Topic 2- Citizen Participation/Comment (6:09 PM) There was none. Topic 3- Short-term Rental Proposal – Christy Oldham (6:10 PM) Christy lives at 145 S. 380 E. Mendon. She has a detached apartment on her property currently being used as a long term rental and would like to use it as a short term rental. Permitting is online where the application and the check list are included. Once everything is filled out she will bring them to the city clerk. Mendon currently has four short term rentals with a limit of nine. Motion: Councilmember Jepsen made a motion to approve the short-term rental proposal for Christy Oldham, with the application process completed and approved. It was seconded by Councilmember Heers. Action: Voting is unanimous and motion is approved. Topic 4- Cache County Sheriff Jensen (6:16 PM) Mayor Buist expressed appreciation for the sheriff’s quick response and help. His department has been respectful and good to work with. Sheriff Jensen talked about the great place we live in and for the great relationship with the citizens of the valley that makes public safety successful. Last year in Mendon, they did 844 hours of service. And with those hours, they took 193 calls for service. The average for Mendon’s contract year this year is around 189. Sometimes, in Mendon, we get a little spike here, a little spike there. One big call changes the hours a lot. If there is not a big call the hours don’t change very much. Ordinance enforcement is becoming a big thing across the valley. We’re seeing more and more of that with the new buildings, new roads, annexations, and fences. The sheriff’s office started a pilot program last August with Hyrum City under Mayor Stephanie’s tutelage to see how it would work with the Sheriff’s Department doing i![]() t. A code enforcer, which the city pays fo,r does it. The deputies don’t . It’s a much cheaper cost to do it this way. We’re not having to hire full-time law enforcement staff. It might be something Mendon wants to look to somewhere in the future. An ordinance he’s working on through the county right now, that came from one of our other cities, is to establish a county ordinance on feeding wildlife. Mayor Buist introduced Art Heers as a new councilmember over Mendon’s animal control. Mayor Buist asked Councilmember Heers to visit with the sheriff, because Mendon has people that feed the deer and the turkeys. We are not helping, but hurting them by doing that. Whether it is an ordinance, education, or something of both, it is good for Councilmember Heers to be involved with. An education opportunity is an emergency preparedness class held monthly in Mendon. The teacher, Roseanne, could do some education about feeding the animals. When you bring game animals into the community, you bring mountain lions, foxes, coyotes, and badgers. It’s the circle of life. Sheriff Jensen wants to make an effort to partner with DWR to try to tackle some of these wildlife issues, and they’ll certainly lend a helping hand for our county. If they can help the trapping process, hunting process, relocating process, education processes, that would be great. Topic 5- PUBLIC HEARING: Defaults Standards for Public Improvements R2026-06 (6:33 PM) Motion: Councilmember Garbe made a motion to close city council meeting, and to open public hearing on default standards for public improvements. It was seconded by Councilmember Watkins. Action: Voting is unanimous and motion is approved. City Engineer Eric Dursteler shared that often the standards are updated through the state of Utah. It’s The American Public Works Standards and Specifications. Utah has their own chapter for it. They recently completed a new revision in 2026, and it’s still pending a process of approval review. But 2025 was just passed here in December. His suggestion and recommendation is that the city adopt the 2025 most recent edition of the APWS. When it comes to building the town as a public improvement, those standards set the requirements for the construction. Public Comment: Mayor Buist opened the floor for comment from public. There was none. Motion: With no comment from public, Councilmember Jepsen motioned to close the public hearing on default standards for public improvements and reopen city council meeting. It was seconded by Councilmember Garbe. Action: Voting is unanimous and motion is approved. Motion: Councilmember Jepsen motioned to approve the default standard for public improvements, resolution 2026-06. It was seconded by Councilmember Watkins. Action: Voting is unanimous and motion is approved. Topic 6- PUBLIC HEARING: Liability Waivers R2026-09 (6:36 PM) Motion: Councilmember Garbe made a motion to close city council meeting, and to open public hearing on Lability Waivers. It was seconded by Councilmember Meyers. Action: Voting is unanimous and motion is approved. Mayor Buist, as chief steward of this community feels the need to look at liability waivers. It’s important to cover ourselves as much as we can when it comes to activities in the community and the things that we do. Last year, we had a situation where someone got hurt. The mayor aske city court clerk Stephanie Miller to look into liability waivers. She spoke with the trust and they said that it’s good to have liability waivers. They don’t always hold up in court, but it will keep about 80% from filing a lawsuit. That helps the city save money that would be used for lawsuits. For volunteers, she was told it’s best to have a list of our chairman, our co-chairs, our top people that are involved, along with the date the activity they are involved in, what they will be doing and when it will take place. Then have the mayor sign it and then, if they are hurt, they fall under our workman’s comp and we are able to avoid legal fees. She had looked at several examples of liability waivers and just put the basic things that she felt were needed. The council can change the proposed waiver if they see anything that they want to be added or changed. The mayor felt like what she put forth is a really good starting point and doesn’t see anything that jumps out at him. Public Comment: Mayor Buist opened the floor for comment from the public. There was none. Motion: Councilmember Watkins made a motion to close the public hearing on liability waivers and reopen council meeting. It was seconded by Councilmember Heers. Action: Voting is unanimous and motion is approved. Motion: Councilmember Jepson made a motion adopt Resolution 2026-09, Liability Waiver. It was seconded by Councilmember Garbe. Action: Voting is unanimous and motion is approved. Topic 7- PUBLIC HEARING: Liability Signs R2026-08 (6:47 PM) Motion: Councilmember Jepsen made a motion to close city council and open public hearing for at-your-own-risk sign resolution. It was seconded by Councilmember Garbe. Action: Voting is unanimous and motion is approved. Stephanie Miller brought examples of signs that can be put in places on city property where groups of people gather, alleviating the city the responsibility of risk. Examples are playgrounds, parks, ball diamonds, and the city square where many gather for events. If there was a court case, the signs protect the city of liability, as long as there is no negligence on the city’s behalf. Mayor Buist referred to an incident that happened several years ago. Some young folks were in town picking up their day dates that they do before a high school dance. They ran through a stop sign and people were hurt. An angry mother accused the city that the stop sign was not visible. Kirk was sent to take pictures starting at a block and a half away. You could easily see the big octagon red sign that says stop, half a block away, a block away, continuing further. Public Comment: John Eiman said that Kristen Walker, our great race team lead for the Mendon Second Ward, volunteered as a grandma and had her grandson in the stroller with her. She got mowed down by a muffin eater. She got hurt, but she’s a good sport, and her husband’s a doctor, and tended to her, no broken bones, but the baby got a big bruise and a cut, and was crying. Kristen was excited and so enthused to do this and then this happened. It was an avoidable accident. It could have been a serious injury, that could have resulted in a liability to the city. If you’re going to do the great race, it really should be managed and reviewed. Motion: Councilmember Heers made a motion to close the public hearing on liability waivers and reopen council meeting. It was seconded by Councilmember Watkins Discussion: It was questioned how frequently the signs have to be placed. If there are too many signs it might scare people away. We want them to be visible. The places considered to put them were in the city park, Pioneer Park, Legacy Park, the park in Taylor’s subdivision, the cemetery, and Waynes Loop. Kirk was asked to order the signs and put them up. Motion: Councilmember Jepson made a motion adopt Resolution 2026-08, Liability Signs. It was seconded by Councilmember Myers. Action: Voting is unanimous and motion is approved. Topic 8- Law Enforcement Liaison- Deputy Spence: (6:55 PM) Deputy Spence was not in attendance, but the Sheriff spoke earlier. Topic 9: City Engineer – Eric Dursteler (6:56 PM) Eric gave an update on the 300 North project. They’ve decided to extend the culvert, but not replace it, allowing the roadway to Deep Canyon to remain open. He is going to get the design done with the culvert extensions. Revision will be made to show those extensions at the weed box. There is an irrigation structure on the south end of that canal culvert, irrigating and diverting structure, that we want to protect and maintain it there. He had to slide a little from the north towards the mayor’s driveway. A width increase to the south will be about eight feet, and the north has about 13 feet, giving us 20 feet of a width increase on that. So, it will be from 21 to about 42 feet wide. That will convey traffic across that just fine. The wing walls on this are now at the elevation and not dipped down. When you walk across that, you don’t drop down into the canal. It’ll be a much safer approach. It is not designed to carry pedestrian traffic yet. If the city decides to put a sidewalk there, they will have to put a fence across. There is a three-way stop there. The wing walls are precast and they’ll drop in place. It was asked if there were going to be any metal plates on top of the bridge if we needed to weld a bridge or pipe on it. It was suggested that the inlay it into the wall when they are doing it, so if needed, somebody could weld something on there. The road bid is out next week. The road improvements are mostly done. They will fix the intersection, then come back in October to extend the culverts. It was proposed that the road be oiled in front of the old city shop. The hope is that costs come down with the extensions that are supposed to replace the whole thing. There were discussions on the matter of traffic control. If the whole road is shut down, you wouldn’t be able to access the west side. This was the only way to keep traffic going and make the costs come down. The canal company was cognizant of that, and without their approval, we would have had to take it out, but they agreed to allow that to stay in place. Once it bids out, Eric will need to fill the application out and submit that to the Metropolitan Canal Conservation Committee. It would be a good idea to put together a letter that could be given to the people that live west of the project to let them know what is going on. Topic 10: Public Works Director: Kirk Taylor (7:01 PM) Kirk needed to leave the meeting early and had been excused. Topic 11: Councilmember Reports (7:02 PM) Brian Myers- (7:02 PM) He repaired both damaged door jams on the hamburger stand, when someone broke into the concessions and kicked in two doors. He said the outside door is hanging up on the rail that was put on the upper side. It opens and closed, but he wants to take his sander down and make it a little better. He wants to get some angle iron and try to anchor it there into the wall to make it even more sturdy on the exterior wall. May Day’s Queen’s Tea was scheduled for this coming Saturday. There were too many activities going for the youth on that day and the participation was going to be really low. After numerous phone calls, it was decided to move the Queen’s Tea from Saturday to next Thursday at 7:30 in the library. By rescheduling it, many more young women were able to participate. In the future they will hold the Queen’s Tea on a week night instead of the weekend. Amy Garbe- (7:04 PM) Mr. Amott, from the elementary school, had been contacted by someone from the Multiple Sclerosis Utah bike tour, asking if they could use Mountainside’s parking lot as a rest stop for their bike race on Saturday, June 27th. It will be most of the day, 9-5. He was okay with it, but he wanted to be sure it had the city’s approval. The mayor would like them to contact the city clerk and get on the city council agenda to tell the council more about their event. Councilmember Garbe emailed Stephanie Gittins at BRAG about the funding for an impact fee analysis and never heard back from her. She checked with Russ, and he gave her the run around. It boiled down to saying Mendon should probably just hire somebody. She sent the information Russ sent to her to Daphne. She asked Daphne and Eric to investigate this. Nicole Norris and Councilmember Garbe met with some people at Campbell Scientific. There’s a weather station at Cookie Tanner’s house, and it’s getting old. They were wondering about the possibilities of moving it to Legacy Park. There were some unforeseen circumstances that day, so, they’re checking on some things that they hadn’t planned on. She thought that it would be good to make the city council aware. She asked how big the footprint would be. She thought he said 10-foot by 10-foot fenced area, but maybe a 6-foot or a 10-foot fenced area. She asked about the possibility of putting it up by the city shed. It wouldn’t be as visible there, but that that might be a good place because the concern was if it was at a private residence, then at some point they’re going to be moving, and then that site would have to be relocated or have to be adjusted. She thought that we should ask Kirk to know what’s going to be best for him as far as maintenance. The question was asked if it would have to be in an enclosure? It depends on what type of weather station they’re talking about. Some of them are small. They showed one that was like a foot by a few inches wide, which would be pretty small. There’s some that are on a tower. She proposed that Cambell Scientifics come in and talk to us and tell us what it is that they’re trying to either move or whatever, and give the council some kind of a design. Councilmember Jepson stated that he has been working at Campbell’s Scientific and taken his whole life and knowing the weather station in Burt’s. When traveling around the country or the world, and he occasionally sees a Campbell weather station. There’s a really big one up at the university. We need to know what impact it would have and what we’d be required to do to maintain it. Councilmember Garbe has worked with Abby to find a list of people who were going to get letters on junk vehicles. She will check with Ian to see if he knows what letters were already sent. The Easter egg hunt will be on April 11th. She will put up a sign on April 4th. The mayor thanked Amy, Daphne, Bob, and the youth council that worked so hard with the reps. A CPR grant was put in, and also one to the Utah Youth Soccer Association. Ben Watkins- (7:14) PM There is a requirement to have secondary water meters by 2040. He followed up with Jon Hardman about that and was told there are mostly private irrigation companies in town that should already be addressing the state requirements. Not all are pressurized. If the PL 566 project comes through and the city all goes to the new pressurized system, meters are included in the project design and the city will be in compliance. Kirk has been talking to the state regarding the one pressurized system the city controls. He has talked with Deputy Spence about congestion during the July 24th celebration. He asked if there has been any thoughts of moving some of the activities to Pioneer Park or Legacy Park. He’s thinking specifically of the volleyball tournament that takes place on the town square. We could try to move some of the things. He said there’s all sorts of discussions that can be had. He wants to get the history items, photos and documents, a safe home. He has shared some of those ideas on email. It would be good if people in town could share some of the things they have found. He met with the library board to see what thoughts they had and if they could help us out. They weren’t interested. Some suggestions of people that could serve on a history committee were given. The mayor said there could be a small budget. Paul Willy is working on a second edition of the Mendon history book. The city is working upstairs to get things cleared out so we have room for storage. There is a special room behind locked doors where things are archived. If Councilmember Watkins is interested in putting together a history committee, he should do that. He’d be over it and oversee it. The mayor shared that he was once told, when an old man dies, a library burns down. It’s gone. Things need to get written down, get pictures, get audio and video recordings. But what is the value if nobody ever gets to see it? Some artifacts could be displayed in the display cases in the city hall. He would love to see Mendon have a historic link on their website, where things can be scanned in and people would have access to it. The mayor asked the city clerk to add under Councilmember Watkins’ duties History Committee Liaison. Art Heers- (7:25 PM) The second rabies clinic happened and he thinks this one was a good vaccine. He had a phone conversation with Landis Wenger from the county, and he gave him some good information. He wondered if he could get a committee together that would be thinking of trails. It’s not just for Mendon, but it links Mendon trails with county trails that are happening. Ron Campbell and John Eiman have expressed interest. It would be great to see the sidewalks around the city square finished. Councilmember Garbe said last year we started to do an ORPA grant to connect Legacy to Waynes’s Loop, and connect all the parks in Mendon with signs. They almost had the grant ready, and the stuff with the playground happened. It was decided to hold off on submitting the grant. She would like to submit it. Councilmember Heers has been thinking of running a trail through the cemetery up on the hill. He was encouraged to put a committee together. A conditional use permit needs to be filed with the county before Waynes Loop can be used. Landis will be involved with that as well. It was mentioned that the earth has washed away from some of the root balls. There needs to be some dirt put around them soon. There is also nine benches there. All nine of those benches have a wonderful view of Benson and Preston. There’s not a single bench that’s facing the prettiest view, the mountains. He was going to ask the county if some of those benches could be reversed to face the mountains. Councilmember Heers was asked to be sure he gets in contact with mosquito abatement and attend the meetings. They are ran out of the Bear River Health Department. Bob Jepsen- (7:35 PM) He’s asking for approximately $10,000 for material costs to finish everything that needs to be done to finish things around the public works building from the culinary water project. These are things on the outside. He bought 2 rolls of two-inch pipe, and needs to be reimbursed for his time. He asked if it can that be funded with water funds. Councilmember Meyers said he is more comfortable with that than using money out of the general fund. Currently there is just over $139,000 to get through this fiscal year. It is estimated that new water meters to be about $110,000. The meters aren’t going to be available this fiscal year. Councilmember Jepsen was approved to pull that $10,000 out of the water fund to get the project done now. Councilmember Jepsen said work needs to be done on the drain field on the city square before it fails. If he does it the material will be around $5,000. His services are free. There was discussion about where money in the budget might come from. It will be looked at by city staff. Money was saved in the snow removal budget this year. We also need funding for the impact fee studies. He met with a representative from the state of Utah, along with the Mayor, Brian, Eric Dersteler, Daphne, and Stephanie to talk about possible funding for new infrastructure to relieve the watering that will be going in on the new part of the cemetery, which will depend on culinary. He is doing his due diligence to figure out what we can possibly do to fund the project. Mayor Buist – (7:36) Renting out the meeting room is being held off for one more month for the general public while more rules are being put in place. We would like to require a deposit for the meeting room with $150.00 check. It will be refunded if there is no damage done. We need city staff to run the AV in the building. Training with Jamie Forbush will be scheduled soon. Something will be on the agenda next month. The Masons are going to come and lay our cornerstone. They are excited, and we need to have a group here to support them in this. There is another thing that needs money. He has been in discussions with the county council, county executive and the deputy executive about why Mendon and Wellsville are not expanding in our annexation area. Our biggest hold up is water and water pressure. The county is interested in helping us with that. We’ve gone north as far as we can right now without some water utility development. We’ve just finished paying off some property the city purchased with rights. Within six years that property needs to be developed. Part of his reasoning in appointing Jon Hardman as our special advisor is that he has got this gut feeling that we need to act now because I think we’re going to be getting assistance from thee county as well to do this. We’re going to grow. We just need to manage growth properly. He will keep the council informed. In the next six months there will be some action developing plans for another tank and making plans for pumps. We are in conversations with Wellsville to soon form a sewer district. We are quite a few years away from needing that. Wellsville is within ten years of needed that. It would behoove us to work with Wellsville closely and be involved with them in the development of that because we do not want to be by ourselves when it comes time to have a sewer. The mayor will come to planning and zoning and talk to them about what he knows. Motion: Councilmember Heers made a motion to adjourn. It was seconded by Councilmember Meyers. Vote: The voting is unanimous and motion is approved Meeting adjourned at 7:50 PM Mayor Buist entertains a motion to adjourn. Adjourned (8:24 PM) | | |
