THE STATE OF UTAH
COUNTY OF SEVIER
CITY OF RICHFIELD
At the City Council
In and For Said City
July 22, 2025
Minutes of the Richfield City Council meeting held on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Richfield City office building located at 75 East Center, Richfield, Utah. Mayor Bryan L. Burrows presiding.
- OPENING REMARKS – Elaine Street
- PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE led by Tanner Thompson
- ROLL CALL Roll Call.
- Present: Bryan Burrows (Not voting), Brayden Gardner, Kip Hansen, Elaine Street, Tanner Thompson, Michele Jolley (Not voting), Rob Jenson (Not voting).
Excused: Kendrick Thomas. Also, Police Chief Trent Lloyd, Public Works Director Keith Mogan, Airport Manager Adam Robinson, Deputy Clerk David Anderson, Heidi Stringham, Stacy McIff, Ilene Steck and Tyson Hansen. - APPOINTMENTS – Consider reappointing Lacy Echeverria to the Library Board. Motion: Appoint Lacy Echeverria to the Library Board, Action: Approve, Moved by Elaine Street, Seconded by Kip Hansen.
Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 4).
Yes: Brayden Gardner, Elaine Street, Kip Hansen, Tanner Thompson.
Excused: Kendrick Thomas. - MINUTES APPROVED – Consider a motion to approve the minutes of the meeting held on July 8, 2025. Motion: , Action: Approve, Moved by Kip Hansen, Seconded by Tanner Thompson.
Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 4).
Yes: Brayden Gardner, Elaine Street, Kip Hansen, Tanner Thompson.
Excused: Kendrick Thomas. - BUSINESS
a. Consider approving an Interlocal Agreement with Sevier County for Building Inspection Services.
Councilmember Gardner said under section 2.2, he would like to see something that triggers collaboration between City staff and the county to avoid potential issues outside of the structure. Find a way to put the City in front of it before it’s too far along.
He also would like it to say that either party can terminate the agreement.
Also, section 5.2 should read that the agreement may be terminated by either party.
Mayor Burrows said on 2.2, he understands the sentiment, but to his understanding, the county will not enforce the City’s land use ordinances. Part of this is because they have several communities they do inspections for, all with different standards.
Councilmember Gardner asked if there is a step City staff can take to make sure things are not missed. How does the City handle the one-offs? It’s very clear the county doesn’t inspect anything outside the building code, but is there a process to where when they get a building permit, the county reaches out to the City to make sure there are not issues with required improvements.
Councilmember Hansen said perhaps there is an opportunity for the City to go through the checklist prior to issuance of a certificate of occupancy. That way if there was an issue that were to arise, it could be addressed prior to the final inspection.
If the city were to put in an additional provision, it should be in this agreement, Gardner said.
Deputy Clerk Anderson said the County has made it clear they have no interest inspecting anything outside of two feet of the actual structure. The ordinance is designed primarily for subdivisions – not the one-off buildings. When it’s in a subdivision that’s completed, it’s very simple to sign off on it and allow them to get a building permit. However, the one offs on the properties that are not in completed subdivisions do result in complications. It comes down to communication.
Councilmember Gardner said there are a handful of projects where the City has been reactive, so if there is some provision that allows things to be caught earlier it would be helpful. Perhaps some way to force that communication. He asked if the City issues the building permit, or if Jason Mackelprang [Sevier County Building Department] handles the building permit. It is Jason who issues the permit.
City Administrator Jolley said the City has to sign off on the zoning prior to a permit being issued.
Deputy Clerk Anderson said adding a few lines to the zoning permit is something that is being explored, especially when it comes to the improvement waver ordinance passed earlier this month. It could be something similar to what is done with the sidewalk replacement program, where there is a pre-inspection and a post inspection of improvements by the public works.
Councilmember Gardner said he brings it up now because if it’s something the City is asking the building department to communicate with staff about, it should be in the agreement.
City Administrator Jolley said it may be beneficial to have something that requires a notification of when the final inspection is scheduled, so that the City can make sure the improvements are in at that point before the final inspection is conduction.
Councilmember Hansen said the upside of it is that the current system seems to be working well in most instances. It is in the City’s best interest to continue to work with the county building inspector.
Mayor Burrows said there was a meeting hosted with the county building inspector and the municipalities that utilize his office. There is a lot of frustration among municipalities, but for the most part those are being addressed. The ones who seemed to have the most frustrations were the ones that didn’t provide sewer. The ones who don’t require very much when it comes to improvements are the ones that are seeing more stuff slip through.
Councilmember Hansen said a lot of the frustrations are being generated by the Legislature.
Deputy Clerk Anderson said he spent some time with the City’s contracted planner and engineer putting together a document to guide the City on the one-off lots. Part of that guide leans on the builders to be proactive in reaching out to the City as improvements are installed to make sure they are up to spec. Having the building inspector let the City know when a project is closing in on a final inspection would help solve the problems that have been run into.
Councilmember Hansen said it’s also a courtesy to let the City know so that it can track projects and know when things like hooking up a meter are appropriate. There are some positive things that could come out of it as well.
Councilmember Gardner said he likes the final inspection idea, but also would like to see some initial communication as well.
The issues discussed tonight could be handled through discourse rather than formalizing it in a legal document, Councilmember Hansen said. The City doesn’t have an adversarial relationship with the county and could informally deal with it.
Motion: Approve an Interlocal Agreement with Sevier County for Building Inspection Services as amended with the change to 5.2 noting that either party can terminate the agreement, Action: Approve, Moved by Kip Hansen, Seconded by Brayden Gardner.
Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 4).
Yes: Brayden Gardner, Elaine Street, Kip Hansen, Tanner Thompson.
Excused: Kendrick Thomas.
b. Irene Steck to discuss property maintenance program. Irene stated that the house she has a complaint with is commonly known as the Waybrant property. She said she has had nothing but problems and the weeds behind her fence were taller than her and as dry as can be. She called David Anderson at the city, as well as Elaine Street to look at the situation. She felt that this is a fire hazard because of the fireworks. She stated that there has been some action there and they cut down the trees on the power lines and they mowed the front. She said there was nothing done in the back. She feels that there has to be more the City can do.
Mayor Burrows asked about the process.
Deputy Clerk Anderson said the City received the complaint. He inspected the property, and wrote a formal notification letter explaining what needed to be done. He also called the property owners and told them a letter was coming and what had to be done. He said there was action the very next day – there was someone cleaning up the yard. He passed out photos of the backyard. Anderson said the property owners have done a lot of work already. Is it 100 percent? No, but that’s never going to happen when it comes the property maintenance. He feels in this case they are at approximately 78 percent at this point, which is good considering many of these properties go 30 days, then 60 days. There are properties that are worked on for years in the county, which is not uncommon. This was within 24 hours.
Steck stated that is wasn’t the action that it needed to be.
Councilmember Street said there are still weeds along the back that she worries could present a problem with the 24th of July holiday and fireworks.
Deputy Clerk Anderson said that’s the 22 percent that’s not been done at this point. He can push the property owners more on it, but property maintenance doesn’t happen overnight. That is from the City’s code. Every training that is hosted for local governments, Anderson said he tries to attend the property maintenance/zoning enforcement portions of it. The code that is cited as the example of how to do it is Sevier County’s, which was lifted largely from Richfield City. He said he can continue to push. There are properties in town that Anderson said he doesn’t know what to do with because it’s not just weeds – it’s junk and construction material being stockpiled in a front yard. Do you hire an abatement company to remove that and risk being accused to taking someone’s personal property?
Councilmember Hansen said there are two prongs to this – aesthetics and safety. Aesthetics is approached in everyone’s own personal way, while safety is a stronger club to use. But the aesthetics is the one that causes the most heartburn for City officials.
In this case the property owners have been proactive and responsive to the City’s request, according to Anderson.
Councilmember Street said she is worried about the fireworks due to the height of the dried out grass near the fence.
Anderson said there is a home two houses away from him that has weeds that are literally over six feet tall. The house was lost in a bankruptcy, so who owns it? Who will be accountable at this point to remove the weeds? Will the mortgage company be willing to do it? What is the City supposed to do? Property maintenance is a tricky thing to deal with. You may not like the way someone wants their property to look, but they have the right to have it the way they want it to be. The City is threading a needle of balancing property rights and making sure that people are not infringing on other’s property rights.
Mayor Burrows said had the City strictly followed the process, nothing would have happened on the property until winter.
c. Planning Commission Report. Deputy Clerk Anderson gave the planning commission report. There was only one item – a proposed warehouse facility. It is in the very rough stages and there are some concerns about the soil there so the developer wanted to seal off the whole property with concrete and have the drainage go into the canal. The planning commission was worried that that might not be legal. They wanted to have the City check and see what can be done legally. City Engineer Micklane Farmer met with them on site the day after planning commission and indicated that there is a way to do what they are proposing, it just has to be engineered in a way that the water isn’t discharging into the canal at a higher rate that it currently is. The concern is they don’t want to put a detention pond on the site that could result in the water pushing the possible containments further into the soil and the aquifer. They don’t want to spend $12 million trying to clear the soil. They didn’t have a fully developed site plan at this point as they wanted to make sure they can do what they wanted to do prior to spend a lot money.
Mayor Burrows said the developer in this case has spent a lot of money trying to clean up an eyesore and has been EPA-ed and regulated right to death.
Deputy Clerk Anderson said he’s trying to do it in a way that doesn’t trigger the environmental regulatory things, while still being environmentally responsible.
d. Review and discuss the pool project. Mayor Burrows said he wanted to give the council an update on where the project is at this point. The most recent bid came back $15.6 million. The City can cut some frills and get it to $14.4 million and is trying to get it to $14 million, which would give the City a $500,000 contingency. The Mayor asked the council for its approval in moving forward with the project. He said the City doesn’t want just a cement pond.
Councilmember Thompson said the consensus is to keep the amenities that would be fun for the kids and the patrons, perhaps cut back on the costs of some of the other items – make sure that it is still a fun experience. The goal is to cut back in meaningful ways without harming what the new facility would offer the public.
Councilmember Hansen said one of his concerns is the operation and maintenance. He said it’s still important to make sure the pool is built with quality components so that it doesn’t become and operational problem down the road. The City needs to be very careful not to do too much on the cheap.
Mayor Burrows said currently the City is looking at ways to accomplish the same things, but using different options.
Councilmember Thompson said the company the City hired may not have done the best job at getting local contractors to secure the best prices.
Mayor Burrows said one thing that was not understood is some local contractors are smaller in scale – the same person doing the bids at home at night is also running the equipment during the day. Some may have been intimidated by the process or even the scope.
Councilmember Thompson said there may be a way to help local contractors with the bidding process so the City can secure the best price.
Councilmember Hansen said the harsh reality is that perhaps some features should be considered for modification or be removed.
Councilmember Thompson said a lot of the amenities are not a huge expense, but are of massive benefit to children going to the pool.
Mayor Burrows said he feels the City can likely get it down to $14 million, which would be achievable with the current funding. The City public works has done some trenching work in the area and found no water, where it was a problem in the past, which is encouraging. The City has been proactive to do everything it can do to make it work.
City Administrator Jolley said there is another meeting with the contractor tomorrow. There were some discrepancies in the bid, so addressing those could help.
Mayor Burrows said a local electrician was able to save a lot of money on this project. They were unable to bid on it due to other projects they were committed to, so they helped another local electrician put a bid together. That says a lot about the local businesses supporting each other, and it’s appreciated they would go to the effort to help the City.
Councilmember Hansen said the unknowns are the biggest issue when it comes to contingency.
While the contingency would be smaller than other projects, there are things that work in the pool’s favor. One of which is the sprung structure, which is a cut and dry expense.
Councilmember Hansen stated that the water level issue in the area was likely solved with the well project. He said it was a win-win and maybe one of the best public works projects to ever happen in the county.
Mayor Burrows said there was a 14-feet deep sump installed as part of the spring project. This helped recapture 1,000 gallons a minute that was being lost.
Public Works Director Keith Mogan said the well project captured a lot more water and likely solved a lot of the concerns with water in the soil in the area.
Mayor Burrows said Financial Director Jenson has all the numbers, if the council members have specific questions they can talk with him about it.
e. Consider adopting Ordinance 2025-5, amending the Richfield City Zoning Ordinance, Title 17.13.240 Required Streets, Curb, Gutter, Sidewalks, and Trails, and Title 17.02.010 Land Use Authorities. The City is proposing various text amendments to Title 17 concerning a modified standard for required development standards for improvements.
Public Works Director Mogan said he went through the standards and had a few items the engineers were able to address.
Councilmember Gardner asked about the storm drains that allow for polyethylene and if that was standard. Mogan said it was. Also, in section 2.f211, line item 6, it says, “Streetlights shall be located at each intersection and from there every 200-250
feet, located in the utility easement and at the nearest property line between lots
as close as possible to 200 feet, but not less than 250 feet, on alternating sides
of the street.” Gardner asked if it should instead say “but not more than 250 feet.” He said it should be looked at to make sure it’s correct. He said that as the City moves forward with developments, it may consider using drainage areas as small parks. One challenge to that is the manpower needed to maintenance of the small parks.
Motion: Adopt Ordinance 2025-5, amending the Richfield City Zoning Ordinance, Title 17.13.240 Required Streets, Curb, Gutter, Sidewalks, and Trails, and Title 17.02.010 Land Use Authorities, Action: Approve, Moved by Tanner Thompson, Seconded by Kip Hansen.
Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 4).
Yes: Brayden Gardner, Elaine Street, Kip Hansen, Tanner Thompson.
Excused: Kendrick Thomas.
f. Discuss a proposal to create a golf committee.
Mayor Burrows said the Golf Course Manager/Pro Todd Mullen has taken a job outside of the golf industry. With Mullen’s moving on, there has been a request to create an advisory board for the golf course. It would be an advisory board for helping define projects for the golf course, finding funding sources and helping to keep the golf course moving in a positive direction.
Councilmember Hansen asked what the process is for hiring a new golf professional. The City is working through the process right now and has reached out to some people in the industry, according to Mayor Burrows. It will be hard to find another Todd. It’s hard for Richfield as it can’t pay what other golf courses pay, such as the ones in St. George where golf is a year-long business. The City has looked at the package Todd had as part of his compensation at the Golf Course. He had the proshop, some of the concessions and some green fees, lessons and tournament fees. The City would like to continue that type of package for whoever the new person is – it would provide some ownership and incentive. Mayor Burrows asked for the council’s support with the creation of a golf committee.
Councilmember Hansen said Todd has been a great asset to the course. Todd has done a good job for Richfield City and deserves special recognition for his efforts.
Councilmember Thompson said the only way to keep the culture and quality up is to have a committee that holds the new pro and employees accountable.
Councilmember Hansen said it is a prudent ideal, but his concern is that the new golf pro is a department head and should be treated accordingly. He said the committee should be advisory and not be an entity that runs the pro. It could very easily become a monster if it’s allowed to supersede the pro’s management of the course.
City Administrator Jolley said there would have to be some parameters set for what the committee does.
Councilmember Thompson said it could create a monster, but it could also create disillusion among board members if they don’t feel their opinions are valued.
The City has several people in the community who will donate large amounts of money, time and knowledge to the golf course if they see its something that’s helping make the course better, according to Burrows. There have been significant donations, but they won’t do that if they don’t see some kind of tangible results for their donation. Burrows’ hope is to give those who want to donate a voice in how donations are used. There has been talk of a sprinkler head program or a new filter system that could benefit from donations.
Councilmember Thompson said the City is lucky to have patrons who are so invested in the course. Once those patrons are gone, would this transcend their presence on the board. It should be set up in a way in a way that if we don’t have really talented golfers, it can still work without their influence.
Councilmember Gardner said there are people who are excited to be part of it. He suggested coming back with names to be on the board and some bylaws.
The best way to do it would be to make the members of the committee mayoral appointments, similar to other boards and commissions the City has, according to Councilmember Hansen.
Mayor Burrows stated that not every member has to be an avid golfer, but it’s important the majority of the members are. There also needs to be those with good business sense. Fortunately, there are some who are both avid golfers and have good business sense who have expressed interest on this board.
Councilmember Hansen said there are people in the community who act as vendors for the course, perhaps that is a group that could be included on the advisory board. Now would be the best time to establish the board.
OTHER BUSINESS Snow College President Stacey McIff addressed the council. She said the sidewalk project on the south end of the campus is completed. She said the bicycle/pedestrian path extension is appreciated by the college. There will also be a remodel of the primary entrance to the campus.
The majority of the students at the campus come from the six-county area. The college also has competitive athletic teams with cross-country and wrestling.
The College is also preparing for a $6 million refurbishment to the Washburn Building – creating a more welcoming entrance to the Richfield Campus. That project is set to be complete by fall of 2027. There is also work being done on student housing.
Police Chief Trent Lloyd said the county has a way to track the number of cellphone signals. He said the signals indicated an increase in the number of people who came to Richfield for the Fourth of July celebration – some 24,700 people were on Main Street and at the park. This represented an increase of some 7 percent from the previous year.
Councilmember Thompson asked how the softball tournament went. Recreation Director Brady Edwards said it went really well and that they had positive feedback for how the experience they were provided. Bringing this D1 group was a goal of Edwards. It’s a great revenue stream. Raking and chalking the lines after each game is essential to provide a quality playing experience.
The airport remains extra busy due to the fire.
Councilmember Gardner asked about the SITLA “R property” and if it had been finalized. It has been. He also asked how the city determines the color of gravel. He said some comments he’s received is they would like to see gray more than red.
Mayor Burrows said the remnant party the City acquired from UDOT has to be used for a public purpose. Recreation Director Edwards was asked to explain a concept he has explored. He hired someone to do a concept drawing of a new baseball/softball complex on the property on the west side of the freeway. There are three concepts that were drafted.
Edwards stated that the technology of the balls and bats used has resulted in balls being hit farther than before, which has resulted in the programs outgrowing the current facilities. The conflicts between homeowners and the recreation department will continue to grow unless something is changed. Balls are being hit onto the freeway, and into the cul de sac to the north of the Rotary Park. This idea would also help develop the tournaments in the area, which is a great revenue stream.
Mayor Burrows said he learned a long time ago if you don’t have something ready to go when a grant becomes available, you likely won’t get it.
Councilmember Thompson said he was in contact with a person who would like to build a destination baseball complex complete with amenities and the ability to host up to 200 teams. The question as asked if the City had land it would donate for something like that.
Edwards said that is a conversation worth having. He said Richfield is a destination City.
Mayor Burrows said he had an individual approach him about utilizing a piece of ground on the south end of the airport fence. He would least the property and do some work on it to keep the weeds down so he could use it for parking equipment. Airport Manager Adam Robinson said it wouldn’t affect the airport function. Councilmembers Gardner and Hansen said it doesn’t appear to be an issue.
- ADJOURNMENTMotion: Adjourn the meeting, Action: Adjourn, Moved by Tanner Thompson, Seconded by Brayden Gardner.
- Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 4).
Yes: Brayden Gardner, Elaine Street, Kip Hansen, Tanner Thompson.
Excused: Kendrick Thomas.