SMITHFIELD—The Smithfield City Council voted for Mayor Darrell Simmons to sign a contract with Architectural Nexus for the remodel of the current city office for the Smithfield Police Department. Rob Bouwhuis from Nexus presented the contract details and design to the council. “We’ve proceeded with a design at our own risk. It’s higher on the structural end due to the structural needs of the building. I feel it’s a fair fee of $37,850.”

City Manager Jim Gass said the Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system in the building will have to be re-designed. “We’ll have to put a new roof on the building. When it rains, we have to use garbage cans to catch the water.” Gass said Nexus will do the plan set, bidding and awarding of contracts.

Councilman Brent Buttars expressed concern about the unexpected costs of the remodel. “If we don’t have the money, I’m not willing to go into debt to finish this building. This one is going to have far more problems than the new building, because it’s a remodel.”

“We will work to keep the project under budget. I was anticipating including the completion date in the contract,” Bouwhuis said.

Resident Scott Archibald suggested the council include a liquidated damages clause in the contract.

“That could be an option. With the new building we haven’t been hurt by the completion date not being met, because we still have this building,” Gass said.

Gass told Bouwhuis that the council would need a definitive completion date that is reasonable.

“We’ll make sure that people have accountability for their completion date,” Bouwhuis said.

Ken Stuart and Ed Hall from Onyx Construction gave the council a progress report on the construction of the new city office building. “Some milestone tasks were identified, and taking a look at where we are today, April 27 is the projected completion date,” Stuart said.

“This schedule is still aggressive, it puts a lot of pressure on our guys, but it is realistic,” Hall said.

“We’ll be watching really closely to make sure things are progressing and up to standards. It will be of good quality and I think you’ll be happy with it,” Hall said. Hall said the majority of the landscaping is done.

Mayor Darrell Simmons expressed concern about the temperature when the parking lot asphalt was poured.

“I haven’t heard about any issues with that, but I’ll do some research and see if anything’s going on. Special Inspections would have documentation,” Stuart.

City Recorder Dean Clegg asked when he could begin to transfer city records and files to the new building. “I’d like to shut down here on the 24th and move over to the new building before the start of Health Days.”

“If we can get you in a week earlier, then we will absolutely do that. We’re going to get it done, and we’re going to get it done by that day,” Stuart said.

For the office furniture in the new city building, the council voted to go with General Services Administration (GSA). “We will use some of the current furniture, we purchased some used furniture, but we will need more,” Gass said.

“Curtis Wall is pulling together a list for us. If we go with GSA, we can get it at 58 percent of cost. We won’t have to bid because the price has already been negotiated,” Clegg said. Clegg said the budget for furnishing the new building was $70,000. “We’re using grant money from the federal government, so we’re eligible to use GSA. We won’t have to deal with people coming down to bid, which saves time.” The council also discussed the Storm Water Agreement. Gass said the interlocal agreement will create an agency that can work together on storm water facilities. “All communities have a stake in it. Logan, North Logan, Hyde Park, Smithfield, and Cache County all have representation within the agency.”

The agency could meet the new storm water requirements set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on a regional basis, Gass said. “The storm water permit will be developed as a group, but issuing the permits is unrelated to this. This is more of a study and the city can opt-out at any time.”

Resident Glenn Jay Thornton asked if this agency was related to the Canal Upgrade Project. “You said we can opt-out, but aren’t we required to commit in the Canal Upgrade Project?”

“They are separate. There is no connection between the two. We can opt-out of this agency if it’s not beneficial to our residents,” Gass said.

Resident Scott Archibald asked if the cities could work together without creating another agency. “I’ve seen what creating another layer or agency does.”

“You have to be careful you don’t let this thing get out of hand. Scott has raised a good point and I hope others will, too. I would like to discuss this more and sure everyone is comfortable,” Gass said. “This agency can be as big or small as you want it to be and do as much or as little as you want to.”

“What we’re trying to do is create some communication between the cities regarding this issue,” Mayor Simmons said.

“If every city had its own transportation system, think of how confusing that would be. That’s the best comparison, "Gass said.

“In the southwest part of town, we don’t have anywhere to put our storm water. In all fairness to our sister communities, we need to make sure we don’t just dump it on them. "

In other business, the council discussed the upcoming budget meetings. “As mayor and council, we go through every single item on the budget. We get together with the department heads and work through it.” Gass said it will take two weeks to complete the budget and it has to be completed for public review by May 12.

The council set the first budget meeting for March 31 at 5:30 p.m.

A monument to honor former mayor Lonnie Loveday was discussed. “No budget has been established and we also need to decide where to put it. It’d be nice to put in a place where it’d get maximum exposure,” Gass said.

Gass said the monument at Heritage Park was built for less than $1500. “We built it ourselves and it was difficult.” Council discussed using a large rock that could be engraved or adorned with a plaque for the monument.

Resident Glenn Jay Thornton offered to donate a large rock from his mother’s yard to use for the monument.

Smithfield resident John Abel presented a proposal to the council to open a farmer’s market in Smithfield. “I think it could happen here. I’d like it to remain a family friendly environment in a community that has an agricultural base. I don’t want it to become a commercialized flea market,” Abel said.

Abel said a lot of people from Tremonton, Preston, Smithfield and outlying areas drive to Logan to go to the farmer’s market. “I think those same people would rather come to Smithfield and I think residents would be more likely to participate.”

Mayor Simmons asked if the market would compete with the grocery stores in the area. Abel assured him it would not. “The market will feature seasonal produce and we won’t be selling other items, like Tylenol and household goods. I think this will help businesses in Smithfield because people will stay in Smithfield and shop instead of drive to Logan.”

“There will be a $5 booth fee that will be used to maintain the grounds and facilities.” Abel needs an area that will provide parking and restrooms. The council discussed possible locations and suggested he talk to Recreation Director Brett Daniels.

“Logan has proven that it works wherever you put it. It will become the destination point. It’s just deciding how to approach it as a city with the liability issues and providing facilities and parking,” Mayor Simmons said.

Kris Monson added, “I’d like to see it happen and I do think that it would help to generate business in Smithfield.”

The meeting ended with remarks about the public hearing held on Tuesday night.

“I appreciated everyone being there. I’d like to prepare a packet for city council and include a CD that has the comments from the citizens. I want to make sure that we consider everybody’s comments,” Mayor Simmons said. Simmons said he would like to have it on the agenda by April 14 and make a motion by April 28.

“Because we had a little hiccup getting the right information out there, I do want to take a little more time to work on this. We’ve got a little more work to do.”

Published in cooperation with the Hard News Cafe. Original story is here.