1. 4:30 P.M. Special Joint City - County Meeting February 22, 2021 Special Joint City - County Meeting February 22, 2021
Documents:
CC PACKET 02-22-2021.PDF NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING
TO THE RESIDENTS OF UINTAH COUNTY and VERNAL CITY: Notice is hereby given that the Vernal City Council and the Uintah County Commission will hold a Special Joint Meeting on Monday, February 22, 2021 at 4:30 p.m. in the Uintah County Conference Room, located at 152 East 100 North, Vernal, Utah.
A G E N D A
4:30 P.M. STANDING BUSINESS
1. ACKNOWLEDGMENT & APPROVAL OF SPECIAL MEETING
2. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF JANUARY 25, 2021
SCHEDULED PUBLIC BUSINESS
1. DISCUSSION REGARDING GEOFENCE BOUNDARIES FOR SCOOTERS – QUINN BENNION
2. FREEDOM FESTIVAL CONCERT ON JULY 2, 2021 – QUINN BENNION
3. UPDATE REGARDING DOWNTOWN VERNAL PLANNING PROCESS – QUINN BENNION
4. AIRPORT BUDGET AND POSSIBLE USE OF CARES ACT 2 FUNDS – KEN CAMPBELL
5. DISCUSSION REGARDING SPECIAL SERVICE DISTRICTS AND MINERAL LEASE FUNDS – COMMISSION
ADJOURN
*NOTE: In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, individuals needing special accommodations during this meeting should notify Quinn Bennion at 374 East Main St, Vernal, Utah 84078, telephone: (435) 789- 2255.
1 INUTES OF THE VERNAL CITY COUNCIL AND UINTAH COUNTY 2 COMMISSION SPECIAL JOINT MEETING HELD JANUARY 25, 2021 at 4:30 3 p.m. in the Vernal City Community room, 374 East Main, Vernal, Utah 84078. 4 M 5 This was an electronic meeting with the anchor location being held in the Vernal City 6 Community room, 374 East Main St, Vernal, Utah. Those in attendance were required to wear 7 a mask unless they are speaking. The meeting will be streamed live via Facebook and 8 broadcast on the Vernal City YouTube Channel: 9 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvGzca67KY_BIQwmNfNyzEQ 10 11 PRESENT: 12 13 UINTAH COUNTY: Commissioners Brad Horrocks, Bill Stringer and Bart Haslem. 14 15 VERNAL CITY: Councilmembers Bert Clark, Dave Everett, Ted Munford, Nick Porter, 16 and Mayor Doug Hammond. 17 18 NAPLES CITY: Mayor Dean Baker. 19 20 BALLARD CITY: Mayor Bob Abercrombie. 21 22 STAFF: Ken Campbell, Sterling Davis, Julie McMickell, Jessika Brown, Quinn Bennion 23 and Roxanne Behunin, 24 25 GUESTS: Sonja Norton. TO Engineering: Jeremy McCalister and joined electronically via 26 zoom. 27 28 WELCOME: Vernal City Mayor Doug Hammond welcomed everyone to the meeting. 29 30 ACKNOWLEDGMENT & APPROVAL OF SPECIAL MEETING: Councilmember Nick 31 Porter moved to acknowledge and approve this special meeting. Councilmember Ted Munford 32 seconded the motion. The motion passed a unanimous vote. Mayor Dean Baker was not present 33 for the vote. 34 35 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 14, 2020: Councilmember Dave Everett 36 moved to approve the minutes of September 14, 2020 as presented. Councilmember Nick Porter 37 seconded the motion. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. 38 39 FOLLOW-UP ON AIRPORT MASTER PLAN: Ken Campbell, Vernal Regional Airport 40 Manager, introduced the airport employees, Julie McMickell, Jessika Goodrich and Sterling 41 Davis. He noted that he has been serving as the manager for 111 days. The engineers for the 42 airport are TO Engineering and they have been working on updating the airport master plan. 43 The plan covers the next 10 years of capital projects with the first 2 years being projects the FAA 44 may agree to fund. The next year’s projects need to be recommended by the Technical 45 Advisory Committee (TAC). There are several areas that need to be considered such as the 7000 MINUTES OF THE JOINT VERNAL CITY COUNCIL AND UINTAH COUNTY COMMISSION SPECIAL MEETING HELD FEBRUARY 22 2021
46 foot runway, precision approach lighting, terminal buildings etc. Some of these improvements 47 are on-going from 2018-2019, and what is at the airport is fabulous for the size of the 48 community. The path lighting is good; however the runway lighting is not. Jeremy McCallister 49 with TO Engineering stated he is the project manager for the master plan, is working on the 50 ground water project and was involved during the runway relocation project. 51 52 Ken Campbell stated that the sequence of events for master plan will include noticing and 53 marketing to ask questions and get answers from the public. Communication and education will 54 be key components for three potential courses of action. Jeremy McCallister stated this project 55 started last March and it is critical to create the best plan for the future of the airport. The three 56 alternatives can include additional options so nothing is left out. 57 58 Ken Campbell displayed a map of the airport with the locations of the buildings, runway and 59 parking. The first item being considered is to add 750 feet to the end of the runway with lighting 60 which would allow the next largest aircraft to use the airport. Jeremy McCalister stated that is 61 the longest the runway will ever be with the location of 2500 South Street and that property is 62 already owned by the County. There is one property acquisition that would be needed for 63 clearance only. In all cases, this is the most logical growth. Ken Campbell pointed out the next 64 item for consideration is the terminal building that needs room for the ticket booth, security, 65 bathrooms and car rentals. The idea for the first potential action is to move the terminal into the 66 parking lot and repurpose the current terminal. Mr. Campbell displayed this change on the map. 67 Jeremy indicated this layout is based on the study from 2015 to accommodate 2 commercial 68 flights a day with better flow patterns for TSA. Ken Campbell stated that plan also considered 69 the growth forecast. The next piece of the plan has to include the hangers for both fixed wing 70 and helicopters. There is potential to gain more revenue by adjusting leases and adding 71 hangers. The next item is the corporate apron configuration for future growth. Jeremy 72 McCallister stated the plan needs to be flexible for future items such as air freight, and a 73 separation between small traffic from large corporate traffic. There is also the possibility of 74 another property acquisition for a small building. Ken Campbell stated the next item is the 75 cross wind runway which gives the airport the ability to land different planes; however no 76 commercial traffic could use that runway. Commissioner Brad Horrocks stated that does allow 77 planes to land during bad weather. Mayor Doug Hammond questioned why the main runway 78 was not extended during the reconstruction. Jeremy McCallister stated it was built to match the 79 available funding. Commissioner Bart Haslem stated out of the five items items being considered 80 in each course of action, lengthening the runway and adding lights will be paid with federal 81 funds. The terminal cannot be funded that way. Ken Campbell agreed that the crosswind 82 runway and terminal will require more local funding. Jeremy McCallister clarified that the land 83 site for the terminal is federally ineligible and any land side pavement would also not be eligible. 84 The remainder of the capital improvements would be eligible. The easiest distinction is the 85 further away from the main runway, the harder it is to get funding from the FAA. However, the 86 airport could use entitlement funds on all of it. Ken Campbell stated once it is decided what is 87 needed, the next course of action is to fight for funding. Ken again displayed a map of the MINUTES OF THE JOINT VERNAL CITY COUNCIL AND UINTAH COUNTY COMMISSION SPECIAL MEETING HELD FEBRUARY 22 2021
88 airport and showed the configuration of the terminal and hangers if the entrance to the airport 89 was relocated. He noted that in some of the scenarios, the cross wind runway would be 90 restricted. If that runway is eliminated in this plan, it will not come back. Jeremy McCallister 91 stated that the Committee does not want to consider an alternative that eliminates the cross wind 92 runway. However, he advises to at least include an alternative that doe eliminate the cross wind 93 runway to consider all the options. The priority is to consider the best use of the land. The cost 94 for the runway is $1 million dollars for every 1000 feet which equals a total of $3 million dollars. 95 Commissioner Brad Horrocks clarified that would all have to be paid locally. Ken Campbell 96 stated yes and asked if it is worth that for the benefit. Jeremy stated once there is an approved 97 plan, there is no obligation to build; however, you will still have the option to do it. If any item 98 is eliminated, there is no flexibility as the FAA will only approve what is in the plan. There 99 was some discussion regarding putting in hangers or having clearance for the cross wind runway. 100 Commissioner Brad Horrocks asked what the number one priority is. Councilmember Ted 101 Munford stated a Salt Lake commercial route. Commissioner Bart Haslem stated that requires 102 the terminal building. Jeremy McCallister stated that United may pull out if they determine the 103 Denver route is not sustainable with both routes. The elected officials discussed the drop in 104 enplanements with COVID-19 and how that may affect funding. Commissioner Horrocks 105 suggested the airport look at a marketing plan to increase the enplanements. Commissioner 106 Bart Haslem stated the travel industry is down 75%. 107 108 Quinn Bennion asked what the next step will be for the master plan. Ken Campbell stated the 109 TAC will make a final recommendation and that will be brought back to this body along with 110 input from a pilot meeting. 111 112 Commissioner Horrocks stated there may be some willingness for property owners to sell now 113 for some of these items. Ken Campbell stated there is funding to purchase property. 114 115 ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS: 116 117 Airport Hanger: 118 Quinn Bennion stated there is an offer for the potential sale of a hanger. The City and County 119 need to decide if they want to waive the first right of refusal on that sale if there is no interest in 120 the purchase. After discussion, the consensus of the Vernal City Council was to waive the 121 thirty day period and allow the sale of the hanger. Commissioner Bill Stringer indicated the 122 County would prefer to see the offer first. 123 124 UDOT Agreement for downtown revitalization plan: 125 Quinn Bennion asked the Council to consider allowing the Mayor to sign the UDOT agreement 126 that was originally approved and then minor modifications were made so it needs to be 127 re-evaluated by the Council. He noted that the staff will contact them to explain the changes. 128 129 MINUTES OF THE JOINT VERNAL CITY COUNCIL AND UINTAH COUNTY COMMISSION SPECIAL MEETING HELD FEBRUARY 22 2021
130 Electric Scooter: 131 Quinn Bennion explained that the Active and Healthy Committee has been working with a 132 company to bring electric scooters to Vernal. The Council approved a Memorandum of 133 Understanding to use these in the City. However, there are some locations in the County such as 134 USU and UBTECH where these scooters may be useful. He asked the Commissioners to think 135 about allowing this type of transportation in the County within certain areas. 136 137 ADJOURN: There being no further business; Councilmember Dave Everett moved to adjourn. 138 Councilmember Ted Munford seconded the motion. The motion passed with a unanimous vote 139 and the meeting was declared adjourned.