Council reviews technical edits to subdivision ordinance; agrees to remove cashier's check option

Councilmembers reviewed and requested minor drafting changes to the draft subdivision ordinance included with the meeting packet and confirmed several technical edits before the ordinance is posted.

During discussion councilmembers pointed to specific text in the draft that listed a cashier's check as an acceptable form of guarantee for unfinished improvements. Several members agreed the city should not accept cashier's checks for that purpose and directed staff to remove that option from the ordinance. The council and staff distinguished between a cash bond (funds deposited directly to the city's account) and an escrow bond (a separate account held by a bank under an agreement among the developer, the bank and the city); staff said the escrow arrangement is common and that the city's bond forms were drafted with the Utah Municipal Attorneys Association.

Councilmembers also asked staff to remove repeated phrases that said the city engineer shall "notify the city council" where the intention was for the city engineer to notify "the city" (administrative notice to city staff rather than the full council). Members discussed capitalization issues in the definitions section and asked staff to correct them before posting.

The council asked for the corrected ordinance to be updated on the city website before the ordinance is posted formally, and directed staff to send the revised draft to the city web and to Jake to make the changes. Staff said the substantive change was the removal of the cashier's check option and characterized the other edits as technical drafting corrections. No new policy was adopted at the meeting; councilmembers said the ordinance was discussed and would be moved forward with those corrections.