Lehi City Council Meeting Summary for April 8, 2025
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Lehi City Council Meeting Summary (April 8, 2025)
The Lehi City Council held a pre-council session at 5:30 PM and a regular session at 7:00 PM on April 8, 2025, in the Lehi City Council Chambers. The pre-council included presentations on the Hospital/2100 North Station Area Plan, the city finance report, a proposed Waste Management contract extension, a green waste facility proposal, and employee policy revisions. The regular session covered numerous land use, budget, and administrative items. Key outcomes included the approval of a tentative FY 2026 budget, a development agreement with ProSteel Customs, a resolution of intent to annex two properties, approval of the North Lehi Station Area Plan with a non-binding caveat, and a public hearing on a proposed green waste facility that received significant public opposition, leading the council to indicate the location was not suitable.
Consent Calendar
- Purchase Orders: Approved purchase orders as presented (items 4.1).
- Surplus of Substation Equipment: Approved declaring substation equipment surplus (item 4.2).
- Minutes: The minutes from the March 18, 2025, City Council meeting were pulled from the consent agenda for further work (item 4.3).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Citizen Input (item 3): Residents raised concerns about speeding on 1700 West, traffic congestion at 2300 West and Pioneer Crossing, and litter from uncovered garbage trucks on Pioneer Crossing.
- Green Waste Facility (item 9): Many residents of the surrounding area (e.g., Jonathan Kavanagh, Ryan Hess, Dan Logan, Ann Bailey, Jeff Dixon, and others) opposed the proposal citing traffic, noise, dust, groundwater contamination, methane gas concerns, and the belief that the facility would become permanent. Some residents also questioned the city's process and the lack of public notice. Council members and the mayor acknowledged the concerns and indicated the location was not suitable.
Discussion Items
- Hospital / 2100 North Station Area Plan (pre-council item 2.1): Arcadis consultants presented the draft station area plan, describing a vision for transit-oriented development around two future stations (hospital and 2100 North), including a wellness district, innovation district, and town square. Council members discussed the plan's aspirational, non-binding naturehare, and raised questions about light rail connectivity, zoning changes, and potential tax incentives.
- Finance Report (pre-council item 2.2): Finance Director Dean Lundell presented the quarterly report, noting sales tax fluctuations due to online sales and recommending a general fund balance of $21.1 million (about 30% of annual revenues). He projected a surplus of about $1.5 million over budgeted revenue.
- Waste Management Contract (pre-council item 2.3): Blake Leonelli of Waste Management and Dean Lundell discussed a proposed three-year extension of the current contract at the same rates, including the blended value rate for recyclables. Council showed interest in analyzing historical data on the blended value rate.
- Green Waste Facility (pre-council item 2.4): Trent Van Dam of Diamond Tree Experts presented a proposal for a temporary green waste facility at the future Mellor Roads Park (1700 W 1400 S). The facility would accept residential green waste for free, grind it on site, and haul it to Magna for composting. Council discussed traffic, noise, and duration concerns, with staff suggesting a time limit and conditional use approach.
- Employee Policy Manual Revisions (pre-council item 2.5): HR Director David Kitchen presented proposed revisions to the maternity/parental leave policy (2 weeks parental leave for either parent, plus 10 weeks medical recovery for mothers) and a rewritten workplace harassment policy. Council members suggested extending the parental leave window to 6-12 months and clarifying eligibility.
Public Hearings
- Series 2025 Bonds (item 5): No public comments were received. The council heard that the bonds were rated A+ and would be priced the following week.
- Budget Adjustment #2 (item 7a): No public comments were received. The council approved Resolution #2025-17 amending the FY 2024-2025 budget.
- Green Waste Facility (item 9): Public comments were extensive and opposition was strong. Council members and the mayor expressed that while the facility was a good idea, this location was not appropriate.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Agenda (items 4.1, 4.2): Approved unanimously.
- Budget Adjustment #2 (item 7b): Approved Resolution #2025-17 unanimously (roll call vote).
- Tentative Budget (item 8): Approved Resolution #2025-18 adopting the tentative FY 2026 budget unanimously.
- Local Building Authority (LBA): Approved Resolution L-2025-01 adopting the tentative budget for the LBA.
- Redevelopment Agency (RDA): Approved Resolution R-2025-08 adopting the tentative budget for the RDA.
- ProSteel Customs Development Agreement (item 10): Approved Resolution #2025-23 approving the development agreement unanimously.
- ProSteel Customs Development Code Amendment (item 11): Denied Ordinance #10-2025 unanimously, as the development agreement superseded the need for a citywide code change.
- Salt Spring Annexation (item 12): Approved Resolution #2025-21 (Resolution of Intent to Annex) unanimously.
- Clark Meadows Annexation (item 13): Approved Resolution #2025-22 (Resolution of Intent to Annex) unanimously.
- Business License Code Amendment (item 14): Approved Ordinance #16-2025 unanimously.
- North Lehi Station Area Plan (item 15): Approved Ordinance #17-2025 with the caveat that the plan is conceptual, creates no entitlements or requirements, is not an area plan under Lehi City Code, and can be amended. The motion also noted that the predominant landowner (Bateman Irrevocable Trust) is not in agreement. The vote was unanimous.
- Whitmore General Plan Amendment (item 16): Tabled Ordinance #18-2025 and directed staff to work with the applicant on a development agreement to allow specific light industrial uses (sod transfer, parking for semis) on the property for a three-year term. The council also directed staff to explore the feasibility of using the property for green waste processing.
- Inverness East Side Grading Permit (item 17): Approved the grading permit on approximately 197 acres unanimously.
- Skye Area Plan Amendment (item 18): Approved Ordinance #19-2025 adding two uses to the table of uses unanimously.
- Dwelling Unit Kitchen Amendment (item 19): Tabled Ordinance #20-2025 and directed staff to define "kitchen" more precisely (with cooktop as a defining element) before bringing it back.
- Elections Interlocal Agreement (item 20): Approved Resolution #2025-20 approving the interlocal agreement with Utah County, with staff directed to negotiate costs not to exceed the $240,000 maximum listed in the agreement.
- PARC Committee Appointments (item 21): Approved Resolution #2025-16 appointing Megan Mullins and Lindsay Gaiman to the PARC Advisory Committee unanimously.
Meeting Transcript
Let's get us uh started. I'd like to welcome everybody to Lehigh City Council meeting. It is April 8th, 2025. This is the pre-council session. Uh the regular session will start at 7 p.m. As a matter of roll call. All our council members are here for this uh pre-council session today. Uh we do have a number of uh have uh presentations and reports to be given, so I'll ask everybody we need to move through these somehow as quickly as we can because uh this one day we do have a lot on our agenda. Uh but we always like to start off with an opening prayer, and I ask Chris if he will do that. Dear gracious heavenly father, we come before thee this beautiful evening to thank you for our many blessings and to thank thee, Father, for this great city that we have to live in. We thank you for the moisture that has blessed us with throughout this uh beginning of spring and throughout the the winter, and we're grateful, Father, for this opportunity to serve and to work with uh staff and residents and business owners here in the city uh to help it to progress and to become all that it can be. We are thankful for all those who serve on our behalf, Father, um all of our city employees, our first responders, our military, um, and their families. We pray for each of them, and we pray that thou may bless them and watch over them, and we pray that thou may watch over each of our families as we are away from them this evening, that they may be safe and no harm accident come upon them as well. We thank thee and ask I spirit to be with us, and and uh this we do so in the name of my son Jesus Christ. Okay, thank you very much, Chris. Yeah. Uh our first presentation is item 2.1. This is a presentation and discussion of the hospital, a 2100 North Stationary Plan, uh and this is going to be done by the planning department. Yeah, we actually have our consultants here from our case. So I'm gonna let them take the reins here. Okay. And anybody who's presenting, make sure you come up and give us your name and everything. So it's part of the process. Oh, yeah. I'm gonna start while they work around me. Um my name's Ray Witchurch. I'm the studio lead for uh uh a company called Arcadis. And we're a planning firm amongst other things. And we have been working on the station area plan for 2100 north and for uh the triumph station uh over the last year and a half. You need me to speak into the mic? Uh yep. Uh over the last year and a half. Um we're coming coming to the conclusion of that project, and we've discovered some opportunities that we think are available to you. At the same time, we want to um thank the staff for working with us through this process. They've been great to work with. And we've learned a lot from each other. So we'll look forward to that. With me today is Jordan Swain. He's the project manager on this project and the um the lead as we develop these uh concepts and ideas with your staff. And so I will turn the time over to him. If you have any questions through this, feel free to answer or ask them, and we'll hopefully be able to answer all of them. All right, we're all plugged in. Thank you so much, council, for having us back. Um if you recall, we were here a few months ago, about six months ago, I think, um, just talking through uh this plan at a preliminary stage. Um at a at a um finalized state, you know, a preferred alternative that has been properly described, and and we're very excited to go through it with you today. Um so to start out, uh I'm sure you've heard a lot about stationary planning, but we just wanted to kind of set the tone of our presentation by going over some of the essentials of stationary planning, right? Um because I think they're they'll become important um later as we're talking through the concept. But a stationary plan typically looks at land uses um within uh a third to a half a mile from a station, depending on what kind of infrastructure is supporting what what kind of infrastructure and services are supporting that station. In this case, the we've been working with the hospital station, also known as the South Triumph Station, which will be a fixed guide rail station. It's anticipated to be a light rail station.
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