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| Tammy Calder, of Garden City, being pulled over for speeding. Photo by Tammy Calder |
Thursday, April 25, 2013
FYI Watch Your Speedometer In Logan Canyon
The Muddled Male
By Bob Stevens
No Sir, Mr. Officer Sir
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| Bob Stevens The Muddled Male |
I remember as a young boy my mother
expressing concern about my spending too much time with Amos. I hung around him because he was fun. But my mother was concerned about the
influence he might have on my pre-teen brain since he was considerably older
than me, he smoked, he cussed, and he was always available to hang with since
he didn’t have a real job. My defense
position was that although he was fun to be around, I really wasn’t interested
in doing any of the things that worried her.
My mother’s response was short and, I now know, prophetic. “Bob,”
she said, “you will become the same as
those with whom you spend your time.”
Like every kid faced with a dire prediction from a concerned parent I
wailed, “You don’t trust me. I promise I’ll be good.”
I made it past my tendency to walk
on the wild side with Amos and didn’t end up in jail, but then Ann, my wife,
and I moved to Garden City where we met, became friends with, and often hung
with two of the fastest lady drivers I have ever encountered….and that leads me
to Wednesday when I found out that mom was right. I admit that I have been known to do a
slightly slower-speed emulation of our two high speed lady friends. There is something exhilarating about feeling
yourself being pressed back into your seat by acceleration. On Wednesday, however, we were just running a
little late and I was making up a little time on a straight stretch when
I noticed that the car coming toward us appeared to be paying special attention
to my car. I just assumed that the
driver of the other car was coveting the smooth manner in which my car was being
handled.
But then I noticed in my rear view
mirror that the other car had slowed down to make a U-turn, followed quickly by
flashing lights and me being pulled over.
Have you noticed how quickly a guilty conscience can react in an
emergency? I began decelerating as soon
as I felt tinge of suspicion about the approaching car, but it was way too
late. Radar, it turns out, is faster
than my conscience. When the Officer
brought back my license, my registration, my proof of insurance, and the
Citation for me to sign he asked if I had any questions. I said, “No
sir, Mr Officer Sir, my questions were all answered when you made a U-turn and
turned on your flashing lights.” I tried to blame it onto my association
with our two high-speed lady friends, but Ann said that I had no one to blame
but myself. Besides, she reminded me,
the high speed ladies are cute and I am not and so no one is going to believe me…..not
even her, Ann my wife.
All in all I learned that moms are
always right, and the lesson is only going to cost me $165. There is a positive thing that came out of
all this. They let the guilty party pay
bail on line, and I have always loved technology.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Something All Rich County Governmental Boards Should Understand...But Some Do Not.
Anita Weston, Reporter
Rich Civic Times
GARDEN CITY, Utah. April 2013. The reason for the special
training meeting was to provide mandatory Open and Public Meeting Training to
Garden City Public Bodies and included the individuals on the Town Council, the
Planning Commission, and the Board of Adjustments.
A meeting is a coming
together of persons or things. It is an
assembly; a gathering of people, held especially to discuss or decide on
matters. If a public meeting is to be
held, notice of the time and place should be made known to those who may
involved or have an interest in the meeting’s agenda. The meeting should be recorded, and the
minutes written. The recording must be
kept for at least one year, and the minutes are to be kept forever. A quorum needs to be present in order to make
decisions that affect the entire group.
All meetings should be
open. In other words, anyone who would
like to attend should be allowed to do so.
There are only a few special circumstances when the meeting can be
closed. The following exceptions to the
open meeting law are: if there is a matter of security, if the character of an
individual is discussed, if a purchase or sale of property is pending, or if
there is a matter of litigation to be discussed.
If a closed meeting needs to
be held, a quorum must be present and there should be a vote of two-thirds of
those in charge to decide if the closed meeting is necessary. The date, time, place, and why the meeting is
being closed needs to be announced prior to the closure of the current meeting.
Motions or final decisions
cannot be made in the closed meeting.
Final decisions and/or ideas that have been discussed in the closed
meeting should eventually be brought up in the open meeting so everyone knows
what action has or will be taken.
So Much Happening In Garden City
Anita Weston, Reporter
Rich Civic Times
GARDEN CITY, Utah. April
2013. Danny White, Garden City
Administrator, reported on the projects that he has been working on. He noted that the Raspberry Days banner that
will be hung on the new decorative lights has been changed. He passed a picture around to show the
Council and audience what the new banner will look like. A general banner has already been made that
will be placed on the lights as soon as they are in place. Cody Gomez has made some adaptations on the
new lights to make sure they meet all State requirements.
A design for Heritage Park
has been drawn. The parking area has
been added. An attempt has been made to
get a balance in the amount of parking between normal usage times and when
special activities are held there and the crowd will be much larger. A large open space is being reserved and
actually gives the City one-and-a-half times more space for booths or
activities than is available in the Park on Bear Lake Blvd. Electrical needs have been considered and
included.
Signage for the fish pond is
needed currently. Individuals at the
meeting noted that often people stop and ask for directions to the fish
pond. They know it exists, they just don’t
know how to get to it.
There will need to be between seven and ten culverts along Third West. These need to be in place before the road can be smoothed and allow people access to Heritage Park from the north.
Mr. White reported that he
was able to get the details for Third West from Sunrise Engineering. He has also been working on an update of the
City’s General Plan and the Parks and Trails Plan. Both of these plans should be ready by the
end of the month. He is also involved in
any land use changes. He needs more
information from individuals who have lived here for a long time for some input
and suggested that The Rich Civic Times may be a good way to share ideas and
offer suggestions on any of these items.
White thanked the employees
of Garden City for being so helpful when the lady from OSHA was here. He noted that she had been treated well, and
she had expressed her appreciation for how well she had been received here. Apparently that doesn’t happen all the time.
There are going to be some
updates to AT&T’s Cell Tower. This
item will appear on the P&Z agenda in the near future. They want to add a backup generator in the
existing building. They will, of course,
follow all EPA standards and ordinance.
Time sheets for employees
need to be in at 10 a.m. on Tuesday of pay week. IRS reports have to go in quarterly. If the time sheets aren’t in by that time,
the employee will have to wait until the next pay period. This had to be done because currently reports
have had to be sent in late. To help
with this situation, Mr. White has an electronic time sheet on the City web
site. It will be easy to fill it out. It can be sent to city administration. This should make it easier to meet the
necessary deadline.
Mr. White was able to talk
with the owner of Renegade Raceway concerning the concrete towers on his
property. The owner said he was going to
cover them with rock work and add a capstone.
That work should be completed in June.
He also needs to do the required landscaping on his property. He indicated that he would do his best, but
that his partner had pulled out; and it was difficult to get everything
done.
The members of the Council
noted that they needed to see progress being made. They asked if Mr. White would try and set up
a time line for him. If the items are
not completed fairly soon, he will be getting a letter noting that his business
license will not be renewed. The State
of Utah allows $750 a day penalty for every day a business operates without a
license. It was noted that he has been
putting junk on another person’s property which is also against the law.
Bathroom facilities were part
of the original plan and also need to be completed in order to fulfill the
owner’s contract with the City.
Training of employees as well
as members of the various City Boards needs to be carried out. OSHA requires training in several areas. Later tonight, how staff reporting issues can
be handled properly and a review of the handbook with employees will be
reviewed. Additional handbooks need to
be printed so newcomers can be given a handbook so they will have that
information.
More New Buildings In Garden City
Anita Weston
Rich Civic Times
GARDEN CITY, Utah. April 2013.
George Peart, the Building Inspector, reported that a building permit
had been issued to Mr. Ward to build a home on First West just south of Mark
and Kathy Stringham’s home on the same side of the road. It is the corner lot there. Ward didn’t want to connect to the City’s
water system, and indicated he would like to drill a well. Peart had him sign an addendum on the
building permit noting that if the well didn’t work out, he would have to
connect to the City’s water. Peart
recommended that the City get an ordinance that requires individuals to connect
to the City’s water system.
A home is being built out at
Gus Rich’s point. Two more homes are
going into Lockwood, and there are a couple of garages also being built. A commercial permit has been issued to
remodel the lighthouse at Harbor Village.
There are some changes that are needed with both the water and
electricity because currently the lighthouse shares meters with ten
individually owned condos. The parking
lot belongs to the lighthouse. Nate
Parry reported that the lot will be blocked off to the public because it will
be needed by the individuals who will be staying at the lighthouse.
There are several short term
rentals that are waiting for fire inspections.
Fire Chief Dan Kurek has been asked by the fireboard to wait on these
inspections until the fireboard could talk with their attorney. There is a meeting Monday night to take care
of this matter.
At the Public Hearing just
prior to this meeting, it was noted that there are several lake entrances owned
by the City that have been closed for several years. Peart
reported that the County opened two lake entrances last summer. It has worked well, but these entrances need
some signage so that the public is aware of these access points to the lake.
Peart also noted that there
are code changes. Updates are made every
three years, and the 2012 update is now available and the current book to
use. All contractors have been invited
to the Bear Lake Home Builders Association to be updated on the changes that
have been made to the Code.
Garden City Engineer's Projects
Anita Weston, Reporter
Rich Civic Times
GARDEN CITY, Utah. April 2013.
Zan Murray, engineer from JUB, reported on the water plan. He obtained the original water model from
Sunrise Engineering and has gotten all water meter data that is available. He has tied the water data to land
parcels. He is getting a map ready and
putting a water model together. When the
model is ready, “what if” questions can be asked. They will be able to see how pipe sizes affect
the system, how the water hooks into the different water tanks, and how a well
by the fish pond in Heritage Park will effect things. When he gets all of the different items fit
into the model, then the model will be run making various changes to see the
most efficient combinations that will be possible for the City.
Murray was asked to
follow through on a change of use application that was started last fall to
handle the water used in the fish pond.
The water used there should be changed to recreational use or municipal
use, whatever is the most appropriate.
The five new commercial water
meters need to be installed. Bids for
the project will be opened on Monday. It
will be done on the web and seems to be an especially good system. It appears that several companies are
interested in this project.
Murray is working with Danny
White, the City Administrator, to get the best area for parking at Heritage
Park. The possibility of getting some
type of access on 300 West into the park prior to the road going in is being
examined.
Danny White noted that the
new lights will be put in place as soon as possible. The Kiosk will be also put
in place to provide information for locals as well as tourists. It should be a great help to local
businesses. It will be placed just north
of the LDS Church in the City’s parking
lot and will be highly visible. It will
allow anyone who desires to put information there, and will become one of the
best ways for businesses to advertise and let people know what they do and
where they are located. Events and
activities will also be posted there.
An application to drill a
well in the City is being completed. The
well will be part of the City’s overall water system. An ordinance needs to be written to take care
of the maintenance of the well. Also,
there are some small issues with the water treatment plant.
Water from the canal will not
become available until May 1. That is as
soon as water is allowed into the canal.
Everything at the pond needs to be ready by then so that water can be
put into the pond and the fish added.
There is a canal meeting on the coming Saturday. The Army Corp. of Engineers will be in town
tomorrow, Friday, at 10 a.m. Those on
the Board involved with the water issues and roads should attend that meeting
if possible.
Public Works Improvements For Spring
Anita Weston, Reporter
Rich Civic Times
GARDEN CITY, Utah. April 2013. Riley Argyle, Supervisor of
the Public Works Department, reported that the water line repair at Lakota will
be pushed back until fall. Because of
the additional snow and cold weather this spring, it is going to be too late to
make the changes needed there until later in the year.
The new street lights will be
put up as soon as possible. All of the
needed changes and additions to the lights have been made. The location of the lights has also been
determined.
The gun range plans are
moving forward. It has been referred to
as the Bear Lake Gun Range. Perhaps that
is the best name for it because the City is partnering with the County on the
project..
There are at least four
companies that are definitely interested in bidding on the water meter
project. Hopefully this project will be
completed before Memorial Day. Some
meters are in confined spaces and require more time and extra work. Minutes were taken at the pre bid
meeting. The confined space requirements
are an addendum to the bid to make sure that everything meets OSHA
requirements.
There are still two meters in
Idaho that need to be installed. There
have also been two meters that have gone bad after only six months of use. Kits have been ordered to repair the meters,
and steps have been take to determine the reason for the meter problem.
The mapping on the GIS System
is going really well. Over 100 valve
locations have been put into the system.
It is very impressive to see how it is working and how helpful it is
going to be.
Heritage Park plans are also
in the conceptual state. The parking lot
location is of particular interest. The
Army Corp. of Engineers will be looking at the pond tomorrow at 10 a.m. and
will also check on the First West road coming into the park on the East
side. The City needs to get a few more
loads of bentonite since there is still some areas where the pond is
leaking. Argyle is currently looking
into the price of bentonite.
Bark is going to be spread
around some of the areas at the water treatment plant. There are some small issues at the
plant. If the electricity flickers, the
computers sense this and kick in the generators and treat it like a full
outage. That requires individuals to go to the plant and get things back on
line. There have also been some chlorine
problem, but things seem to be working fine now.
An OSHA representative has
been in Garden City doing an audit to make sure the City is in compliance with
all OSHA requirements. A list of changes
and requirements has been left for the City to take care of to make sure they
are up-to-date. Argyle indicated that the department will be working
on this list as quickly and often as possible to make sure everything is
current and acceptable to OSHA. Argyle
asked that the Council increase the safety budget because there are some pieces
of equipment and procedures that need to be put in place in order to become
compliant. Right now, at least $6,000 is
needed to bring some items into line.
A seasonal job listing has
been posted. The individual from last
year did a good job and will be working again this year. A second person, however, will be needed.
The bike path is going
well. Signs need to be painted on the
path indicating that no motorized vehicles are allowed on the path. Also some additional signs need to be placed
on the bike path for safety items.
Currently individuals in the
City pay $35 a month for 15,000 gallons of water. The water impact fees are not high enough and
penalties for not paying for water are not as high as in other
communities. It was noted that members
of the community will probably have to be charged a higher price–perhaps $45 -
$50 a month for water in the near future depending on the results of the
current water study that is being done.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Cisco Sonar
By Bryce Nielson
.jpg) |
| Bryce Nielson |
Well, it is finally gone.
I am sure you are sick and tired of me talking about ice on Bear Lake,
but bear (no pun) with me. The ice left
in the midst of a rainstorm, followed by a huge dump of spring snow. It was wrapped up with a windstorm. As I had said previously, here today, gone
tomorrow. Ice did stack in some
areas. Of particular interest to me was
Gus Rich Point.
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| Photo by Bryce Nielson |
Gus Rich was a colorful individual whom I met shortly after
arriving at Bear Lake in 1974. He was an
old guy then with his own chair in "Pulleys" Bear Lake Motor Lodge
which we all frequented for morning coffee.
Now I am not claiming these facts are accurate, just stories I have
heard. He had the first Ideal Beach
which was on the point between Garden City and Laketown. In the old days he owned a bar with plenty of
partying, gambling and even stories of a sunken boat with gold aboard. I don't recall when Gus passed away but it
wasn't long after I came here.
The reason I bring this up is because years ago the ice came
off and ran a ground at Gus Rich Point.
It took the front out of the old Bar and completely filled it with
chunks if ice. It almost happened again
this year. The ice stacked up close but
didn't do any damage. History usually
repeats itself or the lake just doesn't like buildings close to shore on Gus
Rich Point.
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