JUNE 2022
FREQUENTLY REQUESTED NUMBERS Attorney .................................. 801-264-2640 Business Licensing .................. 801-270-2432 Cemetery ................................ 801-264-2637 City Council ............................. 801-264-2603 Finance Department ............... 801-264-2513 FIRE DEPARTMENT Administrative Office .......... 801-264-2781 Non-Emergency Calls ......... 801-840-4000 General Information................ 801-264-2525 Senior Recreation Center ......... 801-264-2635 Human Resources.................... 801-264-2656 Library .................................... 801-264-2580 Mayor’s Office.......................... 801-264-2600 Municipal Court....................... 801-284-4280 Museum .................................. 801-264-2589 Murray Park Outdoor Pool ....... 801-266-9321 Murray Parkway Golf Course.... 801-262-4653 PARKS AND RECREATION Administrative Office .......... 801-264-2614 Rain-out Information ......... 801-264-2525 Park Center (indoor pool) ........ 801-284-4200 Passports................................. 801-264-2660 POLICE DEPARTMENT Administrative Office .......... 801-264-2673 Animal Control/SL County .. 385-468-7387 Code Enforcement .............. 801-264-2673 Non-Emergency Calls ......... 801-840-4000 POWER DEPARTMENT Administrative Office .......... 801-264-2730 After Hours Emergency....... 801-264-9669 PUBLIC SERVICES Administrative Office .......... 801-270-2440 Building Inspection ............ 801-270-2431 Green Waste Trailers ........... 801-270-2440 Planning and Zoning .......... 801-270-2420 Solid Waste......................... 801-270-2440 Water, Sewer, Streets.......... 801-270-2440 Zoning Enforcement ........... 801-270-2426 UTILITIES After Hours Emergency....... 801-264-9669 Billing Questions ................ 801-264-2626
murray.utah.gov
Mayor’s Message
MAYOR’S OFFICE
Professionals Among Us
mayor@murray.utah.gov 801-264-2600 5025 S. State Street Murray, Utah 84107
I’d like to devote this month’s article to the often unsung, but very professional employees of Murray City. I’ve asked our department heads to send the information on their staff members who help keep the City working well. Here are some of those stories: Julie Jackson is an Evidence Technician in the Police Department. She manages all evidence that is booked with active police cases according to State and Federal Laws and department policy and procedure. Julie often contacts the owner of evidence and returns items. She testifies in court and is responsible for verifying evidence and property reports for accuracy. Julie also fingerprints people and ensures the integrity of our evidence and property storage areas. As part of the Police Records Division, Sydney Maxfield works as the Crime Analyst. She gathers and analyzes crime data and crime patterns. She prepares reports, graphs, charts and maps and sometimes specialized statistical and/ or geographical reports. This position supplies direct support to police officers and community by compiling data that assists with strategizing proactive patrols for areas of higher crime incidents throughout the city. Matt Youngs is the Power Department’s Energy Services/Regulatory Compliance Manager. He uses his MPA degree daily for Rate Design, Cost of Service Studies, contracts and legislative analysis. Matt is an expert in EV charger stations and won some matching grant money for electric vehicle charger installations at the Rec Center. He also directs our residential rooftop program and offers customers solutions to help lower their utility bill. Matt Erkelens is the Forestry Supervisor in Power who is an ISA Certified Arborist an ISA Certified Utility Arborist. He offers advice about types of trees to plant in the park strip, removing trees from yards and trimming unruly, overgrown or dead trees. Matt oversees the park strip planting program and makes sure trees throughout the city get trimmed away from the power lines. He also helps with the 4th of July Parade, the Arbor Day program, the Beautification Awards AND the annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. Kayla Chandler is a Collection Development Librarian. She buys the materials for adults—someone else chooses all the things for children.
Murray Library
Brett A. Hales -Mayor
She has specialized knowledge about the publishing industry, the likelihood of a book being a bestseller and knowledge about what our users like to read. She is also a great resource for people that are looking for something “good to read.” Mike Call is the Library Marketing and Design Specialist. He designs our signs, bookmarks, fliers, website. His design makes our book bike especially appealing. He also makes interesting objects like our Poetree. If you take a look at all of our advertising, you will see the outstanding work that Mike does behind the scenes. Flip Nielson has been with Parks and Recreation for 20 years, currently as a Lead Worker. This position requires working with and supervising fulltime employees and part-time employees. He oversees ballfields, turf areas, garbage removal, restroom maintenance, building maintenance, insect issues in turf and trees and weed control. Flip has numerous certifications and licenses which require continuing education to keep him up to date on current practices, trends and issues with pesticide application in a park system. Murray Park Center Director Marci Williams is loaded with certifications and credentials for swimming, spinning, TRX, Pilates and many other activities. The Murray native is also one of three representatives from Utah to Project 435, a grassroot effort by the National Health and Fitness Alliance to secure representation for the health and fitness industry. In addition to their backgrounds as Firefighter’s and basic certifications, Deputy Fire Marshals Jeff Puls and Steve Roberson are also investigators, emergency managers, peace officers and PIOs for major Incidents. They deal with arson fires and criminal nature of the fire code. They work with more than 3,500 businesses within the city and hundreds of new construction projects each year. Travis Bodtcher is the EMS Training Officer for the Fire Department. He makes sure responders within Murray City have required EMT, Advance EMT, Paramedic, CPR and numerous other certifications needed for lifesaving operations. He saves Murray City a lot of money by being able to offer these courses inhouse.
166 East 5300 South • Murray, UT 84107
Murray City Library Summer Challenge - June 6th Build a reading habit this summer by joining us for the Murray City Library 2022 Summer Challenge. Set a number of minutes as your own personal reading goal and then track it for 30 days this summer. Finishers will receive a book, a collectible sticker, a MCL book bag and tickets to enter various drawings for a larger prize. Visit MurrayLibrary.org/summer for more details.
Summer Shorts - Wednesdays 1PM at the park
LIBRARY HOME
Murray City Library will be hosting short summer events each Wednesday at pavilion #5 at the park. Stop by and see magic, reptiles, dancing and more! Visit MurrayLibrary.org or call 801-264-2580 for more details.
Stories in the Park – Mon - Thu 11:15AM at the park Join us at the Murray City Park Gazebo for an outdoor story time full of books, songs and action rhymes for kids ages 2-7 and their families. Bring your blanket or lawn chair. Visit MurrayLibrary.org or call 801-264-2580 for more details.
LIBRARY CALENDAR
Message from the Council
CITY COUNCIL
Taxes, Housing, Employment, Oh my! Many cities in the County and state are proposing property tax increases this year. Murray’s Mayor proposed a Tentative Budget with an increase in property taxes of 20%. As Rosalba Dominguez Budget Chair of the Budget Finance CommitDistrict 3 tee, I along with some other council members have been working hard to decrease financial burdens on you, the taxpayer. Depending on the approval of the Mayor’s Tentative Budget, the City Council’s vote would be to move forward with the proposed 20% or look for alternative solutions. As Murray Citizens, you still have time to be heard. I will hold a town hall meeting for District 3 and will invite our Mayor and Budget Director to talk about the city’s tentative budget in early July. Please sign up for my newsletter to be invited at https:// linktr.ee/RosalbaDominguez. By August, the City will hold a meeting called, “Truth in Taxation.” Per the Utah State Legislature, when implementing a Property Tax increase municipal governments are required to hold a public hearing to inform taxpayers of the increase prior to City Council’s final vote approving the final budget for the following year. As developers seek zone changes from the City Council this year, we are doing our best to ensure that we understand the potential impacts of these decisions and inform ourselves and the public of these votes. Please keep in contact with us as we seek to make changes to the MCCD code and learn of the survey results for Block 1 on 4800 S and State Street and others within the Murray City Downtown area.
As a family, we are transitioning back into the job market and inching our way back to where we used to be. I am beyond grateful for our community and the support we received as we navigated through jobs and the pandemic. I personally understand how it can feel like we failed ourselves and family to ask for help, but that’s why I believe it’s more important than ever as neighbors to look out for each other and connect. On March 8, The City Council approved an agreement with NeighborWorks for additional funding for down payment assistance as well as mortgage assistance for those who qualify. Please contact them directly at 801-539-1590 to see if you qualify. If you are needing additional assistance with bills please contact Murray City Utility Billing department at 801-264-2626 and/or you can call the HEAT program directly at 801-521-6107 to apply for assistance. Lastly, we have plenty of job openings within the city. Please consider giving back to Murray through volunteering or as a first time job, visit www.murray.utah.gov/jobs. Here is a list of some of the jobs available • Crossing Guard (Pay Rate: $15) • Custodian (Pay Rate: $12.50) • Lifeguards (Pay Rate: $12-$16) • Parks Laborer ((Pay Rate: $12) • Paramedic (Hiring Range: $25.47 - $32.49) • Court Security Officer (Hiring Range $17.38-26.36) Rosalba Dominguez District 3
Council District 1 Kat Martinez 385-743-8766
kat.martinez@murray.utah.gov Council District 2 Pam Cotter 801-541-8364
pcotter@murray.utah.gov Council District 3 Rosalba Dominguez 801-330-6232
rosalba.dominguez@murray.utah.gov Council District 4 Diane Turner 801-635-6382
diane.turner@murray.utah.gov Council District 5 Gerry Hrechkosy 385-800-1796
ghrechkosy@murray.utah.gov Executive Director Jennifer Kennedy Office: 801-264-2622
Murray Fire Department
For more information, please contact Battalion Chief Mike Dykman at 801-264-2762
Since the retirements of Chief Jon Harris and Assistant Chief Chad Pascua earlier this year, the Murray City Fire Department has been busy with hiring and promotions. In February, the Mayor and Council made the selection and appointment of Joseph Mittelman as the new Chief of Department. Congratulations Chief Mittelman! Chief Mittelman has been in the Fire service since 2000, has a Bachelor’s Degree in Emergency Services Management from UVSC [now UVU] and Masters Degree in Education from Utah State University. Just prior to becoming Chief, he was the Assistant Chief/Fire Marshal. As Chief, he is motivated and passionate about serving the citizens of Murray and building a culture where employees experience paramount levels of job satisfaction. Other subsequent promotions to our leadership are Stephen Olson as Operations Battalion Chief, Travis Bodtcher as Emergency Medical Services Chief, Nick Haskin as Logistics and Apparatus Chief, Jeff Puls as Fire Marshal and Steve Roberson as Deputy Fire Marshal. In the wake of administration changes, we have 3 new captains promoted as well: John Riley, Colby Atkinson, and Jake Christensen. We have the highest degree of confidence in all of our newly promoted officers and are excited to have them in these new positions. In addition to this, we have hired 3 new firefighters and are seeing them do good things as they begin their careers with Murray City. We are proud of the heritage and legacy established here in Murray City and contribute to making great strides for the future. We are grateful for our predecessors and mentors who taught us to exemplify excellence in our work. We look forward to our continued service to the residents and businesses of Murray City. The Fire and Emergency Medical Services of today are fast-paced and rapidly ad-
vancing with technology and growth. We Telephone Agenda Information strive to train with diligence to stay ahead of 801-264-2525 the curve with any change that comes our way. In a single shift, we may respond to traffic accidents, medical emergencies, perform CPR on someone in cardiac arrest, fight a house fire, help contain a brush fire, or help with a cat in a tree. No matter what comes our way, we are ready to serve! We coordinate efforts with our neighboring Fire and EMS agencies, to ensure the public can benefit from amazing emergency service. We lead a full-time staff of 62 firefighters, EMTs, and officers and are constantly scouting and recruiting to see that next generation of firefighter join our ranks. Even though many of our employees are alumni of Murray Schools and have deep roots in this area, we embrace diversity within our ranks. We have employees with diverse backgrounds, come from different cultures, and who are fluent in different language including Spanish, Portuguese, German, Japanese, Tagalog, Arabic, Turkish, and others. We have several who are veterans of the armed services, who have served our Country with honor at home and abroad. Our life experience and cultural competency helps us relate to everyone in our community and better serve in times of stress and need. Our mission is to provide fire protection, fire prevention and emergency medical services to the residential and business population of the city, with a well-trained staff in an organized and safe manner, at a minimal cost to the city, and to cooperate with other departments within the city. At the heart of what we do is the belief that a job well done is its own reward (Emerson).
jkennedy@murray.utah.gov
JUNE 2022 Murray Public Works CONSTRUCTION UPDATE — This spring, Murray City Public Works crews and its contractors have completed several projects. These include a new waterline on Commerce Drive from 4500 South to 4800 South; new storm drain and water line on 6240 South; and several roadway maintenance projects on Century Drive, Main Street, and 5600 South from 1300 East to Van Winkle. Murray Streets crews also reconstructed Maplewood and Ashwood Drives. The progress continues with upcoming utility projects include replacing waterlines on 370 East north of Winchester and on 5th Avenue east of Box Elder. The City’s summer road maintenance projects include full reconstructions and overlays. Roadway reconstruction of 6240 South, Belview Avenue, Afton Avenue, and Moon Ridge Drive are expected to be completed June through September. Mill and overlays on Fashion Boulevard from 6100 South to Winchester, and Commerce Drive from 4100 South to 4800 South and Vine to 5300 South are expected to be completed by late June/ early July. Vine Street from 1300 East to Van Winkle has been underway for several months now. This project will provide a new surface, sidewalks, bike lanes, and a center turn lane to encourage a safe and comfortable corridor for all users. New storm drain, water, and irrigation have been completed. Roadway reconstruction has been underway since May. It is expected to be completed in early July. For more details or comments, please contact info@murrayvinestreet.com or 855-663-6800. We appreciate your patience as we work to improve our public works services throughout the City. Several UDOT projects are on-going in Murray City. The State Street mill and overlay is underway and is replacing surfacing and making concrete repairs from Winchester to 3000 South contact the project team at 385-386-3806 for any questions. UDOT is also installing a signal at 4500 South and Atwood contact the project team at 385787-7182 for any questions. For additional info, contact Murray Public Works Department at 801-270-2440