Ferron City Council sets meetings for 2003

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Ferron City Council held its monthly meeting on Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. Those in attendance were Mayor Kent Larsen, councilmembers Gordon Bennett, Laurie Pitchforth, Jo Sansevero and Bryan Erickson. Also present were city recorder Brenda Bingham and city treasurer Adele Justice. The meeting began with call to order by Mayor Larsen and the Pledge of Allegiance led by Pitchforth.
The first agenda item was approval of the Nov. 20 meeting minutes. There were no corrections or additions and the minutes were approved and accepted. Next on the agenda was the consent agenda of items brought before the council for approval. A zoning clearance by a citizen was the first to be discussed. The citizen needed a zoning clearance to bring a doublewide trailer home into Ferron Creek Village from West Valley City. Because Ferron Creek Village was designed to accommodate singlewide trailers, the applicant needed a clearance to do some work to prepare for the setting up of the double wide. After some discussion, the council voted to allow the clearance and the issuance of a building permit to allow the doublewide to be moved into Ferron Creek Village.
There were no business licenses or warrants to be considered and the council moved to the next agenda item. This was the Board of Equalization . Mayor Larsen stated that the board is to consider requests for adjustments or abatements of residential water bills. Some discussion followed as to the guidelines of the board and the council heard the first equalization case which was a water bill adjustment request. The resident had an unknown water leak that resulted in the overuse of allotted gallons of water used. When the leak was discovered, the repairs were immediately done and the water use has since come back into line. The council tabled the decision about the first case to hear the second request by another resident who had the same situation as the first.
Councilman Bennett moved to table decision on these two requests until a standard could be established to figure the cost to the city for the overuse. The special service district charges the city for water treatment services in thousand gallon increments, and Bennett stated these costs would need to be taken into account before adjustment could be made on these two requests. The motion was seconded and passed.
Approval of the consent agenda items was then moved on and passed.
Diane Tadehara from Youth and Families With Promise was next on the agenda. Tadehara explained that Utah State University Extension Services was sponsoring this youth mentoring program. The program matches at-risk youth with adult mentors from the communities. She asked the council to consider allowing city employees to be grand-mentors and release the employees for one or two hours a month, with pay, to mentor youth. The council asked Tadehara questions about the program and after discussion requested that Tadehara bring in more information to provide further background and organizational workings before a decision could be made.
The next agenda item was setting the schedule of meetings for 2003. Mayor Larsen stated some comments and suggestions from the community members. After some discussion of the current year’s meeting schedule and the commitments of the members outside of the council, it was decided to continue the meetings on the first and third Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m.
The council next addressed the certification agreement the city has with the National Historic Preservation Act. Mayor Larsen indicated there were no changes in this agreement than from previous years. It was moved to enter into the agreement as in the past.
Councilwoman Pitchforth was the first to report. She commended all the city employees for the outstanding job they had done in the decoration of the park and the city. She stated that the party in the park for the lighting of the lights had been a great success and the turnout was good. Pitchforth then discussed some modifications and requests for next year’s Christmas party. She also asked the city to consider donating money to the R.S.V.P. Christmas program. She added this program helps needy families who would not otherwise have a Christmas and that the money stays in local communities.
Councilwoman Sansevero reported to the council about the golf course restaurant. She stated she had contacted a business person to arrange for the operation of the restaurant for the 2003 season. She also reported the restaurant is now closed for the winter and the tentative reopening will be in March. Ryan Winn, superintendent of the golf course grounds will be doing some winter repair work at the restaurant. Larsen instructed Sansevero to submit the work orders for processing. Sansevero also reported on the ATV jamboree plans. She stated the date for the event had been scheduled for the second weekend in August. Next, Sansevero discussed the compensation scale for the city employees who are called out to work on Saturday for cemetery duties. Mayor Larsen stated that a policy needs to be addressed.
Councilman Erickson was next to report. He explained the process in which he is involved to apply for the grants to upgrade the stock corrals at the fairgrounds for the annual stock show. Erickson stated he is pursuing a grant from the Eccles Foundation.
Councilman Bennett next reported on the progress of the fire station project. He discussed the CIB grant process and the pre-grant tests are being investigated. He is in the process of scheduling the tests and the survey.
The Mayor’s report was next on the agenda. Larsen’s first item was the rescheduling of employees holidays. He stated the employees would like to trade one of the presidential holidays in February for the Friday following Thanksgiving. The council agreed on the change.
Larsen then requested the council’s permission to change computer service companies. He stated the company they presently use comes out Richfield and the cost is quite high. He told the council that a local company has been located and service would be faster and less expensive. The council agreed to the request.
Ferron City Council will hold their next meeting in January 2003.