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Council Adds Brigham City Sewer Connection Fee, Approves Business‑licensing Update and Zoning Map Amendment; Water‑system Needs Highlighted
Summary
The Manaway Town Council voted to add a Brigham City sewer connection fee to the town fee schedule, approved a revised business license form with a pretreatment checkbox, and adopted a zoning‑map amendment; consultants warned the town's water wells lack redundancy and estimated $1.5M–$2M to drill and equip a replacement well.
The Manaway Town Council made three formal decisions at its Sept. 18 meeting and spent substantial time on code enforcement and the town water system.
On the fee schedule, the council voted to add a new line item labeled "Brigham City Sewer Connection" to the town fee schedule and to set that charge equal to Brigham City's connection fee for all new building permits. The fee will appear in the packet after the town's impact fees and will be highlighted to show it is an interlocal charge. Councilmember (unnamed) moved to add the fee and the motion was seconded; council concurrence was recorded as "Yes." The motion was implemented as a placement and policy direction rather than a change to the town's impact‑fee ordinance.
Council also approved an updated business license application that adds questions about short‑term rentals and a pretreatment acknowledgement tied to Brigham City’s sewer agreement. The council voted to accept the application with the added pretreatment checkbox so Brigham City can be notified where required.
Later the council approved an ordinance housekeeping item required to post a revised zoning map online. The motion to adopt ordinance number 2025‑09‑15 (an amendment to ordinance 2024‑10‑17) passed with no recorded opposition.
On the town’s water system, Lance Nielsen of Hansen Allen & Luce presented an engineering assessment of wells and options. Nielsen said the older well produces sand and has declining performance; the newer well draws from fractured bedrock and is running nearly continuously. He reported that relining or redeveloping the old well could cost in the low hundreds of thousands, but drilling and constructing a new well and pump station is more expensive: "Just to drill it is probably gonna be, depending on bids and drillers... oh, 7 or $800,000 just to drill it," Nielsen said, adding that an "all‑in" project to drill and equip a new well would likely be in the $1.5 million to $2 million range. He recommended exploring resiliency grants (including Bureau of Reclamation funding) and other grant/loan mechanisms; he estimated a four‑month minimum schedule for design, approvals and mobilization if the town pursued drilling.
Council discussion also focused on nuisance enforcement: staff described a stepped approach — registered mail notice, follow‑up calls, in‑person visits and then fines or code enforcement if property owners fail to comply. Councilmembers asked that any outreach include the ordinance language and clear timelines, and staff said letters and a targeted newsletter notice would be used for owners of accessory dwelling units (ADUs); the town intends to begin applying ADU sewer and water charges for October bills.
Other business included a briefing on transient room tax collection (state apportions tax to state/county/municipal shares), the procurement value of state cooperative purchasing (staff reported $6,000 savings on a recent parks procurement), a cybersecurity/IT vendor review, and a cemetery grant opportunity (matching grant up to $20,000) that staff will explore further.
The meeting concluded with a motion to adjourn.
(Where direct quotations are used above they are drawn from the transcript: Heather Crockett's remarks are cited in the library article; Lance Nielsen's cost estimates and timing come from his presentation to the council.)
