North Ogden - Mayor Brent Taylor requested a report on the progress of the Public Works Facility (PWF) from Travis Johnson, of the Lundahl Building Contractor. Travis stated “the biggest challenge on the site is related to water control… however, the site is great and will accommodate the future use as a PWF… actual building construction will begin next week (1st week of September) first with the office building, then with the shop areas, and finally with the salt and sand storage building.” Council Member (CM) Jim Urry inquired on “how many change orders have been submitted for the project?” Travis responded, “There have been no change orders for the project.” There was concern about the water control on the site, and CM Lynn Satterthwaite inquired, “Has the trench work required a change order?” Travis responded, “No… it has been absorbed in the cost of the project and will ultimately mitigate the risk on the site which will benefit the contractor as well as the City.” Mayor Taylor inquired, “Will it still be possible to complete the project before Thanksgiving?” Travis indicated he “is hopeful that will still be possible.”
North Ogden City (NOC) has set aside $20,000 in the budget to install “a six-foot wide asphalt walkway on 2550 North” for the students at Majestic Elementary. CM Satterthwaite informed the Council “the PTA cannot offer funding for such projects, but the community around the school has agreed to try to raise $3,000 to assist in the project.” City Manager Ron Chandler, (who has since resigned) reported that the “estimated cost is $18,900 if all the work is contracted. If the City performs all of the preparation work, the cost can be lowered to $11,900.” Note: Bryan Steele, NOC Finance Director, has been appointed as the temporary City Manager, until such time as the position can be posted and an acceptable candidate selected by the Council.
The Public Works Director, Craig Giles, presented a persuasive analysis to bring road crack sealing in-house to the City Council, who voted unanimously to “proceed... to purchase used (if available) equipment to self-perform crack-sealing work and hire skilled temps to assist with the work” as CM Phillip Swanson stated in his motion. Craig “determined it would cost 25 cents per square yard to complete sealing with an outside contractor and 13 cents per square yard to complete the work in-house.” That’s a 48% savings to NOC taxpayers to do the work in-house!
Police Chief Kevin Warren sent over a “draft proposal for a Daytime Curfew Ordinance involving minors who are subject to compulsory education… to make it illegal during school hours for a minor to loiter, idle, wander, or be upon public streets, parks, any dwelling not their residence, or any unsupervised place between the hours of 8:30 am and 2:00 pm on any day when school is in session. NOC Citizen, Sorin Teles, publically commented that he is a “home-schooling parent… the ordinance has the potential to seriously impact Constitutional rights of minors, specifically the 14th amendment, which guarantees the freedom of movement of any person on public streets without government restriction.” Sorin stated these issues “are already addressed in Utah law” and that “the State of Utah recognizes his parental right to choose the curriculum and the schedule under which his children are to be educated.” Sorin emphasized that “other States have enacted laws that prevent individual cities from enacting their own daytime curfew ordinances because of their tendency to be abused.”
