Minutes of the Granite Community Council
Date:
Location:
April 1, 2015
Metropolitan Water District Offices Conference Room
3430 East Danish Road
Council Members Present:
Michael Braun (Alternate, District 1 & 2); Jeff Summerhays (District 1 & 2); Terry Wood, Vice
Chair (Districts 1 & 2); Mary Young, Chair (District 3); Ryan Houmand (District 3); Drew
Weaver, Treasurer (District 4); Bryce John (District 4); Katie Clayton (Alternate, District 4); Josh
Kanter, Secretary (District 5); and Bill Clayton (District 6).
Council Members Absent:
Don Halverson (District 5); Catherine Kanter (Alternate, District 5); Susie Albertson (District 6);
and Kelli Kammerer (Alternate, District 6).
Guests Present:
Tod Young and Ron Vance, SLCo Planning Commission
Rita Lund, Salt Lake County
Brooks Green and Nancy White, Unified Police Department (UPD)
Community Residents: Susan Wood, Marcia & Fred Burton, Bernadine John, Ron Bird
Agenda:
Call to Order
Mary Young, Chair of the Granite Community Council (the “Council”), welcomed everyone,
called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m., and led the Council and guests in reciting the Pledge
of Allegiance.
Prior Minutes
Mary thanked Bill for taking the minutes of the last meeting in Josh’s absence. She discussed
the timing of the Community Preservation Bill’s freeze on annexations and it was noted that
the freeze is effective July 1st though that is a final date by which any pending annexations
must be completed to not be frozen out so the real deadline to initiate any additional
annexations is some time before that.
Upon motion made, seconded and unanimously carried, the minutes of the March 4, 2015
meeting of the Granite Community Council were unanimously approved. The minutes will be
posted on the Council’s website at www.granitecommunitycouncil.net.
County Report
Rita distributed the area cleanup schedule and noted that the Granite area cleanup would run
between May 8th and May 12th.
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Community Preservation:
Rita noted that she had previously sent out a schedule relating to the Community
Preservation Bill and the process that will now take place. She indicated that the first
meeting of the Executive Committee was today, April 1st, and she referenced a diagram (see
handout) that illustrates the different teams working on different aspects of implementing
the Bill. These include an Election Team, Municipal Services District Team; External
Communication Team; Internal Communication Team; Fiscal Analysis Team; and Legal
Team.
She indicated that there is also a team dedicated to the HB 351 Mountain Planning District
but the County Council needs to still draw boundaries. She noted that the Bill includes a
one-year sunset provision to the Mountain Planning District creation so there is quite a bit of
work to do quickly to insure that the Mountain Planning District comes to fruition. The
Mountain Planning District committee is being chaired by Wilf Summerkorn.
Mary asked if each Community Council should be represented on the Mountain Planning
District and Rita noted that this was discussed at ACCT and it is being discussed further to
insure that the committee is kept to a manageable size.
It was asked whether all of Granite will vote together or whether each neighborhood, island
and peninsula will vote individually. Rita indicated that it is the County’s opinion that each
area will vote individually. Bill asked how this impacts the Wasatch Resorts area since they
are surrounded by Forest Service land and, therefore, cannot annex into a “contiguous city” a requirement of the legislation. Rita said she would look into that question and report back.
It was noted that this answer could give Sandy access to annexation of Snowbird using the
same logic if the contiguity requirement were eliminated. Tod pointed out that this would
allow annexation of Brighton and Solitude too. Rita noted that even if that happened, if the
Mountain Planning District is completed, the planning aspects wouldn’t fall to the annexing
city but would fall to the Planning District.
It was also noted that one of the last changes to the bill was to apply the law only to existing
townships so no area can become a new township to circumvent any of the impacts to
unincorporated, non-township areas.
A resident who lives in the triangle asked if the triangle annexations were approved and
when the annexations would be completed as they have been gone for several months. It was
noted that the annexations are approved and proceeding. They also asked additional
questions about trailhead safety issues around Bell Canyon. This issue was later discussed
with Detective Brooks. [Update: Mary asked Korban Lee, Asst. CAO of Sandy, about the
final dates for annexation of the triangle areas and he advised that they are dependent on
when the annexations get signed by the Lieutenant Governor's Office.]
It was noted that new historic marker street signs are starting to be installed by both the
County and Sandy City. Mary reviewed the history of designing the street sign logo for
purposes of identifying historic Granite. It was asked whether the same will happen in
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Cottonwood Heights and it was reported that no one has talked to them so for now, the
answer is no.
Josh asked if the Council wants to be active or take a position about what happens to the rest
of Granite in preparation for the November vote. The Council discussed the fact that the
County cannot advocate and the Council cannot use County funds to advocate but can
survey, provide unbiased information, etc.
Nancy White from UPD, who runs the UPD section devoted to cleaning graffiti, discussed
the services available through UPD. She noted that UPD has a graffiti cleaning crew, gives
free paint, chemicals, etc. She also noted that if something is reported to her that falls
outside of UPD jurisdiction, she will forward those calls to Sandy City and Cottonwood
Heights, as appropriate. Mary raised the issue of graffiti at the pavilion east of Wasatch
Resorts and Nancy said she’d be willing to help interface with Forest Service. Nancy’s email
and phone number are: nwhite@updsl.org and 385.468.9769.
Sheriff’s Report
Brooks reviewed the complaints of mail theft and the reports that there was a suspicious vehicle
in the area. He explained that UPD was able to determine the owner of the car and interview the
driver who said they were merely in the area passing out flyers for her husband’s concrete
business (an illegal activity but unrelated to mail thefts). They were able to corroborate the story
and determined that the mail theft activity was unrelated to the reports of this suspicious vehicle.
Nevertheless, Brooks talked about how difficult it is to solve, prove and prosecute property
crimes.
The question about Bell Canyon trailhead safety issues was raised again and Brooks noted that
Sandy owns the trailhead. Resident Fred Burton noted concerns about hikers parking along the
road, then crossing the road to the trailhead; with traffic moving as quickly as it does in that
area, this is an accident waiting to happen. Mary suggested that residents may want to discuss
this further with Sandy Police, as the annexation is finalized.
Josh asked about UPD/Sandy policing of triangle areas annexing and those that are not. He also
asked about next year’s canyon traffic control if Sandy City has the triangle. Brooks indicated
that area patrols won’t stop and he suspects that UPD will continue to work Canyon traffic
issues since the Canyon itself remains County controlled.
Brooks gave Bill and Josh extra Canyon passes for new residents.
Muir Home Project
Terry reviewed the history of the Muir property and the history of the request made of him and
Drew to create a presentation to restore and repurpose the property, hopefully to use it for
educational and other interesting purposes. Drew reviewed the presentation that was made and
noted that the property (part of the Dimple Dell Regional Park) is in Sandy City but is owned by
Salt Lake County. He stated that there is historic preservation relevance in the house and Terry
noted that there is an orchard area as well. Considerations include creation of a dog park, a loop
trail with interpretive signage, etc. The property is particularly interesting for these educational
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purposes because it has unobstructed views of different aspects of geology and Utah history in
various directions.
It appears that the County likes the idea and is investigating it further. They will need various
studies including third-party architectural studies, economic analysis, etc., and will probably
want to work with Sandy City on this.
Terry also discussed an archeological find that was discovered during some Questar work in the
area. The findings could be 4000 to 7000 years old.
Miscellaneous Updates
Mary discussed the Turning Point facility and noted that they have five properties on this culde-sac, which could house up to 80 people for treatment (16 residents per home which does not
include staff). Another meeting is being planned by County Councilman Max Burdick– possibly
in mid-April. Mary noted that there are limits on what residents or the County can do to limit
these residences from the intended purposes. It was noted that sewer infrastructure is currently
being installed and they should be building a second home by this summer. The properties
comply with all local zoning. Residents are expressing concerns about cars, lights, noise, etc.
Katie questioned the density of all of these in one place but that question apparently has been
challenged in the courts and cannot be controlled.
Mary also noted that the Old White Church and properties to the north of it are in the process of
being annexed into Sandy City. Mary reported that the owner has previously expressed an
interest in turning it into a wedding reception center but there are economic issues in his
business proposition as well as bringing the building to code that may limit the possibility of
that really happening, at least any time soon.
It was also noted that Ray Anderson is continuing, from afar, conversations about further
possible annexations, particularly of his lane (which Mary and Tod happen to live on).
Katie asked about “safe sidewalks” and Rita indicated that this is not in the current budget but
that she will mention it to Patrick again.
Granite Survey
The Council discussed whether it should undertake a survey of remaining unincorporated
Granite residents. It was noted that any such survey should have a real purpose and there should
be some understanding of the usefulness and purpose of the data collected. What will we do
with the results?
It was suggested that the Council form a committee to discuss this further. Volunteers included
Mary, Jeff, Michael, Josh and Katie
It was also suggested that if this is done and is going to succeed, we will need a walking
program to distribute and retrieve surveys or they won’t be returned. Council members agreed to
this.
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Treasurer’s Report
The Treasurer reported that the Council’s checking ($307.19) and savings ($11,199.85) account
total balance is $11,507.04. Bills have been received for the Council’s annual registration
($10.00) and one of two Fourth of July permits (a health permit for $65.00).
Upon motion made, seconded and unanimously carried, it was
RESOLVED, that the Treasurer’s report be, and hereby is, accepted.
Other Business
1.
Josh reported that he had received a call from the pro-annexation leaders in the District 5
“triangle” area and was informed that they had reconsidered, were withdrawing their
annexation petitions to Sandy City, they love and support the Granite Community Council,
and intend to remain a part of Salt Lake County and the unincorporated Granite
Community. There was much rejoicing. Seeing as this meeting occurred on April 1st, it is
fair to say that none of that is true. Happy April Fool’s Day.
2.
Michael noted that the Council comments on the Breen Home development last year were
helpful and he is currently using those comments to be sure that they comply.
3.
Mary asked whether people thought we should continue Hot Granite Nights and whether
there are any volunteers to run it. It was noted that it generally attracts only about 25
people so it was suggested that, perhaps, given that it hasn’t generated any real traction,
it’s time to stop it and possibly consider an alternate community event.
4.
Mary noted that the County Assessor will be at the May 6th meeting and encouraged GCC
members to send questions to her to forward to Kevin Jacobs, and to encourage
community attendance.
5.
Tod reported Sandy City has put a transponder on water meters so you can no longer see
the meter and read it. Michael indicated that he can see his so it may be that Tod has an
incorrectly installed transponder.
6.
Tod mentioned the UDOT traffic app to be sure everyone knew it existed. [see
http://udottraffic.utah.gov/RoadWeatherForecast.aspx]
7.
Tod reported on the Young’s solar array and talked about their electrical bill savings
(dropped from over $200/month to about $35/month). Contact Tod for more info.
8.
Mary asked that everyone provide her with their volunteer hours for the first quarter of
2015.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
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