The Hanksville Town Council meeting convened its regular session on the 3rd day of August 2023 in the Hanksville Community Center; meeting commenced at 6:00 p.m.
Present: Mayor Jeffren Pei, C. Mona Wells and C. Morgan Roberts,
Absent: C. Tanesha Conder and C. Eric Wells
Employees: Clerk Lisa Wells and Treasurer Jessica Alvey
Public in Attendance: Cathy Rosenbaum, Sara Bradbury, Dennis Lierd, Luke Wells, Doug & Katie Roberts, Kelly Taylor, Pete & Mary Devonshire
Meeting to Order: Mayor Jeffren T. Pei
Pledge: Mayor Jeffren T. Pei
Prayer: C. Morgan Roberts
Roll Call: Mayor Jeffren T. Pei
Motion to approve minutes of June and July 2023 council meetings: C. Morgan Roberts; Second Mona Wells. Aye: All in attendance.
Council member Mona Wells:
Nothing to report.
Council member Tanesha Conder:
ABSENT
Council member Morgan Roberts:
Maintenance has been working through the list of items that need attention. There was a question about the handrail for the ramp at the Community Center – maintenance is gathering materials for the handrail.
Council member Eric Wells:
ABSENT – Red Desert 4-plex is ready for the water and sewer to be connected but they need to submit an application for a new connection.
Mayor Jeffren Pei:
The mayor would like to tear out the culverts at the south crossing of Bull Creek.
He would like 7 yield signs to replace some of the stop signs through town.
Garkane Energy will be meeting with the mayor to discuss moving some of the streetlights to a better location and installing streetlights where needed.
The mayor would like sidewalks installed by November between the post office and the store.
Mayor Pei directed the clerk to send an eviction notice to Tyson Hunt and Marina Pei Apt #2 at the housing since they have not paid the past due rent in the amount of $2150, they are 5 months past due. Payment in full is all that is acceptable.
Clerk Lisa Wells:
Bills presented to council for approval (spreadsheet attached)
Motion to approve bills for payment – C. Morgan Roberts; Second Mona Wells. Aye: All in attendance.
Treasurer Jessica Alvey:
Reminded the council the purpose of transient room tax is for advertising and marketing Hanksville to get more people to come and stay in our town. The need for an ongoing current website is vital, brochures are good but only target people that are already in Hanksville. She would like to recommend contracting with Luke Wells Illustration & Design, who did the work on the most recent website. Luke reported to the council the increased traffic to the Hanksvilleutah.gov website since he implemented SEO work for our website. The council agreed on a $400 monthly fee for a year to have continued web design, blog posts, add ordinances, continued SEO work and other items as needed. He will send a contract for review to the clerk.
Planning Commission:
The public hearing went well. For agriculture property a plat map is not required, and the planning commission put 11 acres minimum for an agricultural split of property and it will still be zoned agricultural. Brock Jackson with Six County has been very helpful in providing templates for the zoning process. The next meeting will be August 8, 2023, from 8am to 10am and the commission would like to invite Mayor Pei and C. Eric Wells to help with the review of the ordinances regarding roads, water, and sewer.
Tabled Business: NONE
New Business and Public Comment:
Motion to adopt Hanksville Town Subdivision Ordinance 2023-01 as recommended by the Planning & Zoning Commission – C. Morgan Roberts; Second Mona Wells. Aye: All in attendance.
Upcoming Solar Eclipse on October 14, 2023 – Hanksville is in the direct path for optimum viewing. The council had some discussion on what Hanksville could do, possibly getting signs to post before Labor Day about the event, encouraging visitors to come to Hanksville for viewing. The council will come prepared for the next council meeting with ideas. Local businesses are gearing up for the event and how can Hanksville Town support the businesses.
Public Comment:
Doug Roberts presented to the council his plan to take the 3 lots he owns on 80 South – Lot 9-11 and divide them into 5 lots with each new lot being about .52 acre.
Motion to allow Doug and Katie Roberts to divide their 3 lots and make 5 lots on 80 South – C. Morgan Roberts: Second Mona Wells. Aye: All in attendance.
Kelly Taylor informed the council of his intention to divide off a lot that includes 22 acres. He understands that all this property, including the acreage that he is selling will remain in the zone of agricultural. The mayor directed the clerk a letter confirming the Mr. Taylor had informed the council of his plan for an agriculture split of his property.
Dennis Lierd – Triple R – They are done with the subdivision requirements by the county and are ready to sell the lots. He presented a map with the plans to install a6” C-900 water line, he also marked out 4 hydrants that will be placed as well. There was discussion regarding should the extension of the line be 8” or 6”, Eric Wells was not in attendance but had some concerns about going with the 6” line. The mayor said he talked with Eric, and he thought 6” would be fine.
Motion to accept Triple R map of water line installation – C. Morgan Roberts; Second Mona Wells. Aye: All in attendance.
Scott Livingston – building permit approval – Scott was not present, but the council discussed with the planning commission the process of approving a building permit. The applicant needs to get on the agenda of a planning commission meeting, and they will review the permit and if it meets the town ordinance the chair of the commission will sign off and send it on to the mayor’s office for signature so the council will be informed of all building permits being issued.
Katie Robers – Will there be a town clean up day maybe to get ready for the Solor Eclipse events? C. Mona Wells scheduled Founder’s Day on September 22 with a potluck dinner and then September 23 with a town clean up. She will contact the county regarding free dump day again like last year. Katie would like to see a concentrated effort on the main highway through town cleaned up. Also, she is concerned about increased tourists camping in her parking lot overnight. Seems like a safety issue and, she would like them in the local campground instead of on her property. There is plenty of free camping on BLM ground surrounding the town.
Mayor Pei brought up that if the town has ordinances and rules then there needs to be a way to enforce those rules. He would like to come up with steps for enforcement like warnings, fees, fines, before actually serving papers and going to Wayne County Sherriff’s Office for something like that. The mayor would like to have some guys trained and certified as a Special Function Officer. This will require attending a 9-week P.O.S.T. training. They could enforce whatever the board determines necessary such as dog and noise ordinances. There has been some harassment to the builders of the new 4 plex by neighbors of the property about the equipment being too loud.
MOTION TO ADJOURN: C. Morgan Roberts; Second Mona Wells. Aye: All in attendance - meeting adjourned at 7:48pm
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