly reminded why we go to meetings and report on them. That’s how it was for me on Wednesday.

After the pledge of allegiance and preliminary approvals, it was time for department reports which were skewed and out of order due to late arrivals.

City Department Reports

Our new Hurricane Valley Fire Department Rep is Robert Hooper. He is a very tall drink of water with a deep voice. He reported the numbers (call volumes) and offered no chit chat. I immediately liked him.

Assistant city manager, Darrin LeFevre then offered an overhead slide show of the various projects going on within the city. Slides of Firelight and landscaping, Chief Toquer Reservoir, Boulder Ridge, and the Sapp Brothers truck stop were presented.

Reports were also presented by Mike Chandler of Ash Creek (sewer) and City Manager, Ben Billingsley.

There was some discussion regarding speed limits on the parkway. Apparently, speed limits are widely inconsistent depending on which way you travel. Honestly, I had not noticed primarily because I am always stuck behind a semi-tractor/trailer rig crawling up the hill. Speed limits are of no concern when you are traveling at 15 MPH.

Public Comments

My favorite part of the meeting was when a complaint was read by Mayor Sip regarding access from Westfield subdivision to the parkway. The dirt road, used by contractors, had been blocked by someone. That means that people must exit out of Westfield and then turn right. After traveling a couple miles to the Trail Ridge area to catch the parkway, residents must then double back, travel past their subdivision again in order to get to the interstate. It is clearly a pain in the backside. It would be much easier to just drive over the dirt road to get to the parkway and save about 5 or 6 miles. The letter writer had researched the ownership of the land which the dirt road access had been blocked on and discovered the owner was Firelight.

Stacy Eaton also spoke about this as well during public comment.

Scott McCall, the developer of Firelight, then offered a rebuttal. He said that they had closed the dirt road. It is not a defined right of way and is on private property. He also said that prior to the parkway being completed that there was nothing there to connect to anyway. Now that the parkway is nearing completion, people are upset that they cannot use the dirt road because of the road closure through Toquerville.

This situation will not remedy itself until the road through Toquerville is finished. SR 17 through Toquerville to I-15 should be finished in 3 weeks. Mr McCall said he does not have the scheduling or the funds to pave that access road for at least 6-8 months. It can be paved and opened when building begins on adjacent property.

I think we have all had enough. I will be glad to see this eternal parkway project completed.

MPDO—Master planned develpment overlay

I am going to skip over zone changes, employee policies, and touch on an MPDO modification for Firelight. We are trying to keep readers- not lose them.

MPDO is a master planned development overlay. This was key to the following discussion.

Secretly, I have always wanted to know who it was that speculated on the land which is being sold to Firelight. The land has not been fully transferred pending final plat approval by the city. There they were. Two nice looking, elderly men, sitting in front of me. They were there to hear the progress being made on an MPDO modification which would allow the project final plat approval, convey all the property, and get them square after 22 years and 3 months.

In a nutshell, it appears that the city may have mistakenly approved the original MPDO and now needed to make an amended MPDO. That was the compromise. It passed 4-1.

Found money

I am going to lump three items into one which will save some time here. Ben Billingsley talked about the lack of funds to complete Westfield Park and the pickleball courts. He also talked about a “coffer dam” and what to do with the property adjacent to the access of Chief Toquer Reservoir, parking lots, tables, etc. Mayor Sip wants to form a steering committee for research and suggestions.

It appears there is no money for any of this and then item 7 came along. The Sapp Brothers truck stop does not want to build a trail to nowhere (behind the truck stop) as agreed upon originally. Instead they wanted to make an in lieu payment to the city. That payment, 191,000 dollars, was approved.

The city has found some money.

Item 9 was a refund application fee which was a nominal amount and passed.

Item 10 was another change order for the eternal parkway project. This one was for 111, 188 dollars for shouldering and highway “tabs.”

An Unofficial Election Endorsement for Wayne

Look, I know it’s the election season. I probably shouldn’t plug Wayne Olsen (who’s seat is up) but I am going to. Most people would call this, my opinion.

Wayne clearly has a construction background as evidenced by his staunch refusal to let developers grade lots for years prior to development. He also questioned this 111,188 payment for work already done and asked what it was they were paying for. In his opinion, JP Excavating had done very little to justify this amount. He demanded to see the shoulder work while acknowledging he did not want to unnecessarily hold up payments. Item 10 was tabled in lieu of that.

Wayne is tough and he’s not afraid to take an unpopular stand. I am happy to see Wayne on the council. That’s who I want safeguarding my tax dollars.

Constitution Week & Why We Do This

Item 11 was a resolution to support Constitution week as proposed by the Daughters of the American Revolution, Color Country Chapter.

Tonight was a perfect example of why we do this. We save our readers time and learned a lot in the process.

Calendar of Events

Meet the Candidates Night, Sept. 9, Old Town Hall, 6 PM.

Miss Toquerville Pageant, Sept. 18, Hurricane High School, 7 PM.