The regular meeting of the Monroe City Council was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Mayor R. Kirt Nilsson. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilmember Jean Vigil. Prayer was offered by Mayor Nilsson.

The minutes of the September 22, 2009 council meeting will be approved at the October 27 city council meeting.

Mayor R. Kirt Nilsson

Councilmembers: Jean Vigil, Lamar Ogden, Warren Monroe, Troy Torgersen

Councilmember Ed Oldroyd was excused from tonight’s meeting. He is out of town.

Recorder Emalee H. Curtis

Public Works Superintendent Devin Magleby

Power Department Superintendent Daniel Peterson

Citizens:

Chad Hunt, Richfield Reaper

Doug Gadd

Nick Pinder

Kameron Peterson

(A) Planning Commission Recommendations:

Councilmember/Commissioner Troy Torgersen reported on the Monroe City Planning Commission Meeting held September 23, 2009.

     (a) Single Lot Split - Richard Adams - 190 West 200 South

The plat showing this single lot split wasn’t ready for final review. Corrections are being made.

The planning commission recommended approval of Mr. Julander’s conditional use business license with the following conditions: logs and equipment shall be stored on private property; clean up of the city’s right of way, if there are any neighbor complaints, then further review of the license will be required. City councilmembers said that they noticed that there are several derelict cars that need to be moved from the right of way. Mr. Julander will be notified of this with a separate letter. He has made a good faith effort to clean up since the planning commission meeting. Councilmembers would like Devin to follow up to make sure the right of way area is cleaned up prior to issuing the business license.

The planning commission recommended that the conditional use business license for Storm Ridge Guides and Outfitters be approved. There were no concerns with this business having a home office. No customers will be coming to the home.

Nick Pinder and Kameron Peterson requested council support and approval for their Eagle Scout projects. They would each like to prep and paint the dugouts at Mtn. View Park. They each will do two dugouts. They went to Home Depot for price quotes for the primer and paint. The total cost will be $238.00. They plan to pressure wash the dugouts prior to priming and painting. Councilmembers asked if the primer is a block sealer. This type of sealer will make the paint last longer.

Councilmembers approved Nick and Kameron’s proposed Eagle project to pressure wash, prime and paint the four baseball dugouts located at Mtn. View Park. They were asked to make sure that this project would have the required hours needed for their projects. This will be a good project.

Daniel Peterson, city power superintendent, provided a spreadsheet showing the costs and savings the city would see if city street lights were changed to LED bulbs as part of an energy efficiency grant. The city is teaming up with Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) to receive funding as part of a statewide grant. This will allow the city to replace approximately 20 fixtures immediately, then continue to replace older lamps as the city realizes the energy savings of the new LED lamps. There was discussion about the life span of LED lights. Councilmember Torgersen suggested that Daniel visit with Larry Montoya at the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) to make sure of the state requirements for lighting along the state highway. His phone number is 801-965-4924.

The city’s priority is to replace the lights along SR-118 and Monroe’s Main Street south of SR-118 first. The main reasons for this project are increased safety and energy savings. The sooner we make the replacements, the better off we are. Another area considered for light replacement after Monroe’s main street and SR-118 would be the high traffic area along Jones Road.

It will be a while until the funds are allocated. The city has committed to the program to go with UAMPS for a group application for funding this smart energy program. There is an opt out clause if the program doesn’t meet our expectations.

(D) Resolution 10-01-2009 Approving and Adopting an Identity Theft Program for Monroe City

Councilmembers have previously reviewed this program. The city attorney recommended approving this program as presented.

Mr. Jones reported that the hydro feasibility study is completed. The purpose of the study is to determine whether it would be beneficial for the city to build two hydro power stations in Monroe Canyon. He said that the projects are not as feasible as he hoped they might be. The report isn’t sugarcoated, it stands on its own merits.

Starting with the proposed station at First Left Hand Fork, Mr. Jones said that the only positive with this possibility is that transmission lines that would need to be installed to hook the power into the city’s power grid would not be on U.S. Forest roadless designated land. Beyond that, the cost benefit to ratio was lower than anticipated for this site. It would take radically different economic conditions before the city could consider construction of a hydro plant at this location. Estimates were received for costs for equipment and transmission lines. A pelton wheel turbine is the type of generator that would work best at this location. After all considerations were reviewed, it was found that this project would not be cost effective at this time.

Regarding the second proposed location, which would be located below First Left Hand Fork in Monroe Canyon, Mr. Jones said the study looked at a number of different options, with three being more viable for the city to consider.

The three options looked at placing a turbine at the site of the old power plant. A first option looked at leaving the current 6 inch piping in place, while a second option looked at replacing a section of the pipe with a higher grade of 6 inch line. The last option looked at using 8 inch pipe.

If 6 inch pipe is used, there is a loss of energy as the water flows down the canyon. If the pipe is left the way it is now, the city wouldn’t incur as much initial cost, but the turbine would not be able to produce as much power either.

If the city decides to put in an 8 inch line as a culinary project, it might be able to receive funding for the project, which would swing some of the economic dynamics of the project in favor of this option. The council was told that the city won’t get rich off this project. If the council does decide to go forward with a project, it might be better to do it sooner rather than later to get better bidding.

There was further discussion about leaving the existing culinary pipe in place with a 200 psi rating and building and placing a turbine at the existing abandoned power plant location. The city might decide to replace about 2,600 ft of pipe to withstand pressure. We might replace the existing pipe with 8 inch pipe instead of keeping the existing 6 inch pipe all the way up to the springs. The most cost effective project is to not replace any pipe and just install a turbine and begin generating power. The city would incur less cost but generate less power by not replacing any piping.

Mr. Jones explained the possibility of presenting a project to the Community Impact Board (CIB) to install piping for future capacity for the city’s culinary system.

If the city were to utilize generation with existing conduit, we might ask the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for an exemption for licensing this hydro.

There was further discussion about the benefits and cost/profit ratio for a hydro project.

Mr. Jones distributed copies of the hydro study for council review.

The report is reasonably conservative. At the city’s current rate structure, a new hydro facility would give us over $10,000 income over what we are purchasing power now to do something else with. Materials and construction costs will increase in the future. Having our own power generation makes us more independent and helps reduce the carbon foot print from coal generation power plants. A conservative estimate is that it will take approximately 30 years to repay construction costs of a new hydro plant.

Councilmember Monroe said that he looks at the project a different way. He said that he was looking at the idea of putting in the equipment now and replacing the pipe down the road as the city begins to realize the benefits of the power generation. He said that the city could pay for the project with our enterprise funds now, if we do it this way. He urged councilmembers to seriously read through the report so they can make a decision and move on it as soon as possible.

Councilmembers thanked Mr. Jones for preparing this study.

Councilmembers reviewed the previous year’s capital improvements project list. Several projects have been completed and will be taken off the list. The following are projects that will be on the new list:

Hydro-electric Project $250,500 0% loan 264,000 local match

Expand Community-rec center 90,000

City walking trails system 200,000

Mtn. View Park expansion 500,000 CIB and state parks

Debris Basin Rehabilitation 800,000

City street signs 55,000

Property acquisition/city hall upgrade

Cold Spring culinary supply line

Storm water drainage study 50,000

Sewer System construction 15,000,000

Canyon road creek stabilization 300,000

Skate board park 100,000

Canyon View Park development 300,000

Mayor Nilsson and Recorder Curtis will meet with representatives of the Six County Association of Governments on November 9^th to update the city’s capital projects information. Preparation of this list is a requirement for any funding for local projects.

Recorder Curtis reported that there will be a land use training held in Richfield October 28^th. All councilmembers are invited to attend. They are to let Emalee know so they can be registered.

There will be a public hearing at the next council meeting to amend the current year budget, where needed.

Public Works Superintendent Devin Magleby reported that he and Councilmember Oldroyd will be meeting with Valley Builders to plan for replacement of the library parking lot asphalt.

* Councilmember Oldroyd is out of town.

* Questar has relocated the gas line at the irrigation booster pump site. The irrigation project should be finalized by October 23^rd.

* The city pressurized irrigation will be turned out of the system October 15^th.

* Councilmember Vigil didn’t have any new department business.

* The council has previously discussed participation with the UAMPS Smart Energy Initiatives. Administrative costs are budgeted through the resource project. Benefits are based on participation. Councilmembers agreed with Councilmember Monroe that this program doesn’t fit Monroe City Power’s goals. We choose to keep our rates as low as possible to the benefit of everyone.

* The UAMPS power bill for August shows that the city purchased power cost $56,000.00. We purchased 1.13 million Kwh of power over and above our self- generated power. The unit price is still around 5 cents a Kwh.

* Councilmember Monroe is pleased with information contained in the hydro feasibility study. He is interested in councilmember’s input after they read the study and would like their comments at the next council meeting prior to making a decision on proceeding with a hydro project or not.

* Lance Mills needs to be reminded that his illegal carport must be moved now that he has completed construction of his garage.

* It was noted that it appears that an individual is working repairing cars at 500 South Main. Should they have a business license? They will be notified by letter of the city’s licensing requirements.

* City Parks Superintendent Bob Lee is planning to relocate some sprinkler heads and upgrade the sprinkler system at Mtn. View Park. This project has been planned for this fall and will allow for more efficient watering at this park. He has coordinated this project with Councilmember Torgersen.

* It was recommended that parks restrooms be locked unless there are activities taking place at the parks. There is lot of vandalism taking place at the restrooms.

* There will be a Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) meeting on October 21^st in Salina at noon.

* There will be a National Incident Management System (NIMS) training November 10^th and 11^th at 9 a.m.

* There is an emergency management safety fair this weekend in Richfield.

　

　

Approved this 27^th day of October, 2009

　

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Emalee H. Curtis, Monroe City Recorder