City Council 4-16-19

Agenda, Minutes, Audio, Live video-stream Youtube channel

RDA Board 4-16-19

Agenda, Minutes, Audio, Live video-stream Youtube channel

City Council 4-2-19

Agenda, Minutes, Audio, Video

• The council heard a presentation on findings and ideas resulting from the ongoing Fire Study/Analysis being performed by Riverdale and South Ogden.  The council gave consensus of interest in moving forward with a more detailed agreement to review.
• Public Information Hand-out

LOOKING AHEAD:  There will be City Council meetings on 5/7/19 and 5/21/19.  The RDA Board will meet on 5/17/19. There will be a council and staff Strategic Planning meeting at the Senior Center on 5/11/19.  Subscribe to Riverdale City’s Youtube channel for live and past video coverage of council meetings.

REMINDER: These monthly reports are only a brief summary (from my point of view) of our public meetings; you can find more detailed, and official city information at riverdalecity.com.  These posts are also updated throughout the month as meetings take place and new information and related links become available.

PLEASE:  Don’t hesitate to contact me directly at any time with any thoughts, ideas, complaints, questions, insults or compliments.

City Council 3/19/19

Agenda, Minutes, Audio, Video

• The Fire Department had a presentation and swearing in of new fire fighters.
• The council approved an inter-local agreement with Weber County for the next 2 election cycle services.
• The council approved code amendments to Hillside and Slope protection.

RDA Board 3/19/19

Cancelled 😦

City Council 3/5/2019

Agenda, Minutes, Audio, Video

• During the public comment time, a resident spoke about the need to evaluate and possibly make some modifications to the Senior Center parking lot in regards to pedestrian safety.
• The council ratified the results for Planning Commission vote for the Vice-Chair position, Amy Ann Spiers.
• The council set times for various public hearings regarding budget items, human resource manual and unclaimed property
• The council approved the appointment of the Mayor and City Administrator to the Taxing Entity Committee

RDA Board 3/5/2019

Agenda, Minutes, Audio Part A, Part B, Video

• The Board adjourned into an executive session in order to discuss the purchase, exchange, or lease of real property.

LOOKING AHEAD:  There will be City Council meetings on 4/2/19 and 4/16/19.  The RDA Board will meet on 4/16/19. Subscribe to Riverdale City’s Youtube channel for live and past video coverage of council meetings.

REMINDER: These monthly reports are only a brief summary (from my point of view) of our public meetings; you can find more detailed, and official city information at riverdalecity.com.  These posts are also updated throughout the month as meetings take place and new information and related links become available.

PLEASE:  Don’t hesitate to contact me directly at any time with any thoughts, ideas, complaints, questions, insults or compliments.

Strategic Planning Meeting 2/23/19

Agenda, Minutes, Audio: Part A, Part B, Part C, Supporting Documents

• Mr. Worthen reviewed priorities, benchmark performance measures, state legislative issues and possible budget impacts.
• Mr. Cardon reviewed the status of the current year to date budget.
• The council and staff reviewed the capital improvement plan, enterprise fund statuses and “other” funds (IT, motor pool, etc.).
• The group discussed council projects and interests/priorities regarding each department.  I tried to make a push for increased Public Works Department funding.  There seems to be a consensus among administration and the council that we would like Riverdale to present itself well throughout city properties and maintain somewhat of a “branding” in public areas.  We want the public to know they’re in Riverdale by the appearance of things.  Well this kind of thing takes money.  We ask for more and more from the Public Works Department and never give them anything more to do it with.  Their budget has remained flat year after year while other departments trend up and up and up and up.  I think it is time we made a financial commitment to Public Works that matches what we are asking of them.
• The council held a thorough discussion about the possibility of an agreement with UYSA soccer to build soccer fields on some city property.  We reviewed a draft of a memorandum of understanding, held a lot of discussion, and in the end there was a 3-2 council consensus to not move forward with discussions with UYSA at this time.  I was against moving forward at this time for a few reasons, but mainly because the property they want to use could be pivotal in the grander scheme of things in that area; there is too much unknowns with some adjacent developable property to make a decades long commitment to hand over control of this area to UYSA soccer.
• The council heard a presentation on a “General Fund Comprehensive Financial Sustainability Plan” from Lewis Young Roberts Burningham Inc.  Using statistics and prediction models along with our unique demographic information and city priorities in order to help make long term planning decisions.  This effort is currently underway.

City Council 2-19-19

Agenda, Minutes, Audio, Video

• The council approved a subdivision request at approximately 671 W. and 4400 S.
• The council approved and amendment to the business license application process (allowing applications to expire after a long period of inactivity.
• The council awarded the Ritter Drive reconstruction project bid to Post Construction for $687,257.

City Council 2-5-19

Agenda, Minutes, Audio, Video

• The city presented an “Outstanding Citizen” award to long serving Riverdale City Planning Commission member David Gailey.
• The council consented to the appointment of a new planning commission member, Wanda Nye, and the re-appointment of planning commission member Steve Hilton for a 3rd term of service.
• The council approved amending the online PTIF account management platform
• The council approved a final site plan for Quick Quack Car Wash on the southeast corner of Riverdale Road and 700 West.

RDA Board 2-5-19

Agenda, Minutes, Audio Part 1, Part 2, Video

• The Board held an executive session for the purpose of discussing the purchase, exchange or lease of real property.

LOOKING AHEAD:  There will be City Council meetings on 2/5/19 and 2/19/19.  The RDA Board will meet on 2/19/19. Subscribe to Riverdale City’s Youtube channel for live and past video coverage of council meetings.

REMINDER: These monthly reports are only a brief summary (from my point of view) of our public meetings; you can find more detailed, and official city information at riverdalecity.com.  These posts are also updated throughout the month as meetings take place and new information and related links become available.

PLEASE:  Don’t hesitate to contact me directly at any time with any thoughts, ideas, complaints, questions, insults or compliments.

City Council 1/15/2019

Agenda, Minutes, Audio Part A Part B, Video

• The council heard from representatives of the Bonneville Senior class regarding their senior graduation party.
• The council heard from the Veteran’s Advisory group regarding the new Purple Heart plaque at the Veteran’s Memorial.
• The council heard a presentation regarding the annual city financial audit.  The audit appeared to go smoothly.
• The council approved a formal inter-local agreement with Weber County regarding storm sewer systems.
• The council approved amendments to the city liquor control codes in order to meet current state requirements.
• The council approved multiple amendments to the consolidated fee schedule regarding liquor licenses and annexation.
• The council held an executive session to discuss pending and imminent litigation.

RDA Board 1/15/2019

Cancelled 😦

City Council  1/2/2019

Cancelled  😦

LOOKING AHEAD:  There will be City Council meetings on 2/5/19 and 2/19/19.  The RDA Board will meet on 2/19/19. Subscribe to Riverdale City’s Youtube channel for live and past video coverage of council meetings.

REMINDER: These monthly reports are only a brief summary (from my point of view) of our public meetings; you can find more detailed, and official city information at riverdalecity.com.  These posts are also updated throughout the month as meetings take place and new information and related links become available.

PLEASE:  Don’t hesitate to contact me directly at any time with any thoughts, ideas, complaints, questions, insults or compliments.

Now that my third year on the city council is complete and I am heading into the final year of my term, I wanted to create a brief review of the notable items we encountered in 2018.  For more information just click on the month for the full blog post and relevant links.

January

City Council

UYSA Soccer presented the idea of a soccer complex near the city civic center.

RDA

I proposed and eventually led a discussion during the RDA Board meeting regarding my desire to implement an initiative within the RDA Residential Housing Program that would assist residents (in very specific situations) who are instructed to evacuate their home with costs related to moving, storage and temporary housing.  The Board (council) eventually in future meetings made it clear that they had no interest in my proposal or really discussing it at all.  See the February blog for my feelings on this. I was (and still am) very disappointed in the lack of understanding, vision and compassion of my peers on this topic.

February

City Council

During the Strategic Planning meeting the City Administrator and Business Administrator continued their effort on laying the groundwork for implementing franchise taxes in Riverdale.

March

April

May

City Council

During the Strategic Planning meeting the city administration presented an official strategy and recommendation to implement franchise taxes on Riverdale citizens.

June

City Council

The city administrator’s contract comes up for renewal; issue is tabled.

July

City Council

• In a joint meeting with South Ogden and Washington Terrace, Riverdale begins publicly discussing the possibility of a consolidated Fire Department with those cities.
• The Mayor and Council unanimously agree to not discuss franchise taxes at this time.  This was good news, but the topic is not dead, it will come up again.
• The City Administrator is awarded a new contract by 3-2 vote.  This ended up turning into a bit of a mess and an embarrassing situation for everyone involved.  I am not proud of the professionalism of the city staff or elected officials regarding this situation.  See the July blog for details on why I feel this way.

August

City Council

• Live video begins with City Council meetings.  Completed meetings are also now logged on the city’s Youtube channel.  This is something I had proposed earlier in my term and have been pushing for ever since.  I am grateful to the 2 other council members who supported this effort.  Hopefully over time those at the city who were not supportive of this will come to see the added value of convenience, public accessibility and government transparency it can provide at a very low cost.

September

City Council

The council (except for me) gave a consensus (4-1) to move forward with discussions on the proposal to consolidate our fire department with South Ogden and Washington Terrace (Washington Terrace has since officially withdrawn their interest).  I oppose this for several reasons, see the September blog for the reasons why I feel that way.

October

November

RDA

I reiterated my concern for the status of the West Bench RDA area and it’s impending deadline to trigger the approved budget.  Does not look promising 😦

December

2019…

Some items of interest to watch for in 2019 include possible developments in the 700 W CDA area (including possible multi unit rentals), the continuing discussion of a round-a-bout at 1050 W, Ritter and South Weber Drive, UYSA soccer complex discussions, development around the new Krispy Kreme, development discussions on the West Bench, Fire Department consolidation discussions, Franchise Tax discussions and a municipal election for 3 spots on the city council.

Don’t forget you can now watch City Council and RDA Board meetings on a live stream or after the fact on the city’s Youtube channel.

I have been honored to participate with the direction of our community in 2018.  I really enjoy working with the administration, council and staff; but my favorite part is when I get to interact with residents and hear their concerns or ideas about Riverdale.  I love getting more input that can help me shape my positions on the issues and make decisions.

Thanks for your trust and support.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out at any time, for any reason!  Happy New Year!

City Council 12-18-18

Agenda, Minutes, Audio

• The council approved an update to the city’s General Plan, housing policies section.

RDA Board 12-18-18

Agenda, Minutes, Audio

• The board approved the 2019 annual meeting calendar

City Council 12-4-18

Agenda, Minutes, Audio, Video

• Th BCTC presented an award of appreciation to Craig Povey for his service.
• The council approved the 2019 City Council Calendar of meetings.
• The council approved an Eagle Scout project regarding trail amenities.
• The council gave consent to appointment of Rik Hermann to the city Planning Commission.

LOOKING AHEAD:  There will be City Council meetings on 1/2/19 and 1/15/19.  The RDA Board will meet on 1/15/19. Subscribe to Riverdale City’s Youtube channel for live and past video coverage of council meetings.

REMINDER: These monthly reports are only a brief summary (from my point of view) of our public meetings; you can find more detailed, and official city information at riverdalecity.com.  These posts are also updated throughout the month as meetings take place and new information and related links become available.

PLEASE:  Don’t hesitate to contact me directly at any time with any thoughts, ideas, complaints, questions, insults or compliments.

City Council 11-20-18

Agenda, Minutes, Audio Part A, B, C, D, Video

• The council approved an amendment regarding leave time for military reserve members.
• The council awarded the bid from Lantis for the 2019 Old Glory Days fireworks show, in the amount of $17,000.00.
• The council approved the study of a joint land use agreement with Hill AFB.
• The council approved the application process for JAG (Police Dept. grant program)
• The council held a closed executive session regarding legal and personnel issues.

RDA Board 11-20-18

Agenda, Minutes, Audio, Video

• The board heard the annual RDA Financial Repost, present by LYRB Inc,
  • After the report I expressed my concern for the West Bench RDA area and its impending deadline to trigger the approved budget.  If we’re unsuccessful in triggering this budget and unable to negotiate an extension with the taxing entities for the trigger date it would be a devastating blow to redevelopment efforts on the west bench of Riverdale.  It would also mean a great deal of hard work (negotiating and gaining approval of the budget) down the drain.  This conversation takes place between 36:39-39:00 on this video.
  • The response didn’t exactly bolster my confidence.

City Council 11-7-18

Notice of Cancellation  bummer 😦

LOOKING AHEAD:  There will be City Council meetings on 12/4/18 and 12/18/18.  The RDA Board will meet on 12/18/18. Subscribe to Riverdale City’s Youtube channel for live and past video coverage of council meetings.

REMINDER: These monthly reports are only a brief summary (from my point of view) of our public meetings; you can find more detailed, and official city information at riverdalecity.com.  These posts are also updated throughout the month as meetings take place and new information and related links become available.

PLEASE:  Don’t hesitate to contact me directly at any time with any thoughts, ideas, complaints, questions, insults or compliments.

Strategic Planning; (joint meeting with Planning Commisssion) 10-30-18

Agenda, Minutes, Audio

• The council and commission heard a brief training on Open and Public Meetings from the city attorney.
• The group then heard a statistical analysis of Riverdale’s moderate income housing situation from the community development director.
• Rachel Otto, the Government Relations Director from the Utah League of Cities and Towns, gave a presentation on moderate income housing trends, requirements and potential future challenges within the state.
• Steve Kier, President of Kier Construction, talked to the group about trends in multi-unit housing construction with an emphasis on rental units.

This meeting made me feel like somebody is planning on proposing a large multi-unit rental development somewhere in Riverdale, possibly a commercially zoned area.  I asked the community development director if that was the case, but he insisted it was not.  This may or may not be true, but it seemed to me like the group was being sold on the benefits of such a development.

City Council 10-16-18

Agenda, Minutes, Audio, Video

• The council heard some brief announcements from the Mayor.
• The council approved past meeting minutes.

RDA Board 10-16-18

Agenda, Minutes, Audio Part A, Part B

• The Board heard an update regarding efforts to negotiate a budget for the 700 CDA area with the major taxing entities involved.
• The Board heard updates on continuing development efforts around Krispy Kreme and the West Bench RDA area.

City Council 10-2-18

Agenda, Minutes, Audio, Video

• The council approved some changes to the consolidated fee schedule due to changes in state law regarding alcohol licensing and home businesses.
• The council approved a resolution authorizing the Governor’s Office of
  Energy Development (OED) to conduct the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy District (CPACE District), within the City.

LOOKING AHEAD:  There will be City Council meetings on 11/7/18 and 11/20/18.  The RDA Board will meet on 11/20/18.  There will be a joint Strategic Planning Meeting held with the City Council and Planning Commission on 10/30/2018 at 6:00pm at the Community Center.  Subscribe to Riverdale City’s Youtube channel for live and past video coverage of council meetings.

REMINDER: These monthly reports are only a brief summary (from my point of view) of our public meetings; you can find more detailed, and official city information at riverdalecity.com.  These posts are also updated throughout the month as meetings take place and new information and related links become available.

PLEASE:  Don’t hesitate to contact me directly at any time with any thoughts, ideas, complaints, questions, insults or compliments.

City Council 9-18-18

Agenda, Minutes, Audio, Video

• Chief Sholly recognized some residents and staff who offered life saving assistance in a medical emergency at the recreation center.
• During Public Comment the council heard from 2 residents who had some concerns about the possible consolidation of our fire department with other cities.
• The council gave consensus (4-1) approval for the city staff to move forward with creating a proposal for Fire Department consolidation with South Ogden City and Washington Terrace (possibly more).  I will note here that I did not consent to this approval for several reasons.  
  • I believe we already have an excellent, high performing Fire Department.
  • We would no longer have majority control over decisions affecting our fire department service and budgets.
  • Once a deal like this is made there is (pretty much) no going back.
  • You will hear that it will be cheaper per resident, but it’s not as if residents will be getting money back or having lower city bills or taxes; this is sales tax money, any savings will be used elsewhere (savings are not guaranteed, there is much to negotiate).
  • I do not trust any other city governments to make decisions that are in the best interest of Riverdale residents.  Our city has a very different resident/business situation than our neighbor cities and different strengths and weaknesses, their last concern would be our important issues.
  • We have not thoroughly explored overcoming the departments perceived shortfalls (which are very few) with our own efforts and strategies.  I think we could and should look harder at finding solutions within ourselves before we consider consolidation.
  • The final reason is complicated, but possibly the most important.  Consolidating Fire Departments could jeopardize one of the key factors that has allowed Riverdale City to successfully lobby for sales tax redistribution relief and also for a favorable budget from other taxing entities in a very important RDA area (we are also currently trying to negotiate terms for another area).  The main reason we were able to secure some relief is the fact that our small city supports inflated Public Safety Departments to handle all of the visitors that the commercial activity brings each day.  Enacting anything that could possibly be detrimental to the efforts of protecting this key source of revenue would be a huge mistake.  This would not just impact the Fire Department, it would impact every aspect of the city as it would be a major blow to the general fund.  That is not a reasonable risk for the very modest proposed advantages.  We need to be playing the long game here and making every effort to extend or make permanent the tax redistribution relief, not making decisions based on emotion and anecdotal evidence (which are both logical fallacies).
• The council approved an amendment to a shared use and land exchange agreement with the Greenhill Apartments project. (Valley West)
• The council approved an ordinance adding a new chapter to Title * for the transfer of water rights for new developments.

RDA Board 9-18-18

Notice of Cancellation

City Council 9-4-18

Agenda, Minutes, Audio, Video

• The council discussed a starting point design for a possible round-a-bout at the intersection of 1050 West, South Weber Drive and Ritter.  There will be a public open house at the Civic Center on 9-27-18 to discuss and hear public thoughts, ideas and concerns before a preliminary plan is submitted for an environmental review.
• The council discussed a proposal that would have new developments transfer surface water rights to the city.  This is one part of a larger strategy to better utilize all of the options for water supply options available to the city and become more efficient in that regard.
• The council approved an ordinance updating electrical and dangerous building codes.

LOOKING AHEAD:  There will be City Council meetings on 10/2/18 and 10/16/18.  The RDA Board will meet on 10/16/18.  There will be a joint Strategic Planning Meeting held with the Planning Commission on 10/30/2018 at 6:00pm at the Community Center.  Subscribe to Riverdale City’s Youtube channel for live and past video coverage of council meetings.

REMINDER: These monthly reports are only a brief summary (from my point of view) of our public meetings; you can find more detailed, and official city information at riverdalecity.com.  These posts are also updated throughout the month as meetings take place and new information and related links become available.

PLEASE:  Don’t hesitate to contact me directly at any time with any thoughts, ideas, complaints, questions, insults or compliments.

City Council 8-21-18

Notice of Cancellation

STAFF REPORTS – AUGUST 2018

RDA Board 8-21-18

Notice of Cancellation

City Council 8-7-18

Agenda, Minutes, Audio, Video

• The Fire Chief gave a brief report to the council which included announcing a new fire Captain, Nate Tracy, who was promoted from within the department.
• The council approved (4-1) an ordinance establishing food truck regulations in the Riverdale Municipal Code.  I did request one amendment to the new regulations in a motion to approve, which was to strike the time restrictions that controlled what time of day they could be open.  I did not feel like this was fair to single out a sector of licensed businesses like that when we allow others to be open 24-7.  The market should control their hours of operation sufficiently.
• The council approved (4-1) a resolution amending HR policies for compensatory time which allows police field training officers to receive an hour of comp time for each shift spent actively training new hires.  I will note here that I did vote against this resolution for a handful of reasons which I believe were simple but logical: (Discussion begins at 22:44 on the video recording)
  • 1 –  The information we were provided in the packet gave ZERO information about why staff wanted to make this change.  So in the meeting we are given a brief explanation from which we must immediately conjure up relevant questions and make a judgment all within a few moments.  This is unprofessional preparation by staff and unfair to the council.
  • 2 –  I do not accept “other cities do it” as a valid reason for doing anything.  Ever.
  • 3 –  Staff would not be doing any new duties that they have not previously been doing, or working for any extra time.  They are just adding a perk.
  • 4 –  This change will only benefit a group of staff in one department.  I don’t think that is fair to other city employees.  All departments have established employees who show new employees the ropes.  
  • 5 –  I believe using the system of becoming a “Field Training Officer” and helping to train new hires as a promotional requirement makes a lot more sense.  It helps officers become more well rounded and get supervisory experience.  And the motivation to participate is built in.
• The council approved a resolution amending the online PTIF account management.

LOOKING AHEAD:  There will be City Council meetings on 9-4-18 and 9-18-18.  The RDA Board will meet on 9-18-18.  Subscribe to Riverdale City’s Youtube channel.

REMINDER: These monthly reports are only a brief summary (from my point of view) of our public meetings; you can find more detailed, and official city information at riverdalecity.com.  These posts are also updated throughout the month as meetings take place and new information and related links become available.

PLEASE:  Don’t hesitate to contact me directly at any time with any thoughts, ideas, complaints, questions, insults or compliments.

FIREstudy