2020-06-24 Moab City Council meeting report

Short Summary

• UT Div. of Water Quality is sampling wastewater across UT to monitor for Covid-19.  Last week Moab’s effluent tested in the non-detect range.
• Sales Tax report:  City’s tax revenue for March was 70% of normal, April was 44% of normal. 
• Moab Recreation and Aquatic Center (MRAC) report.  Revenue from MRAC increased from $288,000 to $413,000 from 2012 – 2019.  Expenses for same period increased from $558,000 to $1,015,000.  Increase in expenses due mostly to labor and benefits.  Current expense to revenue gap is unsustainable and City Manager hoping to close the gap by decreasing expenses.
• Walnut Lane housing project priorities discussed.  The goal of the designers is to create most efficient building and most efficient use of the site, and requests input from City Council as to priorities for balancing density, parking, amenities going forward.
• City Council will submit letter in opposition to BLM’s September O&G Lease Sale.
• Fourth of July.  Personal fireworks allowed only at the Center Street ballfields.  City is hosing celebration and market on Center Street.  Sand Flats fireworks show at dark on July 4.

More Details

• Presentation on Utah Division of Water Quality wastewater treatment plant pilot study monitoring for Covid-19 in wastewater. This process is not new and has been used globally to monitor for viruses. Samples are being collected at the influent, prior to processing (raw sewage), and after wastewater processing. Ten plants across the state (representing 10% of the population) were monitored for a six-week period – mid-April through May. Virus was found at all ten wastewater treatment plants and in 64% of all samples. No virus was found in the treated effluent, so wastewater treatment plants are doing a good job of removing the virus. The data is showing the prevalence of virus in communities prior to it showing up in human testing and correlates well to outbreaks trend. The plan is to add an additional 30 treatment plants to the study, representing approximately 75-80% of the Utah population. Plants will be monitored weekly. Last week, Moab’s influent tested in the non-detect range. Additional information and results are publically available at wastewatervirus.utah.gov.
• Presentation by Moab Police Chief Brett Edge on 8 Can’t Wait campaign (eight point political action campaign to reform policing in the US).
  • Chief Edge went through each of the eight recommendations and outlined how MPD policy aligns with these recommendation and why.
  • Brief discussion on qualified immunity, de-escalation training, etc.
  • For in-depth information, watch the city council meeting recording on the City’s youtube channel. Chief Edge’s presentation starts at approximately 1:36:00.
• Presentation by Clint York, City Finance Chief, on Sales Tax and Moab Recreation and Aquatic Center.
  • Sales tax revenue received by the City for March was 70% of normal. For April it was 44% of normal.
    • These numbers were better than anticipated, and the City has revised it’s forecasting for the upcoming budget year (July 2020 through June 2021) to 70-85% of normal. That said that still leaves the City with an anticipated budget shortfall of two million dollars (instead of the three million dollar shortfall originally estimated).
    • The City was allocated $470,000 in Coronavirus Relief funding. The first distribution is $157,000 and should be received this week. These are restricted Covid-19 funds (they have to be spent on Covid related costs – this does not include loss of revenue), and there is no guarantee the City will receive the remainder of the funding. To date the City has incurred $280,000 in Covid related costs (e.g. PPE, additional cleaning supplies, fog machines for bathrooms and the MRAC, hand dispensers, staff response time, etc.).
  • Revenue from the MRAC between 2012 and 2019 has increased from $287,980 to $413,384. Expenses for the same period have increased from $557,947 to $1,015,268. Average operational loss over the first four years (2012-2015) remained relatively constant at roughly $300,000 per year. Over the past four years annual loss has increased from $319,683 in 2016 to $601,884 in 2019.
    • With the exception of labor and benefits, other operating costs at the MRAC (maintenance, utilities, etc) have remained relatively constant over the past eight years, so these increasing costs are a direct reflection of increased labor and benefit costs.
    • Labor costs make up 81% of MRAC operating costs. Between 2012 and 2015, labor costs were relatively constant. In 2016, they started increasing and pretty much doubled between 2016 and 2019 – due to significant increases in hourly wages and salaries. Labor and benefits for the 2019 fiscal year were just over $821,000 compared to $408,000 in 2015. Recent outreach to other pools in the state showed that where Moab is paying lifeguards, for example, $17-18/hour, other pools (including Park City) are paying lifeguards an average of $8-10/hour.
    • The current expense to revenue gap, is unsustainable, and the City Manager expressed the need to get back to close to the 2016 numbers.
• City Hall reopened this week. MRAC scheduled to open Friday, June 26 for lap swim and open swim.
• Proposed Annexation of Lions Back Holdings LLC (not to be confused with the Lionsback development near Sand Flats) parcel into the city and assigning a zone of C-4 to this parcel.
  • Nora Shephard provided additional clarification of the parcel and adjoining zones (C-4 and R-2).
  • Grand County supports the pre-annexation agreement.
  • This is considered a vested project prior to the moratorium.
  • Council voted 5-0 in favor of the annexation.
• Discussion of Walnut Lane priorities. Review of project by Kaitlin Myers, City Planner and design team members. Team members looking for input from council on their priorities vis a vis code standard (R-4 or PAD), sustainability methods, balance of density, parking, and amenities and steps forward for community input.
  • Goal of designers = to create the most efficient building and most efficient use of the site.
  • Presentation is worth watching and can viewed starting at approximately 2:22:00.

• Fourth of July – same ordinance in place as last year. Ordinance number is 2019-20 and is available on the City’s website – https://moabcity.org/494/2019-Ordinances. Personal fireworks within city limits are only allowed at the Center Street ball field. The Sand Flats firework show will be happening. Discussion of Fourth of July celebration – Liz Holland noted that interest by vendors is not as high as last year due to Covid-19. Councilmembers voted 5-0 in favor of special event permit for City Fourth of July celebration and market on center.
• BLM issued an EA for a September Oil and Gas Lease Sale which includes over 80,000 acres of land near Moab. Councilmembers voted 5-0 in favor of signing on to Councilmember Jones’ comment letter in opposition to the lease sale.