Special Open Space Bond Meeting Tonight

Let the Voters Decide

by Robin M Johnson

Last week in Midway City Council’s regular meeting, Wednesday, August 9, the city council decided to hold a second meeting on the Open Space Bond for Thursday, August 17. After hearing a presentation from Pure Midway and other concerned citizens (the citizen group), asking questions of a bond attorney, and receiving public input council determined the city needed time for staff to work with a bond lawyer and prepare a resolution to place the bond on the General Election ballot. Part of the resolution must include the actual words of the referendum as it will appear on the ballot.

The citizen group made a presentation to the council and the public. First Ken Mickelson briefly outlined public input from two meetings on Open Space Preservation sponsored by this citizen group. Both meetings were outlined in detail on this blog on the CITIZENbriefings page.

Next the citizen group invited Randy Larsen of Gilmore Bell, a local bond attorney, to answer city council and public questions on bonding. In answer to questions raised some of Larsen’s answers were:  The city could bond for a specific amount and describe the scope of intended projects in the Voter Information pamphlet without identifying specific land or development rights for purchase. Language used in the Voter Information pamphlet is binding; bond can only be used for purpose described in the pamphlet. Voters approve bond, city council decides what projects to fund within parameters described. 

Spending the funds on just one project is not necessary; money could be issued from the bond for individual projects as long as each is within the scope described and used within ten years. The bond will mature and must be paid off in twenty years. Bond money can be used for upkeep and maintenance if an operations and maintenance description is included. The bond cannot be promoted with funds from the bond. Fees associated with bonding such as bond counsel (attorney) and bond advisor costs can be paid from the bond. Attorney fees for preparing the referendum would be $2,500 to $3,000, and attorney fees for the bonding process itself would be from $15,000 to $30,000.

Next, J C Simonsen presented the findings of a survey conducted by the citizen group.  While there were many questions posed the overall result showed about 20 percent of respondents were opposed to a bond, the remaining 80 percent ranged from bonding being somewhat important to very important as a tool for preserving open space. About the same ratio of 20 percent were not willing to pay any amount toward a bond, while a substantial majority was willing to pay enough to support a $6 million bond. Only about 14 percent were willing to pay enough to support a $10 million bond.

Finally, Public Comment was taken regarding a proposal to bond for open space made by Pure Midway and other citizens interested in smart growth and open space preservation. Overwhelmingly public comment approved putting a referendum on the ballot to let the voters decide whether to bond or not. Differences in what open space should look like or be used for were expressed but despite varying views most were willing to put the bond question before voters.

Paul Berg said the only harm in putting it on the ballot is $3,000 and a little staff time. He said if it will only cost $3,000 and staff time to move forward it is worth the price. Berg asked, “Does the city have $3,000? If not I will pay it out of my own pocket” and maybe others would be willing to help. Next he brought up the moratorium and asked, “Does staff have the time to work on this resolution, if not I will offer my firm.”

Photo credit: Frankie Roberto, Flickr, Photo Taken: November 28, 2002, Link to photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/frankieroberto/3066083912/in/photolist-5EWtVJ-dM1hyH-8XQXgM-bixSbH-peRVcs-4VRMBd-8XQXhH-8XQXj4-9EPnXg-9ESjSY-cpFEaC-8XU1zm-nfgtWd-9ESkNs-8XU1Dh-p7CgC6-J1EfkS-7yWuna-q1qzfu-8XQXiD-7z1euw-7z1h8C-6RWVPg-VGZ4rp-nNuKo9-JjQHNb-VGZ4JZ-dM6ReL-9FYNNg-9FYJ9V-p9A5Xh-7yZYu5-5JbQFT-ny3WgQ-7yW6vD-ny3JwD-ny4wcp-oX2qEa-ny3RQr-2JL8X-nNuYSo-7z1f9L-2ta9T-nNuSn9-9G2AyN-enma5W-ny4Dq2-nQtG4S-ny3Tqw-ny4wwT

Only a few spoke against putting a bond on the ballot. Clint Coleman said he represented those who are appalled by the divide in the community over open space issues. He said he knows many who are against the bond and will not attend these meetings because of the contention creating the divide.

Coleman said, “We cannot bond our way out of growth … bonding is a liberal idea, why should all bond for the benefit of the few?” He cautioned against discrediting the county’s effort to preserve the north fields that they have been working on for 20 years. “Hold off until the county comes up with a plan … protecting the north fields is the single most important project, it is significant historically. Why handicap the county and the state in this effort?”

In an interview on Friday, August 10, Brad Wilson, city recorder, said, “The question is what amount to bond for. We looked at the impact on property owners for a $6 million bond and a $10 million. Those were numbers originally proposed by Pure Midway. Their survey said most would favor a $6 million bond. I put in a call to a representative of Pure Midway and other concerned citizens for their recommendation on the amount to bond for, but have not heard back from them yet.” A good indication of the citizens’ recommendations would be that the city council agenda item states bonding for up to $10 million.

In regards to identifying open space Wilson said the citizens "have not identified any specific pieces of property they would like to preserve.” When asked if the bond would be used for preserving agricultural land and main view corridors in the city Wilson said, “That is one of the biggest unanswered questions; what will the criteria for determining open space be? I think that is probably one of the tasks for the planned open space committee. It would not surprise me if it took many meetings to establish open space criteria. I don’t think you can establish that before the General Election.”

Wilson prepared a timeline including steps the city must take to put an Open Space Bond on the ballot:

Aug 17 – City council approves resolution and ballot language

Aug 24 – Resolution provided to Lt. Governor and Election Officer

Aug 30 – Public Notice of intent to issue bonds, first notice

Sep 03 – Deadline to submit arguments

Sep 06 – Public Notice of intent to issue bonds, second notice

Sep 08 – Deadline for city council to submit argument in favor

Sep 08 – Deadline for city council to submit argument in opposition

Sep 10 – Arguments sent to opposing sides

Sep 13 – City council holds public hearing

Sep 18 – Deadline to submit rebuttal arguments

Voter Information pamphlets prepared

Sep 23 to Oct 23 – Voter Information pamphlet mailed

Oct 04, 11, and 18 – Publish Election Notice

Oct 06 – City council posts arguments

Oct 25 – City council conducts public meeting

Nov 07 – General Election

Nov 21 – City council canvasses ballots

Later in the meeting the council directed Brad Wilson to contact Randy Larson and members of the citizen group in order to prepare a resolution and ballot language for the special meeting on the Open Space bond to be held tonight. 

Trails and Parks, Open Space Preservation, and Other Committees

Midway Boards, Commissions, and Committees Duties

by Robin M Johnson

Running a city is time consuming and hard work. Most people elected to office already hold full time jobs and their service to the city is done after their employment obligations are fulfilled. Connie Tatton, former mayor (Jan 2006 – Jan 2014), was an exception. Tatton was able to spend more than full time hours working on behalf of the city. Colleen Bonner, mayor, owns her business and sets her own part time working hours. Bonner also works significant hours for Midway City.

Responsibility for ordinances, resolutions, budgets, the general plan, the city code, land use, building and infrastructure requirements, infrastructure maintenance (roads, sidewalks, water, sewer, parks, trails), culinary water distribution, secondary water as a share holder in Midway Irrigation Company, sewer connections through the Midway Sanitation Special Service District, and police and fire protection fall on the council’s shoulders. Many boards, commissions, and committees are formed to help the city carry out its duties. Members are appointed by the council. Boards, commissions, and committees are generally recommending bodies and serve in an advisory capacity to the city council. Exceptions are The Board of Adjustments which has power to review administrative actions on land use issues made by the city council and the Building Code Board of Appeals which has power to review decisions made by the City Building Official.

STATE MANDATED BOARDS AND COMMISSION

Three city bodies in addition to the City Council are state mandated; including The Planning Commission, The Board of Adjustments, and The Building Code Board of Appeals. The form each body takes and the tasks assigned to it are outlined in the Utah State code.

The Planning Commission

While the city council serves as the city’s land use authority, the planning commission is the city’s advisory committee on land use issues. All land use issues go through the planning commission before they are seen by the city council. Responsible for review of residential and commercial development, review of zoning code, development code, and all city ordinances relating to land use.

The planning commission generally meets once a month, but is scheduled twice a month. They schedule a second meeting as business requires. The 1^st and 3^rd Wednesdays at 7:00 pm are set aside for the planning commission. Members serve three year terms with an option to serve a second term. The planning commission has seven members and two nonvoting alternates, members are Steven Nichols, chairman, James Kohler, co-chairman, Stuart Waldrip, Natalie Streator, William Ream, Nancy O’Toole, Jeff Nicholas, Shauna Kohler, alternate, and Kevin Payne, alternate.

Board of Adjustments

The Board of Adjustments makes binding and final decisions; it acts on appeals regarding land use issues in four areas: review claims of administrative error, grant variances, review the approval of conditional use permits, or determine the existence of nonconforming uses. The Board of Adjustments meets once per month, as business requires, on the first Wednesday of the month. The two board members and one alternate serve five year terms with the option to serve a second term. Members are Judith Griffin, Elizabeth Crittenden, and Rick Tatton as alternate.

Building Code Board of Appeals

The Building Code Board of Appeals also makes binding and final decisions; it acts on appeals regarding city building code orders, determinations, or decisions made by the City Building Official. This board has three members and one alternate who serve five year terms with no limit to the amount of terms served. Members are Garrett Strong, chairman, Robert McDonald, Brent Merrill, and Robert Bouwhuis as alternate.

CITY ENACTED BOARDS AND COMMITTEES

According to Brad Wilson, city recorder, cities may form other committees and boards as needs arise. These bodies can be ad hoc or permanent. Ad hoc committees are temporary committees; members serve on an ‘as needed’ basis. No ordinance is required; committee members serve only as long as it takes to complete their assigned tasks. Wilson said last year, during the general plan revision, ad hoc committees were formed for each of the eleven chapters of the general plan. The committees made advisory recommendations; the final decisions on the general plan were made by the city council.

Wilson said, “Ad hoc committees may meet only a handful of times. Some of the committees on the general plan met more times than others. The committees were made up of two or three residents and representative council members.” Those committees were no longer needed once recommendations for revision of the general plan were passed to the city council.

Permanent committees are intended to function on a regular basis. As such they become part of the city code as an ordinance is enacted to form the committee and assign specific tasks. Appointed members serve one term with the option to serve a second. Length of service is decided by the city council, and the specific number of members is also determined by the city council. A chairman or facilitator and one or two council members are sometimes assigned as nonvoting members.

Midway currently has several permanent advisory committees and boards that help the council carry out its work. Wilson said The Midway Trails Advisory Committee (MTAC) was formed in April, 2002. This committee functioned well for about eight years, and then faded. The Visual and Architectural Committee (VAC), and the Historic Preservation Committee (HPC), were both formed in August, 2006. The Midway Water Advisory Board (MWAB) was formed jointly by Midway City and the Midway Irrigation Company (MIC). The Midway Sanitation District Board (MSDB) is another body that handles Midway City sewer infrastructure.

Each of these committees and boards is briefly outlined below, with the exception of the newly formed Trails and Parks committee and the newly proposed committee on Open Space Preservation. Both of these committees also include an update on current progress toward becoming functional.

Midway Trails and Parks Advisory Committee (June, 2017)
(formerly MTAC, April, 2002)

MTAC was established during the tenure of Bill Probst, former mayor. The council decided earlier this year to reorganize the non functioning MTAC with a new name, Midway Trails and Parks Advisory Committee (MTPAC), and additional tasks in an updated ordinance adopted June 28. 

During their regular meeting, held Wednesday, July 26, the council approved seven of twelve applicants to the newly formed MTPAC on their consent agenda. Seven members, half will serve two year terms and the other half will serve four year terms, all will have the option to serve a second four year term.

Members are, in alphabetical order by last name, Kris Beer, Kristen Bellows, Rob Bouwhuis, Jennifer Clayton, Clint Coleman, Ken Fakler, and Nancy O’Toole. O’Toole is currently serving a four year term on the Midway Planning Commission. In previous meetings recommendations were made for three additional non-voting members. Mayor Bonner previously asked Dennis Poppinga to facilitate the committee. Lisa Christian and Ken Van Wagoner, city council members, will also sit on the committee.

This committee has not held its first meeting. Christian said the day and time are still to be determined. She said the mayor will attend the initial meeting to set the committee up, but after that the mayor will not be involved on the committee. At their first meeting the committee will decide which members will serve two year terms and which will serve four year terms.

Tasks immediately assigned to the committee are to review the city’s master trails plan, make recommendations to the city council regarding development or redevelopment of trails and construction standards for various types of trails, create a Park’s Plan Assessment, review the city’s master parks plan and each individual park’s master plan, review park facilities site conditions, review potential additions to each park master plan, hold charettes and open houses for public comment on park planning, operation, and facilities. Any recommended changes would go to city council and a public hearing would be held before approval or denial of the committee’s recommendation.

Proposed Committee on Open Space Preservation

The question of whether to form an open space committee or not was on the same meeting agenda. The council waited to discuss the matter until after Steve Farrell and Mike Nelson presented Wasatch County’s Inter-local agreement to create the Wasatch Open Lands (WOL) board. Following the county’s presentation the council decided both to participate in the Inter-local agreement by choosing one representative from Midway to sit on the seven member WOL board, and to form their own committee on Open Space Preservation.

Colleen Bonner, mayor, said, “Two weeks ago … we talked about whether or not we wanted to form a committee. I think the suggestion (was to) put out requests for applications.” The council agreed. Bonner said the application to serve on the open space committee will be similar to the recent application for the trails and parks committee.  (Applications are currently available online or in the city offices.  OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE APPLICATION: ( http://www.midwaycityut.org/  )

Van Wagoner asked, “How many members are we looking at? How many councilmen will be on that?” Bonner suggested five or seven members with two non-voting council members. Christian said, “I think that’s important.” Van Wagoner agreed, “I do, too. I think it’s crucial on both committees that we have two council men, so we know somebody’s there, if one can’t be there, somebody’s there.”

Bonner asked, “What do you think, five or seven members?” Karl Dodge, council member, said, “I’d go with seven.”    Council members Kent Kohler and Bob Probst agreed.  Christian said, “Especially to start with because you are going to have people that come and go, and it doesn’t work for them, and so then you can build it back up.” Van Wagoner said, “Not everybody can be present every time either.”

Brad Wilson, city recorder, asked, “Will this be an ad hoc or a permanent committee?” Van Wagoner said, “I’d say permanent if we are going to be tied in with the county.”  Mayor Bonner agreed. Wilson pointed out an ordinance will need to be adopted creating the committee. Bonner said the same thing was done for MTPAC.

Duties for committee members will be determined by the council and included in the proposed ordinance to create the committee. Examples of items discussed as potential tasks are to assess tools available to preserve open space, define criteria for open space preservation, determine how to use resources collected through grants, bonds, and other means, and identify open space for preservation. The deadline for application to the committee for Open Space Preservation is Friday, September 8, at 12:00 pm (Noon).

Visual and Architectural Committee (August, 2006)

 VAC was established during the tenure of Connie Tatton, former mayor. Five members sit on the committee and serve four year terms, limited to two consecutive terms. Committee members include Connie Tatton, chairman, Elizabeth Crittenden, Natalie Streator, Bob Adams, and Bob Bouwhuis.  This committee is scheduled to meet the 1^st and 3^rd Tuesday of each month. Wilson said “They generally meet once per month when things are busy. They hold meetings as business requires.”

Wilson said, “This is a very significant committee because they review most of the items that have a ‘Visual Impact’ on Midway, things that give a rural or European or Swiss feel. They review commercial landscape plans, development landscape plans, they determine how buildings and signs will look, and whether a development or project meets the city’s vision as outlined in the general plan.”

VAC determines if a proposed development of six lots or more complies with the city’s Vision Statement, the Swiss-European density bonus, or other architectural requirements; or if a proposed Commercial development complies with the city’s Vision Statement, or other architectural requirements. VAC also oversees approval of sign permits anywhere within the city, and design element guidelines for all projects.

Historic Preservation Committee (August, 2006)

HPC was also established during Tatton’s tenure. This committee formed as a direct result of a local barn being removed. Public outcry led to the city forming a committee that could provide a way for historic buildings to be saved through inclusion in a new project, restoration, or relocation.  Seven members sit on this committee, James Kohler, chairman, Carl Jones, Kim Kimber, Scott Burbaker, Hilma Bellessa, Elizabeth Crittenden, and Athina Koumarela who is at the end of her first term with an option to serve a second. Meetings of the HPC are held on the 2^nd and 4^th Thursday of each month.

Wilson said, “This committee is very faithful. They hold every meeting. Carl Jones, former chairman, is very good at obtaining grants. They participate in many projects. They recently put out a booklet on the Historic Review of Homes in Midway. They also assist in relocation, modification, or alteration of historic buildings. They are helping The Hardy Foundation restore the Bonner Barn.”

HPC tasks include issuance of Certificate of Appropriateness for work to be done on any historic building, structure, object, or site; review of standards for historic Rehabilitation and Design; maintain the Midway Historic Register; establish criteria for buildings , structures, objects, or sites to qualify as historic; recommend and facilitate nominations to the local and the National Historic Register; provide information to the public on historic resources and historic events; and review historic buildings, structures, objects, or sites, before demolishing, dismantling, relocating, modifying, or altering.

The Midway Water Advisory Board

While MIC owns the secondary water delivery system, Midway City makes the final determination on the amount of secondary (or outside) water required to support commercial and residential uses. Wilson said both entities decided it was in the city’s best interest for the city and MIC to work together and they jointly created the Midway Water Advisory Board.

MWAB board members include three MIC members: Steve Farrell, Brent Kelly, Grant Kohler; and five Midway City members: Colleen Bonner, mayor, Karl Dodge and Kenny Van Wagoner, city council members, Michael Henke, city planner, and Jennifer Sweat, treasurer/MWAB Secretary. MWAB meets monthly, as needed.

Midway Sanitation District Board (Midway Sanitation Special Service District, 1966)

Responsible for Midway’s sewer infrastructure, MSSSD was established in 1966 and charged with the planning and organization of a sewer collection system for the residents of Midway. The board consists of three members, two elected and one appointed. Don Huggard was elected chairman, Clair Provost was elected vice chairman, and Colleen Bonner was appointed trustee as a representative from city council. The MSD board meets the 1^st Tuesday of every month at 5:30 pm in the Midway City Office building.

Wilson said MSD contracts with Midway City for management, inspections, and maintenance. Three city employees spend part of their time working for MSD. Becky Wood is the District Manager, Jason Standifur does most of the inspections on new construction and oversees maintenance of the system, and Cory Lot helps on an as needed basis.

In addition to these boards and committees, council members are assigned to sit on other boards and committees within the city or county.  The Community Development and Renewal Agency, Heber Light and Power Board, the Wasatch County Inter-local Board, and potentially the soon to be formed Wastach Open Lands Board are examples. 

Two Bonds for Open Space?

One for Midway City, One for Wasatch County

by Robin M Johnson

Thirty years of talk about open space in Wasatch County has led to over 14,000 acres of land set aside as open space within developments for the purpose of preserving a rural feeling in Heber Valley. However, much of that open space is hidden within developments, or is on the mountainsides. Some developments have opted to dedicate their open space land to the city for parks, owned and maintained by the city. The first two PUD’s to choose this path in Midway were The Hamlet and The Valais.

These efforts have not necessarily produced the type of open space many are seeking. This article will address both the city and county efforts to retain a rural look and atmosphere by preserving farmland, the possibility of the city and county each placing bond referendums before voters, and the efforts of citizens organizing in Midway to get a bond on the Midway ballot possibly this fall. In fact, Pure Midway is making a presentation to the city council tomorrow night, Wednesday, August 9, requesting the city place a bond referendum on the ballot in the November General Election.

Steve Farrell and Mark Nelson, Wasatch county council members, made a presentation to the Midway City Council on Wednesday, July 27, at their regular meeting. Farrell talked about the county’s plan to create the Wasatch Open Lands Board (WOLB) through an Inter-local Agreement and asked the council if they would be interested in participating on the county level.

Ken Van Wagoner, city council member, said, “I think we’d be foolish not to participate. I think our whole goal for, not only Midway, but county wide, is more open space. More farms, more preservation.”

Farrell said, “I don’t think we need more open space, we need more quality open space. In the last thirty years we have about 14,000 acres, through development agreements, of open space which on the hillside nobody really gets a chance to see.”

Van Wagoner agreed, “Yeah, that isn’t what we’re after.”

Colleen Bonner, mayor, said, “More of farm preservation, conservation type stuff. But I think it’s important that Midway City have a committee that identifies those areas in our general region, we’re not even talking particularly city limits.” Bonner said Midway’s general region would be anything west of the Provo River. The land surrounding Midway on this side of the river that is county land “affects our city boundaries”.

As part of the general plan Midway City has a Future Annexation map, a declaration of intent to annex, which is required by the state of Utah for every city in the state. Midway City boundaries do not extend to the Provo River on its eastern boundary yet, nor to the Wasatch Mountain State Park on the west, however Midway has declared intent to annex to those borders as property owners make requests to the city. Bonner said maybe some of the area Midway might want to preserve as farm land “would still be county land”.

The discussion above between the city and county council leaders is an example of the change in direction talk of open space has taken in recent years. Leaders in Heber Valley are hearing what the majority of residents are asking for when they say open space. The community survey taken last year as Midway updated the general plan supports the idea of preserving not just the rural feel but the actual rural farming lifestyle, pastures and hayfields. 

Van Wagoner said it best, “More of the farm preservation aspect; where we see cows. We want to see cows.”

In response to survey results last year Midway passed a new land use ordinance this spring called the Rural Farm Preservation Ordinance. Several developers have already made application to the city using the new law. Developments brought in under this ordinance require five acres of farm land without a house, six acres with a house.

During the county presentation Farrell explained the county’s rationale for the WOLB board. He said, “The County has been working on this and we are looking at going out and seeing what we can do to preserve some of the open land, the farm land. We thought if we went out county wide we’d have a better chance and a better effort.” In particular he described Heber City, Midway City, and Wasatch County joining their bonding ability for greater purchasing power.

Farrell said the county proposes there should be no development between Midway and Heber City. The WOLB board was created to preserve farm fields between the two cities in several ways. First, to do the research for ways to fund farm land preservation, second, to help promote the preservation effort and third, to educate the voters on bonding and other potential funding methods the board identifies to protect the farm fields.

Farrell said, “I think as a combined effort we can probably go out for a pretty sizable bond and do some good. Probably there’d be no bond for 2017, but probably 2018. I don’t think there’s ample time to do it justice” for this year.

Bonner said, “But there are other resources out there, too, that you talked about two weeks ago and so I think part of the education is what other resources are available because a bond isn’t always the top thing we have to go after.”

Farrell said, “Yes, get the committee up and running so they can do that kind of research and make recommendations.”

Both Farrell and Nelson met with Bonner and the city planner, Michael Henke, in the afternoon prior to the council’s regular meeting. Farrell said they were discussing ways to make the idea of Midway participating in the county wide open space plan more amenable. One idea was particularly attractive to the group and Farrell presented it to the city council.

“If a community wanted to have their own open space committee,” Farrell said, “and they work under the same criteria as the county, then there might be a way we could allocate a percentage of the bonds to the city to help with this. If they had a project that met the criteria so all the money wouldn’t be spent in the north fields or someplace else. Now that’s something we will have to take back (to the county council), but that’s a good suggestion.”

Photo Taken: Fall 2013 (c) Robin Johnson, 2013, 2017

If Midway participates on the county level they would select one person as a representative of Midway to serve on the seven member WOLB board. In addition there would be one representative from Heber City, one from the Heber Valley Chamber of Commerce Tourism, two from Wasatch County, and two at large. Each body would select their own representatives. The Wasatch County Council would select the two at large members from a pool of candidates who each fill out an application for the position.

Bonner asked, “Are we interested in being a part of that group as well, because I think there’s some real value to farm preservation of county land, as well as farm preservation in Midway City. I think we need to kind of look at all of it.”

Karl Dodge, council member, asked if the county resolution before the city council was in its final form. When he learned it was a draft resolution he asked if city council would see the final resolution. Ferrell said the county would return with a final resolution for Midway’s approval.

Bonner said according to the draft resolution the county would like to have Midway pick their board representative by the first of October. The council agreed and decided to wait until the county returns with the final resolution.

The next item on the council agenda was discussion on forming an Open Space committee for Midway. Two weeks previous the council decided to postpone their decision of whether Midway should have an Open Space committee of its own until after hearing the county presentation to create the WOLB board in order to best determine what course the city should take.  

During the county presentation Van Wagoner asked, “Would Midway have their own open space board and they would go through and ... look at the areas that they would like to see as open space, and then that would be taken, for example, to the county’s board which would include a (Midway) representative?”

Farrell confirmed, “It could work that way.” He suggested having the committee work out their goals, then give that information to the Midway representative who would then take the information to the county board. “That would be your purgative,” Farrell concluded.

After hearing the county’s proposal the council went ahead with their decision to form an Open Space committee. Henke was directed to prepare an application and have it available online and for pick up at the city offices by Monday, July 31. For application click here: http://www.midwaycityut.org/

The city is looking for seven citizen members and will assign two non-voting council members to the committee, the same format used by the city to create the newly formed Midway Trails and Parks Committee (MTPC). The application will also be similar to the one recently filled out by candidates who applied for MTPC.

Finally, Pure Midway and other citizens for smart growth and open space preservation held two community meetings on Open Space in July. They have asked to be on tomorrow night’s council agenda to present information on growth management, rural preservation, and open space. Pure Midway hopes to meet the mid August deadline for a bond referendum on this fall’s General Election ballot.

According to a post on Pure Midway’s facebook page, “Pure Midway believes a bond would be a critical toolbox item to help Midway manage growth. We support a bond if the citizens want that, and we believe that the citizens definitely deserve a chance to vote on it.”

Midway City has scheduled a 45 minute public hearing following Pure Midway’s presentation for citizen comment. According to Pure Midway the city will not vote on bonding tomorrow night. They will decide tomorrow night whether or not to hold a special meeting where a possible vote could happen because the city is required by state code to hold two meetings on the bond before the council votes on the matter.

Special Note:  Here is a link to Pure Midway’s blog with an article on the Pro’s and Con’s of Bonding for Open Space:  https://puremidway.org/bondqanda/

Parks and Trails Committee Update

Room for Planned Open Space?

by Robin M Johnson

On Wednesday, July 12, the Midway City Council spent time in their work meeting discussing applicants for the new Parks and Trails Committee called for in the general plan. They discussed things like how many members the committee would have and the tasks and direction the committee should take.

Last April Midway City posted a newly proposed Master Plan for Valais Park on its website and scheduled a public hearing for comment. The public hearing was held on April 26. Many opinions and suggestions were made in that meeting.Comments made in the meeting were referenced several times in this work meeting. 

One suggestion in the public hearing, made by Doug Jenkins, was for the city to form a committee to plan the city’s parks. Further, to include people on the committee who have had experience in parks and recreation. This suggestion was taken to heart by the city council. Applications for the committee were taken in May and June, with a total of twelve citizens applying to serve on the committee.

Colleen Bonner, mayor, said, “We’re going to talk about our Parks and Trails Committee. Brad (Wilson, city recorder,) sent you those applications. We’ve talked about assigning that committee tonight, it’s on our agenda; however, if we feel like we want to reopen it and look for more applications we can. We had some pretty good applicants.  I just wanted you to all get a chance to look at them. Have you had a chance to look at them?”

Bob Probst, council member, said, “How many are we looking for, Mayor?”

Bonner said, “About seven, I think. Right, Michael, isn’t that what we decided?”

Michael Henke, city planner, said, “Yes, seven is what we decided.”

Bonner suggested that Dennis Poppinga, former Parks and Recreation Director for Evanston, Wyoming, would be a good candidate to facilitate the committee. During the public hearing Poppinga made several important points about planning public parks including: park facilities should be multi-use and not duplicated and planning in this way would promote economic development, operation and maintenance are the most expensive so parks should be designed for the lowest maintenance costs, public and private partnerships can support public parks, and the city can develop a public participation process for parks. In addition Poppinga said open space is at a premium and should be protected. Parks take time to fully develop and over time the needs for parks and recreation can change.

Regarding Poppinga, Bonner said, “When we had our open meeting, he was the gentleman that talked a lot about parks. I have talked to him a couple of times and asked him to be … our facilitator, he’d be a nonvoting member, to kind of get things organized and started and kind of set the parameters, he has agreed to still do that.”

Karl Dodge, council member, said, “Would we have a city council member on that?"

Bonner said, “As a nonvoting member I would think that Lisa would be on that committee, she’s over the parks.”

Kenny Van Wagoner, council member, said, “I think we ought to have two … I really do, I mean, it’s a big issue.”

Kent Kohler, council member, said, “I think we ought to have two.”

Bonner said, “That’s a good suggestion.”

Dodge observed initially that some of the applicants had some good qualifications; however he was concerned that most of the applicants came from one area of the city. “Seven of the twelve were people that live right around Valais, two of them are in Dutch Fields, and then three others.”

Through discussion everyone agreed on the need to have a committee with a broad perspective. To do that would require good representation from all parts of the city to avoid creating a committee with an agenda or a limited focus.

Kohler said, “That’s kind of what we like to do on … planning commission for example; is have them kind of diverse throughout the city and not have just one particular area, have the majority of your members from that area. Probably the same holds true for something like this, too. I would think.”

The council considered opening the application process again in the hope of attracting more candidates from the southwest quarter and other sections of the city. In the end, they chose not to do that since the process would take time. The previous opening was posted for three weeks.

Bonner said, "We had it up on our website, we put it on our facebook page, and we announced it in our meeting. I think once it gets going and ... established, and people start talking about it ... as it goes through the process maybe more people would become involved and say, 'hey, I'd like to serve on that sometime' and we say, 'fill out an application and we'll keep it on file'. I think it's going to be a ball, it's new."

Discussion focused on each application, attention was given to each candidate who had applied: what each brings to the table from their experience, their vision for parks and trails development, and the area where each lives and would represent within the city.

It was noted that two of the candidates are husband and wife. The consensus was to choose one or the other, but not both. Highlights from the applications include an architect who designed parks for a living, financial experience relating to parks and recreation, research on dog parks and children's parks in communities all around the country, desire to be involved, the time to be involved, experience with developing trails, and grant writing experience. 

Midway Lane Bicycle and Walking Trail, photograph taken Fall, 2013
Photo credit: Robin M Johnson (c) 2013

Bonner said the city used to have a trails committee that is no longer functioning. The reemerging committee is adding parks with trails because one of the ideas in the city’s general plan is joining the city parks into a network through interconnecting trails. The vision is to connect all city parks and trails together over a long period of time.

Bonner said, “I think with the growth … it’s going to be really important not just to focus on parks, but to focus on how we can interconnect our parks and our trails. And I think it’s a big project. I think it’s going to take quite a few years, so they can get it all, nothing happens over night, it all takes time.”

Dodge said one candidate specifically mentioned a desire to help shape the Valais Park.

Bonner said, “I think that’s kind of the driving force, is the Valais Park.”

Dodge said, “I recognize that, but I’m worried that that’s all people are going to care about is the Valais Park.”

Bonner said, “Right. That’s why I think if we have Dennis (Poppinga) facilitate it, because his was a broader perspective; to evaluate what we have in the parks … what we can do to improve each park that we have now.”

Dodge said, “What would you suggest he be? Would we give a title?”

Bonner said, “He would be basically the chairman and the facilitator. I think … we need to look at all the parks, and what their uses are. The Valais Park is always going to be the main focus, because it’s always going to be the largest piece of property that’s unfinished, and it was set aside to be a recreational park. But that doesn’t mean that’s where we have all focus. It will be part of the focus.”

Dodge said, “It obviously has to be.”

Once the committee is up and running Bonner suggested Poppinga would use suggestions made in April’s public hearing as a guide for the committee’s work. A short synopsis of public hearing comments follows. Several who commented shared a broader vision of the whole park system in support of Poppinga’s position stated earlier in this article.

However, most of the public comments focused specifically on Valais Park since the master plan was the subject of the public hearing. Some wanted Valais Park to stay just as it is, some asked for better maintenance, others supported some recreational development, and some liked the master plan with its amenities just as proposed. Keeping the focus of the park on families and activities for gatherings was important to several. Many felt Valais Park was not the best location for soccer fields; rather they should be located near the Elementary school. There was much support for pickle ball and little support for Bocce. Parking and increased traffic was a concern to the neighbors of Valais Park. Preserving the wetlands was a high priority for most. Protecting the view corridors created in the park was also valued by quite a number.

Length of terms for committee members was the next item the council and staff discussed in their July 12 work meeting. Terms of two, three, four, and even six years were considered. Staggering terms was also recommended. In the end the idea with the most support came from the city recorder.

Wilson said, “When you set up a city, or a municipality and you have your first election, half of the council serves a two year term, and the other half serves a four year term. But once those initial two year terms are over then everybody is doing four year terms. But it’s staggered at that point.”

Van Wagoner said, “That would be a wise way to do it.”

Lisa Christian, council member, said, “That makes sense.”

After two years those members with two year terms would be replaced with new members who serve four year terms. In this way every two years about half of the committee will complete their term and be replaced. Each member would have the option to serve a second term, but not a third. In the event someone vacates their position early, another citizen can apply and be appointed to complete the remainder of that person’s term and have the option to serve one term of their own.

Next they discussed how to choose which members would serve two years and which would serve four. Bonner said, “That group themselves could maybe decide, or they could even just draw straws to see who gets to be the four year and who gets to be the two year.”

Finally, the council and staff discussed how the council would turn in their specific recommendations to fill the seats on the committee. Bonner suggested each selecting seven candidates that night, but after several minutes of paper shuffling they decided it would be better to take their time and study their applications.

Wilson broke into the paper shuffling and said, “If people are unable to choose now you could always have them submit the seven to staff and we could just punch them in, whoever gets the most.”

Bonner agreed, “That’s true, you can do that, if you’d like to do it that way, that’s not a bad idea. You can just email them to staff.”

Probst said, “Yeah, I don’t know that I can pick all seven tonight or not. I got four or five, but …”

Dodge said, “I would be inclined to each submit a list of seven, if there is a top guy, let the mayor choose.”

Dodge made a motion that each council member submit seven applicants to Michael Henke and copy it to Brad Wilson and Mayor Colleen Bonner. Staff will compile the votes, the top seven will be appointed to the committee. If there is a tie the mayor will decide who should serve. Kohler seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Midway Council Discusses Open Space Committees

Which Committee: Wasatch County, Midway City, or Both?

by Robin M Johnson

Open Space Preservation has taken center stage in the public’s mind in Midway over the last several months due partially to last year's general plan survey result that most residents want to preserve farm and pasture lands in Midway. Another factor is the forming of Pure Midway, a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to smart growth and open space preservation. 

After a public hearing on Open Space held on June 28, by the Midway City Council, they decided to consider creating a committee that would work on open space and related issues. A name for the committee has not yet been determined. The matter was placed on the July 12 Work Meeting agenda.

Colleen Bonner, mayor, said she put forming a committee regarding open space on the agenda just as a discussion. 

Bonner said, “We’ve had a lot of interest in open space. I know there is an active group of citizens who are doing … a wonderful job trying to promote, facilitate, and educate on the open space bonding and different avenues” like grants.

“Do we as a city want to form an open space committee? I know Wasatch County is going to come again in two weeks and talk about the committee that they are forming. Do we want to officially form an open space committee, or do we want to just see where it goes as it is right now and just kind of hold off," Bonner asked.

Kenny Van Wagoner, council member, said there are two different open space committees to think about. First he said, “I would be very interested in seeing what the county” proposes.  He said the county wants to invite all the other cities to participate and have one open space committee for the whole county. “That way you could have a broader tax base, and then pick priorities. I’d be interested to see what their pitch is” before forming our own committee. “I’m not saying I’ll agree with it or be interested in it” Second he said, “I definitely think we ought to have an open space committee of the citizens in Midway, absolutely."

Fall in the South Fields, photo taken on South Field Road in the fall of 2013
Photo credit: Robin M Johnson (c) 2013

Focusing on a Midway committee Bonner said, “Well, I think it’s of value. When you look at it there’s a lot of things even with the parks and trails. I think they’d be a good advocate group that we could work with, there again, they’d be just a recommending body; we’d have to set the parameters of what we would want.”

Bonner asked what the purpose of the committee would be, like researching grants, and pointed out that city staff doesn’t have time to do research and other things associated with open space.

Van Wagoner added other things the committee could do such as identify perspective sight or view corridors, check out different types of open space, work on farm preservation, study the need for future parks as the city grows, gather different types of open space information and put it together to be distributed.

 “They could also be looking at the trails and connectivity between open space parks,” Van Wagoner said. “It pays to put them together, because right now it’s helter skelter. You really don’t have a trail that you can walk and get too far. The only one would be Dutch Fields and I strongly would not recommend you to walk on that trail.”

Bonner agreed the Dutch Fields trail on the perimeter of the development on the west side of River Road is in major need of repair. She then asked, “So if we were to officially form this committee, do we want to think about it?”

Van Wagoner reiterated his earlier point, “I think before we form the committee I would like to see what the county presentation is, it’s two weeks to at least hear it. And then after that I think it’s time that we form our committee.”

Bonner said, “Then we can decide what we want to do. I know that part of (Commissioner) Steve Ferrell’s presentation two weeks ago indicated that they would be asking for representatives, a Midway representative.”

Van Wagoner said he wants to see how the county thinks their open space committee will work. He asked two questions, “How’s Midway going to benefit from it? How’s the county going to benefit?

“I just don’t think that we want to be putting a tax burden, that Heber City puts a tax burden, that Midway puts a tax burden, that the county puts a tax burden on the people to try to accomplish the same thing,” Van Wagoner said.

Lisa Christian, council member, said, “This committee would be finding different ways (to preserve open space) it wouldn’t just be to bond for open space."

Christian said she would like to move forward to start forming the committee now. “I think we should start the process because it takes some time. We do want that input whether it’s bonding, or whatever, I think we’re going to end up doing it anyway and still work with the county.”

Christian added she can see the two committees working together, and that it has taken several months to put out applications and review them to put together a new Parks and Trails Committee.

According to Bonner forming a committee before the county forms one could be a problem. “I think that … sometimes if we get ahead of it, then it ends up being detrimental and it looks like we’re competing.” She asked what would be most valuable, to combine large dollars and participate on a county level, or learn from the county committee and bring some of that experience back to Midway.

Bonner said, “I think you can have both.”

Michael Henke, city planner, said having the committee soon could be a real help to staff during the moratorium. “We’re going to be working on our code text amendments during this moratorium, and several of those items really impact our open space ordinance, so they could look at that.”

Van Wagoner said, “It’s not just to fund bonding.”

Bonner said, “No, it’s to help evaluate, to take from the stuff we’ve learned that we are now going to try and incorporate in our” ordinances.  Once again Bonner asked if they should start taking applications or wait.

For the third time Van Wagoner said, “I think we wait until we see what the county pitch is, and that’s only two weeks.”

Further discussion led to directing staff to prepare an application while waiting for the council to hear the county’s presentation. Van Wagoner made a motion to table the matter.

After the motion was made Karl Dodge, city council member, asked, “So we are going to put this off for a month, right?"

Bonner said the council could place an item to discuss creating a committee on open space on their agenda in two weeks following the county’s presentation earlier on the same agenda. 

Van Wagoner said, “They have their presentation and then we discuss and see if that’s the avenue, the direction, we want to go, then if not, we can pursue with ours. So basically, we’re looking at two weeks.” He made that part of his motion which was seconded and passed unanimously.  

Midway's First Traffic Light

Center Street and Main Street

by Robin M Johnson

Work on the first traffic light for Midway began Monday morning, Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) workers began spraying paint to mark the area at Center Street and Main Street. Wes Johnson, city engineer, told the city council at their work meeting held last Wednesday, July 12, to expect that UDOT would begin their project soon. 

Johnson said, "I had a meeting with UDOT yesterday (July 11) concerning the Center Street and Main Street light. I told them that the completion date for the project had to be two weeks before Swiss Days." Johnson wanted the council to know he had authorized the project to begin so they would not be surprised when the work commenced. 

Crews working on the south east corner of the Center Street and Main Street intersections preparing for the
 new traffic light to be completely installed two weeks before the annual Swiss Days on Friday and Saturday
of Labor Day Weekend.  Photo taken Tuesday afternoon July 18, .Photo credit: Robin M Johnson (c) 2017

In an interview Johnson said he did not know exactly when the work would begin but he had specifically asked UDOT that no work be done in the two weeks prior to Swiss Days, this was in order to avoid added congestion on Main Street during preparations for the annual festival and the festival itself. At the same time he also asked  UDOT to move forward as quickly as they could because there is no way the completion date on the project can be pushed back. Johnson was very pleased at UDOT's quick response when the work began on Monday. 

Johnson said he has been meeting with UDOT regularly for about six to nine months on plans for two lights coming to Midway. He said, "UDOT has been very willing to work with Midway, they are very good at notifying local entities about work that is happening in their community in the coming year, and even the next year. The only thing they maybe could have done is call and say, Wes, we're starting work on Monday." 

To be fair Johnson added that typically the state doesn't call with the exact date work will start. "If we owe them anything, we owe UDOT our thanks for being willing to come quickly and work around Swiss Days." They don't have to do that. 

Residents, however, have varying feelings about the traffic lights, some would rather see a round about or a four way stop, anything but a traffic light. Others don't like the growth in their small town but recognize some form of traffic control is needed at the intersection. Still others are grateful something is being done at this intersection that can be very busy at certain times of the day and welcome the added safety, especially to pedestrians. 

A small group of citizens wants to know why the mayor and city council did not inform the public when the light was being installed. According to Johnson the answer lies first in who owns the road, and second in established policy. The fact is Main Street is a state road under the jurisdiction of UDOT, and Center Street going south to Charleston is also a state road. 

Johnson said, "That's their road, they never notify the public when they are about to pave Main Street, or when they are ready to stripe Center Street." It is not UDOT's policy to send out notifications to residents for road work projects. 

Crews were working on the south side of Center Street and Main Street Tuesday afternoon: preparing the
southeast side for a dual arm mast and the required underground work, and preparing the southwest side for
a pedestrian post signal for crossing the street with the light. Photo credit: Robin M Johnson (c) 2017

As for the city, UDOT only informed Johnson the work would begin soon, no date was given. Johnson said he has given reports to the city council in their regular public city council meeting at least half a dozen times in the last several months, one of which resulted in an article in The Wasatch Wave and on this blog. 

Over the years the majority of Midway residents responding to citizen survey's have indicated a strong preference for a round about as a safe and aesthetically pleasing alternative to a traffic light. Johnson said UDOT looked at putting in a round about on Center and Main.

Johnson said UDOT's intent was to complete a traffic control project within their right of way. UDOT said 'we don't have funds for roundabout'. Johnson gave several good arguments for putting in a round about. First, they are an effective way to control  traffic flow by keeping vehicles moving. Second, in the event of an accident a round about is safer for vehicles because accidents occur at an angle and are more likely to hit bumpers, this is called deflected impact. In a regular light controlled intersection accidents are more likely to occur at a 90 degree angle with one vehicle hitting the other on the side. 

Drawbacks to a round about, according to Johnson, include studies have shown they are not safer for pedestrians. Johnson said, "Some people say a roundabout is more aesthetically pleasing, but if four people have died there ... that's a high price to pay for aesthetically pleasing. We place a  high value on pedestrian safety, especially with pedestrian traffic on Main Street during Swiss Days."

Another drawback is a roundabout requires more land than a traffic light. Johnson said double stacked trucks, or semi's pulling a second trailer behind the first, when going through a roundabout need a lot of extra room. Trucks of this size do come through Midway. If UDOT was willing to pay for property outside of their right of way this would put a heavy impact on the properties surrounding the Center and Main intersection.

Johnson said, "Some people say that UDOT should just condemn the property and do the roundabout anyway." Johnson said to do that UDOT would need to meet three criteria: 1. UDOT must show a public need for a roundabout, which they did when they completed a traffic study showing the intersection warrants a traffic light. 2. UDOT must have the money for a project up front to purchase the property and pay the costs of the project, fund raising after deciding to build is not allowed. UDOT does not have funds to purchase the property and wants to build their project within their right of way. 3. UDOT must show there is no other practical alternative, if someone took them to court for condemning property for a roundabout a judge would throw the case out because a traffic light is a practical alternative to a roundabout.      

Johnson said, "After learning this we quickly went away from the idea of a roundabout."

A crew working on the southwest corner of Center Street and Main Street. Workers installing UDOT's
traffic control project will ensure Midway City's first traffic light does not encroach on private property/.
The completed project will be entirely within UDOT's right of way. Photo credit: Robin M Johnson (c) 2017

There are two commercial properties and two residential properties located on the four corners of the intersection. Both residential properties are on the historic registry. Johnson said, "I personally have talked to the business owners multiple times regarding the project's impact to their property. On Monday the 7-11 people told him 'thank you, we are glad, we need something there' while The Midway Adventure Company owner said 'you should have told me it was happening today'.   

All improvements at the intersection are within UDOT's right of way, Johnson said. "UDOT was very willing to take on additional cost to help greatly minimize impact on the two residential properties on the corner. Rather than installing one pole at each corner or four poles with one extending mast for the traffic lights as in a traditional controlled intersection, UDOT is installing two poles with dual masts. One pole will be on the northwest corner where 7-11 is with one mast extending south toward Charleston, and the other mast extending east toward Heber. The second pole will be on the southeast corner with one mast extending north toward Wilson Peak and the other mast extending west toward the Wasatch Mountains. A pedestrian button will be installed on all four corners resulting in minimal impact to the two residential properties.   

As of last Wednesday's meeting Johnson said there is a possibility the signal poles will not be ready in time for the two weeks before Swiss Days deadline. In that event, Johnson told UDOT if they could not meet the deadline because the poles were not ready, to do all the preliminary work. "There’s some curb widening, asphalt installation, conduit, I’m fine with that, do all the underground, get the pedestals ready, get everything ready, and take all of the traffic control off the site. Then, after Swiss Days I’m fine if you physically come and set the pole and get the lights going."

Johnson said there is a good chance the project will be completed in time, but if it's not completed the point he wanted to make is no work on the project should be done in the two week time frame before Swiss Days.  

UPDATE ON RIVER ROAD AND MAIN STREET TRAFFIC LIGHT

River Road (400 East) and Main Street also warrants a traffic light. Johnson said when UDOT first informed the city it was conducting a traffic study on the Center Street and Main Street intersection, he said 'You ought to also do a traffic study on 400 East and Main Street, in my personal opinion that's more busy'. 

Originally UDOT intended to install the second light this summer. However, this spring Johnson told UDOT he was concerned with the road going from three lanes wide, narrowing down to two lanes wide, then going back to three lanes wide, only to narrow down to two lanes again all in a one block space, from about 350 East to 450 East on Main Street. 

UDOT set aside $70,000 for the River Road and Main Street project, but with the additional costs associated with widening the road, UDOT estimates the project at $1 million. They have been trying to raise another $30,000 in order to do the project this summer. 

Johnson told the council at last Wednesday's meeting, "Because of right of way, it won’t happen this year, it will be next summer."

Karl Dodge, city councilman, asked, "Have they got the funding for that yet?

Colleen Bonner, mayor, said, "They're working on it."

Johnson said, "No, that's the problem, is the funding."

UDOT has scheduled the project for next summer. Since they could not raise the funds this year, they can get the additional funds from their 2018 budget. Johnson said when they go out into the field to design the project they may find things that need to be done so that the as the final design comes in the costs could go up. 

Creating a Toolbox for Open Space Preservation

The Council Speaks

by Robin M Johnson

Colleen Bonner, mayor, closed the public hearing held Wednesday, June 28, and turned time for comment over to the city council. Councilman Karl Dodge was excused from the meeting. 

Bonner said, "I think we’re good, tonight, for the public comment time. We will have other opportunities for the public to voice their opinions. I appreciate the turn out tonight. I appreciate the comments that were made, the well thought out things that we’ve heard; a lot of good information for us as a council to go back and to make some decisions. Does the council have any comment?"

Bob Probst, council member, said, "I’ve heard a lot of good comments tonight, but two that stuck out in my mind was Lyle Gertsch and Randy Lundin. (Both spoke on open space.) If you really stop and think about it, we are literally surrounded by open space in this valley. You don’t have to go very far in any direction to find more open space than you can possibly use. You got the river, you got two golf courses, you got the mountains, you really don’t have to go to far. 

"How much open space do you want, really? What is the requirement if you can’t go out of your house and look out the back door and see something, you gotta get on a bike, go on get in your car, drive up and get on a walk. There’s a trail that goes clear around the lake clear to the dam. I mean, there’s open space, galore. And I don’t know that putting a big tax burden on the majority of the citizens for the convenience of a few is quite fair. We live in a place where there’s just endless open space around us, you have to make a little effort to get out and see it. You gotta do more than just look out your window."

"A bond may seem like a good idea, but it’s a long term burden to your taxes, and you’re going to see more bond issues coming up for schools. I think in the not to distant future. How much taxes do we want?"

Lisa Christian, council member, said, "And Midway Elementary is the oldest and so we are going to be affected next."

Probst said, "You’re going to see another High School, I believe, in the next few years."

Bonner said, "I’ve heard talk about that already.{

Probst said, "There’s tax increases  just around the corner beyond what we’re talking about. So I’d say, get out, make a little effort to go see the open spaces around us."

Bonner said, "But I think we’ve been given some good comments to create tool boxes of other ways, of maybe not having to bond, but to be able to, like you say, preserve some of that, maybe in our entry corridors, and different things like that."

Probst said, "I’m a farmer, I like to preserve farmers as much as anybody. Maybe some easements are the right thing, but one thing that might work better than anything is to go back and, I think we really need to look at the density. Reduce the density and certainly the height of the buildings. Something’s going to be built there, sooner or later, we don’t know when or what, but we need to try and make sure it’s the right thing.  Down here."

Bonner asked, "Are you talking about the C-4?"

Probst said, "That's the big issue ... there’s no doubt that someday, at some point, someone’s going to do something with that property. You know, they have property rights like the next guy does. So, I’m not completely sold on the bond idea. But there’s more open space than you can literally shake a stick at. You don’t have to go far to find it."

Kent Kohler, council member, said, "I just have a couple of thoughts. It’s a delicate issue, especially when you talk about property rights, land owners. I’m more ... interested in Pure Midway, for example, if you’ve gone out and you’ve talked to folks. I’m interested in what the Lundins have to say, I mean, I’m interested in what the Probst’s have to say, the Kelly’s have to say, the Van Wagoner’s have to say, the Kohler’s have to say, because they’re the ones still, the majority of our open space that we are talking about. They’re still doing the farming on it."

"When you talk about having a charette, I’m all for that, but I think we need to involve the property owners in this discussion, because they’re the ones that have the open space that we covet at this point. Well if there’s some kind of an incentive, which we’ve come up with the rural preservation,  I know we have an application, I think it’s two of them, I think that’s a great way to help preserve some of this open space. 

"I applaud Steve Ferrell (county councilman) because he’s keeping his piece of ground, he’s farming it, that’s what we’d love to see. Gosh, those of us that have been here for our lives, you know, when we had the small little dairy, Steve had a small little dairy, Bob did, most of the farmers around had these little small dairies. Grant has continued to keep his which is the last one here. But those days are gone. I applaud Grant and I hope he can keep in business, he had to do the cheese and the milk factory to keep the farming alive."

One of Midway's barns still in use today. Photo: (c) Robin M Johnson Taken June 2011

Christian, who is also Grant's sister, said, "Well, and I hope all of you out here, and I’m going to just say in this room, if they get manure on the road, don’t complain, think how grateful we are that he’s here. Don’t call and complain. He’s doing his best."

Bonner said, "It's organic fertilizer."

Kohler added, "It’s the smell of money."

Kohler continued his comments, "The bonding, it’s …, I think we can, hopefully we can use some other methods. We do, someone said we have a lot of means, maybe it was Lyle that said this. A lot of means, we’ve got a lot of money in the valley now. Geez, when I was (growing up) here there was no building going on. Somebody built a house, it was a rarity. We didn’t have people moving in here in the 70’s and the 80’s. Matter of fact our population decreased, I think, in the 70’s. They weren’t here. 

"Now we’re here, we’re building 20,000 square foot homes; I see 25,000 square foot homes in Midway. I never would have thought that. To me, growing up here, I’m like what the heck; if you built a 3,000 square foot home you were doing pretty good. But we do have a lot of means, I think we can get, hopefully we can get, somebody will pony up. I say man up, pony up. Maybe put in a fund and help preserve some of this open space.

"I was talking to George Hansen at the store the other day. He asked me what are the big issues going on in the city, I says well, you’ve heard about the C-4, who knows where that’s going to end up, I said, but we got a meeting Wednesday on bonding for open space. George said, 'Well, I hope you’re going to look at your corridors, your mountain areas, that’s the place you need to focus on.' I’m like, exactly, that’s where you look up to see the open space. I think that’s what we need to focus on, and we’ll talk more about this, I could ramble on. It’s a big issue, and I think we’ll take some time like you said. We’ll pick through it. We don’t make hasty decisions. I know we've been accused of it, but we won’t. I think we’ll take our time, work with the county and work with some other issues and we’ll get it right."

Bonner said, "Yeah, we’ll get it right, that’s what we want to do, we want to get it right when we do it."

Van Wagoner said, "I’ll keep mine short. I’m one of them farmers, also. But unfortunately, because of the growth, the biggest share of my farm was taken by the sewer district so that we could expand the sewer ponds so that the rest of the people that live here now can live in this valley. I still lease quite a bit of property, and I still run cattle. I have mother cows and I love open space. But sometimes our open space comes as a cost to others. Keep that in mind.

"You know I’ve heard a lot of comments about developments and that, I probably would like to make a lot of comments, too. But I have learned that I don’t all the property, I don’t have all of the answers. One thing I think we need to do is I think we need to explore some possibilities. I met with a developer today, and we’re talking about doing an exchange on his development for open space to where almost half of the development will be open space. Whether it will pan out or not, I don’t know. But we’re working on it. 

"I think we all have the same goal.We want to see a rural Midway. I think that we all want to have the luxuries of walking out of our backyard and look up and see the mountains. Bob had a good point. I can get on my Razor, and within two or three minutes I’m in the mountains and I don’t have a soul around me. And I got all the open space that I need, but I still would like to have open space in town.

"We've got to be conscientious about our developments. I think that our density in some areas is to great, I would love to see us back off. A good comment was the wetlands being used as part of the development, I don’t agree with that. I think that that shouldn’t be part of their open space, shouldn’t count. 

'I think that we need to get a committee together and explore opportunities or options. I think that we would be making a great mistake if we thought we could get it on the ballot this fall. I think that if we’re going to do it, let’s do it right, let’s do some studies, let’s look at other areas, and not necessarily Park City. You know, I can’t say that I’ve been impressed with Park City open space and the way they’ve done it, because most of their open space, or a lot of their open space doesn’t have animals. What I’m hearing from you, we like to see the cows. We like to see the horses. We like to see the trails. 

"A good comment was brought up by Mr. Lundin. The trails are in dire need. Once we get all the trails that are planned for Midway the estimated cost for maintenance is $250,000 a year. So we need to start coming up with either a better way of making trails, I have some ideas, I just got back from Europe and I seen some trails over there that I like and I’m going to propose them during this moratorium to the council and see if it’s something they might be interested in. So I think we got a long ways to go, I think we need to get a committee together, we need to look at ways that we can come up with money and not rush into it."

Christian said, "I think tonight was very good, and I think that the biggest thing that we need to do is all work together. I just have to say there’s a fine line, because many of you who stood up tonight live on my farm. All of the people in the Dutch Fields, I cried the day they dug those holes, I hate it, but you’re all here. And those people who have the open space, whose families have been here as long as I have, have kept that open space and it’s been nice for all of us and now we can’t penalize them because they didn’t develop … before, before we came up with trying to keep it all open. So we have to be careful. 

"I really feel strongly, not that we can’t keep it open, but we also have to work with them and they have to be able to have some say because they have those rights, and their families worked that land and, it’s like Kent said, a lot of them had farms there, a lot of them, there were farms on those open spaces that worked hard, and those families worked hard, and I’ll tell you right now, the Dutch Fields is paying for my mom to be taken care of, and those people need to have that same right. So I live it a little differently than most, because I’ve watched that, and I love so many people in the Dutch Fields, love them, glad you’re here. And I have great friends there. Which one was it I’d kick out? Well, you can’t come because we have the open space, I wouldn’t do that. I love you all and you’ve added such great things to our community. 

"I think we need to really consider the best way to keep that feel, and keep it rural. As far as a bond, I’m concerned about the bond, I look at Pure Midway, and they’ve done some great things, and I’m hoping maybe they’ll come up with some ideas to help us, because I don’t think we have time for a bond. If we wait for the next, I don’t think we can get to this election, if we wait to the next election a lot of the ground that we would really want to be open is going to be gone. So, unless we come up with alternate ways, and there’s a whole bunch of smart people out there, and right here, and we ought to be able to come up with some other ways. Maybe there’s grants, maybe there’s, you know, there’s got to be some ways to figure out, to do some things. Besides, I know that we’re really going to work on some of the density, and some of the zoning. And I feel like that’s important. So, thank you guys all for being here and I appreciate all of your comments and that you’re all here and that you love Midway as much as I do and I’ve been here a long time."

Bonner said, "I think the idea of putting together a group of citizens as a committee to look at this and to evaluate, from what I’m hearing tonight, the place we would start is with the farm, which we only have one left, and maybe figure out a way to help so that Grant and Russell can continue to farm and encourage them not to have to sell that off for a development. I think that’s probably a place of great value in the city, would be the farm. Actually, it’s in Wasatch County, so we will have to work with Wasatch County on that."

Christian said, "But a lot of the ground that Grant actually rents and uses and puts cows on are in Midway, and those are going away, Rene was right, they’re going away. And pretty soon he’s not going to have a place (to farm) to hay and to put cows, and we, you know, it’s going to go away."

Bonner said, "I think as far as starting, just from what I’ve heard tonight, that would be the place we would focus on, or that one of the top priorities  ... I would think that the Kohler farm, and maybe between us, and working with Wasatch County somehow that makes it even better for it, you know, that the farm isn’t really in Midway, it’s in Wasatch County but we can work together and maybe our dollars can go further. It definitely needs looked into, there’s definitely a lot of things that we need to do and I think that we need to do it right, we’re only going to get the opportunity to do it once, so we need to make sure we do it right. So, with that, we’ll just keep you posted as to what we’re going to do. I think if forming a committee is something that we’re all kind of in favor of, I think we could ... come up with some guidelines."

Christian said, "What exactly, I mean, I totally agree, but just so if we’re going to put it out there for applications, what is this committee? Is it an open space committee, what is it?"

Bonner said, "Let’s discuss that and we’ll put it on in two weeks for a discussion of where that’s going to be. Okay, sounds good to me. So, alright, thank you for being here."

The council scheduled a work meeting for tonight, Wednesday, July 12, at 5:00 pm, to discuss forming a committee relating to open space.