City Council - Regular Meeting

Recording in progress. We'd like to welcome everyone and call to order the regular meeting of the West Valley City Council this April 28th, 2026. And we're beginning our meeting at 8:30 p.m. in the council 6:30 8:30. That's my bedtime. Sorry. 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers. You'll notice I've been yawning all afternoon. So, um, we would like to excuse Council Member Wood and Council Member Hume this evening. With us we have council member Wetstone, council member Harmon, myself, council member Christensen, council member Norfeld, and we're joined at the dis with our city manager, Mr. Peely, and our city recorder, Miss Kamik. We'll now turn the time to council member Harmon for our opening ceremony.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, we're going to recite the Pledge of Allegiance together in just a second. But, um, one thing that I've always maybe struggled with on the pledge of allegiance is that, um, it's not that I don't love our flag, but it's the fact that I I pledge allegiance not to a flag. I pledge allegiance to the republic. and our constitution. And so I've had to kind of work through that that the flag is um represents the republic that it is a symbol of our republic. And uh so hopefully tonight as we recite the pledge, we can remember we are pledging allegiance to the republic which is our constitutional government and the flag is a symbol of that. So, if you'll please stand and join with us, we'll recite the flag of the United States of America and to the stands indivisible and justice for all. Thank you. We now have our minutes of April 14th, 2026. Turn those to the council for discussion or a motion.

I move to approve our minutes. Second. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. All in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Okay, those pass. We now have our parks and recreation award recognitions and we'll turn the time over to Miss Young to take care of this part of the program.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. Uh it is my pleasure to introduce you to some of the leadership of our Utah Recreation and Park Association. Today with us, we have our executive director, Leanne Powell, as well as our president-elect, Janelle Payne. and they are here to uh present some awards to us that we uh were recipients of at our state recreation conference in St. George last week. So, I'll turn the time over to Leanne to talk a little bit about about our association and then uh to Janelle to present the awards for these for these uh uh award candidates. Mayor, city council, thank you so much for allowing us to have a few moments to um celebrate some of your rockstar parks and recreation professionals. It's really the favorite thing that we do every year is to be able to come back and represent some awards to the cities that earn them for different things. So, um as as uh Jamie mentioned, uh we run the Utah Recreation and Parks Association. We represent about 2,000 parks recreation professionals throughout the um state of Utah. And every year prior to our uh March conference, we take uh nominations for lots of different awards. We have 11 award categories and we had over 90 submissions this year for those 11 different award categories. So um lots of people putting in lots of great programs and facilities and professionals and so it really is an honor to be able to to come back and and um present these awards. So one of the things we always get asked is like what sets aside you know one program from another one and I think that um our profession is really founded on three important pillars and those pillars are a focus on health and wellness. So everything we're doing, we're trying to make our communities as healthy as possible and be preventative health care and get people out and active socially,

emotionally, physically in all the different ways of of being as healthy as possible. Uh conservation and stewardship, taking all of our natural resources and our facilities and our programs and making them as sustainable as possible over the years. And then the idea of recreation for all and really trying to go out into our communities and um do a great job of of finding out all about all the parts of our community and trying to provide programming for as many people as possible. And I think um these two awards that we're giving today very definitely represent all three of those pillars and the work that they're doing. So um couple things and I'll turn the time over to Janelle. Uh the first one is they could not do the great work that they're doing without your support, without each and every one of you being willing to put time and resources and support the work that they're doing. So very much appreciate um that West Valley City Parks Recreation is very definitely um a leader in our state. Uh Jamie, of course, is one of our past presidents and has really kind of set the vision for where our association is going. Uh Melissa is on our URPA. She's our executive secretary on our board of directors. Uh Nick, I think runs all of our golf tournaments and fundraising and helping with our drowning prevention coalition. Candace, I think last year, the year before, was a a scholarship winner and has gone back to director school and is now bringing some of those insights and thoughts and ideas. Um Cindy is kind of leading our active aging group. So, I guess the thing I want to impress upon you is your team is leaders. They are leading our state and they're doing great work and and obviously these um couple awards kind of represent the great work and and what a good job they're doing. So, I will Where'd you go? There you are. I will

turn the time over to Janelle and we'll get you some awards. Thank you. Can you hear me? Okay. All right. Thank you. Um, I want to echo what Leanne said and just as a personal note as well, when um, as the president-elect, current president and past president look at the schedule and come to these awards, I was like the first to call dibs for West Valley City. I was so excited. Um, in my day job outside of volunteering with URPA, I'm the recreation director for South Jordan City. And can I just tell you, the professionals you have in your city are amazing people, human beings, and leaders in the industry. industry. Truly, I have learned so much from them and benefited from them so much and uh it's just a treat to be here. So, thank you for that. Um getting on to the awards, the first award we have uh to present is in the outstanding adaptive program category and that's ability in motion. Um I got to talk a little bit with the staff tonight here and met uh Tasha and learned about the great work that she's doing in the adaptive uh programming area, specifically with adult recreation. And a lot of times the adaptive programs are exclusively for youth and the effort and resources and time and energy put into the adult programs is awesome and again they're leaders in the state in this area and I just appreciate it so much. I did also find it super impressive the focus on participant driven interaction and planning to really get that ownership um with the participants in the program. And so again, just so impressed. And I'd like to invite uh Tasha to come up and accept the award. So excited.

Thank you so much and congratulations. I get that off to you if you want to say a couple words.

Wait. Yeah. Okay. Come here. Wait. What? This is Wendy and this is JD. I've known JD since you were how old? Uh 44. Are you serious? That long? Okay. I've been doing this for over 27 years, I think. Yeah.

It is my love. So, thank you. This means a lot to me. Sometimes I feel like I things get unnoticed, all my hard work, but this is a proof that I did it. Um Oh, thank you. I um I I did want to say one thing. Um for me, the quality of um it's all about quality of life. And um that's my main goal with my clients uh when they come to me is I want them to feel valued and empowered and seen. And so um thank you for appreciating my hard work and my love for what I do. I appreciate it.

That's right. Get a picture. Okay. You want to come with me? Sorry. Do you want to shake

them? That's fantastic. Okay, on three. One, two, and three. Love it. Maybe some more. Maybe some more pictures if you want to stand.

Oh, sure. Thank you.

Thank you so much, guys. All right. Awesome. Um, our next nominee, I mean, both of them brought entouragees, but walking into the building and seeing all of the support for loose was amazing and uh, great to meet her. She has been, I've been told, volunteering uh, with your program and facilities for about a year and brought a lot of participants in. We always love to see that. Volunteers are so important in the programs and the offering services that parks and rec provides. and loose just on initial meeting her you could tell she's a special awesome person and is doing so much for the community and clearly very loved. So if we could bring loose up for her award you're right here thank you so much. Um, I was really really I was in awe when Cindy told me that she was gonna nominate me. And then when she told me that I did win the award, I was just very impressed that I was even at that point to be nominated. So, this means a lot to me and of course my students will support that. But I truly appreciate anything that West Valley has done for me, Cindy has done for me because she's really appreciated what I have come to the center to do and that what I do is I love what I do. I love teaching to my students and I love that they are benefiting from what I do. Um, I teach cardio and strength training and since I

started this program or since I started teaching, I've seen a lot of difference in my students and that's why I thought they would be part of this award as well. So, thank you so much to West Valley and to Harmon Center as well to Cindy. Thank you. Thanks.

Okay. on three. One, two, three. And then I'll let people

Thank you very much. We appreciate the time.

Thank you for coming. It's pretty nice when we know Leanne because she's here pretty much every year. We have an awesome parks department. So, thank you so much. Um, you're all more than welcome to stay, but it's not a requirement. So, yep. See I get sick. People are prepared.

Very good turnout. Have you taken her classes?

Really? That's cool.

Her mom. Okay.

Okay. We will now accept public comment. Comment period is limited to 30 minutes. Any person wishing to comment shall limit their comments to three minutes. Upon recognition by the mayor, you will approach the microphone. If you did not sign up, please give us your name and address. All comments should be directed to the mayor. No person addressing the city council during the comment period shall be allowed to comment more than once. Comment shall be limited to city business and matters within the purview of the city council. Speakers should not expect any debate with the mayor, city council, or city staff. The mayor, city council, and city staff may respond after the comment period has concluded. Speakers shall refrain from personal attacks against fellow citizens, city staff, or members of the city council. So, we do have three public hearings this evening. So, if you were here to speak about the CDBG annual action plan or applications SA1 2026 or SA2 2026, it would be best to hold your comments until those items are presented. So, speaker one, Mr. Wilson.

Hi, Mayor Council. Um, am I allowed to give you guys a bullet? Just hand them to Nicole. Thank you.

All right. I uh I appreciate uh the opportunity to be heard as a citizen of this um city. And so um I will just start. Um I'm here today um I'm asking the council to review and amend our current fencing code on 4100 South or at least make getting a variance easier to build a fence from other approved materials. The current mandate for iron rod fencing on 4100 South creates unnecessary safety risks and financial burdens for homeowners. I was going to file a variance uh but Jod Knap from zoning and planning informed me that I would not be granted one if I submitted one and that I should contact city council um who made the ordinance. So I reached out to my district representative Cindy Wood who responded and encouraged me to bring this request to the council tonight. Um, also I sent her an email, um, with some more information that I'd be referencing that you guys can look at later if you want to. Um, so, uh, I'll start about talking about 4100 South. Um, I drove the the city boundaries from 4100 South from Redwood Road to 7200 West. Uh, and I found that most homes and businesses do not have fences. Most of those that do are chain link or vinyl. And only about 37 properties have iron rod fences. All 37 properties with iron rod fences are were between 2700 west and 5600 west. No iron rod fences between Redwood Road and 2700 West or between 5600 West and clear up to 8,400 West. Uh this can be verified by watching the YouTube video that I included in that email. Um I'm going to use my home as an example. It's on the corner of 4100 South, but it faces 6740 West. Because I share frontage with 4100 South, the municipal code affects me. Um, I have personal and financial reasons for not wanting an iron rod fence and reasons I want uh I want a white vinyl picket fence is what

I want. Um, so number two, iron picket uh fences are more dangerous than vinyl pickets. In my email, I included news articles where it shows uh people that had crashed into fences or ran into iron rod fences and were impelled by them. Um, and it that doesn't there's one that's it's just a regular flat top. um iron rod fence. They were still impelled even though it wasn't speared. Um since my lot faces 6,400 um west and south of 4100 south spear top iron rod 4ft adjacent fence um stakes on the public sidewalk creates impalement risk and is difficult to see at night because there's no street lights on my corner. um ran rounded vinyl picket uh um fencing meets these visibility requirements and doesn't have the hazards and so is that me just six seconds left. All right. So, well, I had a lot more but uh um I appreciate being able to talk today. So,

thank you. Thank you. Speaker two.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Joel Pppleton and I'm the manager of the West Valley Library just on the other side of the track station. Um, so today I wanted to talk a little bit about what we're doing in regards to literacy, specifically early childhood literacy. uh as you know literacy is very critical skill to have uh to get by in today's world whether it's reading instructions, reading for entertainment or just being able to communicate. Um so a lot of the things that we provide at the library support this and including story times, books, things like that. We'll have our summer reading coming up here in a couple of months. But I want to talk about the five early uh literacy practices or skills. And those include sing, talk, read, write, and play. And these are researchbased activities from early child or every child ready to read which is a national initiative help provide uh their intention is to provide education to parents about uh developing literacy in their children before they go to school. Uh these uh see these daily interactions often promote promoted by public libraries help children enter school ready to learn by building vocabulary funological awareness narrative skills. So the first one, sing. Singing songs slows down language and helps children hear the uh smaller sounds and syllables and words. It also helps children pay attention to rhythm and rhyme. Talk. Talking with children helps them learn language and the meaning of words. Narrating daily activities and asking open-ended questions helps build vocabulary and understanding. Read. Sharing books is the most effective way to help children get ready to read. Reading together develops vocabulary, comprehension, and knowledge of how stories work. Write. These involve allowing children to scribble, draw, and make marks to understand that writing communicates a message. Writing and reading together helps children connect spoken and written language. And play. Play helps children express themselves, build voca

vocabulary, and understand the world. Pretend play allows children to act out stories, which strengthens their narrative skills. So I just wanted to share that uh that's one of our emphasis and we kind of focus on early uh childhood literacy because once they get to school we let the schools focus on that and then we provide support but uh a lot of our stuff is geared towards the early childhood diversity and that's all I've got.

Okay. Thank you so much. Was there anyone else that wished to speak that didn't have an opportunity to sign up? Mike Markhamm 30008 West Alice Way. Um I think I should have sat down and looked at a a different career path and got into politics because as I see these empty seats and so forth, you know, when I started coming to these meetings, there was four a month. Now we're down to two a month. There's no requirements for the council people to be here. They can come and go as they please. Um, you know, maybe if there's a health issue, you take some time off, you miss. In my business, I was always paid strictly off of my performance. My kids even knew for weddings and everything, they had to work around my work schedule because that's what put the bread and butter on the table. Um, I think attendance needs to be looked at at uh some of these council meetings. Um, you know, we've gone from four to two, the pay's gone up. Um, there needs to be some kind of an attendance requirement. I'm sorry. I know I'm making y'all mad, but there needs to be an attendance requirement. you know, you want to take your two week vacation or whatever and take it between the council meetings. In a lot of cases, there's more than two weeks between council meetings. Um, you know, now that was kind of a downfall, but I'm trying to make it up now with my family. But, you know, work was pretty important to me and commitment was very important to

me. What kept me in my business was the commitment to my customers who would be me to you. You know, your constituents, you know, I see some empty seats and I think, boy, there's a lot of people here that that's just my thought. I'm sorry. I probably made y'all mad, which I've done before, but uh you made a commitment. We all made a commitment or you made a commitment to the taxpayers that you do something. Thanks. Thank you. Anyone else wish to speak?

Jim Vox, you you have my address. So, um I just wanted to talk about West Valley City and a lot of the great things that have been happening. uh Springfest. You guys talked about it in the um study meeting. It was our biggest one ever. And uh it was it was great to have the mingling out there and it would been good to see well, let me put it this way. The ones that came out, it was great to see you there. Hopefully the rest of you guys will get out to, you know, there'll be lots of block parties and stuff. Hopefully you can get out there and see the great things that are happening in the city. Um since our new city manager um came and changing the image of the city, uh we had a news report about drivers in West Valley City were the third best in the state of Utah. Shocked me. Um and it shocked me that Salt Lake beat us number two. So, and it was some random small town that was number one. P Wild West. Um people are starting to recognize it happens on the border, but don't blame West Valley City. put it in the city where it really happened. And it all goes to Mr. Peely and his team for helping change the image. And um you know, I've always been proud to live here. You know, I can live anywhere I want just like most of you guys can. And we've all chose to live here. And our city is getting better and better every single day. And so I want to thank you guys and Mr. Peely and his staff for being a part of that. Thank you.

Thank you. Was there anyone else?

Uh, good afternoon, council. This is Ryan Mahoney, Republican Central Region Chair. I just wanted to bring up an issue. I'm not sure if it's uh West Valley or Salt Lake City that would uh be on this issue. Uh it's been brought to me by several neighbors. Uh we really appreciate the increased police presence on the Jordan River Trail. It does make a difference. Uh although they did put out a trailer out there that's flashing lights all night and it has a loudspeaker. Uh it says you're being videotaped and stuff. It's right on the equestrian trail. Um unfortunately with its placement uh it's spooking the horses. Uh it yells out. We've had a couple people almost bucked off. Uh the it's on the west side of the river, so it should be in West Valley's area. uh to move it just a little bit farther south uh along the Jordan River Trail might be a better placement where there's a little bit more crime activity in the trees versus where it is now. Uh like I said, I'm not sure if it's you guys or Salt Lake, but that was the concern that was brought to me by my neighbors and I just wanted to bring it to you guys attention if there's something we could do to better place that. Appreciate your time. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, we'll close the comment period and I'll turn it to the council. Any comments from the council? Okay, we'll now move on to our public hearing. Each year, West Valley City receives grant funds from the Utah or United States Department of Housing and Urban Development through the community development block grant program. The amount of CDBG funds that West Valley City is estimated to receive is 1,73,357. The funds received annually are to run programs pertaining to low to moderate income individuals, including families. I will now open the public comment period. Is there anyone here that wishes to speak to this matter? Okay, I will close the public hearing and turn the time over to the council for discussion or motion on resolution 26-36 that would approve the annual action plan and recommended projects for the fiscal year 2627 to the council.

I would motion to approve resolution 26-36. Second. We have a motion and a second. Miss Kick. Council member Norfk. Yes. Council member Chris. Yes. Member Herman. Yes. Council member Wetstone. Yes. And Mayor Link. Yes. Motion passes unanimously.

Thank you. Our next public hearing is for application SA12026. The section of the Mountain View corridor going through this subdivision has been open since 2021. All of the affected lots were acquired by UD do several years ago. Construction is complete and this subdivision amendment will simply clean up old plot line or parcel lines and officially vacate rights of way that are no longer used as streets for the subdivision. I will now open the public hearing. Is there anyone wishing to speak on this matter? I will now close the public hearing and turn the time to the council for discussion or a motion on ordinance 26-13 that would vacate multiple lots in the Jonesale subdivision.

I move for approval of ordinance 26-13. Second. A motion and a second. Miss Kamik. Council member Wetstone. Yes. Council member Harmon. Yes. Council member Christensen, yes. Council member Nordfelt, yes. And Mayor Ling, yes. Motion passes unanimously.

Our final public hearing is for application SA2 2026. This section of the Mountain View corridor going through this area has been open since 2017. This subdivision amendment would amend parcel lines, officially vacate right of way that are no longer used as streets, and dedicate a new portion of right of way that has been functioning as a street for many years. I'll open the public hearing. Is there anyone wishing to speak to this matter? Okay, I will now close the public hearing and turn the time to the council for discussion or motion on ordinance 26-14 that would vacate multiple lots and streets in the West Ridge Commerce Park phase 3 subdivision.

A motion to approve ordinance 26-14. Second. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. Miss Kamik. Council member North. Yes. Council member Christensen. Yes. Council member Harmon. Council member Wetstone. Yes. And Mayor Ling. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you. We'll now go to our ordinances. We'll begin with ordinance 26-15. This ordinance would amend the West Valley City Municipal Code fee schedule to reflect increased demand and rising costs and current market rates for purchases, animal, healthc care, and disease control services within the animal shelter to the council for discussion or a motion.

Motion to approve ordinance 26-15. Second. Thank you. Have a motion and a second. Miss Kamik. Council member Wetstone. Yes. Council member Harmon. Council member Christensen. Yes. Council member Nordfelt. Yes. And Mayor Link. Yes. Motion passes unanimously.

Thank you. We'll now go to resolution 26-7 or 37. This resolution would authorize the purchase of highdensity evidence storage shelving for the police department evidence unit. The proposed purchase will be funded using existing alcohol enforcement funds. This is a one-time capital improvement that does not require new or ongoing taxpayer funding. To the council for discussion or a motion for approval of resolution 26-37. Second. Thank you. Have a motion and a second. Miss Kamik. Council member Nordfelt. Yes. Council member Christensen,

yes. Council member Harmon, yes. Council member Wetstone, yes. And Mayor Link. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Uh the city hall HVAC controls need to be updated and replaced with the latest version for proper operation. The total for this purchase is $17,984. And those the equipment will be purchased from Johnson Controls Building Solution LLC to the council for discussion or a motion.

Move to approve resolution or yeah, resolution 27-39. 26. We're not in 27 yet. 26-39. I'm sorry. Thank you. Second. Thank you. I have a motion and a second. Miss Cam. Council member Wetstone. Yes. Council member Harmon. Council member Christensen. Yes. Council member Nordfelt. Yes. And Mayor Link. Yes. Motion passes unanimously.

Thank you. We'll now move to resolution 26-40. The storage tank at the fitness center is no longer structurally sound and needs to be replaced with two smaller tanks that with equal capacity. The total for this is $150,000 from the fitness the family fitness center budget to the council for discussion or a motion. Motion to approve 20 resolution 26-4. Second. Do we have a motion and a second? Miss K. Council member Nordbelt. Yes. Council member Christensen. Yes. Council member Harmon. Yes.

Council member Wetstone. Yes. And Mayor Ling. Yes. Motion passes unanimously. Move to resolution 26-40. This resolution would authorize the execution of a professional services agreement. Pardon? 41.

Oh, 41. Did I say 40 again? Thank you. See, Don and I have the same disease tonight. This resolution would authorize the execution of a professional services agreement with methods consulting for engineering services on the SR201 North Frontage Road and 7200 West reconstruction project. The total cost is $97,922 to the council for discussion or a motion. That's just a lot of money. It is for engineering. Have you? Oh,

we don't even get any asphalt for that. The asphalt will cost enough. That's all. I move for approval of spending a lot of money for um this consulting ordinance 26-41. Second. We have a motion and a second. And I can tell you if you've driven that road in the last two weeks, you would appreciate the amount of money to Miss Kamik. Council member Wetstone. Yes. Council member Harmon. Yes. Council member Christensen. Yes. Council member Nordfelt.

Yes. And Mayor Link. Yes. Motion passes unanimously.

Thank you. Uh we have five items on our consent agenda this evening, including resolution of resolutions for amendments to an agreement with Select Health, a change order for the city hall parking lot reconstruction project, a change order for the 6800 West roadway improvements project, a funding amendment to a cooperative agreement between the city and UDOT, and an ex and the execution of a quick claim deed. We can take these one at a time or um one one at a time or all at once to the council for discussion or a motion.

I'll move to approve all five items of the consent agenda. Second. Thank you. I have a motion and a second. Miss Kamik. Council member Norfelt. Yes. Council member Christensen. Yes. Council member Harmon. Yes. Council member Wetstone. Yes. And Mayor Link. Yes. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you. We have no need for a close session. So, we just have one more action item. Motion to adjurnn. All in favor, please say I. I. And we stand adjourned.

Thank you for coming out. What? An ingener. No kidding.