Monticello City Council discusses new bronze sculpture at Veterans Park

by David Boyle
News Director
Members of the Monticello City Council received reports on beauty efforts in the city, worked on the airport agreement, and authorized the revocation of a business license at two meetings last week.
During their March 28 meeting, members of the Monticello City Council received a report from Parks and Beautification Chair Carol Van Steeter on the group’s efforts, including work to bring a new bronze sculpture to accompany the Veterans Memorial on the corner of Center and Main street.
Fundraising events by the committee, including three different galas in the past eight years, have brought in over $26,000 in profit. Van Steeter explained the group wants to find a project for the funds that would not create maintenance for the city
The proposed high-quality five-foot tall bronze statue of an eagle flying over a branch would be placed on a four-foot high pedestal on the corner of Main and Center and would leave over $3,000 of PTIF leftover.
With the statue in stock, the Parks and Beautification Committee hopes to have it in place by Memorial Day depending on weather cooperation.
Members of the council expressed appreciation to the committee for the project and gave their support of the purchase and installation of the eagle statue.
The committee also reported on plans to purchase white and blue lights to go along with red lights put on trees near the memorial during Veterans Day, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and other holidays.
Additionally, Van Steeter reports the committee will plan to have Main Street flowers in pots around June 1, and of course, will host a community cleanup the Monday before the Pioneer Day Celebration.
In other city clean-up news, Shayla Pehrson, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Monticello Stake Youth committee, presented the council with a plan for the group to help with a city cleanup day.
Pehrson explained youth in Monticello plan to meet on Saturday, April 15 at 10 a.m. at Veterans Park to sweep up sidewalks around town in observance of Earth Day. The church group gave notice to the city to have city sweepers ready to aid final cleanup after the project.
Members of the council also held a discussion regarding proposed agreements between the City and Elliot Arthur, President of NorthEast Planes Aviation to act as manager and Fixed Base Operator at the city airport.
City manager Kaeden Kulow again presented the proposal from Arthur, including renting city office space for $250 a month, waiving the fuel fee up to 20,000 gallons, and after that point paying five cents per gallon to the city, as well as a $2,000 a month management fee for the first 12 months paid to Arthur, with the fee dropping to $1,000 for the remainder of the five-year contract.
Management duties would include snow removal, vegetation, and animal management.
Council was given the option of offering two separate contracts (one for FBO duties mainly related to fuel services and one for management duties of the airport) or rolling them into one contract.
During their work session, members of the council directed Kulow to share their preference of divided contracts and also shared that they would not like to continue to provide the airport with a “courtesy car” which small airports sometimes make available for pilots who land in the city airstrip.
Members of the council expressed concern over issues of liability in regard to a potential accident, as well as the costs of maintaining a service offered to pilots. Council members expressed a preference to have Arthur offer the courtesy car, with a discussion around the possible sale of the older car currently being used as a courtesy car at the airport.
Council and staff indicated they would like to move forward to approve the agreement at their next regular session.
At their special meeting on March 30, members of the Monticello City Council complied with a December 31, 2022 order of revocation for the Sales Tax and withholding license of the Wayside Inn in Monticello. The revocation order, from the Utah State Tax Commission, cancels the legal authority to make sales and have employees in the state of Utah.
At their March 28 meeting, members of the council also held a discussion regarding code enforcement in the city, including enforcement of the nuisance ordinance the city adopted in late fall of 2022. The ordinance outlines definitions of nuisances and a policy on investigations of complaints, warning periods, and eventual civil fines for offenders.
Council asked staff to review the ordinance in order to prepare to address repeat offenders in residential areas and to also help launch discussion on how to keep the town presentable, with particular interest on Main and Center streets.
Members of the council also had a general discussion about city memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreements, with a particular focus on the cities recently passed MOU with hotel developer Jared Berrett regarding a planned hotel near the Hideout Golf Course.
Members of the council shared they are particularly interested in making sure the city has some sort of procedure in place for MOU’s with an emphasis on aiding economic growth for existing businesses and not just new businesses.
Members of the council also briefly discussed zoning needs in the city. During the meeting, Assistant City Manager Megan Gallegos also presented the council with a large purchase the city will be making for youth recreation.
Gallegos explained the city will use around $10,000 of an estimated $18,000 earmarked by the county for recreation to purchase equipment to offer tackle football for third and fourth-grade students. Council members provided support of the proposed use of the earmarked funds.
Gallegos announced that Jasmine Nielson has been hired to work part-time in the city office.