HomeMy Public PortalAboutMIN-CC-2019-10-24JOINT MOAB CITY COUNCIL/PLANNING COMMISSION WORKSHOP
AND MOAB CITY COUNCIL
EXECUTIVE (CLOSED) SESSION
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
October 24, 2019
The Moab City Council held its regular meeting on the above date in the Council Chambers at
the Moab City Center, located at 217 East Center Street.
MOAB CITY COUNCIL
Executive Closed Session:
Councilmember Derasary moved to enter an Executive Closed Session to Discuss the Character,
Professional Competence, or Physical or Mental Health of an Individual or Individuals.
Councilmember Knuteson-Boyd seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0 aye with
Councilmembers Jones, Guzman -Newton, Derasary, Knuteson-Boyd and Duncan voting aye.
Mayor Emily Niehaus called the Executive Session to order at 5:oo PM. Councilmember Jones
moved to end the Executive Closed Session. Councilmember Guzman -Newton seconded the
motion. The motion passed 5-0 aye with Councilmembers Jones, Derasary, Knuteson-Boyd,
Guzman -Newton and Duncan voting aye. Mayor Niehaus ended the Executive Closed session at
5:45 PM.
JOINT MOAB CITY COUNCIL/PLANNING COMMISSION WORKSHOP: at 6:oo PM,
Planning Commission Chair Allison Brown called the meeting to order at 6:oo PM. In
attendance were Planning Commission Chair Allison Brown and Planning Commission
Members Kya Marienfeld, Jeanette Kopell, Brian Ballard and Jessica O'Leary, Mayor Emily
Niehaus and City Councilmembers Tawny Knuteson-Boyd, Kalen Jones, Karen Guzman -
Newton, Mike Duncan and Rani Derasary. Staff in attendance included City Manager Joel
Linares, Assistant City Manager Carley Castle, City Attorney Chris McAnany, City Planner Nora
Shepard, Assistant City Planner Cory Shurtleff and City Recorder Sommar Johnson. Twelve
members of the public and media were also present. An audio recording is archived at:
https://www.utah.gov/pmn/index.html. A video recording of the meeting is archived at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= 5Yo-WA1s4htpjFrR%3A6.
Development Standards for Overnight Accommodations
Discussion
Planner Shepard briefly reminded everyone of the Development Standards that were voted on in
August. Both the City and the County Planning Commissions have been working on refining the
development standards. There is a fine line between getting the product wanted and not making
it cost prohibitive for someone to ask to do overnight accommodation. Shepard was to draft
language to the C-2 and the RC zone to allow new overnight accommodations to apply under
new development standards. Councilmember Duncan didn't think that design standards will
address the root problem of too many visitors in town on any day during the high season.
Councilmember Jones said that there are outcomes that were identified during the Moratorium,
including economic resiliency and equity and the need to address tourism impacts for the
community and still have a great experience for visitors.
Annual metering of new overnight accommodations
Brown asked Council if they would like the Commission to do annual metering and if so, where
to start? Shepard said that the County already does metering for their high density overlay with
stipulations. After they receive a certain number of square footage or units, they cut off
Page rat 9
October 24,2019
applications for that year and she gave them a chart of sizes of units. They County has also
talked about smaller hotels such as, the Apache and Sage that are around the 15,000 square foot
range. Mayor Niehaus said that she would like to make metering as simple as possible. She isn't
as concerned about having a metering metric if an applicant complies with all the other limits
they have set. Brown said that the purpose of metering is to limit the amount of development
per year. Discussion ensued regarding the challenges and tools that could assist in metering and
the need for legal advice on the extent to which Council can use it. Council agreed that annual
metering would be good and to have some sort of dashboard that shows them where they are.
Councilmember Duncan said that he supports having metering restrictions and the possibility of
overlay application tools available to be used if they need them.
Discussion of limitations on project/building size and scale
Commission Chair Brown said that the Commission has briefly discussed limitations on
projects, and/or the building size in those projects, and asked Council what they would like to
see. She asked if they wanted to put in limitations, and if so, how they are going to implement
them. Councilmember Derasary said that she liked the idea of going in the direction of the
County but felt that she needed a little more information/guidance. Discussion ensued
regarding the limited buildable land within city limits, mixed use and keeping Moab's character.
Council determined that the size of projects is important, and they would like to have a visual
example of what mixed use would look like and to know if other communities have made
something like this work.
Overlay vs. zoning
Commission Chair Brown said that the Commission had assumed that they were going for city
code -based zoning rather than overlay zones. Mayor Niehaus asked for clarification of overlay
zones. Shepard said that overlays provide an extra level of regulation to the base zoning
standards in certain areas. It is common to use them in flood protection zones and aesthetic
purposes and other things that relate to natural features like geology. Mayor Niehaus asked if
every development project would need to go before Council for final approval, or having taken
the conditional uses out, they won't have the legislative piece. Shepard said that the direction
she had received from both the Commission and the Council was to make the process as simple
as possible for developers would be to modify the zones so that they can look at the zones and
know what is expected and what they can do regardless of whether it's in the code or as an
overlay in the code. There would be a clear set of rules. Discussion ensued regarding what
process would be preferred and the advantages and disadvantages of each. McAnany said that in
overlay zones a new set of rules will apply in every case and there are some problems with lack of
predictability. If you have clear standards, they can be applied on a case by case basis. Council
would have more discretion and their decision making would be more likely to hold up. Linares
agreed and said that goals could be achieved through their other ideas and that he didn't think
that an overlay was necessary. It was decided that they would move forward with city code
rather than overlays.
Next steps
It was decided that they would have another workshop to work through development standards.
Adjournment:
Commission Chair Brown adjourned the meeting at 6:17 PM.
Page 2of9
October 24,2019
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING 7:00 P.M.
Regular Meeting —Call to Order and Attendance: Mayor Niehaus called the regular
meeting to order at 7:03 PM and led the Pledge of Allegiance. In attendance were Mayor Emily
Niehaus and Councilmembers Tawny Knuteson-Boyd, Karen Guzman -Newton, Rani Derasary
and Mike Duncan. Staff in attendance were City Manager Joel Linares, Assistant City Manager
Carly Castle, City Attorney Chris McAnany, City Engineer Chuck Williams and City Recorder
Sommar Johnson. Twelve members of the public and media were present. A recording of the
meeting is archived at www.utah.gov/pmn/index.html. A video recording is archived at:
https://www.youtube.com/?v=zPISIA'h7tDuO.
Approval of Minutes: Councilmember Duncan moved to approve the September 9, 2019
minutes as written. Councilmember Knuteson-Boyd seconded the motion. There was no
discussion. The motion passed 5-o with Councilmembers Duncan, Knuteson-Boyd, Derasary,
Guzman -Newton and Jones voting aye.
Mayor and Council Reports
Mayor Niehaus has attended two Association of Government meetings. They review CIB
applications and San Juan County had an application for a clinic and the AOG heard citizen
concerns about it. However, the Board sometimes feels like the CIB applications make their way
to them without their communities knowing of them. She wanted the Council and the
community to know that she does see the applications before they go to the CIB Board and that
she is part of the rating and ranking process. She attended a USARA Recovery Day event. There
are a lot people in the community who are in recovery that are doing very well. There are
ongoing Millcreek Stakeholder meetings happening and they are getting organized for a specific
upcoming community engagement process. She is on the Board for the League of Cities and
Towns and they had a legislative strategy meeting. The League puts together their priorities for
entering the next legislative session and she will share those with Council for their feedback
once they are published. She reminded Council that she sits on that Board as a representative of
Southeastern Rural Utah. Indigenous Celebration Day was on the 14th and she thanked the
Native American Club for preparing the food and organizing and paying for the hoop dancer.
There is an organization called the Full Circle Intertribal Center. It's a newly formed non-profit
that offers Native American/Indigenous culturally specific programing focusing on nourishing,
healing and wellness through traditional culture. They are doing more active work to support
our Native community. An organization railed Protect Our Winters did an event where they
brought professional athletes from different recreation sectors together to talk about protecting
snow, which was a nice follow-up to the Park City event. Moab was celebrated as being a city
that is committed to being net zero by 2030. She went to the Outdoor Recreation Summit in St.
George where she was able to spend time with Val Hale and she spoke on a panel about
inclusivity with respect to recreation. When we think of diversity in recreation, we think of
climbers, mountain bikers and UTV's and it's nice to see who the people are behind the
machines and products.
Councilmember Derasary reported that she also attended the Indigenous Celebration Day and
thanked the Mayor for organizing that. She attended an EMS meeting on October 14th. The CIB
application for the building is still in good shape and they are still in the process of finalizing
which of the 2 sites they might use. It will likely be the one on the hilltop of 100 North. She also
serves on the Health Care Special Service District and feels like the Districts are, "the canary in
Page 3 of 9
October 24,2019
the coal mine in terms of money and budget. She would like to pursue the possibility of a joint
City/County Council meeting where they can discuss each other's budgets to understand how
they are going to move forward. The County is paying more for infrastructure and that means
they have less money to give to the Districts and the Districts are being encouraged to go to the
City for funds. She feels that the missing piece in the discussion is a better understanding of
each other's budgets and the history of Districts, because they don't want any essential services
to fall in a hole. She hopes they can get a better understanding of each other's situations and
figure out how to help take care of some of the Districts in the coming year. She went to the
Beacon's Lights On event on October 15h which was lots of fun with superheroes of small and
large size. She thanked the Police Department for being there and she learned the proper way to
greet a dog. She attended the Arches Congestion meeting on October 15th that was very
informative, and it looks like a lot of the outcome of that research will come next summer. She
went to the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the new Memorial Garden at the Canyonlands Care
Center. Every previous resident who has passed on was represented and a La Sal artist did a
beautiful stone with the name of the garden. Pastor Pacheco invited her to System of Care San
Juan and Grand County Resource Advisory meeting. It is a group that brings together a lot of
healthcare and other service organizations dealing with all aspects of physical and mental health
and helping youth and people in crisis and it is resource proven. They meet quarterly on the 3rd
Wednesday and they would like to have a representative from the City. She thanked the Police
Chief for having Sgt. Palmer there. Someone told her that she was still listed as the City
representative on the Trail Mix meetings and it was her understanding that as of the 1st of the
year, she wasn't supposed to go those anymore and she wanted to clarify who, if anyone, was
going to those meetings. The Area Community Land Trust is having their Open House from 1:00
— 3:oo p.m. on Saturday October 26th. She attended the Mayberry Preserve Open House and the
Ken's Light Film at Star Hall. She pointed out that the Council received an invitation to Western
Rivers Open House for their new guide house on October 25th from 2:oo — 6:0o p.m. at 1991 S
HWY 191.
Councilmember Duncan said that he has been playing in Jordan and it was pretty cool to see all
the places from the Old Testament like Bethlehem. It's a country that is really short on water
and makes Utah look wet by comparison. The USGS came out with a new report on water that
they delivered at a conference, but that has not yet been released for publication. It must still
undergo a peer review. What is interesting is that the "so called" safe yield number is quite a bit
smaller. It's down to a number comparable to what they are extracting from wells already and
that would be big news.
Councilmember Knuteson-Boyd reported that she attended a Housing Authority meeting where
she gave her report and left because she couldn't stay for the whole thing. The bulk of it was just
administrative issues. She also attended a Museum meeting and they have had some delays in
production of the topographical map. It won't be installed in the museum until February, but the
other displays are being installed now. Their grand opening date is yet to be determined.
Councilmember Guzman -Newton reported that she attended the Arches National Park
Congestion Study as well and had the opportunity to talk some of Denver's National Park
employees about the mandate that was sent from the Department of Interior and they asked that
if anyone has any information to share to send it to the Denver office for the National Parks.
They are reading and taking notes on every individual's comments. She went to Governor
Herbert's Outdoor Recreation Summit in St. George with Mayor Niehaus. She had an update
meeting with the federal US Census Bureau on Monday to discuss how to reach our outdoor
Page 4oi9
October 24,2019
contingency in Moab that would include people who work in the community who may not have a
permanent address. The Census starts April 1st. There is a funding opportunity for anyone who
would like to be part of the complete count that she chairs and she would appreciate anyone who
could reach out to the interfaith religious groups in town, it would be great to have their
participation as the point of the Census is to get a complete and accurate count. Individuals need
to know that it's safe and protected information and they need trusted voices in the community
to reach out to residents. The federal government has offered the State of Utah $500,00o to any
group that is trying to get a complete count for the Census. If anyone is looking for flyers or
buttons or anything you believe might be effective for your group you find them on
utahcensus2o2o.com.
Councilmember Jones attended a Solid Waste Special Service District Board meeting and then
he was traveling for non -council related work.
Administrative Reports
Administrator Linares reminded everyone that open enrollment for changes to your garbage
service is going on now and that it ends on October 31st. He informed Council that the City will
be having active shooter training on November 12th. He thanked staff for the Street Festival as
they did a really great job. He said that the festival was amazing, and if they've never gone to the
Monday -Thursday part of the festival, they should check it out. The Turkey Trot is coming up
on November 16th. The Movie Showdown is still taking applications and that's the 70 — loth. At
the next meeting they will have an update on Walnut Lane and the Finance and the Police
Departments. He said that they would probably address the Trail Mix issue at tomorrow's
department head meeting.
Citizens To Be Heard
Kerry Lange of Desert West Office Supply said, "I'm here to speak about the parking over on Pt
South. I think, I believe, you all call it the reverser angle back in parking. There's a lot of issues
over there with this parking and I sent an email to the City Council, everybody two weeks ago. I
haven't heard a single thing from anybody, so that's why I'm here. I outlined in the email three
scenarios that we see, I mean we see many but we see this all day long every day, chaos, and I'd
like you guys to look at this again and consider putting it back the way it was with the proper
parking, proper in my opinion. It's very dangerous. It may work in places, but it doesn't work
there. That is the highest volume street, side street in Moab. The next closest one is almost half
of that, and that's Center Street. You're coming right off of the main highway and, just in case
someone didn't read the email, you come off the main highway, you've got someone trying to
back in there in a scenario that they are not familiar with, okay? They're blocking the traffic,
they're backing up, we've seen this numerous times, they're backing up clear around the corner
on Main Street. The ones coming the other way make the corner, not realizing they can't go
anywhere. We've seen them block the entire intersection trying to go. Now, to handle that, they
panic, and they start going around him in the oncoming lane. That's one scenario. We've seen
the ones where they've tried multiple times, and I've got video of them trying to back in four or
five times and can't hit it, and every time, they're pulling out into the street, usually across
center into the oncoming lane. We've had them pull in the reverse direction in the oncoming
lane and almost park trying to, in their mind, try and figure out what they're going to do next
and how they're going to get into these parking places. I understand that it works in some
places, but its not working over there. We've had, I think, I know of only two people that have
come in that were positive about it and we get nailed all day long, every day, and one of the
Page 5oof9
October 24,2019
biggest issues for me, and I know it is for Zax also, our revenue is down 4.5% since that started
and we're borderline all the time anyway, and you know we're fighting the Amazon battle, so
people aren't shopping local, as you guys well know. We can't afford that 4.5% from something
that could be corrected. So, I'd just like everyone to think about it, or discuss it. You can ask me
questions if you want. We've got an outside camera, so we've got video and stuff. We don't sit
there and watch it. It's, we see something, we try to track when it was. I have no idea what we
don't see, because we're not going to just watch cameras. Any, any ideas on this"? Mayor
Niehaus said that this wasn't a venue to have a dialogue, but that she appreciated him coming
and being a citizen to be heard and it sounded like Council needs to respond. Lange said, "thank
you, and thank you for your business. If you, if you need any input on, or scenarios, let us know".
Councilmember Duncan asked Lange if he had spoken to Engineer Williams.
JJ Wang said, "I have no comment, or I really whatever your decision tonight, but I have a
subject I think is important to take the opportunity to present to here, is our HWY 191. I think
that maybe you all had the experience, like me. I had to go to Grand Junction to something,
okay? When we got back after we passed the Arches, oh the long Lines of cares, cannot move like
this, like this So, what happened, what happened to our town? Something happened in our
town. In Moab, no! the bridge is good. Even the bridge, two lanes come to Moab. Two lanes from
Moab go to Arches. So, two lane traffic, but when you pass the bridge, suddenly become one
lane. So, this car, this car, this car, that's one problem. Why the HWY so wide. Not even today,
we don't have two until they widen it. Even now, today, they can make it two lane, two lane. So,
cross the street, cross the bridge, keep going. Immediately after we cross the bridge, we become
ooh, like this. Very difficult, I believe most of you go to Grand Junction, you come back from
Grand Junction, what happened in town? Number two: You know traffic lights, there's a, by the
river there's, there's a HWY they need to turn into this main, our Main Street one on one. So,
there's a traffic light, the light red, light green, light red, yellow, green, red light, yellow, green,
very even. That even make it worse! Right? But. If you count your car, maybe you've got a ten
cars this way, one car come this way. I, my impression in a Main Street, our side street always
very short. You see car, your turning, change the lights, but the HWY 191, agreed. Our Main
Street time is longer because more cars on the Main Street, so they got a longer time with the
traffic lights changing lights. Okay, this one, I think we can control, Moab City can control the
traffic lights so that when, when that one works. Anyway, the river, if that went at the same time,
plus two lane, because one lane causing trouble. That's my feeling as in today's a good time. I, I
agree with everything you talk today, okay? No, no comment, but I want to take this advantage
present to you, so get your attention, so maybe then we can work with your DOT, and also the
City can control some traffic lights. That's my comment for the good of the community".
Mayor Niehaus presented a Tom Till image of Courthouse Towers and a plaque, to City Attorney
Chris McAnany in recognition of his dedication to, and decades of work on behalf of the City of
Moab for more than 22 years.
Presentation
Rocky Mountain Power update
Rocky Mountain Power Regional Business Manager Deb Dull said that she gives an update once
a year about what is going on between Rocky Mountain Power and the City of Moab. She started
by talking about HB 411, Community Renewable Energy Act. It's legislation that has Rocky
Mountain Power, Utah Public Service Commission and communities involved. HB 4ii allows
Utah communities served by Rocky Mountain Power to develop a community renewable energy
Page 6 of 9
October 24,2019
program to achieve a net i00% renewable resource energy goal for all customers within Moab
city by 2030. She went on to define the nature of the program. Moab has already adopted the
Resolution to be part of it. In beginning of 2020, communities will negotiate an agreement with
Rocky Mountain Power, the framework for the RFP and procurement process will begin and
then the communities will execute the agreement. In the second half of 2020 they will file
applications with the Public Service Commission on behalf of communities and Rocky Mountain
Power. She explained the steps that will need to be taken to work together to achieve these goals.
In the second half of 2021 Rocky Mountain Power will send notices of the new rate schedule to
customers and residents may elect to opt out. She showed Council an example of the Rocky
Mountain Power's wind farm called Seven Mile in Wyoming. They have announced their
integrated resource plan that is done every two years. It has made huge gains in renewables.
There has been a lot of concern from communities that have fossil fuel or coal-fired generation,
so she explained what the Resource Plan calls for. Anyone that would like to read more on the
Recourse Plan can go to their website, https://www.pacificorp.com/energy/integrated-resource-
plan.html. She showed Council a photo of the Rocky Mountain Power solar farm in Holden and
reminded Council that they participate in Blue Sky in Subscriber Solar. Moab has been the first
in many things such as, Green Power, EPA and Blue Sky. Last year Rocky Mountain Power
decided they were going to build a Blue Sky solar project. The first one they have done, and it
will be in Moab. She commended Moab City staff and the Engineering department for being so
helpful. The Moab Blue Sky Solar build project milestones are as follows: The pre -project
studies started in June and should be finished in February of 2020. Preliminary design started
on October 1st and should be about 75% completed around April of 2020. The Interconnection
Agreement/Contracting/Permitting started July 15, 2019 and should be completed around June
1, 2020. The Blue Sky funding implementation process will begin May i, 2020 and will probably
be completed around August 1, 2020. The RFP process should start July 1, 2020 and should end
October 31, 2020. They should start looking at the construction contract award September 15,
2020 and it should be awarded by November 1, 2020. Groundbreaking and
Construction/Interconnection will start in November of 2020 and they should be able to have
the Operational and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony around April or May 1st of 2021. This will be
located at the golf course.
Things that have been completed in the City of Moab/Rocky Mountain Power Partnership
during 2019 are: Dark -Sky Compliant Lighting Initiative, Moab Municipal Outdoor Lighting
Ordinance Amendment, Electric Vehicle charging station at the Rocky Mountain Power Service
Center and other locations in Moab City, EMA "Green Power Community" Certification
Renewal, Water Treatment Plant, New Summary Billing, Walnut Lane Trailer Park. She loves
coming down to say, "Congratulations Moab. You are going to be the first Blue Sky Project
Community Solar Farm community."
Mayor Niehaus asked Dull to talk about the Coal Strike Force Team as people often think of coal
and solar as arch enemies. Dull started talking about the IRP in Wyoming because if you are
from Cameron, Wyoming, your entire economy is based on coal-fired generation. The news
officially hit the street in Utah on October 18th. They have a unique situation in Price where the
mayor of Price and some other entities working with the University of Utah have gotten a grant
to look at what they call, a Coal Strike Force. That strike force is there to say that "it's time we
say things are changing. We don't know what it's going to look like in five years but let's work
together and start exploring". They are aggressively working to partner and make sure that
Page 7 0f 9
October 24,2019
alternatives are looked at that haven't been looked at before. Mayor Niehaus added that the
Strike Force is looking at things like education and diversification, and what tourism would look
like for Price.
Special Events
Approval of Permits for Canyonlands Half Marathon March 2020.
Discussion: There was no discussion.
Motion and vote: Councilmember Jones moved to approve Canyonlands Half Marathon for
the above date and venue subject to the conditions outlined in the agenda summary.
Councilmember Guzman -Newton seconded the motion. The motion carried 5-o aye with
Councilmembers Jones, Guzman -Newton, Knuteson-Boyd, Derasary, and Duncan voting aye.
New Business
Approval of the Moab Downtown Parking Structure Design Consulting Services
Agreement with $848,600 Fee and Authorizing the Mayor to Sign the Agreement
Discussion: Engineer Williams said that the next step for the parking structure to be built was
to procure the services of a design firm qualified to do the work. Staff prepared a Request for
Statement of Qualifications based upon criteria that were in the agreement with UDOT and
input of Council. They held a pre -proposal meeting that was attended by 3o or 4o consultants,
outlined what they were looking for and received seven statements of qualifications. There was a
four -member committee composed of City Sustainability and Engineering staff, as well as a
UDOT project manager to evaluate the firms. Using the published scoring criteria, three firms
were clearly higher ranked and after those firms were interviewed, the highest rated firm was
Kim Lee Horn & Associates, Inc. They have negotiated the scope of work and a fee, which is the
typical process. Mayor Niehaus pointed out that the $848,60o is UDOT funds. The City did not
allocate tax dollars for the project. Linares agreed and said that the whole project is essentially
UDOT money and Mayor Niehaus said that it was specifically a fund called the Hot Spot Fund
from UDOT that the City competed for and was granted. Councilmember Derasary asked if Kim
Lee Horn has the capacity, sustainability wise, to take on what the City might want to do.
Williams said, yes. They have Park Smart Certified engineers, architects and managers meeting
international standards and seven LEED certified staff members who will be involved.
Motion and vote: Councilmember Knuteson-Boyd moved to approve the Moab Downtown
Parking Structure Design Consulting Services Agreement for $848,600 in Fees and Authorize
the Mayor to Sign the Agreement. Councilmember Mike Duncan seconded the motion. The
motion carried 5-0 with Councilmembers Knuteson-Boyd, Duncan, Guzman -Newton, Jones and
Derasary voting aye.
Quit Claim Deed: Quit Claim Deed Granting an Insignificant Portion of Real
Property to Dan Mick to Address A Bounder Issue Along Rotary Park. In
exchange. Dan Mick Will Be Granting to the City a Portion of His Property
Briefing and Possible Action
Discussion: Linares said that this is a housekeeping issue. It's a property line laid out
according to the fence line that needs to be adjusted. The City has built permanent walls and
structures along what was perceived to be the property line over the years, and everyone has
agreed that those are the lines. Linares pulled titles at the County and there are no legal issues
with either of the titles. The swap will make the property line match what everyone has
Page 8 of 9
October 24,2019
recognized to have been the property line. This should clean it up and be a non -issue. He
suggested that a motion to approve to execute that claim be conditioned upon Mick executing
his before the City executes theirs. He showed Council the property line in question.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Derasary moved to Authorize the Mayor to Execute the
Proposed Quit Claim Deed Contingent Upon the Grantee Executing and Recording a Quit Claim
Deed Granting the City the Other Southern Portion of the Property in Dispute. Councilmember
Jones seconded the motion. The motion carried with Councilmembers Derasary, Jones, Duncan,
Knuteson-Boyd and Guzman -Newton voting aye.
Proposed Resolution 55-2019: A Resolution of the Moab City Council to Approve
the Moab Mosquito Abatement Districts Noticing of Up To An $80,000 Property
Tax Increase for 2020, Representing an Approximate 33.46% Increase Above the
Current Property Tax Revenue Budget
Briefing and possible action: Linares said that this came to him from Chris Baird with the
County and they went through the code. This isn't necessarily required of Council for Mosquito
Abatement to raise the rate as it has already been passed by the County Council at their last
meeting. This is more of a show of solidarity with the County that the City supports the
Mosquito Abatement District in raising their rate in order to sustain their operations. The City is
not committing any funds. Councilmember Duncan was concerned about the public's possible
interpretation that the City may be responsible for financial contribution to Mosquito
Abatement if this Resolution is approved and signed, when there is no obligation by the City as it
is property tax levied by the County.
Mosquito Abatement District member, Jeanette Kopell clarified that the Resolution is noticing
up to an $80,00o tax increase for 2020, but they haven't yet decided on how much they are
going to ask for. Linares said that the District is following their truth in taxation process. This is
the first step of saying how much they are going to request. They will have public hearings where
the public will have the opportunity to comment on that request before they set an actual rate.
Councilmember Jones asked for an example of how much this could possibly increase annual
property tax in relation to a home's value. The proposed tax rate on a $242,00o residence would
increase from $23.69 to approximately $31.62, which is an increase of $7.93/year and tax on a
$242,00o business would increase from $43.08 to approximately $57.49 which is an increase of
approximately $14.41 per year, if the District goes for the full amount. Mayor Niehaus noted that
there has never been a formal request for funding by the City from Mosquito Abatement.
Approval of Bills Against the City of Moab
Councilmember Knuteson-Boyd moved to approve the bills in the amount of $376, 179.12.
Councilmember Jones seconded the motion. The motion carried 5-o with Councilmembers
Knuteson-Boyd, Jones, Derasary, Duncan and Guzman -Newton voting aye.
Adjournment
Councilmember Knuteson-Boyd moved to adjourn. Councilmember Jones seconded the motion.
The motion carried 5-o with Councilmembers Knuteson-Boyd, Jones, Derasary, Duncan and
Guzman -Newton voting aye. Mayor Niehaus adjourned the meeting at 8:35 PM.
APPROVED:
Emily S. Niehaus, Mayor N
ATTEST: Y t-4' r tIi
Pag,e9ut9
October 24,2019
1
Sommar Johnson, City Recorder