Draper City Council Meeting - October 7, 2025: Budget, Solid Waste, and Street Renaming
Draper City Council Meeting - October 7, 2025
The Draper City Council met on October 7, 2025, at 5:30 PM for a study session followed by a business session at 7:00 PM. Key actions included approving a budget amendment, adopting a solid waste ordinance to end city collection on private streets, contracting with Ace Recycling, canceling an at-large city council race, and renaming a street. The council also discussed a potential community center, America250 celebrations, and a new city mascot.
Consent Calendar
- Meeting Minutes: Approved the September 16, 2025 City Council meeting minutes unanimously (5-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Peter Durbin (14953 South Auburn Sky Drive, Draper) expressed concern about the Mercer Mountain Estates project. He stated that fill dirt placed on city-owned land between his property and the access road has raised the elevation by approximately 60 feet, completely blocking his view of Utah Lake and reducing privacy and property value. He noted the new road will be 5-10 feet above his fence line, allowing vehicles to look into his backyard.
- Brad Byington (14932 South Eagle Crest Drive) spoke in favor of the $50,000 budget allocation for police license plate reader cameras, citing their potential to enhance safety and reduce crime.
Discussion Items
- Solid Waste Text Amendment (Ordinance #1680): Public Works Director Scott Cooley presented the ordinance to end city collection of solid waste and recyclables on private streets due to liability concerns (narrow roads, lack of turnarounds, hydraulic leaks, injury claims). The city will contract with Ace Recycling and Disposal, Inc. for these routes. The fee for affected households will increase from $15/month to $38/month (a $23 increase). Approximately 1,300 households are impacted. The council noted that many private roads in the city are already served by private contractors, and city rates will also need to increase to sustain the overall system. The ordinance passed unanimously.
- Ace Recycling Agreement (Resolution #25-51): The council approved a five-year agreement with Ace (with two three-year renewal options) for private street collection. Ace’s bid was the only one received. They plan to use two-person crews and, in some cases, manually haul cans to public roads. The agreement includes 7% annual escalators. Approved unanimously.
- Budget Amendment (Resolution #25-50): Finance Director John Vuyk presented adjustments for CIP projects, police cameras ($50,000), holiday lighting ($40,000), golf course stormwater repairs, water meter replacement ($350,000), and 138 South widening. The amendment also reduced property tax revenue due to the state not approving the certified tax rate increase. Approved unanimously after public hearing.
- Consolidated Fee Schedule (Resolution #25-52): Updated to include the new private street collection fee and other changes (animal services, business licensing, Momentum Glass recycling fee). Approved unanimously.
- Cancellation of At-Large City Council Election (Resolution #25-49): City Recorder Nicole Smedley explained that with the withdrawal of a candidate, only two candidates (Tasha Lowery and Mike Green) remain for two 4-year seats. The council voted unanimously to cancel the race and certify them as elected, saving an estimated $70,000 in election costs.
- Street Renaming (Resolution #25-54): Attorney Spencer Dushane presented a resident-initiated petition to rename Stampede Drive to Bailey Quinn Lane in memory of a deceased neighborhood child. Since no one lives on the street, the council made a finding of public interest and approved the resolution unanimously.
- City Property in Town Center Station Area (Study Session): Jennifer Jastremsky presented options for developing 9.27 acres of city-owned land next to City Hall. Proposals included a community center with indoor basketball courts (three full-size), a performing arts theater, museum space (15,000-20,000 sq ft for Historical Society), outdoor plazas, and housing. The council expressed interest in a combined recreation, theater, and museum facility. Direction was given to staff to develop cost estimates and conceptual plans.
- America250/Utah250 Celebration (Study Session): Staff discussed joining the Utah250 Community program. The council expressed enthusiasm for celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States, with ideas including a citywide potluck, tree planting (250 trees), a walking challenge, and tying into existing events like Draper Days. A committee will be formed.
- Jordan Basin Improvement District: Staff noted that Councilmember Alan Summerhayes’ term ends January 1, 2026. The council discussed whether to appoint a council member or another individual. Further information will be brought back in two weeks.
- City Mascot: The council approved a proposal to adopt a puma (mountain lion) as a city mascot, following a prank puma statue that appeared on trails. A naming contest will be held, with staff filtering suggestions before a public vote.
Key Outcomes
- Approved unanimously (5-0): September 16 meeting minutes, budget amendment (Resolution #25-50), solid waste ordinance (Ordinance #1680), Ace Recycling agreement (Resolution #25-51), fee schedule update (Resolution #25-52), cancellation of at-large election (Resolution #25-49), and street renaming (Resolution #25-54).
- Direction to staff: Develop conceptual plans and cost estimates for a community center combining recreation, theater, and museum on the city-owned property.
- Next steps: Staff will return with more information on the Jordan Basin appointment and America250 planning.
- Public comment: Concerns about Mercer Mountain access road impacts will be addressed by staff or future agenda items.
Meeting Transcript
We're on. Okay, we're back into the open session. The next item is a solid waste amendment. Sir. Um I'll I'll speak for this. Uh so we brought this before you s a couple of times and we made decisions on this, and we just wanted to give this one last opportunity before we uh really commit to changing our order or changing the code to eliminate city services for garbage and uh recycling stuff on private roads. The reason that we just to recap the reason that we're doing this, proposing this is really for liability purposes. Um these roads are not safe for us to be driving down. Uh so we have we put out an RFP with uh negotiated a contract with ACE disposal to provide services. We weren't even sure that we were gonna be able to find someone. We did uh they're willing to do it. Uh the there is an increase in fee to I think thirty-eight dollars or two dollars. It's currently uh fifteen. So it's a significant increase. Uh they will take the liability of going down these roads. They what they intend to do is essentially put two people in their truck. Uh as well as in some of these roads, they're gonna have to actually pick up the cans by hand and wheel them out. So it's really sketchy. Um the council also decided determined in previous meetings that that they didn't you didn't want to discretionarily divide up the private roads and we're gonna do some of them but not all of them. So we've included just a blank a blanket statement in the code the new code that Draper City will no longer be providing uh services directly meeting with our uh department personnel and equipment uh uh for private roads. Now what I expect is that there's gonna be some pushback. Uh we've tried to anticipate that we know that the cost is going to affect some uh more than others. Um so that can be an issue. Uh so I just wanted to remind you of how we got to where we are, and I will be presenting the ordinance with the amended code tonight, but just wanted to give this and the agreement. And the agreement, the agreement, but wanted to give you an opportunity to talk trash tonight. We're just waiting for that one. We did talk about the possibility of offering the option of them all rolling them out to main roads. Yes, we uh if that's what they want to do. Um I don't know that we've written we haven't addressed that in the code. Um but we will not be I I think it's something we do right now and so it's it's been our practice to turn it down. So there are all the whole lane would have to be allowed to universally agree. No one is required to contract through the city regardless. If somebody wants to do their own trash, they're allowed to as long as they don't break the health code. Yeah. So they could haul it to the land bill themselves, they could hire someone themselves. Uh we we have had people uh try to do that in the past, they were not able to find any one. When we put out our RFP, we had one company respond. And that's partly why the prices are that no question about it. So this would even address the private lanes where it's safe for us to access. That's a harder argument to make. For example, um Draper Heights, those are normal wood streets on a normal subdivision, except it's gated. That's the only difference. It's private streets and it's gated. Uh other than that, it's not safe for us to go in there. But we did not want, and we talked about this before, like um we don't want to treat any of these any different than if we only give the hardest ones to ACE, that's going to affect it. Well, you can't just say, well, you're easy. Right, right. It's gotta be all around. There's still liability associated with those roads because we don't own that. Right.
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