[0:00] to a future meeting

[0:03] and the city council

[0:05] uh will be going into a closed door

[0:08] session

[0:09] before the city council meeting.

[0:11] So, we'll have that note. Appreciate uh

[0:14] Lieutenant Jameson coming in a different

[0:16] time and appreciate his flexibility in

[0:18] doing that. But, that will give us some

[0:20] time to recover the

[0:23] um

[0:24] the closed door matter.

[0:26] So, with that

[0:27] I will turn the time over Oh, Steve, I

[0:31] Bieranowski?

[0:33] >> It was Bieranowski.

[0:34] >> Bieranowski.

[0:36] Okay. We're going to turn the time over

[0:38] to Mr. Bieranowski from HomeServe USA,

[0:41] and he's a manager of partner success.

[0:44] And HomeServe USA, they're the company

[0:47] that we partner with to do water and

[0:49] sewer line

[0:51] insurance. So, I'll turn it over to him.

[0:53] >> Thanks, Mary.

[0:54] Steve here. We've been working with

[0:56] Steve for quite some time since we

[0:58] started the program.

[0:59] And talking about saving water,

[1:03] these guys help our citizens save water

[1:05] in in a certain way.

[1:07] So, uh without further ado, I'm I'm kind

[1:10] of the liaison in essence.

[1:14] Uh

[1:15] He's come out several times to just

[1:17] discuss different elements with

[1:19] I thought it might be a good point with

[1:22] um and the council hadn't

[1:24] actually talked with the council for a

[1:26] little while. I thought now would be a

[1:28] good time to uh come out and do that.

[1:31] >> Thank you.

[1:32] >> Well, thank you for having me. Yes, uh

[1:34] good afternoon. I'm Steve Bieranowski,

[1:36] your account manager for the sewer line

[1:38] program. Uh

[1:39] it's actually been uh quite a few years.

[1:41] I I believe 3 years since I've last

[1:43] addressed council, and it was uh

[1:46] well, just surpassed a million dollars

[1:48] in residential savings. So, um I'm very

[1:51] appreciative of you

[1:52] back and updating

[1:54] me on your program, cuz I do see a lot

[1:56] of new faces around since the last time

[1:57] I was out here. So, um

[1:59] you I can put a a name to the face of

[2:01] the program and I'll be happy to answer

[2:03] any questions that that have.

[2:06] I just really wanted to kind of talk

[2:08] about for anyone that's unfamiliar

[2:10] we are what we do as a program.

[2:13] Give me a little bit of program

[2:15] oversight and then dive into the the

[2:16] statistics for Orem

[2:19] and then kind of

[2:21] talk about ways that we can continue

[2:23] educating the residents of Orem that the program is out there. So,

[2:27] who we are, we

[2:29] partner with over 1,300 municipalities

[2:32] and utilities throughout the United

[2:33] States

[2:34] to really educate residents on their

[2:36] water and sewer responsibilities. Most

[2:38] people don't know

[2:39] the water and sewer lines are their

[2:40] responsibility until something happens

[2:42] and then the first thing they they tend

[2:44] to do is call City Hall and say, "Hey,

[2:46] I got guys in my front yard. You guys

[2:48] need to come fix it." Have to have that

[2:50] unfortunate conversation that it's on

[2:52] the private side. This is actually your

[2:53] responsibility.

[2:55] So,

[2:56] what we've been doing since 2015 is we

[2:59] partner with the city of Orem to send

[3:01] out direct mailers

[3:03] to your residents letting them know

[3:04] that, "Hey, your water and sewer lines

[3:07] are your responsibility

[3:09] and we offer optional coverage if

[3:12] residents are interested."

[3:17] So, we did a survey in

[3:19] 2025 and it showed that, you know, 81%

[3:23] of

[3:25] um residents or customers didn't have or

[3:28] had a home repair emergency in the last

[3:30] 12 months and then one in four didn't

[3:32] have $500 in their account to

[3:36] be able to pay for any such emergency

[3:38] that would pop up.

[3:42] So, currently with the

[3:44] city of Orem, we have two coverages. The

[3:46] first being the water service line.

[3:49] That is currently priced at

[3:51] $8.07 a month and that is unlimited

[3:54] coverage. So,

[3:56] if a resident becomes one of our

[3:58] customers

[4:00] and they're having issue, they give us a

[4:02] call. We are staffed 24/7/365

[4:05] to deal with any type of emergency. So,

[4:08] even if it's 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning

[4:10] and something's happening, they'll be

[4:11] able to call us and we'll get somebody

[4:13] dispatched out to the residence ASAP.

[4:17] And the nice thing is they only have to

[4:18] pay that $4.07 a month. If they do file

[4:21] a claim, there is no service charge,

[4:23] there is no deductible.

[4:25] And then, um with the coverage cap

[4:28] being unlimited, you know, if it's

[4:30] uh a complete line replacement,

[4:32] residents don't have to worry about any

[4:34] out-of-pocket costs. So,

[4:36] typically it could be a few hundred

[4:37] dollars just to

[4:39] fill a line, but

[4:40] you know, if it's discovered that, you

[4:41] know, there's

[4:43] a lead service line that bring up to

[4:45] federal guidelines, it's complete

[4:47] replacement and

[4:48] residents don't have to worry about the

[4:50] out-of-pocket.

[4:52] So, for the the sewer septic line, uh

[4:55] that is currently priced at $6.57

[4:58] a month. But same as the water,

[5:01] no coverage cap.

[5:02] There's no deductible, no service charge

[5:04] if they have to file a

[5:06] There's

[5:07] no limit to how many claims they can

[5:08] file in a year. So, if if they they file

[5:11] a claim in January and

[5:13] you know, it was a pretty

[5:15] um you know, just a tree root or

[5:16] something, we can um

[5:20] it opens up uh

[5:21] as many claims as they need to. So,

[5:22] later on the year if later on down the

[5:25] line uh is acting up, they can give us a

[5:28] call and we'll send somebody out. Uh

[5:30] again, there would be no coverage cap,

[5:31] no out-of-pocket expense.

[5:33] >> So, is re- is repair snaking the line or

[5:36] what is repair? Is it do you

[5:38] It's blockage?

[5:40] >> It just depends. So, we work with the

[5:42] local contractors that will come out,

[5:45] look at what's going on, maybe camera

[5:46] the the line to see what it is and uh

[5:50] you know, fix whatever the issue is.

[5:51] Now, if they can get away with just

[5:53] jetting line,

[5:54] they you know, we can certainly do that,

[5:56] but if the line's

[5:57] bad shape, yeah, it

[6:00] and they recommend that hey, we need to

[6:01] do a full or partial replacement,

[6:04] they'll call our team, our contractor

[6:06] team and my company and you know,

[6:08] discuss the different options and what's

[6:10] best for the resident.

[6:15] All right. So, to

[6:18] important slide.

[6:20] So, we currently have

[6:22] uh

[6:23] little more than 2,500 customers

[6:25] in Orem that are signed up for total of

[6:27] 4,300 policies. Now, we've not mailed

[6:30] the city of Orem since 2021, but we

[6:33] still have over 2,500

[6:35] customers with the as you can see down

[6:37] there, the 90% retention rate. Year

[6:39] every year residents are keeping the

[6:41] coverage

[6:42] mainly cuz it's it it's cheap, it's

[6:44] reasonable and you know, you just you

[6:46] never know with a water and sewer line

[6:47] where you're going to have a an issue

[6:49] and kind of gives them that that peace

[6:50] of mind. So,

[6:52] I really like that 90% retention rate.

[6:54] On average, I would say um

[6:57] 75% is pretty reasonable, it is pretty

[7:00] good what we see with other

[7:01] partnerships, so

[7:03] Orem's definitely

[7:04] ahead on that.

[7:06] And then also, we've completed over

[7:08] 1,200 claims saving to date

[7:11] little more than 1.7 million dollars.

[7:13] So, you know, hopefully

[7:15] in a few months, I'll be able to come

[7:16] back and

[7:18] present 2 million dollars saved as I did

[7:20] a couple years ago for the 1 million

[7:22] dollar mark. It's always a cool

[7:23] milestone to hit.

[7:25] And then after each claim, we do send

[7:27] out customer satisfaction surveys, make

[7:30] sure that they were happy with the

[7:32] service they had, did anything pop up

[7:34] that you know, they were unsure about

[7:37] and

[7:38] we have

[7:40] a current 4.82 out of five. So,

[7:42] considering the partnership has been

[7:44] around for over 10 years, that's a solid

[7:46] number that we're very happy about. And

[7:48] you know, if anything

[7:50] was to go wrong or if they do put a note

[7:53] in there that they were not happy with a

[7:54] certain aspect, we do reach out and say,

[7:56] "Hey, what happened? What can we do to

[7:57] make it right?"

[8:01] And this is just a little bit of a

[8:02] breakdown between the two different

[8:04] coverages.

[8:05] As far as the enrollments, they're

[8:06] pretty much dead even. Um see, there's a

[8:09] little bit higher claims for the sewer

[8:12] septic line. It's same with the cost,

[8:14] which is normal. Uh

[8:17] Regardless of where you are in the

[8:18] country, sewer often tends to be a

[8:19] little bit more expensive than a water

[8:21] line

[8:22] coverage

[8:23] when it comes to the claims. But um

[8:25] yeah, it's great to see that

[8:28] see almost a million dollars just on

[8:29] sewer itself.

[8:34] And then I include in the pack this is

[8:35] some more recent uh I think from

[8:39] the end of 2025, some customer

[8:41] satisfaction feedback. What I was

[8:42] talking about the the survey that we

[8:43] send out. It does give them an option

[8:45] for any type of feedback. And

[8:47] a lot of times they just, you know, will

[8:49] rate us

[8:50] you know, four or five stars. But you

[8:52] know, these residents did have some nice

[8:55] words about the program.

[8:58] One thing that I do like to point out

[9:00] every time I meet with a partner is we

[9:02] have HomeServe Cares. That is our

[9:05] foundation where we try to give back to

[9:06] the community.

[9:08] The main one that I like to call out is

[9:10] the Caring for People.

[9:11] This will be for any resident in a board

[9:14] that is not a current customer.

[9:16] And then something happens that really

[9:18] puts them in a a tough position.

[9:21] Uh and either the city or the residents

[9:23] themselves can go on the HomeServe Cares

[9:25] website and file to have a claim

[9:28] uh taken care of by a local contractor

[9:31] at no cost to the homeowner. And again,

[9:33] this is for anybody that's not currently

[9:35] a customer. So, being that you're a

[9:37] partner, this is always open for you.

[9:39] I've I've had

[9:41] different partners from New Mexico to

[9:44] Florida that have reached out and

[9:46] utilized this. It's here whenever you

[9:48] would need it. So,

[9:50] just something keep in the back of your

[9:52] mind if you know, later on down the road

[9:54] catch wind that's somebody that's might

[9:56] maybe on a fixed income or something

[9:58] like that is having an issue,

[10:00] HomeServe Cares is here for that.

[10:06] And then just moving forward, um you

[10:08] know, there's different ways that we can

[10:09] communicate that

[10:11] Well, I'd love to get another mailer

[10:12] out. There's definitely some different

[10:15] content that we can do. I know you have

[10:16] a nice

[10:17] um

[10:18] spot on your website for, you know,

[10:19] welcome to Orem for new residents, but

[10:21] even, you know, current residents if you

[10:23] wanted to get some social content up

[10:25] just letting them know that, "Hey, this

[10:27] program is available." You can have uh

[10:29] links to my company or the call center.

[10:32] I have all the digital

[10:34] assets that you would need to to upload

[10:36] and make it part of um the website if

[10:39] you're interested.

[10:40] You just let me know and I'm happy to

[10:42] work with whoever is in charge of the

[10:43] city website to to get that up.

[10:48] Uh and then yeah, same thing uh social

[10:50] media. I mean, social media is done for

[10:52] everything nowadays. So, you know, we

[10:53] can always put blasts out on social

[10:55] media just let people know that uh hey,

[10:58] this program still around or

[11:00] save one residents of Orem

[11:02] $7 million on this program. For more

[11:06] uh

[11:07] more information, please go to their

[11:09] website or, you know, give us a call at

[11:11] uh you know, the 800 number.

[11:13] I have

[11:15] most of I guide that

[11:17] you're more than welcome to utilize.

[11:21] And that's really it. I tried to keep it

[11:23] short and sweet. Um

[11:25] anybody have any questions for me?

[11:28] » Yes, ma'am.

[11:29] >> I do. And maybe it's not as much for you

[11:31] even as it is for Brandon or somebody

[11:33] and that is if if

[11:35] I mean we got the postcard whenever it

[11:37] was and I was like what is what is this

[11:38] and how is this and how do you decide I

[11:39] guess who you partner with or how does that decision get made if

[11:42] residents ask and so

[11:44] >> Um back in the day

[11:46] when they first approached us Steve

[11:48] Downs

[11:49] and

[11:51] research into the company and

[11:55] how

[11:56] they were rated and

[11:59] these customer ratings type of things

[12:02] they tried to determine if

[12:05] and other entities that use them so ref

[12:07] from a reference standpoint

[12:09] and he

[12:11] discussed that with those and did some

[12:13] research in that regard and that's how

[12:15] we then settled

[12:16] on them and they've been a good partner

[12:18] since then

[12:19] so that's really how that has come to be

[12:22] really they

[12:24] >> I can add to that what what they provide

[12:27] us is quite unique

[12:31] and we have some that attempt to compete

[12:34] and I think that

[12:36] someone could go and and

[12:39] you know this isn't forced on any

[12:40] resident so if someone were to try and

[12:42] see if they could get another insurer the

[12:45] sewer lines

[12:47] the city's line

[12:49] what's what's not

[12:51] in their house

[12:54] what's the line that is being insured

[12:56] through the service many cities

[12:59] find that they get residents that come

[13:01] and

[13:03] expect the city to make those repairs

[13:06] when it's between [clears throat] the

[13:06] house and the city's connection

[13:09] and

[13:10] um

[13:11] I think previous to this partnership

[13:14] maybe we tried to find a way to help or direct them to you know good

[13:18] contractor or

[13:20] you

[13:21] provided what help we could but

[13:24] typically cities just say

[13:27] And isn't the city's responsibility.

[13:29] So, this was a way for us to kind of

[13:31] proactively find an option and a

[13:33] solution for residents.

[13:36] And

[13:37] you know, it uh

[13:38] >> [clears throat]

[13:39] >> we've got to keep the distinction and

[13:40] make sure our residents know that we are

[13:42] distinct and separate, but

[13:45] also provide a solution. So, that's kind of the partnership that that

[13:49] we try to engage in.

[13:51] I don't I don't know of anyone else who

[13:55] um partners with cities to in this way.

[14:00] >> Absolutely, see I mean, at the end of

[14:02] the day, we could

[14:04] we're a company, we can market to

[14:05] anybody in the United States. The

[14:07] approach that we take, we we will not

[14:09] market

[14:10] uh to a city unless we have a

[14:12] partnership or an agreement with a city

[14:14] because

[14:16] there are so many

[14:18] uh fraudulent mail

[14:21] pieces of mail that people get

[14:22] [clears throat] every day, you know, I

[14:23] get it. And you know, with the

[14:26] partnership with the city, it kind of

[14:27] just catches the residents' eyes, and at

[14:29] the end of the day, it gets

[14:30] uh the

[14:31] conversation started. Even if they don't

[14:33] want the program, the optional coverage,

[14:36] at least they're aware of it that the

[14:37] water service line are their

[14:38] responsibilities. Or they might reach

[14:40] out to their homeowner and see that,

[14:42] "Hey, it's my home. I thought this was

[14:43] my homeowner's." And

[14:45] sometimes I understand it's not covered

[14:46] by the homeowners. Um if it is, they

[14:48] might be able to, you know, a rider, but

[14:50] there's still a standard uh

[14:52] deductible, service charge, all that stuff that applies whenever you

[14:56] file a homeowner's claim. And that's

[14:58] kind of where we differ. Just um trying

[15:00] to give residents

[15:01] option.

[15:02] >> I love the educational aspect of this,

[15:03] actually. I think there's a lot of value

[15:05] in that. Is there any interest in doing

[15:06] another mail? You said 2015 was the last

[15:08] one you did?

[15:09] >> We've had a partner since 20

[15:10] >> 21.

[15:11] >> 2021.

[15:11] >> So, it's been 5 years now.

[15:13] >> Yeah, absolutely. But and before we

[15:14] mail, we always get the city's feedback.

[15:17] You're always eligible to to take a look

[15:20] at it and say, you know, we like this,

[15:21] we don't like that. There's going to be

[15:23] certain things that we need to leave in

[15:24] there for legal purposes,

[15:26] but our marketing team is very good

[15:27] about customizing the letter for you.

[15:29] know your residence, you know what

[15:31] they're going to like, what they're not

[15:32] going to like. So, before we mail

[15:34] anything out, we always get the okay

[15:35] from the city.

[15:38] » Thank you.

[15:40] >> Can you share uh what some of the common

[15:43] repairs are?

[15:44] I'm just curious as to how often

[15:47] >> [clears throat]

[15:47] >> one of our residents uh has to replace a

[15:49] whole line, water or sewer.

[15:52] And

[15:53] uh

[15:54] what would we expect to see

[15:57] uh from residents in our town

[15:59] those of issues that come up that might

[16:01] be covered by what you do, and how often

[16:03] does that happen?

[16:05] >> Yeah, so there was I mean, we did bulk

[16:08] uh 1,200 claims, so that's give or take.

[16:12] But uh in 10 years, 120 a year.

[16:15] Um so,

[16:17] we definitely um towards the beginning

[16:18] of the the partnership, it's it's it's

[16:20] always slow. There's There's more

[16:22] enrollments than there are

[16:25] um

[16:26] claims. And actually, let me look here.

[16:29] I think one thing I forgot to explain

[16:30] out, in 2015,

[16:34] » Speaking of them,

[16:35] >> I'm sorry, 2025, we did 102 claims for

[16:39] uh over $163,000.

[16:41] So, you know, that could be anything. Uh

[16:44] like as I mentioned, it could just be

[16:45] tree roots, or it could be a faulty

[16:48] line. And even if say it is just a tree

[16:53] root, something that typically would

[16:54] just be a jet

[16:55] or clearing out, but it's discovered it

[16:57] is like a lead line that needs to be

[17:00] replaced, we're not just going to jet

[17:01] the line, we have to bring it up to

[17:03] local, state, federal guidelines. So,

[17:05] um you know, we would replace the full

[17:07] line in that instance. And it just it

[17:09] really depends on um

[17:14] each individual kind of

[17:15] how the the house is

[17:17] Joe. There's a lot of trees.

[17:19] Obviously, we I'm from western

[17:21] Pennsylvania, so we have a lot of

[17:23] uh trees out there same as you do here

[17:25] and that's tree roots are very big

[17:27] problem where I'm from.

[17:29] >> [snorts]

[17:29] >> Um whereas I also work in

[17:31] uh New Mexico where tree roots are not a

[17:33] huge problem. So, uh it it really just

[17:36] kind of depends on the individual cities

[17:40] that we

[17:41] work with.

[17:42] Uh but you know, 100 claims a year is is

[17:45] pretty good.

[17:46] >> Do you have any any guesses as to how

[17:47] many of those 102 claims would be

[17:49] replacements?

[17:50] >> Not off the top of my head. I I just The

[17:52] report that I I typically receive on a

[17:55] monthly basis just has the breakdown on

[17:58] the different uh

[18:01] types of coverages, but if you'd like I when I get back um later this week, I

[18:06] can

[18:07] do a little bit more digging and I can

[18:08] provide you more information if

[18:10] >> That's great. I'll send you an email.

[18:12] Thank you.

[18:13] >> Absolutely.

[18:14] >> I have a question. So, is there a life expectancy of a

[18:21] In other words,

[18:22] um we have a lot of old water lines in

[18:24] our

[18:26] and some are on borrowed time maybe as

[18:28] far as that

[18:29] those pipes go from the city connection

[18:31] to their home.

[18:33] Is there like a time where you should

[18:35] really be thinking about

[18:38] and then this home for 20 years or 25

[18:39] years or 35 years, is there any kind of

[18:43] data or research that shows

[18:45] this is when you're going to have a

[18:46] problem after age so many years?

[18:49] >> Yeah, so it depends on the type of line

[18:52] that was utilized. Um a lot of times

[18:54] when there's like a galvanized or like

[18:56] orange burg or

[18:58] I don't

[18:59] know what all the the old water lines

[19:02] were made out of for some of the the old

[19:04] infrastructure, but

[19:07] really anything over probably 20 or 30

[19:09] years

[19:10] going to

[19:11] maybe they they want to look into this

[19:13] coverage. If if you have a new housing

[19:15] plan that's built in the last 5 years,

[19:17] you know, they're good.

[19:19] That's not really what this is this

[19:20] program's for. It's those older houses

[19:22] that

[19:23] uh

[19:24] or

[19:25] built in the early 1900s that who might

[19:27] have had three or four different owners

[19:30] knows if there's ever been an issue or a

[19:32] line replacement because, you know,

[19:34] everything's underground and you don't

[19:36] know until there's an issue that, you

[19:39] know, oh, this is what my pipe's made

[19:40] of. So, um But, yeah, I would say

[19:45] 20 to probably closer to 30 years would

[19:47] be um

[19:49] a life expectancy.

[19:50] >> Jeff, what I I found my in my

[19:52] neighborhood the homes are between 40

[19:54] and 50 years old. And this is sad

[19:57] because it it does affect my neighbors,

[19:59] but I begin to see when other neighbors

[20:01] >> start seeing the trench in their front

[20:03] >> start seeing this you start seeing that

[20:04] happening. That it's not just a one-off.

[20:07] And and so, you kind of because you're in a subdivision uh probably

[20:12] built with the same materials about the

[20:13] same time. So, if you do have neighbors

[20:16] who've who've experienced that, that's

[20:18] probably a sign that you need to start looking.

[20:22] >> Three in our neighborhood at the 35-40

[20:24] year mark.

[20:25] >> Yeah.

[20:26] >> That's what you know, with my water

[20:27] line.

[20:27] >> I would bet you most of their customers

[20:29] come from seeing a neighbor who has

[20:31] something happen and they go, oh, I'm

[20:33] right here.

[20:34] Maybe better go do that.

[20:36] Yeah, I think if they know about it,

[20:38] right?

[20:39] >> And I would say, you know, for a

[20:41] partnership of 10 plus years like Orem,

[20:44] word of mouth is our best marketing. And

[20:45] that's why we take customer service

[20:46] really seriously, not just because, you

[20:48] know, they're your residents and we want

[20:50] to make sure that we're shining a good

[20:51] light on Orem, but

[20:55] >> Yes.

[20:55] >> One of our customers could have an issue

[20:57] and they say, "Oh, yeah, they came out,

[20:59] fixed everything. It was super easy."

[21:01] They tell their neighbor who tells their

[21:02] neighbor. And the mailers that go out

[21:04] are

[21:05] great for putting new residents and old residents that

[21:09] haven't got it in a in a while, but

[21:12] word of mouth is is really the best

[21:14] marketing tool that we can have.

[21:16] >> If I can emphasize with that, and and

[21:18] again, part of the uniqueness of this

[21:20] service,

[21:23] if we were getting a lot of complaints

[21:24] from our residents saying

[21:26] they're trying to get out of message or

[21:30] wasn't easy to work with or didn't bring

[21:32] um wasn't able to some contractor that

[21:34] was going to do quality work and and

[21:37] bring it up to standards uh current

[21:39] standards, then

[21:41] we wouldn't we wouldn't be continuing

[21:43] with this partnership. So, unless you've heard of any complaints

[21:48] from residents that I have a um

[21:51] that's really been a big big part of why

[21:54] um

[21:54] wanted to continue this.

[21:57] >> [snorts]

[21:57] >> So, how would someone how do people

[21:59] contact you? How does that how does that

[22:02] happen if someone's interested?

[22:04] >> They sign up.

[22:05] >> To sign up for your service.

[22:07] >> So, if we want to get another mailer

[22:08] out, uh there are um a self-addressed paper envelope that

[22:15] residents can fill out. Marketing still

[22:17] our

[22:18] um

[22:20] enrollment numbers that we we see that

[22:22] roll in are are still through the direct

[22:23] mail,

[22:24] uh but you know, residents can go on on

[22:27] our website today or give us a call.

[22:29] center's located in Chattanooga,

[22:31] Tennessee.

[22:32] I am they can sign up on the website or through the

[22:37] call center today if

[22:39] >> What's your web address?

[22:40] >> It's S L

[22:43] We have We have links on our website.

[22:46] >> we have links on the website? Okay.

[22:48] >> center, too.

[22:49] Our staff immediately directs them to

[22:52] call center.

[22:53] >> Do you know where those links are?

[22:55] >> I was just going to say I was going to

[22:57] go they were there once upon a time, so

[23:00] I'd probably going to have to I I

[23:02] check with 311 to make sure that they

[23:04] still have the contact information and

[23:06] then yeah, that it's still out there on

[23:07] our utility billing.

[23:08] >> It'd be nice to have a specific page to

[23:11] send people to if they have

[23:13] >> Yes, orm.gov/serviceline.

[23:16] >> serviceline

[23:18] >> Say it again.

[23:19] >> It's p

[23:21] >> You know, I like I like Orem Brandon too

[23:22] get you know, some updated materials on there as well, but

[23:26] yes, so they can

[23:27] >> They go on the city website and they see

[23:29] that they

[23:30] >> Click the link, go right to our website

[23:31] or again

[23:32] Call our call center.

[23:34] >> Thank you.

[23:36] >> Your attention. So, it's not on our

[23:38] welcome page.

[23:40] We have

[23:42] >> orm.gov/serviceline

[23:46] » Is it orm?

[23:47] Putting it on that welcome page.

[23:49] >> We'll put it on our

[23:52] You know, just like with anything we

[23:53] shine light on occasion certain

[23:55] services. So, I think we wanted to

[23:57] Make sure that you were all you know,

[23:59] feeling good about this partnership and we Happy to re-emphasize highlight

[24:05] >> I definitely feel good about this

[24:06] partnership.

[24:08] >> [laughter]

[24:09] >> And there's no cost for the city to do

[24:11] anything. We can curl the market

[24:13] cost and everything like that.

[24:18] » Are there any more questions?

[24:20] >> Thank you. That was informative. Very

[24:23] informative.

[24:24] >> Yeah, I appreciate you let me join and

[24:28] I look forward to We are also partnered

[24:30] with Orem Fest. So, hopefully I'll be

[24:32] able to come out in It's June, correct?

[24:35] Again, I a couple years ago worked car

[24:37] show and that was a lot of fun.

[24:39] >> So, where did you come Where do you come

[24:41] from?

[24:42] >> I'm from Pittsburgh.

[24:42] >> Pittsburgh, okay.

[24:44] >> So, yes, heading back home tomorrow and

[24:47] I would love I mean, this is absolutely

[24:50] gorgeous. So, I wouldn't mind a second

[24:52] home out here. I'm very jealous of you

[24:53] all.

[24:55] We have the Steelers, Pirates, and

[24:56] Penguins to south.

[24:59] » You paying for their flights?

[25:03] » Well, safe travels. Thank you for

[25:04] coming.

[25:05] >> Thanks for having me.

[25:08] » All right.

[25:10] Thank you. The next item on

[25:13] the agenda is a presentation by the

[25:16] Mountainland Association of Governments,

[25:19] MAG.

[25:20] Now, is this

[25:22] Is it we're going to be talking about

[25:23] the transportation?

[25:25] >> Yes.

[25:25] >> Okay. Let me give you a little

[25:26] background as they're getting set up.

[25:28] One of my uh

[25:30] responsibilities as mayor is I serve

[25:33] on represent Orem on what the MPO which

[25:36] is Metropolitan Planning

[25:38] Organization. I think I got that right.

[25:39] Did I?

[25:40] >> Correct.

[25:40] >> Ooh, good.

[25:42] Um

[25:42] >> Here's your gold star.

[25:43] >> And we talk all things transportation

[25:46] in Utah County. And everything from

[25:49] talking about the federal monies that we

[25:51] may receive, waiting projects that will

[25:54] be coming and on the beyond plans, and so last the last meeting I was at, I

[26:01] asked if they could come

[26:04] and present to you because I thought the

[26:06] information was so valuable as we make

[26:08] decisions uh in in planning and in and

[26:13] in governing the city that I I wanted to

[26:16] have you have at least

[26:19] know what information's available to us

[26:21] as as we go forward on that. So,

[26:24] turn the time over to you two.

[26:26] >> Well, thank you, Mayor McCandless, and

[26:28] uh it's nice to see some familiar faces.

[26:30] I've worked with a lot of you over the

[26:32] time, and I work a lot to have I'm glad

[26:35] to be here and present. My name's Bob

[26:36] Allen. I'm the programming manager at

[26:38] MAG, and I'm with Felt here as the

[26:41] transportation manager um for us as

[26:44] well. Um Lanice Davenport,

[26:45] unfortunately, she wanted to be here but

[26:47] couldn't be. She actually serves on the

[26:49] planning commission for her community,

[26:51] and they had a meeting tonight, so she

[26:53] couldn't make it. Um

[26:55] we're here to talk about what you want

[26:57] to talk about. We have a very high-level

[26:59] presentation about what MAG is and what

[27:02] we do, but please don't hesitate to stop

[27:05] and say, "Bob, we really want to talk

[27:06] about this or we really have questions

[27:08] about that." And we're happy to have

[27:10] those conversations with you. Um just

[27:13] very high-level, MAG is one of Utah's

[27:16] seven Association of Governments. We're

[27:19] a regional organization that brings

[27:21] local communities [clears throat]

[27:22] together to think regionally and and

[27:25] work together to plan for the future. Um

[27:29] we advocate for local priorities, but

[27:31] also help communities to think

[27:33] regionally. Um we have three main focus

[27:36] areas. We have our aging services. Many

[27:38] of you've probably seen our Meals on

[27:40] Wheels trucks running around. Um so,

[27:42] there's a lot of aging services that we

[27:44] do. We also do community and economic

[27:45] development work. And uh of course,

[27:48] Kevin and I and what the mayor was

[27:51] talking about is we're we're certainly

[27:52] heavily invested in planning for the

[27:54] future for growth. We cover Summit,

[27:58] Utah, and Wasatch counties.

[28:00] Um

[28:01] our MPO, the as the mayor mentioned,

[28:04] actually only just covers Utah County or the urban area of Utah County. And we

[28:09] do run an RPO, which is kind of what an

[28:12] it's an MPO light, which uh is in

[28:15] Wasatch and Summit counties. We call the

[28:17] Wasatch Back RPO.

[28:19] Um we again we administer community and

[28:22] economic development planning programs.

[28:24] We support regional transportation and

[28:26] land use visioning uh through the

[28:29] Wasatch Choice Vision and we certainly

[28:32] provide a forum for regional discussion

[28:34] and collaboration.

[28:36] Um

[28:37] a lot a lot of times it's easy for

[28:38] communities to start thinking about just

[28:41] my community and not worry too much

[28:42] about what's happening on the borders.

[28:44] And and we are an organization that

[28:46] tries to help bring those together. Um

[28:49] An MPO is a federally designated group.

[28:53] Anytime an urban population gets above

[28:55] 50,000 uh in population, they're

[28:58] required to have an MPO.

[29:01] Um and so that's what we're here to do

[29:03] is help create um

[29:05] a plan for our transportation future.

[29:08] We'll talk about two of the

[29:10] big products that we uh

[29:12] create in just a moment. Um we're broken

[29:15] up into three divisions. We have our

[29:16] transportation division that uh Kevin

[29:19] and I both work in focusing on again

[29:22] transportation planning. We have our

[29:24] analytics division

[29:26] um that is, as you would guess, data

[29:28] analytics, GIS mapping. Um our

[29:32] transporta- our travel demand models,

[29:34] our real estate models, etc. And then

[29:36] community planning division that um

[29:39] provides community planning assistance

[29:42] uh to communities, uh station area

[29:45] planning. There's a local uh

[29:48] administrative advisor that they do. And

[29:50] again, we also do economic development

[29:52] as part of this well.

[29:54] Um I'm not going to go through all of

[29:56] these, but these are just some of the

[29:58] programs that we do.

[30:00] Um

[30:02] Many of you maybe have heard of the

[30:03] Unified Planning Work I'm sorry, the

[30:05] Utah's Unified Transportation Plan,

[30:08] Community Development Block Grants.

[30:11] Um the Regional Transportation Plan, the

[30:13] TIP. Technical Assistance, you know, we

[30:16] do many different things, corridor

[30:18] preservation program.

[30:20] Many of you notice when you register

[30:22] your car, there's a $10 fee that goes

[30:24] directly to purchasing right away or

[30:26] corridors for future roads. We

[30:28] administer that. We have a lot of

[30:30] different things that we do, and we're

[30:32] happy to talk through any of the any or

[30:34] all of these as you have time.

[30:37] Um

[30:39] >> [clears throat]

[30:40] >> As I mentioned, we're a U- Utah County's

[30:42] federally designated MPO. Um the two

[30:45] primary products that most people are

[30:48] aware of that we create are the regional

[30:50] transportation plan, or you probably

[30:52] heard RTP, and the transportation

[30:55] improvement program, the TIP. It's a

[30:57] very important difference between the

[30:59] two. An RTP is a good example of what an

[31:02] RTP would be is like your general plan.

[31:04] It's you looking out in the future 10,

[31:07] 15, 20, 30 years and saying, "This is

[31:09] what we want to be in the future, and

[31:11] these are policies and steps that we

[31:13] want to take to meet that future goals,

[31:16] objectives, etc., etc." The

[31:19] transportation improvement program is

[31:21] where actual funding

[31:23] comes into play. This is like a capital

[31:25] facilities plan that you have that's 5

[31:27] years out that you say, "In 2027, we

[31:30] have a million dollars and we're going

[31:31] to build this with it." That's what the

[31:34] TIP is. So, the RTP is that long-range

[31:37] plan, and the TIP is kind of how we

[31:40] implement the RTP, and we'll talk more

[31:43] specifically about both of those. Um

[31:45] we're governed by our locally elected

[31:47] officials. As Mayor McCandless said, she

[31:49] serves on our board. Uh that it that

[31:52] board includes all the elected officials

[31:54] or or mayors and the county commission,

[31:57] as [clears throat] well as partners with

[31:59] UDOT, UTA, Division of Air Quality,

[32:02] Federal Highways.

[32:04] Um we also have uh Camp Williams as an

[32:07] ex officio member.

[32:09] Um it's staffed by again professional

[32:10] planners, data analysts, and

[32:13] transportation experts, such as

[32:15] ourselves. Um and why it matters is

[32:18] transportation projects must be in the

[32:20] RTP to receive federal and state

[32:23] funding. So,

[32:24] you know, cities do a great job of

[32:27] dealing with local roads and and they're

[32:30] built through development, maintained,

[32:31] etc.

[32:33] We're talking about regionally

[32:34] significant roads, the the big stuff.

[32:37] Uh let me go ahead. Uh regional

[32:39] transportation plan, Kevin, you want to

[32:41] talk a little bit about that?

[32:43] >> Um

[32:43] really the the purpose of it is

[32:46] again, Bob mentioned we're federally

[32:48] required to have a metropolitan planning

[32:50] organization

[32:52] for any area over 50,000 people and

[32:54] obviously this

[32:55] Utah Valley, Utah County is is over

[32:58] 50,000. So, we have the MPO

[33:00] and our charge is to really long-term

[33:03] plan for

[33:05] the

[33:07] all modes of transportation, roads,

[33:09] transit, active transportation, all of

[33:11] those things. And hopefully some of the

[33:13] things we do

[33:15] um

[33:15] positively impact your city

[33:18] as well as help you understand what that

[33:21] future um

[33:23] network of transportation opportunities

[33:25] are so that you can better plan your

[33:28] land uses and those types of things.

[33:30] We really try to provide um planning

[33:33] work for safe and efficient

[33:35] modes of transportation

[33:37] which improves the mobility, safe

[33:39] movement of goods and people, and also

[33:42] for your growth as I mentioned.

[33:44] Um

[33:45] So, we we we do this regionally. So,

[33:48] what we're looking at is urbanized area

[33:51] of Utah County which is all the cities

[33:53] all the way from

[33:55] what, Geneva up to Santaquin all the way

[33:58] up to Lehi and over to um

[34:02] Fairview and the the whole urbanized

[34:04] area of the county.

[34:05] Um

[34:06] so, we we do that by looking at it

[34:10] on our end quantitative perspective.

[34:13] Yeah. Is the project needed based on

[34:15] conditions and those types of things?

[34:17] And then many of the the subjective or

[34:21] the qualitative um aspects of that plan

[34:25] come from the board and and the folks

[34:27] that that they really have the

[34:29] um

[34:31] they have the purview of looking over it

[34:33] and making sure we've done our job

[34:34] basically is what we think.

[34:36] Um

[34:37] and what we try to do is align that with

[34:39] the needs of of the region.

[34:42] Also because our region actually owns

[34:43] others, particularly Wasatch Front

[34:46] Regional Council, which serves as the

[34:48] Metropolitan Planning Organization in

[34:50] Salt Lake County.

[34:52] We have to coordinate with them to make

[34:54] sure that there's a lot of folks here in

[34:56] the county that that work up there or

[34:58] vice versa. They live up in Salt Lake

[35:00] County and work down here. So you have

[35:02] to make sure that we coordinate with all

[35:03] of that as well.

[35:05] We update this every four years.

[35:07] Um right now we're in a cycle to update

[35:10] it. Um

[35:11] it'll be adopted, hopefully adopted, um

[35:13] next June.

[35:15] And that'll last until um the horizon

[35:18] year is 2055. And then we'll do another

[35:21] plan. Hopefully it'll be adopted in the

[35:23] 2031.

[35:25] Which may have the same

[35:27] horizon year, but it may also go to

[35:28] 2060.

[35:30] >> Going to fight that, yeah.

[35:32] >> What I do want also mention is

[35:34] what is the Regional Transportation

[35:36] Council. Again, it's a unifying

[35:38] transportation blueprint

[35:40] for all of Utah County.

[35:42] Um the plans it the plan actually helps

[35:45] you in your growth.

[35:47] Um it improves the regional mobility for

[35:49] all the modes. Again,

[35:51] highways, transit,

[35:53] uh active transportation.

[35:55] We also What we do is when we start

[35:58] building [clears throat] the plan and

[36:00] then the the a lot of projects in it,

[36:02] look at all of the local government um

[36:04] plans as well. Try to get all those

[36:06] projects in.

[36:08] What I will mention is that all of the

[36:10] projects end up in the plan at the end

[36:12] at adoption

[36:14] have to be what we call um fiscally

[36:16] constrained. And that's kind of a a

[36:18] misnomer in a sense. But what we do is

[36:20] we also look out and see

[36:23] not only what are our transportation

[36:25] needs for those years, we also look out

[36:28] and see what financial

[36:30] revenues that we might be

[36:32] obtaining in that time period. So our

[36:35] plan has to be

[36:37] something we can afford is what it

[36:39] really comes down to.

[36:41] What it is not is not a a mechanism to

[36:44] allocate specific dollars.

[36:46] >> [clears throat]

[36:46] >> That's what Bob's going to talk about in

[36:48] a minute with the transportation

[36:49] improvement program.

[36:50] What we're doing in a nutshell is we are

[36:53] if if you wanted to purchase

[36:56] a new home

[36:58] and you've got four or five different

[37:00] revenue sources that you have. You have

[37:02] um

[37:03] your income from your your job, you have

[37:05] income from interest, you have income

[37:08] from you know stocks and bonds or

[37:10] whatever other things you may have.

[37:12] But you're not assigning any specific

[37:14] dollars from those pots of money that

[37:15] you have.

[37:17] That's what the RTP is. We're just a big

[37:19] pot of money

[37:20] and a bunch of projects that add up to

[37:22] the same amount. That's kind of what we do.

[37:26] We don't do land use policy. We do look

[37:28] at land use from the perspective of

[37:30] population and employment.

[37:32] But we do not do land use policy. That

[37:35] is the purview of the local governments

[37:37] and we stay out of that that that stuff.

[37:40] Um it's also not intended for local

[37:42] streets. All the local dollars that you

[37:45] have go to those local streets. That is

[37:47] not part of our plan. So if you wanted

[37:49] to widen

[37:52] >> [clears throat]

[37:52] >> uh

[37:53] 600 North it's not a a regionally

[37:56] significant roadway, so that would be

[37:59] the dollars that you would spend on it.

[38:00] >> [clears throat]

[38:01] >> That being

[38:02] involved in that at all. And I think the

[38:04] big thing is this this blue bar at the

[38:06] bottom and Bob's already talked about it

[38:08] in a sense.

[38:09] If a project is receiving federal or

[38:11] state funding

[38:13] it has to be in the regional

[38:14] transportation plan.

[38:17] Then I'll turn back over to Bob and talk

[38:19] about the transportation improvement

[38:21] >> So transportation improvement program

[38:23] and the tip again very high level. This

[38:24] is where

[38:26] the money hits the road, you know, the

[38:27] rubber hits the road. This is where

[38:28] money hits the road.

[38:30] Um

[38:31] it's again another federally required

[38:33] plan.

[38:34] Uh

[38:35] but instead of looking out through 2055,

[38:37] we're only looking out through 2030,

[38:39] 2031 and identifying the projects that

[38:44] will be built, what kind of money will

[38:46] be going to them,

[38:48] what year that money will be available,

[38:50] and and

[38:52] getting that project up and going. Um it

[38:55] covers again all transportation modes,

[38:57] and we have to maintain fiscal

[38:59] constraint as well.

[39:01] It It includes all in regionally

[39:04] significant projects, whether they're

[39:06] funded through MAG, through UDot,

[39:07] through UTA,

[39:09] and you can see kind of on the chart on

[39:11] the right here.

[39:12] Our TIP is comprised of those MPO funded

[39:14] projects, UDot funded projects, UTA

[39:17] funded projects. They all get compiled

[39:19] together into our TIP. Our TIP is

[39:22] compiled with all the other MPOs TIPs as

[39:25] well as UDot rural projects, and that

[39:28] rolls into the STIP, the Statewide

[39:30] Transportation Improvement Program.

[39:32] This plan we update every year

[39:35] um as per requirements, but MAG for our process of assigning funds to

[39:43] projects, that only happens every 2

[39:45] years.

[39:48] So, at a glance, I'll go through this

[39:50] slide, then we'll maybe stop and see if

[39:52] there's any questions. So,

[39:54] >> [clears throat]

[39:54] >> question we often get is how does an

[39:55] idea or a project actually become a

[39:58] reality? Well, it starts with

[40:00] identifying a need, and often times

[40:02] that's a community's helping us identify

[40:04] that, whether that's through congestion

[40:07] that's existing or growth issues, maybe

[40:10] there's a safety concern,

[40:12] maybe there's new transportation modes.

[40:14] Can't tell you how how times people are

[40:15] starting to talk about air mobility and

[40:18] all these kinds of things and asking

[40:20] about it. Maybe there's a regional trail

[40:22] or there's a gap somewhere that we need

[40:24] to fix. Any number of ways that say,

[40:27] "Hey, this is a regionally significant

[40:29] pro- project. We have a need. Let's

[40:33] start talking about it." Then it goes

[40:35] into the RTP that Kevin talked about. It

[40:37] goes through that process where we start

[40:40] looking at the project and say, "Does it

[40:42] meet local needs?" Um it gets phased and

[40:45] prioritized based on the goals and

[40:47] policies that our board gives us.

[40:50] Uh we can run through a data-driven

[40:52] process to identify

[40:54] uh what is most important of it.

[40:56] Sometimes we

[40:58] uh do specific corridor plans to

[41:00] identify are we making the right

[41:03] decision or building the right project

[41:05] for the to fix the problem. And of

[41:07] course, we need to make sure that it

[41:09] meets air quality standards. They're

[41:11] strict air quality standards that we

[41:12] have to cover as part of that. So then

[41:14] that project hopefully gets listed in

[41:16] the RTP and says, "Okay, it's a a phase

[41:20] one need. We need it in the next 10

[41:21] years."

[41:22] Then it goes to the prioritization or

[41:24] programming process.

[41:27] And really, that's where things kind of

[41:29] split ways a little bit. There's the

[41:31] UDoT or state

[41:32] prioritization process.

[41:35] They, you know, it depends on the year.

[41:37] Anywhere between a little bit less than

[41:39] a billion. Some years they don't do much

[41:41] of anything depending on those state

[41:42] budget. And then there's other years

[41:44] where there's multiple billions of

[41:46] dollars of

[41:47] >> These are annual. The billion and the

[41:48] 110 million are annually.

[41:50] >> So the top one is annually.

[41:53] >> And the 100 million is every two years.

[41:54] >> Correct. And that is These are the big

[41:57] projects. We're building a freeway.

[41:58] We're putting in a new interchange.

[42:01] We're

[42:02] um building major arterial kind of

[42:06] roads.

[42:07] That's That's where most of those

[42:08] projects come from cuz simply, you can

[42:11] see MAG's pot of money is only a $110

[42:13] million every 2 years.

[42:16] You know, you guys probably know this.

[42:18] Stuff's expensive, you know, an

[42:19] interchange these days can be anywhere

[42:21] from 60 to hundreds of millions of

[42:24] dollars. Um

[42:26] but UDOT's their's process is annually,

[42:30] so they have a prioritization process

[42:31] annually, and the transportation

[42:33] commission is the people that make the

[42:35] final decision of what should be funded

[42:37] and what shouldn't.

[42:39] For MAG's process, we do it biannually,

[42:42] and we only have $110 million.

[42:45] These are some more of the kind of what

[42:47] I would call

[42:49] kind of missing middle projects. Cities

[42:51] do a great job with local roads.

[42:54] And uh but it's hard for communities

[42:57] to fund those non-UDOT facilities in the

[43:00] middle.

[43:02] >> Could you maybe give an example or two

[43:04] um

[43:05] from the last handful of years of of

[43:07] what regional projects MAG has

[43:10] programmed in Orem?

[43:11] >> Sure. So, Lakeview Parkway is a great

[43:14] example.

[43:16] Um

[43:17] uh the new roundabout down on 12th and

[43:21] 4th,

[43:22] the proposed roundabout that turned into

[43:25] not a roundabout up on 16th and 4th,

[43:28] um

[43:30] there is a widening of Center Street

[43:32] between [clears throat]

[43:33] the freeway and Geneva Road. That's an

[43:36] upcoming project. Those are kind of

[43:38] those missing middle. There may not be a

[43:39] UDOT facility, and it's pretty expensive

[43:42] for a city to come up and build that,

[43:45] but it's not on UDOT's I won't say it's

[43:48] not on their radar. It's just not their

[43:49] facility. They don't tend to spend money

[43:51] on somebody else's facilities.

[43:53] So, it's those kinds of that scale of

[43:56] project. And one of the reasons we don't

[43:59] only do it every 2 years is because

[44:03] really we only generate about $55 to $60

[44:06] million dollars revenue every year.

[44:09] And we've got a lot of mouths to feed so

[44:11] to speak, a lot of demands. And so, when

[44:14] somebody comes in and says, "So, Center

[44:16] Street

[44:17] the widening of Center Street I think

[44:19] that was 11, 12 million dollars is what

[44:22] we're awarded for that.

[44:24] It's really hard to give 11 million

[44:26] dollars when the pot is only 50 million.

[44:30] When there's so many other people that

[44:31] have 10 million dollar projects, but

[44:32] when it's 110, okay, it's a little

[44:35] easier to say, "Okay, yeah, let's give

[44:37] Orem that." Or let's give Lehi or

[44:39] Santaquin or wherever that. So, that's

[44:41] why we do that. And the MPO board is the

[44:43] funding agency.

[44:44] Here's, we're right in the middle of a

[44:45] process right now. Your staff has

[44:48] submitted a couple of ideas to us and

[44:50] we're working through that process to um

[44:53] find some projects to potentially fund

[44:56] in Orem. It's a pretty competitive

[44:57] process for sure.

[44:59] Um because there's lots of needs and not

[45:01] a lot of money, but

[45:03] great question. Any other questions

[45:05] about like programming, how a project

[45:07] becomes a thing?

[45:08] >> I just want to mention to the council

[45:09] that it's important when

[45:12] that what This is one reason why our

[45:14] master transportation plan is so

[45:16] important because

[45:17] it is my understanding is if it can it

[45:20] has to be on our master transportation

[45:22] plan to be part of the RTP.

[45:25] So, I can't just come in and say, "Oh,

[45:29] you know what? As a resident or from the

[45:31] city and say, there's this gap in this

[45:32] trail." It has that gap has to be on the

[45:34] master transportation plan as being

[45:37] something we want to do before it can

[45:39] even get this far. Is that right?

[45:42] >> That's correct. Your plans are the

[45:43] building block of our building blocks of

[45:46] our plan. And it's it's there's got to

[45:48] be a pretty significant issue for us to

[45:51] come in and say, "Hey, Orem City, you

[45:53] really need to put this in your plan

[45:55] because we got to put it in our plan to

[45:57] fit regional needs." Or whatever the

[45:59] case may be. Great point. And if you're

[46:01] going to apply for at least MAG funding,

[46:04] it is a requirement and has to be in

[46:06] your plan and and we make sure the mayor

[46:08] says, "Yes, I know what my people are

[46:10] asking for and I'm okay with it." You

[46:12] you'd be surprised where some people

[46:15] say, "Wait, what are my guys asking

[46:16] for?" And I'm

[46:17] >> Well, I had to sign something with the I

[46:19] letters that the two I think there were

[46:21] >> Three of them.

[46:22] >> Okay, three applications saying this is

[46:24] what we're thinking about and just say

[46:28] that like maybe nothing that it would

[46:30] happen what years and years and years

[46:32] down the road.

[46:33] >> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[46:33] >> So, Orem staff communicates really well

[46:35] with their elected officials.

[46:38] >> Well, we we force them to at least in

[46:40] this stage.

[46:42] >> [laughter]

[46:43] >> I saw a hand, please.

[46:44] How would I know if I'm on a regionally

[46:46] significant road qualify for?

[46:48] >> That's a really good question. Um

[46:51] If you uh

[46:53] We So, the technical way that we would

[46:56] signify that is is a major collector or

[46:59] higher. If you know what the difference

[47:01] between a local, a collector versus an

[47:03] arterial road, the hierarchy

[47:04] [clears throat]

[47:05] of roads,

[47:06] that's typically what we do and UDOT has

[47:09] a map that's called the functional

[47:11] classified map and basically every road

[47:14] that is not a local street has been

[47:17] designated [clears throat] by MAG, UDOT,

[47:19] and Federal Highway Administration to

[47:21] say, "This is a collector road. This is

[47:24] a arterial."

[47:26] Typically, but

[47:28] for the layperson driving down the road,

[47:30] if it's got signal traffic signals on it

[47:33] and it's got three lanes and it gets you

[47:36] from one side of your community to

[47:38] another or connects you into the next

[47:40] community, those are going to be

[47:43] the lower level of regionally

[47:45] significant roads. Obviously, I-15,

[47:48] State Street, um 8th North, um the

[47:53] Parkway, all of those are obvious

[47:57] um

[47:58] regionally significant roads, Geneva

[48:00] Road, Center Street. Go on and off, but

[48:02] that's generally how you would know

[48:03] that. We have a classification system

[48:06] that we could certainly share that link

[48:08] with you, and you could

[48:10] put yourself to sleep trying to decide

[48:11] what is what, but yeah, we we certainly

[48:14] can help you understand that.

[48:16] Did I answer your question?

[48:17] I saw another hand.

[48:18] >> Yeah, so what um

[48:20] >> [clears throat]

[48:21] >> What how much opportunity do you have to

[48:26] um

[48:28] to get So, to your point, you know,

[48:30] resident says

[48:32] problem here, yada yada. They come to

[48:35] us, we come to you. So, and I'm just

[48:37] going to give an example cuz we have

[48:38] this Linden Temple open house in Orem.

[48:42] I've received several calls and emails

[48:43] to us about traffic on 400 West in Orem

[48:47] traveling to 2000. How are you guys

[48:49] going to you know, and then that brings

[48:51] up the whole discussion, why is Linden

[48:53] and Pleasant Grove coming to our city?

[48:56] So, that and I know you're working on

[48:58] the Linden

[48:59] the additional little off there between

[49:02] that PG. So, at what point how how do we

[49:04] facilitate those conversations that

[49:06] says, "Hey, we would love to see you

[49:09] before things get super bad, plan ahead,

[49:12] and figure out a way cuz there's more

[49:14] growth going to be happening in those

[49:15] cities?

[49:17] Or or is it just when things get super

[49:19] bad? What what has been your experience?

[49:21] >> That is a great question, and the answer

[49:23] is yes.

[49:25] >> [laughter]

[49:25] >> And well, and and I'll answer that by

[49:27] saying

[49:29] the ideal is certainly

[49:32] helping us understand, and I could go to

[49:35] a slide

[49:36] uh

[49:37] what we need from you is but really

[49:40] early identification of some of these

[49:43] needs. Helping us understand what's

[49:45] happening in your city, what's your plan

[49:46] for the future,

[49:48] and helping us understand how that could

[49:50] change the transportation system

[49:53] um in your community because

[49:55] unfortunately

[49:56] one of the hard parts about

[49:58] transportation planning is it's a very

[50:00] much a long game, right? When we're

[50:02] talking about those projects that are in

[50:05] the tip

[50:06] those [clears throat] projects, we've

[50:07] already

[50:08] we UDOT and this is standard practice

[50:11] across the country. We've already

[50:13] identified

[50:14] we've spent all our money out through

[50:16] 2030, 2031. So if you came to us and

[50:19] said, "Hey, we got this problem we need

[50:20] to fix it now."

[50:23] and it was big expensive kind of thing,

[50:24] we kind of have to say,

[50:26] "I wish you would have talked to us 5

[50:28] years ago, right?"

[50:29] Um so being very involved and engaged in

[50:33] helping us understand your plans for the

[50:35] future

[50:36] to hopefully help avoid that become

[50:38] before it becomes a problem is the ideal

[50:41] way and the best way to do it.

[50:43] Unfortunately, the flip side of it too

[50:44] is sometimes

[50:47] well, and we see this a lot. We are

[50:49] growing so fast that there's lots of

[50:53] fires out there that we're trying to get

[50:56] a hold and put out fires

[50:59] and so it makes it

[51:00] we do end up sometimes playing catch-up

[51:02] as well.

[51:04] And a great example of that is anybody

[51:06] [clears throat] that's driven to

[51:06] Saratoga Springs Eagle Mountain lately

[51:08] or you know, we can think I can name a

[51:10] handful of places where you're like, "Oh

[51:13] going to Vineyard, shoot, you know, they

[51:16] built a city in a

[51:18] I I call it a fish bowl, right? With

[51:20] between the railroad tracks and the lake

[51:22] and the

[51:23] you know, it there's lots of issues out

[51:25] there and so we're scrambling out there

[51:27] trying to catch up and deal with some of

[51:29] those things as well. So

[51:31] really the best part is being engaged in

[51:35] our process, really thinking hard about

[51:38] what's WFRC's what what are the issues

[51:41] that we see or foresee and let's see if

[51:44] we can work with MAG to figure out

[51:45] what's the best

[51:46] solutions to those problem, allow us to

[51:50] work with you, you. UTA, whoever the

[51:52] right partnership is to say, "Okay, how

[51:54] do we get this done?" Because a lot of

[51:57] times

[51:58] especially with the big projects, it's a coalition of a lot of people, a

[52:03] lot of work, and a lot of coordination.

[52:05] And that's what we're trying to do as we

[52:07] can as to

[52:09] bring the group together and have those

[52:10] conversations. Yeah.

[52:12] >> Any kind of related this actually two

[52:13] questions, one not related to this one.

[52:15] I

[52:16] noticing a lot more traffic coming out

[52:17] of Provo Canyon. So, I wonder if you can

[52:19] talk to us about what you see happening

[52:20] there.

[52:22] >> You know,

[52:24] Provo Canyon, I I think that is

[52:27] my my personal read on that is

[52:32] mostly a lot of that is due to

[52:35] usage of the canyon, especially in the

[52:37] summer, right?

[52:38] It's become a destination for recreation

[52:42] and to just the growth in Wasatch and

[52:45] Summit counties.

[52:47] You guys probably all know this, but a

[52:49] big problem they have is they're growing

[52:51] like crazy, but only

[52:54] I think the last time I saw 30 to 35% of

[52:58] units or homes built up there are owner

[53:02] not owner occupied, but they're primary

[53:04] residence. A vast majority of the of

[53:07] those are second homes. And so, one of

[53:10] the problems they have is

[53:12] a school teacher or anybody that works

[53:15] up there just can't afford to live up

[53:16] there. So, there's probably a lot of

[53:17] commute up there as well. That's

[53:20] probably part of it. It's growing like

[53:22] crazy up there for sure and just the

[53:25] growth down here.

[53:26] So, I think that's

[53:28] a lot of the issues that you're probably

[53:30] seeing and is probably

[53:31] going to continue I would assume so just

[53:34] with growth and I mean, I'm a kid. I

[53:37] grew up in Lehi when Lehi didn't have a

[53:39] traffic signal in town and there was 100

[53:41] kids in my graduating class and now it's I can't like I don't recognize the

[53:47] place anymore, right? It's just

[53:49] the pluses and minuses of living in a

[53:51] good economically thriving place like

[53:54] Utah is and that's

[53:56] something we got to deal with.

[53:57] >> Well, I would love to see that just at

[53:59] least address cuz in the summer you get

[54:01] lines from the light at the bottom of

[54:02] the hill all like miles back.

[54:04] >> Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. UDOT I know is

[54:07] does have plans to look at that mini

[54:11] interchange and they've worked with your

[54:13] group a lot to talk about that. So

[54:15] there's there's plans in the works. I

[54:16] don't know if they have a funded project

[54:18] in the next

[54:20] 5 or 10 years?

[54:21] >> I can highlight something that he said

[54:23] was

[54:24] a lot of times these take sort of multi

[54:27] jurisdictional partnerships.

[54:29] >> Absolutely.

[54:30] >> Um Ryan could give just a brief update

[54:33] on what he heard from UDOT as it relates

[54:36] to the continuous

[54:39] turn into forum from the canyon.

[54:42] >> Yeah, they're they're currently working

[54:43] on a design for a project. Um I don't

[54:45] remember the year there off the top of

[54:47] my head but I'll have to look it up. Do

[54:49] you remember?

[54:50] >> I was relatively soon though.

[54:52] >> If they're working on design, I would

[54:54] assume they usually don't start design

[54:55] until they've got money to build it

[54:57] relatively quickly. So

[54:59] if they're working on design

[55:01] >> Thank you.

[55:02] >> I'm guessing. I could look it up and

[55:04] tell you in a little bit. It'll take me a few

[55:06] minutes. So

[55:07] >> Yeah.

[55:08] >> Okay, my next question is and gentlemen,

[55:10] you talked about you look at new modes

[55:12] of transportation. Have you addressed at

[55:13] all

[55:14] this

[55:15] proliferation of electric

[55:16] transportation? So electric bikes,

[55:18] electric

[55:19] one wheels, all those things.

[55:21] >> We we get we get it all, right? Um

[55:25] that is a that is a great question and

[55:27] we're starting to get more and more

[55:28] questions about that. You know, 5 years

[55:31] ago we were we're building

[55:33] like the Murdock Canal Trail seemed like

[55:36] huge. It seemed like this huge wide

[55:38] trail.

[55:39] Why could we have Where Why could we

[55:40] ever have

[55:42] uh problems on it? And now with

[55:44] proliferation

[55:45] Excuse me, proliferation of that,

[55:49] we don't really have a great solution

[55:50] for it right now. It's really an

[55:52] enforcement and unfortunately it's kind

[55:55] of at the city's feet to just kind of

[55:57] say, "Well, how are we going to do with

[55:58] that?"

[55:59] I would imagine that more and more if we

[56:02] start to see more and more use of those

[56:05] kinds of transportation modes,

[56:07] that we might see a proliferation of

[56:10] things like um cycle tracks where it's

[56:13] kind of like a trail, but

[56:16] only for cyclists and and it's a little

[56:18] bit more safe than just being in a bike

[56:21] lane or just off the side of the road.

[56:23] If we really start seeing a lot of that,

[56:25] we'll start probably planning for more

[56:26] of those kinds of things. UDOT has the

[56:29] Utah trans Utah trail network that

[56:31] they're dealing with a lot of that kind

[56:33] of stuff.

[56:34] But we also we we grapple with a lot of

[56:37] different transportation mode issues

[56:39] like

[56:40] on-demand air mobility. We're actually

[56:42] working with UDOT right now to start

[56:44] UDOT's actually working on identifying

[56:48] potential locations where it could work

[56:50] and sharing with cities best practices

[56:52] to identify locations and regulation

[56:56] about how that could be in the future.

[56:59] We also get lots of questions about a

[57:01] lot of different things like connected

[57:03] autonomous vehicles.

[57:05] If you If all of our If everybody drove

[57:07] a Tesla that talked to each other,

[57:10] we could actually

[57:11] If they're so efficient that we could

[57:13] actually get lots more capacity out of

[57:15] our existing system, but we just got to

[57:17] catch up to the technology.

[57:19] Another big one that we've dealt with in

[57:20] the past is people that work from home.

[57:24] During before the pandemic, I think Utah

[57:26] was pretty high and we had roughly like

[57:29] I want to say 10% of people would that

[57:32] work from home full time

[57:34] during the pandemic that skyrocketed and

[57:36] everybody loved it because when you

[57:38] drove you're like wow, where did all the

[57:40] congestion go? This is great.

[57:42] And at the time we grappled with well,

[57:44] what and people would say nobody's going

[57:46] to go back to work. Nobody's going to

[57:47] have to go back to the office. Well,

[57:49] we've seen that that's changed but we

[57:51] had to grapple with what does that mean?

[57:53] Because if we think we're going to jump

[57:55] to 20 or 30% in the future

[57:58] you know, that can have big effects on

[58:00] our long-range plans that we don't want

[58:02] to undershoot so to speak. So there's

[58:04] lots of different technology

[58:07] aspects that we deal with. We don't get

[58:09] a lot into the regulation of those

[58:11] electric um

[58:13] scooters and bicycles and so forth just

[58:16] because that's kind of outside our that

[58:18] policy that policy and regulation is kind of

[58:23] outside of our purview. We certainly

[58:26] could

[58:27] act as a maybe a gathering point to have

[58:30] conversations about it. I know Wasatch

[58:32] County's really struggled with this and

[58:34] they all came together to kind of do a

[58:36] standardized

[58:38] regulation of it so to speak. So

[58:41] >> I was going to say that's what we would

[58:42] like your help with cuz you already

[58:44] provide a venue for all of the mayors to

[58:48] gather and

[58:49] elected officials and so we we want to

[58:51] make we want to approach it in a with a

[58:54] unified front and so we've been

[58:56] gathering materials to bring you know

[58:58] what some cities and and counties do and

[59:01] so

[59:01] >> For the April MPO meeting

[59:03] >> Okay, great. Yeah.

[59:04] >> with the with that

[59:05] >> So let me just throw something else on

[59:07] and answer your question um

[59:10] a lot of that then happens at the

[59:13] transit agency level for instance.

[59:15] Um UTA looks at a lot of that what we

[59:17] call first mile last mile

[59:19] type connections to their to their

[59:21] facilities to their stations and to

[59:23] their systems.

[59:25] So a lot of that

[59:26] planning work from that perspective

[59:28] happens with them.

[59:29] Again, that's more local, so it's not so

[59:31] much our purview from a regional

[59:33] perspective. And also, as as Bob

[59:36] mentioned with the regulation and the codifying of of those

[59:39] regulations, that falls on to the the

[59:42] local government level.

[59:44] Madam Mayor, I will also let you know

[59:46] that one of the things you will hear at

[59:48] the MPO board meeting on Thursday

[59:51] we had a separate

[59:53] >> [clears throat]

[59:53] >> separate community under the MPO for

[59:58] kind of kind of looking at growth topics

[1:00:00] and things. Well, we decided to maybe

[1:00:02] back from that and make it more of a

[1:00:04] regional forum.

[1:00:06] So, these are some of the topics

[1:00:08] that we'd like to see in that regional

[1:00:10] forum is that you guys could all talk

[1:00:13] about them together and and come to some

[1:00:15] maybe maybe Orem has the has the initial

[1:00:18] legislation and then Provo and Ogden and

[1:00:21] Lehi and Ogden

[1:00:22] some of those kind of things. So, we

[1:00:24] don't like to make that as a

[1:00:26] it's part of our regional growth forum.

[1:00:29] Great topics. How do we deal with this

[1:00:31] micro transportation?

[1:00:32] >> Yep.

[1:00:32] >> We've We've got to go to a closed door

[1:00:34] session, so about 5 more minutes.

[1:00:36] >> If I

[1:00:38] have any other questions, we're happy.

[1:00:39] Also, you can always

[1:00:42] request us to come back. We're here to

[1:00:44] serve you and answer your questions, so

[1:00:47] >> Mayor and Councilman Ryan has a

[1:00:49] >> thing an answer on

[1:00:51] >> Okay.

[1:00:51] >> the mouth of the canyon.

[1:00:52] >> Yeah, so UDOT's currently in a concept

[1:00:55] and estimate phase with Avenue

[1:00:57] Consultants.

[1:00:58] It's not done. Um I don't think that

[1:01:01] means it's funded.

[1:01:03] But, that's the first step to get

[1:01:04] funding is to have the concept and

[1:01:05] estimate.

[1:01:06] >> Um

[1:01:07] >> Yeah, and then I just wanted to share

[1:01:08] that Bob meets with our engineering team

[1:01:10] every month and

[1:01:13] with UDOT and UTA, and we are always

[1:01:16] talking about all of these projects

[1:01:17] together.

[1:01:18] And he's fantastic to work with him.

[1:01:21] We'll follow during the El Malo. I know

[1:01:23] Kevin's fairly new, but I'm better than

[1:01:25] Kevin.

[1:01:26] >> [laughter]

[1:01:31] » And who are your favorite staff?

[1:01:33] >> 100%

[1:01:34] This isn't being recorded, right?

[1:01:38] >> [laughter]

[1:01:39] >> This is our office, so our offices are

[1:01:41] actually moving

[1:01:44] » [laughter]

[1:01:44] >> I I appreciate you Kevin. I'm sorry that

[1:01:48] probably cut your presentation a little

[1:01:50] bit. The council, of course, we can have

[1:01:52] them come back. There's so much more I

[1:01:54] know you haven't covered.

[1:01:55] But I

[1:01:57] This was one of those things is when I

[1:01:58] became mayor it was a firehose. There

[1:02:00] are several firehoses. This was This was

[1:02:01] probably firehose with a capital F.

[1:02:04] And

[1:02:05] >> And that's why you have us to help you

[1:02:06] through that.

[1:02:07] You also have the presentation. And our

[1:02:10] contact information is in there along

[1:02:12] with all those links.

[1:02:12] >> Okay.

[1:02:13] >> mention so you can get in touch with us.

[1:02:15] We've got We've got business cards and

[1:02:18] uh brochures and things that we'll leave

[1:02:19] with you that you can

[1:02:21] share [clears throat] or use as confetti

[1:02:23] and I'm more happy to

[1:02:24] >> have amazing resources on their website,

[1:02:26] too. All this

[1:02:28] >> Thank you for your time.

[1:02:29] >> so much.

[1:02:30] >> Thank you.

[1:02:31] >> We will you okay.

[1:02:34] All right, counselor food is here.

[1:02:37] Um I've asked counselor Ever Lamp if he

[1:02:40] would

[1:02:41] or here if he would offer a blessing on

[1:02:42] the food. And then after we get our food

[1:02:44] then we will

[1:02:45] go into the closed session.

[1:02:48] >> Our Father in Heaven we come before thee

[1:02:51] in gratitude

[1:02:53] to thank you for this day, to thank you

[1:02:55] for the opportunity of being together,

[1:02:56] to thank thee for the opportunity of

[1:02:57] serving.

[1:02:59] Thank you Heavenly Father for this food

[1:03:01] we

[1:03:02] ask you that you bless it that it will

[1:03:04] be

[1:03:06] nourishing and strengthening to our

[1:03:07] bodies that we might use that strength

[1:03:09] to do good to serve thee and to serve

[1:03:11] our

[1:03:12] fellow citizens.

[1:03:13] We pray for thy spirit to be with us

[1:03:15] throughout our meetings this evening

[1:03:16] that we might have thy spirit to guide

[1:03:18] and direct us

[1:03:19] uh here and always. We humbly humbly

[1:03:21] pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

[1:03:24] >> Thank [clears throat] you. Before we go

[1:03:26] to get our food, Nate, do you want to

[1:03:27] Should we do the motion to adjourn

[1:03:29] before you

[1:03:30] >> Mayors, to note, I think that we have

[1:03:33] uh

[1:03:34] the closed session is listed as item 13.

[1:03:36] So, I think there's a proposal to take

[1:03:37] that out of order.

[1:03:39] >> Is that right?

[1:03:39] >> Yes.

[1:03:40] >> Basically, move it up. Um and I

[1:03:42] And maybe you want to kind of split it

[1:03:44] cuz I think maybe you want to do the

[1:03:45] closed session partly now and then

[1:03:48] >> Partly now and partly later. Yes.

[1:03:50] >> So, um

[1:03:51] being just to note for the record that's

[1:03:53] what we're doing this morning.

[1:03:53] >> Okay. We're splitting up item number 13.

[1:03:56] And so, I would look for a motion to

[1:03:59] adjourn to a closed door session in the

[1:04:01] Summit Conference Room to discuss

[1:04:02] pending or reasonably imminent

[1:04:04] litigation, the character or

[1:04:05] professional competence of an

[1:04:06] individual, or the purchase or lease of

[1:04:09] real property.

[1:04:10] >> I'll move.

[1:04:11] >> All right. Thank you. We have a motion.

[1:04:13] Is there a second?

[1:04:14] >> Second.

[1:04:14] >> So, I have a second. Thank you. All

[1:04:16] those in favor, say aye.

[1:04:19] Um any opposed?

[1:04:20] All right. We met the five

[1:04:22] threshold for the five, so.

[1:04:24] Thank you. We got the food. And

[1:04:28] >> Taking food upstairs.

[1:04:29] >> Go upstairs.

[1:04:30] >> Thanks.

[1:04:32] >> I don't mean to sound bossy.

[1:04:33] >> Please, you're welcome to sit.

[1:04:35] >> We invite you to We invite you to take

[1:04:36] some food.

[1:04:38] >> And eat and drink.

[1:07:09] » Mhm.

[1:43:47] » Yeah.

[1:46:47] » 3 minutes. Hey, I can get this set up.

[1:46:58] Keith, are you coming over here?

[1:47:00] Remember?

[1:47:08] Uh Carmen says it's not going to play

[1:47:11] sound.

[1:47:12] They haven't They haven't got back to

[1:47:14] him.

[1:47:17] Well, it works now. It's when we turn on

[1:47:19] Zoom.

[1:47:20] Oh, Zoom on?

[1:47:22] Hey, we can test it.

[1:47:24] >> Mhm.

[1:47:25] Cuz if not I give you this one mic.

[1:47:29] It sounds

[1:47:30] Oh.

[1:47:35] I know what you're saying.

[1:48:36] » That's just me, right?

[1:48:36] >> Yes.

[1:48:40] » He's going to see if he can find a

[1:48:41] sound.

[1:48:53] » You're not here.

[1:48:56] Okay. I'll give you my mic.

[1:48:59] I'll get I'll get some of these little

[1:49:00] things.

[1:49:00] >> Did he get the other one?

[1:49:14] » That's it.

[1:49:20] » That's the right one, right? Water

[1:49:21] reads.

[1:49:26] » Make sure this one is.

[1:51:10] Oh, it says be turned on.

[1:51:11] >> Yeah.

[1:51:14] You need a new one.

[1:51:26] Okay, good to know.

[1:51:27] >> It's not great, but

[1:51:29] >> Okay, from there. Oh, and they are

[1:51:37] Yeah.

[1:51:39] I think

[1:51:41] What's up? I think I start those things.

[1:51:51] Okay.

[1:51:52] I am

[1:51:53] I think I am the best.

[1:51:57] I think I think I I think I am sorry.

[1:52:03] I think I am sorry.

[1:52:08] I think I am I think I am

[1:52:10] I think I am sorry.

[1:52:15] I think I am sorry.

[1:52:20] I think I am sorry.

[1:52:24] I think I think I am

[1:52:36] I think I am sorry.

[1:52:40] I think I think I am I think I am sorry.

[1:52:47] I think I am

[1:52:50] I think I am sorry.

[1:52:54] I think I am sorry.

[1:53:02] I think I am sorry.

[1:53:08] I think

[1:55:07] » Trust.

[1:55:15] That's sufficient.

[1:56:38] We're going to wait for Council and

[1:56:39] Kilpatrick for just another minute and

[1:56:41] then we'll go ahead and get started.

[1:56:43] >> [gasps]

[1:56:43] >> We have 15 people signed up for personal

[1:56:47] appearances. So,

[1:56:50] you know what? I think we can do 3

[1:56:51] minutes each, but if you want to do

[1:56:53] less,

[1:56:55] great.

[1:56:56] Whatever you want to do, but the max

[1:56:58] will be 3 minutes on that and it's a mix

[1:57:00] tonight.

[1:57:02] So I feel like I feel like a server at a

[1:57:04] restaurant tonight's specials

[1:57:07] are short-term rentals and the North

[1:57:10] Union Canal

[1:57:12] and then something I

[1:57:14] okay. I could read it so it looks like

[1:57:16] that's what's on the menu tonight. So

[1:57:19] not to make light of their comments but

[1:57:21] that's what we're going to be looks like

[1:57:23] those are all the what the comments will

[1:57:24] be about Canal Trails bike trails.

[1:57:27] So yeah, we'll wait for Council member

[1:57:28] Kilpatrick.

[1:59:02] » All right. Welcome. Welcome to our city

[1:59:05] council meeting here on March 10th,

[1:59:07] 2026. We're glad to have you here today.

[1:59:11] Just a

[1:59:13] tell you a little bit we had about our

[1:59:14] work session items. We had went and had

[1:59:17] a ribbon cutting. It felt like spring

[1:59:19] earlier today and then when it came time

[1:59:22] to cut the ribbon a great wind rose and

[1:59:24] it felt like it was going to start

[1:59:26] snowing.

[1:59:28] So

[1:59:30] um

[1:59:31] So we have our great new water reuse

[1:59:32] facility that is is going to be coming

[1:59:35] online that will save millions of

[1:59:38] gallons, tens of millions, hundreds of

[1:59:40] millions of gallons of water

[1:59:42] >> [gasps]

[1:59:42] >> of of our culinary water that's being

[1:59:44] used to water

[1:59:46] golf course, Sleepy Ridge, and then

[1:59:48] parks over on the west side.

[1:59:50] And so we that's we had that today and

[1:59:52] we had a couple of presentations

[1:59:54] on that and appreciate you waiting for

[1:59:56] us. We had a closed door session and and

[1:59:59] got here

[2:00:00] as soon as we can.

[2:00:02] As soon as we could, excuse me. So we'll

[2:00:04] start with an invocation and

[2:00:06] inspirational thought by Jeff Madsen and

[2:00:09] the pledge of allegiance will be led by

[2:00:10] Susan Madsen.

[2:00:12] Turn that over to you.

[2:00:18] » Our Father in heaven

[2:00:20] we're grateful to live in this beautiful

[2:00:21] city and for the opportunity to be

[2:00:24] together.

[2:00:25] To We We are grateful for those who see

[2:00:29] to our needs and help keep us safe and

[2:00:31] pray a blessing upon them.

[2:00:33] As we begin this meeting we pray for

[2:00:36] harmony

[2:00:38] mutual respect

[2:00:40] and productivity as we see to the needs

[2:00:43] of our beautiful city. In the name of

[2:00:45] Jesus Christ. Amen.

[2:00:53] » Will all rise. You can join me in the

[2:00:55] pledge.

[2:00:57] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[2:01:00] United States of America

[2:01:02] and to the republic for which it stands,

[2:01:05] one nation under God, indivisible, with

[2:01:09] liberty and justice for all.

[2:01:16] Thank you Madison's. Susan is a new one

[2:01:20] of our newest members of our planning

[2:01:21] commission and appreciate your service.

[2:01:23] Thank you.

[2:01:24] >> [gasps]

[2:01:25] >> All right, we have two presentations

[2:01:26] this evening.

[2:01:28] We have the water reuse facility ribbon

[2:01:31] cutting recap.

[2:01:33] And so right

[2:01:35] Chris, is it you? Are you coming up and

[2:01:37] then Chris Shirkey, our public works

[2:01:39] director, as well as Reed Price, our

[2:01:42] assistant public works director. Thank

[2:01:45] you.

[2:01:50] » Thank you Mayor and Council. It was a

[2:01:51] beautiful day today out at the water

[2:01:53] reclamation facility. We appreciate your

[2:01:55] support.

[2:01:56] It's been 25 years in the making, so

[2:01:59] finally had this great day to have the

[2:02:00] ribbon cutting.

[2:02:02] Um I'd like to have I'll turn the time

[2:02:04] over to Reed to present kind of a recap

[2:02:07] summary for those that who weren't

[2:02:08] present and to give a summary of of all

[2:02:11] of the good things that are happening in

[2:02:12] Or.

[2:02:13] >> Reed. Yeah, it was a great day. Um

[2:02:16] a monumental day, one that we've been

[2:02:17] waiting for for quite some time and

[2:02:19] appreciate the efforts of of my staff to

[2:02:21] get the facility looking so nice. Um

[2:02:25] also for Peter Wolfley and the

[2:02:26] communications team for their helping us

[2:02:29] to look at the little details and make

[2:02:31] sure that it was a good a good inviting

[2:02:33] event. So wanted to recog recognize them

[2:02:36] and appreciate your attendance as well.

[2:02:39] I know it means a lot to our staff to see a support

[2:02:43] from you. So, thank you for being there.

[2:02:47] So, this water reuse facility, when you

[2:02:49] hear the term water reuse, it

[2:02:52] you you kind of think it should be

[2:02:53] reused water. Well, that's what we're

[2:02:54] doing.

[2:02:56] It could also be called recycled water.

[2:02:59] Um [snorts]

[2:03:00] and so we we call it the water reuse and nutrient removal

[2:03:05] facility. This facility has a dual

[2:03:07] purpose. The first is to treat waste

[2:03:10] water and use it as a valuable

[2:03:11] irrigation resource. And the second is

[2:03:14] to

[2:03:15] the facility can also remove phosphorus

[2:03:17] from the waste water stream.

[2:03:19] Um this it has an advanced filtering

[2:03:22] uh

[2:03:24] um equipment in there that will eliminate phosphorus and decrease

[2:03:31] the amount of nutrients that flow to

[2:03:32] Utah Lake and and aid in its health.

[2:03:36] So, I'd like to first talk about

[2:03:38] the water reuse portion.

[2:03:40] Um this has been decades in the making.

[2:03:43] It was envisioned back in the late 1990s

[2:03:46] and efforts were made to to submit an application to reuse um

[2:03:53] our our waste water. And it took a bit,

[2:03:56] but in 2003

[2:03:58] the application was approved and plans

[2:04:01] were made to uh to knowing that we would be

[2:04:07] developing that someday and we put pipes

[2:04:09] in the ground so that we could supply

[2:04:11] water to the golf course that had not

[2:04:14] yet

[2:04:15] been been constructed um as well as

[2:04:19] extended that pipe to our Lakeside

[2:04:21] Sports Park, which was under

[2:04:22] construction at the time.

[2:04:24] Uh

[2:04:25] but

[2:04:26] it's been a long time.

[2:04:29] We started in about 2019 with an

[2:04:31] engineering firm to design it and

[2:04:34] started construction

[2:04:35] a little over a little under 3 years

[2:04:37] ago.

[2:04:38] And today was the final day.

[2:04:41] So, why was this vision

[2:04:45] uh, made back in the late 1990s? Well,

[2:04:48] there's three key reasons. Um, one is,

[2:04:52] as as uh, the mayor and Chris mentioned,

[2:04:54] it saves millions of gallons of drinking

[2:04:56] water. We're essentially using water two

[2:04:59] times. Water that would have just gone

[2:05:01] on our, um,

[2:05:03] uh, would have gone on our lawns, uh,

[2:05:06] now can be, or sorry, not on our lawns,

[2:05:09] on the the, uh, turf at Sleepy Ridge

[2:05:13] Golf Course and Lakeside Golf Course.

[2:05:15] Water, the drinking water that would

[2:05:17] have gone there will now be, uh, reused

[2:05:19] water. Water that went through our

[2:05:21] system through a rigorous treatment

[2:05:22] process,

[2:05:23] um, and made clean and suitable for

[2:05:26] irrigation.

[2:05:28] It's also a natural fertilizer.

[2:05:30] Um, reuse water contains nutrients such

[2:05:32] as phosphorus

[2:05:34] and nitrogen.

[2:05:35] Those are things that our parks won't

[2:05:38] have to add because we're we're adding

[2:05:40] it through, um, the the reuse water.

[2:05:44] It's also drought-proof. Now,

[2:05:46] drought-proof's

[2:05:47] uh, kind of a strange term, but there's

[2:05:50] always going to be a supply of waste

[2:05:51] water that comes down through our

[2:05:53] treatment plant, and we will be able to use that when it comes through.

[2:05:59] So, where will we be using it? Well,

[2:06:02] we'll be using it at Sleepy Ridge Golf

[2:06:04] Course. They need about a million

[2:06:05] gallons per day,

[2:06:06] uh, in order to keep that, uh, the

[2:06:08] course

[2:06:09] nice and green.

[2:06:11] Uh, Lakeside Sports Park, which is

[2:06:13] programmed by our Parks and Recreation

[2:06:15] Department, um, with, uh, soccer and

[2:06:18] softball and other sports. They'll need

[2:06:20] about 400,000 gallons per day.

[2:06:22] And then,

[2:06:23] uh, right next to the, uh, wastewater

[2:06:25] treatment plant is Springwater Park,

[2:06:27] another neighborhood park, uh, which

[2:06:29] will be connected

[2:06:33] at some point in the future. It It uh

[2:06:35] the first two will

[2:06:36] begin receiving uh reuse water this

[2:06:40] spring.

[2:06:41] water, we still need to connect

[2:06:43] in at some point in the future we'll

[2:06:44] make that connection.

[2:06:46] So, one question that we get is is reuse

[2:06:49] water safe? And it absolutely is for uh

[2:06:52] for irrigation. It's It is clean. It is cleaner than most of the other

[2:06:58] communities that have secondary

[2:07:00] irrigation systems that don't treat

[2:07:02] their water. It just comes straight from

[2:07:05] a a surface water such as a a river or

[2:07:09] other runoff.

[2:07:10] And so, this particular water type it

[2:07:14] it's it's a it's a different

[2:07:16] It's one that's hasn't been used where

[2:07:18] we're cleaning waste water and kind of

[2:07:20] has an ick factor, but we we uh

[2:07:24] we treat it to type one reuse standards

[2:07:28] um which includes double disinfection.

[2:07:31] So, it's treated with UV

[2:07:34] uh to kill which is the way we currently

[2:07:36] have always treated it for for many

[2:07:38] years. And then in order to use it for

[2:07:41] reuse, we have to have a slight chlorine

[2:07:43] residual as well. So, we inject chlorine

[2:07:46] at the end of the treatment process and

[2:07:48] basically double disinfect it.

[2:07:51] That said, it is not suitable for human

[2:07:54] consumption. So,

[2:07:56] we don't suggest that parents let their

[2:07:58] children drink from the sprinklers. Um

[2:08:01] it's dangerous anyway. Uh

[2:08:04] but uh but it's it's perfectly safe to

[2:08:06] use for irrigation purposes.

[2:08:09] Now, I said mentioned that this was a

[2:08:10] dual purpose facility. The other purpose

[2:08:13] is to remove phosphorus and recent

[2:08:16] regulations, because of the algae blooms

[2:08:18] at Utah Lake, um have

[2:08:21] given a we have been given a phosphorus

[2:08:25] removal requirement where we have to get

[2:08:27] our wastewater flow down to 1 mg per

[2:08:30] liter or lower. And that became

[2:08:33] effective January 1st, 2026. Before

[2:08:35] this, we did not have one.

[2:08:37] And

[2:08:39] the discharge that we would send out

[2:08:41] there ranged from 1 and 1/2 to 4 mg per

[2:08:44] liter. So, we had to

[2:08:46] it's a it's a significant amount that we

[2:08:48] need to to drop it.

[2:08:50] We can push this lower if we need to if

[2:08:52] regulations come out where they say

[2:08:54] sorry, 1's not good enough. It's not

[2:08:56] helping the lake. We need to push it to

[2:08:57] 0.5 or 0.1.

[2:08:59] This technology that we have will allow

[2:09:01] us to do that.

[2:09:03] Um mentioned that we had 1.5 million

[2:09:06] gallons that would be needed to irrigate

[2:09:09] these the the golf course and the parks.

[2:09:12] We get about 9 million gallons a day.

[2:09:14] So, a lot of the flow isn't going to be

[2:09:17] used for irrigation. And we don't

[2:09:18] irrigate during the wintertime, either.

[2:09:20] So, most of the flow will go through and

[2:09:23] be treated for phosphorus.

[2:09:25] So,

[2:09:26] that's that's going to be a major portion

[2:09:30] component of that.

[2:09:32] Um we can switch back and forth. So,

[2:09:36] we want the phosphorus in the reuse

[2:09:38] water. We don't want it going to the

[2:09:40] lake.

[2:09:41] We don't We already disinfected it once,

[2:09:43] so we don't need to dose it with

[2:09:44] chlorine a second time when it goes to

[2:09:47] the lake, but

[2:09:48] we have to dose it with chlorine when it

[2:09:51] goes to reuse. So,

[2:09:53] um we will meet the type one reuse

[2:09:56] regulations. And this will be a great

[2:09:58] thing for the city.

[2:10:00] Some questions were brought up. How was

[2:10:02] this funded?

[2:10:03] Um it was a

[2:10:05] uh initially estimated to be a $10

[2:10:07] million project that ended up costing

[2:10:09] $21 million after the

[2:10:11] uh impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Um

[2:10:15] we planned to to spend $10 million

[2:10:19] uh

[2:10:19] and needed to find another 11-million.

[2:10:23] We found 13.5 million dollars in

[2:10:25] different grants from representative at

[2:10:29] the time, now Senator Curtis

[2:10:31] helped us get an a 3-million-dollar

[2:10:33] appropriation and we received ARPA

[2:10:36] fundings, which is

[2:10:37] COVID funds from the federal government

[2:10:40] in amount of 7-million dollars from the

[2:10:41] Utah County Commission. They had a

[2:10:45] funding that they could determine how to distribute it. The Utah

[2:10:49] Governor's Office of Economic

[2:10:50] Opportunity provided a 1-million-dollar

[2:10:53] grant and a 2.5-million-dollar grant

[2:10:55] from the Utah Legislature for Utah Lake

[2:10:57] improvements.

[2:10:58] So, about 7.5 million dollars came from

[2:11:01] bonding and will be paid by the users

[2:11:04] of Orem City, our residents. So, we feel

[2:11:08] that this is a

[2:11:09] great investment, a great [sighs]

[2:11:13] It's been a great process to um

[2:11:17] to to come to fruition and we're excited

[2:11:22] to to to use the facility and and look

[2:11:26] forward to the benefits that it that it

[2:11:28] will provide for decades to come.

[2:11:33] Thank you and this is

[2:11:34] >> Thank you. This is a big deal.

[2:11:38] It's a really big deal. I remember when

[2:11:40] I before when I was on the council

[2:11:42] talking about this back in the olden

[2:11:43] days.

[2:11:45] And

[2:11:45] >> Been talking about it for

[2:11:46] >> So excited for what it's going to do

[2:11:48] with water conservation and

[2:11:51] good work. Any questions for Reed or

[2:11:54] Chris, council?

[2:11:56] Comments?

[2:11:59] What's that?

[2:12:00] Well, you do. Okay.

[2:12:02] >> This is enormously impressive. I'm so

[2:12:04] delighted that we have this in our

[2:12:06] community. I just think it is

[2:12:08] the combination of so much work from so

[2:12:11] many people over many years and I just

[2:12:13] want to say uh

[2:12:15] how excited I am about it. I think

[2:12:16] fantastic.

[2:12:17] >> Thank you, Mr. Rico.

[2:12:19] >> Oh, um Councilmember Meal Steen.

[2:12:21] >> So, I love this project as well and it's

[2:12:23] the it's just a great example of the

[2:12:26] kind of forward thinking that Orem does

[2:12:29] to protect our infrastructure moving

[2:12:32] forward into the future. We all know we

[2:12:33] live in a desert and that water is one

[2:12:35] of the most valued commodities we have

[2:12:37] and so to to see projects like this go

[2:12:40] forward and for us to be good stewards

[2:12:42] of what we have,

[2:12:43] way to go past, present, everybody who's

[2:12:46] worked on this project. It's just a

[2:12:48] fantastic thing for our community and

[2:12:50] such a great example for the rest of the

[2:12:52] state. Thank you.

[2:12:53] >> Thank you.

[2:12:54] We We'd like to say that the cream rises

[2:12:56] to the top and it doesn't go away. So,

[2:12:58] over 30 or 25 years ago, you know, this

[2:13:00] idea was

[2:13:02] you know, conceived and in conjunction

[2:13:04] with others and the state allowed for us

[2:13:06] to to submit plans to do a reuse

[2:13:08] project. We didn't have the appetite or

[2:13:11] the funding available then, but we did

[2:13:13] today. And we overcame a ginormous

[2:13:15] hurdle of the $10 million gap resulting

[2:13:18] from the COVID-19 pandemic and the uh

[2:13:20] sup- uh supply chain issues that were a

[2:13:22] challenge there. I would like to mention

[2:13:24] also that former Mayor Young was

[2:13:26] instrumental in that $7 million grant

[2:13:29] through that we obtained through Utah

[2:13:30] County and that was uh a huge monumental

[2:13:33] um step in the in that in that in that

[2:13:36] direction. So, Rita and I were able to

[2:13:38] go and present our project to that

[2:13:40] council to the to the commission um

[2:13:43] among many other cities and other

[2:13:45] players in the in the community and area

[2:13:47] and we felt really comfortable, but we

[2:13:49] were unsure. And I know we walked away

[2:13:51] thinking, "You know, I think we're going

[2:13:53] to get it, but you know, you we'll see."

[2:13:55] And then they did. They awarded it and

[2:13:57] if that had not happened, this would

[2:13:58] have been dead in the water. Excuse the

[2:14:00] pun, but

[2:14:01] >> [laughter]

[2:14:01] >> literally dead in the water. So, we are

[2:14:04] so grateful to the council, the mayors,

[2:14:06] the current and past that have supported

[2:14:08] us and for Senator Curtis, for

[2:14:11] Representative Kennedy, and for all of

[2:14:13] the other players that have involved.

[2:14:15] We've had enormous support from Lyndon

[2:14:16] City

[2:14:18] and we treat 100% of their their

[2:14:19] wastewater today for about 12 12,000

[2:14:22] people. And then a a good portion of

[2:14:25] southern southern port part of Vineyard

[2:14:28] South of Provo South. So,

[2:14:29] it's a regional facility and it's it's a

[2:14:32] wonderful blessing for our community and

[2:14:34] for future generations and is expandable

[2:14:37] and scalable and we are teaming up and

[2:14:39] working with Central Utah Water District

[2:14:42] on expanding the facility to be able to

[2:14:44] provide more water for future

[2:14:46] generations. So,

[2:14:48] thank you for your support.

[2:14:50] >> All right, thank you Council member

[2:14:51] Millet. I just wanted to say one thing.

[2:14:52] I was in a meeting a couple weeks ago

[2:14:54] and it was um very interesting. There

[2:14:57] was a comment made by someone who lived

[2:14:59] on the west side of the lake, a

[2:15:00] derogatory comment about our green

[2:15:03] um parks and our golf course.

[2:15:06] And I just wanted to on that Zoom call

[2:15:08] say, "Yeah, but do you know how we're

[2:15:10] doing it?"

[2:15:11] And this is it. We're recycling water.

[2:15:13] We are doing it.

[2:15:15] We are out in front of this. You are and

[2:15:18] I appreciate your efforts and like you

[2:15:20] said, everyone from the past that has

[2:15:22] done this because this is the way we're

[2:15:24] going to be successful at doing that

[2:15:26] balance of providing these beautiful

[2:15:28] areas for our kids to play soccer, for

[2:15:31] our residents to

[2:15:33] get outdoor entertainment and get some

[2:15:35] vitamin D and be out there and

[2:15:37] thank you for what you've done.

[2:15:39] >> Thank you.

[2:15:40] >> All right, thank you. Anyone else? Oh,

[2:15:43] Council member Lamson.

[2:15:44] >> I just want to add

[2:15:46] to to Crystal's comment. I I marvel

[2:15:50] of the at the vision that you all have

[2:15:52] had in putting pipes in ground when

[2:15:55] there was nothing connected to those

[2:15:56] pipes

[2:15:57] knowing that one day this would happen

[2:16:01] and and so then you just needed to kind

[2:16:03] of make those connections to get the

[2:16:04] water to the end of the road so to

[2:16:05] speak.

[2:16:07] Um so thank you. Uh, and and again, I

[2:16:09] know that goes back generations. Uh,

[2:16:12] but thank you for the foresight and

[2:16:13] vision to put

[2:16:15] to add that piping as you're doing new

[2:16:17] developments and as things move along.

[2:16:21] And I'm excited to hear that it's

[2:16:22] expandable and scalable and that that

[2:16:24] this is not the end of it. This is just

[2:16:25] the beginning.

[2:16:27] So, thank you.

[2:16:29] >> All right, thank you.

[2:16:33] All right, the next item on our agenda

[2:16:35] is a presentation

[2:16:37] um employee appreciation day

[2:16:40] um with our presenters Amy Peterson who

[2:16:42] is the city's HR manager and Pete

[2:16:44] Wolfley, communications manager and

[2:16:47] public information officer. So, welcome.

[2:16:50] >> Hey, thank you. Good morning or good

[2:16:51] evening, mayor and council members.

[2:16:54] This past Friday was National Employee

[2:16:56] Appreciation Day. It was a great day for

[2:16:58] us to recognize the incredible people

[2:17:00] who keep the city of Orem running every

[2:17:01] day.

[2:17:02] Thank you for this opportunity to

[2:17:03] publicly recognize the many

[2:17:05] contributions of the city's employees.

[2:17:07] Much of what our employees do to make

[2:17:09] Orem clean, friendly, and a wonderful

[2:17:12] city happens behind the scenes. Much of

[2:17:14] the work is done in the early mornings

[2:17:16] and the late nights and doesn't receive

[2:17:18] the attention it deserves. But, our

[2:17:20] dedicated employees always keep the

[2:17:22] mission in mind and strive each and

[2:17:23] every day to build a better Orem. The

[2:17:26] employee culture we have here is truly

[2:17:28] one of a kind. Employees who have worked

[2:17:30] at other organizations or even other

[2:17:32] cities tell us that what we have in Orem

[2:17:35] is really special.

[2:17:37] While we celebrate the professional

[2:17:38] contributions of our staff, I also want

[2:17:40] to share a personal experience that

[2:17:42] illuminates the truly exceptional

[2:17:43] culture of our organization.

[2:17:46] Following a recent cancer diagnosis, I

[2:17:48] had the privilege of I've had the

[2:17:50] privilege of witnessing first hand the

[2:17:52] kind of thoughtful and deeply supportive

[2:17:54] nature of our employees.

[2:17:56] The outpouring of generosity has been

[2:17:58] overwhelming from thoughtful gift

[2:18:00] baskets, cards, flowers, and our

[2:18:03] firefighters bringing my family dinner,

[2:18:05] and countless employees stopping by my

[2:18:07] office between treatments to check on

[2:18:09] me.

[2:18:09] This profound support from our Orem

[2:18:11] family has helped me get through some

[2:18:12] very tough days. It is clear that the

[2:18:15] dedication of our employees extends far

[2:18:17] beyond their job descriptions, affirming

[2:18:20] that Orem employees are without a doubt

[2:18:22] truly the best. On behalf of the human

[2:18:24] resources team, we want to express our

[2:18:26] sincere appreciation to every city of

[2:18:28] Orem employee. Thank you for the work

[2:18:30] you do and for the pride you take in

[2:18:32] serving this community. And then now

[2:18:34] we'd like to show you a short um video

[2:18:36] that Pete Woolley and his communications

[2:18:38] team put together.

[2:19:53] » Thank you.

[2:19:55] I'm

[2:19:56] just going to also express my

[2:19:58] appreciation to the wonderful staff we have here. We have a

[2:20:03] at the city of Orem. It's it's an

[2:20:05] amazing environment.

[2:20:08] And it's a privilege to serve with with

[2:20:10] all the employees.

[2:20:12] And it's a it's a great place. And Amy,

[2:20:15] I wish you the best in your treatments.

[2:20:18] And

[2:20:20] I'm [clears throat] sure other council

[2:20:21] members would have something to say as

[2:20:23] well.

[2:20:25] Okay, Council Member Gale.

[2:20:27] >> I have been in office now for just over

[2:20:29] 2 years. And the one thing that has just

[2:20:31] struck me again and again and again is

[2:20:33] how amazing our city staff is. Everyone is is just awesome. And we

[2:20:37] really appreciate the things that you

[2:20:38] do. You keep our city moving. And most

[2:20:41] of it is behind the scenes. And most of

[2:20:42] it residents don't even realize. But you

[2:20:45] do it so well. And we're so grateful.

[2:20:46] So, thank you.

[2:20:48] >> Mike.

[2:20:49] Thank you. Anyone else? Council Member

[2:20:51] Kilpack.

[2:20:52] >> Thank you. I I just also want to

[2:20:54] reiterate the blessing that it is to

[2:20:56] inter- interact with all of those who

[2:20:58] are uh city employees, the staff, and

[2:21:01] all those that come to create what we

[2:21:03] enjoy as citizens.

[2:21:05] And as uh elected officials as we

[2:21:07] participate in this marvelous area of a

[2:21:10] collection of families in a community

[2:21:12] where we feel we truly feel that

[2:21:15] blessing and that opportunity to to

[2:21:17] gather together and do great things. And

[2:21:19] the culture is really exemplified in the

[2:21:22] power of what you do

[2:21:25] with each other, for each other, for us

[2:21:27] as a community. So, thank you all who uh

[2:21:29] serve in any way in our city as

[2:21:31] employees. Thank you.

[2:21:32] >> Thank you.

[2:21:33] Any other council members?

[2:21:35] All right.

[2:21:37] Thank you.

[2:21:38] All right. Our next item on the agenda

[2:21:41] is our consent item. We have approval

[2:21:44] of the February 24th, 2026 meeting

[2:21:48] minutes, city council meeting minutes.

[2:21:51] Um I'd entertain a motion.

[2:21:53] >> Mayor, I move that we

[2:21:55] uh approve the meeting minutes from

[2:21:57] February 24th, 2026.

[2:21:59] >> Right, thank you. We have a motion. Is

[2:22:01] there a second?

[2:22:02] >> I'll second that.

[2:22:03] >> Right, thank you. We have a motion and a

[2:22:04] second.

[2:22:06] Um, I'm going to start I usually start

[2:22:07] I'll start over. Not to break with

[2:22:09] tradition, start down here with how um

[2:22:11] Council Member Lampson, how do you vote?

[2:22:13] >> I.

[2:22:19] >> Right, motion carries. Thank you.

[2:22:21] » [snorts]

[2:22:21] >> Item number nine is time for personal

[2:22:24] appearances. Time has been set aside for

[2:22:26] the public to express their ideas,

[2:22:28] concerns, and comments on items not

[2:22:30] scheduled as public hearings on the

[2:22:32] agenda.

[2:22:33] Those wishing to speak are encouraged to

[2:22:35] show respect for those who serve the

[2:22:37] city. Comments should focus on issues

[2:22:39] concerning the city. Those wishing to

[2:22:41] speak needed to have signed up before

[2:22:44] the beginning of the meeting and

[2:22:46] encourage you to please limit your

[2:22:47] comments to 3 minutes or less.

[2:22:51] So, we'll go ahead and we'll start with

[2:22:53] Lisha Geddes.

[2:22:55] Is Lisha here? Oh, there you are.

[2:22:57] Welcome.

[2:22:59] And then the next person, is it Tawny?

[2:23:01] Is there someone named Tawny here? Okay,

[2:23:03] I'm going to just if you could say your

[2:23:04] last put your last name so we can hear

[2:23:05] your last name for the record when you

[2:23:07] when it's your turn.

[2:23:10] >> Mayor and council members, thank you for

[2:23:11] your time.

[2:23:13] >> [clears throat]

[2:23:13] >> My name is Lisha Geddes and I'm a

[2:23:14] resident of Orem. That still is really

[2:23:17] loud.

[2:23:18] Um, I also operate a basement apartment

[2:23:21] as a short-term rental. We are

[2:23:23] owner-occupied and it's been a wonderful

[2:23:24] blessing to us and also to our neighbors

[2:23:26] as we've been able to

[2:23:28] uh facilitate a lot of their family

[2:23:29] members as they've come into town for

[2:23:31] special events.

[2:23:32] I'm here today to express my support for

[2:23:34] a clear enforceable short-term rental

[2:23:36] policy rather than an outright ban. A

[2:23:39] ban may seem like a solution, but it

[2:23:41] actually removes the city's ability to

[2:23:43] manage short-term rentals effectively.

[2:23:46] Banning short-term rentals does not

[2:23:48] eliminate problematic short-term

[2:23:49] rentals,

[2:23:50] but regulating them does. A well-defined

[2:23:53] policy would give the city the tools it

[2:23:55] needs, licensing, inspections, parking

[2:23:58] standards, occupancy rules, and the

[2:24:01] ability to shut down bad actors, which

[2:24:03] we fully support. I fully support.

[2:24:05] Without these guidelines, enforcement

[2:24:07] becomes inconsistent and nearly

[2:24:09] impossible.

[2:24:10] In my neighborhood, the difference

[2:24:11] between short-term rentals and long-term

[2:24:13] rentals is striking. I have four short

[2:24:16] four short-term rentals within a

[2:24:19] 5-minute walk of my home.

[2:24:21] Um

[2:24:22] they are clean, cared for, and quiet.

[2:24:25] Owners take pride in maintaining them

[2:24:26] because reviews and guest expectations

[2:24:28] depend on it. Meanwhile, also within a

[2:24:31] few doors on either side, I have five

[2:24:34] long-term rentals.

[2:24:37] Uh these are consistently in violation

[2:24:39] of existing ordinances. The homes have

[2:24:41] overcrowded parking, property neglect,

[2:24:44] and continuing ongoing issues that are

[2:24:46] far more disruptive to our neighborhood

[2:24:48] than any of the short-term rentals are.

[2:24:50] This highlights a key point. The issue

[2:24:52] isn't short-term rentals, it's the

[2:24:54] absence of standards and enforcement

[2:24:55] tools. A policy would fix that, a ban

[2:24:58] would not.

[2:24:59] A thoughtful short-term rental policy

[2:25:01] allows the city to set clear

[2:25:02] expectations for property care and

[2:25:04] maintenance, regulate parking and

[2:25:06] occupancy, enforce quiet hours, hold

[2:25:09] operators accountable through licensing

[2:25:11] and inspections, protect neighborhoods

[2:25:13] from problem properties, whether short

[2:25:15] or long-term. And importantly, it allows

[2:25:18] responsible home homeowners like myself

[2:25:21] to continue contributing positively to

[2:25:22] the community. Many of us rely on this

[2:25:24] income to offset rising living expenses

[2:25:27] and remain in Orem. We want to comply.

[2:25:30] We welcome the rules, and we want

[2:25:32] consistency.

[2:25:33] I urge the council to adopt a balanced

[2:25:35] short-term rental policy, one that

[2:25:37] supports neighborhoods, supports

[2:25:39] enforcement, and supports responsible

[2:25:41] homeowners. Thank you so much for your

[2:25:42] time and your service.

[2:25:43] >> Thank you.

[2:25:46] All right, Tawny, you're up next and

[2:25:47] then on deck we have Chris Hammond after

[2:25:50] Tawny.

[2:25:53] >> I can't remember her name, but I agree

[2:25:54] with everything she just said.

[2:25:56] >> Um Lisha.

[2:25:58] >> That was great. My name is Tawny

[2:26:00] Merrill, m e r r e l l. I am an Orem

[2:26:04] resident and I do have a landlord

[2:26:06] license and I have a VRBO next to my

[2:26:08] home in Orem and we've had a very

[2:26:11] pleasant experience. We've never

[2:26:13] received complaints from our neighbors.

[2:26:15] As a matter of fact, two of my neighbors

[2:26:16] have actually rented our home

[2:26:19] so that they could have a gathering

[2:26:21] place for family when they came for

[2:26:22] special occasions or the holidays.

[2:26:25] Um one item that I have not heard

[2:26:27] brought up at our city of the city

[2:26:29] council meetings is that the STRs do pay

[2:26:32] lodging taxes on every rental in

[2:26:36] addition to the property taxes assessed

[2:26:38] to all property owners.

[2:26:40] Um these taxes include a mass transit

[2:26:43] tax at the district level as a general

[2:26:46] sales and use tax. Um Orem City, Utah

[2:26:48] County, and Utah State all receive

[2:26:51] accommodation tax and general sales and

[2:26:54] use tax. And these taxes total 14%

[2:26:58] of every user's total booking amount.

[2:27:01] Thus Orem City, Utah County, and Utah

[2:27:03] State all benefit from the taxes on

[2:27:06] STRs. Um I'm sure the city treasurer

[2:27:09] should be able to provide you with an

[2:27:11] annual report on the revenue generated

[2:27:14] by STRs.

[2:27:16] Um one other thing that

[2:27:19] I don't think anybody has mentioned is

[2:27:21] um our VRBO

[2:27:23] has had several people rent from us

[2:27:26] because they are coming to Utah County

[2:27:29] for specialized medical treatment. Um in

[2:27:31] particular brain trauma treatment.

[2:27:34] Apparently there's one in Provo that

[2:27:36] they come to. And they require

[2:27:38] facilities that are clean, that are

[2:27:41] quiet, and that they can have their

[2:27:43] patient come to and feel calm and

[2:27:45] relaxed and stress-free, be able to cook

[2:27:48] their meals at home and not be exposed

[2:27:50] to,

[2:27:51] you know, whatever is out in the

[2:27:53] community. So, um I think that's one

[2:27:56] more reason why it's important that we

[2:27:58] have short-term rentals available to

[2:28:00] people that have that need. Um earlier

[2:28:03] today,

[2:28:04] >> [clears throat]

[2:28:05] >> I sent an email to each of you and

[2:28:07] included a list of possible solutions

[2:28:10] that may be helpful to both sides of

[2:28:12] this STR debate, um

[2:28:14] including parking restrictions and guest

[2:28:17] limitations,

[2:28:18] um

[2:28:19] STR owner monitoring of their property,

[2:28:22] requiring STR owners to be a Utah

[2:28:25] resident might be a good idea. And

[2:28:28] providing event regulations if someone

[2:28:31] has an event at their rental. And also

[2:28:33] providing, um STR host training class

[2:28:38] that would um require every owner who

[2:28:41] has a short-term rental to take the

[2:28:43] class so that they would be eligible to

[2:28:46] be a host. So, I hope that some of these

[2:28:48] suggestions are helpful to you in your

[2:28:50] discussions as a city council on how to

[2:28:53] regulate STRs in Orem so that all those

[2:28:56] that are impacted have a more positive

[2:28:58] experience. Thank you.

[2:29:00] >> Thank you, and I'll look I'll look for

[2:29:02] that email and and read it. Appreciate

[2:29:04] it. Next up is uh Ms. Hammon, and then

[2:29:07] after her, Jeff

[2:29:10] starts with a G. Um

[2:29:13] it's about the North Union Canal.

[2:29:15] Okay, is that you? Okay, you're next.

[2:29:17] I'm sorry.

[2:29:19] I look forward to hearing you say your

[2:29:21] last name.

[2:29:22] >> [laughter]

[2:29:24] >> Hi to all of you. Guess what? It's the

[2:29:26] old lady one more time. Take a deep

[2:29:28] breath.

[2:29:29] I'm here again.

[2:29:30] >> to come.

[2:29:31] >> So, I'm a real estate agent and this

[2:29:34] last weekend I have a family who is

[2:29:36] looking

[2:29:38] to purchase a home so that their huge

[2:29:40] family can have a gathering that is a

[2:29:42] short-term rental. So, we traveled all

[2:29:44] over to Camas, Coalville, and Midway and

[2:29:48] Heber. And I had to research regulations

[2:29:50] before we went. And in all of those

[2:29:53] cities they did not eliminate short-term

[2:29:55] rentals but have done some regulation.

[2:29:58] And some of the things that I thought

[2:30:00] that were important were the guidelines

[2:30:01] we're using, the size of the home as far

[2:30:04] as occupancy standards, things like not

[2:30:07] parking in

[2:30:09] front of someone's driveway as a

[2:30:10] restriction. But one of the things that

[2:30:13] I think is important is in the state

[2:30:14] legislature even HOAs can no longer

[2:30:18] restrict or

[2:30:20] ticket people that are parking on the

[2:30:21] street because it's public and you pay

[2:30:23] taxes to use those streets. And so,

[2:30:26] I I have a concern about that. Not that

[2:30:28] in my particular home, I think we would

[2:30:30] have plenty of parking.

[2:30:32] Uh when the discussion

[2:30:34] about changes in Orem for short-term

[2:30:36] rentals started over a year and a half

[2:30:37] ago,

[2:30:38] it started out with the understanding

[2:30:40] that we were going to find some way to

[2:30:41] work together and that we were going to

[2:30:44] problem solve on and improve

[2:30:46] communication with the city and the

[2:30:47] neighborhoods

[2:30:49] to be responsible owners. Unfortunately,

[2:30:51] something has changed in the last while.

[2:30:54] The conversation has become increasingly

[2:30:56] negative and divisive. Orem has moved to

[2:30:58] being an A+ place to be to a D and it's

[2:31:02] no longer family city USA. The public

[2:31:05] dialogue surrounding this issue has

[2:31:07] created different perceptions of Orem

[2:31:09] and its residents. Many people now feel

[2:31:12] hesitant to speak openly and engage in

[2:31:14] civil discussion, some forming opinions

[2:31:17] about short-term rentals without ever

[2:31:19] having been there and use them. In my

[2:31:21] research, the role of the city council

[2:31:24] as far as what I have learned should be

[2:31:26] expected to be something that is

[2:31:28] objective without bias carefully

[2:31:31] weighing both the positive and negative

[2:31:32] impacts of any policy decision.

[2:31:35] It is certainly true that not every

[2:31:37] short-term rental is a good neighbor. It

[2:31:40] is also true that not every long-term

[2:31:42] rental or property owner is a good

[2:31:46] neighbor. There are issues all over the

[2:31:48] way.

[2:31:49] This raises the question of is it the

[2:31:51] role of the city to enforce every

[2:31:53] neighborhood dispute or establish

[2:31:55] documented

[2:31:58] problem of all the responsible residents

[2:32:01] to use their property.

[2:32:03] Um, there has been open discussion that

[2:32:06] short-term rentals create a problem with

[2:32:08] availability of housing yet currently

[2:32:11] there are 150

[2:32:12] rentals and 181 homes for sale. I cannot

[2:32:17] see a correlation between short-term

[2:32:19] rentals and the decrease in housing. I

[2:32:22] hope that each member of the city

[2:32:23] council will take a moment to put

[2:32:24] yourself in my shoes and the shoes of

[2:32:27] those who are property owners and

[2:32:29] continue to use a responsibility

[2:32:32] and a and unbiased position to consider

[2:32:34] what you're going to do. I believe the

[2:32:36] responsibility of the council is to

[2:32:38] approach the issue thoughtfully and

[2:32:40] without prejudice fully informed about

[2:32:42] both the benefits which are many of

[2:32:45] short-term rentals which we've

[2:32:46] discussed. My hopes is that Warren will

[2:32:48] continue to live up to the spirit of

[2:32:50] family USA a place where different

[2:32:52] families different needs and different

[2:32:54] housing options can coexist respectfully

[2:32:57] and where everyone feels welcome. Thank

[2:32:59] you.

[2:33:00] >> Thank you.

[2:33:01] All right.

[2:33:03] Jeff, you're up and then on deck we have

[2:33:05] Dean York.

[2:33:16] » Good evening [clears throat] mayor and

[2:33:17] council members. My name is Jeff Giffain

[2:33:20] and I live a couple hundred feet from

[2:33:21] the North Union Canal and I'm here

[2:33:23] tonight because I believe we have a rare

[2:33:25] opportunity in front of us. It is my

[2:33:27] understanding that the canal is being

[2:33:29] decommissioned. That quarter through the

[2:33:31] city is about to become idle and and I

[2:33:34] think we have a great opportunity to

[2:33:35] turn it into an asset that will benefit

[2:33:37] the community for generations.

[2:33:39] We've seen this type of trail work here

[2:33:41] in Orem, the Murdock Canal Trail.

[2:33:44] It is a 17-mi long paved corridor that

[2:33:47] now serves hundreds of thousands of

[2:33:48] users each year. We can do that same

[2:33:51] thing again here. There are currently

[2:33:53] several grant programs specifically

[2:33:56] designed for projects like this. UDot's

[2:33:58] Utah Trail Network program has already

[2:34:01] funded canal trail conversions across

[2:34:03] the state, one in Verdal and one in

[2:34:05] Riverton, and they're actively looking

[2:34:07] for new projects to fund.

[2:34:10] There's other grants that are available

[2:34:12] as well, the Transportation Alternative

[2:34:14] Program, the Land and Water Conservation

[2:34:16] Fund, and the Federal BUILD grants. All

[2:34:20] of these funds would help alleviate the

[2:34:22] resources needed by the city to build

[2:34:24] this trail. Many of them will cover up

[2:34:27] to 80% of the construction costs.

[2:34:30] The key to accessing that money is

[2:34:32] getting the quarter in the Regional

[2:34:33] Transportation Plan through the

[2:34:35] Mountainland Association of Governments.

[2:34:37] That is the door that opens all these

[2:34:40] other opportunities and the timing

[2:34:42] matters. UDot's Trails Division is in

[2:34:45] the middle of building out a statewide

[2:34:47] master plan right now and the projects

[2:34:50] that are in the pipeline get prioritized

[2:34:52] for funding down the line.

[2:34:54] Um

[2:34:55] I'm asking the council if they would be

[2:34:57] willing to direct the city staff to

[2:34:59] contact the MAG and potentially Utah

[2:35:01] Division of the Outdoor Recreation to

[2:35:04] begin a feasibility conversation about

[2:35:07] the North Union Canal Trail. Uh that at

[2:35:10] least puts us in the room as the

[2:35:12] opportunity for funding arises in the

[2:35:15] future. Thank you so much for your time

[2:35:17] and service.

[2:35:19] Appreciate all your help.

[2:35:20] >> Right. Thank you.

[2:35:21] >> Thank you.

[2:35:22] >> Um so, I Is it Gary? Is the one with

[2:35:25] Gary that I would need

[2:35:27] to or Steve? I'm going to ask for an

[2:35:29] update

[2:35:31] on where we are with the trail.

[2:35:33] With the canal at some point Well, when

[2:35:34] we get done with with the other

[2:35:36] comments, just just at the end of the

[2:35:38] public appearances because I know this

[2:35:39] is something that that we as a council I

[2:35:41] believe we discussed at our retreat

[2:35:43] about our desire to have

[2:35:46] to to We expressed interest in in in

[2:35:48] looking into that. So, I just don't know

[2:35:50] where we're at right now on that. So,

[2:35:52] we'll go ahead and have Mr. York

[2:35:55] um

[2:35:55] present, and then after him, Janette

[2:35:58] York

[2:35:59] >> will be up.

[2:36:00] >> She's related.

[2:36:02] So, Dean York, a long-time Worm resident

[2:36:04] and Airbnb owner,

[2:36:07] uh locally owned and operated. We are

[2:36:10] within walking distance of our Airbnb

[2:36:13] and that sleeps six. And uh we have a

[2:36:15] lot of people come in for hatchings,

[2:36:17] matchings, and dispatchings.

[2:36:19] Also, uh like we said before, medical

[2:36:21] issues. We have people that come to our

[2:36:23] place because they like the quiet uh

[2:36:26] home feel that they get with that. What

[2:36:28] I've loved and what I've heard so far is

[2:36:30] that people aren't just bringing you

[2:36:32] problems.

[2:36:33] They are bringing you solutions.

[2:36:35] So, I'm just asking you to to weigh

[2:36:37] those solutions.

[2:36:39] Uh I served in uh public service for 29

[2:36:42] years in a local city here.

[2:36:44] And uh you have

[2:36:47] uh businesses that have occupancy loads.

[2:36:50] And only you know so many people can be

[2:36:52] in those. Uh it's based on square

[2:36:54] footage. It's It's based maybe on how

[2:36:55] many bathrooms they have. There are

[2:36:57] certainly things that you can look at

[2:36:59] that would help. And none of us want to

[2:37:01] be a bad short-term uh

[2:37:05] owner. We want to have good experiences

[2:37:07] for the people that come in.

[2:37:10] And uh you need to have accountability

[2:37:13] from us. But there has to be rules and

[2:37:15] there has to be standards set that we

[2:37:17] are all familiar with that we can we can

[2:37:19] contribute with that.

[2:37:21] I live in the Hillcrest area and a

[2:37:23] majority of the Hillcrest area is a lot

[2:37:26] of apartments. And so in in past

[2:37:28] meetings I've heard about people saying,

[2:37:30] "Well, we want people that put down

[2:37:32] roots in in in our areas."

[2:37:35] And uh

[2:37:37] most of those apartments are going to be

[2:37:39] students. They're not going to be here

[2:37:40] for very long. So in our local uh clergy

[2:37:43] and in our local meeting houses we have

[2:37:46] a lot of turnover, a lot of transient

[2:37:47] type turnover. So uh we're such a small

[2:37:51] group uh these short-term um

[2:37:54] owners that it a lot more effect I see

[2:37:57] out of apartments than than from us.

[2:38:00] So when we talk about putting down roots

[2:38:04] uh my grandfather Milton Jameson uh

[2:38:08] he was a mayor here in Orem.

[2:38:10] And so my roots do run deep. But uh

[2:38:16] just the area that I'm in with all those

[2:38:18] apartments

[2:38:19] my Airbnb doesn't make a whole lot of

[2:38:22] difference. And the people that come my

[2:38:23] one my last group was from LA.

[2:38:26] They came because their son entered the

[2:38:29] MTC and their comment was

[2:38:33] what a great experience it was to have

[2:38:35] those last few days together after the

[2:38:37] after they were going to have a 2-year

[2:38:39] break from their son. So there's a lot

[2:38:40] of benefits from us and and

[2:38:43] as my time runs out, I do appreciate uh

[2:38:46] the time that you put in and I know it's

[2:38:49] a it's a sacrifice on your part as well.

[2:38:51] So I just wanted to say thank you.

[2:38:52] >> Thank you.

[2:38:55] All right. Janette York and then Zach

[2:38:58] Golding is on deck.

[2:39:05] » Okay.

[2:39:06] Mayor and council members, thank you so

[2:39:08] much for listening to our concerns.

[2:39:11] Um my husband and I, we have lived here

[2:39:13] for 43 years and our children now live

[2:39:16] here with our grandchildren. So it's

[2:39:18] wonderful that we've got to stay here in

[2:39:20] this tight community cuz we love living

[2:39:22] here.

[2:39:23] Um the thing that Dean neglected to say,

[2:39:25] we're living on the same property as the

[2:39:27] old mayor of Orem City where this Airbnb

[2:39:30] is at. So it's kind of ironic. Um

[2:39:34] >> [clears throat]

[2:39:34] >> So

[2:39:36] Uh we had to come up with something to

[2:39:38] help us with our income now that we are

[2:39:40] retired and we have this duplex and so

[2:39:44] we have renters that have been in there

[2:39:47] and as they have left, we're shocked at

[2:39:49] the damage the renters do leave cuz they

[2:39:52] don't really care cuz it's not their

[2:39:54] property.

[2:39:55] >> [clears throat]

[2:39:55] >> So after having so much damage, we

[2:39:58] decided to make one of those an Airbnb.

[2:40:01] And as you can imagine, we put a lot of

[2:40:05] money into this. It's not easy to create

[2:40:08] an Airbnb.

[2:40:09] So we took a chunk of our savings

[2:40:11] and we put it to good use into creating

[2:40:15] a a beautiful Airbnb.

[2:40:17] We

[2:40:19] purchased all of our furniture here in

[2:40:23] Orem from Ashley Furniture, all our

[2:40:25] appliances from RC Willey,

[2:40:28] and Costco supplies monthly abundance in

[2:40:32] our Airbnb. So we keep a lot of our

[2:40:35] business with our Airbnb here in Orem.

[2:40:39] Um

[2:40:41] in our Airbnb, we also have a list of

[2:40:44] grocery stores,

[2:40:46] um restaurants, coffee shops, all sorts

[2:40:49] of things so people can go to. So the

[2:40:51] people that stay with us, we keep them

[2:40:53] here within our community spending their

[2:40:55] money as they come in to help help with

[2:40:58] the economy.

[2:40:59] Um here we have one of our many, many

[2:41:03] guest books. People come in, they send

[2:41:05] us pictures, they tell us all sorts of

[2:41:07] things.

[2:41:08] And um

[2:41:11] I did mark one, it happened to be a

[2:41:12] medical one as well, and it says here,

[2:41:14] "Dean and Jeanette, staying in your home

[2:41:17] has been such a blessing

[2:41:19] to our family as our father was in the

[2:41:21] hospital.

[2:41:23] Um and it was comforting for us to have

[2:41:25] a home away from home. So, a lot of

[2:41:27] people make the comment about how homey

[2:41:30] our Airbnb is and how grateful they are

[2:41:33] for that."

[2:41:34] Our guests that are staying with us

[2:41:36] right now are from

[2:41:38] Seattle.

[2:41:39] We've had people from all over all over

[2:41:41] the country and a few out of the

[2:41:44] country. And it's like, "How did you

[2:41:46] find us? This is crazy, little old

[2:41:47] Orem." Um

[2:41:49] but the comment they made to us this

[2:41:52] morning at 10:10 was,

[2:41:54] "I'm constantly blown away with how

[2:41:57] um perfectly you have created this

[2:41:59] space. It is clean and it has everything

[2:42:02] that is within need, and the views take

[2:42:05] my breath away. This is a high-stress

[2:42:08] week for us

[2:42:10] with intense emotions. So much

[2:42:13] um is going on. We are grateful to have

[2:42:15] this space to call home base,

[2:42:18] and we are truly blessed. So, we

[2:42:22] constantly have comments like this.

[2:42:25] Um and as my husband says, "Weddings,

[2:42:27] blessings, be well you, everything.

[2:42:30] Vacations, the medical is amazing,

[2:42:32] graduations."

[2:42:34] We have over 162 reviews, and we would

[2:42:37] encourage you to go in and read those to

[2:42:40] see how blessed we are with this Airbnb.

[2:42:43] Um it has been a great decision for us

[2:42:45] to create this Airbnb, and we've been

[2:42:47] very blessed with it. So, we would hope

[2:42:50] that you would keep that in your

[2:42:51] considerations. Thank you.

[2:42:53] >> Thank you.

[2:42:55] Right, Zach. And after

[2:42:58] Zach, Bennett Cookson will be up after

[2:43:01] Zach Golding.

[2:43:05] » Greetings, Orem City Council. My name is

[2:43:07] Zach Golding, and I'm a resident,

[2:43:09] business owner, and father here in Orem.

[2:43:12] I live within the City Center and Sharon

[2:43:14] Park neighborhoods. My wife and I

[2:43:16] started the Cascade Elementary School

[2:43:18] Bike Bus, and we are proud to say we are

[2:43:21] the largest bike bus in the state of

[2:43:22] Utah.

[2:43:24] A bike bus is a large group of parents

[2:43:26] and children who all ride their bikes

[2:43:28] together to school one day out of the

[2:43:30] week. We recently had Mayor McCandless

[2:43:32] ride with us last week, as well as

[2:43:35] Councilmember Lampson last year, and we

[2:43:37] look forward to having many other

[2:43:39] council members ride with us in the

[2:43:41] future.

[2:43:43] Um it's been an incredible experience to

[2:43:46] see kids gaining confidence and

[2:43:48] independence as they ride on our bike

[2:43:50] bus on bike bus days, also when they

[2:43:53] ride on their own during the week. Every

[2:43:56] month, our bike bus continues to grow

[2:43:58] with upwards of 70 people.

[2:44:01] Our route goes directly over the North

[2:44:03] Union Canal. I'm confident in saying

[2:44:05] that if the North Union Canal was turned

[2:44:07] into a pedestrian pathway, it would be

[2:44:09] used daily by the elementary school kids

[2:44:11] and their families that ride in our bike

[2:44:13] bus.

[2:44:14] Another benefit from this potential

[2:44:15] trail would be people accessing the

[2:44:17] farmers market here at the City Center

[2:44:19] Park every Wednesday during the summer

[2:44:22] months. As many of you can attest,

[2:44:24] parking here can be an absolute

[2:44:26] nightmare. I am also on the I am also a

[2:44:28] board member of the volunteer advocacy

[2:44:30] group Bike Orem that helps with the bike

[2:44:32] valet, where people can park their bikes

[2:44:34] as they ride ride to the farmers market.

[2:44:37] We see more and more student more and

[2:44:39] more residents riding their bikes to

[2:44:41] this weekly market. We appreciate all

[2:44:43] the improvements the city has made to

[2:44:45] the City Center Park, making it more

[2:44:47] pedestrian-friendly by adding more

[2:44:48] crosswalks and signals to help with the

[2:44:51] pedestrians accessing this beautiful

[2:44:53] community event. This potential future

[2:44:55] North Union Canal Trail will only

[2:44:58] encourage and increase more people to

[2:45:00] access the Farmers Market and many other

[2:45:03] city events in a safe way that reduces

[2:45:06] traffic and parking.

[2:45:08] I have spoken with many of you and I

[2:45:09] know that you are in support of this

[2:45:11] potential North Union Canal Trail. So,

[2:45:13] thank you. But I also realize that this

[2:45:17] project could be a lengthy process with

[2:45:19] many hurdles and barriers. I am here to

[2:45:22] voice my support and lend my efforts in

[2:45:24] any way I can to address any concerns

[2:45:27] residents have.

[2:45:29] I'm here to ask for the City Council to

[2:45:30] pursue turning the North Union Canal

[2:45:32] into a pedestrian-friendly pathway to

[2:45:34] strengthen our connections in our

[2:45:36] community. Thank you.

[2:45:38] >> Thank you.

[2:45:39] And if you've never ridden on a bike

[2:45:41] bus,

[2:45:43] it's it's fun. I Zach, I will be there

[2:45:45] Friday.

[2:45:47] Cuz I had so much fun on it.

[2:45:49] >> [gasps]

[2:45:49] >> All right. Um Bennett, and then after

[2:45:52] Mr. Cookson, we have Shauna Meakin.

[2:45:55] >> Okay.

[2:45:56] So, my name is Bennett Cookson, and for

[2:45:58] the last 16 years I've run my little

[2:46:01] piece of the canal to water my trees in my yard. I'm sad that that there's no

[2:46:07] longer going to be the

[2:46:09] canal, but also I've been part of it

[2:46:11] every year been part of a team that goes

[2:46:15] and helps clean the extended canal. Like

[2:46:18] not near my house, but miles from my

[2:46:20] house up the canal we're cleaning it

[2:46:22] every year, which is no longer going to

[2:46:24] be happening.

[2:46:26] Um so, I think those canals instead of

[2:46:28] being a benefit they're going to just

[2:46:29] going to become a hazard.

[2:46:31] Um

[2:46:32] and the other thing is that it's hard to

[2:46:35] find safe trails through any city. Orem

[2:46:39] has some particularly dangerous places.

[2:46:41] I've almost almost been hit on State

[2:46:43] Street,

[2:46:44] uh City Street, you know, this Center

[2:46:47] Street's got really dangerous places.

[2:46:49] There's not any place to ride. You're

[2:46:51] competing on the sidewalk.

[2:46:53] And so, there's a unique opportunity to

[2:46:55] be able to do on those canals because

[2:46:57] they travel through neighborhoods in

[2:46:59] ways there's no way that you could do

[2:47:01] that without having that the right

[2:47:05] that's canal pathway through. There's no

[2:47:07] way you could just plow through

[2:47:09] yards like that. And I think there's a

[2:47:11] lot of issues with land ownership and

[2:47:12] stuff, but I think it's worth

[2:47:14] um addressing those. And I think there's

[2:47:17] a huge value in doing that. Property

[2:47:19] values are going to go up. So, I think

[2:47:21] you can I

[2:47:22] do that. And also,

[2:47:24] the other topic of tonight has been the

[2:47:26] short-term rentals. So, let me just make

[2:47:28] one comment on that. I thank the city

[2:47:31] council in coming up with the very

[2:47:32] reasonable regulations because I think

[2:47:34] if you don't have reasonable

[2:47:35] regulations, you essentially have

[2:47:37] unregulated short-term rentals. And I

[2:47:40] have would have concerns on both sides.

[2:47:42] And I think the the thing to do would be

[2:47:44] to have well-regulated, good rules. And

[2:47:47] one example is we have a member of my

[2:47:49] family who

[2:47:51] And I wouldn't

[2:47:52] he lives in technically the owner lives

[2:47:55] in California. He's an owner, but he has

[2:47:57] a lot of family here including kids,

[2:48:00] children, and me as extended relative.

[2:48:03] And

[2:48:04] what he'd like to do is

[2:48:07] take a house that he might have a house

[2:48:09] that he can use and have a place to stay

[2:48:11] when he comes cuz he comes all the time.

[2:48:13] And the rest of time you can fill in the

[2:48:15] short-term rentals. Otherwise, you may

[2:48:16] not be able to afford to have a house

[2:48:17] sitting there vacant. And you wouldn't

[2:48:19] want a vacant house anyway.

[2:48:21] So, I think that's a reasonable use

[2:48:23] case.

[2:48:24] Um

[2:48:25] maybe the requirement would be not that

[2:48:27] the owner would have to be a resident,

[2:48:28] but that the owner would have to have a

[2:48:30] representative

[2:48:31] in arm that could help address problems.

[2:48:34] Thank you.

[2:48:35] >> All right. Thank you.

[2:48:37] All right.

[2:48:39] Um Ms. Meachem is up. And then after Ms.

[2:48:42] Meachem, Joshua Moore will be up.

[2:48:45] >> Thank you. I'm Shanna Meachem,

[2:48:46] co-director of Bike Orem. I want to

[2:48:49] express thanks for the crossbox around

[2:48:52] the city center, the temporary

[2:48:53] roundabout on 900 East. I biked through

[2:48:55] that every day. It was very fun. Love

[2:48:57] the heart. Uh Bike Orem's goal is to

[2:48:59] create safe streets for everyone and we

[2:49:01] see the North Union Provo Bench Canals

[2:49:03] as a way to support activity and

[2:49:06] community and just an everyday natural

[2:49:09] way, an opportunity that won't come

[2:49:11] again anywhere near the city center.

[2:49:13] So, our our primary goal with the North

[2:49:15] Union is to have a connected safe trail

[2:49:18] that ties in with other other trails,

[2:49:21] important regional trails. Uh to that

[2:49:24] end, we want to be a positive partner

[2:49:26] for the city

[2:49:27] uh in in creating this trail. We

[2:49:30] understand that it's not going to be an

[2:49:32] easy process uh that the trail may not

[2:49:35] follow the canal exactly or we might

[2:49:37] need some very creative interim

[2:49:39] solutions. Uh we want you to know that

[2:49:41] we're in this for the long haul. Uh

[2:49:43] after all, the Murdock Canal required a

[2:49:46] literal act of Congress and scrambling

[2:49:49] for money during the recession. We did

[2:49:51] hard things before and we can do it

[2:49:53] again. Thank you.

[2:49:54] >> Thank you.

[2:49:58] Right. Um Joshua Moore. All right, and

[2:50:01] after Mr. Moore, we have um Kim Poole.

[2:50:05] Welcome.

[2:50:07] >> Hey, I'm Joshua Moore and I'm a runner

[2:50:10] for Lakeridge Junior High and I plan to

[2:50:12] run for Mountain View Junior High or

[2:50:16] Mountain View High School.

[2:50:18] Um Orem is known around the state for

[2:50:21] its distance running, but what we don't

[2:50:23] have is a safe running trail that

[2:50:25] connects different parts of the city. If

[2:50:27] you're ever on the Murdock Canal Trail

[2:50:29] any Saturday of the year, you'll see

[2:50:31] NCAA champions

[2:50:34] for cross country and distance teams

[2:50:36] from BYU.

[2:50:37] Conference champion teams from UVU and

[2:50:40] state champion high school teams

[2:50:42] training.

[2:50:43] You will see Olympic medalist and

[2:50:44] American marathon hold record holder

[2:50:47] Conner Mantz and future Olympians like

[2:50:49] Jane Hennegrin

[2:50:51] um out training.

[2:50:53] Orem is a distance running Mecca. Right

[2:50:56] now high school teams and other runnings

[2:50:59] uh city running other people's running

[2:51:02] on city streets and sidewalks are often

[2:51:05] risking their lives while crossing

[2:51:07] streets and avoiding distracted drivers.

[2:51:10] Orem can make um a safe place to run

[2:51:14] across the city and we need to do it.

[2:51:17] Thank you.

[2:51:18] >> Thank you.

[2:51:19] And best of luck in your running.

[2:51:21] That's awesome.

[2:51:23] All right. Um Kim Poold and after

[2:51:26] um Ms. Poold, we have Laura Redford.

[2:51:32] » Hello.

[2:51:33] >> Hi. Thank you, Mayor and Councilman.

[2:51:36] Uh my name is Kim Poold and I have lived

[2:51:38] at 1458 North 75 East in Orem since

[2:51:41] 1991.

[2:51:43] I've served on city and school

[2:51:45] committees such as Neighborhoods in

[2:51:46] Action, PTA, and CERT.

[2:51:49] In 2021, the vacant house next door had

[2:51:52] been an eyesore for 7 years with a fire

[2:51:55] in the overgrown yard and break-ins

[2:51:57] requiring city responses.

[2:51:59] When the house went up for sale, I

[2:52:01] reached out to developers Kim and Sheri

[2:52:03] Best. I also called my daughter Katie,

[2:52:06] who had been unable to afford a home.

[2:52:09] We worked together on a plan to fit our

[2:52:11] needs and improve the neighborhood. To

[2:52:14] ensure our plan was legal, Katie

[2:52:16] explained to the city that she would

[2:52:17] rent the basement apartment to the

[2:52:19] Bests, who would then operate an STR as

[2:52:22] their own business.

[2:52:24] The clerk admitted this was an unusual

[2:52:26] arrangement and asked a supervisor for a

[2:52:28] second opinion.

[2:52:30] Only after both confirmed everything

[2:52:33] about the arrangement was compliant with

[2:52:34] city code, did we continue with the

[2:52:36] plan.

[2:52:38] The Best bought the home and rebuilt the

[2:52:40] top floor, and Katie purchased it

[2:52:43] Excuse me.

[2:52:44] from them in March 2022. After Katie

[2:52:48] moved in, my husband and I, using

[2:52:50] retirement savings,

[2:52:52] >> [clears throat]

[2:52:52] >> financed the significant cost of the

[2:52:54] basement remodel,

[2:52:56] including an exterior backyard entrance

[2:52:59] and wider driveway in keeping with city

[2:53:01] code.

[2:53:02] Imagine my confusion and frustration

[2:53:04] when last year I found out that Orem

[2:53:06] claimed there was a long-standing law

[2:53:08] which prohibited STRs.

[2:53:12] Not even city employees knew about that

[2:53:14] law when we were asking for

[2:53:16] clarification, and now the law surfaces?

[2:53:19] I expect better from my city government.

[2:53:22] I reflected my opinion of the dismissive

[2:53:24] attitude of current elected officials

[2:53:26] during last November's elections. I hope

[2:53:29] new leadership will be more

[2:53:30] representative and less reactional.

[2:53:34] These are some of the reasons

[2:53:36] um

[2:53:36] I support lawful short-term rentals in

[2:53:39] Orem.

[2:53:40] rentals and accessory apartments provide

[2:53:43] needed income to many families,

[2:53:45] especially with the drastic increase in

[2:53:46] housing costs.

[2:53:48] To suddenly change long-standing

[2:53:50] licensure would result in significant

[2:53:52] economic hardship.

[2:53:54] Orem guests

[2:53:56] Um this is a second one. Orem guests

[2:53:58] rely on short-term rentals due to a

[2:54:00] shortage of hotels in a city of nearly

[2:54:03] 100,000 people.

[2:54:05] Short-term rentals are often a second

[2:54:07] business often a family business, and I

[2:54:10] thought Orem supported small businesses.

[2:54:13] I have no complaints about the

[2:54:15] short-term rentals nearby. Guests are

[2:54:17] peace respectful owners

[2:54:20] and try hard to avoid disturbing our

[2:54:22] quiet neighborhood. And I would second

[2:54:23] some of the other opinions that a lot of

[2:54:26] the rentals in my neighborhood are much

[2:54:28] less maintained than the short-term

[2:54:31] rentals.

[2:54:32] If existing Orem

[2:54:34] laws for parking and noise are broken,

[2:54:37] then those short-term rentals should be

[2:54:38] fined and have licenses revoked. Why

[2:54:41] punish those who do follow the rules?

[2:54:44] >> I

[2:54:45] have a All right, you If you want to

[2:54:46] hand it over to um our city recorder,

[2:54:49] we'll make sure we get a copy of that.

[2:54:51] Thank you.

[2:54:53] All right, Ms. Redford, and after

[2:54:57] Ms. Redford, we have Sheryl Radmall.

[2:55:01] Hello.

[2:55:01] >> Hello.

[2:55:03] Mayor and City Council, my name is Laura

[2:55:05] Redford. My family and I live in the

[2:55:07] Northridge neighborhood of Orem.

[2:55:10] The Union Canal runs along our backyard

[2:55:12] and side yard.

[2:55:14] I'm here to let the council know that I

[2:55:16] support turning the canal into a path

[2:55:17] for walking and biking.

[2:55:19] I have concerns about what will happen

[2:55:21] to the canal

[2:55:22] now that it won't run water, who will be

[2:55:24] in charge of its upkeep.

[2:55:26] It already causes problems with weeds

[2:55:28] and thorny blackberry bushes that come

[2:55:30] into our yard,

[2:55:32] and I could see it collecting trash and

[2:55:34] other debris.

[2:55:35] As a homeowner, I would love to be able

[2:55:37] to install a gate and access a path for

[2:55:39] walks, biking, or even roller skating

[2:55:42] with my kids.

[2:55:44] I know there's a lot of property owners

[2:55:45] along the canal,

[2:55:47] um and it can be tricky to do this.

[2:55:50] Nevertheless, I urge the city to take up

[2:55:52] the project.

[2:55:54] It will provide a safer route to

[2:55:55] Timpanogos High School,

[2:55:57] um and other schools along the canal.

[2:56:01] I serve on the Transportation Advisory

[2:56:02] Commission for the city,

[2:56:04] and our uh city has made great strides

[2:56:07] in making school crossings safer for

[2:56:09] kids.

[2:56:10] I really appreciate that effort, and I

[2:56:12] feel like this would be an extension of

[2:56:14] that in getting kids to school safely.

[2:56:17] It would also be a terrific addition to

[2:56:18] our active transportation options in

[2:56:20] Orem.

[2:56:22] Thank you for your work on behalf of

[2:56:23] Orem residents. I appreciate your time.

[2:56:27] I hope you will seriously consider

[2:56:28] devoting city resource to this project

[2:56:31] and like Zach, I am willing to help as

[2:56:33] needed.

[2:56:34] >> Thank you. And thank you for your

[2:56:36] service on the transportation

[2:56:37] commission.

[2:56:39] All right, after Ms. Radmall, we have

[2:56:41] Sarah Bateman.

[2:56:47] » Hello, thank you for this opportunity. I

[2:56:48] am Sheryl Radmall. I am a new member of

[2:56:51] the neighborhood commission.

[2:56:53] Um, I do have a few thoughts about

[2:56:54] short-term rentals. I'd like to read a

[2:56:56] statement my sister wrote. Uh, she could

[2:56:59] not be here tonight cuz she had a

[2:57:00] meeting at her school.

[2:57:02] I live in the neighborhood in the

[2:57:03] southwest in southwest Orem. It is

[2:57:06] located just a few blocks from UVU.

[2:57:09] I have lived in my home for the past 8

[2:57:11] and 1/2 years. In late 2005, the home

[2:57:14] next door to me was sold to someone who

[2:57:16] lives in Hawaii.

[2:57:17] In early 2000 and 2026, I realized the

[2:57:20] home had been

[2:57:22] opened as an Airbnb. It is a six-bedroom

[2:57:25] that allows 17 guests to stay in the

[2:57:27] home.

[2:57:28] It has been filled at least 3 days each

[2:57:30] week since opening.

[2:57:32] Uh, because of the large number of

[2:57:33] guests that are allowed, there are

[2:57:35] always at least four vehicles associated

[2:57:37] with the party staying in the home. The

[2:57:39] driveway cannot accommodate that many

[2:57:41] vehicles, so the additional cars must

[2:57:43] park on the street. About a block and a

[2:57:45] half down the street is another Airbnb.

[2:57:48] It is a home with nine bedrooms that

[2:57:49] allows 30 guests to stay.

[2:57:52] I know of [snorts] another home on the

[2:57:53] street behind me that is using their

[2:57:55] basement apartment as an Airbnb. So,

[2:57:57] within a block of her home, there are

[2:57:59] three Airbnbs. Two of them are renting

[2:58:00] to large numbers of people. So, I'm

[2:58:02] afraid her experience is very different

[2:58:05] from the owners here that are speaking

[2:58:07] and

[2:58:08] um, and like I said, the house next door

[2:58:09] to her

[2:58:11] is um,

[2:58:13] the owners aren't even living in state.

[2:58:15] Uh, so I have a couple articles here uh,

[2:58:17] that I want to read real quickly from.

[2:58:19] "Airbnb began as a friendly alternative

[2:58:22] to hotels, an idea rooted in connection

[2:58:24] and authenticity, but over the past

[2:58:26] decade it has morphed into a powerful

[2:58:28] force in global real estate, one that is

[2:58:30] now blamed for distorting housing

[2:58:32] markets, accelerating gentrification,

[2:58:34] and altering the social fabric of

[2:58:36] cities. While travelers may see see

[2:58:38] convenience and charm, many [snorts]

[2:58:40] locals see displacement, unaffordable

[2:58:42] rents, and communities hollowed out by

[2:58:45] overtourism. Italy, Croatia, New York

[2:58:47] City, Spain, all popular tourism

[2:58:49] destina- destinations with severe

[2:58:52] housing challenges have recently

[2:58:54] launched crackdowns on holiday rentals.

[2:58:57] And this year Montreal is set to

[2:58:58] implement one of the strictest laws

[2:59:00] against short-term rentals in the

[2:59:02] world."

[2:59:03] So, my time's running out. I can leave

[2:59:04] this article. This article is from the

[2:59:06] Harvard Business Review. It's written by

[2:59:08] three professors. Um, it has a lot of

[2:59:11] controls, a lot of kind of technical

[2:59:13] talk that really, basically, talking

[2:59:15] about the negative impact economically

[2:59:18] for housing and for rentals from

[2:59:21] short-term rentals. So, I'll leave these

[2:59:22] articles. I can email you copies of

[2:59:24] them.

[2:59:25] Thank you so much for your time.

[2:59:28] >> Thank you. Appreciate the information.

[2:59:30] Right. Thank you. Um, Ms. Bateman, and

[2:59:33] then after Ms. Bateman, we have Brendan Beal.

[2:59:40] So, welcome.

[2:59:41] >> Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name

[2:59:43] is Sarah Bateman, and, uh, this year

[2:59:46] marks 25 years that I've lived in the

[2:59:48] Geneva neighborhood, so

[2:59:50] thank you for letting us speak tonight.

[2:59:52] I am here to speak, uh, to the possible

[2:59:55] conversion by the city of the defunct

[2:59:57] North Union Canal into a walking and

[3:00:00] biking trail. I love the idea of

[3:00:02] investing in spaces that encourage an

[3:00:04] active lifestyle and wholesome

[3:00:07] recreation for families.

[3:00:09] These public spaces can also contribute

[3:00:12] to improved social health of our

[3:00:14] community members, something that

[3:00:16] significantly factors into quality of

[3:00:18] life and longevity.

[3:00:21] I do not live along the canal,

[3:00:24] um, but I understand that some neighbors

[3:00:26] are eagerly supporting the idea and some

[3:00:29] do not.

[3:00:30] And that some sections of the canal are

[3:00:32] more conducive to a safe conversion and

[3:00:34] others

[3:00:35] than others.

[3:00:37] So, should the city decide to explore

[3:00:39] this option, I encourage

[3:00:42] robust outreach and good faith efforts

[3:00:44] to hear from the neighbors and

[3:00:46] facilitate creative problem-solving for

[3:00:49] improved buy-in to whichever choice the

[3:00:51] city makes. Of all the wonderful assets

[3:00:54] Orem has to offer, working together as

[3:00:58] neighbors should be a signature of who

[3:01:00] we are. Thank you.

[3:01:02] >> Thank you.

[3:01:03] All right. Mr. Beal, Brendan Beal.

[3:01:08] Right. No, I guess not here.

[3:01:12] And Derek?

[3:01:14] Is there a Derek here?

[3:01:17] Okay.

[3:01:19] And our final person final guest this

[3:01:22] evening is Vardon Hatfield. If you'd

[3:01:24] like to come up.

[3:01:25] >> [sighs]

[3:01:26] >> Thank you.

[3:01:28] >> Hi.

[3:01:29] I'm Vardon and I've lived in Orem,

[3:01:31] northeast Orem, for about 27 years now

[3:01:34] and love it.

[3:01:35] Um, I'm an avid biker and a vice chair

[3:01:38] of the Utah Valley Trails Alliance,

[3:01:41] uh, where we now have, thanks to Orem

[3:01:43] City,

[3:01:45] a little over a million dollars of

[3:01:47] trails under construction this summer

[3:01:49] and next summer.

[3:01:50] Um, that's a result of the 500,000 or

[3:01:53] more that Orem is spending on the

[3:01:55] Timpanogos Foothills Trail.

[3:01:57] We were able to use that as a match for

[3:02:00] Utah Valley,

[3:02:02] uh, for a Utah State outdoor recreation

[3:02:04] grant. So,

[3:02:06] um, we're we're avid connector. I also

[3:02:09] have a son who had a brain injury 3

[3:02:11] years ago and has difficulty with

[3:02:12] vision.

[3:02:14] And he is able to he loves that Murdock

[3:02:16] Canal Trail. He's able to bike on that

[3:02:19] and not worry so much about traffic or

[3:02:21] stoplights.

[3:02:23] And

[3:02:24] my daughter and I decided to try a

[3:02:27] 100-mile bike ride last last weekend.

[3:02:31] And we were able to ride from our house

[3:02:33] in Northeast Orem along the Murdock

[3:02:34] Canal Trail, connect with Jordan River

[3:02:37] all the way up to I-80 on on dedicated

[3:02:40] trails.

[3:02:42] But the but the challenge is right now,

[3:02:45] we don't have a good connection through

[3:02:47] the central part of Orem.

[3:02:49] And the North Union Canal would be a

[3:02:50] wonderful way to provide that to get

[3:02:52] right through the center of Orem and

[3:02:55] even the the backside on the the bottom

[3:02:57] part of Palisade Drive, that hill could

[3:03:00] connect us right up to the Provo River

[3:03:03] Trail as well. So, I'm very much in

[3:03:06] support of the project and and feel it

[3:03:08] would be a wise use of of resources. The per capita cost of the Murdock Canal

[3:03:15] Trail surely by now is minimal.

[3:03:18] And I think we'd see even even more use

[3:03:21] on the North Union Canal Trail. So,

[3:03:23] thank you for your support of biking and

[3:03:26] outdoor recreation and I I hope we find

[3:03:29] more of that with this project. Thanks.

[3:03:32] >> All right. Thank you.

[3:03:34] All right.

[3:03:35] >> Um

[3:03:36] esteemed staff, who who can I ask who can answer questions just very basic

[3:03:41] about where we are with the canal,

[3:03:43] >> [gasps]

[3:03:43] >> uh the project and some maybe a couple

[3:03:46] of the challenges that we face.

[3:03:48] One of the challenges we face, I think,

[3:03:49] is we don't own it.

[3:03:52] So, just a minor one, but anyway. I

[3:03:55] don't know who who would

[3:03:56] >> Mayor and council, I I can maybe give a

[3:03:59] uh general overview

[3:04:00] and um and Gary, of course can can fill

[3:04:03] in some

[3:04:05] a little bit more details but we did

[3:04:08] apply for a grant to help us study this

[3:04:12] turning the the canal abandonment into a

[3:04:14] potential trail. Part of that study

[3:04:17] effort would include communication and

[3:04:20] education with adjacent property owners.

[3:04:23] And then since then we have also engaged

[3:04:28] with state legislators primarily

[3:04:31] representative Nelson Abbott to try to

[3:04:33] see if there would be sort of state

[3:04:36] assistance and solutions and legislation

[3:04:39] even. Some

[3:04:42] of that has had limited success but it's

[3:04:45] nice to know that we've got advocates on

[3:04:47] our side

[3:04:48] up with the state.

[3:04:50] In terms of next steps

[3:04:52] we we need to continue to build

[3:04:54] partnerships with like MAG who came MAG

[3:04:58] representatives who Mountain Lion

[3:04:59] Association of Governments came to our

[3:05:01] work session today and then Provo

[3:05:04] the east side of this bench uh

[3:05:08] of this canal right-of-way

[3:05:10] is is actually

[3:05:13] consists of our border with Provo City

[3:05:16] and so if we can

[3:05:17] connect with them and get Provo City

[3:05:19] support then I think that would give us

[3:05:21] a real leg up in in getting to a

[3:05:25] solution and getting to a trail for for

[3:05:27] this project.

[3:05:29] If we could just snap our fingers and

[3:05:32] you know have it fully developed and

[3:05:35] funded and a trail I think we could

[3:05:38] develop really quick and easy you know

[3:05:41] general support

[3:05:43] but there is some distance between where

[3:05:45] we're at today and getting to that point

[3:05:48] but that doesn't mean we won't continue

[3:05:50] to to try and and see what we can do.

[3:05:53] I'm very encouraged by the public

[3:05:55] feedback we've gotten here tonight and

[3:05:58] I'm very hopeful that that is indicative

[3:06:01] of

[3:06:02] our Orem population generally.

[3:06:05] We we have heard that there are some

[3:06:07] potential

[3:06:09] residents who live immediately adjacent

[3:06:11] at least in some portions of the right

[3:06:13] of way that that may have some concerns

[3:06:15] and so we'll just need to communicate

[3:06:17] and collaborate with them and and see if

[3:06:19] there is a solution that we can get to.

[3:06:22] If I was a betting person, I think we

[3:06:24] can get to some solutions along portions

[3:06:26] of the corridor

[3:06:28] at the very least, but again, we'll do whatever we can.

[3:06:33] Gary, anything else you would add to

[3:06:34] that?

[3:06:36] >> What he said.

[3:06:40] » All right, thank you. Thank you to all

[3:06:42] who have come and spoken on these

[3:06:44] important issues. Appreciate you taking

[3:06:46] the time to be here.

[3:06:49] We're going to go ahead and move to our

[3:06:50] scheduled items.

[3:06:52] And we have two.

[3:06:53] And the first one is about item 10.1.

[3:06:59] Appointments. Appointments to the

[3:07:00] Natural Resources Advisory Commission.

[3:07:03] And so

[3:07:06] the the way that our our city code reads

[3:07:09] is that appointments to our commissions,

[3:07:13] the mayor makes a recommendation and to make the appointments with the advice

[3:07:18] and consent of the city council.

[3:07:21] So, I'm actually going to break this

[3:07:22] down into several different steps. We're

[3:07:24] going to vote on each of these

[3:07:26] individuals

[3:07:27] individually rather than as a whole

[3:07:29] group.

[3:07:31] So, the first name I would like to

[3:07:33] present to the council for the Natural

[3:07:36] Resources Advisory Commission is Robert

[3:07:38] McFadden. Is Mr. McFadden here?

[3:07:42] All right, thank you. Thanks for coming

[3:07:44] this evening.

[3:07:46] And so I

[3:07:49] open it up for discussion or motion.

[3:07:52] Uh to to appoint Mr. McFadden to the

[3:07:56] Natural Resources Advisory Commission.

[3:07:59] >> I motion to appoint Robert McFadden to

[3:08:02] our Natural Resources Commission. He

[3:08:03] served on Beautification Commission

[3:08:05] previously and we're going to be happy

[3:08:08] to have him in Natural Resources if it's

[3:08:09] approved.

[3:08:10] >> I second that.

[3:08:11] >> All right, thank you. We have a motion

[3:08:12] and a second. All right, we'll just

[3:08:15] follow down this row. Council member

[3:08:17] Millett, how would you vote?

[3:08:18] >> I.

[3:08:26] >> All right, motion carries. Thank you and

[3:08:28] welcome.

[3:08:29] to the Natural Resources

[3:08:31] Commission. We look forward to your

[3:08:33] service and your expertise.

[3:08:36] Right, the second second name

[3:08:39] being put forth this evening is to

[3:08:42] appoint Tara Bishop to the Natural

[3:08:45] Resources Advisory Commission.

[3:08:48] So,

[3:08:49] I would

[3:08:51] be open to discussion or motion,

[3:08:54] whatever the council

[3:08:56] >> Mayor, I'd like to make a motion that we

[3:08:57] table the appointment of Tara Bishop for

[3:08:59] the Natural Resources Commission.

[3:09:02] >> All right, we have a motion.

[3:09:05] Is there a second?

[3:09:08] » I'll second that.

[3:09:09] >> All right, we have a motion and a second

[3:09:11] to table the nomination of table of Tara

[3:09:14] Bishop

[3:09:16] to the Natural Resources Advisory

[3:09:18] Commission.

[3:09:20] All right, we'll go ahead and start with

[3:09:22] you Council member Meacham.

[3:09:25] >> Nay.

[3:09:26] >> Put nay.

[3:09:27] >> Nay.

[3:09:28] >> I.

[3:09:30] >> Nay.

[3:09:31] >> I.

[3:09:34] >> Oh, so it was a 4-3. Is that what we

[3:09:37] have? Okay.

[3:09:39] So,

[3:09:40] the motion failed to pass.

[3:09:45] » I motion to appoint Tara Bishop to the

[3:09:47] Natural Resources Commission.

[3:09:49] >> I second it.

[3:09:50] >> Okay, we have a motion and a second to

[3:09:52] appoint Tara Bishop to the Natural

[3:09:55] Resources Advisory Commission.

[3:09:58] And I'll start off and I'll vote I.

[3:09:59] >> Oh, Mayor, I'd like to open that for

[3:10:00] discussion.

[3:10:01] >> Oh, well, I'm I'm sorry. Yes, any

[3:10:02] discussion?

[3:10:04] >> I have a comment I'd like to make.

[3:10:06] Um, Mayor and colleagues, I want to

[3:10:07] begin by saying I appreciate everyone

[3:10:10] who is willing to volunteer their time

[3:10:12] to serve on our boards and commissions.

[3:10:14] These volunteers play an important role

[3:10:17] in advising the council, interacting

[3:10:19] with residents, and helping our city

[3:10:21] move forward.

[3:10:23] Our boards and commissions are important

[3:10:25] extensions of the work of this council.

[3:10:29] The individuals who serve there

[3:10:31] represent the civic culture of Orem.

[3:10:35] And because of that, the standard of

[3:10:38] respectful engagement and civil

[3:10:40] discourse matters.

[3:10:43] Less than 5 months ago, during a

[3:10:45] candidate debate at UVU, an incident

[3:10:48] occurred involving the proposed

[3:10:50] appointee.

[3:10:51] While seated in the front row, there

[3:10:54] were were repeated visible reactions

[3:10:57] during my responses to the questions.

[3:10:59] And one And at one point, a verbal

[3:11:02] interruption calling out, "That's not

[3:11:05] true."

[3:11:06] which disrupted the debate and required

[3:11:09] moderator intervention to restore

[3:11:11] decorum.

[3:11:13] This exchange is also visible in the

[3:11:15] publicly available recording of that

[3:11:17] debate.

[3:11:19] Disagreement is a healthy and necessary

[3:11:22] part of civic life.

[3:11:24] We should welcome differing viewpoints.

[3:11:28] But in formal public settings,

[3:11:30] there is also an expectation of decorum

[3:11:34] and respect so that dialogue can remain

[3:11:37] constructive.

[3:11:39] This is not about a personal

[3:11:40] disagreement or political differences.

[3:11:44] It is about maintaining a culture of

[3:11:46] professionalism,

[3:11:48] respect, and constructive participation

[3:11:52] in the work of our city.

[3:11:54] For me, when we make appointments to our

[3:11:57] boards and commissions,

[3:11:58] we should apply a consistent expectation

[3:12:02] that those representing the city

[3:12:05] conduct themselves respectfully in

[3:12:07] public forums.

[3:12:09] I believe it's important that we apply

[3:12:12] the same expectations of respectful

[3:12:15] public conduct conduct to everyone we

[3:12:18] appoint to represent our city.

[3:12:20] When we appoint someone to a city

[3:12:21] commission, we are not only selecting

[3:12:23] someone with an interest in the subject

[3:12:25] area,

[3:12:26] we are selecting someone who will

[3:12:28] represent Orem in public meetings and in

[3:12:31] interactions with residents, staff, and

[3:12:35] city leadership.

[3:12:37] In my view, it would be more appropriate

[3:12:40] at this time to consider other

[3:12:41] applicants who demonstrate the standard

[3:12:44] of respectful public engagement that we

[3:12:47] hope to see from those representing our

[3:12:49] city.

[3:12:50] Therefore, I will not be supporting this

[3:12:52] appointment tonight.

[3:12:54] I hope my colleagues will join with me

[3:12:57] in upholding a standard of civility,

[3:13:01] respect,

[3:13:03] and constructive public engagement for

[3:13:06] those who represent the city of Orem on

[3:13:08] our boards and commissions. Thank you,

[3:13:10] Mayor.

[3:13:12] >> Thank you. I appreciate your appreciate

[3:13:15] your thoughts and your comments on that.

[3:13:17] Thank you. Certainly, I'm sorry. I I

[3:13:19] didn't I neglected to ask any more

[3:13:20] discussion

[3:13:21] on on this?

[3:13:24] Okay.

[3:13:25] Mr. Uh Councilmember Meekam.

[3:13:27] >> Yeah, I I do appreciate uh those

[3:13:29] thoughts um

[3:13:31] uh that we just heard and also support

[3:13:33] the idea that uh anyone who is serving

[3:13:36] in a public capacity uh has an

[3:13:38] obligation to treat one another with

[3:13:40] respect and with uh with grace. And I

[3:13:43] hope that that's something that we can

[3:13:44] role model as a as a council as we make

[3:13:46] these appointments.

[3:13:48] Um I'm I'm grateful for those who are

[3:13:50] willing to serve. And uh I hope that we

[3:13:53] will hold those that we do appoint

[3:13:54] tonight to that standard. Thank you.

[3:13:58] >> Thank you. Anybody else?

[3:14:02] I just wanted just say I I echo what um

[3:14:05] Councilman Vermillion says. I I expect

[3:14:08] in the capacity as commissioners and

[3:14:11] representatives of the city that they

[3:14:13] that those we do appoint uphold a

[3:14:16] standard of respect and dignity and and

[3:14:19] good behavior.

[3:14:22] All right. On that note

[3:14:24] if there's no other discussion

[3:14:26] um I guess it's my turn to start off.

[3:14:28] I'm going to vote I.

[3:14:30] >> [gasps]

[3:14:31] >> I.

[3:14:33] >> Nay.

[3:14:34] >> I.

[3:14:35] >> Nay.

[3:14:38] >> I.

[3:14:39] >> All right. Motion carries um four to

[3:14:41] three. Thank you.

[3:14:44] All right. The next item on the agenda

[3:14:46] are appointments to the planning

[3:14:48] commission. Again, these are

[3:14:50] appointments

[3:14:51] that um

[3:14:54] are the are recommendations that the

[3:14:56] mayor gives to the city council with

[3:14:58] advice and consent, but I would like um

[3:15:00] to just give a moment to Councilmember Meekam who is the city

[3:15:06] council representative

[3:15:09] with the planning commission to talk

[3:15:10] about these appointments.

[3:15:14] >> Yeah. Uh thank you, Mayor.

[3:15:17] Uh as we mentioned in our meeting in

[3:15:19] February where we also had planning

[3:15:20] commission appointments, uh this is a a

[3:15:22] really important commission. We're we're

[3:15:24] so grateful for those who serve. Our

[3:15:27] planning commission chair Madeline Koman

[3:15:28] is here with us tonight. We're grateful

[3:15:29] for for service and the way that she

[3:15:32] uh

[3:15:32] leads uh that commission Uh with grace

[3:15:35] and dignity. Really grateful for that,

[3:15:37] Madeline.

[3:15:38] Uh

[3:15:39] because this is

[3:15:40] an important responsibility, we've

[3:15:42] invited all of the council members and

[3:15:45] the mayor to consider a range of

[3:15:47] applicants. We've had uh now

[3:15:50] 15 interviews of planning commission

[3:15:53] candidates and we anticipate that we

[3:15:55] will have additional planning commission

[3:15:57] appointments at some time in the future

[3:15:58] as well.

[3:15:59] But I just want to to express

[3:16:02] appreciation to the council and the

[3:16:03] mayor for taking this responsibility so

[3:16:06] seriously and being so engaged in in

[3:16:09] talking to those who are willing to

[3:16:12] serve in our community.

[3:16:13] We've really tried, I think, to find a

[3:16:15] way to bring candidates on our planning

[3:16:18] commission that have widespread support

[3:16:20] across the council.

[3:16:22] I also want to mention that we do have

[3:16:24] one council member, Mike Carpenter, who

[3:16:27] or sorry, a

[3:16:29] planning commissioner, Mike Carpenter,

[3:16:30] who

[3:16:31] has finished his term. He finished his term on planning commission in

[3:16:35] December. He's been graciously willing

[3:16:37] to stay on for

[3:16:39] a couple of months beyond that. We've

[3:16:40] needed him in in that role. He's served

[3:16:42] an important role as vice chair

[3:16:44] of our planning commission and and uh we just want to express I want to

[3:16:48] express my personal appreciation for the

[3:16:51] way in which

[3:16:52] he's really sought to represent Orem and many of the concerns of

[3:16:57] neighbors around Orem throughout his

[3:16:59] time on planning commission. Thank you.

[3:17:02] >> All right, thank you. And I too want to

[3:17:04] express my appreciation to the council

[3:17:07] for taking the time. It was a tremendous

[3:17:09] amount of time to interview and ponder

[3:17:13] and make recommendations to me as to as

[3:17:17] to who to appoint. I also want to

[3:17:19] express my appreciation to Mr. Carpenter

[3:17:22] for his service on the planning

[3:17:24] commission and appreciate his his

[3:17:26] interest in in civic matters and and for

[3:17:29] the the positive contribution that he's

[3:17:31] made.

[3:17:32] I'm going to go ahead and do the same

[3:17:33] thing as we did with the other

[3:17:36] appointments. I have two as the mayor

[3:17:38] and we have two recommendations

[3:17:40] and we'll just take we each one

[3:17:41] individually. I first would like to

[3:17:44] recommend Michael Ladle

[3:17:46] at to be appointed as a member of the

[3:17:48] planning commission. Mr. Ladle, are you

[3:17:50] here this evening per chance?

[3:17:53] Okay, I don't see Okay, don't see

[3:17:55] So,

[3:17:56] that would that would be my

[3:17:57] recommendation and so I would

[3:18:00] >> Oh,

[3:18:00] are you ready for a motion? What's that?

[3:18:02] Are you ready for a motion?

[3:18:03] >> I'm ready for a motion. Yes.

[3:18:05] >> were asking for one.

[3:18:06] >> Um I I make a motion that we approve

[3:18:08] Michael and I think it's Ladell

[3:18:10] >> Ladell? Oh, I am so sorry Mr. Ladell if

[3:18:13] you're in the camera. Sorry. [laughter]

[3:18:15] Ladell.

[3:18:17] >> I'll second that.

[3:18:19] >> All right, we have a motion and a

[3:18:20] second. Is there any more discussion on

[3:18:22] Mr. Ladell's appointment to the planning

[3:18:25] commission?

[3:18:27] All right, we'll start voting with Mr.

[3:18:28] Council member Kilpack.

[3:18:29] >> I.

[3:18:35] Okay, motion carries.

[3:18:38] Okay, thank you and our final

[3:18:40] My final recommendation this evening is

[3:18:44] to appoint Jeff Reeves

[3:18:46] at to be a member of the planning

[3:18:48] commission. Are you here this evening

[3:18:51] Mr. Reeves?

[3:18:52] >> He's not.

[3:18:52] >> Okay, he's not here this evening as

[3:18:54] well. So, at this time I would open it

[3:18:57] up for discussion or motion, whatever

[3:19:00] you you see fit council.

[3:19:02] >> I'd actually like to say something if I

[3:19:04] may.

[3:19:05] >> Okay.

[3:19:05] >> Is it appropriate now? Okay. Um

[3:19:08] as we consider these planning commission

[3:19:09] appointments, I'd like to highlight a

[3:19:11] principle that I believe is important in

[3:19:13] the effectiveness and credibility of um

[3:19:16] that body, our planning commission, and

[3:19:18] that is one of broad geographic

[3:19:19] representation across our city.

[3:19:22] The Planning Commission makes

[3:19:23] recommendations that shape land use,

[3:19:26] development, and zoning decisions that

[3:19:28] affect every neighborhood in Orem.

[3:19:32] Because of that, it is valuable for the

[3:19:34] commission to reflect a range of

[3:19:37] perspectives from across our city,

[3:19:39] not only in experience and background,

[3:19:43] but also geographically.

[3:19:45] Orem is made up of many distinct

[3:19:47] neighborhoods, each with its own

[3:19:49] character,

[3:19:50] priorities, and especially with their

[3:19:53] own experiences with growth and with

[3:19:56] development.

[3:19:58] When residents from different areas of

[3:19:59] the city are represented on the

[3:20:01] commission, it brings a broader

[3:20:03] understanding of how decisions impact

[3:20:06] our community as a whole.

[3:20:09] When multiple members live within just a

[3:20:11] few blocks of one another, it naturally

[3:20:14] raises the question of whether we are

[3:20:17] capturing the full range of neighborhood

[3:20:20] perspectives across Orem.

[3:20:23] A commission that draws members from

[3:20:24] different parts of the city strengthens

[3:20:27] those discussions, improves the

[3:20:29] recommendations that come forward, and

[3:20:32] helps the residents feel

[3:20:35] that their neighborhoods are being

[3:20:36] representative

[3:20:38] and represented.

[3:20:40] And I've heard that several times from

[3:20:42] certain areas of Orem

[3:20:44] in my last 4 years on the council.

[3:20:47] As we make appointments tonight, I hope

[3:20:49] that we will continue working toward a

[3:20:52] Planning Commission that reflects a full

[3:20:54] geography of Orem and

[3:20:58] represents the diverse voices of our

[3:21:01] community. Thank you, Mayor.

[3:21:03] >> All right, thank you. Appreciate your thoughts. Anybody else? Um Council

[3:21:08] member Millstein.

[3:21:10] >> We're in a very unusual situation in

[3:21:13] which we are replacing five commission

[3:21:16] members at one time due to many reasons

[3:21:20] as to why that's happening.

[3:21:22] I question

[3:21:25] the

[3:21:26] uh

[3:21:28] decision to replace a long-standing

[3:21:31] member

[3:21:33] at this time leaving our chair in a

[3:21:35] position where she needs to train so

[3:21:37] many people and I just wanted to voice

[3:21:39] that publicly.

[3:21:41] >> Well, thank you. I appreciate your your

[3:21:43] thoughts on that about that we do have

[3:21:46] our planning commission chair here in

[3:21:47] the audience this evening. Um chair Colvin, I appreciate your

[3:21:52] service

[3:21:53] and and willingness to to be uh part of

[3:21:57] our planning commission.

[3:21:59] Is there any other discussion?

[3:22:02] >> I I I guess I'll also voice my concern

[3:22:04] at the appointment of this time the

[3:22:05] replacement of that commission member at

[3:22:07] this time because of the the

[3:22:11] number of

[3:22:13] members who are new. I feel experience

[3:22:15] is very important on our planning

[3:22:17] commission

[3:22:18] and um

[3:22:20] would like to

[3:22:21] just do that as a vote of support for

[3:22:23] our planning commission

[3:22:25] uh chair. Sorry about this.

[3:22:28] >> All right, thank you.

[3:22:30] Yes, I know I've I've been a planning

[3:22:31] commission chair before. Um not not in

[3:22:34] this

[3:22:35] not here in Warren but in in another

[3:22:37] entity and yes, I understand the

[3:22:41] that goes into that and understand the

[3:22:44] So, but thank you.

[3:22:46] All right, Council, any other

[3:22:47] discussion?

[3:22:50] All right.

[3:22:53] What would you like to do?

[3:22:56] » I motion to appoint Jeff Reeves to the

[3:22:58] planning commission.

[3:22:59] >> Can we have a motion to approve Jeff

[3:23:00] Reeves to the planning commission?

[3:23:05] » I'll second.

[3:23:06] >> Okay, we have a second.

[3:23:08] To um

[3:23:09] >> [clears throat]

[3:23:09] >> All right, we'll go ahead and take a

[3:23:10] vote. Council member Mealsteen.

[3:23:12] >> Nay.

[3:23:13] >> Aye.

[3:23:15] >> Nay.

[3:23:17] >> Aye.

[3:23:18] >> And I vote aye.

[3:23:19] >> Aye.

[3:23:21] >> Right, the motion carries. Thank you.

[3:23:24] All right, the next item on our agenda

[3:23:26] is number 11, financial items. You have

[3:23:28] in your packet a copy of the monthly uh

[3:23:31] January 2026

[3:23:33] uh monthly financial statement

[3:23:35] on that.

[3:23:37] And just that's for information only.

[3:23:39] And then number item 12, city manager

[3:23:42] information item. So, we'll turn the

[3:23:44] time over to uh Mr. Whybray.

[3:23:47] >> Thank you so much. Um just a few items

[3:23:49] tonight. So, want to give one last plug

[3:23:52] and reminder of our State of the City

[3:23:53] event this Thursday morning at 10:00

[3:23:57] a.m. in our library hall.

[3:23:59] Um and then uh I know that you're many

[3:24:03] of you are probably getting questions

[3:24:05] and concerns from Orem residents,

[3:24:07] particularly particularly those that

[3:24:09] live kind of north of 12th North, 1600

[3:24:12] North, about the uh upcoming uh Lindon

[3:24:16] open house and the traffic that that's

[3:24:17] going to cause, the potential parking.

[3:24:19] Just want you to feel assured and please

[3:24:22] help assure the residents over there

[3:24:24] that um

[3:24:26] Orem is involved. We have been in

[3:24:28] communication and attempting to

[3:24:30] collaborate and even offer uh resources

[3:24:33] and help during the the time of the open

[3:24:36] house. And uh our tiger traffic team has

[3:24:39] been in communication with Lindon's

[3:24:41] staff and and our our public safety

[3:24:44] leadership. So, uh and if uh you want to

[3:24:47] encourage any residents to uh

[3:24:50] um

[3:24:52] travel south and go shop at, you know,

[3:24:54] University Place rather than up into

[3:24:56] Lindon, then that would have helped with

[3:24:58] the uh traffic

[3:25:00] as well.

[3:25:01] Uh

[3:25:03] >> Nice news.

[3:25:04] >> Shameless plug for shopping in Orem.

[3:25:06] >> And this audience, too. if you ride your

[3:25:07] bicycle to the temple open house, it's

[3:25:10] all downhill to University Place.

[3:25:13] >> The Murdock Canal is right next to it.

[3:25:17] » Okay. Um I wish I would have said that

[3:25:19] with a straighter face.

[3:25:21] Um

[3:25:23] as you know, the uh state legislative

[3:25:25] session is is is done.

[3:25:28] Um we will still have some of our state

[3:25:30] legislators come in and and present and

[3:25:32] share some of the things that they feel

[3:25:34] uh have been accomplished for for Orem

[3:25:37] during the legislative session. I will

[3:25:39] just also um

[3:25:41] uh say myself that I think that this has

[3:25:43] been one of the more effective uh

[3:25:46] legislative sessions that Orem and

[3:25:47] cities have had and super appreciate the

[3:25:51] time and effort and uh

[3:25:53] communication and relationships that

[3:25:56] you've uh uh developed during the

[3:25:58] legislative session. It has been

[3:26:00] effective. One uh that I'm particularly

[3:26:03] interested in and that we've already got

[3:26:05] our strategy and innovation staff

[3:26:07] looking into is House Bill 492. That's

[3:26:10] been a bill that's been in the works for

[3:26:12] multiple years and it's money being set

[3:26:15] aside for um uh housing renewal efforts.

[3:26:19] So, um that's one that uh uh we're we're

[3:26:23] keeping a sharp eye on and we're we're

[3:26:25] ready to see if we can't get some of

[3:26:27] those dollars here to Orem.

[3:26:29] Um and then

[3:26:32] uh we've talked a lot about the water

[3:26:33] reuse project. There will also be a

[3:26:35] neighborhood meeting this coming um

[3:26:39] Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

[3:26:43] >> Where it's right now.

[3:26:44] >> At that Sleepy Ridge Golf Course.

[3:26:45] >> At Sleepy Ridge Golf Course and that

[3:26:47] will be to, you know, educate those

[3:26:49] residents that are more adjacent to that project. That uh a calendar invite

[3:26:55] has has been put on your calendar so

[3:26:57] that you're aware of it. Um

[3:27:00] uh

[3:27:00] you know, we want to make sure that

[3:27:01] we're being proactive and and going the

[3:27:03] extra mile in communication with our

[3:27:05] residents.

[3:27:06] >> Mhm. Brent, if I could if I could

[3:27:07] insert, too. We've we've sent letters

[3:27:09] with the help of Pete Wolsey and the

[3:27:11] communications team to all the

[3:27:12] neighborhood that is adjacent to the

[3:27:15] golf course and Lakeside Sports Park, so

[3:27:17] they're aware of the transition to water

[3:27:19] reuse and its benefits and

[3:27:22] the do's and don'ts of using that water.

[3:27:26] >> Don't drink from the hose, right? Or the

[3:27:28] sprinklers.

[3:27:29] >> Don't drink the water.

[3:27:31] >> Thank you, Chris. One last little

[3:27:34] uh,

[3:27:34] shout-out to our uh, Library Hall staff.

[3:27:38] They we have had two

[3:27:41] um, sold-out classes for the water-wise

[3:27:44] classes. They're in the Library Hall, so

[3:27:47] I think that we'll even try to offer

[3:27:49] some more of those, so uh, pretty fun

[3:27:52] that um, our residents are are paying

[3:27:54] attention to the programming and and

[3:27:57] educational opportunities provided in

[3:27:59] our Library Hall.

[3:28:00] That's all I have.

[3:28:01] >> I do have a question. If you just

[3:28:02] clarify, when is the next time that we will be

[3:28:06] meeting in here as a City Council?

[3:28:08] >> Oh, good point. Um, we won't have

[3:28:11] another City Council regular session

[3:28:14] meeting

[3:28:15] uh, until April 28th, so the fourth um,

[3:28:19] Tuesday in April. And that's because uh,

[3:28:22] later this month uh, um,

[3:28:26] we are uh, tak-

[3:28:29] uh, Mayor and and I and some of uh, the

[3:28:32] exact staff are are taking a trip to DC

[3:28:35] to uh, continue to meet with our federal

[3:28:38] delegation to get back as many dollars

[3:28:41] as we can to Orem and to Orem projects.

[3:28:44] Uh,

[3:28:45] much like uh, we experienced today in

[3:28:48] uh, at our wastewater treatment plant.

[3:28:50] And then on April 14th, we will have a

[3:28:53] uh, a work session, but not a a regular

[3:28:56] session because of the um Utah Valley

[3:28:58] Chamber Pillar of the Valley event that

[3:29:02] >> All right, thank you. And just so you

[3:29:04] know um council members too that we did

[3:29:07] submit how many applications to the um

[3:29:11] congre- congressional delegation for

[3:29:13] projects? Is it two? Two different

[3:29:15] projects where we're asking funding for.

[3:29:17] And so we'll as when we go there we'll

[3:29:19] be we'll be promoting and discussing

[3:29:22] those.

[3:29:23] >> We've been quite successful in recent

[3:29:25] years uh literally bringing back

[3:29:27] millions multi-millions of dollars for

[3:29:30] uh these Orem specific beneficial

[3:29:33] projects.

[3:29:36] » All right, thank you. Okay, Mr. Earl, I

[3:29:38] need to a little guidance on how this is

[3:29:40] supposed to be done because we're we

[3:29:42] need to go back to

[3:29:45] our closed door session. So how how does

[3:29:47] that motion need to be?

[3:29:49] >> Um just the [clears throat] same as as

[3:29:50] you always make a motion just to adjourn

[3:29:52] to a a closed session for the purposes

[3:29:55] >> stated.

[3:29:55] >> agenda.

[3:29:56] >> Okay, I would entertain a motion to

[3:29:58] adjourn to a closed session in the

[3:30:00] Summit conference room to discuss

[3:30:02] pending or reasonably imminent

[3:30:03] litigation, the character or

[3:30:05] professional competence of an

[3:30:07] individual, or the purchase or lease of

[3:30:09] real property.

[3:30:10] >> So moved.

[3:30:11] >> I have a motion. Is there a second?

[3:30:13] >> Second.

[3:30:14] >> All right, thank you. All right.

[3:30:17] Now, Council member Mielsteen, did I

[3:30:19] leave off with you as the first one to

[3:30:20] vote? Oh, Council member Gale, I'm

[3:30:22] sorry.

[3:30:23] >> Hi.

[3:30:24] >> Okay.

[3:30:24] >> Hi.

[3:30:28] >> All right, motion carries. Thank you.

[3:30:31] We'll see you

[3:30:32] in April.

Orem City Council Meeting | 3.10.2026

Transcript