City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, it's officially 530, so we'll get started. I love seeing a full house, so welcome everybody. It's good to have you at our council meeting tonight. Perfect timing, Councilman Wilkie. That was like right on time. Yeah, there's kind of a theme tonight. Yeah. Yeah. So we are blessed to start tonight with a prayer. Brother Mike Carter is going to offer that for us, and then the pledge will be offered by Councilman Cox.

Our dear Heavenly Father, as we're about to commence the evening's meeting of the City Council, We wish to acknowledge thee and offer gratitude for the blessings we enjoy in this beautiful city. We're thankful for those who serve in their various administrative capacities, for those who provide safe water, suitable sewers, parks and cemeteries, transportation, and for all who serve us in their individual capacities. We're especially grateful for our police and firemen and women and the safety that they offer us in our homes and in our neighborhoods. May they be blessed and protected in their roles. We're thankful for those who are here in their elected capacities, those who will be the ultimate decision-makers. May they be blessed with the best information available and with the best discernment they can bring. May they be guided and directed by their respective oaths of office that we might enjoy the ongoing benefits of freedoms and liberties that are afforded to us by our sacred Constitution. We thank thee for this land and its freedoms. We acknowledge our forebearers on whose shoulders we stand, who have given life and limb and time that we might enjoy that which we enjoy today. We pray for the people of this city. that they might be safe and happy, that they might be able to prosper in their individual roles and desires, and may they be benefited by those who function at our city level. We pray for the people of this land that in accordance with their teachings and beliefs that they might seek to live righteous lives, that we might lay claim to the freedoms that are promised to this land by ancient prophets. We acknowledge the blessing of our Savior Jesus Christ, his atoning sacrifice and his redeeming love. We pray for thy guidance, for his guidance, for his mercy and grace upon us in all that we do. And we acknowledge thy hand in all of our many blessings. And we do it humbly and gratefully in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Amen. Thanks, Mike.

Please rise and follow me in the pledge of allegiance to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you.

All right. Any changes anybody has on any of the agendas? Mayor, I would move that we approve the agenda items for the action meeting of city council, the municipal building authority meeting, and the redevelopment agency meetings.

I have a motion and a second. All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Okay. Well, our first one is firemen. There he is. He's hiding around the corner.

Mike Phillips with the fire department. I'll have Chief Warby come in. He's the volunteer chief. I'll have him introduce the new volunteers to the department.

They're really, really excited to have a great new recruit class that has just finished up. And they're wonderful young men. We've already had them on a couple of fires where they come and helped us. And that, I'll tell you, and they're working fires. And we like to have young men who can help us take care of all that holes and all the challenges that come when we have those fires. We appreciate these guys. And as I say your name, if you'd please just come up and stand in front up here. So Eric, and I think he goes by Ike, right? Yes, sir. Anderson. Cameron Ellis. Daniel Isom. Langdon Marvin. Oh, he's gone. Okay. Joshua Peterson. Tyler Rimmel. Aiden Taylor, and Travis Terry.

Moms and grandmas, you can work your way up here and get pictures. Get pictures.

Yeah, and I think we've got a lot of family members here. So we appreciate these guys. I'd also like to recognize. And wives, and dads, or whoever. Travis Fales is here, our training officer who has trained these guys. How tough was Travis on you guys? And then what's the last test you had to do? Chief's test. And how did you do?

Well, they're standing here, aren't they?

Let me tell you one thing that really impressed me when these guys took their chief's test, which is pretty tough. is that they were a team. They helped each other. They worked together. And I was really impressed with that because on the fire ground, we need teamwork. And so we appreciate these guys. You can't imagine the hours and the work that goes in to getting the certifications. They've got what, five or six certifications? And each of them probably 40, 80 hours to, depends on the class, but there's a lot of time and effort that goes in. How much studying did you have to do to pass those written tests? They have read a very thick book. Fire Essentials, when I started, was about that thick. Now it's about that thick.

But it was in stone back then.

Yeah, it was.

You call him Grandpa.

So congratulations to these great, great young men. And we're excited to have them here with us and be part of the... We hope that they're going to stay around a while. That's one of the things that we... But we know that the young people of every class that we've had They're kind of transient, move on, but we hope that you'll stay with us for the next 40, 44 years.

So hang in there.

That'll be half of what you've been, right?

So if you want to invite whoever you invited up to pin your badge on you, have them come up.

Why don't you invite them in order so that they can...

I'm going to get out of the way. I don't want to be in the photos.

Don't drop blood.

Hopefully she's a good opinion that she isn't cutting hair. That's a big shield. You did, that's why.

I told you you'd be here when he came to do this.

You took a little too much off the top. Yeah, you left me with nothing on top. She's the reason I'm bald.

Where does she work?

Great Clips. Maybe she wants to come work for me.

Hey, yeah. Hey, if you ever want to go across the street to Shishalon, he's the owner right there. One that's a little slower than the rest.

Just stick it in there. That's all I did. They don't want any more in the Army, but they used to use sergeants.

It's not that painful. Yeah, yeah. Same deal. Back in the day. They don't do any more.

It's a newer, kinder, gentler Army. You got your sergeant's tribe. It's a Drew boy.

A FEW NEW FIREFIGHTERS TO TURN AROUND AND SHAKE THE COUNCIL'S HAND, WORK YOUR WAY AROUND, AND WE'LL GO OUT TO THE ENGINE AND TAKE SOME PICTURES.

WELCOME. WELCOME ABOARD, SIR. WELCOME ABOARD, SIR. THANK YOU.

WELCOME.

WELCOME ABOARD, SIR.

WELCOME ABOARD, SIR.

THANK YOU.

So before everybody sneaks off as far as the fire guys, I told there's somebody that is in the audience that you guys helped this last month that wanted to take a minute to say thank you while you're all here.

So don't leave yet.

So this is a real life life that you touched here.

So come on back in for a moment.

You got them all.

They're all behind. On this, approximately two weeks ago. Who are you, who are you? Excuse me, Tom Jett, thank you. Hold the mic towards you Tom, we can't hear you. About two weeks ago on a Friday afternoon, unfortunately there was a fire at one of my rentals up behind the Big O Tire area. Fortunately, everybody got out of the home okay, up and down. I had three children under five in the basement and an eight month old lady that was eight months pregnant upstairs and she got out. And the policemen responded first and they were true heroes out there with their fire extinguishers and doing the best they could, but limited resources. They weren't able to take care of this. Then our firemen came. And I tell you, and I've said this before, it's almost like watching you guys in action is almost like watching a beautiful ballet. Everybody knows their place, their station, how to move, where to move. No one's in their way. It's nothing like the cartoons. It's really, it's not a beautiful sight to see a property burned or properties burned, but it is a beautiful sight to see how well trained you are. And because of your training, you're probably going to go home that day and see your family. And I think that the fire department leadership and all the men and women before you that have helped keep you guys and put this in this situation. This fire could have been crazy. It could have spread just like the Chicago fire of 100 plus years ago, the way the winds were howling. And it could have spread. But you guys were so well prepared in the way that you presented yourself and you managed to minimize damage. And I'm very thankful. I've always been thankful of our public service, but I'm really thankful when I could watch what you guys do because you truly save lives. And it's very much appreciated. So thank you very much from the bottom of my heart.

Thank you, Tom.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor.

Mayor, I wonder if it would be appropriate for the rest of us to stand up and give these fire people a good hand. Sounds good.

All right, now you can go if you didn't want to sit through the whole meeting. Well, Mayor, are we going to have the... You're welcome to. I got some good stuff I want people to hear.

Hold on. Mayor, are we going to have the... Is the chief going to tell us about his new toy?

Chief. Oh, he didn't have that on the agenda.

Oh, well.

He just had the new volunteer fighters.

I think we should hear about it. Is Chief Phillips still out there? Somebody send him in.

Chief, do you want to put on record your cool new toy?

Come show up. Tell us about your new toy, Chief.

The one that wasn't...

Tell us how much money it's going to make.

Yeah, exactly.

That's exactly right. That's the positive of it. Yeah, Chief's right there. He's just waiting for everybody to go out.

Okay. There's only one problem. It's red?

Oh, I'm glad.

It's on a Dodge.

It's a Dodge and not a Ford? They want it to last.

He actually said the manufacturer who does the retrofitting, Skeeter, the company that does it, he says about 90% of them are on Ford chassis.

Yeah, they're on Ford chassis, but my guys like the Dodge. So Mike Phillips, the fire department again.

49 years, number one, in that sector. I don't argue. And you go for the third place. Oh.

Normally they go Chevy, so.

Yeah, that's true.

I just went up getting a rash.

Bye. Anyway, Mike Phillips, Fire Department. That's our new Type 5 brush truck skeeter. It was made in Hillsboro, Texas. Paid for 100% with wildland money. We picked it up yesterday, so it's just got 508 miles on it. Clean, easy miles. Wow. It'll pay for itself in a few fire seasons. It'll pay for itself. And then we had Mary down this morning. We had all the rigs out there, and she's going to do a story on all the wildland trucks that we've got over the years. Kind of sell that story of what we do.

And tell people to be careful out there with their fires. Yes. So it's one that will travel, right? It's one that will leave and go to wherever we need it to go? Yep. Sweet.

I was talking to the chief earlier for a few minutes, and so far we haven't been invited to any of the fires around us. They've been kind of small and contained. But I'm assuming that that's going to heat up pretty quickly. change. Congratulations. Thank you. Thanks for everything, Chief. That's fine. The cool people stay.

Okay. With that, I think Councilman Phillips.

May I have a personal privilege, please? Yeah, we probably better put America 250 on here because I'm going to be talking about it for the next six weeks or four weeks, at any rate.

Just make it an agenda item under council business.

I actually have two items, but the first one does deal with America 250. I just want to remind all those listening and the folks in the audience and the ones that have left us that this Friday evening, there is a choral and orchestral concert on the library quad at SCU near the Gerald R. Sherratt Library. It's gonna have some beautiful patriotic music and songs and it's entitled from Iron County with Pride and it'll be at 7.30 this Friday on the quad and then on Saturday the 13th, the very next day, we have a very large America 250 Summer's Music Festival happening over on 100 West and Harding Avenue and there's gonna be food vendors and bounce houses and cornhole and climbing walls and 65 vendors and food trucks and five different bands playing and there's going to be a lot of fun celebrating flag day and there will be a brief program at about 6 45 where we'll talk about flag day and its significance and why what the flag was about. I've got 31 historical flags that'll be flying. Everything from Betsy Ross's clear up to the 49 star flag and stories behind them. So that'll be on Saturday from five to 10. Then my second item is more city related. I just, and this may be more of a question and maybe future discussion, because it's not on the agenda, but I do want to acknowledge that we had quite a major water line break on Suntec Canyon on Sunday, and I just want to know what are the next steps, what are we doing about this, because there's been ongoing water problems in Suntec Canyon.

We approved a budget to fix that.

Yeah, getting the main line done on 56 is the solution.

And, yeah, we've got to keep moving ahead on that.

Well, so on that, just real quick, and I don't want to, I mean, if he wants to pipe in, he can. I talked to Matt Baker a little bit about that today. I actually was out there that night. I was able to, I was somewhat close in the area, so I stopped by at about 1030. I saw the video. As our crew was repairing the pipe, and they always do an amazing job. I mean... One of the things that, you know, Matt clued me in on that I didn't even think about is, yes, we have high pressure in that area, but because of the elevation change in that subdivision due to fire flow is we have to have high pressure at the low end to be able to get the fire flow to the top end of that neighborhood. Because Crescent Hills and Sunset Canyon share one PRV valve. And you got to think about the elevation difference between Crescent Hills and the top end where like Mr. Camp and stuff live right at the base of Cove Drive. I mean, elevation changer. I mean, if you're not 100 feet, I'd be shocked in elevation difference. And so we've got to keep the pressures high down low to be able to get the pressure up high. So he actually said he was going to talk to Jonathan about possibly re-looking at the model to see. We want to make sure we keep fire flow in the area, but see if we can maybe turn it down a little bit and still keep fire flow.

Yeah, and I am sensitive to, again, not wanting to have discussions on stuff. No, I understand.

I just want to make sure that we're all aware of it, that we're having discussions and that we're moving ahead on some permanent solutions. Okay, sounds great.

Okay, thank you.

Is somebody going to tell us about this? That was for your information. Okay.

So they're just doing a downtown cleanup.

This weekend?

June, yep, this weekend.

So more stuff going on.

Same day as everything.

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay, with that, I'll entertain a motion on the consent agenda.

Oh, with that, Mayor, I would move that we approve the consent agenda as outlined.

I have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Aye. And I just felt to acknowledge Councilman Schmidt did ask to be excused today for a family thing. Okay, action agenda. Consider approval of system for property located on 580 North Horse Alley. Great. This must be Bentley. Yeah, Bentley Hugie. Welcome. Thank you for being here.

Oh, yeah. Perfect. Yeah, I think the reason we actually put this on action was just to see if Mr. Hugie could be here. We like when the person asking for things actually does come in. I'm here. We fully understood that you were never told to be here, so you were given a pass last week.

Thanks for coming today. Is there any further discussion on this item?

no i don't i mean unless anybody else does we've done this you know we've have this probably 20 other times on that same road and it's just kind of the way it is and until one day when we put a water line down there this is or a sewer line i guess in this situation so he's just not within just he's not within 300 feet so uh with that horse alley well oh yeah mayor i would move that we approve the uh septic tanks or the septic system for property located 580 north horse alley

I have a motion and a second from Aldo. All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? That was not too painful, right?

It was easy. All right. Thank you for being here. Enjoy.

Okay. Next one is a public hearing to approve a resolution for the adoption of our 26-27 fiscal year budget.

So I have a PowerPoint presentation. Okay.

Oh, then let me get my little screen on here. Our little screen on here.

Think of the budget as the city's roadmap. It shows where we are today, where we want to go, and how to financially support the services and projects that matter most to the community. The general fund is like the city checkbook, remember them?

No, not old enough.

Except on a much larger platform, we are taking care and providing services for the whole community and the people in it. Before we move on further into the budget, I want to take a moment for a quick city finance 101 overview and explain what we mean by balanced budget. A balanced budget simply means that the planned revenues are equal to or greater than the planned expenditures for the year. In other words, the city is planning to live within its means while still providing the services our community expects. Historically, Cedar City has maintained strong financial performance. In 15 of the past 15 years, the city ended the year with a spendable surplus, meaning actual revenues came in higher than actual expenses before transfers were made. Those surpluses are important because they help build the city's unassigned fund balance, which essentially serves as a rainy day fund. Yes, I said rainy day fund. Yes. These reserves provide financial stability during emergencies, economic downturns, and unexpected costs. And they also help the city prepare for the future needs and long-term goals. This approach reflects conservative financial management and helps position the city to remain financially stable over time. This slide compares how a household plans financially for the future and how the city manages its reserves and fund balance. In a home budget, when income exceeds expenses, the remaining money is typically set aside for future savings and priorities. Things like a rainy day fund, college expenses, home improvements, or retirement. Most families understand the importance of planning ahead and saving for the unexpected events or future goals. City finances work very much the same way. When revenues exceed expenditures, those funds help the city fund, help build the city's fund balance and reserves. For local government, reserves help the city respond to those economic downturns that I mentioned earlier and fund capital projects. The key point is responsible financial planning, whether at home or in the government, requires setting aside resources today to prepare for uncertainties and needs of tomorrow. This slide highlights the key themes of the proposed 26-27 general fund budget. First, we are not anticipating any significant increases in departmental costs. Departments have worked hard to maintain service levels while being mindful of expenditures and operational efficiencies. Second, the budget maintains stable reserve levels. This is important because reserves help the city managing economy and emergencies and long-term financial stability. Third, we completed a market analysis of employee salaries. This helps ensure the city remains competitive in attracting and retaining qualified employees while staying fiscally responsible. As shown in this graphic, the proposed budget is balanced with revenues and expenditures both totaling approximately $36.5 million. This reflects a structurally balanced budget that supports current operations while maintaining financial stability for the future. This is the list of the changes in the general fund made to the adopted tentative budget to produce the final budget. And does councilor or the mayor have any questions on these before I continue?

The only question where you have a reserve on the future Heritage Center renovation, do you have reserve there meaning we're pulling that from reserve or meaning we're putting that into a reserve fund essentially?

We're putting that into reserve for the future.

into a sinking fund. That was my only question on that.

I have no questions thus far, but before we close out the budget questions, I do have a question maybe at the end of all of this.

Okay.

Is that the end of your?

No. Okay. Sorry.

I'm sorry. No, no, it's good. It's good.

You keep going, Terry.

This slide highlights some of the long-term financial challenges that the city will need to plan for the coming years. While the current budget is balanced and financially stable, it is important to recognize that pressures can impact future budgets. One of the largest challenges is maintaining competitive salaries for first responders and other city employees. In order to retain experienced, knowledgeable, and qualified staff, the city must remain competitive in the labor market while continuing to provide high quality services to the community. Another challenge is the rising cost of workers' compensation, which has increased significantly for many public agencies due to higher claim costs and insurance market trends. The City also faces ongoing capital needs, including maintaining and replacing infrastructure, vehicles, equipment, and other long-term assets that are necessary to provide services effectively. In addition, future facility expansion needs have been identified, including potential improvements or expansions for City Hall, the Fire Department, and the Police Department, as the community continues to grow. Lastly, insurance costs continue to rise and remain an ongoing budget pressure for municipalities across the country. Overall, these are the long-term challenges for the city must plan for carefully to maintain financial stability while continuing to meet community needs. So let's move on to other funds, just briefly. So these are the other fund changes from the tentative budget. Are there any questions on these before I continue?

No.

Well, all that is left is to say thank you to the large group of people that made this process possible. So thank you goes to you and to this list of people who worked hard to make the final budget what it is. So here's the actions to be taken tonight. And then also, I wanna hear your questions.

Well, it's really maybe a question for you, but also for council. I don't know if Councilman Schmidt reached out to all of you today, because he did reach out to me. And I just want to know, and I don't know if, Staff's aware, but evidently he's gone through and looked at several possible, mostly parking lots throughout the city.

Yeah, real interesting. He likes his parking lot.

He likes parking lots.

Infrastructure.

Infrastructure, well, yeah.

There you go. He loves it.

And I guess the question is, is it something that we want to consider to do anything with this particular budget? Do we want to come back and visit this later mid-year? And I don't know how much staff is aware. I know he drove around with Ken, Paul. I don't know if you're aware.

Some of the locations he was looking at, posed some engineering challenges. I know he looked at the spot up there by the aquatic center in that corner. One of the functions that that land has is an emergency area for water to go if that lake ever breaches. So

Really?

Yeah. It wouldn't go out on the field? It would flood the fields. It would cover the fields and it would keep going. Yeah. So that needs to be taken into account. Sure. I have no problems that these are probably good ideas, but we should probably design them and get a cost estimate and then come back and get a budget and build them.

That would be my recommendation is we get it on the agenda, have a thorough discussion, and then determine if we need to do a budget revision instead of just throwing them on there. I don't know that we have enough information to make a decision on a budget, and we can do that down the road. That's just my opinion.

Kelsman.

I mean, of the ones that he talked to me at least about, I think, you know, there really, there was three main ones. There was the aquatic center. And so the public knows what we're even talking about. There was the aquatic center. We talked about possibly doing some over there by bicentennial across from the soccer fields on the backside of the cemetery. And then also more at iron West and at iron West. I mean, of those three, I think the one behind the soccer fields is would be my top priority. I think that's the one that probably would get utilized the most. I mean, iron West, we don't, we're still a ways away. I mean, Aquatic Center one obviously does get used a ton. But I'm with these guys. I don't know if we have enough information at this point to say, hey, let's just add it. I know we could do a budget adjustment and add it later if we needed to. Sorry, Councilman Golan was next. Oh, you're right. Sorry.

You're good. Waldo. Sorry. Got you. Might have forgotten what he was going to say by now.

I have not. First of all, I... I admire Phil and his tenacity and his desire to help us all to have the right infrastructure in place and to improve. I think he looked at everything that we have discussed here very thoroughly. My question to him was, okay, do you have the money? clearly he doesn't and we don't and we need to as Councilman Cox has said we need to look at what it'll take to do that. He told me hey we can just enclose that canal and next to the next to the to the Aquatic Center and divert that and we should be okay and I'm going I'm no engineer but I No, right, so you just clarified that, Paul. I think all of the projects are good and necessary. Iron Horse, it can wait until the next budget year. Iron West, I'm sorry. Next budget year, because that's not gonna be ready anytime soon. But let's look at them. I think we put it on the agenda and take a good hard look. Do you have something, Ken?

Well, let's go if Councilman Phillips had anything else there.

Well, I would just, it's along the same lines, and as part of this process, I believe we did budget money for Iron West this year for parking and restrooms, and I know he's wanting more, and you can certainly come up, Ken, and respond, but we may look and say, okay, we have a parking lot, maybe it's not as large as we want, but we also need lights out there. So are lights a higher priority right now and not increase the parking lot, or do we want a big parking lot before we have lights? So all of those things are part of the discussion of budgetary and where does it fit. Yeah.

Kenny, do you want to add anything?

Ken Nelson of Leisure Services. So I've been with Phil on all three of those the last couple days, and they are all worthy projects. It just needs some lifting from the engineer guys and it needs some concepts done. The one out to our current bicentennial, that's kind of last on my list and I'll tell you why. It's because Iron West is going to take that bulk of soccer play.

It's going to take the bulk of soccer play.

So the bicentennial will turn into our rec stuff, right? It's going to turn into flag football and tee ball and machine pitch, which has a lot of people, but not excessive to make another parking lot. And then the soccer will move out west. And the soccer will be summer games. All those things will be out west. And I did the numbers. The one out, Iron West has 354 stalls. The current one, Bicentennial, has 150. So it is a lot bigger.

It's already doubled.

It's already doubled. But will it be enough on some nights? I don't know. It probably won't, but on a regular basis, It will be.

But we're a full year in timeline before we can even start doing that. So this summer, we're going to be using bicentennial, right? Correct. And from what he described to me, he said that the parking area there is not in good shape and it needs to be expanded somewhat. And I don't know. That's what he told me. What do you think?

Bicentennial... It's sufficient except for the three days last week of summer games and this weekend.

And every Saturday.

And Saturdays. But the thing is, they park on the road. And they do. The concept that I don't want to get into is when we move to Iron West, that parking lot sits empty.

That makes sense, and I hadn't thought of that.

Because it doesn't have all that play.

And if we see that it does, we can always come back and address it.

And the parking lot where he wants to expand, we've kind of discussed, that's cemetery. That's gonna be grass eventually. So, you know, I just look at saying, you know. Why put the resources into it and tear it up or not use it?

But Mayor, I think that we need to put this on the agenda and then. Yeah, I think it's a future discussion. Strategic discussion and then define the tactics.

And the part that I was gonna add to it in general is I appreciate like we're all, you know, we're learning still our roles, particularly us that are new, right? And I appreciate Phil identifying things that he views as issues. I'm going to get information. and then recognizing that the council still ultimately gets to decide if the money gets spent there or not.

Well, and it's an area he has knowledge in.

He does. He absolutely does. And so his input's valuable. Are you getting too much help, Kenny, or are you OK?

No, they were all good discussions. They were all good things. They're all worthy projects. It just needs some engineering and some concepts, and then it needs to come to you guys to work out.

Perfect.

OK, we'll circle back around on that one in the future.

Thank you. That was my only question then on the budget. OK. Thank you.

Are we OK to open the public hearing? OK. We'll go ahead and open the public hearing on the budget. Anybody here that would like to speak to it, we welcome you. And sorry, the Dan Kidder. Dan, thank you for being here. I just want to read. I sometimes assume that everybody knows how we function. We have a three minute time frame for each speaker. Just say your name like you did for anybody else that comes up. And this will beep at you when your three minutes is up. Thanks for being here, Dan.

Hi guys, haven't seen you all in a while. Yeah. I've been one of the biggest critics of the City Council and the budgets in the past and I just want to say that Well done, gentlemen. I've gone through the budget. I watched all the meetings. Long, long meetings. But looking at this budget, I am very impressed by the restraint that you all have shown, by the fiscal responsibility that you all have shown, that the compassion to the taxpayers that you all have shown in providing us a balanced budget. Robert, I'm very thankful for your comments regarding the Aquatic Center as being a want and not a need. Carter, I am very thankful for your comments that it needs to go on the ballot. In 2001, I was one of the sponsors of the referendum against the expansion of the Aquatic Center that we ultimately gathered enough signatures to get that put on the ballot and that was our number one ask is that that issue be put on the ballot. When the price tag came in over the $7 million estimation to $9.4 million, the council repealed that GO bond authorization, and at that time we asked the council to put it on the ballot as a non-binding measure of the community's desire to have that. So Carter, I appreciate very much your words on getting that put on the ballot. When it comes time to do that, if the council decides to go forward, which I hope they will. Somebody will have to write a pro and somebody will have to write a con and we have a very active group within the community who is happy to step forward and I'm happy to help in any way I can in getting that con argument written up so that it can go on to the ballot proposition. and offer my services and the services of others in that group, a very, very active group, over 120 members that took to the streets, knocked doors, and gathered over 1,600 signatures. And so we're happy to step up into that role and make that argument, and I'm sure you won't have any problem finding somebody to write the pro-cite as well. But I did want to come. I've been very critical of council in the past. And I want to say well done. I'm very appreciative on behalf of the groups that I represent in this community and your dedication to service and your thoughtfulness and your approach to, especially in this economy current, and protecting taxpayers. So I thank you for that. Thank you so much.

Thank you. That means a lot when people that are engaged like you are and watching. So thank you. Okay, anybody else? Okay, seeing none, we'll close the public hearing.

Mayor, I would move that we adopt the proposed 26-27 fiscal year budget for Cedar City. Second.

I have a motion and a second. All in favor?

Aye. We need a roll call.

Oh, sorry, this one's a roll call. My bad. Councilman Phillips.

Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Okay, unanimously passes. Thank you. Okay.

And thank you, Terry, for all your hard work and all the departments.

And your vast staff that helps so much also. It's a very good process.

Yeah, I agree. And I share with people this all the time as I get asked things I'm learning or surprised about or whatever as a newly elected official and I really am just impressed with the stewardship attitudes that the large majority of our staff take towards the resources that we take from citizens. So I echo that appreciation. Okay. Any public comments tonight? Anybody would like to say anything? Now is your time. Same rules, three minutes and you can say anything you want.

I missed you last weekend.

Ann Clark. We just got through with a big debate over the cross hollow, the rezone, or the RDO. And I've been thinking a lot about that because, you know, there was a time where the city needed to really encourage development to come, and I think we did a lot of things to encourage developers to come here. I don't think we need to anymore, but what we need to do is come up with some procedure so that we aren't always caught in that rezone debate. And I don't know what that's going to be, but there should be something we do. It just can't be that developers or anybody come and say, hey, we want to rezone so we can make more money. That can't be the reason. in order to make fair for everybody in the community. So that would be my only thing is maybe we could talk about that and try to get some kind of a procedure that we follow.

We got a good budget item actually that's going to help us with that this next year. So we're going to start thinking through that process.

We're going to be looking at all of our zoning ordinances.

I know we're going to redo the zoning. I know that last week in the budget they were talking about.

And that will be all part of that process. It's all part of that process.

And there will be meetings about it and forums and stuff like that.

I know and I know it's going to take a year to do that. But we just got to come up with something so we're not always caught. Because it's almost like pitting the citizens against each other.

Appreciate that. Thanks, Ann. Okay, anybody else have anything they want to share tonight? Okay, seeing none.

Mayor, I would move that we close this meeting and we go into our redevelopment agency meeting.

I have a motion. Second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay, redevelopment.

Let us know when you're ready, Amber.

Well, we have two more quick meetings that have to do with the budget, and then we'll come back to our meeting, and then we'll go into a closed session.

But for all intents and purposes.

For all intents and purposes, we're almost done. Yeah.

You can. You can still stay for these two. These are just the approval of the budgets for the RDA.

David was here. Did you talk to him? The building authority, so. Okay, all right gentlemen, we're gonna call this redevelopment agency meeting together. This is an action meeting and we have one item on the agenda tonight and that is to consider and have a public hearing to approve a resolution for the adoption of the 26-27 fiscal year budget. First of all, does council have any questions on the RDA budget?

No.

Do not. Negative. Then I will open the public hearing. If anyone has anything they'd like to speak to this budget. I'll give you three minutes. He's got the timer. Seeing no one, we'll close the public hearing and I will entertain a motion.

I make a motion that we adopt the 26-27 fiscal year budget for the redevelopment agency.

I have a motion. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion?

He doesn't get to do that stuff very often.

No discussion. All right. I'll take a vote. It's a roll call. Mayor. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Motion passes. Chairman, I would move that we close our redevelopment agency meeting and move into our municipal building authority meeting.

Motion to have a second to that. Second. All in favor? Aye. All right. Motion carries. We'll now move into our MBA meeting. Soon as she's ready. Cox, that's me.

That's you. Hey, you were here last week. We punted that one to him, too. And he's like, I got to do both of them?

Good job. Thanks. She's good. I'll bring the Municipal Building Authority meeting to order. and we have one agenda item as the last one, and it's a public hearing to approve a resolution for the adoption of the 2026-27 fiscal year budget. Does council have any questions, concerns, comments? No, not here. If not, then I will open this up to public hearing. Seeing none, we close the public hearing and we'll entertain a motion.

I would move that we approve the resolution for the adoption of the 26-27 fiscal year budget for the municipal building authority of Cedar City.

Second.

All in favor?

Roll call. We'll start with Mr. Phillips. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Motion carries. Chairman, I would move that we close our municipal building authority meeting and return to our city council meeting. I have a motion.

Second.

All in favor?

Aye. Motion carries.

Mayor, I would move that we move from our action meeting into closed session at this time. Second.

All in favor?

Aye.