Council Meetings - Regular Meeting

are holding a public electronic regular council meeting. The date is Wednesday, September 9, 2026. Our meetings are streamed live and archived at washingtoncity.org slash meetings. As you can see, I am conducting and leading this meeting virtually because I'm in Salt Lake on business with my family. I'd also like to excuse Councilman Coates, who's not able to join us this evening. By chance is Major Bob Schmig of the Salvation Army in the Council Chamber. Major Schmig with the Interfaith Council, if you'll get our meeting started off the right way.

I would love to. Thank you all for having me. Thank you, everybody. It's a great day to be here and another sunny day. Thank you for all of what you do and everybody here in this community. Let's pray. Father, we thank you, and we look to you for all of our needs. We look to you for blessings. We look to you for guidance. We pray that you would provide that, Lord, for us, for our leaders here, to make difficult decisions and to keep us going forward as they have. Bless them, each and every one of them. Protect them. Protect their families. Protect their homes. Keep their homes blessed, Lord. We pray for our community, that you would help our community to continue to grow and to thrive. And bless the residents here, Father, and that it would all go to your honor and glory. We pray for our first responders, for our police, for ambulance, fire, all of those who put their lives on the line every day to protect us, as well as our servicemen and women. And we thank you for all of these things. In Jesus' name, amen.

Major Schmig, before you leave, you and your organization do an incredible service to the entire community. You have moved locations, unfortunately. Can you just give us a brief update on where you are and how you're doing? Thank you for the opportunity. And speak right into that mic, please. Okay.

Thank you for the opportunity. So, yeah, we moved out of the location we were in, and we've been homeless for a time, but we've still been ministering. We've been taking sandwiches and such to the low-income housing. We've been helping people with electricity from our laptops, and so the business goes on. The good news is, yes, we did find a new place. We're just wrapping up getting the... getting the final things tied together. We're hoping to be able to open up in a new place by the beginning of next month. It's going to be over, it's not going to be in Washington anymore, but really close. We're going to be down here by Costco. So we're not going very far, and so we can stay close to you all, because you all are still a part of our hearts, and we thank you for your support.

Well, we thank you. You make a difference and we're glad that you're able to carry on the service that you're providing.

Thank you.

I've asked Councilman Brett Henderson to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Please follow me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America

Thank you. Council, I will make note that we do not have need to go to closed session tonight. So I will turn to you for a motion to approve the agenda as it outlined.

So made.

I've got a motion by Councilman Henderson. Second. Second by Councilman Belliston. All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? The agenda is approved unanimously. By way of announcement, we would like to welcome the Daughters of the American Revolution Color Country Chapter. There in the gallery are Valerie King, Deborah Jacobs, and Amy Bojeron. And Amy, I think you are the one that is going to present on Constitution Week, after which I will read a mayoral proclamation. Amy, if you'd come on up.

Thank you very much. Good evening, fellow Americans. I'm Amy Bolgeron of the Color Country Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. I want to thank the mayor and city council members for the opportunity to speak today and for your support in issuing the proclamation honoring the anniversary of the Constitution of the United States. 239 years ago on a historic afternoon in Philadelphia, 39 brave men signed the most revolutionary document in human history. At approximately four o'clock on September 17th, 1887, after 100 days of debate, compromise, and vision inside Pennsylvania State House, our United States Constitution was born. These were not ordinary men. They were visionaries who had won freedom with blood and fire. With unwavering hearts, they gave us a sacred document, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, a shining beacon that enshrined our God-given liberties and chained the power of government with unbreakable checks and balances. That day, they lit a flame of liberty that would inspire the world. As decades passed, the daughters of the American Revolution watched the memory of that sacred moment begin to fade and the fire of patriotism dim. So we rose up, as American women have always done, We petitioned Congress and our resolve became Public Law 915, signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on August 2nd, 1956, declaring September 17th through the 23rd as Constitution Week. The Constitution is our birthright, the guardian of our liberties, the protector of our families, and the promise that America will remain the land of the free and the home of the brave. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Well said, Amy. it will now be my privilege to read a mayoral proclamation inspired by in part by your great work washington city proclamation whereas september 17th 2026 marks the 239th anniversary of the drafting of the constitution of the united states of america by the constitutional convention And whereas the United States of America celebrates its 250th birthday this year, and whereas the Constitution stands as the guiding document of the greatest nation in history, serving as a model that many other nations have sought to replicate, and whereas the Constitution safeguards the liberties of American citizens by protecting them from government intrusion, ensuring rights that are endowed by God and cannot be taken by man, and whereas the Constitution established the United States of America as a constitutional republic in which citizens are encouraged to govern themselves and are represented by those they elect. And whereas the Constitution has withstood the test of time and continues to inspire people and nations around the world, now therefore I, Cress Staley, mayor of washington city along with the washington city council do hereby express sincere gratitude and reverence for the constitution of the united states of america and proclaim the week of september 13th to the 19th 2026 as constitution week in Washington City and call upon all citizens and civic organizations to recognize and celebrate this foundational and inspired document. Let us teach it. learn from it, live by it, and hold our elected officials to its standard. May it continue to guide our nation for centuries to come in witness whereof I have here unto set my hand and caused the great sale of Washington City, Utah to be affixed this ninth day of September, 2026. Yes, Amy.

May we do a quick photograph of the city council members that are here?

That would be wonderful. That would be wonderful. If they want to just come down by you, that would be fantastic.

We wish you could join us, but we'll get you in the picture.

Sounds good.

I'm going to give you that. Oh, OK.

Before you go, can you tell us again when and where you're doing the reading of the Constitution?

The Constitution is going to be read in 2 locations and I'm going to have Val talk about those. The reading of the Constitution.

Wonderful. Hi, Valerie.

Hi, Mayor. September 17th at 945 AM at the pioneer courthouse 1st time venue. And then at 1245. Green dragon tavern at Liberty village. So, just 2 sessions this year, but 2 different venues. So that's all we could do in a single day. Thank you for asking.

Wonderful and thanks for all you do daughters of the American revolution. We appreciate you. A few other notable announcements before we carry on with our action items. You've heard it said in the past if you're from. Santa Clara, Washington, or St. George Fine, anywhere below the Iron County line, then you're from Dixie. Many of us, regardless of municipal boundary, have very fond memories of the Dixie Sun Bowl. So I will make note that the Dixie Sun Bowl reopening will occur tomorrow, September 10th, and they will have a celebration there at 6 p.m. for those interested. I saw Mayor Randall had posted some of a tour and it looks wonderful. It has changed, but I think it will carry on the tradition. Also, Friday marks 25 years since September 11th, 2001. as we share the recognition and celebration of holidays and recognition of events like Patriot Day. We will do our Veterans Day in November, but we are supporting St. George's Patriot Day recognition and gathering. That will be on Friday at 6 p.m. at Town Square. Last year, we continued and carried on a tradition with the Pine View High School Homecoming Parade. That will happen next Wednesday, September 16th at 7 p.m. Council, if you would like to be in the parade, please gather on the west side of the vacant Nisen block, and we will be in the parade together as an elected body. I also want to make note that an event that is happening after our next council meeting, Saturday, September 26th, our local post, post 9-12 of the American Lesion, auxiliary post 9-12, we'll be doing a chili cook-off at Highland Park from 12 to 5 p.m. And I say this because council staff, general public. The deadline to sign up if you'd like to put your chili in is tomorrow. Tammy Sower is there in the gallery. And if you'd like to get with her and challenge the others with your chili, it'll be a great event. And then also just to kind of keep in mind, we will have the Hyatt House groundbreaking on the 24th at 10 a.m. Council. Are there any items that I may have missed that are coming up within the next two weeks or so?

Mayor, nothing that you've missed, but I would just mention that Mrs. Smith, the principal out of Coral County Elementary has reached out. They're going to have a program for 9-11 on the 11th at 10 AM. Just wanted to invite the community and leaders that would like to go out and help support them in that.

Wonderful. Anything else council? moving on from announcements to declarations of abstentions and conflicts any abstentions conflicts Seeing nothing to declare, we'll move on to item four, which is the consent agenda consisting of approval of minutes from the city council meeting 8-26-26 and the board audit report of August, 2026. Any items to pull and clarify? Otherwise I'll call for a motion to approve the consent agenda.

I'll make a motion to approve.

I have a motion by Councilwoman Casperson. Is there a second? Second by Councilman Ivey. All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? The consent agenda is approved unanimously four to zero. Item five, award of bid. This is consideration to award the bid for the striping truck. to MB Companies, Inc. in the amount of $413,226.95. I see Andy Stevens, Assistant Public Works Director. If you would present to the council and field any questions they may have. Mr. Stevens.

Thank you, Mayor, Council. On September 2nd, we opened bids on a new paint striping truck. We had three bidders with MMB Companies being the low bid. I'll answer any questions if you have any. Mayor Mrakas, Where the truck so what questions sorry there was the three bids were they kind of apples to apples yeah they all they all met this the minimum spec requirements so specifications they were they're all real similar trucks. Mayor Mrakas, Just different manufacturers so different manufacturers, but there what truck line are they based on it's so I in the spec, it was all based on in this who's who. Chassis, so it's just the difference in the price of there's this pain equipment that's on the back. So. All right, that works.

Thank you, Andy.

Thanks.

If there are no more questions, counsel, I'm happy to entertain a motion to approve the, uh, the bid as stated.

I'll make a motion to award the bid for the striping truck to the companies, Inc, and the amount of 413,226 dollars and 95 cents.

You've heard the motion by Councilman Belliston. Is there a second?

Second, Mayor.

Second by Councilman Henderson. All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? The bid is awarded as stated unanimously. Item six, conditional use permit. This is consideration to approve conditional use permit C-26-08 for a convenience store, gas station, and car wash located at Washington Parkway and Buena Vista Boulevard. The applicant is Megan Chakra and Kimley Horn. Community Development Director Eldon Gibb will present to the council on this item. Mr. Gibb.

Thank you, Mayor, Council. Good to be here. Mayor, you're no longer on the screen. They're looking at the site that this that you just announced here. And which is approximately three point six nine acres in size and includes two buildings, the first of which is a 6000 square foot quick trip convenience store and fuel station. Pull up the site plan here, take a look. The center of the screen there. convenience store and fuel station with a small quick-serve restaurant inside. The building is 22 feet in height, and the fuel station will have eight dual-sided fuel pumps. The second building is a drive-through car wash with a covered kiosk. The car wash is 23 feet tall, with the step-up portion being 40 feet. The Quick Trip building incorporates a reddish-brown brick and dark stone with a light gray aluminum finish. And the car wash incorporates almond taupe stacked rock with Gray stucco and a red finish. pull up these building renderings here, this is the convenience store. quick trip. And then the car wash here a little bit lighter colored with the red roof. Planning Commission reviewed this request on September 2nd and unanimously recommended approval based on the following four findings and subject to the following 15 conditions, adding a 16th condition to ensure the car wash exterior building material and color shall be harmonious and blend in with the convenience store, which has been added to the conditions of this report. That concludes staff report. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have at this time.

Council, what questions you have for staff before I give the applicant an opportunity to address the council?

I don't have any.

Seeing none, is the applicant or the applicant's representative here? If so, I'd invite them to step up. And Tim, if you'll just state your name and present to the council and fill in any questions they may have. It's good to see you, Mr. Anderson.

TIM ANDERSON. It's good to be here. I'm Tim Anderson. I have the pleasure to be able to talk about what's happening finally on milepost 13 on the other side of the freeway in that loop that we've all wondered about forever. But I don't have to say too much, because I'd like to present to you one of the executives from the company. This is Alyssa Aragon, who has come up here from Phoenix. She has the assignment of going out to these various places. They're in 22 states, expanding throughout the country. And the fact that they're looking at Utah and expanding here is great. She is doing this around the country, but I just found out this is her first presentation before a city council. So I'll turn the time over to Alyssa.

Welcome, Alyssa.

Hi. So my name is Alyssa Aragon. I'm a real estate project manager with Quick Trip. And I've been with QT for 11 years now, but only recently in the real estate world. So up until Recently, I was a store employee, so I'm very familiar with how we operate our stores, and I'm happy to answer any questions that you guys might have. We're super excited to be here in Washington City.

Council, what questions do you have for the applicant?

I'm super excited for this because I love gas stations. I'm a connoisseur of fine gas stations. But this looks great. We've looked over your plans, and we're super excited. Finally have something up there on exit 13 on that vacant land. So this is pretty exciting for us.

Welcome to Washington. Thank you. We just actually opened our first store in Marriott Slaterville. I don't know if you guys have heard of it or seen it yet, but it's doing really well. And it's very popular within that community. So we are excited to be here. In which city was that? Marriott Slaterville. It's a little bit north of Salt Lake. Yeah, seems to be doing very well over there. We're excited to be in southern Utah though.

Do we know what the restaurant is inside?

So it is like a quick service type of restaurant. The employees, there's fried food options, chicken strips, fries, apple pies. We do sandwiches, made to order sandwiches, several quick options.

But it's a Quick Trip run, it's not a satellite of another brand. Yeah, it's Quick Trip.

No, it is a Quick Trip, all Quick Trip branded products.

With the planning commission adding condition 16 to match the building exterior colors, I just want to make sure you're aware of that and able to make that happen on build out.

Yeah, that isn't a concern. We've already kind of started. brainstorming some ideas to make sure that they are cohesive.

Eldon, is the applicant aware of the water standards in Washington City for a car wash?

Yes, so I saw that it was up to 20 gallons, and our average car wash takes about 15 gallons of water.

And Mayor, it was noticed also in the project flow card? And it's identified in the briefing document that they're aware that they will comply with that good.

So i've been going to quick trips, mostly in the Midwest you know when we go back and forth across the country for years and I don't know that i've had a bad experience yet so. i'm looking forward to having you down here in southern utah Thank you we're excited.

Well, I think you did a great job for your first presentation. You guys made it easy for me.

A quick trip is easy for me to talk about. It's something I'm very passionate about. Thank you, guys.

Thank you, Elisa. I do have a question for staff. Eldon, can you just speak a little bit to the access, ingress, egress, and what you see filling in around kind of that section of the north side of I-15, exit 13 there? I'm just looking at just the site plan and just want to make sure the council's taking a good look at all of the access points there. And if you can just explain a little bit how that's working and if... If John Hinckley needs to speak, then, you know, he's got to earn his dinner tonight. Either way.

Great question. So to the left here is Washington Parkway. And on the bottom of the screen is Buena Vista to kind of orient yourselves there. This main access will service this commercial on the east side of Buena Vista. Council recently approved a hotel back in there, which this road will build out by the developer to service this. convenience store and that hotel motel there, along with I think it's 67 acres of commercial ish all of this red area, so a lot of lot of commercial coming in the area we're just getting started here so lots to look forward to.

another question for you, Eldon. Has the applicant or would the applicant like to indicate a timeline on this when they might be willing to be ready to start construction?

We are hoping to start as soon as possible, really. As soon as we get approval, we're going to start jumping into any planning and construction documents that we need to do with the city. And I mean, hopefully next year.

Wonderful. Wonderful. Thank you. Council, I'll turn to you for further discussion and or a motion on this conditional use permit as presented.

Mayor, I'm ready to make a motion unless the council has any questions. I don't think anyone does. So, Mayor, I'll make a motion to approve conditional use permit C-26-08 for a convenience store, gas station, and car wash. Located at Washington Parkway and going to this to the Boulevard.

Or 3rd, you've heard the motion by Councilman Ivy and a 2nd, by Councilwoman Casperson. This is a conditional use permit. So we'll go roll call vote beginning with Council member. Henderson. All right. All right. And the approval is unanimous with a vote of four to zero. Next item of business is item seven. This is 7A, this is an ordinance consideration to approve an ordinance for zone change Z-26-18 from PUDC to PUDR located at 965 South, 100 East, The applicant is Jared Bates with Rosenberg & Associates. Community Development Director Eldon Gibb will present to the City Council. Mr. Gibb.

Thanks Mayor. This development includes 69 detached townhome units broken down as 63 3-bedroom and 6 2-bedroom units. This is an 8.4 density per unit acre ratio, which is well within the general plan allowance. There are two existing residential homes that this development will provide access to, which will come from the improved 965 South public roadway and the 30 foot access easement. The amenities for the project are scattered throughout for a total of 14,900 square feet with the required amenity amount being 13,800 square feet. So they are adequate with the amenities there. Looking to parking. They are proposing or they meet the minimum standard of 2.25 parking spaces for the three bedroom units to parking spaces for the two bedroom units and one visitor parking space for every 3.25 units and are utilizing the 30% visitor stall reduction for those two car garages as well. ALL OF THE DRIVEWAYS WILL BE A MINIMUM OF 20 FEET IN LENGTH AND VARY BETWEEN 16 FEET AND 26 FEET IN WIDTH. TAKING THIS INTO CONSIDERATION, THE REQUIRED PARKING IS 64 STALLS AND THEY ARE PROPOSING SIX. EXTERIOR FINISHES AND BUILDING ELEVATIONS HAVE BEEN PROVIDED. YOU CAN SEE HERE THE TWO STORY UNIT. MODERN CLEAN line building, and then the three-story unit as well. The applicant is proposing to exceed the 35-foot height limitation for these three-story units by three feet and proposing a maximum of 38-foot height for the three-bedroom single-car garage units. The applicant is also proposing the setback along the north boundary, which is against the adjacent to the existing storage units there they're proposing or asking for a 10 foot set back here city ordinances 20 foot in this area. And they're also asking for. The distance between the units to be 10 feet. City Washington City has approved a 10 foot boundary line setback and a 10 foot separation between two story residential buildings and other PDR developments, but this will be the first 10 foot separation tween three story buildings. If approved this evening planning Commission reviewed this request on Sep tember second and unanimously recommended approval. With the 2 findings, 11 conditions and noting the 3 storey units should not be taller than necessary to cover rooftop equipment. That concludes staff report. I'm happy to answer any further questions you may have at this time.

Council, what questions do you have for Eldon?

Sorry, Mayor. Yes, I need to see the councilman coach isn't here tonight. I need to ask about the trellis. That usually falls to him, but I'll say it tonight. We've got trellis, and I believe it's on the Mill Creek side, is it? So we've accounted for that?

Correct. I zoomed in here on the northeastern side. There's a note there that they're planning to accommodate that and provide it with the plot. And they're also providing a stub from their development to some open space area through the amenity.

So, Weldon, if you can talk about the setback request going from 20 feet to 10. Can you give us a reason why and if there are special conditions or circumstances for that?

Great question. This site here is tight. You know, looking at the density, it's an 8.4 density unit per acre ratio, so not overwhelmingly tight, but there are quite a few units in here and with access and roadway. THEY'RE ASKING FOR RELIEF ON THAT NORTHERN BOUNDARY TO MAXIMIZE THE SITE. THEN THE SECOND REQUEST IS THE SEPARATION BETWEEN UNITS. ALL OF THE THREE STORY UNITS ARE GOING TO BE INTERNAL TO THE SITE, WHICH IS A PLUS. THE EXTERIOR UNITS WILL BE TWO STORY TO HELP VISUALIZE AND DRAW YOUR EYE INWARD TO THOSE TALLER BUILDINGS, BUT WASHINGTON CITY HAS not approved a 10-foot separation for a three-foot building. So that will be something new.

So that 10-foot setback is just along the storage units there on that north side, right? So it's not like it's affecting other residences or other residential product type?

Correct. Yeah, staff supports their request. That makes sense.

So, Eldon, I know your recommendation is for approval. You're okay with the, specifically you're okay with the easement from 20 to 10?

On the north boundary, I am comfortable with that. Yeah, the 10-foot separation between the three-story units. We're not used to seeing that separation. I've seen it in other developments. I'm comfortable with it, but I just want to make it known that they're asking for that as well.

Thank you. Elton, if I could just ask a couple questions. First of all, I really like this project, and I really like the elevations. It's kind of exciting to see a three-story. I think it's a good-looking project. I like the fact that they're separated from each other, you know, kind of instead of all hooked together. I know the Planning Commission had some concerns about going from 35 to 38 feet. Could you talk about that a little bit? It looks to me like it's just from looking at the elevation, it looks like it's mostly to hide mechanical up on the roof, possibly.

Correct. They're doing a 10-foot main plate, 10-foot second plate, and a 9-foot third plate, which is standard. You know, a 10-foot plate height is standard these days. And then they're just wanting to ensure screening Or the rooftop equipment, which I support, I would much rather give height and not look at AC condensers and pull that hat. Be looking at those units, so I think visually it's a. It's a win win that makes sense. Thanks.

Council additional questions for staff.

Mayor, this is that I do have 1 issue that I discussed in planning commission that I'd just like to call to the attention of the council. Go ahead. Can you scroll to the. 1 of the 1 of the exhibits that will show where the. Interior road reaches the city's boundary line. So, counsel, if you'll look there, where Eldon is zooming in. Right where the number 347 and 16 feet is is a measurement on the plat. You'll see the interior road just ends at that boundary line. The boundary line is with the parcel of land that the city recently purchased from the Kirkland Family Trust. And I would ask, because we don't have crystal clear legal access into all of that parcel at this point, that we condition as one of the conditions of plat approval that they convey at least to the city in egress and ingress access easement at that location. Not necessarily a public road, but at least a road where the city and its vehicles could pass through there to access the city land. And so just a little note to call out that we'll at least need in the short term, probably not in the long term. It'll be replaced by an actual public road. But until then, this will be helpful.

Thank you that good point.

Pardon me, uh, mayor doesn't that, uh. The other main road come in and meet into the city's property as well.

It ends into John Kirkland's property and as of this time, there is not an agreement to allow the city to use that. So, we're landlocked, uh, we're. I wouldn't call it landlocked because we do own industrial road that. that is adjacent to the boundary but it isn't developed for a driveway at this point. Okay. And so this is just a way to get vehicular access until the cities come up with a more complete plan for how that parcel will be accessed and where it will be accessed at.

So Thad, would you just need that to be a condition or do we need to make a special?

What I would like is on the preliminary plat that eventually comes through that there would be a note on there that identifies right of an easement right of ingress egress for the city and so I mentioned it to the cat to the Planning Commission I want to mention also to this this board so that it's stated on the record and you'll see there it does look like there's is that what I'm seeing there held in the 20 foot so you'll see it on this one already and so yeah I'm just calling it out so that it's it's known that that is something that the city needs for at least for the short term but that since you probably

The other little parcel that the main road comes into and hits that last parcel number is 3137121. It's right there, that one.

Yeah, if you look there. Who owns that parcel? You'll see this piece that's showing road base. That is owned by the trust. Sorry, that is owned by the development buyer from the trust. And then John Kirkland took the rest of that parcel. where the roadway ends. Okay. There is an existing road there, a dirt road. It has not been dedicated to the public, and he is, in our communications with him, indicated that he is not willing to concede that that road would be public or be accessible by the city. So that's why we need this. So we're still working on that issue.

Okay.

Thank you, staff.

Is there a requirement for how much space they need to have for activities or like a playground, depending on how many homes there are for this project?

Great question. I'll put on this landscaping map. It kind of shows the amenity area just a little bit better. This is not indicating that area will be grass, but more of just the recreation. PER ORDINANCE, EACH UNIT IS REQUIRED TO HAVE A MINIMUM OF 200 SQUARE FEET OF AMENITY. AND THEY ARE MEETING THAT, EXCEEDING IT BY A FEW HUNDRED FEET.

CAN YOU LIST THE AMENITIES JUST FOR PEOPLE THAT MIGHT BE LISTENING? CAN YOU SEE WHAT THEY ARE, HELDEN?

AMENITIES OCCLUDE, I'LL PULL UP THIS, THIS DOES HAVE THE UNIT NUMBER ON HERE, INCLUDE A PLAYGROUND NEXT TO UNIT 501. A gathering slash dog area next to unit 401. Open lawn and a shade structure next to unit 701. A pickleball court and open play area next to unit 406. And shade structure, barbecue, and open lawn next to unit 312. And that's a total of 4,900 square feet.

Additional questions, Councilwoman Casperson?

No, thank you.

Would the applicant or the applicant's representative like to speak to the council on this item? Good to see you, Wes. If you'll just state your name for the record.

Wes Davis, and happy to answer any questions you guys have. It's good to see you, Wes.

Good to see you, too. part a little bit to see PUDC replace the PDR because we really love our commercial but this is the land of the free and land of being able to administer your lands the way that you see fit but I like the project I just wanted to say that I I just I just was really looking forward to this being a little bit of a commercial area but I think it'll do well as a residential area as well it's just a beautiful

of our city so historic there by the rodeo grounds and stuff that and the great kirkland family and all them it's just that was just a comment more than a than a statement so hopefully there's a lot more commercial to come there there's some additional land are you the guy to talk to we're working on it yeah it's really kind of a little bit unique i think for our area with three stories and stuff i'm i'm kind of excited to see it yeah not a lot of that type of product in southern utah That's really cool, Logan.

Hey, I got a quick question. The only thing that I guess maybe I kind of struggle a little bit with is the playground right up against 100 East. Is there any reason why that couldn't be shifted to the right of 109 and then just shift all the units over?

Councilman Bellison, I was just going to bring that up because with it being surrounded by commercial, I bet that's going to be really busy. And so I was wondering about the same thing. To 109?

We're looking at 501 right now, right?

Yeah, take it from there and then shift 501 to 609 west and put it on the east side of 609. Kind of combine it with that that's already between that one and 701.

We can look at that. That road's not a through road, and they'll be fencing around it. 100 east? Yeah, along 100 east, yeah. The road, the interior, the private road on the inside doesn't go all the way through.

So is there going to be a block wall all the way down 100 East?

Yeah. I believe that's it, but we could certainly. So you're just thinking if you moved it from here to where the trail system is on.

Yeah, just, I mean, you know, certainly if it was open, then I would have a whole lot more, you know, heartache over it. But if it's going to be enclosed with a block wall, I have less. But it just seemed to me to be a little bit.

it'd be a little nicer if it was more interior that just a thought right yeah okay i'm fine either way council anything else for mr davis wes is there anything you'd like to say no uh appreciate it we're excited to get the project up and going so thank you guys for your feedback and your time and we'll see how it goes

I'll ask you a question the same I asked the last applicant, assuming this is approved. What's your timeline?

We are anxious to get going. So sooner the better. We've got a couple of things that we still got to figure out on the site and some of the other things that we're working through. And if interest rates would come down, it would make it a whole lot better. But no set timeline today on it, but we're trying to push. Welcome to the club. Yeah.

Thank you, Wes. Council, I'll look to you now for further deliberation on item 7A and or a motion if someone is ready to make a motion.

Mayor, I'm ready to make a motion unless the other council has other comments or concerns. But I want to get with that real quick on exact verbiage on that amendment or additional condition.

Well, I also, I think it would be worth, you know, seeing if they could do, move the park more interior.

I think that's something that I'd be fine if they just work with staff on that rather than hold them up for. Right.

I don't want to hold them up, but if you could maybe, is there a way to include that as well?

Add that in the motion as well. Councilman, are you asking me for language help on the ingress egress easement? Correct. I would. With Eldon showing that it is noted on the exhibit, I would just have your motion include that the language contained on the exhibit for the ingress, egress benefiting the city carry over to the final, the preliminary and final plots.

Okay, that works. If that's the case, and Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve an ordinance for zone change Z, that's 26-18 from PUDC to PUDR located at 965 South 100 East with two additions. One is that the applicant, Um, be allowed to modify the move the playground and work with staff on that without having to bring it back to council. And also that the verbiage on the ingress egress. Um, that's shown a carry over to the preliminary and final.

You've heard the motion by. Well, said you've heard the motion by council and Boston is there a 2nd. 2nd. Second by Councilman Henderson. We'll go roll call because this is an ordinance beginning with Councilmember Henderson. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. We'll come back for action later. Item 8A, it's a discussion regarding a proposed state housing infrastructure partnership, or SHIP is the acronym, with CoWest for the Amara Affordable Housing Project. We've made incredible progress on Amara. with the various parties involved. And so, Eldon, if you will kick off that discussion and then at the appropriate time, we'll invite the representatives from Coal West to come up and engage in a conversation with the council to get direction on how they would like, how the council feels most appropriate to move forward with staff on this window. Mr. Gibb.

Thank you, Mayor. Great introduction on that. This is a unique project targeting affordable housing, the emergent AMARA project, I think we're all familiar with that, 212 detached single-family starter homes. This year, 2026, Utah enacted House Bill 492, which created the State Housing Infrastructure Partnership Program, which allows developers to partner with municipalities, which is one of those requirements, obtain a low interest infrastructure fund to bring those improvements to the development to benefit the end user. I think that's a great introduction. I know the applicant is here. I think there's some attendees online as well that can answer those specific requirements targeting the program and happy to answer any questions you may have.

council you're familiar with the project you've read through the packet do you have anything for staff before we begin engaging with the applicant just to be clear all of the homes would have to be owner occupied or is there and is that continuously like it always has to stay that way are you asking in

In the city's entitlement restrictions or the state's program?

In this program that we're...

Okay, so the city didn't say all of them. The state's program essentially does. You'll recall that that was a point of stickiness that was not 100% easy to achieve as the city was negotiating directly with the builder. But the builder's now requesting this program, which essentially increases that obligation higher than what they had agreed to do for this when the city was directly could negotiating with them and so yeah, that's That's the purpose.

That's the intent there So I have a couple quick questions that you know the agenda says, you know discussion item, you know for Approval later in the document. It's calling out for an approval tonight But there's some unanswered questions in it. It says, for example, the city anticipates that the final wording's gonna say this, or we anticipate it will come to that. Have we got more information on that, or when will we know for sure and confirm some of those questions that are left open?

So the purpose for tonight's meeting, I think, is to see if there's appetite to entertain this. If we get a grants that, yes, The city would like to move forward with this. We would then bring it back for resolution and more of those detailed components.

Personally, I don't have a problem as long as it doesn't open and expose the city to, you know, some obligations that if the developer didn't perform that we would have to assume, right? Anybody would be uncomfortable with that, but the devil's in the details. I mean...

Personally, I don't have an issue with it if if we can get those answers Those questions answered I think the one thing that would have to come after this if I remember the bill correctly when it came through is that there would have to be a developer agreement signed with us and Co West before you move forward and so we'd be able to look at it with our staff separate from the developer agreement that we already have with them practice there would need to be a development agreement that specifically addresses a

this loan and the bill, the House Bill 492 that put into effect specifically calls for a development agreement on this point and then it specifically identifies the criteria and details that the agreement should establish. One of the details that are generally stated is the details would obligate Coal West to essentially carry all of the duties of the city under that bill via that agreement. So the main purpose of the agreement would be to identify that Coal West is agreeing to satisfy all of the elements in that bill that are required of a municipal entity or Washington City. There's also not a guarantee that there will be loan balance and so it's an application process that goes through a committee and gets scored and so Even if Coal West were to go through all of that, there's still not a guarantee that this would be a project that does have sufficient loan funding. Although we understand that it does have some good headway and it meets a number of the criteria that we feel that the state's looking for, there just isn't a guarantee that it actually does happen.

The way I understand it is that this is the first step for Coal West is that they have to have our approval before they can apply to the state fund. In this initial allotment, there's $100 million that the legislature set aside for this infrastructure program. They're asking for 3.5. But this is in the way of just kind of landmark legislation in that, first and foremost, being able to use SITLA land for affordable housing. That's a big step forward in that process. And then the second hurdle is once you help with the land, then you've got to help. keep the infrastructure costs down. And it's important to note, too, that each one of these homes that will be first-time homebuyers, under-occupied, shovel-ready, they're going to be capped at $450,000. That's still a lot of money, I know, but when you compare that to the average home costs and what they've traditionally been in Washington, it's a huge step forward. There's a lot of bills that have come forward trying to move the needle, and honestly, the state, IN MY OWN ESTIMATION IS THE STATE JUST REALIZED, OUR LEGISLATORS REALIZED THAT THEY GOT TO PUT SOME MONEY IN WHERE THEIR MOUTH IS TO MAKE IT WORK. AND SO THAT'S, YOU KNOW, HB 49, WE WATCHED IT CLOSELY AND KNOWING THAT WE HAD THIS PROJECT THAT WAS IN MIND AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S BEEN A REALLY POSITIVE THING FOR ME. I KNOW MAYOR WENT UP IN MARCH AND VISITED WITH THE GOVERNOR AND THE OFFICE THERE ABOUT, GOSH, I CAN'T the Senator's name right now. I can never remember his name. But it's been a project that we've worked on for a while. And I think, I hope that this model can move forward a little bit so that we do get some help when it's needed to get first, especially first time home buyers into a home.

So, questions in that. One is, it's a 30 day window. One is a 30-day window, but they don't exactly have all the answers. And it said September, right?

So, yeah, we don't have the exact date for the window. When it opens, it'll be quick. And Colwest has committed to putting the application together so it doesn't take Washington City staff time. Really what we're looking for tonight is a nod to say, yes, let's go ahead and be a co-applicant with them. And then so we'll get the application together. We'll turn the application in. If it's accepted, then we'll know the terms and all the details, put together the agreement. It would come back to the council for final approval. So really, we're looking for a nod to be that co-applicant and to put that application in with Coal West. It's going to have to go quickly at this point, but you'll have another opportunity to approve the agreement and accept the terms at that point. But again, it doesn't stay on our books. It ends up being an obligation of theirs. And so we spent quite a bit of time, Thad and Eldon and I, meeting with with representatives from Coal West and discussing the bill and trying to kind of poke holes into it, it looks like a really good opportunity for the city and for Coal West and a project that we really all... So how does it get repaid by the developer?

The city's not on... No, no, no, I get that, but...

The city is the initial borrower. Okay. But there is a contract mechanism where Coal West will agree to accept and carry all of that well as the repayment obligations and so there is some risk if the entity that you partner with defaults the city's got a problem right because but is it is it in any way passed on to the the home buyer and like it the form of a pig where it's a tax on their on their house down the road in perpetuity no even worse it's just passed on to the community at large so but it's not likely to occur this developer is going to get vetted there will be a contract if if the sky fell and There is an insolvency. The city is the initial borrower applicant for the program. And the way the statute reads is it talks about the loan and the qualifying political subdivision that is the borrower. And that would be Washington City would be the qualifying political subdivision borrower. But the entire regime of the code is also contemplating that a developer can come in and essentially agree to replace the city there. And so if the loan board would replace them immediately for us, that's the best way we would get out of the exposure. And that's what we would try to do if it succeeds.

But as a home gets sold, for example, a portion of that sale would go back to pay down this debt so that it doesn't carry on past Coal West.

That's not how the statute reads, but that could be how our agreement adjusts the statutory regime.

But there is no additional property tax levy like a PID. There's no additional levy that is paid over the next 30 years by a homeowner like a PID would have. It's done at the time of the sale of the home.

Okay.

Question made me sad. where it says first time home buyer owner occupied, will there be some kind of a deed restriction so that it's owner occupied, all the units, do you know?

So what the bill says is the more first time home buyer owner occupants there are, that's a criteria that helps them move up the list as they consider it. So if it only had 10% of owner occupants, the way the statute reads is that would probably be a project that gets a lower rating. So you guys got them up to 80%, which we think will help favor their application. The statute also has the political subdivision and our contractor with the contracts that they're going to prepare to submit to the state will demonstrate how we'll pay it back, how we will go through the land use process to get it approved. We've already done that part. And so these are some of the factors that we think lean in favor of it. But it also does mention the city's, I'll just say in subsection four, the board shall ensure that each infrastructure loan is secured by a combination of revenue sources from the loan recipient, which right now, the way it reads now, that's the city, which includes imposition of property taxes, collection of impact fees, issuance of bonds, or any other revenue source. It reads like it's a city loan, but it also has room for the city and the developer to agree to replace all that with a different concept. That's what we indicated to Coal West that we think Washington City would like is we're willing to walk down this road, but we don't want to carry the risk of the loan for them. And so a next step would include the documents and the details of how that all were to happen.

And so the city wouldn't have any obligation per our agreement that we write with them, we would pass all those obligations to Coal West?

That's what we're proposing, and that's what they proposed in our meeting with them. And so we don't have those documents tonight. That's why it's not a decision as far as to accept an agreement. I think tonight is, is the council comfortable with this statutory language that's new, with us walking down the road with them to the point that we get some agreements to bring back to you that will have language like that?

Council, this is Mayor. I think I'll just jump in and share something that I really like about this is that we go back through the history of this parcel. This is a tough one because of proximity and access. So I do see some affordable attainable housing as the highest and best use right here. As you've been involved with this over the entitlement process, We've seen Trustlands Administration reduce their profit margin. We've seen Coal West reduce their profit margin. You've seen Washington City Corp make concessions in access. and density so to me this is where i think and steve waldrop with the governor's office has been a big fan of this but i think this is where now the state can come in and help get this off the ground too with uh actual financing incentives so i i'm glad that now the state is partnering with the other parties who have all made concessions so I'm hopeful that as you deliberate and as we engage with the applicant this evening, that we can find a way forward on a resolution that allows for us to infuse some of those state monies into a project that will make a real difference for first-time homebuyers.

Yeah, I think that's... That's something that everybody's supportive of and seeing the project moving forward and making sure that it's a successful project in our city. I think the only concern that I've had is what the end impact is to the home buyer, right? And the devil's in the details. So hopefully we can get those soon and move forward on.

I think we'll certainly keep those in mind as we, as we work on the agreement and making sure that the city is. As little obligated as possible on on any sort of repayment.

Council, as this is a, an agreement with with Cole West. Would you like to hear from the applicant or would the applicant like to share any thoughts or perspective on maybe the content of this resolution that will come back before the elected body, which would allow them to move forward with an application?

Sure, a short overview would be great, I think.

Is there a representative from Coal West either online or in the gallery that would like to speak to this item? And you know the routine. If you'll just state your name, I can't quite see you from my vantage.

Eric Day with Coal West. I'd be happy to answer any questions, but I actually have a couple people online that would be much better at this one than I would. Lincoln's online. He helped actually draft the bill. And then we have State Rep Cal Roberts also online. He'd be a good person to ask as well. So I'll probably just leave it up to them if they're still on there.

I'm sorry I didn't recognize you, Eric. It's good to see you back here. Hi, Mayor. Go ahead.

Hi, Mayor. How are you? I don't know if Representative Roberts has been let in. I think he's waiting in the waiting room. If staff can maybe see if they can let him into the...

I believe he has the wrong link. You and others were easy to enter in.

He's got the wrong link? Is that what you're saying? I'm sorry. I didn't catch that, David. Yeah. Okay.

Or something. I just haven't seen it.

Okay, I'll let them know and then I can kind of cover it up. Council Mayor, thanks for the opportunity to speak a little bit. As was mentioned by the Coal West representative, I worked with Representative Roberts on the drafting of 492 to look at ways in which we can solve the affordable housing dilemma that we have here in the state of Utah. And in those conversations, this project in particular came up as one of the kind of case studies as to where it could be utilized. The state has put a fair amount of money into various affordable housing programs, including first-time homebuyer down payment assistance programs and others. And what they've realized is one of the major gaps in funding and allowing and supporting affordable housing is putting in infrastructure And so really what this program allows is municipalities in partnership with the development community to bring forward applications to tap into $100 million loan fund that the state's established. As was mentioned by staff and kind of illustrated by some of the council members, the applicant is technically the city. But what Coal West has agreed to do is to essentially offload the burden of repayment and contractually obligate themselves with Washington City to fulfill that obligation The way that will be fulfilled, and Mary, you kind of touched on this, historically communities have looked at using PIDs as ways to put in infrastructure. This is a very different concept. Essentially what Coal West is going to do is as each individual unit sells, they will make a repayment to the state of Utah based on the purchase of that home. They will constrain themselves on the total cost of the home. And as illustrated by staff, these homes would have to be owner occupied, single family dwelling units. So really the goal is single family home ownership, allowing individuals to build equity in homeownership and hopefully move into the homeownership path. The goal at Co West is really to partner with the city, but also make sure that we reduce the risk to the greatest extent possible by taking the repayment obligation off of the city. albeit the state statute does require the city to be the primary applicant in conjunction with the developer. So really the way this structurally from a legal standpoint is going to work is the state would submit an application. If the application was approved, the city would draw down those funds and contractually enter into an agreement to make sure that it's meeting the criteria established in the program. Coal West would then sign what I would call a subordinate agreement with Washington City, wherein they would take the financial risk of ensuring that the repayment is structured and on the backs of Coal West when they sell the homes. And so there would be essentially a per unit payment back to the state to repay the loan. Now, some may ask what the value of this. If Coal West were to go out and get commercial financing for a loan to put in the infrastructure, they would be looking somewhere between 7% and 10% interest rate. The state's interest rate is the Fed rate minus 150 basis points. So you're looking at about a 2% annualized interest rate on that loan. And so in essence, you're getting infrastructure put in and saving 8% on infrastructure. the loan from a commercial traditional loan to the state housing infrastructure loan that the state's created. And that 8% is meaningful in trying to meet the affordable housing goals of the municipality. The one thing that's also been mentioned is really what we're asking today. And really the first thing that we have to do is understand that there's a willingness to have a partnership, to have these conversations with Coal West and start moving through the process of filling out an application prior to submitting the application or receiving funds, we would obviously paper up the agreements between Coal West and Washington City and obviously between the state and Washington City to ensure that we're not imposing any financial risk on the city and also protecting the taxpayers in Washington City. The application window is anticipated to be opened in the middle of September. which is why we're before you today, is to just essentially get a preliminary green light to start the conversations with staff, start building the application and working with staff and the elected officials within Washington City on what those agreements would look like to make sure that your interests are protected while still pursuing this opportunity that's before us. With that, Mayor and Council, I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Well, I really appreciate you being online. Mayor, go ahead. Questions for Lincoln, I really appreciate you being on online tonight to speak to this important legislation and it's important to move forward. Appreciate the information. And honestly, I appreciate the effort with our legislators that that are working hard to try to solve a very complex question for us.

Well, appreciate the opportunity. I don't know if many of you know my history. I actually was the director for the League of Cities and Towns for 14 years, many moons ago. So I've sat in your shoes and worked a lot with communities on trying to solve many of these big problems. I appreciate Washington City's involvement in the legislature, Mayor Staley in particular, for his work on helping work on some of these significant policy move forwards that we've done in the legislature.

WOULD BE A GOOD TEST BED FOR THE AMARA PROJECT. SO I LOOK FORWARD TO GETTING THE DETAILS ON IT AS THINGS MOVE FORWARD.

Council, WHAT DO YOU THINK?

SORRY, MAYOR. CAN I ASK ANOTHER QUESTION OF ERIC?

YES.

SO LIKE THAD MENTIONED, HOMES THAT HAVE THE HIGHER SCORE OF HOW MANY OWNER OCCUPIED units that you do, how many do you guys intend to do with your project for the owner-occupied homes?

We're capped at 20%. Other than that, the market would dictate what it would be. But the most we can possibly have is 20% per agreement with the city.

So would you just put that in numbers? Because I can't remember the exact.

So 212, 20% of that would be 42.4.

is what you're gonna put for the application?

That'd be the maximum amount of units that could be rented.

Okay. Okay, thank you.

Council, so this is not an action item, but what we're looking for is just direction to staff and to the applicant in drafting a resolution that would come back in two weeks as an action item. So I'm just kind of looking for your appetite in staff drafting the resolution and bring it back based on this conversation.

I'm giving my thumbs up. It works for me as well.

Thumbs up, Mayor. Councilman Casperson, I've got three thumbs up.

I'll add my thumbs up to it, too.

Okay. Thank you, Lincoln. Thank you, Eric. And I appreciate your efforts to be on, Representative Roberts and staff. I think you've heard the direction of the council, so we'll look forward to this coming back in two weeks. We'll move on to the next item on our agenda, which is item nine, report of officers from assigned committee, starting with Councilman Belliston.

Okay, so you guys are aware, and most people don't know what the Flood Control Authority is and does. There's only three cities in the Flood Control Authority. You got Santa Clara, St. George, and Washington, and it basically covers cities that have waterways or floodways that cross municipal boundaries. And so it allows us to work together and combine efforts with engineering to go over grants, federal grants, things like that, to be able to pull funds in to deal with those flood issues. The big detention basins at the south end down by the airport, those fall under that. The detention basin that is by the wheels park and then the other one that's along the southern corridor south of Aaliyah there. But in addition to some of the flood issues, you know, we, there's ACE crews. I've shared a report from the ACE crews before. They'll come in. We have kind of a standing contract with them that we renew every season where they go in and clear out some of the problem vegetation. And now, right now we're going through and doing vegetation mapping all up and down the Virgin River. for the Phragmites monitoring and treatment activities. Now, one of these days I'll figure out what the Phragmites is, but I understand it's a type of a weed and it's a bit easier.

It's a weed. If you'll remember the thick reeds that were along the Utah Lake as you passed it in the 90s. Right. Those were Phragmites and they've removed a lot of those now. Yeah. Yeah, it's that same type of reed that has established in a few places along the Virgin River.

Well, they have different versions of it. And so we've got, and so they're going through and they're actually mapping out the different types of Phragmites and the different types of vegetation along that river. And then we'll use the ACE crews to come in and attack those problem areas. So in the future, if you guys would like me to share some of those maps with you, I'm happy to. But just kind of want to give an update on that. Other than that, Mayor, I'm good.

Thank you councilman councilman Henderson.

I don't have anything tonight. Mayor. Thank you.

Okay. Councilman Ivy.

I have an exciting update there. Let's let's hear it has to do with our youth council. Okay, we had a wonderful meeting where we had some, uh, our new leaders and Michelle city. and I with 16 or 17 youth council members, we were able to vote leadership in. We've got a new mayor and council and assignments to each one of the youth that will correlate with their counterpart in the city. We're looking forward to the dinner on the 23rd at 4 o'clock at Heritage Hall to meet the new youth council and meet the new leadership. And we're really we're genuinely excited about this year. You know, this is a great group. We have a great mayor that I am not going to spill the beans. I'll let them introduce let her introduce herself. But she's going to be wonderful. She's dynamic. She has a lot of personality and a lot of energy. And that's that's just what we need. But that was that's the one thing of note. Legislative policy is progressing. We're keeping an eye on on the interim sessions and trying to see those bills that we need to pay attention to, even right now. Probably the main thing, Mayor, would be the MPO. We had a very good meeting where we watched a presentation from Horrocks on the travel demand model that was really interesting. I don't know if that might be worth coming to the council and presenting, Mayor, but it showed future growth. Intersections of concern, and you know what roads would look like if they're if they're three roads five rows what whatever they would be in the future, what it would look like where they would collect. You know, we talked about the build out of the new off ramp off of by 15 that will be the George Washington clear across from my 15 to seven and how that helps. with our east-west, but that was really interesting to see that. We asked a lot of questions and took our time and went through it really through most of the metropolitan areas, of course, in Washington, St. George, and some of Santa Clara. And then next thing I'd mention is that we reviewed public comments and considered adoption of the 2730 Transportation Improvement Plan. You know, that's an important document for our city that we keep a close eye on. And our public works department does a great job in helping me to monitor and to know where our road priorities are. Blake and John, as I'm looking at you two, we appreciate what you do in helping with that. It's a team effort, and it's good to know kind of what to plan on and to move in that direction. The only other thing I'd mention Mayor, I can come back and talk after the other reports. I just have one more thing I want to mention, but we can wait on it. Thank you.

Sounds good. Thank you, Councilman Ivey. And I'm wondering how John Hinke has been able to sit there for a full meeting and not be sequestered to the pulpit. I'll try not to let that happen again, John. Councilwoman Casperson, your turn. I just want to share that the Arts Council has a workshop coming up. it's going to be a cloth wrapped pictures on september 26th at 10 a.m to 1 a.m at the release society hall for anyone who would be interested in doing that wonderful thank you um i will just make note that uh we're we're glad that our fearless city manager is back from a well-deserved although a few days too long vacation Um, and I want to just recognize, um, we did have a, we have great department heads and, uh, and departments within the city that, that, that own their particular roles that, that make, make the city function for the residents we serve. But, you know, we did have a, a substantial community-wide power outage. And so I'd just like to recognize Rick Hansen and his department for the work that they did on, you know, on, um, assisting to get that power back up. And in particular, I love the fact that our traffic signals, many of them were still operating for those many hours while power was down. And then also just as you're aware, just within the last few days, we had some winds that coupled with heat and dry, and we had a fire. And in that, we just had an incredible response from Washington City Fire Department, assisted by Washington City Police Department. And then with those automatic and mutual aids, we appreciated our partners coming in and assisting as well. Council, thank you for approving that ladder truck. a few years ago. I saw that put to well use and our public safety as a whole really worked hard to prevent further damage that affected at least four or five homes. So I'd just like to say thank you to those, to the power and public safety. And really all of our departments do wonderfully, but those were two crises that happened recently. Next item of business, city manager report, Jeremy Redd.

Thank you. I feel like you gave my report already, but absolutely. Just got back from vacation and even halfway across the world, ran into people from Washington County. So that was really a lot of fun. Glad to be back, though. It's nice to be back. And I will pass on any additional comments tonight, Mayor. Thank you.

Thank you, Jeremy. We do not have need for closed sessions, but before we adjourn, we promise to come back to Councilman Ivey.

Mayor, you touched on it, and as I was introduced to that, I thought that you probably would, but the fire or the power outage was one that we don't have a lot of power outages here. This one was substantial, and we had people reach out and want to know, and I just wondered if, I never heard exactly what the cause was or what it looks like. Would Rick be able to come on and maybe share what that looked like, what the cause was, or if there was anything that we need to do differently in the future? I just have never heard what the cause was.

I'd be happy to hear from Rick if he's available. I'd also be happy to hear from Chief Evans if he wants to give us any updates on the fire. If Rick's not available, I think I can give you a very elementary explanation, or we can, as we like to do, put the pressure on the city manager.

Well, I think at this point, Rick was going to a meeting this week to discuss that, and they don't have the definitive answer, so I don't know that it would be a good idea to discuss it yet, but we will certainly have him come maybe at the next meeting and give us a better update, but they were still working on the root cause of that power outage, so.

I think maybe one thing we could say is it wasn't Washington City's system that caused the outage, it was a regional issue that affected us and many of the other regional utilities, and so.

And I think that's what led to part of that question, but may or something I just, just mentioned too and I know that you were traveling and our city manager was out of town but if we could have someone get the information out to the community from from our city you know whether that's Rick Hansen or whoever that is that would be helpful as well as it was just one of those times where I think we I texted Rick and just wanted to get some some answers and it was A lot of people reaching out wanting to know that, you know, we're very happy that that it came back on within within those few hours and that they're working on it and look forward to hearing that going forward what that looks like. And I know they'll do everything they can to make sure nothing like that happens in the future. They'll rectify the problem. So, thank you.

That's all well said councilman and I will make note to that starting on. Monday, I believe Monday is the fourteenth. We will welcome and at our next city council meeting properly introduce the assistant city manager that's been hired. So that will also help in those situations. Chief Evans, I'm not sure if I can see you in the back, but I believe that's you in the white shirt. I would like for you to give just an update to the council on any updates that you're prepared to share with the council and the public on the recent fire.

I feel like this is John's fault, because he didn't have to get up here. Why are you bleeding me? Yes, so what we know about the fire, we believe it was an electrical fire. It started on the outside of the initial structure, and then it quickly spread. If you drove by it, you can see there's a lot of stuff right there. According to the weather service, they estimated it would put the winds at about 20, 25 miles an hour. If you were out there, I think we all agreed that it was probably closer to 35 or 40 miles an hour. There were some pretty good gusts coming through there, and it just carried debris in a straight channel all the way up. Unfortunately, it spread through a number of their cars, property that they had around that yard, and then ultimately to a shop that they added on to that. It's detached to the house. Lots of stuff in both of those two structures. As it's spreading through all that is when the reports came in that there was a couple more structures on fire. You could not see those from where you were. And even being up at the other two structures that caught on fire, you couldn't actually see. You could see the smoke column coming from the initial fire. Pretty clear as far as what happened at the other two, multiple spot fires all the way between the two. Luckily, nothing that really caught anything except for some weeds. There was some debris in some backyards, a little bit of storage, not a lot of damage. And then ultimately it started in some weeds right next to another shop that was detached from a house in the back, which pretty much took that shop. And then it started. Really, it started right next to a wood awning that they'd built attached to the backside of the house. Of course, four structure fires at the same time. We ran out of fire engines pretty quick. We definitely relied a lot on the county. I think when it was all done and said, I think there were two fire engines available in Washington County with what we had there. And I think the last house, we had one crew that was there, and we kind of split it between and did lots of stuff. It really was, as the mayor said, it was a phenomenal response. All the departments from around, and it wasn't just fire departments. We saw the same thing from police. Lots of officers everywhere. If they wouldn't have been out evacuating, especially up that street, who knows what would have happened as far as it goes. And we saw county deputies and some St. George police. And then the power department was extremely busy as well. All of that area is pretty much served by overhead lines. So every structure, we had a power deal too as well because it burned through those power lines and they were phenomenal at getting all that isolated really quick so that we could get those taken care of. It was a lot of people. Controlled chaos there for a little while for sure. So we're super lucky. We did unfortunately lose, we lost one dog. They were able to find one of the two in the first structure, but unfortunately weren't able to find the second one in time.

So there was some reports of some explosions, maybe gas cans or something blowing up, any choice to that?

So there was a few things that went off that we know for sure. There was some ammunition, some gunpowder in the shed at the initial structure. And then I believe we didn't find any evidence that there were propane tanks. There was a brand new RV that they lost there as well. But we didn't find any of those were ruptured. But they did blow out a good share of the tires on those vehicles. And when they rupture like that, they go pretty loud. And so between the ammunition popping and the tires and all that kind of stuff, that was what we believe everyone was hearing.

The report came from my wife a couple miles away, so if she heard it, I assume it was pretty loud.

It was pretty loud. Yeah, and we heard some of that initially, too, from some of the neighbors. That was actually what brought their attention as far as to the fire. So, yeah. Thank you, Chief.

We'll tell you guys thank you from all of us. Absolutely.

We appreciate it.

Council that, uh, seems that we've come to the conclusion of our electronic. Public electronic regular meeting. Hopefully we don't have to do it like this again anytime soon, but it seemed to work out. Okay. I'll turn to one of you for a motion to adjourn. So made mayor second motion by councilman Ivy. Is there a second second second by councilman Ballaston all in favor of adjournment?

Aye.

Any opposed? It is unanimous. We'll see you again in two weeks. Thank you, everyone.