City Council · 2025-03-25

All right, we have a moment of silence, so I'll jump in. Welcome today to our City Council work session. We're going to start out with item 1.1. This is a presentation on our general plan update from Jared Halls.

Well, what I have to show you at this very moment is a screen that says that my password is incorrect, but I'll fix that in just a second.

Oh, it's gonna be fun.

You can do whatever.

Okay.

All right.

Thank you.

So this is an update about the general plan, and I'm gonna go through some slides. But if you have questions about anything I'm saying or whatever, please feel free to jump in or throw a wadded up piece of paper at Gary's head, and he'll nudge me and remind me that I need to interact. Okay, so the general plan update is underway right now. We started talking to Planning Commission about it in work sessions. We have another work session coming up next week. But I just wanted to start by talking about the kind of the process and the goals that we have, or the things we're trying to keep in mind as we talk to Planning Commission about it, and as they're responding to drafts that we do. And the first part of that is to align. So align, involve, adopt, and integrate. Align is the most important part of the general plan, is that it aligns to me anyway, as we're thinking about it. Talk to the group is that it aligned with the city's direction and values. We need to make sure that it's, it's reflecting those, those goals and those values. Involve is— we want this to be a process that is heavy on the involvement of the public bodies. So the Planning Commission, we're going to be meeting every week talking about the general plan. There aren't any weeks to spare. We'll get to that in a second. We're meeting with them every week, and we want to make sure that that process is as involved as— we keep using the term iterative, but we really, I think, mean integrated. We want to make sure they're part of it all the way along as we draft each individual chapter for them. And then the council as well, we want you to see it several times as we're going so that you're involved in being able to comment on it. We'll talk more about that in a moment too. Adoption, the goal is that it's adopted this year.

Correct.

So there aren't, like I said, any weeks to spare. So we're heavy duty into it. And integrate—

that's for afterward.

After the plan is adopted, the thinking or the goal is that it should be part of what we do in analysis of projects and things that come our way. It ought to be integrated into the process. So we hope that the involvement of it makes you sick of hearing about the general plan. You get so sick of hearing us talk about it and seeing it in draft form and asking to be commenting on it. etc., then you have to hear about it all the time because it's part of what we're doing too. So you never get away from it. Okay, so AI and AI, AI is going to be part of your life because it's taking over everything, including general plan. Now, on the update, this is the timeline. As I said, we've already started. So the Planning Commission has met a couple of times in work sessions talking about it. We have a couple of draft sections under review right now. Land use is where we are right now as we approach April. We have an introduction that's drafted. We have a bunch of comments and corrections we need to make to that. And then we're working on the land use section. On April 2nd, we'll be presenting the land use section in the draft form. We're having a kind of an overview conversation with the Planning Commission about that. Housing will not be after that. I'm sorry, this should have been updated. We move on from that to transportation, other elements, and water. Housing we want to do not necessarily last, but after we've done transportation. and an economic development section, because we feel like those will probably inform some of the housing goals and objectives. So we want to make sure those are done first, so we're not retreading things. So that housing will probably be transportation instead as we get into April. At that point, before we get to May, we'd like to show you as a council what we've drafted so far, what the Planning Commission has done, in a work session, or at least as an invite to those Drafts. We're putting everything in Google Drive, so we'll give access to everybody to comment on those, and you can jump those in in real time, and we can take all those and integrate them. So by the end of April, you should see those first 3 sections in draft form at least, and probably a first draft of the economic development as we move into May. That puts us— we want to have at least a couple of times, as you can see in June, we want to show you again, and you'd be able to make comments and say them in draft form in that Google Drive all the way along. We're going to kind of formally, informally like this, at least present to you where the draft is so we can talk and interact and have questions and answers about it. Jim, can I please—

on the timeline, just keep in mind also we have, uh, scheduled in May a joint meeting of the council planning commission. We talked about that, uh, when we talked over planning commission's appointment process. And that will be an opportunity to talk about some high-level things, and possibly the general plan at the same time. So that's also— it's not strictly the general plan timeline, but that's also an opportunity to give feedback and have some discussion.

Yeah, no, I appreciate it.

Thank you.

And then we want to be able to show you that final draft, or the pre-final draft in August, so we can get it to the Planning Commission or any final draft reviews and public meetings in September, so that it's due in plenty of time as a council to have a couple of meetings about it, make sure the final, final draft that gets adopted is exactly what you want. So if everything goes according to plan, that's what we'll get. If not, we'll adjust as we go and we'll adjust the timeline to make it work.

And this is our draft timeline. And so, council, we need to be responsive to you and what makes sense. So if things need to be sped up, or we need to spend more time on things and extend the timeline out, that's, that's great. That's not a problem. This is a pretty aggressive timeline. So we wanted to show you what we thought we could do by working pretty quickly and dedicated throughout this. I don't know how much we can shorten it up. But, you know, please be aware of that. There's nothing that we have with the general plan that we need to worry about, except state law has changed and we need to adopt the water element of the general plan by the end of this year.

We do need to do that.

So even if the whole general plan is not adopted, We do need to make an amendment of water element of the general plan by the end of the year.

That we can do. That's, that's a good segue. Thanks, Gary, because those are the required elements. State Code 109A says we have to have a general plan that has a land use element, transportation and traffic element, a moderate income housing element, and now water use and preservation element. That's drafted and ready. Any of you can see that anytime. We could put it if you want to look, we have it. We're waiting to take that in. It's just, we're just going to do it as part of the general plan. If there were some disaster, we could pull it out and get it done easy. It's been drafted and ready to go. Matt's got that ready. So those are the required elements. We have to have those and the additional elements that the Planning Commission felt like they wanted to look at and have be part of the plan, or recommend to be part of the plan, would be the redevelopment section, an economic section, housing, parks and recreation, public services, urban design, and then an appendix for all the data so that we can keep the plan itself more short and readable. That's one of the other kind of overarching goals that we've talked about is making sure that the plan is very sort of accessible to people so that it makes sense. It's in common language and we avoid kind of strange language or legalese. So we're trying to simplify the language and keep the plan itself short and readable too, bulleted, that kind of thing. So in that spirit, we'll put a lot of things as an appendix as opposed to really long sections, for example, the master transportation plan can be an appendix. So our transportation element can remain fairly simple and refer to that other document.

But it is— Just to clarify, so, so we're not going in depth necessarily with the transportation plan because we have a master transportation plan. We're just putting it in there, referencing it as part of our general plan.

Exactly. That's, that's the purpose of the element. Will be to refer to that master transportation plan, but then also kind of give the overarching goals that are kept really simple. How do we want to handle transportation, etc.? But the real detail would be left to the master transportation plan.

I mean, in a way that kind of trumps— unless we're going to change that, right?

Right. The master transportation plan is like zoning. It's what we're really referring to all the time in individual decisions. The general plan elements should be kind of a future goal for what we would want to do with this.

Okay.

And we updated that last year, right? Or was that 2 years ago? But, um, so that's a 5-year, unless there's something new through MAG or the state. Are you aware of anything that creates—

I don't think so.

Complication there?

No.

What, what I'm hoping we can get out of the transportation element Is putting in those principles and guidance for us. So the next time we do a transportation master plan, if we do it in-house or we work with a consultant, and they come in and say, well, how do we approach transportation in Orem? What are our primary goals? What are our secondary goals? Things like that. We look at the transportation element in the general plan. And then that guides the development of that transportation master plan, which would eventually be adopted. So with the general plan, as Jared was talking about, we want to keep it a little shorter, a little more readable. And you will have in that plan those elements or principles upon which maybe the parks recreation plan, more detailed plan would be based, or the transportation plan. upon which it would be based, so that it's based on the goals and values Orem has, as opposed to we just hire a consultant, say, hey, we need a transportation master plan. You know, go, go talk to outside entities who are worried about regional transportation issues, as opposed to maybe a little more local nuanced issues.

That's kind of my hope for your appendix. In the past, you know, I've been involved with this OREM stuff for 15 years, right? And so in the past, a lot of the documentation or data for decisions that were made seemed to be national, you know, not necessarily OREM-related data.

Sure.

So I appreciate that you're saying your append—

that what we're going to have in that appendix is going to support what our objectives are in Orem, right?

And our general plan for that— is that— am I interpreting that correctly?

Yeah. And for lack of a better way or more articulate, we're looking for the general plan to kind of be that kind of master principle plan upon which other plans would be based. It'll be The one plan to rule them all, and in the darkness bind them. Not that, but kind of that, that this plan, if it's, you know, because then somebody from the public really wants to know, hey, what does Orem really think? And what do we do with all of these issues? What direction are we headed? They can have a very readable general plan, and then maybe a more detailed transportation master plan. That when a draft of that comes to you, you would go, well, does this comply with our general plan? Does this comply with the principles upon which we want transportation to be planned in?

That's great. Thank you.

So, and then just to give you a quick— and I'll be out of your way. The— just a quick overview of what's happened so far. So the introduction statement in the general plan we drafted so far identifies Families in USA, refers to that a lot. We're trying to kind of hit that point. It gives a brief historic overview. I was more brief in the historic overview than they wanted us to be, so we're adding a little bit more back to that little segment. And it talks about the structure of the plan elements, etc. And then it lays out those key priorities like Gary was just saying, all of the elements. in the plan should kind of refer back to, or at least, um, be referential to these, these other statements that are from your areas of focus: safe and livable neighborhoods, community-focused government, thriving and balanced business environments, and the dependable infrastructure. So we want to keep hitting those points. We talked about those in that intro statement. Right now, the Planning Commission is going through the priorities and goals that we kind of set out in those to see if they're the right kind of alignment. And make sure that everyone is comfortable with that language. So, I think that was basically what we had.

Now we're moving on to the land use, the mapping itself.

We have some large maps of the general plan of the land use element. The thing that people think of when you say general plan, that big map that looks like a zoning map, but isn't. We can get those printed out for you all as well. That's sometimes it's nice to look at that with the aerial kind of underneath it and see this doesn't make sense or doesn't make any sense. The categories we have, what do they really mean? What does it mean when we say medium density residential? We want to make that more understandable and more clear. And so that when it's referred to, everybody knows what we're talking about. And whether these categories still make sense, or we need to adjust any of them, whether the map is correct, or if we're off in areas. So that's what we're going through now. That'll take a little doing. So look for those, those things to be in that Google Drive, and we'll share a link with all of you. So if any of you aren't comfortable with that, or trouble accessing it, let me know, but you should see that in the next couple of weeks. They wanted their first draft revisions done before we shared it out. And then also the annexation plan needs to be in that land use element. So we'll talk about if there need to be any changes to that. That's all I have for you. Have any other questions or anything else going on?

All right. Thank you, Jared. Thank you. Appreciate it. We'll be seeing a lot more of you.

Yeah, a lot.

Okay, we'll go to item 1.2, the proposed process of sale of 1600 North Holmes. And we got Tiger Bowen, Gary McGinnis, Eric Grassman. Good.

All right, as you know, the 1600 North Whiting project is moving forward full steam ahead and Um, I'd like to talk about the purchase of the Orm Homes along the corridor.

Orm owns 8 properties.

They're the 9th property that's impacted Bonneville Park. So we've invited UDOT to come.

Eric Grasman is the project manager, and then we have Brent Schwannewelt here from WCG, the consultants, also here to answer questions. They're working on the design. So I just wanted to introduce Eric.

He'll talk about the process purchase the homes and let him, uh, take over. Can I get— we bought some homes before UDOT was involved.

Did we sell those properties to UDOT?

That's what we're talking about.

That's what we're talking about today. Thank you.

So I'm going to go back a little bit of history. Okay.

Okay. Um, back in 2018, 2019, um, there was some conversation about UDOT taking over the corridor, the jurisdiction of the corridor. At about that time, the city went to Mountainland Association of Governments to take advantage of their corridor preservation funds. That funding comes out of Utah County. And so in March of 2019, UDOT entered into an agreement with Utah County, who manages that corridor preservation funds, that, that if this corridor was to become a state corridor, we would reimburse that fund. And the caveat to that agreement is we would reimburse the fund for the original purchase price, including any closing costs, or the appraised value of the property at the time of the actual transfer, which is today, whichever is less.

Okay.

And so that's, that's what we're working through today. In October of 2019, um, we entered into an agreement at the Transportation Commission Approved the jurisdictional transfer from Orem City to UDOT. And since then, we've been working through the environmental process and now the design. We are just about over the finish line to get the project out to contractors. We're crossing the T's, dotting the I's. We had a major milestone last week with Rocky Mountain Power.

You have to relocate some of those power poles and we We came to an agreement with them.

Um, we are in the final conversations with properties. Um, and, uh, if you've driven the corridor, you've seen some movement. Um, we've been taking homes down as we own them, um, some trees that, uh, we were concerned about, um, and impacts the neighborhood to the neighboring properties. And so we're, we're really to that point. We've been working with the tenants that have been renting the properties from the city To relocate them.

And we're just about done with that.

This is one of the final pieces that we need to— we have to have a right-of-way certification from our right-of-way division, basically saying that we've got enough right-of-way secured so that we can actually construct the project without impacting property— without impacting private property rights. So I've got So this is just the agreement for the jurisdictional transfer, just there for reference. This is the agreement that we have with Utah County for the reimbursement of the corridor, of the corridor, the Utah County corridor preservation funds. And then I have 2 different templates that I want to show you today. That there's, you know, it's a typical right-of-way closing. package. But here in the document, and of the 8, you'll see this similar paragraph. So the property appraised for $390,000.

Can you see that?

Okay, where I've highlighted in yellow?

Kind of small, but perfect.

Oh, that's good.

Is that better? So we've appraised, and then the owner, Orem City, acknowledges that it's willing to donate that $124,000. That's the difference from what was the original acquisition cost to the— so that $390,000 is the appraised value today. When, when those properties were purchased, it was $124,000 less. And so that we, we have to document that, that as a donation. And so that is a piece for us in, in our documents. The other one is for the Bonneville Park. This one, this language is slightly different, and that is that we are valuing the value of the park that we need at $401,000. And this will be provided as an in-kind match for the betterment cost for landscaping along the corridor. So there's about $700,000 to $800,000 of landscaping improvements that are beyond what we consider our baseline of what a UDOT project would cover. And so the purchase price for Bonneville Park will become a credit to those landscaping betterments. And then we have an agreement over with staff being reviewed for the additional to bring us whole to that between $700,000 and $800,000.

Yes.

And just so some of our residents, if they're listening in, you're not purchasing Bonneville Park, right? We're doing a portion.

A portion. Thank you.

Yes, the northern portion of it.

I'm freaking out thinking that the park is going Yeah, no, and, and if you'd like, I can, I can show you some of the specifics.

So that'd be awesome.

This is a GIS map that we have that is tracking our acquisition, our acquisition process. The Bonneville Park here is highlighted. And so the green is the current alignment of 1600 North. The yellow is basically the new, so we need to acquire this northern piece of the Bonneville Park as part of the project. And that's ultimately, you know, we're buying pretty much all the homes on the south side of the road.

So we're going to be pushing in— the new roadway will be, in essence, going over many of those where those homes exist today.

So, um, any questions?

So I'm still not clear. Yeah. So So, let's say the first house we bought, and we go to the county and say we want to buy this house. The county gives us this $120,000, whatever it was. Yeah. So we bought this house for $120,000, and now it's gonna be sold for $400,000.

It's appraised.

It's appraised. Yeah. Yeah. But so how does that go from there?

So this is a spreadsheet. Hopefully this will help with that. Um, it includes the original purchase price, $340,000.

So this is just one of the parcels. The spreadsheet tracks everything for us. That's a different one, right? That's a different property. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So, so the, the original purchase price was $340,000.

There were—

yeah, the number you mentioned was the difference between the 2. Yeah.

Okay.

And was this more or less than what we paid?

It's more now.

Yeah, today. So we're not proposing— we will give—

sorry, let me describe this.

So $340,000 was the original purchase price back in 2019.

And the county gave us that. That's correct.

That included about $5,000 in closing costs for that property. So $350,000 was what was used.

Yes, please. County didn't give it to us. It was MAG.

Thank you.

Okay. That gave the money from their corridor preservation fund, which is generated by the county sales tax.

Yes, in the county, from the county sales tax. So, so the agreement we had was with the county.

So it's MAG.

This is their corridor.

Yes, it is. Okay.

Sorry.

I thought the county had something Yeah, so it's all MAG in Utah County. Um, and so the original purchase price was $350,000. Today that property appraises for $455,000. The agreement that we had was the lesser of the two, the original purchase or the appraised value. That delta is $104,000. So what the documents say is we're going to pay you the $350,000 So that you can reimburse the county and MAG in support of preservation.

Or the $350,000 that we get back to MAG. That's correct.

And then you, as a donation to the project, are donating the $140,000, the increase in value.

That's right.

And that's just the documentation because of—

sorry.

No, and Greg, were all these homes purchased by MAG dollars, not the city dollars?

By all, all by the corridor preservation office. Okay, which is Utah County's PAC. And we see those going through all the time. Yeah, everywhere that we have to approve endlessly. This corridor preservation that we're processing there with—

really, the home should have been MAG's name or the county's name.

So our skin in the game is we maintain them during our shift. So we were We rented them out.

Our facilities guys did the maintenance on them. We collected all the rent money, we paid for all the expenses out of that rent money. There's now rent money that we will return back to the corporate preservation fund as well. About $200,000.

Rent money less our expenses.

Less our expenses. You say $200,000 on that property, or all of the houses? All the houses are generating about $200,000 in revenue right now. So we have to count the minus. Then we make a donation of the profits to How does that work?

It's a document.

There's no money transfer, no money transfer whatsoever. It's the U.S. Constitution requires—

appreciate stock.

Yeah, the U.S. Constitution requires us to give you just compensation. And so, um, in this documentation, the closing documents, it goes through your rights as a property owner. Your rights are fair market value. Um, however, we had this agreement with the county, and that's— so we've set up these agreements in under the spirit of that agreement.

Um, and we're just documenting that for the just compensation to be in compliance with the US Constitution. And Orem will get credit as we I documented this. So as we go back to MAG and the corridor preservation funding for potential future projects in the future, by documenting this, we'll get credit and have a, you know, good likelihood of getting future access to those funds.

Yeah, and it goes back in the pot and is for all the communities in Utah County to request that corridor preservation.

But then UDOT, I mean, they get basically the profits from— and so that money, there was a cost of money back in 2019. Yeah, from this whole time. And so it's kind of a gift to UDOT, right?

Well, it's going to the project. The project is well underfunded right now.

We have to go back to the transportation. I guess when I say it's a gift to UDOT, so it's a gift to UDOT, but it is a seam in our city that needs work done.

So yeah, we're, we're part of those final hurdles that we're going—

we have to go to the Transportation Commission and request additional funding to make this project whole so that we can send it out to the contracting. So we're trying to finalize these financial transactions so we know exactly what we need to ask for. The total value of the donations, about $1.6 million. So if we ever wanted to buy the houses ourselves as ORM with our funds, and then would we make that profit? We would.

His contract might have said the same thing with Warp City as it said with Mack, the lesser of what you paid or fair market value they negotiated.

Then it's time to over.

We entered—

that's a pretty standard agreement that we entered into with multiple properties throughout the county. In essence, when we bought these homes with federal money, we just locked in the value of them, and there really wasn't a future growth.

Yeah, taxpayers, which we all work for the taxpayers, right?

This is more extreme than normal because of the high inflation we just went through right now.

But if we were to use Orange City general fund money or road money to buy houses and then we sell them down, we would get that value.

So if we ever knew— if we ever knew with certainty the market's only going to go up, then we would do this, right? Yeah.

Got your crystal ball, right?

Okay.

Any questions?

Thank you.

Can I just say, so I sat in on a couple meetings of the, um, unsettled settlements for the houses there, and I was very grateful for what UDOT did after that issue became known. So thank you for working with the homeowners and helping with that.

Quite frankly, Disrupting people's home neighborhood is absolutely the most difficult thing that we do with an agency, and we try to treat people with respect throughout the entire process.

I think there were some lessons to be learned, but I think there were some also some great wins.

Yeah, in that.

So, okay, thank you for your time. Okay, thank you. Okay, next up we have, uh, presentation on proposed utility fees. This is Chris Shorty. Can we move that?

Oh wait, okay, I'm sorry, you're right, the budget is tremendous.

We're going to go to item 1.4. We swapped those 2, uh, recommended CDBG allocations. This is, uh, Abidemi neighborhood supervisor and project management analyst. Yeah, let's wait for Maggie.

This is just a pretty quick presentation here. Um, so we have been allocated our CDBG funds for this year and just wanted to get a, get a feel for how much money we have to work with, um, what we typically allocate, and, um, what executive staff and our Public Works Department have in mind for how to allocate the remaining, um, funds for this coming fiscal year. And just a quick overview, we are limited to what our funds can be spent on as far as public services go. Um, we cannot exceed 15% of our current HUD allocation, which is about $600,000 to public services, and we max that out pretty, pretty easily with our victim services and our homeless services and the regional services we, we give to local nonprofits. So victim services, homeless services, and then public services that we supply through MAG, that whole process. So on the left, you'll see just a recap of what we spent on last year.

We had—

we have our general allocation from HUD, and then we have some rollover funding up top. And this— what you see in the yellow here is what we had to— what we've agreed to contribute to regional projects. Provo and Lehi, and we agree to contribute— I believe it's 20%— 2 of our allocation to those regional projects, things like the refuge. community action where there are regional projects that Orem residents do benefit from, but it's kind of a broader scale. So, and what we have in blue, what I've highlighted here in blue, is just to kind of give you a visual of what our public services— So we just wanted to kind of bounce this off of you. And on the right, you see our proposed '25-'26 funding. We have $600,000 that's given to Western HUD, really just about the same as last year. And we had a significant amount of rollover funding from last year, $247,000, due to some— um, Mag uncovered some reporting issues for past years. Uh, it's kind of weird because we return those funds and then HUD just turns around and gives them right back to us. So it's not a net loss, it's just kind of a paperwork formality. So we had $847,000 to spend this year. We have our joint CDBG projects on a regional level. We will be paying $120,000 into that this year. Our max CDBG fee is $126,529. And then our, our PD victim services and homeless services, we propose spending the same exact amount we did last year. We have one last Section 108 loan repayment. Is Brandon here? There you are.

Is that correct?

That's our very last one. So we'll have $101,000, you know, roughly $100,000 next year that is open for us to use. And then of course, code enforcement, $161,500. That pays for at least 2 people's salaries. Is that correct? It does not go to one person and also some materials. Critical home repair, we are going to stay with the same amount we spent last year, $57,000. And the neighborhood preservation, $30,000. That leaves us about $218,795 left to spend. And meeting with Public Works and exec staff, we thought maybe this would be some— a good opportunity to save on CARE funding and LWCF funding. So to replace the Cherry Hill Park equipment, the play equipment, So we don't have to spend LWCF or CARE tax funds on that. So just kind of wanted to open that up and see how you feel about that. If you have any thoughts around it, and that's because it's a targeted neighborhood.

Yes. So we can do the playground there in Cherry Hill. Just clarify that, right?

That's why they would be the targeted neighborhood. And interestingly, this is one thing we're, we're pretty sure we can do here. Cherry Hill is Literally across the street from a target neighborhood, just outside, but it is directly connected to a Title I school, Cherry Hill Elementary. And across the street, it is the park that is serving 2 CDBG neighborhoods located directly north and directly east of that park. So Maggie said, you know, preliminarily we can say yes, we can do that. It's not— yeah, it has to be in a target neighborhood. And so that's why we proposed this.

And, you know, just to— last summer I went to the, you know, Ms. Orm was there, the police were there reading the books with the—

I don't know what it's called, reading with the cops or something. Yeah, it's great.

Super turnout. The library was there, free books. It was just wonderful. And as I kind of looked around that neighborhood, it just gave me warm fuzzies, right, to see that happening there. So I think this is great.

Okay.

If I can just add some additional background there, there is precedence to this. We did use CDBG funds back when we did the improvements at Sharon Park and did those pickleball courts there. And so, so yeah, when it qualifies in specific connection to appropriate neighborhoods and schools, then, then we can justify the use of these, of this particular funding source. Only using improvements.

I don't think it's a targeted—

it has to be— these funds are really tied to targeted neighborhoods. And interestingly, the amount of targeted neighborhoods we have decreased in recent years. Decreased in recent years. So this Cherry Hill area actually used to be bigger, the target part, and it's all based on the LMI. income percentage, and I think the recent census made that a little bit smaller. So we're really restricted on where we can actually find those boundaries.

Yeah, technically.

And I think it's important to note too that, um, okay, and I think Carrie was one who made this comment to me, is the, the first joint regional projects line, you know, Orem is contributing to the homeless issues. to the other, um, care, um, facilities. We may not have one here in Orem, but we are helping to support and fund those by allocating that money there.

And our residents do benefit, you know, we speak— we refer people to them all the time, so they play a part.

Um, but in terms of what we've been doing in Windsor, those funding sources have been LWCF donation with Utah Jazz Foundation. Care is kind of— I know we replaced the figure we put there a couple years ago. And probably care for that as well, same sources. And we sometimes use a little bit of general fund money for those as well.

And that's the idea is because those funds are more flexible. We want to just free them up as much as possible.

Okay.

Well, I mean, if there are no other questions, if you're okay with this, we will prepare for our next— our official City Council meeting, and we'll have a 30-day public comment period. If you have any questions, please reach out.

That was good.

Thank you.

Thank you. And now, Chris, we'll move to item 1.4. It's, uh, proposed utility fees. Chris Shirkey, Reed Price. Thank you, Mayor and Council. We thought it might be best if we bump this and switch with Heather and Debbie since we're going to be introducing fees and charges that we're proposing for utilities. And then right after this, then we have our Finance Director Brandon Messer who'll be talking about revenues, and we're going to be looking also how we compare with other communities As a part of our rate comparison and so forth. As you know, last week we had a— we had 2 weeks ago, we had our meeting on the council facility plans for sewer, water, and stormwater.

And you saw some big numbers.

And Mayor Eubank and I were back in DC a few weeks ago to look at opportunities to try to gather some of our federal tax dollars back and bring them back to Ormond. Thank you.

And so we're actively pursuing that.

In fact, since that meeting, we have— we've had a discussion with the Salt Lake City Utility— Public Utilities Director Laura Briefer, and we learned that her $315 million loan through WIC funding was actually at 1.34%, but not 1.74%. Um, it is tied directly to the Treasury note right now, and that's about 4.25%.

And so what we're going to present to you tonight are ways that we feel like we can we can responsibly pay for these projects that are looming, and then some of which are unfunded mandates by the US EPA that we're addressing, and others are just sheer needs from aging infrastructure and utilities and facilities.

So with that, I'd like to introduce Fred Philpott.

He is principal at Public Finance—

excuse me, LRB Public Finance. Used to be Lewis, Young, Roberts, and Burningham. And that was Louis Robertson. I don't know what happened to Young, but anyway, we won't talk about it anymore.

I don't even know.

That was my uncle.

I'm just kidding. Oh, I didn't make that connection.

And you know, Reed Price, my assistant public works director, who's over water resources. So we'll turn the time over to Fred and Reed.

So thank you.

Chris, thanks again for sending out that video. That was I hope those of us had a chance to watch it.

Thank you.

You know, as an engineer, almost brought a tear to my eye.

Well, it's a little too—

It was pretty cool.

It was cool.

Thank you.

I mean, and to rewind a little bit back in the 1940s, the Duchesne Tunnel, which diverts water off the Duchesne River and brings it into the Provo River Basin, to the Provo River, it's a 6-mile tunnel. And in the '40s, they drilled at both ends and they surveyed that. And they connected those dots, those lines together, and they lined up.

Wow.

So pretty amazing. This is a small microcosm of what they did back in the '40s with much less technology.

So it was pretty incredible.

You know, it's just like the whole lake behind it. Yes, yes, it was pretty incredible.

So awesome.

So thank you. Yeah, you're welcome.

All right, uh, thank you for having me today. Excited to present our findings on the utility rate analysis update that we've gone through. There's a lot of analysis and teamwork with the contract engineers and staff to get us where we're at today. I'm going to cover the summary of our findings, and if you have questions, happy to address those. Our main objectives for this study were to ensure revenue sufficiency, looking at ensuring that we can maintain a system that covers all operational expenses As well as capital expenses. We also are looking at ensuring that we can maintain your debt coverage ratio. So that's a reflection of, uh, once you've paid for your operating expense, uh, what revenue is left over, and we compare that to your annual debt service payment to make sure that there's sufficient coverage there. There are minimum coverage requirements, and if you exceed those minimums, then that creates better security within the system and helps reduce reduce interest expense if you go to borrow again. We also look at the master plan, that all of that cost that Keith discussed in your previous work session, ensuring that we pull all of that into the analysis and utilize appropriate tools to make sure we can fund that. And we're looking at ensuring that we can maintain cash reserve policies that promote security within the system. And also look at long-term sustainability. There are a couple of new revenue line items or pass-through revenue line items that we've evaluated. So there's the Deer Creek project, the Jordan L project that we've calculated a rate. This is essentially a pass-through. There's an existing expense that is included in the water fund. we've calculated what the cost per meter will be to recover that expense for those elements. So we'll show you that schedule. In addition, we have a payment from Linden and Vineyard relative to the sewer facilities that are being constructed. So there's a large amount of revenue coming from those communities to help fund that infrastructure as well. So that's to give you comfort that— not all of the burden of that infrastructure is borne by Orem residents alone. It is shared by those communities that benefit from that infrastructure. As we look at the primary driver of this evaluation, it is capital investment. So we, when we look at operational expenses, we are inflating those expenses over time. So we account for inflationary pressure in your operations. We've applied a 3% inflationary variable, which is more of a long-term inflation, which is more typical for operational elements. Capital, when we inflate capital, we're looking at a 4.5% increase. So we do pump that up. As you're aware, over the last several years, inflation has been much higher than that 4.5%. We are seeing that come down to be more— a more historic average inflationary growth. But again, the primary driver of this rate evaluation is the capital investment that's required as we look at each of these funds. Well, we've broken those out into master plan costs that need to be funded, as well as repair and replacement expenses that are ongoing as part of this evaluation. So here you can see in the water fund, we have $16.1 million. of master plan capital costs and $77.7 million of annual repair and replacement and maintenance expense. This is through our 2033 horizon. So the model is built beyond the 5-year rate setting policy so we can see kind of the long-term impacts, but our rate recommendations are focused on that 5-year window. But quite a bit of capital investment required as we look at the water system.

If I could just point out real quick on this one, the master plan cost is $16.1 million. That's because the major need that we had was our tank and booster station. We paid for those. Those are, those are major projects. We also have a couple of wells to replace well number 1 near Hillcrest Park and also to create a new well on 1600 North. That's what's included in that $16.1 million. The $77 million is investments in the system, repair and replacing existing pipes and facilities that we have. So if you just— I just wanted to help you differentiate between the two. One is needs that, like, big needs, and others are we're gonna, we're gonna chip away at things throughout the city over time.

And that's the same way we show on the sewer side, except the scales are tipped in that the master plan, those big projects, we have quite a bit of that, uh, with $130.3 million of capital investment from the master plan and $41.8 million as it relates to repair and replacement. So a very heavy lift here on the sewer side, which will play out in the rate evaluation.

And that covers our treatment facility as well as the collection system, the sewer lines and In our roads. That's the annual maintenance R&R, that $41.8 million.

And then the capital is primarily at the wastewater treatment plant.

On the storm side, we have $33.1 million of master plan costs and $10.3 million in repair replacement. Any—

no.

So again, Through this iteration, the primary impact is this capital investment that's required. And as we looked at the substantial need, there are a few ways we can tackle that. One is obviously do nothing. You kick the can down the road, which creates long-term problems within a system. The other is to look at— to try to do a pay-as-you-go approach, which is raise rates. To a level that you can fund all of this with the revenue you generate on an annual basis. That usually results with this type of capital investment, which would result in a huge increase to your rates to cash fund without going into this 3rd option, which is a combined approach, which is raise rates and look at funding tools to amortize that cost over a longer period of time. There are pros and cons to each scenario. What we're going to present is the idea of that 3rd scenario, which is generating additional revenues while utilizing debt financing to amortize those projects over a longer period of time. So, within the water fund, sewer fund, and storm fund, we're proposing the utilization of debt funding, which introduces bond proceeds, which allows you to fund all those projects. And then carry that cost through the debt service payment through the next 20 years, or however long we structure that. We've, we've assumed a 20-year amortization schedule. This is general debt service calculation. You will need to go through and work with your financial advisor to narrow in on the parameters and the actual structure of this debt. But we are including debt assumptions in the form of a debt service payment. And the bond proceeds that I'm showing you on this slide. When we do 20-year bond amortization on an asset that's likely to last 50 or 60 years, we're still not matching, right? We're still doing some of the pay-as-you-go. Yes. Is it possibly a 30 or 40-year debt on this? Yeah, there, there are ways to structure that debt for a longer period of time. It's not as common to do that. Most entities will focus on a 20 or 25-year period. maybe extend that to a 30-year period. But you're exactly right. I mean, these assets are 50, 60-year assets. We're amortizing it over a 20-year, which is not in line with that 50-year amortization.

But it is a part of that too.

I mean, like, if you look at a house, for example, a home mortgage, you do a 15-year mortgage if you can afford it. That's the optimal amount of time. Once you go to 20, it's okay. Once you go to 30, you know, It's not as efficient, but then once you go to 40 or 50 or 100, it's completely— it doesn't make any sense at all because of the way that it compounds on itself.

Yes.

Right.

Yes.

The effect of interest expense on that type of structure, as well as the reality that there's likely to be additional investments that's required for those assets that can then affect that scenario where you amortize that over a longer period of time. By shortening that structure, you pay it off sooner and create the efficiency, but then also allow for capacity to either use that tool again or funnel towards more repair and replacement, which is— we're showing some of that here, right, with the need to issue debt while covering repair and replacement with revenues that we generate.

I can mention also, so the WIFIA funding does offer a 40-year loan, which is, you know, 10 or 20 years longer than a typical revenue bond return.

So we are going to be evaluating that as well.

Of course, we're not looking at just one generation but multiple generations of time to help pay this back. And so obviously when you have a home and you want to pay that back as quickly as possible to have the least amount of debt possible, in this case, in order to keep our rates low, we might be paying more money overall over the long haul But it's going to cost less on a monthly basis, but it's spread out over, you know, over a 40-year period. Those same loans I'm talking about, they get inefficient after 30 years. Yeah, it's a function of the interest rate, right? So if you have a higher interest rate, it becomes a lot less efficient because it's—

Right.

Once you press that interest rate down like WIFIA does, right, then it starts to make sense because you're just talking about principal repayment, most of it. You know, unfortunately, the Treasury right now is not at 1.34 like it was for Salt Lake back in 2020.

But if we can—

and we can—

we can—

So is it straight up the Treasury? There's no discount? There's no discount. That's confirmed.

I thought, I thought it was subsidized, but it's not. It's tied to Treasury.

And in fact, it's a 10-year Treasury, right?

Pardon?

Is it 10-year Treasury? Yeah.

So we'll— Chris brings up some important elements relative to the different types of tools that can be utilized when we look to actual debt financing. And right now the model assumes a typical scenario. The likelihood is those tools will be explored and may influence the long-term picture relative to some of the charts that I'll show you. So we can talk a little bit about how those tools might become effective without necessarily changing the decision that we have before us today relative to rate increases. But here you can see again on this slide, we're looking at introducing bond proceeds into this model. We show the water fund at 2027. Again, you could actually structure these all to occur within the same period of time. and either delay proceeds or bring those projects forward so that you issue once rather than multiple times to save on cost of issuance. So it's likely that that situation could occur, which you've done in the past in issuing joint security debt. Alrighty, so as we look at fund performance and the proposed increases, our objectives were to try and again, minimize the impacts to the rates while funding necessary capital investments and achieving our targets within the 5-year planning horizon. We also look to try to structure rates around an inflationary increase, meaning that rather than having huge increases over a single period or over a couple of years, can we get to a rate structure that matches more general growth assumptions? so that you're making small adjustments over time rather than big adjustments. Here we're able to do that with the proposed debt financing as well as some inflationary increases. So we're doing a universal increase to both your base rate and your usage rate on the water side with a 3% annual increase. You can see here the fund balance. We're able to, with the bond proceeds, we're able to put a little more money into fund balance, Close. While getting to our target of 180 days of cash reserve, what I'll highlight here is, again, we show us getting close to that target amount. This means that you will need to continue to evaluate performance over time. So most entities, we can't sit on rates and just let them marinate for 10 years without taking action, especially under this type of approach where we're using multiple tools and gradually increasing rates. So while we're, while we're taking action now, our recommendation is you would continue to look at rates and performance and make sure that there's sustainability here. I'll also bring up that WIFIA option. So if under a WIFIA scenario where we're able to issue debt under more advantageous terms, and amortize that over a longer period of time and reduce the interest— or sorry, the debt service payment— that may change this where we actually perform a little more positively. That doesn't mean necessarily that we're not going to take action, but it may reduce the action that we have to take out here. So those types of solutions, we didn't necessarily want to bank on right now, but that may help us down the road and eliminate more aggressive action that we need to take in the 4th and 5th year. So we want to try to pursue those opportunities. The other benefit of WIFIA is that you can delay the actual payment on that, that transaction until project completion. So it can provide some ability to generate some upfront revenue and build your cash reserves as well. You can see here with the debt coverage, we're essentially kind of maximizing the amount we can issue on that side. without falling below our targets. And then as the rates continue to bump up, then we have a little bit better coverage. On the sewer side, we could not get to a— just a gradual increase. I believe you've already been somewhat prepped on the need for additional action on the sewer side. This— we're proposing a 28.5% increase, which is, which is more than the $4 estimate that was floated in previous discussions. It's about $4.85. We tried to keep it as close to that $4 increase. But essentially, we need to take action, bigger action up front in the sewer fund, because there's so much capital investment that's required. But then we can get to an inflationary increase thereafter and still end at our target amount. We're still in the same boat as we discussed with water that We're going to have to evaluate this fund moving forward. And when I say we, that's the collective we. It's not necessarily— that doesn't require my involvement. Staff review, just making sure fund balances are tracking. But you may need to reevaluate in that 4th or 5th year and see where we're at, see what we need to do with rates. Same performance on the debt side. We're trying to maximize that while minimizing the impact The rate increases. On the storm side here, we're not quite as aggressive as the sewer fund, but we are showing a slighter larger, a slightly larger upfront increase of 6%, and then that 3.25% increase thereafter achieving our targets. Here we have a little bit more room on the storm side. relative to debt capacity. However, usually there's a— there's not quite as much of a desire to issue debt on the storm side because the revenue is quite a bit lower as a dollar amount compared to the other funds. Alrighty, so what that looks like with regards to rates, this table shows the water rates, the base rates on the water side with 3% increase, so you'd be going from $21.17 Up to $21.81. You can see that goes up every year through our planning horizon, up to $24.54 for a 3/4-inch meter. That schedule shows it by meter size based on the ratios for each of those meters. In addition, the usage rate would go up, so your Tier 1 rate would go from $0.88 to $0.91. And then increase to slightly above a dollar for that first tier, and then the tiers two through four are also shown there. Here we're applying a universal increase, so we're not really messing with your base rate generation generation versus your usage rate on your sewer side. That that is going to change. So as you look at base rates versus usage rates, your base rate is is really fixed income, meaning you get that regardless of fluctuation— fluctuations in demand or weather patterns. That is consistent revenue, whereas your usage rates obviously will fluctuate based on that demand variable. So this is the— those specific rates for those pass-through costs, the Deer Creek project and the Jordan L pass-through. expense. And we've also shown that on a per-meter basis. So applying the same ratios that we have in your existing base rates, we've applied here.

I probably should speak to that. This is, this is going to be recommending a new fee. These are expenses that we have to pay, we have been paying in the past. We've typically been able, we've been able to pay for them at times with impact fees. Impact fees are not what they used to be. Development isn't occurring like it did years ago, and those impact fees would be used to pay what we call the Jordan L payment. Our forefathers thought it wise that we invest in the Jordan L Dam, and by doing so, we committed to paying for the the water that's there for the maintenance of that dam. And so, uh, we have been paying— that's how many years ago, Chris, did it start?

About 2000.

About 2000. And then, um, so we pay about $1.2 million a year to Jordan L so that we, uh, have access to the water there. We have, uh, 7,200 acre-feet— 7,500 acre-feet, uh, in Jordan L. Again, impact fees have paid for this. Unfortunately, they can't— they haven't in the past several years. So we've been taking from capital projects to make this payment because we're required to pay it. Additionally, there are expenses that we have related to Deer Creek. The Provo River Water Users Association manages that. They have a significant project that's going on right now. for which we are responsible for about $10 million worth. We have been paying that as well through impact fees through the— by the Metropolitan Water District of Orem. And again, those monies aren't there. So, Orem citizens have been paying for these these improvements and operations of these facilities. And our recommendation is that we make it something visible on the bill so that they know, oh, we are investing in these facilities. We didn't want to roll it into the base rate, which Fred talked about previously, but to call it out as something different in uh, in our utility bills and show them that that project up at Deer Creek, that's something that we need to happen. It's happening, and we are invested in it. Again, I go back to our forefathers that said, let's get water from Jordan L, let's get water from, uh, from Deer Creek. That's why we're sitting in such a good situation when it comes to, to water for our city.

So these would be to, um, to new fees.

And internally we've discussed how to put that on the utility bill as, as just one fee or two, but wanted to make it clear that these would be— these are new fees that we are, are recommending, and that's the purpose for them.

Can you translate what that—

those graphs mean?

Yeah, so that— it's really a base rate. So right now you have a typical base rate for water use is at the 0.75. Yeah, that's 3/4-inch meters and take up to a 12-inch.

Yeah.

So they would pay $0.86 if they have a 3/4-inch line for the Deer Creek expense that we have annually. And then for the Jordanella expense, that's the $1.2 million that we have to, have to pay. And that's $2.91.

Neither of those are on my bill right now.

Correct.

So I would see almost a $4 increase, $3.75.

Correct.

Is that— and that's the $4.50 you were talking about versus additional?

No, that's, that's sewer.

That was sewer.

So then this would be— if you put it on, you would put Deer Creek, you would have 2 line items. That's what you're talking about, correct?

We're going to probably use 1 line item. It's going to say something like source water.

These are components of our source water. We have Jordan Elm water, so it's raw water, and then Deer Creek water is raw water. We've bought into these reservoirs, these systems.

We bought into these water rights.

We either own the water rights or we own the shares, and we have a long-term contract and obligation. For Jordan Elm, it goes through 2047.

And so these will fluctuate over time.

As Deer Creek, for example, the Project, as that is paid off, then that portion will come off over time. But Provo River Water Users Association, which is the sponsor of the Provo River Project and Deer Creek Reservoir back in the 1930s, they—

so we pay for the water that's coming from them.

60% of our water comes through Jordan L and Deer Creek that we drink today.

So it's the bulk and majority of our water that we use. We also use 40% of groundwater and spring water.

So you've been paying this, paying for this out of the capital that we said?

Yes, the, the ideally we'd pay for it with, with impact fees, but only once that I know of did it ever do that. So we—

So if I can emphasize, going back to our general guiding financial principles. We've essentially been using one-time revenues to pay for an ongoing expense. And we're suggesting that we right that ship and create ongoing revenue to pay for that ongoing expense. Understanding that it is— our water source is needed, it is used. We're in a good position and we want to maintain that good position moving forward.

And can I just kind of clarify this, or maybe, and just make sure I'm right, that if— so impact fees, just so we can clarify this for the public, right? This is what we get when we build a high-density apartment complex, or we build a home, or we build whatever, right? Some of that goes to the city, right? So I mean, I kind of see this as a trade-off.

If we don't want add more rooftops.

We just need to start paying for— because that's been subsidizing this, our water.

Correct.

So now we're saying, okay, so we're at that stable community stage where we need to start, um, paying to maintain our quality of life here, or we need to go to what other communities are doing and just, you know, add rooftops so we can, uh, continue that unsustainable impact fee subsidy is what you're kind of saying, right?

Well, that's correct. That's well said.

And that all that development comes out of other costs.

Yeah, traffic and so forth and otherwise.

Police, fire.

Yeah, correct.

And I want to emphasize too that this has been reviewed and endorsed by the Public Works Advisory Commission and the Metropolitan Water District of Orem.

They have full 100% support of this moving forward. Can you break down what— not by name, but Just all those different categories. So 3/4 is more like residential?

Yes.

Is 1-inch some residential?

Yes, this is primarily residential, these 2 categories here.

Everything above that is non-residential, meaning industrial, commercial, manufacturing, so on. But that's— I mean, like a big one, like a 10-inch or whatever, that's a really big operation, right? Yeah, that's, that's—

so for example, Wolverine Crossing 10-inch meters, but it has over 1,000—

Did you say Wolverine Crossing? Okay, Wolverine Crossing, is that what you said? Oh, okay, that apartment complex.

Master meter apartment complex, mixed-use development. All of that water comes through 2 master meters that are 10-inch.

Okay, for all of the commercial development, non-residential development, as well as the residential, which are in essence bidomes, could be apartments Do most people have 3/4 inch or 1 inch?

I have a—

the vast majority is 3/4 inch.

Installed new today, it's 1 inch.

How long has that been going on for?

The change?

Yeah, 15 or 20 years.

Quite a while.

Yeah, yeah. I'm just curious.

Sure.

I'm assuming it can show you the CR rates compared to other cities.

At the end of Brandon's show.

Okay, Brandon, wait, I have something to look forward to now.

Maybe in the middle.

I'll give a sneak peek.

We're really low. Yeah.

And we're not, we're not, we're not designing things and building things and bonding for things to be at the bottom. We're not doing that intentionally. But our rates are extremely competitive. Again, you talked earlier that somebody made a decision 20-plus years ago to get us good water. at a reasonable price, and we're the benefactors of that.

Correct.

Yep.

And hopefully our citizens in 20 years will say we're the benefactors of what we're doing now, right? Yeah, they should. I've worked with other entities that have essentially looked at this type of information, said, okay, we're going to wait, let's delay. And then 15 years, bill comes due, and it is much more expensive to fund that emergency infrastructure than to take these types of steps.

Sure.

You recall last week Keith Larson said you can't, you can't choose whether or not to pay for it.

Yeah, you win. And it's— that's basically how much.

Again, on the sewer side, this shows that increase going from slightly under $17 at a base rate up to $21.82. And so again, a little bit more than that $4 increase, close to $5 increase.

This was the one that we calculated last year and said, we're pretty sure we're going to need about $9. Let's do $4.50 this year.

We'll probably need $4.50 next year. We needed $4.85.

So yeah.

Yeah, their napkin calculations were pretty spot on. That was based on assumptions, much like yours.

Okay. And variables. We're not locked in yet.

Here we are pushing more of the impact from a revenue generation onto the base rate. So right now you're probably about 50/50 between base rate revenues and usage revenues. This would push your base rate revenues closer to 60%. It's about 57%. So you are creating a little bit more security in the sewer system by having an upfront increase to that base rate. Rather than trying to equalize that between base and usage. Then we have the inflationary increases thereafter. On the storm side, we're at about a 50-cent increase, so going from $8.49 to $9, and then that inflation increase thereafter. So we do have at least a comparison of the cumulative change going from fiscal year '25 to the proposed rates. When you bring everything together, you know, obviously those percentages, those individual percentages average together, and we're seeing about a 10% increase overall. When you add up the basic rate increases and the smaller increases on the usage side, you can see those percentages compared to a 5-year average using fiscal year '16 to '20, the average from '21 to '25. 10-year average. So you can see there was, you know, some substantial action from '16 to '20 versus maybe a little calmer period from '21 to '25. And now we're seeing some need to take some— a little bit more aggressive action to handle that capital investment. Overall, I think the forum has been very proactive relative to rate evaluation and looking at sustainability and not waiting for those emergency situations. So I think you as a community can pat yourselves on the back for being more proactive. I've worked with a lot of entities that, again, choose to delay, and it comes back to bite them when we're starting to look at huge increases to rates across the board.

That's very—

can be very painful. I think that covers what I needed to go through. Any questions?

Comments, concerns that I can address? Are you going to show us where we compare to everybody else?

We will.

Brandon is going to— Man, I asked that pointy question. I heard it, I heard it, I heard the answer right now.

Yes, we are. Brandon will. So he's gonna— what Brandon's going to do is he's going to show now the increase in revenue economies that are going to be generated, not just as a result of these utilities here, but across the board in other areas throughout the city. Then we will also then at the end review this thing right here, which shows our FY26 numbers against others in the community. Um, and so as you compare current to current conditions today, we are at the bottom as a comparison of about 20 cities.

Here's Jenica. You're stealing Yeah. It doesn't get a lot better.

I mean, I'm just so excited.

Chris, they're saying— I hear rumblings over here— stop spoiling my presentation.

Mayor, it's pretty nice when we as the executive group can set policies that we want our citizens to have good water at a reasonable price, and that we want you to protect us from future gotchas around the corner. And then Brent and his team actually developed a plan that, that works well for our citizens. I'm grateful. I've sat in a lot of these meetings now for many years, Chris. And I'm grateful to see the forward thinking because if water sewer don't work well, we've got big problems.

Right.

And I'm so grateful for this group for engaging outsiders with their expertise and to be planning way ahead of where we need to. We could have kicked the can a year or two without being in a terrible situation. I'm just glad we have them.

So thank you. Thank you for your support.

Little tidbit of information, Fred started his career here as an intern with, with me in the city manager's office.

I think you trained him, right?

I did.

In fact, he, he worked in the CDBG office. So when they had the same—

what year would that be?

2006.

Uh, yeah, 2006.

I felt like pooping in.

Yeah, I intended to go into city administration and then this happened.

Hopefully I get—

just so you know, he's also stealing one of our top, uh, employees at the city too.

Kind of the same situation. He's a tall, slender kid just like him. Management Services, go into LRV.

This is perfect.

I can't pass this. He's an intern that we have, so good on him.

Hey, thank you, thank you. He's Fred 2.0.

Oh, Mayor, if you, uh, in 2 weeks at the next, uh, work session, Fred will be back. And we will be talking about impact fees to show how impact fees were taken into account in these rate developments. So, um, and he'll be talking about all 8 impact fees that we will be presenting to you.

Okay, sounds good. Thank you. Okay, next up, random item 1.5.

I was gonna have human resources stuff go first, but obviously you're all very excited to see the table.

So I'm gonna do the budget presentation.

Once he's getting a positive response, huh? You're finding the presentations—

Those of you who were here last year, the year before, the year before, know that once this starts, it goes on for months. So this is the beginning.

It is.

Beginning of presentations, you'll see a lot of me.

I put that in the right one.

Oh, it was totally coincidental. So, Brandon, we have a fairly tight schedule, so yeah, when the food is delivered, we might take a break in the middle of your presentation.

Sounds good. Unless you're right about to present that table.

We're waiting for the table, huh, Tom?

Start with it first.

Very relaxing.

It's my zen right there. Okay, um, so to get our budget kickoff kind of going, first thing is talking about revenues. Uh, all things budget start with where we think we're going to add revenues because you have to have a balanced budget. We don't spend more than we're going to bring in. So we start with kind of just giving you, generally speaking, an idea of where we are currently in the current fiscal year to give some idea of what we're looking at and what we may be facing in the coming fiscal year for budgetary purposes. Um, this, this just gives you an— that idea of Where our current budget is compared to where we actually are year to date through January. And the percent collected is just to give you an idea. Our revenue does not come in on a nice even basis. Various revenue sources have different timetables. Property tax, you can see, pretty much have it all at this point. Obviously, we collect that in primarily in November and December.

Other sources.

They are, they do come. So at this point, January, we would be 58.3, right? That's 7 divided by 12. So kind of give you an idea of which revenues maybe come in closer to that even throughout the year as opposed to not. Then on the far right column is, so how are we doing this year comparatively to at this same point In January and fiscal '24, and it kind of gives you some ideas there. Obviously, 2 of the bigger ones are cemetery fees. I never know quite how to look at that. That's a positive thing in many regards. However, from a revenue perspective, not so much. But, and then interest earnings, interest earnings, interestingly enough. Obviously, we're building a rather large, expensive building next door.

Funds—

the interest that we had in the money that is funding that is now going away. And so our interest earnings are going to be declining in that regard. That said, that's just in comparison to 2024. That doesn't necessarily mean in relation to our budgeted amount, that $3.7 million, I fully expect we're going to hit that. and exceed that slightly. And then as you will see later, the budget amount that I have in there is fully what I expect to get in fiscal '26.

Just real quick, Brandon, I noticed property taxes aren't fully collected. Do we get a little bit every month by people paying late?

Yes.

And primarily the majority of that is from your motor vehicle registrations.

Oh, property, both personal and real property.

Yes.

Great.

Just to give you an idea of those major sources of revenue, this isn't all revenues of the general fund. This is just those major sources. You can see the percentages related to from those major sources and where those dollars sit in relation to those major revenues. Other, other funds of the city that receive revenues. We talked about our B&C Road funds from when you purchase fuel, our CARE tax dollars, obviously that one and the next one, transportation, public transit sales, those are all sales tax related. As sales tax goes, so do those. Our— and then the next 3, all the rest are enterprise fund related. The 3, water, water reclamation, and stormwater are all just the sales component. component, not necessarily again, all of their revenue, just for those particular sales items, be it water, sewer, or stormwater fee. And recreation, you can see how we're faring there as well. Solid waste and street lighting. Street lighting, if you recall, just touch on that street lighting. If you recall, we raised that fee pretty significantly for '25. Primarily to fund the park lighting, as well as the last phase of one of the street lighting districts.

And I have had so many people say that was so worth it.

They love the lights, the Christmas lights.

So it's always good.

Oh, the Christmas lights.

I know you're talking about.

Oh, I don't know about that other—

I'm sure they love it too.

was hit the Hillcrest area, which over the years, we actually have had quite a few concerns expressed by the residents there that they didn't have the nice city streetlights, but we're paying for it now. We can finally go and have a nice new streetlight standard.

Again, just give you an idea of those revenues, where that comes from.

Obviously, water and sewer are the 2 biggest pieces, which, and if you had stormwater in there, you're 60% of those other revenue sources.

All right, now focusing as we get into our next year's budget. Fiscal year current budget that we have for '25 compared to what we are proposing for Fiscal '26. As you have been probably aware, sales taxes have been relatively flat here the last little couple of years. This year, so far through January, we are up 1.3%. But it has been a yo-yo fest of one month up, one month— I mean, not just a little up and a little down, but big up, big down. So, um, this— that $32,805,000 is based upon an expected 1% increase in the current year with a 1.5% estimated increase for fiscal '26. So that's how we get, get to that $32,805,000. Uh, franchise taxes, same historic Or have been pretty flat over the last little while. And then you can see some of the other items on here as they're— again, talking about interest earnings at the bottom, you can see impact in relation to the reduction in funds that we have available to invest. Are there any general questions on here? You'll see some things later on as we talk about There's not a lot of things we can do in the general fund to impact the revenue.

We have fees, of course, but those are pretty, pretty small portion of our overall revenue.

And so as we look at these, we have to keep that in mind that generally speaking, property taxes and some of these other fee-related items are really the only ones we have control over for the most part. Talking about an item that I know is close to everybody's heart is Utopia. Just give you an idea of what our expectation is for reimbursement that they provide.

See what we expect to—

and I confirmed that with Jason Roberts up at Utopia. And then what we would propose is an increase for '26. May end up being more, um, but that at least covers the increase in the amount of the Utopia fee we have to pay as part of our sales tax pledge.

That's the net amount paid to Utopia?

No, that's how much they're going to pay us back.

They're going to pay us back and we still owe the $3 million plus. $3 million plus.

Okay, got you.

Nice.

And that would be 2-something.

So should I read that That's what it is. I'm just curious what the actual payment is.

Yeah, it's like 3, 3 something. Yeah, so it's 3, 3, 3, 4, something like that.

I want to say if you go back a couple years, we were paying almost all that 3 because we weren't getting as big a levy.

Correct.

Yeah.

So what's the full potential?

I don't.

Next up.

So one of the items that we do have an ability to affect are—

we do generally change each year and are of concern—

our cemetery fees. And you can see the various elements here that we intend to propose to change.

Say what?

Say I contributed to the cemetery. You did this year.

I don't know whether to feel happy for you or not.

My wife said we were never moving, so we lost. All right.

You'll move one more place.

Yeah.

You can let your wife pay, say, 4%.

That's true.

There you go.

And again, you guys will end up having all of this presentation, so you're welcome to then kind of go through those in more depth if you'd like. Then talking about our other major revenue sources, B&C Roads, and B&C Roads have actually been doing quite well. We'll do better than that $3.8 million in the current year.

At least that's our expectation.

So we raised the fiscal '26 amount to cover that expectation. That may even be still slightly conservative, but we're feeling good about that. Care tax, again, not much of an increase. I mentioned what I did for regular sales tax. Care tax will generally follow— doesn't follow it exactly, but Generally follows it. And so we have a small increase in relation to the CARES tax. Transportation and public transit sales tax, those are 2 different taxes, but we combine them in the same fund because they both can be used for pretty much the exact same things. You will notice the $4,275,000 and that there's only a 0.1% increase. Well, the $4,275,000 was a Yes, because the public transit portion of that was brand new. So we did not know exactly what we were going to get there. And we made a guess. We've, we've now received a full year's worth of that tax and now have a better idea of where we think that tax is going to fall.

That's a pretty good guess. Yeah, we're just one year ahead of—

yeah, we're not, we're not gonna— I don't think we're gonna hit 4— we might, I think we'll be a little bit short of $4,275. But based on approximately that 1% plus a 1.5% increase, we'll get to $4,280,000.

Brandon, a question on that.

That public transportation sales tax is 50% of the transportation tax, is that right?

You would think it is. It is very close to that, but it is not exact. 50% because of the population factor component, which calculates differently.

It can only be used for certain parcel—

Yes. We've talked obviously about water sales, you can see what the expected impact of those changes in water rates will produce. Same with sewer and stormwater. And then you'll notice down in the recreation revenues, that's a slight decline. We're talking about where we did a decent job maybe of guessing on the public transportation sales tax. We didn't do a great job of guessing on the Hillcrest Park items that related to rentals, etc., there. So we bumped those Hillcrest expectations down a little bit. Try to— until we can show that, yes, we are going to improve there and have a better revenue feeling about those revenues that come in from Headcrest. And then solid waste, you'll see later why that's such a small percent increase there related to rates. And then street lighting, again, we mentioned that here in fiscal '25, we had a big jump. This new, new $1,401,000 is based on where we then go, continue to go with that revenue source being basically what it is. There is a small increase there in the rate as well, which we'll talk about. So talking about— I'm just not going to spend too much time in these. Chris has already And their prior presentation addressed some of these. So I just kind of show here progression. They showed progression going out.

I'm showing the progression as you see it from the past 5 years.

And you can see what the increases have been. You saw in the presentation, that very last slide, those 5-year increments, and you can see based on those percentages where those, particularly in the '21 through '25 timeframe, why those were so low comparatively to the others. Talking about the 2 new items, the new fee that we talked about, just throwing up there, you can see the expected revenue that will be produced by those fees, those 2 fees.

If this was approved, when would people see this on their bill?

First billing in July. Thank you.

So wait, when does our fiscal year— is that July 1st?

June 30th.

So the first—

so I think the first billing is July 8th, if I remember correctly.

So we're lining up with that, is your plan?

Yes.

Um, and sewer, uh, talked about— mentioned the large increase here last year.

It's here in '25, but then what was proposed what you did fiscal '26 for base rate and see that amount for volume.

Stormwater, mentioned that 6% increase in the current year. Solid waste, we are not proposing any increases to any of the fees in solid waste. Not because Waste Management isn't raising their fee, but we feel like we have appropriate revenue to cover the costs there. And so I felt that with, especially with a lot of these other increases going on, that we could absorb those costs in this particular year and not raise those rates. Street lighting, I mentioned, kind of an inflationary increase in relation to the proposed fee from last year's large increase to cover lighting and part.

Basically, that's to cover the maintenance of all those poles and keep that maintenance going.

I was amazed to find out how many poles are hit every year just the other day.

And it's just mind-boggling how many of those things happen. And there are a lot of hit-and-runs too.

Yeah.

And that was more important, not maybe so many that how many got hit, but how many of them Okay, we don't recover anything for them.

I mean, that's just explained because people who have both are in no condition to think or sit around, right?

Oh, the infamous graph chart. Okay, I don't know how big I gotta make it.

You can see it a little bigger.

Yeah, it looks so good.

Make it as big as you can.

Okay, so We did do a little thing differently this year. So you'll see total utilities, and we would fall 3rd from the bottom, given our— all of those proposed rates comparative to everybody else's current rate. So then we said in the right-hand, far right-hand column, we said, well, let's just— what if we use the historical average that their rate, if we go back in time, that their rates have gone up. Where would we expect their rates to end up in total? And we would then fall to second to last in that regard.

Then, Brandon, yes, click on this just to bring your attention to the lowest here. Layton, look at their sewer bill.

That's $3,186.

Just so you know, they generically charge every connection $3,186. Independent of what they actually produce for sewage. I've talked to them about that.

They said, yeah, this is messed up, we got to fix this. They're looking at that process. I don't know when it's going to change, but that number is artificially low, as is Sandy City on there. It does not reflect treatment costs. They send all their sewage to 3 different sewer districts. That's probably another $15 to $20 on top of that for Sandy.

Just And how do they eat that? How do they pay?

Where are they?

So it's billed directly by those independents. Oh, I see.

Yeah, correct. They bill them directly. Thank you. Yeah, it'd be like if Central Utah Water Conservancy District sent a bill versus going through us. Yeah, gotcha. Which we don't.

And then just because we like to Okay, I can only make this one so big. So then we just said, hey, let's throw property tax on there too. So if we throw that increased rate and we show our property tax in there, we are number 1, or in this case, number 20.

So we have the lowest.

And who's our neighbors? Let's see, Vineyard, Pleasant Grove. Is Linden up there?

Springville. Yeah, Linden is right, kind of right there in the middle.

$52 higher. Vineyard, PG's higher.

You know, this is sewer rates for all TSSD communities, meaning Tippanook Special Service District.

Their rates are phenomenally high and going up.

And is that— yeah, because I read an article in the paper they're going up.

Yep, yep.

So this doesn't reflect that, or this does?

It does.

Oh, it does.

This is what—

okay, to some degree up to this point, but they're going to go up even more. What, what they've said recently is that their rate, their, their bond amount is going to go to like $660 million for their sewer treatment plant versus ours at $160 million.

Wow.

And that's why you see that reflection on here. So it shows those, those increases or impacts up through FY25. And then it shows just an average If their increases continue to go up along the average of the past 12.9%, what that would be if they go on that percentage in FY26.

Wow, that really speaks to affordable housing affordability too, right?

Yeah.

And then just to finish up, we have a couple of— so our recreation fund, no to the main— these are some of the main ones.

There are changes in other areas, which—

but these are the main ones. There's no changes to any of their fees, uh, for the general admissions passes. And there are— obviously we have a huge fees and charges section. There are many other small changes to many, many of those fees, which you will be getting as soon as we're able to finish that up.

So within the next 2, 3, 4 weeks, it's a pretty time-consuming thing to put that together. You'll get that, it'll have all the fees, you're welcome to go through that.

Are there any— that's the last slide I have. Are there any questions about Anything on there. I will say that this is obviously early stage. These are all not only proposals for you to think about, they're also just estimates and proposals that we may—

subject to change on our part as well, as economies may dictate or other things that come about that we need to make adjustments for. Thank you. Thanks, Brent. Mary wanted to do that before management services did their part. Yeah, we do. Thank you, Brandon. So we can say we have darn close to the lowest utility costs in the area and darn close to the lowest property tax in the area. And a lot of— there's been a lot of tax increases going on around. Um, a lot of that's been blamed on inflation, but we're having the same inflation everyone else is having. So that's a real thing.

Really good point.

Hey, let's take a, like, a 5-minute break. We still have a lot to go. How do we have a volunteer for the break? Well, thanks, Lorraine.

Oh, he hasn't done it.

Our dear, kind Heavenly Father, we humbly rise before you this day with our many blessings and welcome you to meet here as a council executive staff. We're grateful for this food and blessed that my nursery provides just what we need that might have a joyful evening. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Yeah.

Oh, Phil Anderson.

Okay, so I can put you in the spot of—

Uh, tomorrow I got the White House tour and Capitol.

He says going off. I know this.

He's never been there.

He's never been there.

So yeah, be great.

All right, let's carry on. Okay, yeah, yeah. So are you guys not clear on the course? Are you part of Brandon's presentation?

Yes.

Second half of the presentation, we're talking about employee compensation.

About compensation?

Yeah, and we have to do that with the budget, so it's part of the budget.

Okay, sounds good. We'll go ahead and start, and we can wait and let you guys take a while.

So we're going to talk about employee compensation. This is part of the budget discussion that Brandon does every year. And, um, with that, we wanted to fold in some historical information as well as helping you understand the hybrid step program, because there's been a lot of questions from council on how that works. So with that in mind, uh, Amy Peterson, our HR manager, and Jessica, the Innovation and Strategy Division manager, we put a lot of time and effort into coming up with the compensation strategy for our employees every year. Um, takes a lot of manpower, so we're going to explain to you the process. So we'll start with some employment statistics. So currently we have 481 full-time employees, and on average we have about 672 part-time employees each year, and we range anywhere from 4 to about 70 seasonal employees each year. Um, our average is 1,183 employees at, um, at a time point, and then our maximum that we hit last fiscal year was 1,277 total employees. And you can see on the, the bar chart there the number of employees per department, um, with police, public works, and fire being our 3 biggest. And then the pie chart there shows you the percentage of the full-time employees citywide per department. And then just wanted to touch on a couple of the pay and benefits. Uh, with our health insurance, we have 449 of our 481 employees enrolled, which is 93.3%. Um, of those, 88%, um, is enrolled in our high deductible health plan and 12% in our traditional plan. Um, it's kind of early in the year to be, uh, getting definite numbers on possible increases for premiums, but right now we are looking at probably an 18 to 20% increase in our medical premiums. Uh, dental insurance, 94.4% of our employees are enrolled. Um, 78 of those—

That increase happens in January or on our fiscal year?

January.

January.

Yeah, so we don't have to incur the entire percentage Right, right.

Yes.

Yeah.

And then we're estimating anywhere from a 0 to 5% increase on the dental premiums. Is that typical, 8 to 20%? Um, it's hot. Well, I mean, that's about average in the market, but when we moved over to SelectHealth, we got a significant decrease. So this is slowly bringing us back up to one. So it's still— it, it'll be about where it was when we left.

Okay. Which one?

Generally, that's what—

that's what they do.

Yeah.

But in the meantime, we're happy to take savings.

And you're always shopping around?

Yes. So we work with a broker, GBS, and they, they shop around for us on our behalf. And then we review all of our benefits every year.

As part of our compensation, we obviously like to look at turnover and how our employees are doing. And so this shows our turnover for the past 6 or 7 fiscal years through FY24. The darker blue on the bottom is OHRM's turnover rate, and this is for full-time employees compared to the upper bluish-green line is the National Bureau of Labor Statistics turnover rate for state and local government employees. So you can see we definitely have had kind of a similar pattern to the national trend, but on a much smaller scale. We obviously FY22 too, had our biggest percentage of full-time employees leaving. Keep in mind, this is due to all reasons. It's not necessarily that they're leaving for a different job. They may be retiring, they may be moving. There's every reason that's included in this. But we did have a significant decrease over the past couple of years that we're seeing, and now it's hovering around 10-11% of our full-time employees. When we talk to other local entities around us, that also kind of mirrors what they're seeing.

kind of on par with what we see in our local market here for local government.

So we just also want to talk about some things that we look at to encourage employee recruitment and retention in response to turnover. Obviously, when there, there is a negative case where we lose employees that we want to be keeping, so we want to make sure we're avoiding those cases.

Can you go back to that previous slide?

Yeah.

So just—

I can't quite see, but you Yeah, which one's Orem? The top?

The bottom.

So the— yeah, the bottom for Orem. So like for last year, national was 18%.

18%, and that's for state and local government employees specifically.

And then Orem was 10%.

Uh-huh.

So we're almost half what the national average was, right? So that's great.

So some of the things that we're doing to incentivize employee recruitment and retention is we're working on a dashboard that will help us us better monitor employee turnover, looking at the reasons, trending and seeing if there's trends by department so we can work on that throughout the year and not just a single time or upon request. We've also been obviously doing some employee surveys over the past couple years, working on implementing feedback from those. For the past few years, this is something we didn't do before, but we've been doing more regular market surveys, and we'll talk about that as well, which has led to doing mid-year market adjustments. So not just in July, we're also— we also look at it on an ongoing basis and In response to what other cities actually do, we're able to make adjustments. If they gave police a big increase, we are able to see and respond to that instead of waiting another 6 months for the new fiscal year. Upon obviously budget availability for that. We've also built and expanded our hybrid STEP programs, which we'll talk about, expanded our BABO program and supervisor trainings. New this year, we're working on a new leadership development academy for employees who want to grow into a supervisory role. We've also, in addition to those biannual market surveys, we do look at individual positions upon supervisor requests, or even oftentimes if an employee comes and is concerned that their position is out of market, we can do a more in-depth review of that as well. And then we also meet with employees if they do have a case and they come to HR and they say, hey, I got an offer at another city for this much more money, and we can do— what this chart is, is an example of an analysis. So If they get an offer, this is one that an employee got an offer at another city for $2,000 more a year, but we helped them look at, you know, what's your health information going to be? How much vacation and sick time are you going to have? Do you get an additional to your 457 or 401? What are you going to pay for health and dental? And in the end, they were actually better off even now before our compensation increase in Orem, almost $4,000 better off annually, not accounting for future growth and like what they could top out at. And their range. But so that's, that's been a helpful tool. And we've been able to—

Did they stay?

Sorry?

Did they stay? Yeah, they did.

So yeah.

Now sometimes they don't, and they do leave, and we have them back. Yeah, that happens a lot in the fire department. They'll think the grass is greener, and then they bounce back.

They're called boomerangs.

I've seen that in the system too.

Okay, I'll turn the time over to Carrie to talk about some of our— oh, actually, I'll do this slide and then I'll turn the time over to Carrie. So some of you have been here this entire time, some of you are a little bit newer, so I'm just going to do a quick overview of some of the biggest compensation program changes we've made over the past several years. So in 2018, In response to higher turnover and some concerns from our public safety and just wanting to encourage career growth, we implemented the first phase of our career ladder program. So it created a career path for police officers through 1 to 2 to 3. It wasn't a step program like we have today. It was just a career ladder where if they met requirements, they could advance to a police officer 2 or firefighter paramedic 2. We continued to build upon that. And in 2020, we released the first version of what is our Public Safety Hybrid STEP program today, which Terry will go into more detail about. And so this was a combination between a traditional STEP program where they get an increase just on their anniversary date, but it also included that career ladder element because we really wanted to encourage career growth and those opportunities for them. So that was for police officers through lieutenants and our EMTs through battalion chiefs. In 2021, we worked with NFP, who is an external company, to conduct an extensive review of our compensation and benefits, job descriptions, um, and we made some recommendations and adjustments to our compensation system based on that. Part of that was implementing the first phase of the Public Works hybrid step program, which was highly successful. In '23, we expanded the hybrid step program even more to more departments and more positions. We also removed the grade and range system, which again Carrie will talk about, to just allow us to be more flexible within the market to individual positions and make sure that we are targeting our resources where they're most needed. Last year, we continued to expand the hybrid step program to almost all positions in the city under division manager. And that's been, again, highly successful. And then, like I just talked about earlier, we do biannual now since the NFC. This is what we focused on, is doing— making sure we're twice a year looking at our compensation and benefits compared to our peer cities and the market to make sure we're competitive.

So several of you have asked, what is the hybrid step program and what's the difference from what we used to do?

So this—

these 2 graphs show what we used to do prior to implementing the hybrid program. So in the past, we would give each physician a grade, and it would be marked in that certain grade internally, depending upon their supervisor years on the job. And then they would be assigned a grade. Responsibilities, their technical skills, their education requirements, and the years of experience to determine a grade. And then we would have several positions in that grade number. So in this example, in grade 10, we would have building inspectors, police officers, and firefighters in the same grade. So when we would go out to market and police and fire were getting big increases, everyone in grade 10 would get the same raises, which isn't really sustainable when we're being market-driven per position. So we did away with those grades for every position in the city so that we can be market-driven for individual positions. Uh, then, uh, this last year we put all positions— with some very limited, uh, positions that have been left out, uh, which is our division managers, our executive staff, and some of our highly trained and People like our attorneys, they are in the merit program still. So division managers on up and our attorneys are in the merit system, which means that their supervisors at the end of the fiscal year make a determination up to 3% what their merit increases will be for the fiscal year. Everyone else is in the hybrid step program. So what is the hybrid step program? I've passed out this, this sheet here so that we can go through it so that you understand how it works. Um, if you have a brand new police officer— and we have these for each department, they have different, different steps, but I just pulled out the, uh, police department. So if you have a brand new officer out of post without any experience at all, they would come in as a Police Officer 1 entry. And if they start in— let's say they start today in March Every year in March, the pay period after their anniversary date in that position, they go up a step. So next March they would move to step 1, and our payroll system automatically does that for them. Then in their second year, in March, they would move to step 2. On their third year, in March, they would move to step 3. But step 3 is just a, uh, resting place. until they meet their requirements to move to Police Officer 2. So, so it— that's a traditional step program. And then where we get the hybrid piece for the career ladder is during those 3 years as a Police Officer 1. The next sheet shows the requirements that they have to do as a police officer to be able to move to Police Officer 2. They have all 3 years to work on those requirements. They cannot move into Police Officer 2 until they hit their 3rd year and they meet all of these requirements. So most police officers or other employees in the hybrid step program will do all these requirements so that on their anniversary date, they would automatically go into the entry of Police Officer 2. They do not have to stay in Step 3 for an entire year. That's just a resting place until they, they get— If they don't do the requirements of the career ladder, They are topped out until they meet the career ladder requirements. So if they choose they don't want to advance and do some of these certifications, they will be topped out as a Police Officer 1 for their career until they decide. And then again, as a Police Officer 2, on their position anniversary date, they would move up again until they hit step 3. And then the next page on our document shows the requirements that you have to meet to become A senior police officer. And then again, 3 years later, they can become a master officer. Any questions on how the hybrid step program works?

How often do the numbers that make up this change?

So we look at these biannually. So we're looking at it right now. And then we'll look at it again in the fall or close to January time. So we look at—

That will change all the numbers, right?

Yeah, so what's nice with the hybrid step program is that we can— there's no overlap between a police officer and a sergeant, and no overlap from a sergeant to a lieutenant, and no overlap from a lieutenant to a captain, so that you don't have that compression issue of you supervising someone that's at a lower range than you that's making more money, which was one of the biggest issues that we had before we implemented that. Is that in our traditional plan, our ranges were so wide that we could have a police officer making more money than a sergeant who was supervising them. So now there's no overlap in that. But yes, every year we look at this twice. And because it is so fluid, we can expand and contract how many steps there are to be competitive in the market.

I think that's one of the most important things to understand is the compression that we create by the biannual adjustments, that it ebbs and flows. And so council may hear from an employee that to be promoted, it's only going to get a 1% raise. But that's making adjustments to the market that next year, that separation could be bigger to 3%. And so that's the value in this STEP program that I see.

And the difference too, in addition to that, is that in the past, And I would lean on you 2 to speak to this, but you could work your entire career and never get to the top of your range in a position. Now they have 12 years and they get to the top of their range.

So it significantly decreases the amount of time for them to get to the top of the range.

What metrics are you using when you evaluate biannually?

What, like, where are you comparing it to? That's a great question. So we are most cities in Utah belong to a clearinghouse. Um, we pay into a very small fee where we all put into the database of what our compensation is, and then we can pull them out as well. Um, we compare— and I'm taking over your slide, sorry.

Oh, that's okay.

We, we have our sister cities that all departments have agreed upon, and then for public safety, we add a few other positions. So this list shows our sister cities that we look at. So we don't, we don't compare ourselves To Santaquin or Cooper or some of those smaller entities that really aren't competitive with us in the market. So we look at same-size cities and then cities that we've lost employees to in the past, and then cities that are really location close to us.

So, and to more to that point as well, we're mostly looking at the ranges. So we're looking at what are these peer cities' ranges for a police officer, and is our range competitive? competitive because every city structures it differently. With our career ladder piece is different than a lot of other cities, so it's difficult to compare. You know, we also look at how many years it takes to advance through the steps, and some of them still have a merit system for their police and fire, public works, for all positions. Um, and so it's not an apples-to-apples comparison all the time, but that's why we focus primarily on the ranges and just looking at the overall, like, what's the potential of an employee in this position to So yeah, did you, did you say earlier how, how long it takes to go from a Police Officer 1 through the steps?

Is there a time element to that?

It would be 12 years.

You have anything to go from a Police Officer 1 to a Police Officer 2?

A Master Police Officer.

Oh, from 1 to 2?

Yeah, from 1 to 2 to Senior Police Officer.

So 3 years within a level. So 3 years, once they hit 3 years as a Police Officer 1, they're immediately eligible to advance So if they—

so there's a time element, and then they have to do additional requirements.

Yeah, they can skip a step if the, if the position doesn't require it. And this is true for positions across the city, as we said, we've implemented this for other departments. Um, if it's not a requirement for the position, if they have a degree or have military experience for public safety, they can use that to skip a step one time in series.

And then would they transfer in from a different city? You get credit for that as well.

Yeah, that's a great question. So if we, uh, we've brought in several officers from Salt Lake City that have many years of experience, and we bring them in year for year. But if we have an officer that comes in from a much smaller agency, we might, we might lower that to half-time for their years just because the, the experience wouldn't be the same, so it would be more. So we look at each position and our person and their experience, and we lateral them.

And is it still— I, you know, a couple years ago, right, and everything was crazy, Salt Lake was like, we will always be 10% above or 5% above. What— how do you deal with that?

So they did, they did commit.

I thought—

I think it was like 1% above any other city. They said they're the capital city in Utah and they will always be the top of the top. And they, they actually have unions, so they made that contract with their unions. Um, I don't think that they are following that. very closely. Uh, everyone's racing to bottom, like we've all heard that. Um, but I would also say too that compensation is extremely important for public safety, but also the, the community that we build, the organizational structure, the, the environment, the culture, all of that plays a role into that too. So yes, I think Salt Lake City does, but I would also say that, uh, we're seeing it pooling in that significant rise. Well, plus you're, you're seeing, you get a, you get a plan for your path, right?

That's kind of what I, what would grab, what would be important to me is, you know, hey, I can, if I do this, I can get that.

Yeah, just, there's something really important to be said that you come in as a brand new police officer and you can see how much money you'll be making in 12 years. Yeah. And you own your career path with your career ladder requirements. Whether you decide to or not. And if you decide to go get an education, it skips a step for you too. So there's a lot of things that they put their future in their own hands, which is great to have that control, which is a big deal, right?

Because they effectively control their destiny. They control their career.

Yeah.

Whereas otherwise it's left up to their supervisor, manager, and they hope it all works out. Yeah. Yeah, I was just gonna say, one of the most transparent things that I feel That we have done for this program is that we encourage our guys to bring in this. They all have friends in other departments, so they bring in the pay study. They do their own pay studies. And what we do is these gals will sit down with them. They go through, they look at the numbers that the guys are submitting. They compare them to the cities we compare to. And in most cases, we show that their numbers are wrong. They've got them from their friends. It's not really what they pay. Or even now, the component of identifying the cities that don't have— that will never reach the top. They don't have— their caps are too large. I mean, you see a firefighter that makes $120,000. Well, that's never going to happen. But that's what they bring in. So when we sit down with the actual employee and show, look, this is a midpoint, an old system like we used to have. It's a false range. It creates false hope. It ruins the whole system, but they've identified the actual departments we can go to that have STEP programs, and it's made a huge difference. Right. And from your perspective, I mean, you think it's accomplished— you think it's working great, basically, this STEP program? Yeah, I would say it's actually amazing, especially if you see the time that I started, Chief Adams started, and then the implementation of this. Our employees have grown, I mean, 30-45% in 5 years. in their overall wages. And the only way that happened is because of this hybrid step program and being comparable to the market.

And ours are much more educated and skilled and certified than other agencies because they have to meet those requirements to be able to move up. So we're probably one of the most educated and certified agencies.

No question. That's great.

Mayor, if I could add a testimonial to this as well. Likewise with police, fire, we've seen tremendous growth and development of individuals that have been able to be trained and, and then certified and become promotable into other positions as well.

And in the course of my 30 years at the city, we rarely would see somebody that after leaving after 30 years, nobody made it to the top of their pay range ever.

Hardly ever.

99%.

Now they can get to the top in maybe 10 years.

And then become promotable, and they're excited about having a career and staying at Orem because we are market competitive.

Thank you for hearing. Well, along those same lines, the huge tuition reimbursement program that you guys support and fund— I mean, you saw our booklet from our year-end report. I mean, we have 60 employees that have at least an associate degree and up out of our 90. I mean, so we're not— you're not only contributing to a higher level of education, but it's something on a 20-year retirement, they actually can pursue a whole other career if that's their choice because of a funded, supported higher-level education. It's amazing. And we actually include those requirements of a degree into our promotional steps itself. Very encouraged to go get it. Yeah, that's awesome.

And I would say one other positive is that when we first implemented this, one of the biggest concerns was how we hold people accountable if they're automatically getting increases every year? Um, and what we've found is just the opposite. Now that it's not tied to their pay, supervisors feel more comfortable holding their employees accountable because before they'd be like, oh, but they've got family and I wanna make sure they get a pay increase. Now they can be held accountable and it's not tied to their pay anymore. And that's been a real positive with departments feeling like that they have more power.

Make our supervisors better for sure.

For—

if I was giving a State of the City address today, and I could use— explain this program in 30 seconds, it really is a good example of how we took a situation where people worried about being an exception to good things, pay or market, to Now showing that this actually reinforces our culture of continuous improvement and is a great example of how our employees are proving that they're becoming exceptional in delivering these city services. It's not a 30-second need, it's 2 words: freaking amazing. That's really what it boils down to.

But it also speaks to the council's ability to understand our need to be innovative, and we don't to be the same as other cities. This hybrid STEP program, nobody else does. We created this because you guys are open to funding things that you can see that, that's best for the employees. We appreciate that.

Which takes it from, you know, just a, in an interview, a promise, which may be an empty promise to a new employee, to a path, you know, a promise. And, and so your incentives are aligned really well, I think. know, correct, everything.

I think turnover rates that we saw earlier.

Yeah, going down. Yeah, but that's the, that's the thing you have to remember is any one of you could get hit up at any time from an employee that just isn't meeting their own financial needs and expect the city to do more. Well, those are individual cases that they're isolated to their own personal issues, not what the city's providing them. And so it works for the majority of that that's the huge focus. The one-off employee that runs to Provo from fire department for a personal circumstance, I mean, it's positive displacement in my mind. And, and we have to have those conversations occasionally. And so we're not afraid of them, and you shouldn't be afraid of them, knowing that administratively, police, fire, public works, I mean, we're taking really good care of our people because of your guys' support.

And can I just add a little anecdotal experience? So I'm in my— at my mechanic's, you know, and the fire comes in to do an inspection. And one of your cute firefighters comes up and just gives me a side hug and just says, thank you so much for that raise. You know, he's like, I just really can concentrate on my job because I'm supporting my family better. You know, and I just kind of teared up because, I mean, it wasn't really me, it was you guys, but you know what I mean? It was awesome to hear that.

Thank you.

I'll make sure that employee gets a Bible book. They do feel that way though, so I appreciate them sharing that with you guys. That was—

okay, so yeah, we already talked about this, but we look at every position at least as much as possible, um, to do that market study. Like we talked, each position has its own unique range, whether it's still in the merit program as a division manager or if it's a floor position in Public Works or Community Development, we have this program for every single position. And so we look at all these positions compared to other cities. Obviously there's some positions that other cities don't have that we do, or vice versa, um, but we're able to use this database and then also reaching out to our network and reviewing job descriptions of other cities to make sure we're comparing comparable positions to do this market study twice a year. So our plan for the upcoming year, um, and this is based on the results of the market study is to fund the 3% step increases for positions in the hybrid step program. So if an employee is in the hybrid step program, they're guaranteed to get that 3% step unless they're topped out within their level or their range. Fund up to those 3% merit increases for positions that are in the merit program. Fund the career ladder increases for positions in the hybrid step program. Not every single position in the hybrid step program has a career ladder. The majority do, but not every single one does, but we want to make sure we're funding those and maintaining that. In addition to that, there are positions, as we've done our market study and are continuing to do that, that are out of market, and we need to make some adjustments there. And we want to make sure we fund market adjustments for those positions. And what that means is if we find that a position needs a 2% adjustment to be within the market, all of the steps would move up 2%. That employee would also get a 2% market adjustment in addition to the step or merit increase that they received as well.

Yeah, I think one of the most important things for you guys to recognize is that we have employees that are topped out— topped out engineers, topped out captains. Well, it's their choice to stay topped out. There's always a promotion available to them if they need to have more money. And so as long as the position is paid in the market, I'm sorry that you've been topped out for 3 years without a raise, you're at the top of the market in that position. If you need or want more money, you have to promote. And that's what, that's what we're seeing for the guys that are hungry and willing and want to continue to work and learn. They strive to be promoted.

What percent would you say are topped out or stay at the level they're at? Sorry, what percent would you say are topped out or stay at the level they're at?

Our engineers are probably the top, and there's probably 5 out of the 15 engineers that are topped out, and probably 3 or 4 of the 15 captains.

So it's—

I mean, it's a smaller percentage, but—

But that will grow over time, right? Sure, our captains will get to the top of the range. But on the flip side, they could have worked their entire 20-year career here and never gotten to the top. So yes, it does stink that you— when you finally get to the top of the range, but before you never would have gotten to that point.

They get there fast.

Yeah, they're sitting at it longer. They're sitting at the top of their range for a significant period of time versus just not reaching it at all. Uh, so yeah, there's positions that would not receive a targeted market adjustment for the upcoming year just because as we do this study, we find they're still within the market. We don't need to make a market adjustment. Again, the employee would still receive their merit or step increase, so it's not that the employee would not receive an increase unless they're top out. Um, but there are other positions that need a bigger market adjustment, so we want to fund those as well. Uh, as part of the hybrid step program, we also want to make sure we're competitive within the range, looking at both ends, the minimum and the maximum. So that means adding new steps and career ladder levels to certain positions in our city, and this will encourage career growth and incentivize people to stay. And a big component of this is that we want to make sure that we're transparent with employees. If we are proposing an adjustment to their position, a market increase or adding steps or career ladder, we want to make sure that they're well aware of that, that they know that they can prepare to reach those new levels and understand what's happening. So we will be meeting with employees and groups to explain any changes that will be happening to their positions as well.

And just to confirm what Jennick is telling you, after working with Carrie, as soon as the tentative budget is approved in May, we have the following week scheduled to meet with all 3 platoons. to provide that information. So it's— she's exactly right. We're very transparent in providing them the information that— I mean, that's what they work for, take care of their family, and money is a big deal.

And that is all I have for this. So any additional questions?

I think you're good.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up, we've got item 1.6.

Uh, this is Teresa, our city recorder.

Election agreement resolution.

All right, uh, so this is concerning The agreement that— well, this is actually concerning the resolution that we need to pass today that would allow the mayor to sign the agreement with Utah County to administrate or help administrate the 2025 election. And so just really quick, let you know, like, some of the things that they will handle as part of this agreement is they took care of the ballots as far as layout, printing, mailing, receiving them back in. Um, they process them, they do the signature verifications. Um, they also take care of the voting equipment and run tests and, and send that out for the public, um, so they know that all of those machines are working correctly. They also handle all of the Election Day things, like they're going to hire And train the poll workers.

They manage the poll locations.

Let's see what else.

They take care of the drop boxes. They handle the audits, and they send us the reports with the results so that we can do our Canvas. This is kind of the same, very similar to the agreement that we signed last year, or not last year, 2 years ago when we did this. And they do have like an estimate. It did go up a little bit more this year. They— Utah County, they claimed that they were lower than most of the other counties, so they did raise it up a little. So it was about— I want to say like $30,000, maybe $40,000 more than it was. And that's if we do both elections. If for some reason We don't have enough candidates to do a primary, then of course those costs would be a lot less because we'd only have one election. But do you have any questions? I did put the—

Was this something new? I mean, this is the same agreement we did last year, but wasn't there something in here that was new? I think she sent out today. Yeah.

Okay, so the thing that's sent out today, I don't know a ton about it. I just got the email, and so then I sent it out to you. It's just an option, kind of like a program they want to start, or a thing they're kind of trying out.

Oh, we're gonna pass resolution.

So that's completely separate from this. This is just the— to allow for them to do the normal thing.

Yes.

But if we want to participate in this program, you're gonna find out more and discuss it at a later date.

The email you sent out today.

I hope so. I'm hoping he'll get us more details. I think he just kind of blasted it out there. They have used the— I can't remember what it's called. It's like quick, kind of like quick voting at the last election. And you kind of like have a special line, so you kind of go to the front. I've heard that the people who use it were super happy, and the people standing in those really long lines this last year We're not so happy to watch someone get to go all the way to the front. Yeah, yeah, like a fast pass to voting.

They need to put it in a different door.

Yeah, so I think the big requirement would be, it's not that it's that part is new. The new part would be our city would be involved in that. And that we may have to have like kind of a location here where they could basically FastPass besides just like putting it in the box. Okay, so I can't remember the title, the words they used.

SF will discuss.

No, so this is completely different. This is just to the— their standard agreement for them to help us with the election.

It—

whether or not we participate in that program doesn't change this agreement. Um, I'm hoping that in the next, uh, month or something that Aaron will— we'll either meet with our Cura group and talk about this a a little bit more. They tend to come to our, our groups quite often and try to keep us updated.

You said the price went up a little. Could you quantify that?

So it's— the price went up to— it's $275 per voter per— I think before it was like $200.

I'd have to look it up, but it was a little bit more like $240 or something like that.

He did say, I think, something was like $4 or $5 per—

Well, our other option is to do it ourselves.

Our other option is to do it ourselves without any of the equipment that we would have.

So it would basically be like—

We did it.

Have we ever done that?

Well, we've done it before because the county used to have old machines that you could rent. Well, those machines have kind of hit their Yeah. And they've been— they are no longer available. So if you're a small city, then it is absolutely in your power to run it yourself. 2 years ago, they took that option away, and everyone had to use the county because of some— that change in the dates and stuff. So they kind of forced all cities to use them no matter what. But this time, yeah, if you're a smaller city, it may pass.

So this is basically for Malibu.

Yeah, and we have to have a resolution.

We have it already on the agenda, right?

Yeah, it's a consent item in the next one, but both of these items are in your packet if you have any questions that you want to look over that for.

Definitely.

Any other questions?

Okay.

All right, CARE tax is up.

Mayor, could I ask what the total cost Run the election?

Yeah, so 46— they are, as of January 1st, 2025, they say there are 46,632 registered or active voters.

They call them active voters.

And so that would work out to, um, 128,238 per election.

So that's 200—

how many active 46.

We've never gotten that many in a municipal election.

Yeah. And it's like, that's just what they're saying on January.

I think it's very— you only vote for people.

Yeah.

Yeah.

There's— they have to—

save the city $3. I'll give you $3.

Why you as well?

Okay.

If they make this pretty quick.

I love these graphs. I have no idea what you've got.

That's why we do them.

Yeah, good.

That's the CARE tax.

So, and the reason it's so small is this year we had the most by far applicants for CARE tax.

Oh, it's impossible to put this on 2 slides?

Well, I'm just checking. This computer doesn't do that.

So there were 38 applications we reviewed over 3 nights of fun-filled, packed evenings with Jeff and Dave. So we thank them and thank our 5 commission members who hung out with us for that time as well. Elsie Pally was here earlier. She had to leave. But it was a good time had by all. So during that time period, all—

Jeff.

4 or 5 of the groups came in and presented their, if you will, presented their case to us. Um, and then the last night we had deliberation over, um, what amounts. You can see the various amounts that they requested. Um, if you recall, we increased the, the limit for major to be $15,000. So of course a lot of them asked for more based on that increase. in that limit. And then, um, anyway, this $125,000 right here is kind of the targeted number that we've had over the years for how much to give to these mini and mid majors. And so that's kind of the target. And then we, as we go through, we kind of evaluate What we think that they should get, kind of add that up, see where that falls, and then maybe have to go back through and reevaluate. Oh, we really liked these people or this group. So let's see if we can give them a little bit more. And so this column is the final result of those deliberations. And what is being proposed to you. You can see we are 2 major grant categories, the 2 groups that are in that category. We had several that applied to be in that group, but we did not propose— it was not proposed that they move to that major grant category. And so this is where we currently are sitting in relation to the total amount The arts side of the care tax. Now, there is— sometimes there's an element related to the city's participation in the arts side that is not yet here. These are specifically to do with the application groups. So we will be coming back at a later time with the recreation side as well as the other element related to this. And then there will be a— I believe it's an ordinance, could be a resolution, but resolution or an ordinance basically awarding those CARES tax dollars in relation to this. And this will then also be included within our tentative budget. Normally we would probably come to you in the 2nd meeting in April. It's probably not going to happen this year, so it may be right before the tentative budget. But needless to say, I don't— are there any, any questions about any of the process or any of these? Obviously, you're gonna have some time. It got sent to you, I believe, yesterday. So you're welcome to look through that. And if there's any questions, you can specifically ask Jayden.

I Well, no, honestly, yeah, because one of the main things— this was the first commission I was on as a resident, was the Care Commission. And when at that time, one of the main, um, things that we looked for was, you know, how many OR residents are on your group, how many do you touch, you know, how many do you influence. I don't know, is that— are you guys still looking at that? Oh yeah, still looking at that.

Diligently.

Okay.

Are they physically located here?

Yeah.

How many members have you acquired from Orem?

How many concerts in Orem do you do?

How many people from Orem come to your concerts?

So yeah, that, that's one of the major things.

Great.

And I like that. I think that needs to be stated, right?

I appreciate that you said that here because I think people need to understand when you vote for this, I mean, this builds Orem.

Well, it's not like this is good.

It should not be their whole funding. A lot of people just relying on that, and it's like, so every year they go down a few— it's $500 or $1,000 here because they're not doing their job. They're not getting out on social media, not trying to get fundraising. So, it does— if you try and ask them to, it's how much of their funding this is. Yeah, yeah, we can see it on the applications.

Does that work with their application if they get more funding from outside sources?

Are you more likely to give them more? Depends on if they're going pro to get also get their tax. You know, it depends on what is in more and what's affecting more.

So we were pretty—

I mean, $350,000, $365,000, we had $125,000.

So people are like, hey, I want $15,000. I'm like, and so does everybody else.

So, so we cut—

I mean, it was a unanimous decision on everybody. We just went through, boom, boom, boom, had to keep people on track, you know.

Keep focusing.

Let's keep moving because we'll be here until midnight. So we got it done.

It was 3 nights.

Yeah, 5 to 9. It was fun.

Thank you for your service.

Thank you for the recommendations.

We're not voting on this tonight.

This is inform and vote sometime in the future, correct?

All I really have at this point. And if you have any questions about any of those, and if you— or about the process, about any of them individually, Obviously, I mean, just that—

I mean, Adam's here from the Sarah, and we, you know, we give him 100% because what he does in our community is amazing.

So we appreciate Adam and the Sarah.

Adam is a wise steward of those funds because he does more with that money to impact people that come to Orem because of what he provides and his staff. out of it. Huge thank you. It's a good outdoor concert coming up then.

Well, he takes care of kids and older people. I mean, it, it, it services people who might not be serviced by any of these other options.

So thank you.

Yep.

Thanks for your support. Appreciate it.

Okay, thanks, Brandon.

Okay, we're going to move the agenda, but before we do, uh, we'll have a gen—

we're under commissions. Great.

Uh, we've got some fun commissions. We have Youth Council, which, um, has been fun. You also saw the video that they put together, high school put together for the State of the City. That was really fun to see. Um, they've got another service activity in April, and then in May they'll have an end-of-the-year general staff council.

We can cheer them on and just get a little bit of our service about the event.

Um, the Natural Resources Advisory Commission, formerly the Natural Resources Stewardship Commission, um, used to fall under Development Services, and with all the changes to boards and commissions we've made, now it falls under Public Service, and Title Pay runs through that. So that's a pretty new change, um, and I think it's a good change. Um, it lets them kind of be more integrated into all the great public service things that really align with their goals and mission. But they also want to just connect more with city departments. So if you feel like, um, you in your department have something that might You know, they might have insight on, or want to get them involved. I think they really like that. They're trying to set up a schedule throughout the year so they can meet with various— so, and then upcoming activities for them. If you want to go birding, they're going to do that. They're going to celebrate Earth Day, and then the community free swap in April as well. So events also had some changes. It used to be that events was the Orem Fest Commission, and now it's the Events Commission. So that's been fun. They brought some new members on. We have some really, really great new members, some with experience from other cities that they brought to us, and we're learning from them. Others with just lots of enthusiasm. That, that's been fun. Um, and they're talking now more about— they're not just talking about Orem Fest, although they are right in the middle of that, thinking heavy right now. Um, but they're talking about bigger and broader things. But as far as Orem Fest goes, you council members all should have received an email February 27th from Kenise Whitaker.

And if you didn't look at it, please go back and look at it.

It just outlines the events that are coming up for Orem Fest and asks where you want to be involved or don't want to be involved, just so they can best use you in a way that makes sense for your life. So if you could look at that, that'd be great. Parade applications are open, Spirit of Orem applications are open, and we do have an opening on the commission. So if you know someone you think would be awesome on the events commission, please send them our way.

That'd be great.

And that's kind of that one. And then I should talk about school district. It's not my official commission.

Oh, good talk.

So school district update. I'm part of that interlocal group that helps run things.

We came—

well, we came up with a map that should be approved hopefully this Thursday at the county level. That's just the seat map for where the board seats would be. We anticipate that it will be approved, but we never know. We set up a website to answer questions, so people have questions to go there. They are currently working on feasibility study that will look at all the different numbers. LRV is doing that, or wherever they are now, and they will come back with their thoughts and ideas on where the district stands.

So that's the summary.

Okay.

Thank you. All right, let's go through the agenda real quick. Uh, 6:00 PM, call to order, and then invocation. John Leftover.

Mayor, there's a change there. Okay, it was going to be a father-daughter, but it's going to be a father's wife, husband-wife.

And so the woman is not Haley, it's Jackie, J-A-C-K-I-E.

Is that leftover still? Yeah, it's still—

yeah. And I'll be happy to make a brief intro. Okay. And then John is still the same, right?

Yeah, yeah.

All right, sounds good. Um, then we got item 7.1. We're not going to do that. Uh, realtors Uh, had to cancel last minute, but they're going to come another night. Oh, they're not coming tonight, that's all? Yeah. Okay, thank you, sir. Uh, 7.2, Mr. and Mrs. Golden Orem. There'll be a presentation by Gina Bortoloso, the senior center.

So Dave and I got to judge that.

That was fun.

And are you Mr. and Mrs. Orem?

With Miss Orem?

No, no, no, no. And I think I'm judging tomorrow too.

It was—

I love what Gina does, is so amazing. So what is it you judge?

What do they do?

Um, they answer questions.

Talent?

Yeah, just to see, because they're supposed to represent quorum on the senior side.

So yeah, it was—

um, and then I have 7.3, the report from Mark Seasbrand on the giving machines. Uh, 7.4, a report from the Department of Justice Court. That's an annual report, right?

Yes, sir.

Uh, 7.5, a presentation on the legislative recap. That'll be Jared McKinney. So, Brent, is that just a— is that just a presentation? Are we— yeah, I mean, because that could go forever if we start asking questions. Are we supposed to ask questions or no? You definitely can ask questions, but he'll have a great presentation to share. Will he be here, or you— he'll be here.

All right, so 7.5, uh, personal appearances.

Uh, and then we got item 9, the consent items. Got approval of meeting minutes.

Uh, we got—

so are you doing that?

Yeah, just these 2. You took off the 3rd one.

Just these 2?

Yes.

You said the February 11th ones are the January 11th, January 11th, January 11th are not on there. Oh, January 14th.

Thank you.

And then item 9.2, reappointment of the Natural Resources Advisory Commission. Uh, Quinn Minkham. And this is, this is something, uh, that we just decided. Um, essentially what we've talked about in the past is on our commissions is trying to have people serve on there for 2 years or 2 terms, and that would be it. Um, Jen wanted, uh, or Quinn wanted to Reapply, but this would be his 3rd term.

I got booted from the Care Commission. I don't know that we did.

I didn't even know.

It's not in the code. There's only 1 commission. I think Planning Commission is the only one that limits the terms. But where's— maybe Jeff would know, or would you care?

Because, I mean, I actually have a resume here of someone that wants to be on your— that I interviewed for Neighborhood.

I was going to give you—

that wanted to be on Natural Resources.

I don't know.

I just think 3-year terms.

Yeah, the only one that has a rule on it is the Planning Commission.

So what—

I don't know what the argument was.

Not by regulation.

So what the discussion was is Quinn had been on there 2 previous terms, he'd done a great job. And he was interested in being on it again. And And, uh, why don't you make your case?

Um, he was interested in being on it even then. I think he's been a pretty crucial part of that commission for the last little while, especially as we transition over to this new department, and they're just trying to operate in a little different way. So they have a really great alchemy on that commission, and he then is eminently qualified to do it. So we thought, you know what, let's, let's see if we can leave him on there but create subcommittees of some of these people that want to be on the commission and get them involved and get them integrated. And then I think that's a great place where they can show they want to be involved, so they want to be engaged, and then maybe move to a permanent spot when one becomes available, or just—

So if you argue with me, I mean, that— but kind of, you know, he was a valuable resource on that commission.

Very.

We didn't necessarily have anyone that could replicate what he was doing. Yes. And so the idea was to leave Mark for a 3rd term But then have it form some subcommittees. So, any of the people who apply for that commission won't be left out, because that's why we want to keep turning through. They won't be left out, but they would be able to come serve on a subcommittee and then figure out if, you know, at that point, if they're going to be able to perform, right?

Yep.

So, anyway, so that's where that conversation went. And then I think there was an issue that this is not in code, that it's 2 terms only except on certain commissions. Um, so anyway, that's what we wound up— um, so I mean, that means, I mean, anybody that wants to re-up, we just do them for a 3rd term. I mean, that's what we'll pay.

Yeah, I just, I don't know.

I mean, like Carol Walker, she's been on, she's been on husband, but she, she served, she served in 2 terms and now she's on the rec. So I mean, I think maybe Quinn could be used in another, uh, maybe.

I don't—

I mean, I mean, Quinn's fine.

I just think like I was on the Care Commission and yeah, they booted me. They said, okay, you've been on there 6 years, you know, and I wanted to stay, but the fact that I left made an opportunity for someone to come.

Yeah.

So not, um, I just, I, I didn't like it at the time.

I wanted— I enjoyed serving. That's a fun commission to be on.

But, um, they say, this guy, I had this resume and he's very qualified to be on your Natural Resources Commission with his bachelor's degrees and stuff like that.

But I don't know.

And, and I— if you weren't— if you didn't have any applicants To me, that's when you do it.

It's like, what is your situation with applicants?

Uh, we have a handful of applicants.

I think there will be 3, but some of them have been on the commission.

They've been on the list. I don't know if they're still interested.

That would be— to me, that's when you would do that, is when you don't have anyone and you're like, hey, well, nobody's applied. So, like, you know, you get to be PTA president treasurer for the 3rd year because—

So then do you put the focus on the qualifications the candidate has, or do you put the focus on, we just want more people to do it?

So I think most of our commissions are pretty well managed by staff, you know, and there are talents that people bring.

I think people apply to certain commissions because they have an interest in that particular commission.

Reappoint Quinn and then invite this person also on the commission.

Well, you got to change the number then.

But that's what— well, that's what I told Jen when we talked was if we do this, then I definitely want to see this subcommittee formed on the care commission. And I don't care.

That's a resource.

I want to see the commission formed. But in that subcommittee, are they going to really want to do it? I mean, well, depending on what they're— how do you divide up the roles and responsibilities?

I mean, or if you want, maybe expand it.

You know, maybe they're going to do activities, maybe they're going to go to a black project, maybe they're going to go do different things. So the subcommittee, you know, could work that way.

And we're going to run out of time, but it sounds like something you maybe could talk about at the issues today, that there's valid arguments.

I think he is eminently qualified, but I'm just kind of looking at the long picture here, um, for every commission that could be, um, stagnation every time.

Yeah, I mean, there is an argument to be— if you have exceptional people that are really adding a ton of value to their commission.

In the end, Jen, if you want to recommend him, I'd vote for him.

So I think that's where—

if you think you want to recommend him, I'd vote for him.

So, so, but I, I do— I would like to have— I mean, I guess my suggestion on this would be let's reappoint this, uh, tonight, but then let's have a conversation about what we want this to look like going forward.

Yeah, let's get a process in place.

No doubt.

So kind of just—

we're all about process. We are rebuilding the Boards and Commissions website to make it more user-friendly for you to make reappointments.

appointments.

So if we do want to make changes to some of these rules, we'll probably want to know sooner than later, because we're almost done building the system out. But when we present, that might be a good time to mention some of these changes.

And even for granted, there's a change— is there a limit on these conditions?

None of them currently have a limit except the climate condition.

So, so let's try and have a— if you can have us have a conversation about that. Just to, yeah, do a ballot process.

So, yep.

Okay.

And, and Mary. Okay, awesome. Um, the 2 that were sitting—

there's an appointment to the Neighborhood Advisory Commission.

Kristen Baskin and—

I'll just have them stand. I think they're coming tonight, Mayor.

So, you know, Gwen's coming tonight. Kirsten was on vacation. Um, item 9.4, resolution authorizing the city manager to sign an agreement with detox county for the 2025 local elections.

That's what we just talked about.

So those are all the consent items. Scheduled items, we got a public hearing on the zoning maps. Was this Canyon Park?

Yeah, yes, yes.

Okay, can we do an also known as in our descriptions so then it's easily searchable, you know, with someone? I don't know, do you know what I mean?

Yeah, like in parentheses Canyon Park or something.

Yeah, because like Whitestone or whatever, nobody knows that's Wilbur's Park.

Yeah, we should.

I mean, on this it does have in parentheses Canyon Park.

It is just buried in there. So again, a subject line.

Yeah.

Okay.

So that is to— yeah, but it is basically to approve Ken Garf for R8, right?

Okay.

Ken Garf moved.

Okay.

And then item 10.2, that's Ken Garf. And they've asked to continue to the April 8th.

Yeah.

Okay, and so you had your information, and then thank you for coming, and we'll go on to part 2.

All right, we would like to welcome all of you to City Council tonight. We're glad you're all here. We'll start out with an invocation from John Westover and a Pledge of Allegiance from Jackie Westover. And Tom, if you'd like to introduce them.

I'm happy to introduce 2 of my friends. Dr. Jackie Westover is a professor of business calculus and statistics at Utah Valley University, and more importantly, she's a mother of 6 and tries to keep her husband, Dr. John Westover, in line, who is the chair and professor of organizational leadership and Change in the Woodbury School of Business at Utah Valley University. They've been married for 23 years, and they and their 6 children have lived in Orem for 13 of those years. So, John, you're up.

Our loving Father in Heaven, we're grateful for this beautiful day, for the beautiful weather that sustains us, and for the opportunity to gather.

As concerned citizens, we ask thy blessing to be upon this body and our city leadership, that they can keep in mind the needs of all those who reside within our boundaries, that they can seek thy guidance, and that they can strive to, to meet the needs of of everyone who is in need. We're grateful for all of our many blessings to live in such a wonderful place.

And we say these things in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.

Jackie, if you'd like to come lead us in the pledge. Would the audience please rise?

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you.

We'll move on to item 7. And we're going to move to item 7.2. This is Mr. and Mrs. Golden Orem. Uh, Gina Burleson, if you'd like to come forward and present. Yeah, we're starting with you first.

Mayor and councilmen, esteemed city manager, um, and all of our friends here, thank you for inviting us to come in here and introduce The 2 honestly shining stars of our community. I want to tell you a little bit about each of them. Uh, this is Mr. and Ms. Golden Years, OSFC Golden Years, so Orem Senior Friendship Center. Uh, we had a pageant on Valentine's Day. We had 11 contestants, 3 men, 8 women, and these 2 reigned supreme. I would like to first introduce her Rolaine Young. Rolaine, Rolaine is very involved in our senior center. She actually plays the Native American flute. And did you tell me for 15 years you've been doing that?

Yes.

And she started teaching it at our center as a volunteer, and they began the Orem Senior Friendship Center Timpanogos Flute Circle, and they played throughout the valley and even in Salt Lake, if I remember correctly.

Recall.

Yeah. And they're going to be at an event for Aurum City actually coming up. Right. They're really amazing. Wait till you hear them. And her husband passed away about 3 years ago. We're so glad that, that she was comfortable with us before that happened because she just kept coming. We're just so delighted to have her with us together. Combined, they have 7 children and 21 grandchildren.

And then—

and I'm going to have them, if it's okay, are we going to get a picture with all of you guys and them? Because that sounds official, right? And then I want to introduce Brian Clifton. Brian, let me tell you, was pretty impressive at the pageant, was he not, Dave Spencer and Lynnae?

Lynnae?

Yes, he was.

And he had a nice suit too.

Yes.

I mean, you should see— he dresses that way all the time. I'm just telling you. So Dave and Lynette were both judges for us along with Miss Orem. And, um, when they walked out on stage, they got to choose the song they wanted to walk out to that would really empower them. And I'll be darned if Brian didn't start doing burpees on the stage. It would put every single one of us to shame. I told him if he does them here, he's got to take crown off so it doesn't like injure somebody. But he has been married to his beautiful wife Judy for 35 years. They have made Orem their home. They have loved raising their kids here. They have 2 children and 4 grandchildren who are all boys. And I said, oh my gosh, they can aspire to be Mr. Golden Years in years down the road. The oldest one's only 3, so I won't be here. But, um, anyways, if I would love to have them come on up here and Maybe share with, with you what, how they feel about Orem Senior Friendship Center and, and how grateful they are for, for the value you put on our seniors. DuBrow Lane, we'll go with you first.

My husband and I joined the senior center right shortly after we retired. A little over 11 and a half years ago and developed some really wonderful friendships. I even made friends with my dad's grade school buddy. I got to know him and he became one of my really dear friends at the center. Um, I've been so impressed with the classes that have been started up at the senior center. Our brilliant university. I have watched, oh, roughly about 13 people who probably had never laid their hands on a wood flute before become some of the finest flute players I've ever heard out there. And I get to be the one who sits back and smiles as I listen to them play and I see them progress. And share their music. It's given us an opportunity to go out amongst the community and share this new skill and talent as we perform in malls and at the conference center. And I, I see it building confidence in some of the members of our class, and it's given me a chance to make some really lifelong friendships in that classroom. With my, my second family. That's how I look at them. And I'm grateful for the opportunity I've been given to come into that class and share something that is very dear and special to me with my music and be able to see it bless the lives of others. Thank you.

Well, I married an older woman, and she was always going to the senior center, and people would ask her, well, where's your husband?

And, you know, they were making the moves on her because they never saw a husband.

And I wasn't old enough, but when I became of age, I started attending the senior center, and I've been impressed.

There's so many activities going on. There's always something going on. There's so much it offers, and it's, it's just, it's a lot of fun to go.

Orem—

my wife and I moved from out of state to Orem, and we've lived in Orem for 25 years, Utah County for 35 years.

And when we got married, we thought, well, we'll go back to where we came from.

But when we started raising our kids, we decided this is the place we want to raise our kids, and we've stayed, and our kids have stayed.

They're still here, and Utah County is a, a wonderful place.

The people are wonderful, uh, and we're staying.

So I just want to let you know that they will be representing the city of Orem at the Utah County Fair at the very first annual Mr. and Golden Years Pageant on August 1st. We invite you to come and support them. And, um, thank you for supporting us and for loving us and valuing seniors. They're the best part of our community.

Thanks.

Thank you, Jeannie.

Yes, we'll do a—

we'll do a photo with you.

All right, let's just have you turn— go a little to your right.

There we go.

3, 2, 1. Okay, thanks. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Next up, we've got item 7.3. This is a report on the giving machines from Mark Seestrand.

Stand right here.

Hey, you guys, great to see you again. It's a pleasure to come here again on our annual reporting of the giving machines and the amazing things that have happened here in Orem. Our purpose is to recognize 3 things. One, we have a fantastic community that has been so generous, and we want to say thank you to them. We also have some amazing charities that are here locally that do an incredible level of work. We want to recognize them and say thank you to them. And then we also want to do whatever we can to continue the support in terms of better understanding and knowing that the giving machines will be here next year to make sure people know that their donations are going to a great cause and doing very well. My name is Mark Seestrand, and this is my wife, Shelley Seestrand. We are the co-directors of the Orem Communication Council for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Light the World program is sponsored for and paid for by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And we are thrilled to be here. Throughout the Light the World campaign, thousands of individuals and families will be fed, clothed, educated, strengthened, And become more self-reliant here in Utah Valley as well as around the world. Wherever Giving Machines are located, we see a great spirit of love and selfless, selfless service in those communities. The volunteers often witness their uplifting moments for the day when they're able to take their family, go to the Giving Machines, and select items that they want to give to people in need. One family said, my wife and I want our kids to experience the joy of giving. Watching them choose a chicken or a book or a baby blanket for someone else was a powerful lesson for them to learn. I'm so proud of my kids for their sacrifice and being able to give. The Giving Machines were launched in 2017 at the annual Light the World Giving Machine Initiative, has become a global phenomenon. In 2024, this last year, vending machines are now in over 107 cities across the world, in over 13 countries, and in 5 continents, impacting millions of individuals and families. This year, the, the program worked with over 450 charities around the world and to help them be more successful in delivering the important things. These charities include places like Asia and Africa with Nairobi. And after 5 years of, of absence, the Giving Machines returned to the United Kingdom. COVID kind of got in the way of that process, so it was fun to get that back there. One of the most remarkable aspects of this initiative is that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donates 100% of the, of the proceeds to the charities. They cover all of the operational expenses to make sure that, you know, when you give money to a charity, 100% of it makes it to that, to that location. Since the inception, the Giving Machine program has generated over $50 million in donations for children and teens and adults around the world.

Hey, I get to introduce the highlights of the Giving Machines. We This year worked with 9 different charities. And does any of you want to make a guess on how many transactions were made this year?

How many card swipes? What?

In Orem, just Orem. Nobody wants to guess? Okay, 16,600. Uh, With around 70,000 visitors and 45,845 items were purchased. In our little Aurum, it, it's just so fun. 65% of those donations stay locally and 35% are used in other parts of the world. In total— okay, here's another number. How many meals do you think were donated?

1.5 million.

Anyone out here want to guess how many? 386,161.

Isn't that just amazing? Um, our numbers this year were similar to what they were last year, which was amazing because of the increase— the inflammation— inflammation That you know where I'm at, and, um, there is a bigger need for help out there now.

So now we'd like to recognize the charities and the, and the organizations that have been a vital part of being able to make this happen. One key element that we have here in Orem is that each year the giving machines are, are located in one of the best locations in the world. It's indoors. The security is provided by University Place. They have wonderful decorations, high-traffic area. The, the University Place also provides the electricity and the internet, which is vital to be able to make the transactions happen. So we have a big shout out to the Woodbury family and to the University Place for their ongoing support of this community and in being able to have such a wonderful place. this to happen. So now, if we can, I'll— we'll just kind of read, uh, the charity. We'll have them come up. Shelly's got a little plaque they've made for them, and if it's okay, we'll have them come up. They can stand over there. When they're all done, we'll get a picture with the council, if that's okay. Okay, first of all, we have, uh, Benjamin Donner with the American Red Cross. Come on up, Benjamin. The American Red Cross offered 3 items in the giving machines. A comfort kit and a blanket, 2,859 comfort kits and blankets. There was an infant care kit, 1,763, and vital vaccinations in, in, uh, in part of the world, 1,287, for a total of 5,909 donations that went in their direction. So that's great. Thank you very much.

Go ahead.

Another one of our international charities that's located here in Provo is the Academy for Creating Enterprises. They specialize on helping people in poverty create a business and to develop that business into a long-term source of income. These are typically some of the most popular items on the giving machine. They offered a farmer starter kit, which included seeds and a lot of things to allow them to help begin their farming. 3,232 small businesses will be started with these starter kits. And then also for 2 little piglets, which we know generate more piglets, 3,583 new little business startups. So we have Curtis Beasley, if you'd like to come up. Curtis, we'll, we'll recognize you. That's a lot of pigs. We also have Community Action Services and Food Bank. Many of you are very familiar with them. They provide a lot of food services throughout the county. They offered a weekend meal, and Karen McCandless is, is the director. It's great to have her. They offer a weekend meal, 3,493. A warming center kit, which is a new addition that they added to their services this year, 599. And then also the, the real exciting one is people bought 200 meals, 1,586, for a total of 320,693 meals being provided by Community Action Services. Another food charity we have this year, as, as you'll all recognize, is Jimmy Golding with Meals on Wheels. Meals on Wheels not only offers food, but they offer a very vital visit and a care checkup with many of our seniors. 1-meal visits were 4,028.

5-meal visits.

1,750, and 20 visits and meals, 461 sets of those, for a total of 21,998 meals and visits to our seniors. We have Tabitha's Way, a local food pantry. They're located in Spanish Fork. They're, they're opening a new warehouse in Spanish Fork, and they also have one now in Pleasant Grove. So we have Debbie Luray, who's on their board of directors. School supplies— these are the little backpacks that everybody loves— 2,795. Produce for kids, 1,437. And one month's worth of meals for veterans, 1,449 months. That's a lot of meals. Total of 43,470 meals coming from Tabitha's Way. We have Matt McHale here from the Alpine House, which offers a variety of supports for, uh, for our community, including housing support. 321 nights, is that— would that be nights of housing support? And 598 maternal mental health visits to help those with postpartum Related issues with new infants. Thank you. Not much else. 3 more to go. We have the United Way of Utah County, who's always been involved with a lot of things going on in the valley. Stephanie Anderson is here with United Way. Uh, child's education toys, $2,460. Art classes, 1,061. New baby kits, 2,204. Life skills training, 564. And maternal mental health, 598. So some great things there. Thank you very much. Another one is Kids on the Move with Raquel Rutherford. Their organization, as you know, works with families and children that are— have a variety of challenges, and they are fantastic here in the community and do some excellent work. They had 5 tiles this year in the giving machines. Empowering Through Play, $722. Caregiver Respite Care.

646.

Specialized therapy, 1,181. Equine therapy, 677. And assistive equipment for those in need, 394 pieces. So we're excited to work to recognize Kids on the Move. And finally, we have I Care for Kids. They specialize in eye care for a variety of age groups. So Lenses for Literacy, $2,661. Maggie Klein is here with us. Thank you. Sight for Success, $1,047. See the Possibilities, $249. Sight the World, $560. And Eyes on the Road, $178.

Thank you.

So, all in all, our community rallied. Our, our charities are doing fantastic work, and as a result, many families, many individuals will receive the help they need this coming year. So thank you very much to the community. Thank you very much to these charities. Thank you for support, Orem City.

Hey, thank you, Mark.

Let's get a picture.

Let's go ahead and take a photo.

Anybody that's here at these organizations, feel free to come up and get in with us if you're, if you're not already here.

Hey.

Hey, you got a squeeze in.

All right, just a little bit tighter on the side. Yeah, here we go. 1, 2, 3.

Well, thank you, Mark, and thank you for that amazing presentation. It's, uh, pretty unreal what the giving machines are able to do for the community. All around the world. We'll move on to item 7.4. This is our Justice Court, and, uh, our Judge Reed Parkin will present to the council.

Impressed you to see all the service and how it keeps the world moving around. Thank you to everyone. Mayor David Young and distinguished members of the City Council, it is nice to be here. and thank you for all the service you do on our behalf. I do appreciate the opportunity to be here tonight and to present to you my annual report to the council. My brief report will be on a matter that is vital to the integrity and fairness of our justice system: the use of language interpreters in the Orem Justice Court. As judges, we have the responsibility to ensure that every individual who appears before the court regardless of their language background, has full and meaningful access to justice. Language access is not just a procedural formality; it's a foundational element in due process. Interpreters serve a critical role in ensuring that our proceedings are understood and that individuals can participate in their defense or resolution of their cases. They are provided at no cost to the party. And their use is mandated by both state and federal law. Whether someone is appearing for a traffic infraction, a misdemeanor charge, or a small claims matter, the court is obligated to ensure that language is not a barrier to understanding or engagement. In the Orem Justice Court, we have provided interpretation in a wide range of languages. From the court's inception in 2010 to 2025, Spanish has remained the most frequently frequently used language by a significant margin. Over these years, we've interpreted over 6,800 cases. In addition to Spanish, we have provided interpreters for American Sign Language, Portuguese, Tongan, Samoan, Vietnamese, Arabic, Russian, Korean, and Mandarin, among many others. We've actually interpreted court hearings in over 29 different languages. This diversity reflects the rich multicultural makeup of our community and reminds us that the need for interpretation services is not isolated or rare. It's routine and essential.

I'd like to talk about some of these slides before you.

That is all the languages before the court. As you can see, the bold in Spanish is by far the most commonly interpreted language in court. Okay, the next slide emphasizes those are the top 6 languages, and you see Spanish by far out is the most common language. Just yesterday I had 1 Burmese language and 9 of my 130 cases in Spanish, and today I had 7 in Spanish and 1 in Portuguese. So every day we have interpreters in the All right, the presence of interpreters helps to foster transparency and dignity in the courtroom for individuals who may have already been— feel overwhelmed or intimidated by the legal process. Having someone there to help them understand what is happening and to be understood in return can make a world of difference. This is particularly true for individuals who are navigating the legal system for the first time. or who may be unfamiliar with the courtroom procedures. I'd like to refer you to this slide here. The first column in the far left is 2010, the first year the court opened, and then 2011 through 2024. You can see that language need and the need for interpreters has dramatically increased in the court. Cases that have interpreters demand more than time— cases that have interpreters demand more time from the court's calendar. At a minimum, cases with interpreters take twice as long because all sentences have to be interpreted verbatim. But in reality, we find that the cases take nearly 3 times as long in court in comparison to a case with an English-speaking defendant. So for example, if an individual came into court and they pled to a DUI charge, It may take an English defendant about 10 minutes to sentence and go through the legal colloquy and requirements to make sure they understand the court's order and the plea they're entering into the court. If it was just simply a language issue, it'd be 20 minutes, but in reality, it takes about 30 minutes for most interpreted languages to hear that same case. You take 30 minutes when I got 130 people, not at one time, but about 50 looking at me at the same time, It does slow down the court tremendously, and the demand for interpretation in the courts, as you can see by the graph, has exponentially grown. Interpreter scheduling, of course, presents logistical challenges. Some languages are in higher demand and have more readily available certified interpreters, while others require more effort to coordinate. Nevertheless, the court remains committed to meeting those needs efficiently and professionally. Continued support for these services is essential to maintaining the quality and fairness of our proceedings. In closing, I want to emphasize that language access is not just about communication, it's about justice. The court's responsibility to serve all the members of the public equally, and interpreter services are necessary and vital, a vital part in fulfilling that obligation. I'd like to thank you for your time and your ongoing support of the Orem Justice Court. In the court's mission to uphold fairness, accessibility, and trust in the judicial process. Thank you for all you do. Is there any questions I could answer for you?

I just we appreciate what you do, and and the numbers speak for themselves. You've done an excellent job, so we appreciate you and your service.

You're welcome. Thank you. If any of you'd like to meet with me individually or have questions about the court, I'm happy to meet with you individually at some time.

Thank you, Judge Parker.

Item 7.5, a presentation, a legislative recap. This will be Jared Tiengi from ULCT.

Can I just plug this in? Is that all right?

So just to clarify, you're with the Utah League of Cities and Towns?

Yes.

Yep.

And what we just went through with the legislature was a, I mean, a very, very busy time and one of the times that you and your organization are on full deck. So you're going to give us a summary of what happened at legislature.

Thank you. Thank you. I, when I walked in, I, I thought, I wonder what is so controversial on the agenda. Uh, and it's remarkable to to, to just sit here and listen to all this service being provided and the good things that Orem has going. It's just, it's awesome. So thank you for letting me be here. Um, and my first slide here is thank you, because we, we consider the, uh, the various cities our— we call them our league army, because that's, that is our Touchpoint with legislators. That's what it really comes down to, is your relationships with legislators. And OREM is front and center in helping us as a league be able to affect change. Some of your members have been on the, the Commission on Housing Affordability Advisory Group, as well as actually on the board. So we appreciate their service, and and so just wanted to mention that. So as far as a recap goes, there were 959 bills introduced. That's 134 more bills than the prior nine-year average. So that just gives you an idea. It is it is escalating. It is on the the rise, and and I'll get to why there's there's a thousand and ten one hundred and ten substitute. statutes and amendments to legislation. Uh, that's 6 fewer than last year, 118 above the prior year average. So what we're finding is that legislation that comes forward typically does not— cannot be killed in committee, and it cannot, other than modifying it before it goes on to the full, uh, House floor or Senate floor. And for a vote. And even on the House floor and Senate floor, we're not very successful there, um, just percentage-wise. It is, uh, a lot of our ability to make changes comes through substitutes and amendments. Uh, we tracked 279 bills, 61 more bills than the 3-year average, and 582 bills passed. And that's 9 fewer than the record that was set last year. Um, and so this kind of gives you an idea, just a graphical, uh, a visual version of what that looks like. And we just keep going up and up and up on the number of bills that are coming out. Um, and this is, this is going back to 2016 up until this year. Uh, we are, we are 9 below what was last year being the, uh, the top. Now, after last year, the governor had said that, uh, we really would wish that there would be less legislation. Um, 9 bills, it looks like. So, um, so the, the, uh, so this kind of gives you a summary. There were 568 House bills, 342 Senate bills, and for the Senate Uh, with 29 senators, 342 is mind-blowing. It is a lot. It is significant. And then 52 resolutions. Uh, we tracked 279 bills, uh, supported 34, we opposed 26, uh, we monitored 161, and then we had some other stragglers for certain positions. Our positions really do matter when we are talking to legislators. It was interesting, I had one come up, uh, that I got a frantic call from a legislator saying, wait, I thought you supported this, your tracker says you don't. And it was, okay, yep, you're right, we haven't updated our tracker. And okay, you know, it was, it was just, it was unbelievable to see the the strength that the league has in either supporting or opposing legislation and the impact that that has. This is why we engage on bills we don't like instead of just trying to kill them. And we get that question quite a bit. Most bills that fail fail procedurally. That's 37% of all bills, meaning it got circled. And it just stagnated. No one brought it forward, no one pushed it forward. Or we were able to hold it in Rules Committee. So even before it was assigned to any committee to move through the process, we were able to, we knew about it, we were able to talk to the legislator and make changes, and have it move forward, or say, let's not run it, hold off on this. And so that's why we have started to engage more on bills. In the past, it has been where, um, we were able to address those concerns in committee and hold those bills that are, uh, really impactful negatively to cities in committee or on the House floor. But what we're finding here is that we just don't have that. The committees are less likely to hold something, well, we can fix it going on down the road, down in another committee, or on the House floor, we can fix it. And, and so that's why we negotiate, um, on those. We wanted to give you, uh, just a heads up, our mid-year conference is in St. George, April 17th through the 18th, and look forward to doing that. Hope you can make it down there. Um, we had a board meeting yesterday and we are already talking— unfortunately, it makes me sick, it really almost does— uh, 2026 issues that are coming up. Um, so here are conversations that we were, were punted from this past legislative session to interim. Or that we've heard gaining legs already, um, for this upcoming session. So there is already, unfortunately, a lot on the, on the moving forward and, uh, plan to continue moving forward with those. This is what— this was the beginning of the legislative session. Well, probably 2, maybe 2 weeks into it. These are things that we had fought off 2 weeks into it, all of these things being concerning for cities generally. And as you look at the municipal revenue, changing the 50/50 sales tax formula, that would have hurt Orem significantly. And we were able to— in fact, probably one of the top 5 cities that it would have impacted the most. And we were able to hold that off and, uh, and make changes. So from the state zoning policy, the land use processes, and the municipal revenue, all of these things were coming up, and we were able to either talk to the legislature or make a change to help, help move it forward, but with changes. Um, so I wanted to go through a few of the bills that came up just to show you kind of where we started with them and where it ended. Many of you have probably heard of this bill, SB 337. This was essentially a state-created district that had its own land use authority. And this came up, I believe, about a week, week and a half before the end of the session. And so there was a lot of scrambling. when it came out, and it would have allowed this Beehive Development Agency, state agency, to create SCIPS. Why the acronym? You would think that they would do better on the acronyms, but SCIPS that did not require local government consent. Some of those would be a space— spaceport or a nuclear facility. Where the city would not have any land use control. By the time, and hats off to Cameron Deal, the executive director, he spent probably over 50 hours in conversations with legislators trying to get to a better place. That's where this substitute number one came out requiring local. Consent for these skips except on state-owned land, which currently we don't have, uh, land use authority on state use— state-owned land anyways. So it's hard to make that argument. Eventually the bill was circled based upon all the concerns that we brought up, and, uh, and it never went forward. But, uh, going back to the items that will be discussed over the interim, this is, uh, will definitely come back up. Um, HB 88, Housing Policy Amendments. This was, uh, where it started was detached ADUs by right in all cities within counties of the first and second class. Uh, couldn't prohibit modular units, and then cities only have to report on MIHP, the Moderate Income Housing Plan, every 3 years. Uh, this ended up failing in the House Subs Committee. We spoke against it in the committee and brought our concerns up, and they— the committee listened to those concerns. And a lot of times we are able to say, look, why don't we stop this bill and let's look at something better that's in another bill so that we can push that forward? It's in a better spot. It's in a better place. 4 cities, and, and we're able to get to a better spot. HB 90 on zoning amendments— this would have allowed single-family detached homes on lots of at least 4,000 square feet are permitted uses in all residential zones in cities located in counties of first and second class, and housing being permitted use in all commercial zones in cities as well. Again, we were able to speak up in opposition in committee, and this was also failed in committee. Uh, SB— I'm going to skip over that one. On SB 262, uh, where it started was several provisions talking about how general plans would need to be binding, uh, by ordinance. And we obviously pushed back hard on that and, and were able to get that language removed. Where it ended up was just technical amendments to prior housing laws allowed the legislative body to settle litigation by consent agreements without approval from the Board of Adjustments. This was really in relation to one situation. In the state, and that's usually how laws come out—is we've got one issue, one person, and let's create laws for the entire state. So that was one of those provisions. Required counties, not cities, to comply with land use provisions for all pending and new applications. This is one that came up at the last minute, and we pushed back because it wasn't brought up in our land use task force meetings. Prior to having it inserted.

The—

this is about parking. Where it started was it was going to be covered garages could only— you could only require 10 by 20, no more. Uncovered parking spots would be 9 by 18. Tandem spots would equal 2 spots, and you can't require garages, can't require in the development agreement, limited the ability to regulate where the garage or parking went on the lot. But after significant negotiation with the Property Rights Coalition and the Home Builders Association, we, we were able to get it to a place where it's now 9 by 24 uncovered parking. And I think the biggest thing would be that, that on the issue of cannot requiring garages, we can't require garages if the, uh, the home is owner-occupied and affordable housing. So that's 5-year deed restricted and 80% AMI, so average median income of the, of the county income. Um, and so those were minor changes but significant changes, um, that, that we were able to, to, uh, to move through. Um, why don't— let me, let me get to this. This was our Land Use Task Force bill. I don't know how many of you are familiar with the Land Use Task Force, but it's a, it's a meeting that we Have with developers and, uh, realty folks from the Utah Realty Association, Property Rights Coalition, cities, uh, um, just a whole group of individuals that have, uh, interest in housing and seeing what we can do to solve problems instead of fighting it up during the, the session. Taking care of those issues beforehand. And so these are the, the big list. I think this bill was 7,000 lines long. Um, so if you, if you don't have anything to do, uh, pull that out and start reading it. It's just, it's joyous. So, um, the— this one, uh, this one is, is actually really important. And I, I talked to Cameron on this and he said I think you should give Orem a big shout out for this. Uh, Cameron had, uh, conversations with Mayor Young on, on this revolving fund, uh, a long time ago, and this is kind of where it ended up. Uh, first and second class cities, uh, obtaining loans from, from this Utah Housing Corporation. There's $10 million in the fund, and where they would be able to Purchase, renovate, and resell at $450,000 and deed restrict it to be owner occupied. So, and then that sale of that house then goes back into that housing fund. And so it's kind of a revolving loan where you're able to get new homes, folks that need to to have a home to. live in that's— I mean, I personally wouldn't consider $450,000 an affordable home, but that's where we're at with the legislature. And, and, and not just have it be rental properties, but have it be deed restricted.

So, so how does that work? If I qualify economically and I want to do this, I can apply for this loan because I live in a first or second class city?

Yes.

And then they'll loan me money in theory at a better interest rate or not?

Well, it would be the city that would be taking that money.

The loan would take— go to the city and then—

City, and then, and then you would renovate that. That money would go—

The city would do that work.

Buy it, renovate, and then, and then sell it at $450,000. And then that would go back to— that, that fund would then be replaced by what you sold that for. Does that make sense?

Right. And the, and the premise of it is that there would be areas of the city that would be older that would be needing repair. And so you could go into a larger area And you could upgrade that whole area, right?

Yeah.

Um, this one is billboards. Um, trying to think, uh, does Orem have any billboards, uh, in its, in its city? So this one started out in a, in a really not good place. Uh, the— it started out where the owner could relocate the billboard anywhere along the same road. Because of reconstruction, or or if if if the city refused or the land use authority refused, they would get compensated. Where it ended up was it can move within the same city or in an unincorporated county on the same highway, on the same property, or on on an adjacent property, or within a different city, so long as that different city agreed. Both parties agreed that that billboard would be moving to their city. So initially, it would have been forced if, if cities adjacent to you wanted to move that billboard and say, well, we, we, you can move billboard wherever you want. It could end up in another city. And if that city decided to say, no, we don't want that billboard here. Uh, they would then need to compensate the billboard company for— even though it wasn't even in their city, it wasn't— they had nothing to do with it except to say, we don't want that billboard in our city. It was never in our city in the first place. Um, so we, we were able to dial it back with those that were pushing it to within the same city. So that's where we got with that. Um, and those are, like I said, uh, of the 279, that was just a few, few that came up. So, uh, any questions that you have for me?

Thanks for keeping us informed, you and the rest. I talked to Representative Peterson on that billboard one at Cameron's request, and I know I connected them. Thank you for keeping us alert when we can be of help, because we don't track 900 bills, right? You have an army that does that and reads 7,000 lines or whatever you said. So when you can reach out to us, we're happy to help. Thank you for keeping me informed, at least.

And, and I, I should say this, it really, really, really does make a difference when we're able to call upon Council members and mayors to reach out to the legislators.

It is—

I've been with the league for 2 years, and it is remarkable to see what happens when they start getting texts, when they start getting calls. What was, what was a, I'm not going to work with them, I'm— we're going to, you know, push this through, it's, well, let's see what we can do. It is remarkable to see the difference just by a text or a phone call. So you're thanking me.

Thank you.

Really, it really does come back to all of you reaching out to the legislators.

And I want to throw it back to you because I've just seen in my time here, short last few years, as far as our ability to work with the, the ULCT and have them represent Orem and the values and things that we stand for. We've had some really good discussions, and we feel like you're completely on board as far as helping us. And just to give people out there an idea of what this is like, if you took every bad idea you could think of and then you cram it into 45 days and you do hundreds of them at once, and now you've got to try and stop that from coming and happening to you, That's the bubble we're living in during legislative sessions. We appreciate all your help.

Thank you.

Thank you, Renee.

Oh, I just wanted to say, um, first of all, just shout out to Cameron, right? I love the picture that he posted. I don't know where I saw it, but it— his kids make like the paper chain that you make at Christmas to count down the days to Christmas. His kids do it to count down the days to the end of legislative session so he can be home with them again, because he really does put in so much time. And just a shout out to you guys, because really, 3 years ago, we started talking about renewal for our established— I guess we're now called legacy communities. We started talking about owner-occupied housing. We just started putting those messages out there, and it seemed insurmountable to get that up the list of importance and to be heard as legacy cities. And it was going to the league meetings, this it down in St. George when you, when you have the meetings down there. It was just so rewarding to hear these other cities on the east side of the Wasatch Front, right, saying the same things.

Yes.

So shout out to you guys for helping us bring those issues up. And that, um, what was it, the HB 360 that Mayor— and I got to do a shout out to Steve Worrell, our city attorney— you know, that one was huge to have that opportunity to have funding to renew our homes and create nice affordable homes instead of slums. Frankly, I don't know what else to say, but to help get that turn, that remodeling and that opportunity. So you guys have really helped us have a voice for that. Thank you so much. Tell Cameron thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. All right, we're up to item number 8, personal appearances. We've got, uh, let me just read this real quick. Time has been set aside for the public to express their ideas, concerns, and comments on items not on the agenda. Those wishing to speak are encouraged to show respect for those who serve the city. Comments should focus on issues concerning the city. Those wishing to speak should have signed in before the beginning of the meeting, and please limit your comments to 3 minutes or less. I've got 5 people here that have signed up to comment tonight. Uh, first on the list is Chris Hammond, if you'd like to come up.

I'm humbled a little bit based on what has transpired prior to this. Um, good evening, members of the council and mayor. My name is Chris Hammond, and I've lived in this community my whole life. I'm a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker, and I was told to say hi to David. Uh, I work with someone he knows. Um, I have loved Orem and have a vested interest in the economic success of this city. I was told earlier that the council met on Airbnbs and what they may do and what regulations they may place on them, and I wanted to speak to that issue tonight. Um, first of all, I think that Airbnbs have an economic impact that is positive on the community. Those of us who host contribute directly to the economy. We pay taxes, we support local businesses and proceeds services that otherwise may not be available, and it is a direct boost to neighborhoods and that supports small businesses and foster job creation and the driving growth. Second, we promote the community. I have an Airbnb, which some of you have mentioned. It was a home that I built. I raised my family in it. I was using it as a rental, and under the Airbnb program, that house has been remodeled. It is in pristine condition. The yard is always looking awesome, and so it generates and makes that particular neighborhood more prestigious. It upgrades the value of the properties, and I think that's Important. It also— an Airbnb gives diversity for tourism. It takes the location close to hotels and makes it more diverse throughout the community and offers a difference in how people can come and enjoy our community. I think it is a sustainable factor, and we talk about green and the reuse of properties and upgrading them and making sure that those homes are reused and used in the proper situation. Um, in conclusion, an Airbnb doesn't just bring visitors, they also bring growth. I have found connections with families as they've come in because of my longevity here. I've worked in your schools, I've worked in your community, I've worked for the state. I've been a teacher before I decided to have a whole nother career as a real estate agent. And so as I've had people come and enjoy my property now, I've had individuals who've come back for weddings or funerals, and they have been people that I have known or known my family, and I've been grateful for that. I hope as a committee, as you make decisions, that you'll look at grandfathering those of us who have put money and investment into our properties to be able to do what we've been doing. I tried everything I could to make sure I was Following the rules. I thank you for your time and your consideration.

Thank you. Next up, Rachel Kirkham.

Good evening. I'm just going to double up on what Chris said a little bit, but I will try not to duplicate. My name is Rachel Kirkham. I'm here representing a group of 35 short-term rental hosts in Orem that have met together to discuss your current draft of the rules. We appreciate your effort that you've put into creating fair regulations.

I did want to—

is anyone else here? You can stand. There's a few of us. We appreciate your efforts. We agree that all short-term rentals should operate responsibly and legally. As local hosts, we take pride in our homes and in the guests we welcome. Most of our visitors are family members of Orem residents here for weddings, graduations, or temple visits. We see them as an extension of our community. Our properties are well maintained because our success depends on guest reviews, and short-term rentals actually raise property values, which Chris touched on. In fact, I just sold one that has been operating legally as far as it Has been known. Um, they did everything they could to be legal, and it's, uh, it sold for $100,000 more than the appraised value due to it being a short-term rental, which just upped the value of the homes around it. Um, let's see, there have been some concerns that have been raised about short-term rental rentals, and rightfully so. So we wanted to address them. Um, the affordable housing talk. Short-term rentals are not taking away affordable housing because most of them are 4-bedroom-plus homes that are larger and not considered in the realm of affordable housing. Short-term rentals make up just 1% of Orem's housing stock, which is not a major impact on availability. The demands for short-term rentals will continue to grow with our temples, universities, and strong family culture. People will always need short-term rental housing that can provide that family gathering space. Orem was just nominated as Family Town USA. Um, which promotes that. So there are concerns about noise, parking, and trash, which are the most common, and they can be handled through some of the items that have met— you have mentioned in your current draft that are very viable. Um, that said, we do have concerns with certain parts of the proposed regulations, one of being the 8-person occupancy limit is unrealistic. Larger homes should be regulated based on fire code and not an arbitrary number. There's a 182-night cap, um, in there that's unnecessary and difficult to enforce. Other cities have struggled with this as well. It decreases the available income to us, but also it's not necessary as the average occupancy rate of a short-term rental in Orem is 67%. So they're rarely, if ever, 100% full. Um, there is a proposed 100 citywide cap, um, which is too low. A percentage based on per area approach would be more effective. And then limiting the number of STRs or short-term rentals that 1 person can own is a bit unfair. Responsible operators shouldn't be penalized for doing things the correct way. So we aren't here to fight regulation. We want fair, enforceable policies that work for everyone. Um, they bring value to Orem, as Chris mentioned, and we hope that we can collaborate more on that. UVU does offer a short-term rental certification course. Um, it's accredited in 12 universities, and it's in our backyard. And this could be something that you could incorporate into the, um, licensing procedure or violators, uh, that might work. And thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Next, David Pestana.

Uh, thank you, Mayor and City Council members. I appreciate the ability to speak here tonight. Um, just to introduce myself, my name again is David Pestana. I've lived in the area for 18 years, and, uh, I own a real estate brokerage and am an Airbnb owner as well and manager. Um, for a long time, I've managed long-term rentals. Over 70 of them right now. Um, I wanted to speak to some of the regulations that have, you know, caught our attention that have been previously mentioned, uh, that are really important to us. Orem is a beloved city, I think, of all of us, and as families, we have families that want to come visit us. Um, there's few hotels and they're expensive. And when people come, Airbnb is a huge choice. It's such a new industry that's grown, and with growth, there's growing pains. And I remember when I bought my first drone, I could fly it anywhere, and now there's regulation, right? Because people make mistakes. There's been mistakes in, uh, short-term rentals or Airbnbs, but a lot of the reactions to those, I believe, are overreactions. And it's a product that has grown not because it's a great business, but because it's what people want. We want to stay in a home. Everywhere I go, I look for an Airbnb because it's more accommodating to my family and to my needs. And so as a city of families, we all know that some families don't have enough room in their homes to accommodate, and they find that just renting out an Airbnb for a few nights really meets those needs. Um, responsibility of, uh, as us owners is twofold. We're a, a customer-approved industry where we have to, in order to really get our product out there, we need to be good managers and have a product that people love. On the other hand, we're also judged by our neighbors because mostly Airbnbs have been regulated by nuisance laws, so we can't annoy them either. So we have these To people that we're trying to please, and we're doing our best to please them. Most of the troubles come, I think, in 2 issues: noise and parking. If you can fix those, I think you fix over 90% of short-term rental problems. And as managers, I hope that, you know, if you'd like to counsel with us, we could give you a lot of practical solutions. I know that one of your solutions was to simply park in the garage, park on the driveway, don't park in front of people's homes. That also tends— if that is the rule, that also tends to help with occupancy because you're not going to have 50 cars showing up for a wedding, right? So, uh, nowadays, one of the things we do is we don't give front door codes. We say, here's the garage code, because we want you just to drive in and not to bother anybody. That's been very, very helpful. Um, noise. One thing that's been very important is we have noise monitors within the home. So as soon as someone misbehaves, we can let them know. So there's a lot of practical issues that don't take a lot of regulation, but just good management. As was mentioned, uh, just some brief but important courses to help people understand our industry. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh, next, Peter Rem.

Hello. On February 13th, I think it was, Representative Nelson Abbott, who's a representative over Orem, um, reported on— gave a legislative report, and in a section called homelessness, he wrote this: We are taking bold steps to tackle homelessness and its impact on our communities. Skipping down this session, we're holding local governments accountable for reducing homelessness, enforcing the laws, and blah, blah, blah. Skipping on, he talks about how much money they've given. And then he says, but this effort requires municipalities to do their part. That's why we're aiming to address the root cause of homelessness. And unfortunately, at that point, He goes into talking about drug abuse. But the latest research on drug abuse and homelessness is that drug abuse is started because people, many people, are trying to self-medicate because of stresses and pains that they have, either physical pain or emotional stress or just the difficulties of life. Life is difficult for many people, and some people just can't make it. It's like a game of musical chairs. As we raise standards and expect people to do more and more, there will always be some that just can't reach that next standard. And then they can't make their mortgage payments or they can't keep their job or whatever. And then they fall off and they don't have a chair anymore. And one of the things that people have found that they're able to do if they're just barely getting by, and they're not people that want to have strangers in their home, But they might have a spare bedroom or 2 or 3 or whatever it is. And so they found out that through Airbnb, which is very well regulated by— the hosts are well regulated and the guests are well regulated through a complex system of referrals and comments, confidential ones. They found that they can substantially supplement their income and they can survive. Now, the proposed— the proposed ordinance regulating STLs is a mixture of good and bad. It's mostly okay. It's mostly, you know, a great way to regulate and to collect taxes and things like that. But there's a few things in there, as a former attorney, that I view as arbitrary and capricious. And that is very troubling. And if I can get to that page. Um, so limiting the number to 100 in the city, um, that again, it's like 100 chairs in a game of musical chairs. A lot of people are going to fall off and they might not be able to make it. They might not be able to survive. Spacing the short-term rentals 1,000 feet apart Um, without regard to the capacity of the particular home and, and, and local things like that, uh, is just arbitrary and capricious. Um, limiting the number of nights rented to 182, that's basically half a year. That would be like telling the, the, uh, businesses on State Street, instead of revitalizing, we're going to make sure that for every item you sell, you have to throw one away. Half your inventory has to go to waste. Arbitrary and capricious. Forbidding multiple simultaneous rentals. So if a person has 2 bedrooms or 3 bedrooms and somebody is here to do a work project for 2 weeks or whatever it is, and somebody else just needs it and needs the other bedroom to attend a wedding, that's to limit that, to make that illegal. when nothing bad has happened is like punishing people for crimes that they might commit. Um, again, arbitrary and capricious.

So you're gonna have to wind up. You're past the 3-minute deadline.

All right, so, uh, my, my final point is, is that like the 1,000-foot limitation, some of these things put Airbnb-ers in a worse position than registered sex offenders who can live in groups, and so long as they stay 500 feet away from schools.

Next, Derek Phelps.

Thank you so much for the time. I also just want to add my support to, um, a lot of what's been said surrounding the feedback of the proposed regulations. Um, the— I add my support to the, the same identified issues of the nightcap, um, you know, which makes it almost impossible for those who have invested lots and lots of their, of their hard-earned money, uh, to, um, get any sort of return, um, and limits the financial or economic benefit to the city as well that short-term rentals can provide. Um, I also, uh, add my support to some of the feedback, uh, uh, surrounding the 100 limit. Uh, as I've shared previously with the city council, there are, um, currently in Orem 200 active full-time rentals and closer to 450 total, uh, rentals that maybe, you know, are listed for a portion of the year. Or, uh, rent by the room. Um, and, uh, the current proposal doesn't accommodate for, for all of us who have invested and sought to be responsible business owners and Airbnb hosts or short-term rental hosts. Uh, we— I would also like to reiterate that, um, we, you know, are—

Thank you.

more in favor of these, of, of regulation and, you know, of the proposed actions to take. But we just have, uh, some issues and, and some feedback surrounding some of these points of, of the proposed regulation and, uh, hope that the city council will consider this feedback moving forward, uh, in, in solidifying some of these, uh, proposed regulations, uh, to consider all of us who, who strive to be responsible. Um, and strive to provide a, uh, a meaningful service to our community. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Next, we'll move on to item number 9, the consent items. On the consent items for approval, we have approval of meeting minutes for January 28th and February 11th, 2024.

Is that right?

It says January 28th, 2024. That's 2025, right?

Yes, typo.

So I just changed that verbally. We're fine, right? Okay, so approval, approval of meeting minutes, January 28th, 2025 and February 11th, 2025. Item 9.2, a reappointment to the Natural Resources Advisory Commission, Quinn Meekum. Item 9.3, an appointment to the Neighborhood Advisory Commission, Kirsten Bascom and Tamara Rodriguez. And item 9.4, uh, resolution authorizing the city manager to sign an agreement with Utah County for the 2025 City of Orem Elections. Would you like to introduce your people?

Yeah, I believe so. My commission is the Neighborhood Advisory Commission. And, um, is Kirsten here? Kirsten Bascom? I didn't see her. Um, but Tammy Rodriguez is here. So, Tammy, if you want to stand up. We're really excited about our commission. We're just, um, doing some great things. And just kind of to give you a little, a little heads up, um, our last meeting we talked about emergency preparedness. and preparing the neighborhoods in our— in Orem for, you know, drills. We talked about code enforcement to making sure that our community doesn't go into decline when our ordinances aren't followed. We talked about beautification awards. We talked about our school resource officers, our police, and My Hometown. So many great things. So I appreciate your service, Tammy, for being willing to serve. Thanks.

Thank you.

Would someone like to make a motion on the consent items?

I'll make a motion to approve the consent items.

Second.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

The consent items are approved. Thank you. Okay, we'll move on to item number 10, scheduled items. All right, need glasses for this. We've got a public hearing for an ordinance. Amending Article 22-5-A and the zoning map of the City of Orem by rezoning the property located generally at 1203 North 630 East, also known as Canyon Park, from the Timpanogos Research and Development Park PD-6 zone to the single-family residential R-8 zone. There's approximately 23.3 acres. Jared, would you like to present that?

I would.

Thank you. All right, thank you for, for having me here tonight. And I will, I'll present this, and I'm not going to reread what you just read, Mayor.

That's great.

This is the Canyon Park rezoning, what we commonly refer to as the Canyon Park rezoning. It is a request by Tri Pointe Homes. Their representatives are here tonight. They can answer some questions for you after we've gone through the slides for the public. Like you said, this is the PD-6 zone to a single-family residential R-8 zone request. Um, this is the area that we're talking about. It's a portion of the research park there. So those buildings would be removed, the parking lot would be removed, and there would be roads and homes put in if it were rezoned for single-family development. The rest of the research park at this time would remain.

Um, how much— how many buildings are left in the research park?

Uh, left in the research park? I'm not sure how many are considered. Sorry.

So there's, there's 13 buildings in that park.

Okay.

All right. Thank you.

No, that's great. Thank you. So this would remove those 2. I might be off 1, a building here or there, give or take. A lot of buildings still up there remaining. Those 2 would be removed to make way for development if this were approved. And that's a point that we, that we should make. Actually, this is the request to rezone. The property is currently zoned for this research park. If it were rezoned, there are other applications that have to follow for subdivision if it were in fact approved for a rezone. This is that zoning we're talking about, the PD-6. The rezone request is to this other color, the R-8. That's a single-family detached zoning, uh, 8,000-square-foot lots. Some of that information is over here on the side. You can see the, the PD-6 Timpanogos, um, Research Park and Development, or Research and Development Park, uh, is a specialized zone that was created specifically for that park. Has architecture restrictions, um, special parking requirements, etc. There's nothing about single-family zoning in it. It's not allowed for that. Anything that's not in the, in the specific regulations just reverts to business Park zoning. The R-8, on the other hand, is a standard single-family detached residential zone. So you have requirements for 8,000-square-foot lots. Multifamily is not permitted. You do have some, some permitted uses for churches and schools and other utilities, things like that that go in that residential area. But again, no multifamily, no commercial would be permitted in that zone if it were approved. These are concept plans that Tri Pointe Homes did to help us kind of understand What it might look like if it were rezoned and then subsequently approved for a subdivision. They could serve it with public roads that could be accessing the property from 1200 North and from Research Way. Those kind of things all remain. You wind up with the same number, though, basically 77 or 78, maybe 79 lots. And if I got those numbers wrong, the guys from TriPoint can correct me on that. Okay. Um, so that is the— those are the concept plans. This isn't, again, though, just to be clear, not— this is not the subdivision application. These are potential subdivisions that could occur if it were approved for the rezone. Uh, the Planning Commission did hear this in public hearing, uh, earlier in the month. They did vote, uh, 5 to 2 to recommend approval to the council. Um, so we have that information for you. Uh, you can see the minutes in your— in the packet as well. These are some elevations that TriPoint provided, the kinds of homes they feel like would fit on those, on those lots and in this area, uh, if, if it were approved. So with that as a reminder, uh, the council can take different actions tonight. You can approve, you can deny, or you can forward this or continue it to another night if you have other, other questions. And I did put that language, all that's— all the legal language is in a motion to deny or approve if you need that language to read on a bigger screen.

So, go. Thank you.

Do you have any questions for staff at this point on that?

Great. Thank you.

Yeah.

Yes.

Yeah, no one's got any questions right now.

Okay.

As is mentioned, this is our 3rd bite at the apple, right?

You've seen it in other forms.

We've seen this a lot of different ways and looked at it a lot of different ways.

Yeah.

Let me go ahead and open this up for the public hearing. If anyone in the public would like to comment on this project. Okay, we'll go ahead and close the public hearing. Bring it back to the council. Feel free to let your hearts feel.

Mayor?

Yes.

I'm not sure if you asked the applicant to come up or give them a chance to present or If they want to have an opportunity to do that, but it might be a good idea before you start discussing.

Okay.

Come on up.

You can sit by him if you'd like. If you've got it, you have any slides?

No.

Okay, go ahead.

Evening, Council. Brian Prince with TriPoint Homes. Don't have anything. Other than want to thank staff and for all of you that have been able to— I've been able to communicate and talk to and get, you know, guidance and feedback from. So happy to answer any questions that come up. Maybe just a question you have now.

Maybe just give us a summary of what took you here and, you know, why you like this project better than the other projects.

Yeah, yeah, I know, Mayor, you did it right. We've been at this for a while. I started conversations with the property owner in 2023. So it's been a long journey and during a kind of a quick evolving market. So, but we're very proud of the process. Did an incredible amount of community engagement. I counted up 9 neighborhood meetings.

Wow.

both as requirements of the applications and then additional just private meetings we had with specific small groups of residents. So, uh, TriPointe is very proud of that engagement, that feedback, that, you know, it's, uh, doesn't mean everybody's, uh, happy about the proposal, but I think we've, we've garnered a lot of positive relationships and a lot of understanding. on what the concerns were from residents and how we could make it better. This concept is an idea, but, but a lot of the ideas that are shown there come from concerns and interest from, from the neighbors. So, yeah, so, so it's, it's been a, a long journey, but, you know, the, the seller and the property owner. Has worked really hard to find a way to make this work. I think they're really committed to making the Canyon Park Tech Center a sustainable business for them. And we're just excited about the opportunity to build a beautiful community here.

So, what's your timeline? What are you looking at breaking ground?

And, you know, like Jerry mentioned, it's a land use decision tonight. In the event that it is approved, we go through a Preliminary and final plat approvals that will take several months. We would hope to break ground on land development this year. So there's a lot of demo and utility subdivision work to happen, and we'd start the home construction next year with, with a, with a hope that we could have a community grand opening next summer.

Well, Brian, I appreciate your patience because it has been a long road and And, uh, it's been good meeting with you many times, and I think you guys have, uh, you know, finally come back with what we've asked and what the residents wanted. So I think excellent job. So thank you. Appreciate it.

I might add to that, you've had conversation with all of us multiple times, as long as well as the 9 meetings with the residents. So thank you for listening and adjusting your plan accordingly.

You bet. Yeah, and I guess as far as just for me to summarize how I feel about this project, um, whenever, whenever we have a development like this, it's going to raise a lot of questions and eyebrows. Uh, and we use as our benchmark Family City USA. And so this, uh, by coming back as an R-8 development, fits in with Family City USA. Uh, so I think that says something. I think also, uh, in previous meetings, we had a lot of unhappy residents that didn't like the density and didn't like the plan. And tonight we don't have any, uh, anyone speaking out against this. So to me, that tells us what our residents want. Um, and one other thing is, a lot of times it's difficult to What I look at when changing zones is we're going from a commercial down to a residential. So we're basically downzoning this property, you know, to— which is in my mind a net benefit for the community, because anytime you're going to a wider use or broader use that's not as impactful, it's a good thing. So, all in all, it looks to me like you've checked all the boxes and And you're in a good place.

Thank you, Mayor.

So, Mayor, may I make a motion? Oh, go ahead if you want to make a motion.

Are you ready?

Is everybody ready?

Okay.

Um, I move that we amend Article 22-5A and the zoning map of the City of Orem by rezoning the property located generally at 1203 North 630 East, also known as Canyon Park, from the Timpanogos Research and Development Park PD-6 zone To the single-family residential R-8 zone, approximately 23.3 acres.

Second.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

The motion passes.

Thank you.

Mayor, I think you need a motion to defer the next one to continue.

I do.

Mayor, I move that we continue item 10.2 to, uh, the Kengarff rezone to the April 8th, 2025 City Council meeting.

Do we have a reason for that for our public so they can know?

Uh, the reason is because we're not completely clear on what needs to be done, and we're still having conversations so we can get clarity.

Then we can present clarification of the development agreement, what— yeah, what's going to be in it.

Yeah.

And then what, uh, and we only gave them 2 weeks to get what they can stomach and what we can stomach.

So, all right, thank you.

Then I second.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye. The ordinance or the resolution is continued. Okay, last on our agenda, we have our city manager.

Just real quick, you see here on the dais the invitation for the new City Hall open house. We have these ready to be mailed out to, to a, you know, a sizable list of partners, friends, neighbors, VIPs, etc. If there is anyone in particular that you want to make sure we're sending out to, please let Lori know and we're— We're happy to send out a, a snail-mailed invitation to, to the open house on April 22nd.

I just want to totally second this event because we've been waiting for it since October, right? That was the first date. So this, it'll be beautiful. It'll be worth the wait, right?

Yes. And it, I mean, we're going to make it fun too. There'll be little games and we'll, you know, we'll have staff helping to take Anyone going to be dressed up in hunting gear that night, by any chance?

You never know.

I'll also just make a quick note. We do have the wood flag has been installed. That's, you know, the wood from the old Freedom Tree. That's been installed in the new city center, the new council chambers. We also have our new city seal that is in transit and will be installed within the next couple of weeks. So that's on its way. You've also noticed that— we may have noticed that there are pictures that we've been taking down. For example, you know, former mayors, and then out in the hall, former Miss Orams.

Oh.

We are actually scanning those and digitizing them so that we have a digital signage that some of those will go on in the new city center. So anyway, we are bringing those up into the new century, but also being mindful of, you know, limited space for displaying those things as well. So anyway, we're excited. Our momentum and excitement is building for it, and We're really looking forward to the move.

Thank you, Brent. Would someone like to make a motion to adjourn?

So moved.

Second. Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

This meeting's adjourned. Thank you for coming.