City Council - Regular Meeting

keep pushing back to them saying well you haven't implemented your 55th so it's even though some people are thinking well you know it's just another tax you want to hurry and get it done there's really some rationality behind it you can kind of see where they're coming from but I don't know Alex I know you went to that meeting did you what was your take away

uh it was informative there wasn't a lot of uh i don't think all the people across the county were there but the one commissioner was very strongly in favor of it the other two were in that setting or had questions and never stated their position emphatically so there seemed to be something else that undertow or something else involved that was the same But all the comments were positive, were made. Some staff members made some comments. I'm not trying to speak for the mayor and the council, but just talking about how these discretionary revenue streams that the legislature has provided to us have been really important for us in terms of transportation. You know the Prop 1 and the other quarters that we put in good use and they've been a blessing to the city and helped us to advance and talked about the inflation pressures that exist and how this would really help in that and JJ Allen from Clearfield spoke and and was very supportive of it. So this city was very supportive of it as well. And then after those comments were made, there were two or three mayors that joined in and spoke in favor of it. So there wasn't anybody that was there that actually spoke that was opposed to it. There were some individuals from certain cities that I've been told, I didn't ask, but I've been told that they're not in favor of it. They didn't show up at the meeting. So I don't know who those are. But it was all pretty positive. And so the general encouragement was to move ahead and do it. That it's an important revenue stream for municipalities as well as the state. Excuse me, to accomplish state transportation. objectives and the way that the structure is 0.2 percent of a of a uh one percent so it's a very small amount it was 10 cents on a thousand dollars something like that yes it's a very minor tax all taxes are important but it's double the rent yeah yeah it's it's very minimal and there's but it's not two it says i think it's two cents on ten dollars But the overall tax for the county, they broke it up into .2, they broke it up into .5, .10, and .5. One of the .5s has to go is for this UTA specifically right now. The point 10, it goes to the county for transportation purposes and there's a sunset on that at the end of 2029. Then the county loses that and they have to use it all for transit, UTA type transit. So they're saying that they recognize that the way it was described by the Wasatch Front was the legislature recognizes that counties and cities have transportation needs they want and so they were willing to set aside a few years of having that money flow to the local entities and then they wanted to call that back and make sure they have help help out they have money that will supplement what they need they think for the 2034 olympics and so that was kind of the logic the other point five the remaining point five that goes to the cities is as it was described, is perpetuity. It doesn't have a sunset on it. And it's specifically to be used for public safety, which is critical, police and fire type things, and for transportation. And there's broad discretion in that transportation. You can choose to use it for road infrastructure, local road infrastructure, or use it to supplement transit or to incent UTA to do something. That was before they did show, you know, I'm saying too much here, but coming off the plan, but they showed a list of how they intended to distribute it. They were going to distribute it by population. So, I don't remember the total number off the top of my head. I should have brought the sheet, but it's high 800,000s a year that would... supplement us that's really significant in addition to the prop one money that we have and uh so those cities were smaller but even west bountiful spoke their their allocation in a small city population-wise i think in that county and they uh the American government spoke favorably because even though it's a smaller amount relative to other larger cities, he said we desperately need transportation dollars. That was a common thing with the inflationary pressures and the growth that's taking place. I think it's really important.

Yeah, like I said, I think that was the biggest update that gets me to be aware of. I know some of you are already, but still I think that narrative is however you want to interpret it but you've heard the real reality and the truth so anyway okay they are yeah this was an informative one and then they're going to have their public hearing and i guess vote on it their council or their commission But like Alex said, there's two that didn't really take a position, even though I thought one of them was already. And certainly the other one probably knows if he's even been invited to some of the stuff. So I don't know. Anyway, let's go ahead and move on. Do you guys have anything you need to report on, any committees or anything?

we don't take breaks I do so got an email from open doors there's circles program they they were hoping to be awarded a grant of 200 000 from work workforce services uh federally funded it was axed all all circles but none of the programs that involved the circles program got funded there's just no federal money that's one that got axed um their program is still viable They're still working through it. I'll forward the email from Jason to the council and to you, Joy. They are going to still be short. They were hoping for that $200,000. They're going to be short. Other programs like theirs have already let their staff go once that funding was asked. So they're sitting in a good position, but they are going to be short. So they're amping up their fundraising activities trying to keep the program viable so but i'll forward that email to to you all and then i do have kind of a question for alex i guess it's alex um i noticed i was looking at the ordinance code and there's some um some ordinance that were just updated landscape being one of them and stuff like that and they're not updated in the website yet And I was wondering, does that take, it's been a couple months. I looked at the landscaping, then I also looked at, there's another ordinance that we did on that same, we approved on that same meeting in June. It doesn't look like that was updated on the website. So I wanted to point that out, especially if residents are looking at these ordinances. Yeah, thank you very much for that. I just got, and Wes might know, there's some work going on at Smith's Warehouse where the old railroad spur was at. Have they started, I know that was approved prior to me being on council, that expansion of Smith's Warehouse to the north. They're actually doing, grabbing those work and stuff like that. Have they started on that project? I guess just more curiosity. Yes.

Yeah, they submitted, less than a month ago, they stepped out, but they submitted several months ago. Do you know the better timing of when Kroger came in for their plan expansion?

When who came in? Kroger. We... actively working with them on their site plan.

They started some excavation work. It's actually where there's a different property owner between the warehouse and Smith's property north. It was a railroad company that owned that strip. Looks like that's what they're removing and grubbing that whole area. I was just wondering if they would actively kind of pull the trigger and start doing that expansion.

They're not gonna work on that expansion yet. So what they're currently working on is the property to the east of them, they're working on putting in a parking lot back there to get the semis off the road. That expansion that Rezone went forward with about a year or so ago, that is in their future and they will be eventually working on that. But we can look into what kind of ground movement they're doing right now. But currently what they're working on is getting some additional parking for their semis. That would be a good thing.

I'm looking at the time, and I want to make sure we have enough time for our grant discussion, but are you...

Mine are quick. CTC, we're going to be at South Labor's Country Days on Saturday. I've had some really good conversations with them, and so this will be our first opportunity to be in the city. And so we'll be talking to the folks and kind of just letting them know what we do and hopefully getting volunteers. And then last Wednesday, we had a good turnout here for the Team Brain workshop. It was a good time. We had like 20 registrants, and most of them showed up, even though we had that big brainstorm, right, as we were getting ready to start. But it was nice. Good things inside. Exactly. Yeah, so that's all I have. Okay, good.

Anyone else? Okay, let's, if you don't mind, I'm going to kind of adjust the agenda here, only because I know that item number three is what we'll be discussing out in the chambers anyway. So let's go ahead and jump to item number four and allow Dave and Joellen to present on the RAMP ordinances discussion we had there.

Thank you, Eric. This is a continuation of a discussion we had a little bit ago about changes, possible changes to the ordinance, the bylaws, and the calendar for RAP. We've been working on this for quite a while with the commission. And then we also worked with Tracy in finance and legal to make sure that we're doing the right thing here, at least trying to. We've brought you hard copies of these documents. We're going to review them today. And then if everything looks OK, we hope to come back on the 20th and ask for your approval. So we'll go quickly through these. On the very first part of the ordinance, we did make a change to the chapter. out of the Utah code. And so we referred to part 14, which is more directly associated with cities and towns. So that was just kind of a clerical thing. As we move into the ordinance itself, we wanted to do two things. First on this page, the applicant's primary organizational purpose, we wanted to define more clearly in the ordinance. And so as you can see in line number two here, to be eligible to ramp revenues, Lane City or its qualified nonprofit applicant must have as their primary organizational purpose, as evidenced by its governing documents, operating documents, and demonstrated operations, the advancement, preservation, and provisions of public recreation arts, museums, and parks that primarily benefits residents of Layton, Utah. Then we went on to try to clarify that even further and indicated that applicant's primary purpose is defined above, but we indicated that they cannot use ramp money for associated events that may have parts, maybe even parts of the recreation. And so we wanted to clarify that Even though if an organization's primary purpose is something else, but they are having an arts event, they are still not eligible for RAP funds. So we'd like you to look through that and read through. We also felt that it was important to clarify and strengthen the approved uses of RAP money. So we put in a definition for capital expenditures, non-capital equipment,

programs and again we'll let you look through those to be it says in determining an applicant's primary organizational purpose the City Council may consider and then goes on to identify all of that generally Ramp Commission gets applications, makes determination about what's happening, and we don't get that until much further down the road. So this, to me, implies that city council would have access to all of that before they even were determined if they were gonna be able to be an applicant. So would that be a change in process moving forward as well? Or does that mean that somebody has to appeal and then we'd go into...

That's simply why we're here tonight, to catch these things. Our intention was that the RAP Commission could do this as well. And so that's a language change that we will make between now and next time we meet. So that they're not the deciding body, but they should be able to use the same criteria that you would. We'll make that change.

I think they felt that they didn't have the authority to do it, and so that was the change.

Yeah, so maybe it means you're the only one. It just means the same commission. I think it was just an oversight. Or it could be as advised by or something. Right, more like consistent with the structure that's there. Since we don't get this until way later. I feel like that.

We have the final say-so, but we're really dependent on them and them vetting and doing what we ask them to do.

Right, we wouldn't have that information otherwise. early enough in the process for a group to even apply so that's why thank you this page was one hour of discussion just

One hour of your life, huh?

That's why you have those three-hour meetings now.

And again, as we go through these definitions, we'll let you read them, and if you have questions, you can call me anytime during the week. But Tracy was kind enough to help weigh in to make sure that these definitions and further in the ordinance meet and match the city's idea of what these things are. We also wanted to put parameters for the RAP Commission's ability to reject applications that were not completed correctly or that were incomplete and so we tried to include some language that allowed us to have a better understanding of how and when the Commission can or reject an application if it's incomplete. So they have the ability to do that, but we also clarify that the commission, and it's right in this second section, may, but is not required to permit an applicant to correct minor clerical errors, provide omitted information, or clarify responses. The decision whether a deficit is a minor and eligible for correction shall be within the sole discretion of the commission. and does not create a right of expectation for anyone else. The intent, and you'll see this further on, is that we provide more time to interact with these applicants. And some of our applicants are just at different levels of computer savvy, and so sometimes that's where they fail, not in the purpose of their organization.

They want to say yes. They're not trying to say no to the commission. So to give them any chance to correct things. But they still reserve the right if you're to reject it.

Well, I think your past performance has indicated that by how many times you bring in the applicant and say, okay, explain this to us. What exactly are you doing? So I think that's good. And I commend on doing it continually.

And this... This is not a drastic change from what we've been doing. We're just trying to clarify our process.

Right, that's what I'm saying. I know you guys have done that.

This is a change. The second one here. We would recommend that Tier 2 grants, so the smallest dollar amount possible in grants, we would like to recommend that instead of Looking back at a three-year operating budget, we would do one-fourth of the applying entity's previous year's operating budget. And so that allows us to allow... One quarter or so? Yeah, the one quarter hasn't changed. It's just that in the past we've looked at three years. And this would allow younger organizations to be able to more quickly come in and apply for a small grant. The one-fourth number is similar in Tier 2 and in Tier 1.

So before, if an organization was new, I mean, their three years would just be the amount that they had for whatever the previous time was, right? Or was the commission expecting that they would have had three full years worth?

In the past, we've tried to look at the past three years. So if they didn't have that track record, we did not look at applications.

Well, this opens the door. Yeah. Providing they have their finances. Yeah.

So this, again, as our councilman has indicated, this is an effort to say yes to some of these small arts organizations and other types.

Okay.

In this one, we wanted to clarify right up front, the majority of non-profit board members must be Utah residents. We have not experienced that yet, but we're seeing a pattern where out of state agencies are trying to come in and get local funds to do programs here, but it's still an out of state organization. So we wanted to get ahead of that now. We also Wanted to include definitions. This is one that it seems simple, but it has proven to be Contentious among the Commission so we work hard to get this definition in place for operating expenses We have a pretty standard definition But then we have three exceptions that we wanted to clearly identify where people could use RAP funds. And so number one, an organization or government entity may use RAP funds to advertise or market programs, projects, or experiences of an awarded RAP project or program. So we We would expect an organization to, their advertising that is funded with RAP to stay focused on that program, not their overall organization. Now, number two, we wanted to clarify that organizations may hire staff with RAP funds if their entire scope of work, if the staff's entire scope of work is to fulfill the purpose of the RAP award project or program. full-time and part-time or contracted employees of an organization or government entity may not be partially funded with RAC awarded funds. And so this draws a real clear line if an outside organization wants to hire a director for a program, they may do so as long as that director is not part of their larger organization and his sole purpose is to facilitate the program that was awarded money. for the city we have a couple of these that allows us to hire an intern to do archival work but that person their sole responsibility is archiving they cannot step out of that role and do something else joseph's been very pillaging about that And then the last one, we've asked that the use of funding, let's see, number three, use of funding in accordance with these exceptions must be identified in the application. And so we just want to know up front if these things are occurring. Any questions on that?

Does it all sound like that? what the folks brought to our attention when we had our round table with them. So that's good.

And then there was one last substantial change. This is in reference to state code. So Tracy was good enough to look into this a little bit for us as well. And the state requires that any organization that receives between 25 and less than 100 in aggregate funding shall use IRS form 990 or enter financial statement to serve as a required financial report. The financial statements must contain a balance sheet and income statement for the entire, not just the government funding program. So that's the changes to the ordinance. The bylaws are similar. We'll try to go through those fairly quickly for you as well.

Dan, could we, just could you go back just one but we've extended the time from one year to 18 months.

That was pushed very hard by our programs because their programs are summer programs. And to divide the accounting in the middle of their program was difficult for them. And so we felt that that was a good change.

So just real quickly, we've got just a short amount of time. So we'll ask you to please take a look at the bylaws. But a lot of these are just slight changes to just clarify rules between city staff, city council, and members. Article 3 or Article 2 just clarifies the City Council Commission motions as far as the authority to approve or modify or reject a condition or accept recommendations of an expenditure. Article 3 has a lot to do with just indicating that city staff will do a lot of administrative work of just processing the applications, getting the materials and receiving them, so just clarifying that that's what we'll take care of. Article 4 just goes over the standing members terms, just clarifying that there are four standing members that serve in their offices or positions and that there are five at-large members that are appointed. And then Article 8 was new, or is new, proposed, conflict of interest and ethics statements. I encourage you to read through those as well. And then Article 9 just clarifies the amendment's meeting and voting standards. So I apologize, it just takes some time to read it. We just want to make sure we cover everything and give you some time to ask questions if there's any. And then... Oh, there's one more. Article 9 has a lot more. The commission member duties. This just references Ordinance 2626, which Dave talked about. It's just ensuring that the members carry through those recommendations that we have for applicant standards, the definitions, operating expenses, and then rejection parameters that Dave talked to you about. And then Article 10 is just reinforcing what Dave mentioned about the IRS form.

and that is to support the ordinance 2626 and that they ensure that it's being accomplished and so this is the one document that we do feel is a little time sensitive and so along the calendar this year as you can see there is simply one change that we we've asked for we would like to make the applications available september 1st And allow the applicants to have two months to complete them. And then we would begin reviewing them on November 2nd. And November and December, this would give us a four month period of review instead of two months. November and December would be a time where we would ask the applicants to come in and present their applications if they felt they wanted to and have a back and forth conversation. And then in January, the RAP Commission would continue to review those applications, but it would be more in a committee setting. Or if there is still a question, we can ask it of an applicant, but it's time for us to review these things. So any questions about those?

Real quick, I know on Article 4, in the past we've talked about that the at-large candidates should reside within the city. So we may want to add something to that. Knowing the deadline or the timing here, it sounds like we need to make whatever modifications quickly so that on our next meeting we can adopt this, right?

Would that be ideal? That would be ideal. Again, the calendar is one that we really would like to get put in place with your blessing so that we can move forward. If we need one more time, we can take it on this, but we hope that we're in a position where you feel comfortable to move ahead.

So realistic, then, if it's just the calendar, we can give you a head nod on that, right? Sure. I mean, are you guys good with that, just given the approval on the calendar? Sure. I think we're good with that, just the calendar's good, and then we'll spend the time on the documents.

Very good.

Again, the sooner we get the documents, the better.

During the next two weeks, please review these, give us a call, and we can talk about it.

Thank you. We're going to conduct everything else other than before we adjourn. We have a birthday that we need to acknowledge. Yeah. It's Mike's birthday.

Make sure everybody's here. I want to go ahead and get our Layton City Council meeting underway this evening, which is August 6th. We appreciate your patience there for a little bit of a delay, but there's times when you need to celebrate. We needed to in the back room, and we're going to out here as well tonight. So it's exciting to see so many folks here. As you guys all know, we do like to start our meetings with a ceremony of a prayer and a pledge. And I am going to turn the time over now to Councilmember Morris to conduct that for us.

Thank you, Mayor. I will offer an invocation, and then after, if we can all rise, we'll recite the Pledge of Allegiance together. Our Father in Heaven, we are grateful this evening to come together as citizens, residents of this fine city who are grateful for the freedoms that we enjoy. We're grateful for the fine employees here in the city who make our lives easier, especially those here tonight who are celebrating years of service here for the city and for the residents. We ask that thou please bless each member of this council and the mayor with wisdom as we go through our agenda and make decisions for the residents of this city. Please grant us that wisdom. Again, we're grateful for all that thou hast blessed us with, and we say these things and do so in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Amen.

And if you'll rise, please.

OK. Once again, I just want to welcome everyone here. And also, I want to give a special acknowledgment to our youth council that we have sitting amongst us, which is, I'm going to say, Council Gutierrez. So welcome. And what we do at this time is we generally make any of our, well, actually, we need to take care of several sets of minutes. So I'll turn the time over to the council for CONDUCTING THAT BUSINESS, AND SHOULD YOU HAVE ANY CORRECTIONS, PLEASE MAKE IT KNOWN.

MADAM MAYOR, I'D LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION THAT WE APPROVE THE MINUTES. MINUTES OF LATENT CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING, MARCH 19, 2026, WITH A MODIFICATION FROM ABSENT TO EXCUSED. I SPOKE TO THIS ABOUT WITH OUR CITY RECORDER. MINUTES OF LATENT CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING, APRIL 2, 2026. MINUTES OF LATENT CITY COUNCIL MAY 7, 2026. MINUTES OF LATENT CITY COUNCIL MEETING JULY 2, 2026. MINUTES OF LATENT CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING JULY 16, 2026. AND MINUTES OF LATENT CITY COUNCIL MEETING JULY 16, 2026.

DO I HAVE A SECOND?

I'LL SECOND THAT.

It's been moved and seconded that we approve the minutes with the one correction as stated. So all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? OK. Thank you very much. I failed to acknowledge the fact that Councilmember Thomas has asked to be excused tonight. We just want to put that on the record as well that he did ask for that. Okay, now we're going to move on to our municipal events. And I know some of you have got some items you need to share with us. However, tonight what we are going to do is, this is certainly a fun time for the youth council. So I'm gonna turn the time over to Lara and have her introduce herself, tell us what you like about the council. And she is actually going to give part of our announcements tonight. So the time is yours.

Am I close enough? Uh-huh. Okay, cool. Hi, I'm Lara Gutierrez. I'm the mayor of Layton City Youth Council. I've been on the council for three years, going on four. I love this youth council. It has been such a joy to be on it. And my favorite part about it is that we get to do service all around Leighton and just help so many people. It's been super fun to be able to meet people and see all walks of life, and it's really amazing. On to the municipal events, which this is really cool. I never get to do this. Leighton Fest Friday is now through the end of August, 5.30 to dusk. Thank you. Leighton Surf and Swim winter hours start August 20th, and Bubble Week coming up 13th through the 20th of September. End of Summer Bash will be Saturday, August 29th, and Museum Updates, 250 years patriotic quilt exhibit ends August 22nd, 2026, and the Leighton Heritage Museum, along with the Davis Arts Council, is hosting the cultural festival August 29th.

Very good. That's good. OK, that multi-culture event will be the first for the Davis Arts Council. Again, that was on the 29th, so I think that's something that I want to encourage everyone to come out and learn and grow from. And all of the performers are local, so that's even better. OK, does anyone else have any other announcements?

I JUST WANT TO GIVE A BIG SHOUT OUT TO ALL OF THE PARENTS AND FAMILIES THAT CAME OUT LAST WEDNESDAY IN THE RAINSTORM HERE IN THE COUNCIL ROOM TO PARTICIPATE IN THE TEEN BRAIN WORKSHOP. WE HAD A REALLY GREAT TIME AND THAT WILL BE THE FIRST OF SESSIONS MOVING FORWARD. SO I JUST WANTED TO GIVE A THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO SHOWED UP. And for those who are interested in learning more about it, you can go to the dbhutah.org website, and we'll be hosting a number of other teen brain workshops. It was really eye-opening for me and for those who were in attendance, and your mom was there. So thanks for coming. Thanks, Mayor.

Okay, thank you. I JUST WANT TO ADD ONE MORE ACKNOWLEDGMENT THAT I THINK IS WELL DESERVING, NOT ONLY FROM OUR PARKS AND REC STAFF, BUT PRETTY MUCH EVERYBODY IN THE CITY, ALL YOU FOLKS OUT THERE. THIS PAST JULY WAS A LOT OF WORK. IT WAS, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY A MEMORABLE YEAR. AND I JUST THINK THAT WE NEED TO TAKE, YOU KNOW, I WANT YOU ALL TO KNOW THAT ALL OF US UP HERE REALLY APPRECIATE ALL THE HARD WORK AND DEDICATION YOU PUT INTO PULLING OFF ALL THE EVENTS. I HEARD NOTHING BUT POSITIVE ABOUT IT, SO I THINK THAT REALLY SPEAKS LOUD TO THE STAFF THAT WE HAVE THAT SUPPORTS US HERE, SO THANK YOU. OKAY, DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE ANYTHING? Okay, seeing that there's no other municipal announcements, we'll go on to item number three, which is our verbal petition and presentations. And this year, at this time, we're going to be acknowledging the years of service. So I will turn the time over to our city manager, Mr. Jensen.

Thank you, Mayor. Is that on? Okay, thank you. As it always is, it's a privilege tonight to talk to you about some of the outstanding employees who work for Layton City. I was just thinking, being reminded again, when I looked at this list of the employees that we're recognizing tonight, I thought these are some of the very best employees that this city has. And then it flashed through my mind that every time I see a list, I draw the same conclusion. These are some of the very best employees we have. They just keep coming and coming and coming. And you know that. It's remarkable. The city is very blessed, not just because of the competence of the employees, but I believe personally their greatest asset is their goodness and their commitment to try to work hard and do the right thing the right way. That's the secret sauce of this city is the quality of our employees. So anyway, thank you. We have five individuals that we want to recognize tonight. We have a recognition program if an employee's been with the city for five years or more, then we recognize them in their own individual departments at five years, 10 years, and 15 years. If an employee's been with the city for 20 years or more, then we ask them, we don't tell them, we ask them if they'd be willing to come to a city council to be recognized in front of the council and publicly and in front of their peers. Again, just looking at the numbers, there's most of the folks here other than just a couple are actually employees or tied with the employees of the city. So there's five individuals representing here, being recognized tonight. There's over, I just counted quickly, using my fingers and toes, that there's over 50 people who have come in support of those five. 10 per person. Isn't that remarkable? That's awesome. taking the time so I'd like to recognize the five what I'd like to do maybe is to Recognize each one of you individually and maybe have you come up and then just stage there by the microphone and then come through the council all at once so I'm not talking about the second one while while They're coming up. So the first and I'll try to say just a little bit about each person very very briefly these are some of the information that's been submitted by the by the departments. I don't want to get too windy about it and try to make sure it's consistent, but these are some remarkable people. The first individual I'd like to recognize is Mr. Brent McFarland. Brent is in the fire department. He's been with the city for 25 years. Brent recently in 2025 accepted the position of being the city's emergency management director. In years past, that position has not been in the fire department. In 2025, we've moved it over into the fire department. And Brent's getting up to speed and will do a great job for the city. He also serves as our urban search and rescue program coordinator. and is active in our peer support team that is a team that helps support people within the departments that may be struggling, firefighters like police officers and others, but especially those who see things and experience things that can be very difficult and hard. So Brent does a great job for that. So Brent, congratulations.

He needs to come up. Yeah, come up.

Come on up.

In fact, can I interject here?

Absolutely.

I think as you're reading about them, they need to be up here.

Okay.

So the next contestant is... Joshua Wheatley. Okay, Josh, you got to come up.

That's a good idea. Thank you, Mayor. Then they can stand there awkwardly and have a big look at them.

Uh-huh.

Yeah, that's good. Josh has been with the city for 20 years. And Josh is one of our dispatchers, not just one of them. He's one of our exceptional dispatchers. And in 2014, he became one of the center's best dispatch trainers, which is really, really important and does a great job. And then recently, he was actually promoted to be a dispatch supervisor. And as the council knows, and hopefully most people in the city at least know, that we're toward the tail end of a very significant consolidation of the dispatch centers in Davis County. And Layton, in our new facility here, will be dispatching for the entire north end of Davis County. And we'll improve the level of service all across that. And Josh has been a big part of that, the past and also of the future. So thank you, Josh. The next is Mr. Ryan Adams. I was looking for Ryan. I didn't recognize him without a ball cap on. Good, Ryan. So Ryan is in the public works department. He is an outstanding employee, been very loyal, faithful to the city through the years. He's been with the city for 20 years. And he is the city's lighting lead worker. So what that means is that he's responsible for ensuring, ultimately, throughout the entire community that anything that touches with light is taken care of. So that would include maintaining street lightings, traffic signals, pedestrian crossing, school crossing, and other functions that are used for regulatory or safety services. He also is heavily involved in taking care of weeds, which is really important, keeping city spaces that are owned by Public Works, managed by Public Works in good shape. So detention ponds and other kinds of places. So thank you, Ryan. The next individual is Mr. Jason Mott. Jason works in our Public Works department in a shop. He's been with the city for 25 years. And he is currently a senior mechanic for the department. And Mott has been an essential asset for the city. He's a great man otherwise, but in terms of his contribution to the city, he's been very significant. He is excellent in his ability to work with large equipment, heavy equipment, not just trucks and vehicles, although that's a great skill as well. But his true expertise lies in diagnosing and being able to correct heavy equipment, and large truck repairs. So do a great job. Thank you, Mott. I should be respectful. His name is Jason, but we all call him Mott. So that's in term of endearment. And the last is Mr. Brett Perkins. Brett has been with the city for 30 years. And this fits Brett perfect. The employee that put this together in the department, the first words are, he's the hardest working employee in Layton City. And if you looked under in Webster's dictionary about hard work, it would say Brett Perkins. He is a worker. And it's very much appreciated. Currently, Brett is the streets and storm brain supervisor in the city. And Brett He's exceptional leading by example. He doesn't drive around on the pickup and give orders and tell people to do. He jumps in and does whatever is needed, whether it's running a piece of equipment. He's an excellent, exceptional equipment operator, very, very talented in that it's a gift that he has. If somebody needs to get out of the truck and get out of the tractor and pick up a shovel, Brett's the first one to do that. He's not telling you do this or you do that. He'll get out and do it himself. So this is an exceptional example and a great employee, as all of them are. So those are the five we'd like to recognize tonight. I also want to say, Mayor, that we understand that no man or woman stands on their own. We're all a function of our families and our support structure that we have at home. or fellow employees. So in addition to thanking the employees that are here to support your peers tonight, our peers tonight, I want to especially thank, we want to thank the spouses and family members, children, parents, people that have been part of helping these men become what they are today. We know we don't succeed on our own. We succeed because there's people around us who support us. And so All of these individuals work in areas where they can be on call around the clock and have to leave their families in emergency situations or to fix snow plows or things where there's public safety involved. And we know that that means sometimes they don't get to see kids' ball games, or they don't get to go to anniversaries, or they don't get to go on vacations when they wanted to, or et cetera, et cetera. My point is to thank those who are the loved ones of these men who support them and allow them to be such exceptional people and such a great blessing to this city. So all of you are to be congratulated. Mayor, I commend them and council, commend them to you. And again, say these are some of the very best employees this city has and are the secret to our success. And when the next list comes, I'll say the same thing, because it's true. They just keep. They just keep coming and coming. And so it's a privilege to be associated with them. Thank you, Mayor.

It is. And we can't function without any of them. So I think with that, I think we all want to give them a standing ovation and say thank you very much.

I LOVE IT. I LOVE IT.

So are you going to have them stand up here and have their official photographer with them?

We have a photographer.

Okay, you guys with your plaques, you need to come and stand up here real quick, like, before they all head out. You guys can stand up. We'll stand up and be behind them.

It'd be better, but it's okay. I don't want to be too bossy.

Okay, congratulations.

Thank you, everyone, for being there for us.

We'll give you a minute if anybody wants to depart. You're welcome to. We only have one item on our agenda, though.

Absolutely.

I just figured I'd wait until they died down a little bit. Whoops. Okay, I'd like to go ahead and carry on with our meeting this evening. And so we'll now move on to item number four, which is our citizens' comment portion of our meeting. So if anyone in the audience wishes to address this governing body, you're more than welcome to. Thank you. If you could, just come up to the mic, state your name and what city you're from, and then we'll allow you to address us. Just please keep in mind that this is not a two-way dialogue, so we'll just take notes and then make sure we get back to you.

Hi, my name is Rachel Cosgriff, I live in Layton. Good evening, thank you for the opportunity for allowing me to speak. As I said, my name is Rachel Cosgriff and I'm a parent of a student at Adams Elementary. I want to begin by saying how much I appreciate the teachers and staff at Adams. They work very hard every day to create a positive learning environment for our children. My concern isn't with the school, it's with the physical safety of the playground. You may recall the email I sent on July 20th regarding this subject. Unlike many elementary schools, Adams has a playground that is not enclosed by a fence. Instead, it sits directly next to a public park and walking path with unrestricted access during the school day. As a parent, that's deeply concerning. This isn't just a theoretical issue. In January, the school was placed on lockdown after reports of an armed individual in the surrounding neighborhood. During situations like that, every second matters. A fence playground would provide an additional layer of protection by helping staff secure the area more quickly and better control access during an emergency. Even on an ordinary school day, offense would be a meaningful difference. Teachers and aides do an incredible job of supervising students, but they can't be everywhere at once. Offense would help prevent children from accidentally wandering beyond the supervised area and would discourage unauthorized individuals from entering the school grounds. It's a simple improvement that would make supervision easier and provide great peace of mind to both families and staff. I understand that the playground shares space with a public park, and I recognize the importance of maintaining public access. But I believe there are practical solutions that can be accomplished, both goals such as controlled access points for gates that preserve public use outside of school hours while protecting students during the school day. I've also been told that the district's risk management department supports installing a fence, but that progress has stalled because of an existing interlocal agreement. If that's true, I respectfully ask that all parties reconsider whether that agreement should take precedence over the safety of the children who attend Adams Elementary every day. I know I'm not the only parent who feels this way. Many families share these concerns, and I'm willing to organize a community petition if that would help demonstrate the level of public support. I look forward to meeting with you to discuss possible solutions. My hope is that we can work together to make this important safety improvement a reality. Please feel free to reach out to me by phone, email, or in person. Thank you for your time, your service, and your consideration. I'm open to any questions you may have.

Rachel, if you wouldn't mind, could you leave your contact information with the recorder, and then that way we can follow up with you? Yes, please. Okay, thank you. Okay, if there's anyone else, again, you're welcome to come up.

Hi, my name is Mandy Davis. I also live in Layton. I live in Rachel's neighborhood. I just want to echo everything that she said. As a mother of a child that also attends Adams Elementary, my kiddo has some behavioral challenges. She is exceptionally social and curious and strong-willed, and it has been a concern of mine since she started attending Adams that There is no physical barrier around the playground, as she is the type that will go and chat up any adult she sees, bad actors or not. And anyway, I just would really appreciate having that physical barrier to help make sure she is where she's meant to be while she's at school and that she's safe. The day that Rachel mentioned that the school was put on lockout was extremely stressful. Sitting at work, crying, helpless, and knowing that there could have been just a little bit more safety in place for my child while she's at school. Thank you.

OK, thank you. We appreciate your comments. OK, anyone else? Okay, seeing that there's no other comments, we'll go ahead and move on with our agenda. Tonight, we do not have any consent items, so we'll just go ahead and move down to our public hearing portion of our meeting. We'll go ahead and turn the time over to Mr. Weston-Apolloni that will be presenting the rezone request for Amber Lane.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. Good to be with you tonight. The property before you tonight is a rezone request for 75 North 1550 West. It contains approximately 1.73 acres. You can go ahead and go to the next one. So it's just showing the property in red. Mr. Tom Day is the applicant. He's requesting to rezone the subject property to RS to provide two additional two lots for this area. You can go to the next one and one more. This is just a site plan showing what that would look like. So the subdivision would come off of 75 North and then connect into the the subdivision to the north, which is Amber Fields. Both these lots are just over a half acre. Planning Commission reviewed this request on July 14th, 2026, and they voted unanimously to forward a recommendation to the City Council to approve this rezone request. Staff supports the request as well. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Okay. Council, do you have any questions on this? BEING THAT THERE'S NONE, THEN I'LL GO AHEAD AND TURN THE TIME OVER TO YOU TO OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING AND HEAR ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS AT THIS TIME. I NEED A MOTION TO OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING.

MAYOR, I MOVE THAT WE OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING TO DISCUSS THIS REZONE REQUEST. OKAY.

DO I HAVE A SECOND? SECOND. OKAY. ALL IN FAVOR, SAY AYE. AYE. OKAY. THE TIME IS NOW YOURS, SO ANYONE WHO WISHES TO ADDRESS THIS COUNCIL REGARDING THE REZONE REQUEST, YOU'RE MORE THAN WELCOME TO. SEEING THAT THERE'S NO COMMENTS, I'LL GO AHEAD AND BRING IT BACK TO THE COUNCIL THEN TO CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING AND TAKE ACTION ON THE REZONE REQUEST.

MAYOR, I MOVE THAT WE CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING AND I MOVE THAT WE ADOPT ORDINANCE 2624 FOR THE REZONE REQUEST AS PRESENTED.

OKAY. DO I HAVE A SECOND ON THAT? SECOND. OKAY. IT'S BEEN MOVED IN SECOND. WE NEED TO DO A ROLL CALL VOTE ON THIS. SO COUNCIL MEMBER LOXOM.

YES.

COUNCIL MEMBER SMITH-EDMONSON.

I'M GOING TO SAY AYE, BUT I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT I APPRECIATE THE THOROUGHNESS IN THE PACKET. THIS WAS VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD AND THERE WEREN'T A LOT OF QUESTIONS BECAUSE ALL THE INFORMATION WE NEEDED WAS THERE. SO I APPRECIATE STAFF FOR PROVIDING THAT. EXCELLENT.

Okay. Council Member Colendi-Alnos? Aye. And Council Member Morris?

Aye. Okay.

There you have it. It's unanimous, and I think this was a good one because, I mean, it pretty much follows the general plan and gives us our residential lots that we're looking for. So I appreciate the applicant on that. Okay. Council, that's our item of business for tonight. If you don't have any other unfinished business, then I'd entertain a motion to adjourn. Dave's not here. Somebody's got to do it. Councilman Bloxham has made that motion. Okay. Mike's going to second it, so I'll go ahead and acknowledge it and just thank everyone for being here tonight. And once again, we appreciate all of our staff for their many years of service as well. And, you know, just want to, again, thank our residents for being so responsible for all the celebrations that we've had this past month. So, again, thank you, everyone, and have a pleasant evening.