Mona City staff present draft agreement to reimburse Southfield irrigation repairs; council asks for limits and specificity

Mona City staff on Jan. 13 presented a draft agreement that would let the city reimburse private irrigation repair work performed by Southfield Irrigation if claimants submit itemized invoices, show the repair location, explain proration for reimbursement and meet documentation requirements. Staff noted the draft includes a 30-day window between the repair and submission of receipts before the city would be obligated to pay.

The proposal was described as informational; no vote was taken. "So it limits the time the between the repair and the submission of the, receipts to 30 days," said Speaker 2, a city staff member who offered to draft options if the council wanted time limits or reimbursement caps. He added that the council could direct staff to negotiate terms with the irrigation company instead of the city managing the funds.

Staff and council discussed the original revenue source for repairs in the subdivision. "When the subdivision was built, they collected a fee of $3,000 per home… so times that by all the homes, it was about $75,000 that was supposed to be used for repairs of the irrigation inside and water lines inside of the subdivision," said Speaker 7, who provided the financial background and estimated that about $10,000 has been used to date. Speaker 7 clarified that the fee was collected for that specific subdivision rather than for the broader Southfield system, and warned those funds could be depleted if reimbursements extend beyond the subdivision.

Council members voiced concern about creating a precedent that would expand city responsibility. "If Mona starts this with, the irrigation company, it'll it'll expand and get bigger," said Speaker 4, who urged caution about broadening the agreement. Another council member said extending reimbursements outside the subdivision provides little direct benefit to the city and risks subsidizing private repairs.

Staff described options for limiting the city's exposure, including placing a time limit on reimbursements (examples discussed ranged from 30 days to one or five years), capping annual reimbursement amounts or setting a total cap for the contract. "You could also cap the amount that you're going to reimburse… You could say we're gonna do this for 5 years, and we're gonna cap it, cap improvement reimbursements at thousand dollars a year at $50,000 over the course of the contract," Speaker 2 said as an example of potential contract language.

Ongoing revenue and fee mechanics were discussed: Speaker 7 said residents currently pay an $80 annual fee, of which the city keeps $5 and the remainder goes to the irrigation department. Councilmember Speaker 8 asked whether the contract should explicitly list the subdivision; Speaker 3 confirmed the name shown in the draft is Nebo View Meadows Subdivision and that the agreement is between Mona City and Southfield Irrigation.

City staff emphasized the decision is a policy matter for the council and that they could negotiate alternative arrangements with the irrigation company. "This is totally a policy decision," Speaker 2 said. "If you want us to go back and negotiate that as staff, we're happy to do that."

Next steps: no action was taken at the Jan. 13 work session. Staff offered to return with options — including time-limited reimbursement windows, caps on payments and contract language naming the subdivision — or to prepare a draft negotiated with the irrigation company for council review at a future work session.