Blanding looks at annexation policy

by David Boyle
News Director
Members of the Blanding City Council updated the city annexation policy, approved a bid for upgrades to the tennis and pickleball courts and discussed possible changes to procedures for rezoning at their latest meeting.
Blanding city council members approved an update to the city annexation policy at their November 26 meeting.
The policy will allow property owners who are just outside the city limits to receive city resident utility rates and connection fees once they sign a petition for annexation or restricted covenants.
The change is designed to have applicants receive some of the benefits of annexation at the beginning of the process. The updated policy is designed to encourage and streamline annexation into Blanding. 
Members of the Blanding city council also approved a few projects including a bid from Francom Fabrication for improvements to the city tennis and pickleball courts.
City council approved the bid just shy of $90,000 including nearly $53,000 for an 100-foot shade structure near the tennis courts, a smaller shade structure bid at $12,000 near the pickleball courts, $18,000 for electrical work and $6,500 for four metal cornhole boards.
The project will mostly be covered by a $70,000 grant the city received from the San Juan Clean Energy Foundation. The city had budgeted an additional $50,000 for the project which is now well within the city budget for the project.
The city council also approved a $4,685 use of funds to install a French drain at the Swallows Nest. The project is in partnership with the historical society to maintain the historic building used by town settler Albert R. Lyman, located near the Blanding visitor center.
Members of the Blanding city council also approved a resolution establishing a $4 utility line maintenance fee for nature gas and water accounts. 
The reduced stube fee and unused water meter fees will allow the city to cover the costs to continue to inspect unused gas and water connections at a reduced cost for property users who are not using those utilities but still need their connections checked in case of future use. The policy also allows customers who have paide stub fees for at least three consecutive years to have connection fees waived if they wish to reconnect service.
Other adoptions by the city council included their meeting schedule for 2025, as well as a policy requiring city employees to maintain a valid driver’s license.
At the meeting, City Manager Trent Herring also gave a report on the planning and zoning commission and a recent discussion with members of South Eastern Regional Development Agency (SERDA) about possibly changing the requirements in the R2 zone of the city to decrease lot size requirements from 70 by 100 to 30 by 100 feet. 
The discussion could lead to allowing property owners to do more with their lots within the R2 zone.
Members of the council had additional discussions about land use, including a potential change to rezoning requests. 
Currently rezone requests in Blanding include a $100 fee, and a requirement that property owners contact their neighbors making them aware of a scheduled public hearing on the request. 
Herring offered that the city look into increasing the procedure fee to allow the city to do the work of sending certified letters to surrounding property owners about the public hearing process.
“That takes the burden off of the property owner, which could be a very uncomfortable thing. Our job is to work with the public.”
Members of the council gave advice and consent for staff to bring the item back to the council for future consideration.
Council also held a discussion about the city infill program. The current policy has the city of Blanding operating a program that reimburses the smaller amount of up to $7,500 or 50-percent the cost of infilling of vacant properties within city limits. 
City staff and council were mostly in agreement that waiving fees rather than giving cash may be more appropriate moving forward, with the item to be further discussed in the future. 
Members of the city council also discussed possibly purchasing portable smaller basketball hoops in order to offer basketball programs for first and second grade aged children in Blanding.