By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News

Price City Hall was filled to the brim on Wednesday, July 23, as the Price City Council met for their biweekly council meeting. With only one item on the agenda, a majority of the meeting was filled by a public comment session, with the council hearing a wide variety of issues faced by Price citizens.

Opening the public comment period was Price City Attorney Eric Johnson, who provided a statement on behalf of the city. “First, I just want to make a couple of comments about land use decisions within the city. In America, we believe in private property rights, and this belief is particularly strong in Utah, where people are allowed to use their property in what they deem as the highest and best use for their property.” Johnson continued,” Cities do have the power to implement general land use regulations, which Price City has done. But when someone comes with an application that fits what their proposal is, the city doesn’t have an unfettered chance to say yes or no as long as it fits within the general rules. Then, that’s something that the city has to allow to move forward, because that’s the right of private property owners.”

Switching gears, Johnson discussed the city budget. “The council weighs and balances many important decisions. Among the most carefully considered is the city budget. And as every member of the council knows, every year the city’s needs outstrip its resources … It is the official duty of department heads in the city to bring forward proposed budgets and it’s also their official duty related to the budget. “

“Once the council makes a decision about the budget, it’s important department leaders and their assistants support those decisions,” added Johnson. “It causes problems within the city if one department leader complains about the budget and other items that are part of their official duties. That would interfere with and impede efficient city operation. If all the department leaders did that, you could hardly get anything done.”

Emphasizing this point, Johnson stated,” For one Department to receive a wage increase, there are only two ways for that to occur. The city has to take the money from other City departments and employees or the city has to take that money in the form of taxes. And where there have been some demands for wage increases, that’s really what’s facing the council.” 

Johnson explained what this process would look like: “There are two ways to consider an increase in taxes. One is by calling an election and putting that on the ballot and asking the people if that’s what they want … Another way it can be done in Utah is through what they call ‘Truth in Taxation‘. But I believe that there’s enough time if the council wanted to put an item on the agenda to call an election and hear the voice of the people.”

Moving to the public, first to the podium was Brittnie Castro, who first addressed her previous concerns of traffic safety near Mont Harmon Middle School. “On Dec. 11, I attended the city council meeting to voice not only my concerns, but also the concerns of the community regarding traffic and crosswalk safety issues surrounding Mount Harmon after my nephew had been struck by a vehicle. Each of you was given a packet outlining these concerns.”

She continued,” I’ve personally witnessed drivers reach dangerously high speeds, posing a serious risk to the many children who live on that residential Road. I’ve seen children forced to dart across the street to avoid being hit, an unacceptable situation. We discussed several potential solutions during that meeting, including installing a stop sign and adding pedestrian safety clocks at the crosswalk.”

Castro was displeased with how the city had handled the situation. “Mayor Kourianos, you stopped me and told me you believed a stop sign could be installed because it would benefit residents. You also asked me for my personal contact information and expressed interest in forming a committee inviting me to participate in leading that effort. Frankly forming a committee for such a straightforward safety issue felt unnecessary and more like an attempt to make me feel heard rather than a serious step toward change.”

“Instead of receiving a follow-up call regarding the community concerns that I had raised, I received a work-related call on my personal cellphone about an article I had written covering a city council meeting. The call, which I found inappropriate in nature, quickly turned into a lengthy conversation about the police department and its internal challenges,” stated Castro. “It was mentioned that there is a chain of command that needed to be followed, and hadn’t I found this statement to be hypocritical, as I had been called on my personal cellphone to discuss a work-related issue, and you had not contacted my supervisor prior to that conversation.”

Closing her time at the podium, Castro stated,” It has now been seven months since I initially brought this issue to the council, and nothing has been done to improve the safety of children or the residents in the area … So, my questions for the mayor and city council are: Is it not your duty as elected officials to recognize and act on safety concerns, especially when the well-being of children is at stake? Two. Why do residents feel their concerns fall on deaf ears when they come prepared with data and solutions and engaging good faith? Why has a meeting not been held with the police department to address the internal challenges they are facing? Why has an independent HR professional not been brought in, especially given the reported grievances and concerns about retaliation from the current HR representative? And if a meeting has taken place, when was it and what was discussed?”

Bret Cammans spoke about his concerns regarding the efficiency of the city government system. “I would like to make a proposal for the council to allow a citizen committee to find an outside, impartial and independent agency selected by the citizens committee to come in and do salary reviews and audits of efficiency.”

He added,” We’ve seen a separation in the community. It would be nice to pull things back together.”

Moving to the next commenter, Pamela Underwood addressed her concerns with the new Maverik gas station in Price. “First of all, I want to say that Mr. (Nick) Tatton, over the last few months, has been wonderful to work with. He’s been in contact with Maverik to try and fix ongoing problems from the beginning that’s still not fixed.” Underwood continued,” The people that are going in and out of Maverick, the mufflers, oh my gosh, these people in town. I don’t know why they think they have to have loud mufflers. It is so annoying.”

“I know overnight parking has been a big thing. I know that other people have addressed that. I was told that the employees are being trained to go out and tell the drivers that they can’t park there. However, what’s happening is that the employees are not going out to tell the drivers; I have to call after being woken up by these idling trucks and tell them you need to go out there and tell these drivers to leave. I should not have to go out there and do their job for them.”

Underwood closed by expressing disappointment in the conduct and professionalism of the city council members. “I’m not saying you should allow people to yell at you, but how you respond is what matters. I find it unacceptable for an elected official, like yourselves, to name call and publicly insult employees or anyone for that matter when they are voicing their concerns or opinions.”

She added,” To one specific councilman, I will not say his name. I ask that you please refrain from taunting people on social media who are opposing who have opposing viewpoints. I find it unprofessional that you comment on posts calling local courts/judges a joke and insulting other local government entities. You are all entitled to your opinions. However, an elected city official who serves the community as a whole, your character, conduct and professionalism need to be held to a higher standard.”

Rounding out the public comment period was Wayne Jackson, who questioned why the city doesn’t have bike lanes. “Why doesn’t Price City have bike lanes so students can ride their bikes safely?”

“We do have them,” replied Mayor Kourianos.

“I don’t see signs, Mayor. That’s what I’m asking,” said Jackson.

Following this last public comment, the meeting was adjourned.

The next meeting of the Price City Council will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 13 at 5 p.m. at Price City Hall. For those unable to attend in person, a stream of the meeting is available on YouTube at KOAL–Castle Country Focus.

Watch the full meeting here: