The Hanksville Town Council meeting convened a public hearing in conjunction with its regular session on the 6th day of June 2024 in the Hanksville Community Center; meeting commenced at 6:00 p.m.
Present: Mayor Jeffren T. Pei, C. Morgan Roberts, C. Robert Gilner, C. Mona Wells and C. Eric Wells
Absent:
Employees: Clerk Lisa Wells and Treasurer Jessica Alvey
Public in Attendance: Kathryn Roberts, Slate Banner, Christopher Hagedorn, Brock Jackson, Dennis Alvey, Margarete Re, Carla Redmond, Deanna Mecham, Sara Bradbury, Dennis Lierd and Brennen Rees via zoom.
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 May council meeting: C. Morgan Roberts; Second C. Robert Gilner. Aye: All in attendance.
Motion to approve bills for payment – C. Eric Wells; Second C. Morgan Roberts. Aye: All in attendance.
Public comment on the 2025 FY budget – NONE
Motion to adopt the Budget for July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025: C. Eric Wells; Second C. Robert Gilner. Aye: All in attendance.
R6 – Brock Jackson – Resourced that might be of interest for the council.
Utah Cyber Center – Offering no cost services to local governments of Utah, the funds are provided by the State of Utah. They offer a wide range of services geared to the size of the municipalities and their cybersecurity needs.
Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity (GOEO) – Rural community opportunities for grants to partner with businesses to increase employment in our area.
Presentation of fees - Presented a NEXUS for fee structure and educated the council that fees should not be arbitrarily assessed but should be tied to the service provided, which should consider the time and resources involved in providing the service. Trained in best practices and reasonable methodology including the direct or indirect cost, tracking of cost and revenues received from the fees.
Report of Officers:
Council member Mona Wells:
Asked questions about the grant for the gun range and if that was in place yet.
Council member Morgan Roberts:
Nothing to report.
Council member Eric Wells:
The town is selling bulk water to Brown Brothers Construction and Nielson’s Construction right now. Also, a utility customer that is delinquent and due for shut-off of their water meter but has parked his vehicle directly on top of the meter with a tire on the meter lid. The maintenance took a picture of the incident; he will post a notice that the vehicle may be towed off the meter at customer expense to gain access to the meter.
Council member Robert Gilner:
He has had concerned citizens approach him regarding excessive speeding on center street. The council discussed a speed bump on center street to help deter speeding. There was some on center street in the past but has since been removed.
Mayor Jeffren Pei:
Nothing to report.
Clerk Lisa Wells:
Bills presented to council for approval (spreadsheet attached)
The charge account at Bull Mountain Market will be closed due to an accounting system at the store that doesn’t identify who is the purchaser and sometimes what is being purchased. If an employee or council member needs to buy an item from the store they should proceed to purchase with their own money and then submit a reimbursement to the clerk and it will be processed.
Planning Commission:
Katie Roberts – They are still working on the sewer section of the ordinances but feel confident that within the next two months they should be ready to hold a public hearing. The planning commission will allow 2 minutes for each public comment and is requesting that the comments be specific to an ordinance and be ready to submit a solution to their concern of an ordinance. This should help with an orderly meeting. The public hearing will be posted in the usual places, but the clerk has been instructed to include it on the monthly utility invoice.
Tabled Business:
Affordable Housing rent increase – After discussion in the council, C. Morgan Roberts will meet with the clerk to review upcoming capital improvements that are needed at the housing and adjust the rent as per the needs of the repairs. She will report back next month. Slate Banner, a tenant at the housing, said he has noticed the need for deep maintenance such as paint, electrical and the appliances need replacement.
New Business
Brennen Rees – Ensign Engineering – He has not heard anything yet regarding the FY25 Community Project Funding Opportunity – this is through Utah’s Second Congressional District. This initiative provides financial support for projects that can greatly benefit rural communities. Hanksville applied to pursue funding for the construction of a new storage tank, and distribution system upgrades. As part of this process, Hanksville will need to have an updated Water Master plan. Ensign can provide that through 100% grant if the town agrees to engage them.
Motion to engage Ensign Engineering to update the water master plan for the Town of Hanksville funded by a grant: C. Robert Gilner; Second C. Eric Wells. Aye: All in attendance.
Brennen updated the council on the SRTS grant, the survey required has been complete and Ensign will work to make sure Hanksville is ready to begin the project when it is funded next July 2025. Brock Jackson with R6 educated the council that a safe route to the school plan will need to be in place prior to the funding being awarded and that Hanksville Elementary must be part of the process for determining the safest route. He can help provide a template for the school in making that plan.
Ron Pierce with Rural Water Association of Utah (RWAU) met with the mayor and C. Eric Wells recently and he has been appointed to assist Hanksville in securing funding for wastewater projects. This would be for needs in addition to the current wastewater upgrade. Such as a mower, tractor, vac pump and jetter to clean the flume screens. If the council agrees to authorize him to do this research, he will present any funding opportunities to the council to discuss and approve any project.
Motion to approve RWAU to find funding for grant opportunities to purchase wastewater equipment for improvements to Hanksville’s wastewater system: C. Morgan Roberts; Second C. Robert Gilner. Aye: All in attendance.
Christopher Hagedorn – Get In The Wild Adventures –His company is an outdoor adventure guide group offering ½ day, full day, extended day tours in the surrounding canyons for canyoneering, rappelling, hiking and backpacking. Since the spring of 2012 he has facilitated many to be able to enjoy this area that is off the beaten path. He has no storefront in Hanksville and 100% of his bookings are online. He has all the necessary BLM permits for canyoneering in this area and a conditional use permit with Goblin Valley to work in that area. About 10 years ago he thought about a storefront for his business and after researching, found a parcel that Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) owns right in Hanksville at the junction of highway 24 and highway 95. He has worked with UDOT through the evaluation process with surplus property so they could officially sell this parcel. In 2017, he learned that they could not sell it outright and it had to go to a public auction. In 2018, Mr. Hagedorn requested to lease the property and he has paid $12,000 in lease payments to UDOT. He used the money he had received in 2016 through a Rural Fast Track Grant of $50,000 to help with a storefront and provide employment for our area. In 2021, UDOT was finally set to go to auction with the parcel, but since that time, a law was passed that State entities must furnish notice of the intent to sell property at public auction within the municipality that the property is located. Giving municipalities the opportunity to exercise the right to purchase the property. After reading the minutes of a council meeting, he found that Hanksville is interested in purchasing the property and shares similar goals as his company. His intent to purchase the property was to provide a storefront that would be open year-round so traveling tourists could have opportunities to see canyoneering demonstrations, hold practice sessions, talk to staff about trails, make reservations for a trip. He noticed the first thing on the Hanksville website that adventures are important to Hanksville. He has surveyed his guests regarding their spending and how his company has supported Hanksville in sales tax revenue dollars; from 2022 numbers he estimates $52,000 in motel stays, $15,000 restaurant, $12,000 grocery items, $8,000 in fuel.
Mr. Hogedorn has worked with the Utah Office of Tourism to receive funding of $100,000 for advertising, he partnered with ABC News as the first canyoneering guide to be featured. He has been on AYL and other media outlets. He believes that a storefront for his company on this property is a win/win for him and for Hanksville. There have been viral hashtags that are bringing more and more people to Hanksville. He believes to help Hanksville it is important to have people stay overnight in the community. Mr. Hagedorn answered questions from the council – he is an advocate of bringing in traffic through social media which brings in more tax dollars to the community, he approves of multiuse of the surrounding land and he also believes we should protect and preserve the environment for all visitors. He has 6 guides in his employ and would hire permanent on-site staff to run his store. He has not hired a local from Hanksville due to no applicants with the experience needed for safe canyoneering and all that entails. His employees live a mobile life – he currently works from March through November in the area surrounding Hanksville. He was asked if he has considered other properties for his storefront.
Triple R – Dennis Lierd and Sara Bradbury – They are proposing to donate 3.5 acres of their property to the town for a location of a new water storage tank along with the agreement to annex their subdivision into Hanksville town and donate 6” pipe they have purchased for the water line extension. They will donate these items in exchange for Hanksville Town to bear the cost of including their subdivision in the plans of a new water tank and providing water to their subdivision, which will require a booster pump and other specs as outlined by an engineer. The council will consider their offer, currently no funding has been approved. The funding that has been applied for is for a new storage tank and distribution upgrades; the scope of work did not include a booster pump and other items that would be required by the developer to provide water to their subdivision. There was no decision made on this item and the council tabled the discussion for a future meeting.
Public Comment:
Katie Roberts – Is the council willing to comment on the BLM proposed Henry Mountain and Fremont Gorge Travel Management Plan? She attended the zoom meeting that was held, and the comment period ends Monday, June 10, 2024. She will be commenting and feels it would be beneficial for Hanksville to have the town council send an official comment as well. The BLM requested the comments be specific to actual roads and experiences with the area.
MOTION TO ADJOURN: C. Eric Wells; Second C. Mona Wells. Aye: All in attendance - meeting adjourned at 7:55pm
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