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Council questions timing of Terra Strada withdrawal, votes to reexamine August 7 minutes
Summary
During the Sept. 25 Hooper City Council meeting, council members disputed the timing and handling of a developer’s withdrawal and voted to reexamine minutes from the Aug. 7 meeting; the council recorded no formal action had been taken at that earlier meeting.
Hooper City Council members on Sept. 25 debated the timing of Terra Strada LLC’s withdrawal of a development application and voted to reopen review of the Aug. 7 meeting minutes to clarify what the council did or did not decide.
The dispute began when Council member Hill raised concerns that the Aug. 7 minutes say “the council agreed to gather more data before deciding” on three Terra Strada items — a general plan amendment, a rezone request and conditional final plat approval — but Hill said the comment was made by then-city attorney Reed Richards, not by a council member. “I don't recall the council agreeing to that fact,” Hill said at the Sept. 25 meeting.
Hill said she and Council member Ryan Wilcox later requested on Sept. 11 that the items be placed back on a council agenda for a formal vote. Hill said she then spoke with Mayor Bingham, who she said asked her to withdraw that request; Hill declined. On Sept. 15, city staff emailed that Terra Strada had withdrawn the application, which Hill said occurred after the council had sought to schedule action and raised suspicion about the timing.
Mayor Bingham responded that state and local procedures allow applicants to withdraw applications and that she had notified the developer that the item would appear on the council docket. “They were not able to come to that meeting. It was nothing being nontransparent. It was a matter of they have a right to withdraw an application,” the mayor said. Bingham said she had told the developer it would be on the agenda and that the developer chose to withdraw.
City attorney Reed Richards and the council’s newly introduced attorney, Darren Curtis, advised the council that state law gives the mayor and council latitude in how items appear on an agenda and that any item listed on a public agenda may be the subject of motion. Several council members said the council’s internal process and communication about agenda requests need clearer lines so members can prepare.
Council member Hill moved to revisit the approved Aug. 7 minutes; Council member Maragone seconded. The council voted in favor, and the mayor directed Deputy City Recorder Jamie to re-listen to the recording and return recommended corrections on the Aug. 7 minutes at a future meeting. The council also discussed but did not take any new action on Terra Strada’s withdrawn application, because the application had been withdrawn before the meeting and could not be voted on.
The council discussed changes to agenda procedures and agreed to try to circulate agendas to council members before they are posted publicly and to ask the city recorder to send a reminder email deadline for items to be submitted so members can prepare.
The council did not make a determination about Terra Strada’s withdrawn application at the Sept. 25 meeting; Hill requested that the timeline and communications around the withdrawal be part of the public record going forward.
