Smithfield City, Utah City Council Meeting, Wed, Dec 10th

- The council approved the 11/17/2025 meeting minutes unanimously and received a youth council report highlighting strong December volunteer turnout for the Christmas party, Night of Giving, and Storybook Festival, with a January triathlon coming up. - During public comment, several residents offered emotional praise and thanks to the mayor and outgoing council members for their service, transparency, and kindness. One speaker also raised concerns about harmful leaks and the resulting danger to a council member’s family. - The council recognized Bob Holbrook, Jamie Anderson, Haley Lister, and Nick Reifel for service or appointments to city boards and committees, including the Planning Commission and Tree Committee. All appointments and recognitions were approved unanimously. - Ordinance 2025-24 rezoning the Gregory Stables third phase parcel was approved unanimously, with staff noting the project had already been approved previously but had to re-enter the process after a missed deadline. Council also asked staff to explore code changes to avoid unnecessary repeat applications in the future. - Ordinances 2025-23 and 2025-22 were approved to align subdivision/fire access rules in the municipal code and design standards, reducing access thresholds and clarifying that two dedicated city roads are required in certain developments. Staff said the changes were developed with fire personnel and should not significantly affect developer costs. - Ordinance 2025-21 was approved to create a new framework for commercial and home-occupation firearm-related businesses, tied to federal FFL licensing and ATF guidance. Staff said the goal was to allow compliant small-scale home businesses while preventing full-scale manufacturing operations from running out of residences. - The council approved the water use and preservation plan as part of the general plan to meet a year-end compliance deadline. The plan emphasizes conservation education, efficient landscaping, leak reduction, and other water-saving measures, and can be revised later as the broader general plan is finalized. - A public hearing was held and ordinance 2025-30 was approved to adopt the Wildland Urban Interface code and city boundary map required by state law. Fire Chief Hunt said the city is using the current city limits as a starting point while awaiting a state map, and the code is intended to improve fire safety and help residents avoid added fees. - The council approved ordinance 2025-29 to update the sewer collection impact fee, based on a Zions Public Finance study, setting a citywide fee of $4,007.91 for new growth. Justin Lewis emphasized that current residents will not pay the fee unless they build new homes, and the money will support future sewer collection projects. - The council approved ordinance 2025-28 to raise compensation for department heads and increase the city manager’s salary by $10,000, with staff saying the changes were absorbed within the existing budget and would not require a tax increase. The council and mayor also approved a mid-year budget amendment, resolution 2025-12, which transfers $3 million to capital improvement reserves and funds projects like police station payoff, sidewalk repairs, tree trimming, senior center flooring, a new water tank, and other infrastructure and equipment needs.