Parowan City Council approves easement, land buys and code updates; extends EAP access and selects alarm vendor

PAROWAN, Utah — The Parowan City Council on March 13 approved a series of items affecting the city’s water recharge and bridge projects, adopted zoning and administrative code changes and extended employee benefits to year-round part-time staff and volunteer firefighters.

The council took multiple formal votes. Highlights include approval of a 16-foot utility easement with the Robin R. Smith and Linda Ray Smith Family Trust needed for the city’s water recharge project, authorizing corridor-preservation purchases for right-of-way tied to a bridge alignment, and adoption of three ordinances updating cargo-container rules, replacing the Board of Adjustments with an Appeal Authority, and permitting preschools in general-commercial zones.

Votes at a glance - Consent agenda (Items 6–8): council approved minutes from Feb. 27, 2025, the March 13 warrant register and the February 2025 financial report in one motion; motion carried. - Item 10 — Smith PUE easement agreement for water recharge project: motion to approve carried. The staff presentation said the final easement will be 16 feet wide with allowance for greater disturbance during construction and no cash consideration to the landowner. - Item 11 — Purchase of parcel A-470-870 (corridor-preservation funds) for bridge project: motion to approve carried; staff said the county-administered corridor preservation fund would cover approximately $229,000 in acquisition and transaction costs, at no immediate cost to the city. - Item 12 — Partial purchase of parcel A-04780080000 (corridor-preservation funds) for bridge project: motion carried. - Item 13 — Zone change for Parcel A-2018-000 (from General Commercial (GC) to Residential R3): motion to approve carried. - Item 14 — Ordinance 2025-05 updating 15.65 (cargo storage containers): ordinance adopted by roll call (Rochelle Topham, David Harris, John Dean, Sharon Downey and David Burton all voted aye). - Item 15 — Ordinance 2025-06 repealing 15.14 (Board of Adjustments) and replacing it with 15.14 (Appeal Authority): ordinance adopted by roll call (unanimous aye). - Item 16 — Ordinance 2025-07 updating 15.35.020 (allowing preschools in general commercial zones): ordinance adopted by roll call (unanimous aye). - Employee assistance program (Item 18): council approved extending the city’s Blomquist Hale EAP to full-time employees, year-round part-time employees and volunteer firefighters. Staff estimated the additional annual cost at about $5,154.24 if all eligible part-time staff and volunteers are included; staff proposed implementing the change at the start of the next fiscal year to align budgeting. - Alarm monitoring (Item 19): the council voted to terminate the city’s ongoing arrangement with Titan Security and to move monitoring and maintenance to Southern Utah Alarm on a month-to-month basis as a stopgap while staff solicits additional bids; the vote was 4–1 in favor. - Recreation staff (Item 20): the council approved posting a part-time recreational director assistant position to relieve pressure on the current 25-hour-per-week recreation director; council discussion supported a weekly-hours cap to control budget impact. The motion carried 4–1.

What staff said City Manager Dan Jesson explained the Smith easement “saves a lot of time and money in routing and engineering” compared with potential workarounds. He said legal review and minor width adjustments produced an easement that will work for construction and later restoration of the surface.

On the corridor-preservation purchases, staff said the county-administered fund — paid from a vehicle-registration fee — is designed to preserve right-of-way corridors; the requested $229,000 includes appraisal, closing, surveying and title costs and would not be a cost to the city.

On human resources, city recorder Callie Bassett summarized Blomquist Hale’s EAP (confidential counseling, legal/financial advisory and first-responder support) and presented the estimated cost implications of extending the program to year-round part-time employees and volunteer firefighters.

Other actions and process notes - The council swore in a new police officer, Jed Emley, in a nonvoting ceremonial item (Item 9). The oath and recognition were part of the evening’s action agenda. - Several items required roll-call votes because they were ordinance adoptions; the minutes record unanimous support on those ordinances.

What’s next Staff said the water recharge easement will support a planned bid advertisement next month. The corridor acquisitions and the zone-change items will proceed through final closing and land-use steps as needed. Council members asked staff to solicit additional bids for alarm monitoring while the month-to-month stopgap is in place.

Sources: Parowan City Council meeting transcript, Mar. 13, 2025; staff presentations by Dan Jesson and Callie Bassett.