RD’s Moab City Council Meeting Preview 2021-06-08

[Editor’s note: Both Rani Derasary and Mike Duncan have graciously agreed to let MADAR reuse their regular email updates to constituents. Despite the overlap, we are running both versions of the MCC previews. Readers can choose to read both, either or neither of the previews.]

Our next City Council meeting is Tuesday, June 8. Please note the Council is meeting in person at City Hall. A summary of what’s on the agenda follows.

Tuesday, June 8 City Council meeting – 7:00pm, in person – City Council Chambers, 217 E Center Street, Moab)You are welcome to attend this meeting in person at City Hall, just please note masks and social distancing are required. Should you prefer to follow the meeting online, please tune in live (or after the fact) on the City’s YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/MoabCityGovernment. The 224-page packet for June 8 can be found here: https://moabcity.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06082021-1044?packet=true. If you prefer the 3-page agenda only, with links to packet parts, that is here: https://moabcity.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06082021-1044. All of that said, please note that it appears to me that there are some things missing in the packet; I’ve let staff know, so there is a chance the packet will be revised to include additional pages tomorrow. That will in turn throw all the page numbers I’ve noted below off, so if the packet is revised, I’ll email you all again so you have updated page references! In the meantime, here is a breakdown of what’s on the June 8 agenda:

Citizens to be Heard (CTBH) 

With the return to in-person Council meetings, you are welcome to come to City Hall at 7:00pm June 8 to speak in the Council Chambers as you have in the past. If you’d prefer to submit written comments for CTBH, please fill out the form found here prior to 7:00pm on June 8:https://bit.ly/citizenstobeheard. Please limit written comments to 400 words.

Public Hearing on proposed Resolution 13-2021: approving the Final Master Planned Development (MPD) and Phase One Plat for the Lionsback Development located and accessed from Sand Flats Road

• This item is on our agenda June 8 initially as a public hearing, and later as a briefing and possible action item. The agenda summary on packet pages 4-9 (and duplicated on pages 209-214) offers a detailed history of this project since 2006. It explains the annexation and initial Master Planned Development (MPD) in 2008, subsequent lawsuits, and how we got to this point now – in which the project is vested and Council is being asked to vote on Resolution 13-2021 approving the Final MPD for the Lionsback Resort and Final Plat for Phase 1.
• I’d recommend reading the agenda summary for starters to help you decide what else you’d like to review. Please note that as of now, the resolution is on pages 116-117 (and duplicated on pages 215-216); there’s a location map on page 10; a 2008 Pre-Annexation Agreement from 2008 on pages 12-37; the Drinking Water Source Protection Plan on pages 38-112; two public comments on pages 113-115; and the Subdivision Improvement Agreement on pages 118-138.
• If you’re like me and start with the agenda summary, you may try to find various referenced exhibits/attachments. FYI as far as I can tell, Exhibits 4 and 5 (the 2009 Development & Phasing Agreement, and the Final MPD & Phase One Plans, respectively) did not make it into the packet. Additionally, it looks like Exhibit 2 can be accessed via the link on the agenda (go here: https://moabcity.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/3740?fileID=4833), but I don’t see it in the full packet. 

Proclamations – Moab Police Department appreciation and recognition

You can read this proclamation on page 151.

Staff review of municipal speed limits

• This item is on our agenda for discussion and possible action. As explained in the agenda summary on page 152, reasons to consider more consistent speed limits in the City include improving safety in our neighborhoods and enhancing movement and efficiency of traffic.
• The memorandum on pages 153-154 gets into more detail about: when and how a municipality can set speed limits; what local, State and Federal laws and documents guide this; when a traffic study is needed to set or change a speed limit; staff recommendations moving forward, etc.
• While I don’t normally add my personal opinion in these updates, I should add in disclosure that I’ve been asking for a discussion on this topic because the City appears to have several illogical and inconsistent speed limits, plus numerous streets without any speed limit signage at all. Per City code, if there is no signage, the speed limit is 30mph. That does not appear to make sense as several of our unsigned streets are adjacent to – or surrounded by – other residential streets signed at 20mph. Particularly now that the City has established an OHV speed limit of 15mph, it makes sense to me that the speed limit be signed on each of our streets, and that a default of 30mph may not be prudent anymore. (Some of you may be noticing, eg, noise pockets where drivers rev up from a slower street to a faster or unsigned one.)
• FYI I have also been passing on requests from several of you about: a clear speed limit on the parkway (see later in this packet under the ebike agenda item); signage ‘pointing people positive’ on how to get to Kane Creek trails, and also making it clear when side streets off Kane Creek and 500W do not lead to OHV trail access; and resident requests for ‘resident parking only’ signage and/or signage indicating drivers are entering a residential area. I’ll let you know when those items come before the Council for discussion.

Proposed Resolution 25-2021: a resolution regarding the City of Moab’s commitment to funding a “Recreational Hotspot” Transit Shuttle Pilot Program

• This is another item on our agenda as a briefing and possible action. As you may recall, the City and County elected to make a 5-year pilot transit shuttle program part of our funding request for State “Recreational Hotspot” funds. Before advancing our request to the Utah Transportation Commission, UDOT (the Utah Department of Transportation) is seeking a commitment from the City and Grand County to provide up to $1 million toward the program. The other $1.5 million needed would come from Hotspot funds. Pages 157-159 of our packet provide more background and the resolution, while a presentation on the shuttle program is on pages 160-184.

Proposed Ordinance 2021-09: text amendments to Moab Municipal Code 12.20.005 (modifying the definition of Motorized Vehicle and adding a definition for E-Bikes) and to Moab Municipal Code 12.20.060 (allowing Class 1 E-Bikes on City path systems and setting a 15 MPH speed limit on Mill Creek Parkway) 

• I’d recommend starting with the agenda summary on pages 185-191 on this one, as it offers a good recap of recent discussion at the City about ebikes, an expressed desire for unified regulations across jurisdictions, related law and code including the Americans with Disabilities Act, clarification about the different types of ebikes, and how this relates to past grant funds the City has received for non-motorized trails.
• This is on our June 8 agenda as a briefing and possible action. (That said, given resident concerns raised in the past about any future changes in use to the parkway/other City property, I would expect there would need to be a town hall or public hearing on this before any action can be taken.)
  

Proposed Resolution 13-2021: approving the Final Master Planned Development (MPD) and Phase One Plat for the Lionsback Development located and accessed from Sand Flats Road 

• As a reminder, this item was on our June 8 agenda earlier as a public hearing. Please scroll up above in my update to read about it. In this section of the meeting Council is being asked to vote on Resolution 13-2021. FYI I can’t anticipate how colleagues will feel but in my experience, the Council generally does not vote on an item the same night we have a public hearing on it.

Proposed Resolution 16-2021: a resolution extending the time for use of Water Impact Fees 

• As far as I can gather from packet pages 217-221, a city can only spend the impact fees it collects on projects on its Impact Fees Facilities Plan, or on the debt service used to construct impact fee-eligible projects. You’re also supposed to spend what you collect within 6 years. That said, you can request an extension beyond the 6 years by explaining why you need more time, and the date by which fees will be expended. Resolution 16-2021 therefore notes that “Current and future impact fees will partially be used to pay the debt service on the additional water sources and storage” associated with the Wastewater and Water Revenue Bonds the City issued in April 2021. This will be another briefing and possible action.

Appointment of the City’s representative to Grand County’s Boundary Commission 

• The Council will be briefed on this June 8 and we’re being asked to appoint the Mayor to this Commission. Pages 222-224 explain that an elected official is supposed to represent the City on the Boundary Commission, which meets once a year to review and rule on annexation protests.
  

That’s it for our June 8 City Council meeting, except that aside from what’s listed above, the meeting will contain standard items such as: reports from the Council and Mayor; updates from staff (this time from the Assistant City Manager and Sustainability Director); approval of minutes (this time for our meetings on: May 4 – covered on pages 139-140 of our packet; May 11 – see pages 141-144; and May 25 – see pages 145-150); and payment of the bills. 

This has all been the typing version of a mouthful, so I’ll stop here for now with apologies for any errors you find herein given the late hour.

Wishing you a great week,

Rani Derasary, Moab City Councilmember