HomeMy Public PortalAboutMinutes_City Council Work Meeting_12202022 CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING
IONA CITY HALL
DECEMBER 20,2022 6:00 P.M.
PRESENT: Mayor Dan Gubler, Council President Rob Geray, Council Member Michael
Thompson, Council Member Peter Wadsworth, Council Member Evan Mann, City Attorney
Andrew Rawlings, Public Works Director Zech Prouse and City Clerk/Treasurer Keri West.
ABSENT: None.
VISITORS: James West.
ITEMS OF BUSINESS:
Discussion of Iona City Code § 11-4-2(B) pertaining to "Permitted domestic farm animals"
in the R-1 Zone — Mayor Gubler stated this topic is specifically pertaining to goats. Deputy
Randall confirmed he requested this discussion to be added to the agenda because there have
been issues with goats in the City. Council President Geray stated goats are not allowed on any
lots less than one (1) acre. Clerk West stated "goats" are not specified as permitted or prohibited
in the City Code and the City received complaints from a resident about their neighbor's goats.
She continued and stated the Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) discussed this at their last
meeting and concluded that the City should not be micromanaging and specifying every animal
as permitted or restricted when they can treat individual complaints under the nuisance
ordinance. Mayor Gubler stated he does not understand what problems goats could be causing
and stated pigs are prohibited because of the mess and the smell they create. Council President
Geray stated he feels the current version of the City Code is very clear that farm animals are not
allowed on lots less than one (1) acre and he would consider a goat equivalent to sheep in the
amount allowed per lot. Deputy Randall did state he has not received any calls on this issue for a
few weeks Council President Geray stated he does not consider this an issue that needs to be
further addressed. Clerk West stated it is difficult to address the complaints when the Code is
vague and people analyze the specific wording. She continued and mentioned the nuisance
ordinance of the City Code and asked whether the Council would like to discuss that section
more in detail to address these types of concerns. Council President Geray stated he does not
think this needs to be discussed further as the problem has resolved itself. Mayor Gubler stated
he believes these situations can be addressed under the existing nuisance ordinance. Attorney
Rawlings clarified that the nuisance ordinance the Council is referring to is a "public nuisance"
and would need to affect an entire neighborhood or community. He continued and stated if it is a
private nuisance between two neighbors that is considered a civil matter and should be handled
between the neighbors without getting the City or law enforcement involved. Council Members
agreed to leave Code as is.
Discussion of City Engineer Performance — Council President Geray stated he has been
disappointed in the recent performance of the City Engineer and would like to get the rest of the
Council's opinion to determine if it is time to look into other engineering firms. Director Prouse
confirmed there have been issues. Council Members Thompson and Mann agreed and stated
their desire to have a representative from the City Engineer's office present at the City Council
Meetings. Mayor Gubler stated his opinion is the City is receiving better service from our current
engineer than in past years. He continued and stated he does agree there could be improvements
in their performance. Council President Geray stated he is not necessarily saying the City needs a
IONA CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING—DECEMBER 20, 2022
new engineer, but wants to make sure the engineer is doing what the City needs and expects.
Council Member Wadsworth suggested drafting a letter with expectations for the City Engineer.
Director Prouse agreed with the action of specifying the expectations for a certain amount of
time and if those expectations are not met then the City can move forward with hiring a new
engineer. Mayor Gubler stated he believes the current engineer does not attend meetings unless
requested. Council Member Thompson stated the agendas are posted 48 hours prior to the
meeting and the engineer should review to decide if he is needed at the meeting. Mayor Gubler
stated that is not the engineer's responsibility. Council Member Thompson stated the engineer
should be contacting the City each month to confirm if their presence is requested at the Council
Meeting. Director Prouse stated Attorney Rawlings attends every meeting and he believes the
engineer should also. Clerk West stated she sends the packet to the engineer every month and
does not hear anything back. She continued and stated there is no current contract for the City
Engineer, so they are not required to attend the meetings. Clerk West then stated the City
Engineer's firm bills hourly and the invoices are very vague. Council President Geray stated
detailed invoices should be part of the expectations, as well as having a competent engineer
attend City Council Meetings, as requested. Director Prouse recommended providing a letter of
expectations to the City Engineer with the intention of looking for a new engineer if they don't
agree to the terms. Council President Geray agreed and asked the Council for their input on
expectations to include in the letter. He continued and stated he does not believe the engineer
needs to attend every Council Meeting, but they do need to be available upon request, with 48
hours' notice. Council President Geray stated they need to provide detailed invoices. Council
Member Thompson asked if the City receives any kind of report after the engineer attends
various meetings on our behalf. Clerk West stated she has never seen any reports. Council
President Geray asked if the City requires the engineer to attend the meetings on the City's
behalf. Mayor Gubler stated it is the City Engineer's responsibility to attend and represent the
City at the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) meetings for the Bonneville Metropolitan
Planning Organization (BMPO). Council President Geray asked what other expectations should
be included. Director Prouse stated he will be able to come up with a few expectations for the
City Engineer if he has more time. Clerk West stated she has a difficult time communicating
with the current engineer and frequently does not receive replies to questions. Council President
Geray agreed and stated reasonable responsiveness should be an expectation. Council Member
Mann agreed to everything mentioned and asked what type of contract the City currently has
with the City Engineer. Clerk West stated she does not believe the current engineer is on a
contract. Mayor Gubler stated the City Engineer is on a contract, but he does not know what type
of term it is for. Council President Geray stated the letter needs to be drafted and conveyed in a
way that if the engineer cannot meet the expectations the City will need to start looking for a new
City Engineer. All Council Members agreed.
Discussion of Bonneville County Area of Impact Agreement— Mayor Gubler stated he
received a response from Mayor Coletti of Ammon that they are not interested in changing their
Area of Impact (AOI) boundaries to allow Iona to include 1st Street in its AOI. He continued and
stated there is still an option to pursue overlapping impact areas. Council President Geray stated
he does not want to hassle with that option. Mayor Gubler stated a property cannot be denied
annexation because it is outside of a City's AOI, so it becomes a race between the two
neighboring cities of who develops in the area first. Attorney Rawlings stated the purpose of the
AOI is to promote consistency as the cities grow for those areas to conform with the city
standards prior to potential annexation. Council Member Thompson stated the reason that Iona
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IONA CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING-DECEMBER 20, 2022
should include 1st Street in the AOI is to encompass the Iona Cemetery. Mayor Gubler stated the
City of Iona used to oversee all maintenance at the cemetery, but that is no longer the case. He
continued and explained that the Iona Cemetery is now maintained by a cemetery district. Mayor
Gubler then stated the objective for tonight is to determine the future growth of Iona and
establish a new AOI. He continued and stated he believes the boundaries should follow actual
street lines and not go through various parcels. All Council Members agreed. Council Member
Mann stated he is not ready to give up on the idea of Iona's AOI extending to 1st Street. Mayor
Gubler stated the City of Ammon has already declined this idea. Council Member Thompson
asked how Iona can present this idea to the Ammon City Council in a way that is a win/win
situation for both entities. Council Member Mann volunteered to have a conversation with
Mayor Coletti and the Ammon City Council to discuss the reasoning behind this request. Mayor
Gubler stated he is not opposed to Council Member Mann having that discussion, but does not
think it will be successful. Discussion continued regarding 1st Street and the growth that could
potentially happen for both cities in that area. Mayor Gubler stated at this point he recommends
the Council focuses on expanding the AOI to the North. He continued and stated Panorama Hills
should be included in Iona's AOI. Council President Geray displayed a map of Iona's current
AOI and surrounding areas. He further explained the Mayor's desire to extend the AOI North to
Highway 26 and asked if the Council was in consensus. All Council Members agreed. Clerk
West also encouraged the Council to continue further East with the AOI since there has already
been requests from some landowners to be annexed into the City. Council President Geray
agreed and stated that is already encompassed on the proposed map. James West, P&Z
Chairman, stated the P&Z discussed this in detail at their last meeting and suggested the AOI
extends North all the way to 81st North and continues West down Highway 26 to meet up with
Ammon Road (35th East). Mayor Gubler stated he is not opposed to this proposal. Council
Member Wadsworth what the reasoning would be to extend the AOI to 81st North. Council
President Geray stated it would provide a commercial and high-density residential corridor.
Attorney Rawlings notated the map and drew lines according to the discussion. Discussion
continued on where to connect various directional points of the desired AOI to create a more
squared approach along street lines. Chairman West stated the P&Z's approach for the AOI is
not only where they foresee the future growth, but also which current and future developed areas
will impact the City of Iona. He continued and stated P&Z also agreed with Council Member
Mann that Iona's AOI should extend to 1st Street because those developments will impact the
City of Iona in a multitude of ways. Clerk West stated this agenda item is also on the Regular
Meeting to allow the Council to finish this discussion tonight. Council President Geray
recommended finishing the discussion at the Regular Meeting.
Meeting Adjourned: 6:59 p.m.
COUNCIL APPROVED: January 17, 2023 �� -i
Dan Gubler, Mayor
ATTEST: /LW )hL)V
Keri West, City C erk/Treasurer
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