Pleasant Grove staff present tentative budget; council delays decision on $67,000 rec-center audio package pending electrical cost

Pleasant Grove City staff presented the city—s tentative budget and walked council through several outstanding capital requests and service proposals, but council did not adopt a final budget during the meeting.

City staff said state law requires the municipality to adopt a tentative budget at the council—s first May meeting, but that the tentative figure is not final and can be adjusted before the June adoption. Staff presented options for replacing the recreation center—s audio system, updated capital estimates for a Manila Creek retaining wall and a recommendation on whether to contract custodial services.

Megan, a city staff member who led the rec-center audio analysis, told the council she compiled vendor numbers into four packages. She said the most immediately useful components are new sound in the fitness rooms (quoted direct cost $22,000) and a buildingwide public-address system; the two top packages together total about $67,000 excluding uncertain electrical work. "The other thing that I noted ... was that the electricthere'll be some additional electrical work that has to happen, and we don't know what that looks like currently," Megan said.

Megan said the original vendor quote covered a larger scope (originally roughly $300,000-plus) and that her handout pared the request to what staff believes are priority items. She said the current installed audio is not reusable: "It is not. It's gonna have to take all renewed wiring and renew system ... the current system is not useful at this point." Dion, a city staff member working on facilities, and several council members pressed staff to obtain an estimate for the required electrical upgrades before the council commits funding.

Council discussion centered on need versus cost. One council member said he favored funding fitness-room audio now and deferring or reducing the broader PA system until staff can return with electrical pricing; another said a portable system could be a lower-cost interim option for events. City staff agreed to get electrical-cost estimates and return to council before final budget adoption. "I'll work on getting electrical numbers, and we'll bring that back to you," Megan said.

Staff also flagged other tentative-budget items. The recreation-center roof line remains in the tentative budget pending an insurance claim; staff said the figure will be reduced or removed if insurance covers the repair. Engineers reviewed a retaining wall along the Manila Creek walking path and proposed a structural approach that staff estimates could cut the city—s cost roughly in half; the current budget line remains $200,000 but staff said they expect to present a recommended $100,000 figure at final adoption.

On utilities, staff reiterated prior presentations that the sewer portion of the rate increase (about $3.90 on average household bills) largely reflects an increase passed through by the regional sewer provider, TSSD. Staff also said the city renegotiated its garbage contract and expects the vendor—s increase to be lower than initially proposed. The city added a previously omitted transportation utility fee back into the packet but recommended no fee increase.

A separate review of custodial services found the city—s current in-house custodial budget (about $496,690) compares favorably to a contractor—s estimate. Jan King, the outside contractor who provided a cost proposal, estimated roughly $645,000 per year to provide the same scope; staff recommended staying in-house both because of cost and flexibility. "Our recommendation to staff would be to stay with our in-house custodial, based on the financial numbers, but also based on the ability to manage that," a staff presenter said.

Next steps: Council did not adopt a final budget during the session. Staff will obtain electrical-cost estimates for the rec center audio project and return the budget item for council consideration ahead of the June final-adoption deadline; staff will also update the retaining-wall figure if insurance or engineering changes reduce the city—s share.