Eagle Mountain City Council, 2 June 2026

In short: This was the Eagle Mountain City Council's regular Tuesday meeting, opening with a 4:00 p.m. work session and continuing into the evening policy session. Two councilmembers took part by video from a water conference. The council worked through staff proposals on city cell phones, credit cards and a large rezoning, then honored a retiring city leader and 17 teen emergency-response graduates. The only vote captured on the recording was the motion to go into closed session. A major hillside housing item, Horizon, was pulled before the meeting, but residents came anyway and spoke against it.

Present: Mayor Jared Gray, and Councilmembers Melissa Clark, Craig Whiting and Rich Wood in the chambers. Councilmembers Brett Wright and Zac Huish took part remotely from a conference on water issues and were excused from attending in person; Councilmember Wright stepped away before the closed-session vote.

Staff: Ben (city manager), Kimberly Ruesch (director of administrative services), Angela Valenzuela (human resources manager), Rob Hobbs (senior planner), Steven Layman (planner), Brandon Larson (community development), Marcus (city attorney), David Salazar (engineering), Steve (parks and recreation), Dave Ulibarri (public safety director and emergency manager), Lacie Messerly (city recorder), an information-technology staffer (addressed as Carson), and Brad Patterson of Gilmore & Bell (bond counsel, by phone). Jesse Southworth, chair of the Community Services Board, was in the audience.

Decisions

#	Agenda ref	Motion	Moved / Seconded	Vote	Result
1	4	Adjourn to a closed session under Section 52-4-205(1) of the Utah Code	Whiting / Clark	4-0 (Huish, Wood, Whiting, Clark all yes; Wright away from the vote)	Passed

Settled without a vote:

• The council agreed that employees may give up a city-issued phone and instead take a monthly stipend equal to what a city line actually costs — about $41 today — rather than a fixed dollar figure written into the policy, and that the amount will be reset each year with the budget.
• The mayor's office will keep its existing landline as the permanent public contact number, so the city does not need to keep a cell number alive as officeholders change.
• Staff will handle how often the phone contract is shopped in the purchasing policy rather than the employee handbook, bringing at least three competing quotes back to the council each time the contract comes up for renewal.
• The credit card policy will return on June 16 with tighter language: naming the city treasurer as the person who approves gift-card purchases, adding a human resources sign-off for tax tracking, saying "including but not limited to" in the list of consultants who may not be paid by card, and building recurring "autopay" charges into the employee offboarding checklist.
• The Scenic Mountain rezoning drew no objections and staff were told to bring it back on the consent agenda; Rob Hobbs will also research whether the state transportation department can be required to maintain land it owns along state highway frontage.
• On the church recreation building behind Walmart, the council declined to bless a 40-foot height in advance and sent staff to measure comparable buildings, such as school gyms, and look at a code fix; members signaled they would consider a development agreement for the blank east-facing wall and the walkway question.
• The bond release for Market Place at Town Center stays on the consent agenda, with staff checking back with engineering before the evening session.
• For the state recreation grant, the council leaned toward the trail segment east of Walden Park, aligned along the north edge of the parcel, and told staff to file the application before the June 8 deadline.
• The word "trails" will be added to the scope-of-review section of the Community Services Board's rules before that item is adopted.
• Item 17.A, the Horizon master development plan and its public hearing, was pulled from the agenda before the meeting and will have to be re-noticed.

Meeting map

Agenda ref	Topic	~Start (elapsed)	One-line note
—	Work session opens; remote members and the Horizon pull announced	0:00	Mayor notes staff and two members are at a water conference.
1.A	Employee manual: city-issued cell phones	0:02	Long, circular discussion ending roughly where it started.
1.B	Employee manual: credit cards	0:27	Returns from a December tabling; small tightening requested.
1.C	Scenic Mountain rezoning of 223 properties	0:45	Housekeeping rezone of already-built property; no opposition.
2	City manager items	0:55	Short report; leads into the off-agenda church item.
—	Church recreation building exceptions (off agenda)	0:58	Twenty minutes on a 40-foot height request; no consensus.
3 / 11.A	Agenda review; bond release, Market Place at Town Center	1:18	Questions about rough pavement and a broken parking-lot light.
13.A	Municipal recreation grant application	1:25	Roughly $25,000 available; five candidate trail gaps shown.
13.B	Third-party plan review contract with Building Code Solutions	1:38	A second inspection firm to relieve the current one.
13.C	Community Services Board rules	1:40	Add "trails" to the board's scope.
14.A	Construction work during restricted hours	1:43	Shifts night-work approval from council to the city engineer.
14.B	Franchise agreement with Forged Fiber 37 (AT&T)	1:46	Standard right-of-way agreement; no location commitments.
16.A	Sales tax pledge for the redevelopment agency bonds	1:49	Bond counsel answers one question and is released.
4	Closed session	1:54	Adjourned at 5:57 p.m.
5–7	Policy session called to order, pledge, events	2:59	Meeting reconvenes at 7:02 p.m.
—	Retirement recognition (off agenda)	3:01	Tribute to a long-serving city leader.
8.A	Teen CERT internship graduates	3:08	Seventeen students; largest class in the program's history.
9	Public comments	3:20	Opened at 7:23 p.m.; ridgeline housing and a road extension.

Discussed but NOT on the agenda: the requested exceptions for a church recreation building near Walmart; the retirement of two long-serving employees; and, in public comment, the proposed extension of Silver Lake Parkway.

On agenda but little/no discussion: the May 19 and May 26 minutes; item 17.A, Horizon, which was pulled. The recording ends during public comment, so the property disposal hearing (15.A), the bond resolution vote (16.A), the property tax impact schedule and budget discussion (18.A and 18.B), the legislative priorities update (19.A), liaison reports, upcoming agenda items and adjournment are not captured.

What was discussed

1.A — Employee manual: city-issued cell phones

Human Resources Manager Angela Valenzuela brought a one-line change to the employee manual. Today the manual says city phones are issued to employees; the change would make that optional, so an employee can carry their own phone instead and receive a monthly stipend equal to what the city pays for a line — currently about $41. The mayor said the idea has been under discussion since January and comes down to whether someone wants to carry a second phone.

The discussion ran far longer than its ten-minute slot. Councilmember Wood pressed on whether key numbers, like the mayor's, should be preserved across officeholders; the answer turned out to be simple, since the mayor's office already has a landline. Councilmember Whiting wanted a guarantee that the carrier contract is re-shopped regularly, and Councilmember Clark cautioned that the city should chase coverage as much as price, recalling that under the previous carrier "if they weren't like standing on one leg with their hand in the air, they couldn't have a phone call here."

Councilmember Huish, joining by video after audio trouble, proposed a flat $60 reimbursement, the figure his own company uses. Councilmember Wood liked a flat number too, arguing employers normally pay toward work use rather than someone's whole bill. Kimberly Ruesch resisted, warning that a fixed number above the city's own cost would raise expenses for what is meant to be a convenience. After a long loop, Councilmember Clark observed, "I just feel like we went full circle." The council settled on the city's actual cost, with contract shopping handled through the purchasing policy whenever the carrier agreement expires.

1.B — Employee manual: credit cards

Kimberly Ruesch brought back a credit card policy that the council tabled in December. The main fix answers the earlier complaint that "credit card administrator" was undefined: the city treasurer, or a designee, now clearly owns the program. The substantive change loosens a flat ban on buying gift cards, replacing it with a rule that they are allowed only with preauthorization — a change she said matters because gift cards carry federal tax consequences and must run through payroll with the recipient's signature.

Councilmember Wright, who had the most objections last time, said the treasurer designation resolved his biggest concern but asked who exactly "city administration" means for gift-card approval. Ruesch explained the request already routes through the treasurer with the department head's signature and a recipient acknowledgment, which satisfied him. Councilmember Whiting asked who keeps the card reward points and was told rebates come back to the city as miscellaneous income; he also asked that the list of consultants who cannot be paid by card read "including but not limited to," since lobbyists and others are not named. Councilmember Wood asked for rules on recurring autopay charges, warning about subscriptions left running after an employee leaves. The item returns on June 16.

1.C — Scenic Mountain rezoning of 223 properties

Senior Planner Rob Hobbs presented the first piece of a broader effort to give current zoning to older parts of the city built under obsolete designations. He compared it to starting a puzzle at the edges: staff began in the northeast, where properties developed as part of the old Scenic Mountain project still carry legacy zoning. Streets would go to the agricultural zone as usual, open space parcels to open-space zones, and the built residential areas to the closest current match, with the detached homes landing in a small-lot residential category even though the lots do not fit exactly.

Councilmember Whiting confirmed the key point — everything is already built, so no new development rights are being granted, only current labels applied to what exists. Councilmember Wood asked about three parcels at the north end owned by the state transportation department along the SR-73 widening, and whether an open-space designation would let the city require anything of them, even weed control. Hobbs said he is not aware of such a requirement but will research what other cities do along state highways. Councilmember Wright suggested it simply come back on consent.

2 — City manager items and the church recreation building

Under the city manager's report, and at Councilmember Wright's prompting, planner Steven Layman walked the council through three points where a planned church recreation building behind the Walmart does not meet code: a raised pedestrian walkway required across a parking lot larger than the code threshold, a proposed 40-foot height against a 35-foot limit, and a blank wall facing east toward Walmart's loading area. Staff were taking the council's temperature before the applicant spent money on design work.

Two of the three drew no real resistance. Height did. Councilmember Wood argued that granting an exception here creates a standard the city cannot then deny the next religious or private group, and that recreation halls should be judged on a rule that applies to everyone: "Being a religious organization owning property shouldn't give you specific development rights." Councilmember Whiting agreed and raised the precedent of a similar request in Cedar Pass Ranch. Councilmember Clark took the other side, noting the council routinely handles unique cases through development agreements rather than city-wide code, and that the site — a church gym tucked behind a big-box loading dock — is about as unusual as it gets.

The unresolved question was the ceiling height a volleyball court needs. Councilmember Wood asked staff to find out how tall school gyms in the city are and, if the number supports it, write a standard so the next applicant has a clear path. Councilmember Huish, from remote, sided with taking the time to research. Councilmember Wright warned the applicant may simply redesign at 35 feet rather than wait, since a code amendment means planning commission review and a two-month delay. Wood objected to spending any more time on an item that was never noticed, and the mayor closed it there.

11.A — Bond release, Market Place at Town Center Phase 3

Councilmember Clark used the routine bond release to raise something she has been watching: the pavement in that commercial center is rough, and a parking-lot light knocked out about a month into the development still has not been fixed. She asked whether the city has any leverage before a bond is released.

City Attorney Marcus explained that under current state law the city cannot require a bond on private improvements — only on public infrastructure it will inspect and accept, such as dedicated roads and sidewalks. Interior drive aisles that function as parking lot, and lighting within them, are usually private, making the light more likely a code enforcement matter than a bond matter. Councilmember Wood read the code section on retaining ten percent of a bond until improvements are accepted and reached the same conclusion. Clark asked that the question be taken seriously going forward, since more commercial centers will start leaving their warranty period. The item stayed on consent with a check-back to engineering.

13.A — Municipal recreation grant application

Steve, from parks and recreation, explained that this is annual county money handed out by population — $25,369 for Eagle Mountain this year — usable for tourism, cultural or recreation facilities. Past awards paid for the cemetery gazebo, a trailhead, playground equipment and asphalt trails. The application is due June 8, and the city can either spend the money or bank it and roughly double next year's amount. The Community Services Board recommended using it to close missing asphalt trail gaps in the city's oldest neighborhoods.

He showed five candidate segments and the cost math: about $25 per foot for materials alone, about $66 a foot if city crews build it, and closer to $90 a foot if it is designed and contracted out. Councilmember Huish argued for starting with the segment east of Walden Park, since the nearby property disposal has clarified where the boundaries will be. The mayor asked that the path be tucked to one side rather than run down the middle, so the neighborhood keeps room for something like a bike pump track, and suggested the north edge because that is where the existing connection lands. Councilmember Wood asked whether the city has first finished continuous trails along the school routes on Pony Express Parkway and Eagle Mountain Boulevard; staff said gaps remain on Eagle Mountain Boulevard but the land there is not city-owned.

13.B, 13.C, 14.A and 14.B — The rest of the consent agenda

Brandon Larson explained the contract with Building Code Solutions as a practical matter: the city's existing third-party plan review firm is stretched thin, many familiar reviewers have moved to the new firm, and using more than one outfit is common. The plan is five-year service contracts with both. For the Community Services Board rules, Councilmember Whiting asked that "trails" be written into the board's scope of review, which staff accepted.

David Salazar presented the change to construction hours. Approval of nighttime work would move from the council to the city engineer, matching how traffic control is already handled, while the council would still be notified of every night job. The code would also gain an emergency exception — limited to city and utility work, so, as he put it, "your neighbor Joe can't go dig up his driveway in the middle of the night." He cited a summer project at SR-73 and Ranches Parkway as exactly the kind of busy intersection better worked at night. City Attorney Marcus described the AT&T subsidiary's franchise agreement as a standard right-of-way document required on nondiscriminatory terms by federal law; specific digging locations come later through excavation permits.

16.A — Sales tax pledge for the redevelopment agency bonds

Bond counsel Brad Patterson joined by phone so the council could clear questions in the work session and let him go. Councilmember Huish asked whether the council needs to specify now whether the bonds are callable; Patterson said no, those features are set when the bonds are actually sold. Huish also disclosed that he will not vote on the item. Patterson noted a redevelopment agency meeting would follow the council meeting, where the bonds are issued and an agreement between the agency and the city is authorized, and offered to stay for questions — "otherwise, I'll let you get on without having to be bored by bond nerd stuff."

8.A and 9 — Recognitions and public comment

Public Safety Director Dave Ulibarri presented the fourth year of the Teen CERT internship, a semester program at Cedar Valley and Westlake high schools that ends in a staged disaster drill with actors and stage makeup. This year's class of 17 was the largest ever, and each student leaves with five national certifications in emergency response. Graduate Laura Gallardo told the council the certifications mattered less than the confidence: "I'll be able to help people when it matters most."

Public comment split into two subjects. Four residents spoke against the Horizon hillside development even though it had been pulled, raising ridgeline visibility, blasting damage to nearby foundations, wildfire risk on dry ground with only two ways out, light pollution under the dark-sky rules, and displaced wildlife. Two residents of the Silver Lake area then spoke in favor of extending Silver Lake Parkway to the new high school, arguing that a campus with a single way in and out is unsafe and that students currently have no sidewalk to walk or bike on.

Notable moments

• Residents showed up for a hearing that wasn't held — twice. Holly Thomas told the council this was the second time she had come to speak on the Horizon ridgeline project and the second time it had been pulled. She owns ten acres abutting the site and said blasting into solid rock, plus the campfire rings she regularly dismantles on the hillside, make the proposal both a structural and a fire risk.
• The mayor stopped to correct a misunderstanding. After several speakers asked who had "allowed" narrower streets and slope variances, Mayor Gray interjected that nothing has been approved and no exception has been granted: "It's not going forward. It's them asking if it can go forward."
• A councilmember objected to the council's own process. Rich Wood pushed back hard on discussing the church recreation building at all, since it was never noticed on the agenda: "Every applicant should have the same route to be able to bring something before the council... And by the way, I'm in favor of your project."
• A retirement tribute. The city manager read a statement honoring a departing leader who had served as city recorder, administrative services director and most recently assistant city manager, calling her "part of the institutional foundation of an organization." A motion to certify her service was made and seconded on the recording, though no vote is captured. Speaking without preparation, she said she had watched Eagle Mountain grow "from really nothing" to a city of almost 80,000, and that she and her husband were the first household connected to city utilities.
• A scholarship letter. Cedar Valley internship teacher Gwen Whiting read a note from a former emergency-response student who credited the program with helping him win two scholarships totaling $11,500.
• A conflict disclosed in advance. Councilmember Huish said plainly, before asking bond counsel a question, "I won't be voting on this issue, so I'm just asking."

About this transcript

The automatic transcription mangles several names. Councilmember Zac Huish appears variously as "Hewish," "Herusch," "Herbold," "Heres," "HBS" and "McHugh"; Kimberly Ruesch appears as "Roosch"; the retiring official's name is rendered at least four different ways ("Finn Coffett," "Faina Kofod," "Yulia Kofet"), so her spelling here should not be trusted. "City of Vermont City" is Eagle Mountain City, "Forge Fiber 37" is Forged Fiber 37, "Lehigh" is Lehi, "Cory Bee Ride" is the Cory Wride Memorial Park, and the state transportation department is rendered as "EGOT." The Horizon applicant is called Scott Hazard on the recording while the agenda names Caden Hazard.

Speaker attribution is approximate. The recording labels voices rather than names, so members are identified from roll call and from the moments they address each other by name; one roll-call answer is tagged to the wrong voice. Where the transcript did not make a speaker clear, this summary says "a councilmember." Several staff members are identified only by first name, and a few exchanges — particularly during the cell phone discussion, when a remote member's audio failed — are hard to follow.

Most importantly, the recording ends abruptly in the middle of public comment, during Jeff Bean's remarks on the Silver Lake Parkway extension. Everything after that point, including the property disposal hearing, the vote on the sales tax pledge for the bonds, the mayor's reading of the property tax impact schedule, the budget discussion, liaison reports and adjournment, is not captured here.