January 12, 2023 – Torrey Town Council Minutes
Download the Minutes PDF using the link below.
Torrey, Utah
PO Box 750027
Torrey, UT 84775
torreyutah.gov
Minutes
Torrey Utah
PO Box 750027
Torrey, UT 84775 torreyutah.gov
APPROVED
Notice is hereby given that the Mayor and Members of Town Council will hold the regular scheduled Town Council Meeting on Thursday the 12th day of January 2023 at 6:30 pm at the Torrey Town Pavilion located at 75 E 100 No. Note the agenda may be accelerated or line items may be discussed in any order. The agenda shall be as follows:
Welcome Mayor Mickey Wright
Administrative Business
Welcome/ Opening Remarks
Roll Call: Present, Doug Robinson, Jordan Pace, Pearl Thorndal-Stewart, Mayor Wright, Karen Mayne, Dustin Oyler, Dave Love, Colleen Dudleston. Excused: Pat Kearney
Pledge of Allegiance: Doug Robinson
Review & Approve Minutes of December 8th Regular Town Council meeting.
Corrections:
Start adding the year in the header.
The need for a correction was noted on the funds raised during the Torrey Christmas festival. The amount should read $1,300.
In the Maintenance report say “Torrey town will be accepting bids for the water tanks in Late
January when the comment period ends”
Also, “in the USDA grant discovered by the mayor…” delete the word “Grant”
Jordan made the motion to accept the minutes with changes, Pearl seconded the motion and all council members voted in favor.
Agenda Requests/Discussion
Kathryn Bolz, was present on Zoom to present her application for a new business license for “Casitas at Capitol Reef” (formerly Capitol Reef Inn and Restaurant). No restaurant just a hotel/ motel structure. A new business license will be issued. A motion to approve the business license was made by Pearl. Doug seconded the motion all council members approved. Motion passes. Eduardo Nava – was present to discuss his application for a new business license for “Slackers Burger Joint” restaurant and new beer service. Some food choice changes are being made. The fire inspection will take place next week. Doug made the motion to approve the business license for Slackers Burger Joint. Jordan seconded the motion. All council member agreed. Motion passed.
Duane Platt – was present asking for a new water hookup. The water hookup will be for the shop behind the Chak Balam Mexican Restaurant.
Jordan made the motion to approve the water permit and Doug seconded the motion. All agreed and the motion passed.
Travis Van Orden – is seeking approval for additional water ERUs for new cabins, 3.2 ERUs . To clarify the 3.2 ERUS are in addition to the existing ERUs.
Jordan made the Motion to approve the additional ERUs contingent on passing the water ordinance, Jordan Doug seconded the motion. All Council members were in agreement
Forest Service Plans & Issues Discussion – Curt Robins, Naomi Gordon, & Cody Clark
The Forest Service is working on two projects in the Fish Lake National Forest. Projects are on
Meeks Mesa Campground and the Holt Draw trail System. Located at mile marker 73 on Fish Lake National Forest ground. Discussed safety issues, and resource degradation issues. Cody has worked to get an understanding of the trail being used. There are a lot of user created routs being used heavily and so there is a need to designate the trail system. Need a managed approached to the use of the area. In the area there is consideration of a bicycle park, walking trail and tent camping. There is now a 30-day period for the public to comment.
Discussion began concerning the growth of recreation in the areas such as Sand Creek. Campers may continue to camp without a campground. the Sand Creek camping will be addressed later. Some issues can be addressed now but more in depth in the future.
Water to the campground – preliminary water access will likely be a well to provide water. Will reach out to state water resources people. Doug asked about a dump station. Hoping to draw on the private sector for that. Sanitation is a primary concern being addressed. Four vault toilets are planned for initially. The planning phase is now. Analysis is next and then the will begin looking for funds. Forest Service hopes to have decision by March and could take a few years realistically.
NEPA analysis for Torrey water system is a project online. The archaeological site has been identified and is the archaeologist is working with state historical society. Will proceed with archeologist on site during progress. Comments from Native Tribes is underway now as well. A discussion began regarding the biological impact. Mayor Wright will place the map and plans on the Torrey website for public comments.
BLM Plans & Issues Discussion – Sue Fivecoat
Bea-Lewis is on the BLM priority list to develop a fee campground. The campground is not in the design stage yet.
BLM believes that the Sandstone quarry is where the bulk of the camping activity is taking place. A project is planned to phase out the quarry, to market the material and create a cleaner campground location. BLM is still planning how to best phase it into the campground. NEPA is involved already and will remain involved. The BLM is concerned about the dispersed camping going on now and wants to work on the sanitation concerns. There will be comment period in the future.
Discussion continued about the camping area design and the process ahead. This area will likely be a dry camping system. The BLM will need to partner with the area town and the County for grant funding when the time to implement the plan begins. Discussion continued about the signage that will be used.
Road Maintenance Plan, Water Master Plan, & Tank Project Status – Kelly Chappell Water Tank –Ensign Engineering is nearing the completion of the NEPA process. All the documents are ready. Torrey now needs to have a 30-day bid announcement starting the 8th of February. Kelly will send over the announcement to advertise for the bid. A discussion began about the timing of the bid announcement. Discussed waiting a couple more weeks before asking for bids. The Forest Service has had a public comment period and there was no controversy presented. A project such as this usually takes 3-4 months for completion of construction.
The decision was made to begin advertising in two weeks. A month of advertising.
Roads: Kelly Chappell from Ensign Engineering, explained the road rating process used by Ensign Engineering. They have rated all the Torrey roads and their condition. Handouts were passed out to the council. The general observation is that many roads have issues with the shoulders, some potholes and alligator cracking. Three road maintenance options were presented based on available funding. First was the most aggressive repair on all roads. This is a better fix. Second option is a middle ground fix and then third option is a lesser fix option.
Recommendations were suggested, in map form, varying by road. Roads needs were categorized by evaluating subgrade, surface need treatments .and basic maintenance. A discussion of the life cycle of roads by maintenance treatment was held. Twenty years is the usual life cycle of a road. Discussion also included recommended drainage solutions, culverts, and the bridge to Sleeping Rainbow.
Center street, Rainbow Road and Sleeping Rainbow are in poor condition. Grant funding for the road project was discussed. Ensign Engineering is looking for photos of flood events in any area of Torrey. These photos will help in the overall planning needs of the roads.
The Water Master Plan update is partially completed. The Council discussed current water rates, the ability to meet Torreys financial obligations and provide for water projects. For comparison, Kelly compiled a list of other communities and their current rate structure. Ensign Engineering suggested financial data for water systems recommends the debt-to-income ratio of 1.25. Council discussed creating an established inflation rate.
Discussion included the rating tiers of water usage. Kelly will create studies of water usage in Torrey. Kelly discussed Torrey’s number of allotted ERUs and the current demands. Torrey is currently meeting the demands. More information will be provided.
Mayor Business
Review Mayor’s Report, a copy is included in these minutes.
Discussion of Juniper drive and the feedback that was received from the residents. Also discussed was the county filed easement to access water meters on Juniper Dr. There will be a meeting with the mayor and the residents on Juniper Dr. to discuss next steps. Kelly Chappell will be invited to the meeting to discuss maintenance issues. Mayor Wright will also meet with the city’s attorney to evaluate the easement. The flooding liability for Torrey, in the Juniper Drive area, was discussed.
Mayor County Commissioners meeting, included a discussion of the county EMS and the sharing of the EMS costs. The Wayne County was short $100,000 on funding EMS services for the incorporated cities. Torrey proper had 8% of the total EMS calls and so will be obligated to pay $8,000 for this next year. The State of Utah has passed a law stating that all cities and towns must now either provide EMS services or contract for them.
Discussion of the Grants for Torrey infrastructure. Mayor Wright has been evaluating several possible Grants for Torrey. Nan Anderson has volunteered to assist with some of grants. She will be working on the outdoor grants, walking path and new city hall.
Justice Court, Wayne county does not have a justice Court judge at this time. The new judge won’t be in place until March. Karen is working on what it takes to establish a justice court. The county workload is too high to provide service to cities and towns. Torrey’s goal is to set up a justice court and provide the service to other cities and towns.
IT. The work for updated computers is in progress.
Town Business
The council reviewed the input from Water Ordinance public hearing. Discussion began regarding the question of the drilling of wells in the Torrey Water district. It was decided to remove the wording restricting the drilling of wells.
Doug made the motion to strike out 8-1-16-I. and change the wording on 8-1-5 regarding the watering of Stock effective today. Jordan seconded the motion. All council members present voted in Favor.
Doug made the motion to adopt the new Torrey water use ordinance, effective today, January 12, 2023. Jordan seconded the motion and , all council members present were in favor. Karen will send the updated ordinance to the Codifiers.
Review water rate schedule & have published in Insider, Torrey website, & public notice website.
The TC meeting and P&Z meeting
The Town meeting schedule for 2023 is to be published in the Outsider. Karen will submit schedule tomorrow.
Review candidates, Kate Chappell & Bill Barrett, for Planning & Zoning opening.
Richard Jensen is timing out of his term in 2023. Bill Barrett has removed his name from the list of candidates. Pearl made a motion to appoint Kate Chappell as the new member of the P&Z.
Clerk Report – Karen Mayne
GRAMA Requests: There were no requests this last month.
The letters for the renewal of Short-Term Rentals business license have been sent and owner are starting to return the updated applications and the inspection documentation.
Karen requested information to place in the February / March newsletter.
The Town office has not received any new building permit requests this month.
Financial Report Colleen Dudleston
November 2022 financial report was distributed and reviewed. Colleen also distributed the amortization schedule for the Town loan (water revenue bond). The report was discussed in some detail. A motion was made by Doug to accept the financial report for November and approve the bills to be paid. The motion was seconded by Pearl. All were in favor.
December 2022 financial report and the audit report were distributed and reviewed. The report was discussed in some detail. A motion was made by Pearl to approve the report and pay the bills. Doug Seconded the motion and all approved.
Colleen submitted a letter from the Mitchel family asking Torrey to forgive a water overage due to a leaking pipe under their home. The owners turned off the water as soon as it was discovered and repaired the leak. Discussion followed and then Jordan made a motion to forgive the overage. Doug seconded the motion. All members were favor. The motion passed.
Council Reports
Pat Kearney: Pioneer Cemetery, Cemetery, Trees & Office. Pat was excused from this meeting.
Doug Robinson: Water. All issues were covered during Kelly Chappell’s report.
Jordan Pace: Water, Roads. All issues were covered in Kelly Chappell’s report.
Pearl Thorndal-Stewart: Park, Pavilion, Post Office, & Town Events:
Mayor Wright thanked Pearl for all her efforts for the Christmas events. And thanks to Diane Barrett for her beautiful Post Office Christmas Décor. Thanks also to Dustin for all his work putting up Christmas decorations. Everyone’s effort was appreciated.
Pearl will order the “Dog Pots” for the park. Funding for the dog pots was generously donated.
Pearl is recommending posting signs to remind people to use the dog pots. The next planned event will be the Easter Party on April 8.
Maintenance Report Dustin Oyler
The annual Water Conference will be held the first week of March.
Pearl made the motion to approve Dustin’s attendance to the full conference. The motion was seconded by Doug, All approved.
P&Z Report – Dave Love
Kathryn Bolz has made a tremendous effort to prepare the egress and access plan, a demo plan and the septic system plan. Her building permit is approved and will be finalized by Eric Torgerson. She now needs to sprinkler the buildings and ADA updates.
The Sky view sign has been approved. Dave asked for the sign fee to be waived. They plan to paint the domes.
The Fire station has some signs that need to be installed on the building. Signs to show where the donations go, and no parking signs on their doors.
Planning and Zoning commission continues to work on the General Plan.
Janet proposed to the Town Council that they authorize Dave to go on others property to enforce ordinances. Mayor Wright will check with the attorney to see how to designate the ordinance enforcement. And the document needed to create the position.
Dave is proposing a change to the Planning & Zoning building permit ordinance and will submit it to the council.
Old Business
Public Comment:
Another water bill overage was experienced by Torrey resident-Richard Harrach.-Dustin will change both the meters on their property. Until the meters are changed the charges will be forgiven.
Also, a comment was made by Mr Harrach that the speed limit signs for Sleeping Rainbow need to be installed. A discussion was held about the speed limit plan for the town. Some would like a limit of 15mph for the residential roads. Sign ordinance may be Adjourn:
Doug Made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:58PM. The motion was seconded by Pearl. All in favor.
