By Mandy Ditto

A police sergeant and an officer were sworn in and the city council passed an ordinance to amend some parts of the city municipal code at the July 11 meeting.

Police Sergeant Steven Sanderson was sworn in, and was described as “the Taser guy,” a less-lethal SWAT member who has been promoted in the Murray City Police force. He has done field training for the city and worked in narcotics, said Chief Craig Burnett.  

“He’s done a lot with the department, we’re excited for him, he’s a good solid member for the police department, and I think this is a great opportunity for him, and we look forward to a lot of good things for him,” Burnett said. 

Police officer Brandon LaCagnina is a new officer out of the academy and is from Cedar City.

“We’re going to put him to work, he’s excited to be here and to be a part of Murray,” Burnett said. “This is a good department and good city to work for and a good city to work in, and I think he’ll find this is a good place for him.”

The council also passed an ordinance amending Titles 8, 9 and 10 of the Murray City Municipal Code relating to public health, public safety and welfare and vehicles and traffic. 

“This is part of our effort to update our code and make changes and to bring it up to date. We changed the noise control portion of the ordinance, which is essentially following the county ordinance, so we tailored it to meet the needs of the city,” said Frank Nakamura, the city attorney.  

There were minor changes made in regards to city smoking regulations, to update for the allowance and prohibition of vaping, he said. 

“One of the chapters we talked about in our Committee of the Whole, but recognize that Chapter 9.12 is actually pre-emptive by state law. State law covers this Products Harmful to Minors…we will refer to state law on that,” Nakamura said. 

There were also a few minor changes made in regards to parking at schools, and it was made clear in the code that the schools can manage each of their parking regulations, he said. Another change was made in regards to railroads, since the city is not solely in charge of those things.

“Essentially, most of it is technical, we’re just updating our ordinances,” Nakamura said. 

Some residents also came to continue voicing their concerns over the potential tearing down of the historical Murray First Ward building — now Mount Vernon Academy — on Vine Street, and development of a new senior living center. 

Murray City Council meetings are held every first and third Tuesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall in the City Council Chambers, or watched live at: murraycitylive.com.