Council Meeting (06-26-2025)

Town of Vernon

Town Council Regular Monthly Meeting

Thursday, June 26, 2025

Vernon Fire Station, 325 South Main Street, Vernon, Utah 84080

Regular Monthly Meeting

  1. Call to Order Pledge of Allegiance. – Lead by Jamison Richie
  2. Prior Meeting Minutes June 5, 2025. – Motion made by Scott Livingston Seconded by Jamison Richie. All in favor non opposed.
  3. Public Comments – No Public Comments.
  4. Reports from Police, Fire, Clerk/Treasurer- Fire Chief Joe Mannino- The fire budget is being renewed. Joe got word that the City Council is raising their budget due to inflation. Joe mentioned if he recalls correctly, they should be sitting around $20,000 left in their account, the department has made some money doing wildland as well as project work so that has helped out a bit. We have a fully functional Brush truck now. It has all of the equipment to get someone off the mountain or out from under a vehicle. John mentioned isn’t that what we do out here the most? Joe mentioned that we have had 2 fatalities so after the fatalities and a woman we had to helicopter out of the canyon the department went to training and so we got the equipment to match the training they got and now we can do Low Angle Rescue with the basket and using the hummer with ropes we are at a mechanical advantage so we will not have to hire a helicopter any more. Joe mentioned that he has made a hand-shake agreement with the medical people in town they are outfitting us with a mountain bag with items in there for medical. The thought is that the hummer can go where no ambulance can go. The department can get up there super quick and get the patient, load them in the hummer and perform patient care while coming down the mountain and meet the ambulance on a regular road and they can transport from there. Joe mentioned that this season his recommendation is a FULL restriction of fireworks out here. The town is already in extreme danger. Vernon has already been spotted as the driest place in Tooele County. Rosalie is going to put this out in the newsletter; it is posted on Facebook as well as the post office. John mentioned that you say the department has around $20,000 so if you could start building that up and get to the point where you could ever purchase a truck that we were talking about earlier, or even buy it on credit until you go on these other fires to pay for the truck. Joe mentioned that what Rush Valley did was they purchased theirs on credit and as long as the budget is coming through there a thing where you can pay like $5000.00 a year at the end of the year until its paid off. But with going on the wildland that is how they are getting these trucks paid off within a year or so. Joe mentioned that it is a long process and a lot of work there is a lot of logistics that would have to be figured out. The Department would have to become like a business since we would be hiring people and paying them not making them a 1099. Then we would be letting them go. John asked the group you were with up there got $36,000 is that on top of the guys getting paid? Joe mentioned that he needs to that out. John asked are you double dipping? Are you getting paid from Hill Field to go to California plus getting money for being in California? Joe mentioned no, this is a long process but Hill paid joe his regular duty and he got 180 hours of overtime on top of his regular pay. That gets paid from Hill and then Hill gets reimbursed from weber. If Vernon did this Vernon would send guys to California and the federal government pays the state of California and then the state would pay us. Joe mentioned there is a lot of money there. North Tooele has pretty much double/tripled their department since they have started doing that and they have all brand-new equipment. Joe mentioned that it will also allow him to provide jobs in Vernon. It’s also a great way to build our department. Joe and shar had spoke about this and if they were able to really make some money that this, they may be able to do a little station for the department in Vernon and it would be so easy to pay for. Joe mentioned that he has 2 engine bosses that would be willing to go 2-3 times a year. We had a bunch of problems with the trucks they kept dying on us so Charlie D came out and added a disconnect for the batteries and fixed an oil leak on our large main engine, there was a bunch of stuff that needed to be fixed. Joe mentioned that he had asked Cody for a long time but he is just to busy with his own family. We had to hire someone to get it done since wildland season is here. Joe mentioned that the asked Charlie for a bid and it was $4000.00 and he came here to do everything he wrote an itemized list of all the work that he did, it all checked out the biggest cost was the batteries. We have already paid him and everything is taken care of. It was on our budget that we get this work done. Nicole has nothing to report. Joe mentioned that he has something else to add the WUI is being adopted by the state. It goes into effect in January it has already passed the house. If you do not have defendable space they will come down and inspect your place in the more relevant areas like ours is and if you do not have defendable, they will note it and you will be fined on your taxes the next year following until you are up to code. What that lintels is the state WUI code is that for fire you have to have 100 foot turn around for the fire truck to get into. So, if you have a really long drive way and then just a small turn around that is not going to work. If I can not reach your house from the street that is not good either. Also, it means if there is debris and garbage if it is not cleaned up around the house with a set amount of space then you will be fined. There is a list of a bunch of things that will need to be done. There will have to be someone deputized whether it’s me or someone from the state that will have to go out and actually inspect the homes and report back to the county or city. John stated that we have to know what the criteria is. Joe stated that he will get that information and get back to them. John stated that he knew that bill was passing and he feels like that would be a good reason to advertise for a town meeting. Once we know what the criteria is we can do a meeting at the school house or something like that. Joe stated that he just wanted to give you all a heads up that this was happening. John stated that when we look at the code of Vernon, we have a code against the piling up of old cars and a lot of this stuff.
  5. Consideration of Vernon Tax Rate. – Every year if the town decides not to raise taxes, we are required to sign something stating that we will not be raising those taxes and we will be taxing at the same rate that we have done the previous year. Rob stated that the implication was you adopt the tax rate when you adopt the Budget its just stating it on the record that is what happened and that it was an oversight. John stated that this should have been done at our last meeting. Rob stated that there is no need for a motion.
  6. RESOLUTION 2025-01 A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING AMERICA250 UTAH AND RECOGNIZING AND APPROVING OF THE VERNON TOWN UTAH250 COMMUNITY COMMITTEE – Scott read the resolution into record. John stated that he has already had one meeting with the county. Rob wanted the record to show that there was mention of a clerical error on the resolution but there is infect no clerical error on the resolution 2025-01. John mentioned the basis for this is that next year is the 250 anniversaries of the founding of our country. They have a lot of things by joining this we will be able to claim $1500.00 and we can use that money to buy swag, mugs and stickers. John stated that he thinks we can do it in conjunction with our 4th of July celebration. They have guest speakers that you can schedule to come and talk to your youth. John is the committee head right now because they needed someone to sign up for it until we get this done. Motion was made by Micheal Cheatham seconded by Scott Livingston. John then went to a Role Vote

Scott Livingston- Yes

Micheal Cheatham – Yes

Jamison Richie – Yes

Tai Lutai- Absent.

John Olson signed the resolution. Rob Clegg signed the resolution; Nicole Hillman signed the resolution.

  1. Discussion of Core Samples for Larson Lane and Yates Road. – Jake Clegg got the information to john 2 days after the last meeting. Jake got 4 bids to do core samples on Larson and Yates Road. John stated that some of them are 6 core samples and the most he saw was 11 core samples. This one from Kleinfelder, was $33175.00. GL Strata was $17800.00, GSH was $17000.00 and CMT technical services was $7000.00 for both roads. John stated that we have use CMT in the past and Jakes recommendation is to go ahead and use these. We did run into some problems on Harker road because that core sample came back that there was road base and there wasn’t but he doesn’t think that they will run into the problem on yates and Larson. His recommendation is to approve CTM Technical services to do the Larson and Yates road core samples. John asked if there was any discussion? Micheal stated that he doesn’t see why they wouldn’t take that one. John stated that in all honestly, they are going to let the construction companies know that they are going to need to do. When we did sharp road all we did was grind that up and put that over the top of it and it has held up good. On main street they had to dig down and they hauled it all out to my road (Olson Lane) and they ground it up there and put it down on the road. John stated what he is recommending is maybe work into this bid if they do Larson Road, I can guarantee that they will not get to Yates Road but to at least do the core sample on yates so its done. Motion was made by Micheal Cheatham to accept the bid from CMT Technical services to perform the core samples on Yates and Larson Road for $7000.00 Scott Livingston Seconded. All in favor non opposed.
  2. Discussion of Funds for July 4, 2025 – John asked how do we do the funding for the 4th? Can we get the credit card to do the purchases? Nicole stated as long as there is a purchase order. Micheal would be responsible to fill out the purchase order and someone other than John would be the second signature. John stated that Karen will be using the card to rent a foam machine for the kids to play in and she is renting a megaphone. Nicole stated that the town has a megaphone. Micheal asked do you need a purchase order for each induvial thing? Nicole stated yes, we do. That way we can track everything better. Nicole asked what is your budget for this whole event. Micheal stated he isn’t sure but he knows they will stay under the $1200.00 budget. John stated that we are going to do a sawdust pit where we throw change into it. Where do I get the change for that. Nicole stated that John or Micheal can go into the bank and they can get the change that is needed.
  3. Reports from Council Members

Jamison Richie- Planning and zoning – Had a great meeting. Sharlene and Stephaine performed training for the commission. It was great to get back and see here we are starting after having this break between the last meeting and now. Some of the things that we will be working on is making sure that all the committee members get the training in that is required. We will be going over the town ordinances. Stephaine stated that she has a complete copy that was digital already. I am in the process of getting that from her. It was brought up that we could take the code as it currently sits and taking it into a law firm and having them organize it and update it all. Rob stated that the people who did our minor subdivision said they would do it for $40,000. They would publish it online and make it all consistent. John stated that you cant find things. Rob stated not can you not find it but things have been passed and Truely what they have offered us is a bargain. Sharlene stated that Fairfield just had theirs done with a grant so they may want to reach out to Fairfield and see who did theirs and who they got the grant from. John stated that it is like anything else if you look at the whole thing its a lot to swallow but if you take it a little at a time its more manageable. John mentioned that it would be ok if Jamison was voted as the chair of the planning commission but he just can not vote. Sharlene stated actually he can vote John stated we need to find that. Rob stated that he thinks that there is a very good chance that there are just some conflicting codes on that. Nicole stated that we could never find that information. Rob stated the thing is that if it hasn’t been changed there is nothing saying it can’t be changed. Water – no real changes or updates. The grant for the new system that tracks the holding tank that we have has been approved. We just need to get an estimate on that. New digital Meters are going to be installed its either going to be Cell enabled or something that they just can scan. That will be happening in the near future, and all of that was paid for by this grant. That should eliminate miss reading and errors on the older out dated mechanical meters. Hopefully there will be an app that the customers can download and be able to track their usage and pay their bills all on the app. Scott asked the water issue that is on the other side of the Mannino’s is that Irrigation or Culinary? Jamison stated that is Irrigation. Jamison mentioned that there will be an upcoming waterboard meeting that the rates will be disused. In order to operate in the black instead of the red they will have to raise rates. In order to come out with a slight surplus to start saving it would have to be upwards of $130.00. That is why they are having the meeting to see what kind of tear system, of how they can structure this. John asked how have you been operating at $55.00 and now you need $130.00. How far in the red are you? Jamison stated that they have a money market but it has been declining. They are using their savings year after year and it has been going that way for a while not just the last recent years. John state that is what you will need to explain.

Scott- Treasurer- Nicole has already touch on all of that we are just trying to get things back in order after our last secretary. We talked a little bit about Pelorus and we have still been trying to get that started and set up. Roads- Scott spoke to Marlin Yates to ensure that the roads will be mowed before the 4th of July. He ensured them that they will be done. John mentioned what about painting the speed bumps? Scott asked Micheal did we ever get the paint? Micheal stated yes, we did he just didn’t have the time to get them painted. John stated that he wants to get that done before the 4th.

Micheal- Community Relations- we are getting close to the 4th of July. There are a few things that we need to purchase but it should be a good event. Emergency- there is a possibility that our ambulance will have to be used by Tooele. We have it currently but they are having a bunch of issues with theirs but if that happens, we will still have most of the equipment. We will still be able to run with the fire trucks. I just wanted to let you know. John asked they have had calls where they have not had a ambulance available? Micheal stated that they have had break downs. Sharlene stated that they have been taking turns between their ambulance and Rush Valleys. They are looking at a new fleet of ambulances in august.

John- Council of Government was canceled this last month. Got a big meeting in July but I will not be able to attend. Micheal asked what day is it? Micheal stated that he may be able to go and take some notes if you need. John stated its Thursday the 17th.  John mentioned that the 3rd quarter sales tax grant application is coming up soon and it has to be filled out and returned by the 1st of August. John stated that the plan is that the committee voted on was that Stockton Rush Valley and Vernon were going to get an agreed upon amount every year we just have to put in the application. It could be as high as $55,000 a year. It has to be used on road maintenance but that would seal our roads every year. Cemetery- John stated that he has been in touch with a guy named Kelly Gillians he is out of Fillmore. He is with the engineering firm and he is coming up one day this week to pick up our cemetery records to take them down and transfer them into his program to get them all set up, he needs the database. Sharlene asked will he be making maps? John stated that it could be part of that. If this works out the way it is suppose to we will pay an annual fee and all you will have to do is go to our website and pull up the cemetery there will be a map there already. Sharlene stated that it would be cool if they could mark our veterans so it is much easier to find them.

  1. Other Business – Nicole stated that the town transferred over to QuickBooks as their accounting software. There is a monthly charge associated with that it is $60.00 a month. John asked did I send you a notice that I signed the MOU for the book Mobil? John got the letter saying its that time of years again to renew the agreement this year the services are $4175.00 the amount is billed in 2 installments in July and January. Jamison asked Nicole about the website. Nicole stated that it may be better if her and Jamison spearhead that project. Nicole stated that we were approved for the .gov email addresses and town website. Nicole stated that she did apply for the fire department to get one as well. All of the planning commission, town and fire department will all have one. Nicole stated once we get those set up make sure you bring your town supplied computers so that we can get those set up. Nicole stated that next months she will be addressing the need for a new lap top for the town that can be used as planning and zoning as well as for all the needs of the town. Jamison asked with the budget being a concern what is the possibility of making it a small server? Nicole stated that she is sure we can find it in the budget somewhere. Jamison stated that he can build a server so that we can host our own website. Nicole stated that she is sure we can find it in the budget somewhere. John mentioned that would be great. Jamison and Nicole will discuss this further. Nothing else to report.
  2. Review and Pay Town Bills – Jamison made a motion, seconded by Micheal All in favor non opposed
  3. Adjourn – Motion made by Scott Seconded by Jamison. All in favor non-Opposed.

 

*****TOWN COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING WAS RESCHEDULED DUE TO THE INDEPENDENCE DAY HOLIDAY***********

 

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