Monticello city hears from residents of unpaved 500 north

Monticello city council held an extensive conversation with residents of unpaved roads, reviewed budgets and election costs at their latest meeting.
Members of the Monticello city council heard from residents of unpaved streets on 500 North and 450 east at their May 27 meeting.
Residents raised concerns about the condition of the dirt road during public comment. One resident of the street Blaine Nebeker shared despite farming all around the area, the dirt road on 500 North is the “worst one that I drive on”
Another neighbor Vanessa Torgerson noted that in the four years she’s lived on the road it hasn’t been maintained and the neighbors have even filled potholes themselves.
Torgerson also offered help as a grant writer to help the city find funds to pave the road. Resident Bev McDougall added she’s lived on the street and paid property taxes for nearly 25 years and received lots of promises for the road over the years with no results, asking for the road to be treated like the rest of Monticello city, several other residents of the street echoed the sentiments asking the city to address the road.
City staff outlined the city enterprise funds for city streets is about $124,000 with some funds coming from the transportation district.
City Manager Kaeden Kulow reports quotes they’ve received to curb, gutter and pave the road is about $1 million per mile. Staff shared that the general fund is $2.2 million.
“Putting a million into streets, we would have to shut down a lot of the parts of the city. So, we've got to come up with a way to get those funds to be there without shutting down some of our excess programs. Just so you're also aware, property tax only brings in about 300,000 of that. The rest is generated from sales tax and fees. So, we're very tax dependent when it comes to that. And that sales tax can go up and down any year. I plan for the worst, so my numbers are lower than they should be, but I want to make sure we have enough funds to get through the year.”
The city did report they’ve budgeted $41,000 for this year to bring in three inches of road base to repair dirt roads in town including 450 east and 500 north as well as Pinon drive.
Residents also asked about the possibility of writing grants, the city says they’ve continued to look for opportunities but with three grants open now the city has been focused on closing those out Kulow added despite that they are continuing to explore grant options.
One issue the city noted was a decrease in available transportation funds with Council member Kirk Crowley sharing that when he first ran to be on the council he planned to get those streets paved.
“Well, it didn't take me long to find out that right now it's not a reality. We can't. We don't have the funding.”
Crowley added being on the transportation board the amount of money available has decreased over the past decade recalling that the county receives less than a million dollars a year when they used to receive around $2 million a decade ago.
“That's because there's no oil and gas leases anymore. So, all of that funding has gone away. We've been thinking about this for a long time. What do we do? What do we do? And of course, we need to do some simple maintenance. There's no doubt about that. but it's going to be a longer term thing before we get to the pavement. I mean, just being honest, it's going to take a while, if we can even ever get there at all.”
Crowley shared that a developer was originally supposed to pave the road.
Nebeker thanked the council for their words but asked again for maintenance on the road.
“Even getting some crowns established so that the water doesn't run down the middle of the road and wash what we do away in the rightway. That would go a long ways.”
A hand injury for a city employee has further delayed some planned grading. Nebeker added the hope that the city will continue to address the issue.
“I hope we don't limit ourselves to just, well, the city isn't available to do it, it can't be done. I think there's a lot of options to get in and do some simple maintenance with the long-term goal down the road.”
Council member Nathan Chamberlain also noted the importance of figuring out and scheduling maintenance for the city assets. City staff noted that a pavement preservation plan has been completed with engineers rating roads for life spans from one to 20 years to guide future maintenance priorities.
The city also added that current loans for major projects including flood repairs at the golf course, the $2.5 million Spring Creek water pipeline and the $1.5 million sewer project all make asking the Community Impact Board for additional funds unlikely in the near future.
Residents and city staff also made plans to meet at the city offices to discuss more immediate maintenance on the road as well as future plans for the upkeep on 500 north and 450 east.
Also discussed were the broken down styrofoam like houses on 500 North.
While the issue was inherited from a previous city management administration, city staff shared that they’ve been in contact with the property owner who has completed some required subdivision requirements and plans to break ground on a new project by winter. The city says failure to meet those deadlines could result in the city pursuing stronger repercussions including potentially demolition of the broken down structure at the owner's expense.
Other matters were also attended to at the latest meeting.
Members of the commission also held public hearings on the budget for the fiscal year that will end in June as well as the one that will start in July. Kulow shared the budget for the year about to end is almost balanced but noted there are a few accounts that will need to be adjusted. Kulow noted the golf coure’s new mowers put them over budget but maintenance costs at the city pool were lower which will allow the city to shift funds with the city planning to end the year with a balanced budget. Kulow also shared the budget for the upcoming 25/26 fiscal year.
A public hearing was also held for employee compensation with compensation for the Monticello mayor at $3,500, and $1,750 for city council members. City manager, assistant city manager and public works director positions were also disclosed. A staff report noted that other city positions do not require disclosure as part of the hearing but have a salary schedule that is adjusted at the same rate as other cost of living adjustments (COLA) A two-percent increase was reviewed as part of the hearing as well as an up to two-percent possible raise based on merit.
Members of the council also received a report on anticipated costs for the upcoming municipal elections estimated at $14,200 to $14,700.
County staff shared a pricing structure change with a ballot printer has resulted in significant increases in costs for smaller elections with a $2,500 minimum charge for primaries and a $12,500 minimum charge for general elections. Additional costs for translation of ballots as required by the lawsuit against San Juan are being carried by the county. San Juan County Deputy Clerk/Auditor Vint DeGraw says that while it's too late to change printers this year they’ll be looking at different options in the future and likely joining other small counties in the state in moving away from K&H Printers. DeGraw said costs have risen 40-50-percent in the past four years.
Members of the Monticello city council also agreed to a memorandum of understanding between the city, Blanding, Bluff and San Juan County to recognize each other's business licenses. The agreement simplifies operations for local businesses requiring just one license at a main location while allowing operations throughout the county.
Members of the city council also approved costs related to an extension of the city water main. The council approved both the purchase of materials from Mountainland as well as contracting with Sonderegger inc to extend the city water main 300 feet to better serve the new hospital. The extension will ensure water redundancy at the hospital and was approved by the council.
Also noted was that the next scheduled city council meeting on June 10 will include the review of the electrical analysis study to review options for how the city provides power to residents. In addition to the engineers of the study the city will also hear from leadership with Empire Electric Association.