Council Report

by Kathy Bence

Here are some highlights of the December 20 meeting— the last City Council meeting of 2023.   

Presentations

There was a presentation by Greg Turner to the city about the Wreaths across America event that recently placed wreaths on the graves of Veterans at Toquerville Cemetery.  As part of his presentation, he gifted the city a framed poster with pictures of the WWII Veterans from Toquerville. 

There was a presentation and a lot of discussion about the 2023 fiscal year audit report.  The upshot was that there was no fraud in the city, which is good to hear.

Business Items

3-Minute Public Forum is Back

The city council voted unanimously to extend the 3-minute public forum to every meeting.  This was important.  A private conversation with council members does not allow other residents to know the issues.  From my experience, few council meetings will have anyone commenting, but encouraging input sends the message that our council values public opinion.

City Logo

 The council voted on updating the Toquerville City Logo.  The seal is official and it will remain the same.  The logo is a less involved graphic that will be more cost effective to print on branded items such as uniforms, letterhead, vehicles, and equipment. They had a public meeting December 6 and accepted survey results to make this decision.  I’ll admit I knew nothing about any of this and never saw anything on the website, but I just checked the city’s facebook page and realized it was mentioned there.  

Here’s our new logo and the old seal:

Planning Commission Term lengths and a Pay Surprise

 The length of terms for the planning commissioners was discussed.  It was decided it would be a 4-year term. Terms for alternate commissioners will be four years also. However, if an alternate moves up to being a planning commissioner, they will assume what’s left of the remaining term they are replacing.     

There was also a lot of discussion about how to classify the planning commissioners for accounting purposes now that they are being compensated. Until the city council decided to pay them, they were previously on a volunteer basis.  In a surprise move, Stacy Eaton, the planning commission chairman, suggested that they do away with the compensation for the planning commission.  He said that while they were grateful for the council’s offer of compensation, the commissioners would prefer to volunteer and not be compensated.  How often does that happen at any level of government?   

 Anderson Junction and Water

The impact fees will be waved for those in Anderson Junction who have transferred some of their water rights for culinary water. 

 Money from the State

There was no action, but they discussed a 4.5 million state grant for a Toquerville West off-site water tank.   Since the contract is not available yet and no one has read it, council member Gary Chaves recommended waiting before accepting the grant. The item was tabled.

Hanging up his hat

After 12 years of service on the city council and 14 years prior to that on the planning commission, Ty Bringhurst is hanging up his hat.  He was presented with a picture related to his family’s history in the area. He received a standing ovation from all present and Ty briefly expressed his gratitude for being able to serve in this position.