All right. Did Zach and Rich get on, by
the way? I've only seen Craig.
Uh no, we only have Council Member
Whiting so far.
Um
We do have a quorum.
Yeah, we have a quorum, so we can
proceed.
Okay, so I'm going to start before we go
on with the prayer, and then uh Council
Member Wright will lead us in the Pledge
of Allegiance.
Our Father in heaven, we're grateful to
be gathered today to conduct city
business in this special council
meeting, and we're for
all of our good citizens and those that
we
strive to help and to
make this city a great place for all to
live. We're grateful for all of our
staff and all those who support us and
help us in the things that we need and
continue to do their best to
help us and provide those needs in a in
a good manner and with a good attitude.
We're grateful for
all of our blessings and the chance to
work together and ask that we will be
able to conduct this business with a
good spirit and and to
always be kind to others and to remember
to assume good intentions, and we say
this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Amen.
Member Wright.
Uh yes, so we'll officially call this
meeting to order at 3:32.
And uh
Council Member Wright will lead us in
the Pledge of Allegiance.
All right, welcome. Uh we did call the
meeting to order already, but it is the
August 10th, and we're in a special
council meeting. We have present uh
online Council Member Whiting and
Council Member Hewish.
Um
and in person here Council Member
Wright, Council Member Clark, and myself
with uh some staff members. So,
I just
uh first item, and I do and Kiara's also
online. So, the first item is a
resolution of Eagle Mountain City, Utah
approving the fiscal year 2026 Community
Development Block Grant CDBG annual
action plan and authorizing its
submission to the US Department of
Housing and Urban Development. I do know
that there's like four slides and we'll
turn it to Kiara.
Uh, thank you, Mayor and thank you,
Council and everybody who carved out
time for this special meeting. Um, I
know you're busy. I am going to do my
best to make this fairly brief.
Um,
let me share my screen.
All righty. So, we are going over the
Community Development Block Grant. Um,
as we've mentioned in previous meeting,
we have a five-year plan which goes
through 2028 and we are currently in
year three. Um, every year we have to
send a consolidated plan to HUD um,
for approval and so that's what we are
working to do today.
Um, just going over entitlement funds.
So,
the CDBG is available um, for targeted
households that are below 80%.
Um, we get those funds from HUD
and these are the limits per household
and those are updated annually as well.
Um, so the big item here that we're here
to review. So, ultimately we would love
um, Council approval on these funding
buckets that we have here. So, we've
allocated
um, as you see, we have the guaran- the
the um, automatic 15 and 20% for public
service and administration. Those are
caps that are set by HUD. Um, we have
allocated 200,000
to housing preservation and or
development. That can be fairly
flexible. We don't have to you know,
we're not zoning in on project specific
right now. We're just simply wanting to
allocate funds to these buckets that you
see here.
Um this is just a little bit of a
breakdown for how we are looking to
potentially utilize funds. Again, that's
not anything that's been solidified
right now.
We have our administration and public
services.
We already have our utility assistance
that's been going and and and it's going
great. We do have housing preservation
and development. Nothing that's been
spelled out right now, but we have had
some conversations around maybe
down payment assistance or home
revitalization.
Again, nothing that's been that's been
carved out specifically yet. And then as
far as public facilities and
neighborhood improvements, we've talked
with departments about ADA and sidewalk
upgrades, maybe some senior
improvements.
We did have a public comment regarding
school community resource center and so
we're work we're working
to learn more about that and any other
eligible activities as well.
And so this fulfills our public hearing
we've had open for discussion.
So now we are just looking to adopt and
submit to HUD. The items that you seen
previously.
And that is all I have.
So Kiera, just for clarification that
first slide, it's okay, it's gone now.
Um
you can pull it back up. The
in the past we have paid
MAG to do that that 20% or that 39,000
roughly and we're now currently keeping
that in house and you're managing that,
correct?
We are working through some transition
and this is a great actually great to
bring up. So, we're
all it is coming in house. Um, we have
substantial items that we've needed to
clean up with HUD. Uh, that's taken. So,
we're kind of in the middle of, you
know, going into new project year, but
also cleaning up and becoming compliant
with a lot of items in previous years.
And so, Elizabeth has come in to help
with some of that heavy lift, um,
that I'm just not equipped to dig into
with the amount of stuff that we've had
kicked back. Um,
right now she is we're contracting with
Elizabeth for our CDBG services out of
our administrative fund. Uh, if we
wanted to keep that ongoing, um, as
you've seen we have that five-year in
2028 where we should kind of maybe be
looking at what we want to do with the
new five-year plan. Does that include
Elizabeth and is that fully in house?
Uh, my recommendation right now would
keep Elizabeth on board while we clean
up um, and make sure that we just get a
good clean running program and getting,
you know, good graces with HUD.
So, so of the 20% how much is it 50/50
that we're giving Elizabeth or is it,
uh,
like uh, is all that 20%? Like I'm just
trying to help the the council
understand cuz I know this has been a
conversation in the past.
Um, Elizabeth, feel free to step in.
Where we are right we haven't executed a
new contract. Um,
we've just had a lot of moving parts so
we haven't really had the discussion yet
and so this is a great time to have the
discussion, but um, Elizabeth maybe you
can speak to your uh, fees.
Absolutely. So, I think right now we're
kind of in discussion about what that
will look like over the next year or so
and I am really clear with the
communities that I work with because I
work all across the country that I am
not a forever solution. I'm a solution
to get through a period of time. So, you
know, if that is over the next year or
over the next two years through the rest
of this consolidated plan cycle,
then that's fine.
Um,
you know,
the management of these funds is tricky.
There are a lot of moving parts and
there are a lot of restrictions and
requirements. So,
you know, this would be something that
if you were to manage this internally,
you would want dedicated staff really
working half-time on this activity.
So, right now there are some things
we're in the middle of an environment
you wondering because
there were some challenges there and HUD
is actually, it's not just Eagle
Mountain City. HUD is looking at every
program that MAG had managed over the
last number of years including Lehi,
Orem, and Utah County.
So, Eagle Mountain has it the easiest in
the sense that they're only going back a
couple of years because the program's
new for Eagle Mountain.
With some, they're going back to 2018.
So, there are some things right now that
really need some concerted effort and
some specialization to kind of clean up,
which I think is where where I come in.
Okay. Uh, is there any questions from
the council?
I did uh,
I know the record will reflect this, but
welcome to Council member Wood too. He
was online.
Um, I didn't see him earlier.
So, question.
May- May- Mayor, this is Zach. Uh, can
if I can just ask a couple questions?
Go ahead.
It's more just for my own understanding
of of kind of who who's doing what. So,
we Kiara, you you are a
staff employee of Eagle Mountain City,
correct?
Yes.
Okay. And you're you are you kind of
that half-time person right now?
Kind of trying to be. Um and CDBG is in
no way, shape, or form uh
fall under my purview or umbrella,
obviously, for housing. Um there was
just a scenario that I seen needed
tackling, and I decided to champion
Okay.
and really regretted it. So,
Okay, got it. All right. So, we need
staff. Um and then was it was it
Elizabeth?
Yes.
And and and Elizabeth, could you maybe
just share
just so just so I kind of understand
better. I'm I'm imagining
you've been brought to the table to
help us run this program effectively,
kind of train up Kiara, and Kiara's kind
of seeing now this is a pretty big
project.
And you're training Kiara and kind of
showing her the ropes and and can I ask
what what what is the fee that that you
charge, and and how is that paid? Is
that paid out of these dollars that
we're considering, or is it separate a
separate line out of out of our city
budget?
It's budget neutral. It's actually paid
out of CDBG dollars. So, I charge an
hourly rate. I bill in 15-minute
increments. I do have a couple of folks
on staff, so you know, the the tasks
that need to be performed, um it depends
on what it is. So, if we are out, as
there had been some discussion, doing
some surveying in town to define areas
that might be eligible for this funding,
that's probably not a great use for my
time, because I bill
higher than some of my staff does.
Okay.
And
you know, I'm actually um I do this all
over the country. I've worked from
Virginia to Oregon,
um, Ohio to Texas. So, and lots of
states in between. Um,
Yeah, it's very Go ahead.
You Yeah, because you've come to a
couple of our council meetings. I I
thought that maybe you lived lived in
Utah.
I live in Oregon.
Okay. All right. So, when you come out,
we're we're
basically paying for flights and travel
and and and your time
there.
You're sharing some of that because I
also consult with the Utah County.
Okay.
And, um, so they are actually a larger
client. I have taken on
cleaning up an even bigger mess
that was created in the county and some
challenges we've had.
Yeah.
Um,
So, and I also do ARPA. I do rescue plan
work with Utah County through the end of
this year. So, you get economy of scale.
I'm already here.
I see.
And, so you don't have to pay for every
flight, you don't have to pay for every
hotel night or every car rental. There's
definitely economy of scale.
Okay. And thank you. And and I believe
that people should be paid what they're,
you know, what they're for their time.
I'm just more trying to educate myself.
Yes.
Uh, so
what what is that hourly fee? And then
how long have we been working together?
And do we have kind of like an annual,
we're we're going through our budget. I
know this is like neutral, but obviously
want to try and keep as much money in
this program as we can and
and, um, you know, if if it makes sense
for us to to task somebody with real
half-time
for this, then we we probably as a
council we probably need to consider who
would you train?
Or, you know, are there things things
that we could lift off of Kiara's plate
so that she can dedicate more time to
this program.
Yes. Okay, so my hourly rate is a buck
30. It's $130 an hour. That's fully
loaded and my staff is
um anywhere from 65
to about 80.
Okay.
Great. And how many hours uh would you
say I guess what how long have we been
working together?
We've been working together just a few
months and we've just kind of initially
started to undertake kind of the
unwinding and building um process. So,
you know, it's it's been a learning
experience for me as I learn what's
happened in the past and so we're just
kind of doing that.
That's odd.
So, it's probably a you would you would
would you say it'd be a little bit
heavier here in the first year as we're
just like trying to build it up and with
other cities that you've work worked
with, what what does that time time
requirement on your part in your in your
experience?
So, it really
it varies. I mean, there isn't any one
specific number. Um
with Utah County, I will probably do
somewhere close to with expenses 60 to
80,000 dollars this year.
Um outside of the ARPA work that we're
doing because we have some other roles
with them. We we do some other federal
consulting work with them.
Um with Eagle Mountain City, it depends
on, you know, the tasks that I'm asked
to do and if I'm training someone. I am
I'm close enough to retirement that I'm
not a long-term solution. So, you know,
and I'm aware of that and I I want to be
very clear about that. I'm not I'm not a
5-year, 10-year solution. I'm a
short-term, couple of years
getting something up and running,
training someone,
and I'm retiring.
Got it.
That's awesome. Well, I work in the
retirement industry, so anytime someone
moves into retirement, I I love it.
Yes.
Well well well deserved. So,
is is our load about equivalent to Utah
County, would you say? No? Okay. So, we
might anticipate
30 to 40,000 a year?
Yes.
Something like that. Okay. Thank you.
That's That's kind of what I would just
wanted to wrap my arms around. Thank
you.
And I actually I'll submit detailed
timesheets for billings because that's
required by 2 CFR 200 federal
regulation.
And I do those trainings around the
country, too. So, I'll submit detailed
timesheets. You'll know what I'm doing.
Okay. No, no. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. For
sure. And then just going Thank you,
Elizabeth.
Um and then maybe it would just be my
last question for for Kiara. Is this
something that you you feel like we we
should have somebody part-time
doing this?
I feel like if we hired somebody
part-time, it would be about the same
cost as what we're what we're paying to
Elizabeth to kind of manage
the program?
Or
I guess
this is just like a training ex
opportunity or or there more things off
of your plate that need to be lifted?
Um I think
and it's it's kind of hard to say
because it depends on how we,
you know, execute our projects, really.
If they were all going externally and
I'm not I'm not making a recommendation,
I'm just saying if they go externally,
that heavy lift is more so on the
organization.
Um versus if we have internal projects
like ADA ramps and different things like
that, that requires more internal
tracking and compliance efforts. Um and
so, that doesn't really answer the
question. In a nutshell, I would say
yes, there should be a dedicated person
to it.
Um, while I'm kind of digesting it all,
I think
with my current workload, it could work
out. It could be fine. Elizabeth's been
great at training, and I'm definitely
wrapping my head around other resources
that we'll be able to tap into
long-term. But, um,
yeah, so it would take it would take a
dedicated person. I don't know what my
role entails of future-wise or what
we're looking at as far as future
housing planning or what that looks like
as a division or a department. Um, but
yes, it would need a dedicated staff.
Thank you.
Those are all of my questions, Mayor.
Thank you.
Um, Councilman Wood or Whiting, any
questions?
No, I asked my questions on Tuesday.
Thanks.
Yeah, no no questions.
You guys are good? If If there's no
other questions, um,
one
just a clarification, you mentioned a
public hearing. We already had the
public hearing.
Yeah, we had that on last Tuesday.
Yeah, so it's just on the
notes. I just wanted to make sure. Um,
so if there's no other questions,
um,
I'll accept a motion.
Mayor, I move that the City Council
approve a resolution of Eagle Mountain
City, Utah, approving the fiscal year
2026 Community Development Block Grant
CDBG Annual Action Plan and authorizing
its submission to the US Department of
Housing and Urban Development.
Second.
Okay, we have a motion by Councilmember
Clark and a second by Councilmember
Wright. Any questions on the motion?
We'll start the voting with
Councilmember Clark.
Yes.
Councilmember Wright.
Yes.
Councilmember Whiting.
Yes.
Councilmember Wood.
Yes.
Councilmember Hewish.
Yes.
Okay, that motion passes.
And I will call for another motion.
Motion to adjourn.
I'll second.
Okay, council member Wood got the motion
and council member Clark with the
second. All in favor?
I.
No opposed?
Okay, we will adjourn the meeting at
3:51.
And uh thanks for coming, guys.
Appreciate it.
Thank you, guys.
Thank you, everyone.