Syracuse City Council Meeting Summary: January 14, 2026
Syracuse City Council Meeting Summary: January 14, 2026
The Syracuse City Council convened on January 14, 2026, to address routine business, conduct public hearings, and receive reports from city officials. The meeting began with the recognition of the Syracuse Police Department's re-accreditation and the achievement of a supervisory fire officer designation for a captain. A work session was held to discuss special district appointments and a proposed legislative amendment regarding firefighter use taxes for national park service. The business portion included unanimous approvals for these appointments, the designation of key city officers, and a license agreement with the Bureau of Reclamation for canal improvements. The meeting concluded with a report on upcoming 250th anniversary plans, a public meetings training, and council updates.
Consent Calendar
- Adoption of agendas as stated (unanimous).
- Approval of minutes from the December 9, 2025, business meeting, December 9, 2025, work session, and the December 22, 2025, special session (unanimous).
- Approval of Proposed Resolution R26-03 designating and appointing Chief Davis as Police Chief, Steve Marshall as City Treasurer, and Cassie Brown as City Recorder (unanimous).
- Authorization for the Mayor to execute a license agreement with the Bureau of Reclamation for trail and drainage improvements adjacent to the Leighton Canal (unanimous).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Andy Oblad stated he is currently serving as a Chief Deputy with the Davis County Sheriff's Office and is running for Sheriff in Davis County. He expressed interest in meeting the new council members, though the Mayor cut off his detailed biographical summary due to time constraints. He expressed support for the council's work in law enforcement.
- Terry Palmer, representing the Syracuse Museum, reported on 2025 performance with a visitor count of 8,001. He expressed gratitude for city support and an endowment, noting the museum acquired a 2,400 square foot building and received a $50,000 state grant. He shared that museum attendance at the Halloween event was over 2,200 people. He stated historical facts regarding their first fire truck, built by the US Army Corps of Engineers during WWII.
Discussion Items
- Police Accreditation: Chief Davis and Officer Hunter Bennett were commended for the rigorous re-accreditation process involving 177 standards. The Utah Chiefs of Police Association recognized the department's compliance with state and federal laws, evidence procedures, and record-keeping efficiency. Val Shupe noted the department's evidence room and supervisor training were in excellent order.
- Special District Appointments: The Mayor recommended Julie Robertson to the Davis Mosquito Abatement District, citing her nursing background as a benefit for discussing mosquito-borne pathogens. The Mayor plans to fulfill the appointment for the Wasatch Integrated Waste District himself.
- Legislative Amendment: Council members discussed a resolution supporting a legislative amendment to allow Syracuse to qualify for a use tax on visitors to major state parks (specifically for Antelope Island service), similar to a bill previously passed for Hurricane. Council members expressed support for the amendment, noting it would allow out-of-town visitors to contribute to firefighting costs, while acknowledging the Mayor's assurance to legislators that this would be a unique, Syracuse-specific exception.
- Victim Services Report: Victim Advocate Celeste Hopkins presented statistics showing a 40-victim increase compared to the previous year (195 vs 142), with a noted spike in domestic violence during the holidays. She expressed concern regarding staffing capacity, noting difficulty in managing a tight schedule while trying to add an intern. She expressed a desire to make interview rooms more family-friendly and requested support for updating the victim services webpage.
- Syracuse Americana 1776 Committee: The committee reported plans for 250th anniversary events, including a youth brigade leading the Heritage Days parade, a scavenger hunt, a city walkabout, and a veterans memorial fundraiser. Council members expressed enthusiasm, with one member suggesting extending the youth brigade invitation to non-LDS youth, which the committee agreed to consider.
- Public Meetings Act Training: City Attorney Colin provided an overview of the Open and Public Meetings Act, clarifying definitions of public bodies, quorums (generally four of six), and the strict requirements for closing meetings (unanimous vote or at least two-thirds). He emphasized that workshops and field trips are public meetings if quorum is present and that members cannot text each other about agenda items during public meetings.
Key Outcomes
- Appointment R2601: Passed unanimously. Julie Robertson appointed to the Davis County Mosquito Abatement District.
- Appointment R2602: Passed unanimously. Mayor Dave Maughn appointed to the Wasatch Integrated Waste Management District administrative control board.
- Resolution R2604: Passed unanimously. The Council expressed support for proposed legislation authorizing a limited optional local sales tax for emergency services dedicated to communities serving qualified state parks.
- Veterans Memorial: The council acknowledged the Americana 250 committee's plan to fundraise for a veterans memorial that honors all who served without listing specific names.
- Recertification: The Syracuse Police Department officially received re-accreditation from the Utah Chiefs of Police Association as of November 2025, and Captain Clay Nelson received the Utah Supervisory Fire Officer designation.
Meeting Transcript
Yeah, by the way. Okay, I'm gonna call this meeting to order and council with your uh agreement. We're gonna bounce a little bit back and forth between a couple of meetings. So uh be patient with that. Uh as we begin our meeting, uh, we're gonna begin with a uh invocation or thought. I've asked uh councilman Watson to give that. And then uh Councilman Robertson, would you give us uh our leaders in the pledge? Our dear father in heaven, we're grateful for this opportunity we have to meet as a city council and discuss the business of the city. We're grateful for the opportunity we have to serve the city and and our citizens. Father, please bless and guide us at this time that we might be able to have productive discussions and find good solutions to the problems that are facing our city. And we are so grateful that we are so grateful of all the blessings that we have in this great city and state that we live in, and we ask for thy guidance during this meeting when you do these things in the name of thy son, Jesus Christ, amen. Amen. Ready again. I think the black from the United States of America for Stanis on occasion under Godissible and us all. Okay, um, can we adopt the agendas as stated? Second. Motion made and seconded. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Our first item that we're going to deal with tonight is we have a couple of items of recognition, and I want to deal with that while we have our uh all those here who came just for that in case they get called away. So uh item A is uh presentation from the Utah Chief of Police Association. So I'll ask our chief to come forward, and this would be recognizing our achievement of accreditation. Chief Davis, thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, council. Um Val Shupe with the Utah Chiefs of Police Association is here to present a recognition to Syracuse Police Department for the efforts that we undertook this past year for re-accreditation um through the Utah Chiefs Police Association. I've shared some information about this in the past, but it's uh very rigorous process. And I was aided greatly by Officer Hunter Bennett with Syracuse Police Department. Um, Hunter, I'd like to invite you to come up here as well. And Val, if you want to come up, sir. And I'll let Val take it from here. Council and Mayor, it's a pleasure to be here on behalf of the Utah Chiefs of Police Association to uh present the accreditation word to the city. Uh, you may be aware that Syracuse has been accredited for the last five years, but it was time for the reaccreditation. And so we have accomplished that. Uh Officer Davis or Officer uh Bennett did a tremendous job with this uh going through. I was the assessor on this particular uh assessment, and uh I would send things back to him that need to be corrected. He was very pertinent getting those back to us. Just to give you a background on this, uh, the accreditation process we have in the state of Utah. We're a member of about 38 states, and we are the recognized accreditation agency for the state of Utah, and we are recognized by DOJ. And what it entails is these uh these cities, having been a police chief in the past in my former world. I know what it is to council to make sure that they they realize the liabilities that come with being a police department, and one of those is their policies and procedures. So, what the accreditation process does is it the department has to conform to city ordinances, state laws, legislative laws, and federal laws. And as each year we have a process where we go through and a new edition comes out based on the legislature, what they've passed on new things that the city's done, on new things that the uh federal has done. And then what we go through is we go through each one of these. This particular edition that they accredited on has 177 standards that they had to go through. Now they just don't get to put a policy in and say they have it. They have to show us they're actually doing it, and they have to show some of those that they've done in the last 12 months. For example, you may have a uh uh the the evaluation of an employee.
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