Notes and insights from the July 13, 2020 City Council meeting.

 

The Agenda

The main items on the agenda for Monday night’s council meeting were:

· Council Training

· Work Session/Review and Discussion of the Wohali MPD and Phase 1 Preliminary Subdivision Plat

· Public Hearing for the Wohali MPD and Phase 1 Preliminary Subdivision Plat

Council Training

During the public hearing portion of the previous Coalville City Council meeting held on June 22, some members of the public had introduced a comprehensive training opportunity being offered by a group called Rural Community Consultants. The funding comes from a grant by the Utah Ombudsman office and there is no cost to the city.  The council seemed interested in this opportunity and requested that the mayor or staff get it on the schedule. Council Member Tyler Rowser even suggested they could extend the training to the Coalville City Planning Commission and other neighboring city governments. For some reason, the city decided to go a different direction. City Attorney, Sheldon Smith, delivered the council training. He said he was structuring the training differently than in the past and would be answering questions that the council had asked him over the past couple of weeks. The topics he covered were:

· Governmental Immunity/Conflicts of Interest

· What the word “ignorant” means

· What does the public expect of you vs. what council’s job is

· Council and staff roles and responsibilities

Work Session

The work session/review was the council’s first time going over Wohali’s second application together as a group. Project Coordinator Don Sargent and Eric Langvart, a member of the Wohali’s team, took time to answer some of the council’s questions about the application. City Attorney Sheldon Smith informed the council that the citizens group, CFRG (Coalville For Responsible Growth) along with some adjacent land owners, filed a submission with the state’s Ombudsman, a property rights advocate, asking for an unbiased legal advisory opinion of how Coalville’s codes apply to Wohali’s second application. To see more about the process of the Ombudsman advisory opinion, or to read the legal opinions in the submittal by CFRG attorney Polly McLean, click here. He stated this would be another legal opinion, similar to the one given by Utah League of City’s and Towns Attorney, David Church, at the planning commission public hearing. He noted that council had received a letter from Mr. Church that contained the same legal opinion as he delivered to the planning commission. It was also mentioned that the Wohali group had requested the city apply newly approved state legislation to the application approval process. Code 10-9a-509.5 (effective 3/24/2020) basically states that within 45 days from the date of the request, the land use authority must take final action, either approving or denying the petition. CFRG is hopeful the Ombudsman advisory opinion will be returned within the necessary 45 day time-frame to give the council some additional guidance on interpreting Wohali’s application.

Public Hearing

KPCW News Radio has been doing an excellent job of covering public hearings in Coalville City. For a summary of how that portion of the meeting went and to hear specific comments from members of the community, please click here.

What’s Next?

The Coalville City Planning Commission Meeting that was scheduled for 7/20/2020 has been cancelled. The next meeting will be the Coalville City Council Continued Public Hearing on the Wohali MPD, Phase 1 Preliminary Subdivision on Monday, July 27, 2020 at The Ledges Event Center. Please plan to attend with your questions or comments for the council on this application. Also, please consider writing or calling your city council representatives with your concerns or point of view.