March 13, 2024 | General Meeting

Voting

• 5-0 approving the Consent Agenda, which includes the following:
• February 21 special City Council meeting minutes
• Blackridge parking service contract
• 2024 fireworks restriction map
• 5-0 approving a traffic signal near Mountain Ridge HS
• 5-0 approving funding for the Midas Creek Trail extension project
• 5-0 approving an illegal parking fine increase from $25 to $100
• 4-1 approving an update to the City's animal-related ordinances for cleanup and consolidation. Further discussions will take place about the overall limit of animals in a household and if a limit (or what limit) is a appropriate
• 5-0 approving updates to the City's ordinances about telecommunications, cable, and broadband services

General Meeting

City Council board and committee reports

• Councilmember Hodges, representing the South Valley Sewer District board, noted the district's internal audit committee met and there were no issues to report.
• Councilmember Ohrn, representing the Youth Council organization, reported the group's efforts at the recent statewide conference, including the conference being youth-organized and youth-led. Members of the council gave a report on the conference and their activities for the year as well. 

Youth Council report

Two members of the City's Youth Council gave a report on their activities for the year, featuring the recent Cultures Around Herriman event and the statewide conference they attended on the campus of Utah State University. The conference this year was largely youth-planned and youth-produced and was themed on focusing on the future. The Council commended the members for all their efforts throughout the year. 

Mountain Ridge HS traffic signal

The City and Jordan School District have had concerns about safety and traffic flow of the entrance/exit from Mountain Ridge High School's campus on the north end. The school district approved a realignment of the access road to line up with the intersection (see map below) and the City agreed to participate in funding a new traffic signal at the intersection. The project's cost is $182,175. About $140,000 is actual infrastructure and lighting (including cost savings from re-using the arms from the current HAWK pedestrian signal), and the remainder is for conduit around the intersection. The signal will be installed during the summer of 2024.

Midas Creek Trail

The Council approved the reimbursement funding for the upcoming extension of the Midas Creek Trail, which will extend from 6000 W (south of Herriman High School) westward to 6400 West along both sides of Midas Creek. The project will include two paved trails and an equestrian trail. Project plans can be found on herriman.org/upcomingprojects#midas.

Illegal parking fine increase

The fine for illegal parking in the city will increase from $25 to $100, with a maximum of $200 if warranted based on repeated violations. The motivation behind this increase started with issues surrounding Blackridge Reservoir and the failure of the $25 fine to deter illegal parking. While illegal parking is an especial problem near Blackridge Reservoir, it is an issue citywide.

Animal code discussion

The Council discussed whether to amend parts of the City's animal-related ordinances (an ongoing discussion most recently talked about at the February 14th meeting). The City is working on simplifying, cleaning up, and re-organizing the animal code and has been considering whether to make any substantial changes to the code while the revisions are being made. 

Part of the existing ordinance (and drafted change) include a limit of 4 animals with a maximum of 3 of a kind (i.e. 3 dogs, 1 cat but not 4 dogs). The Council discussed at length whether any limit of animals at all is appropriate. Suggestions included creating a task force to study the need or effectiveness of a limit. The drafted ordinance (with the existing animal limit) was approved but the Council has committed to continue discussing how much, if any, of a limit is appropriate.

Work Meeting

Department budget requests: IT/Communications, Legal, Human Resources, Legislative

As part of the budget drafting process, the Council is discussing the budget requests for City departments. In this meeting, they reviewed the IT, Communications, Legal, Human Resources, and Legislative budget requests. The Council had no significant concerns for these budget requests, other than a discussion about legislative salaries. A market salary study found that the City Council's salaries are below that of comparable cities. The recommendation from the study is that the City Council and mayor salaries be raised to current market rates (+$4,400 for City Councilmembers, +$11,000 for the mayor). The Council discussed this, including the awkward nature of voting on their own compensation, and will consider in future meetings whether to vote on such an increase.

Commercial zoning discussion

The Council discussed a proposal to limit new car washes and credit unions in the city. The Council wants to allow necessary services as the city grows while restricting business types that they feel are oversaturated in the current local business landscape. The item will go before the Planning Commission (likely next month) before returning to the City Council for further discussion and a potential vote.

Legislative session wrap-up

The Council and staff members discussed a summary of state legislation that affect City operations and public safety. One of particular interest for cities across Utah was Senate Bill 185, which allows homebuilders to use third-party inspection services for their projects, but only if the city fails to perform the inspection within the required 3-day window. Another bill will now require a consistent, statewide response protocol for school threats and the state has funded $100 million for schools to install and implement safety improvements (such as cameras, alarm systems, communications equipment, and so forth).

Video

• Work meeting
• General meeting