October 2004 Mayor Keith Butler selected H. Orvil Holley as the new city magistrate filling the vacancy created with the July death of A. Glen McFarland. The appointment was approved at the October 21, 2004, City Council Meeting. At that meeting, Deborah Mecham, director of Weber County Consolidated Dispatch, presented the advantages of consolidating dispatch services. They are considering having the county create a special district by resolution, and asked for our city's support. They have received support from all cities in the proposed district with the exception of Marriott-Slaterville, Hooper, and Huntsville. She advocated raising the fee for 911 services. The legislature has enacted a taw which allows the E911 system surcharge to be raised thirteen cents, and the city's current inter-local agreement allows the dispatch board to raise the fees independent of the city. The tax commission asked that cities pass a resolution supporting this increase, which would raise the fee from 53 to 65 cents per month. Ms. Mecham also requested a resolution that E911 fees be paid directly to dispatch. During the discussion, the council learned that no final plans had been made concerning the possibility of having a seat on the board; if there was a seat, it would not be permanent, but revolving. Also, the district practices a weighted vote, based upon the number of calls in a jurisdiction. Councilman Slater believes that the tax is not fair to residents who own more land than one lot, as the tax is based on owned property. The council decided to consider the requested resolutions at next month's meeting. The Spencer Farms subdivision with 30 lots was approved by the council. The Pioneer Special District was created, which would offer special services to new housing, including the Spencer Farms and the Quail Meadows subdivisions. Services will include secondary water, drainage, flood control, transportation, recreation, street lighting, animal shelter and control, and snow removal services. The residents of the new areas will pay for extra services, such as trails, curb, gutter and sidewalk. A public hearing was held concerning several zoning and land use ordinance changes. Among the widely varied changes included were those clarifying definitions to the zoning chapters, the permitted uses and number of animals in agricultural zones, conditional uses relating to animal hospitals, the number of horses in stables, addition of regulations concerning encroachment into lot area or height limits, and site development standards. Also included were yard regulations, including animal and fowl building setbacks, fence limits of six feet, exterior lighting, or "dark sky" regulations and allowing R-2 zoning on up to 10% of gross subdivision areas; smaller lots with more open space, still maintaining the one acre overall. Outdoor storage and junk automobile regulation was addressed, as were performance standards. The gas company asked the city to put in the ordinance that gas lines be turned off before demolishing a building. Subdivisions with 15 lots or more would require two roads, and new driveways require a permit, to insure proper drainage is maintained. Prohibited discharges were added to storm drainage regulations. The street trees and placement provision was amended. After public comments the public hearing was closed and the public meeting was reopened. Considerable discussion by the council followed, after which the provision on fence height limits was removed for future discussion, a requirement for a conditional use permit for school bus parking was removed, and the junk/dumping provision was removed for a joint session with the planning commission to work on the provisions. After minor changes in wording, the changes were approved by the council. A business license was approved for AOM Distributors, LLC, DBA 3 Day Outlets, at 731 12th Street. The Central Weber Sewer District will be replacing a 300 foot section of its main pipeline at the intersection of 1200 West and 400 North, as announced in The Pioneer Post. The project will commence either this fall or the spring of 2005. Inconveniences, including road closures, detours, and traffic delays may occur during this project. A clinic for flu vaccinations scheduled for October 21, 2004, had to be cancelled due to the nationwide shortage of the vaccine.