At the beginning of the meeting, the city council had a moment of silence for Mayor Taylor. His body arrived in North Ogden on Wednesday and his funeral will be held at Dee Event Center on Saturday Nov.17 at 1:00 pm.

Mona Wald received a letter from Mayor Taylor five days after he passed away thanking her for her support of the amphitheater. She said there is a petition going around to name the amphitheater after Brent Taylor. Wald said she has focused her final paper on the amphitheater and offered her findings as a resource to the council.

Councilman Phillip Swanson gave a heartfelt shout out to the community. “I have been unsurprised yet amazed at the outpouring and overabundance of volunteers looking to do things for the Taylor family and for the community.” He said between 120-130 volunteers carried the flag to hang over Coldwater Canyon. “It has been reaffirmed a thousand times how great the residents are… There is far more that unites us than divides us. I love this community and I love it even more after this last week.”

Replacing the Mayor

City Recorder Annette Spendlove said the city has thirty days from the date that the position became vacant to replace the Mayor. The city made applications available to be turned in no later than Dec. 3 at noon. The council will hold interviews in an open meeting and appoint the new mayor whose term will end in January 2020.

Mayor Brent Taylor served full time as the Mayor and City Administrator. Residents questioned if the council would separate the two positions. City Attorney Jon Call said, “Mayor Taylor is the only full time mayor we’ve ever had.” Councilwoman Cheryl Stoker said, “When Brent applied to be the full time administrator, those of us who were on the council approved it because he had the qualifications and degrees to back [him].”

Councilman Ryan Barker and Councilman Blake Cevering both said they would like to see the positions split so they didn’t limit potential candidates. Randy Win said stepping into a full time job may restrict those who apply for Mayor. Councilman Phillip Swanson said, “I can think of 3 or 4 individuals in the city who would have the qualifications to do both.  If one of them applied, I think it would be something for us to consider.”

Other items discussed

West Nile presence in Utah

Councilman Carl Turner said there were four human cases of  West Nile virus with a fever, seven neuroinvasive cases, and one death in the state of  Utah this year. Turner is on the Mosquito Abatement Board and reported on the latest meeting he attended. “They found 2 mosquitoes in Weber County with West Nile and 180 mosquitoes in the state.” He said there were 7 horses and 2 birds reported to be infected with the disease state wide.

The council approved the ordinance amending the hard surface parking and driveway requirements.  Brent Call and Julie Andersen were happy with this ordinance change.