The council interviewed candidates before selecting Ryan Barker to take Sara Fawson’s seat as a city council member. The council was impressed by how many well qualified individuals volunteered to fill the position. Charlotte Ekstrom, Julie Anderson, Wade Bigler, Brian Bartholomew, Hal Christensen, Ryan Barker, Randall Winn, and  Ronald Flamm were each asked a series of questions before the council made their decision. The council narrowed the selection with a vote to Randall Winn and Ryan Barker before making a final vote. Ryan Barker will be sworn in at the upcoming council meeting.

Ryan Barker ran in the previous election with council member Blake Cevering and Sara Fawson. He said he has experience as the fire marshal giving answers honestly and politely when people don’t like them. He said he has a good grasp on development and is a big fan of the city’s master plan. He said his opinion often reflects code or city standards.

The counsel asked him his opinion of the city’s transparency. He said when the fire district raised taxes they followed the laws required to notify the public and they too received complaints about transparency. He said if the public wants greater transparency they need to consider the cost of manpower and time. “Are we willing to pay someone full time just so we can read it? We are doing the best we can do as far as social medial.”

He said his opinions of bonding depend on what it will pay for. He said bonding for the water department would be justifiable if the city didn’t have the money immediately on hand. Barker said he likes the direction the city is moving and  wants to be a part of it.

The council discusses the budget

Former council member Lynn Satterthwaite wrote a plan to save for depreciating assets. If the city follows the plan there will be money saved to cover the costs when it comes time to replace sewer pipes, roads, and other city assets. This plan will increase utility rates earlier but prevent the city residents from paying interest rates from bonds. The council deliberated how they would implement this plan in their budget meeting.

Council member Phillip Swanson said they will raise the rates either way. He said either we save and have the money just sitting there for a time, or we bond and increase rates to pay for the bond. It’s a matter of when we raise the rates and whether or not we go into debt for it. The council deliberated how much money to have stockpiled versus how much the residents can handle.

Solid waste and second garbage cans

Around 600 homes have a second garbage cans in the city and the higher cost for a second can brings in $145,000 of revenue per year. The council talked about how the second garbage can seems to be subsidizing the operations and considered readjusting the solid waste rates.  Swanson said in the past they increased the rate of the second can to encourage recycling. The council is looking into removing the recycling program all together due to the increase of cost and the decrease in the amount of recyclable material accepted. They considered spreading a cost increase of 91 cents to everyone and lowering the cost of the second garbage can. The council will make a final decision on the issue at a future time. 

A new storm water detention basin

The city is waiting to find out if they will get an $8 million federal grant to build a detention basin. $250,000 of the grant was already awarded to study if the location is suitable for the project. The city will cover 25% of the cost for the park component and the construction would begin spring of 2019. If the city does not get the grant, City Attorney John Call said it would take about all of the $1.6 million from the sale of the property to build the detention basin. The city would not become liable for the $8 million cost. If the city doesn’t get the grant, Pineview won’t participate and it would reduce the scale of the project. However, Call said there is about an 80% chance the city will get the grant.

Public comments

Julie Anderson said the North Ogden Junior Posse announcer stand is deteriorating and needs is in need of being replaced. The council is looking into fixing it.

Randy Win said he knows people have trouble finding the senior center and appropriate signage would likely help.

Steve Rasmussen said he has noticed panhandlers near McDonald’s and is worried about backing up traffic at that busy intersection. “We should do all we can to help people in need.” He suggested the city provide resources in an organized fashion. He said, “If we continue to have it happen, it will get worse.” He also expressed his concerns with the traffic problems at that intersection. The council later said the widening of Washington Blvd and the intersection at 2600 construction is slated to start in 2020. $9 million of the cost is coming from the state and $2 million from the city.

Other items

The city will soon donate unclaimed property at the police station to charity. Unclaimed items consist of mostly bikes.  

After holding a public hearing, the council approved the ordinance converting Legacy PRUD zones to the R15 zone. The council did not change the map, simply the ordinance language.

The council approved the Oak Forrest subdivision sidewalk deferral to Oct. 1, 2021. The Council approved the Cold water meadows phase one subdivision and accepted the Conditional acceptance of the Rice Creek Cove subdivision.