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In a session that lasted nearly five hours, the Mapleton City Council met May 7 and discussed developments in the city. Dr. Wendall Gibby addressed the council regarding his proposed Freedom Vista Subdivision, but the issue of most concern to city residents appeared to be the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for The Pointe at Maple Mountain subdivision. Over a dozen people stayed until after 11 p.m. to hear the discussion of issues related to that development. No vote was held on it, as the council concluded they must first address an annexation issue already underway.
In the discussion of The Pointe, both the chairman and the vice-chairman of the Mapleton City Planning Commission appeared before the council to voice their concerns. Chairman Oscar Mink said "In August we passed a master plan. They (these developers) came in October to change what had just been done in August -- to get 1/3 acres lots. We denied it. We discourage growth at the cost of 'open space, health and safety,' as stated in the Mapleton mission statement. If we pass this MOU, we're contradicting our own mission statement."
Skip Tandy, vice-chairman of the Planning Commission, added his concerns about a safety issue on 800 West and changing the general plan from low density to medium density. "I would like the City Council to let the Planning Commission know when the council is going against our recommendations," said Tandy. "Maybe we would like to come to the meeting on an MOU and voice our concern."
The mayor and council promised to send¬ a copy of the approved minutes of their meetings to the planning committee, to keep them informed of decisions made by the council in the future.
Gary Calder, city engineer, listed concern with the temporary access as described by the developers and how the utilities would be connected, since the Presidio development that they hoped to tie in to seems to be on hold. The applicants appeared confused as to why they had been asked to come before the council, as they had already made the changes to their MOU requested by the council at their last session together.
City Planning Directory Cory Branch stated that since the council had approved the MOU with certain conditions back in January in seemed prudent to have them come again and review certain items. Further discussion will be required once the annexation request made by the Presidio development has been decided.
In other matters, Bill Bleggi appeared to protest a new regulation regarding mailboxes throughout the city. He had received notification that his mailbox was "out of compliance" with city ordinances, even though he had installed his mailbox following suggestions given him by city employees 13 years ago. Bleggi objected to the June 2 enforcement date and the council suggested he have Bruce Palmer, city building inspector, look at his individual situation to determine whether or not it fit with the city ordinance.
Mayor Laurel Brady joined other cities in Utah Valley in proclaiming July 1, 2008 as "Utah Valley University Day."¬ In issuing this proclamation, Brady said, "We do appreciate UVU, or UVSC. A lot of us have had experiences with that school. It's been a great asset to us and we do want to support it."
Members of the Mapleton Library Board made a presentation on the feasibility of opening a city library in Mapleton. Cheryl Taylor, Cheryl Unice and Lonnie Oman spoke on behalf of the board, describing their hopes for the future of the Mapleton Library. The current library is not owned by the city, but by the county bookmobile and "they could leave at any time." Establishing a city-owned library would give the city local control over acquisitions, Internet access and other aspects of the library. ¬
While the Library Board has a goal to open a city library by July 1, 2009, their presentation before the council was just informative, with no call for specific action at this time.
The mayor thanked the volunteers for all the work they had put into the presentation and concluded, "We want a library sometime. The question is, is now the right time?"
As Dr. Gibby began to address the council on his proposed subdivision, he expressed delight at the prospect of a city library and offered to donate computers for the library's use. He then proceeded to outline areas that still need "clarification" in his proposed settlement solution. He proposed "minor text changes" to the PD2 zoning ordinance and listed density and access as two areas still in dispute.
The council, acting on the advice of the city attorney, did not vote on any aspect of the MOU but stated a need to wait until the issue of the restraining order against the city was completely resolved.
The council voted to approve Grace Nay as the new ambulance director and Marlo Evans as the assistant director. Lorrie Dibble was appointed as Mapleton City Deputy Recorder. ¬
The council reviewed the 2008-2009 tentative budget for the city and set the June 18 meeting as the time to handle that item. |
