Appeals Board

Chris Coray, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah. December 12, 2013.  The newly appointed Appeals Board of Garden City heard an appeal from Water’s Edge developer Norm Mecham on Dec. 12, 2013.  The Appeals Board consists of Jim DeGroot, Howard Pope, and Skip Duffin.  The appeal was very narrow in its scope and the meeting brief.  The question asked by Mr. Mecham was whether the Planning and Zoning Commission had the power to make recommendations on a development that were in any respect different from existing ordinances.  The Appeals Board, in a unanimous vote, agreed that the P&Z had the authority to make such recommendations to the town council.  

Winter Wimps! Revenge

Photo by Donna Severensen

These pictures are of a street in front of my house in Ivins down in Dixie. Coldest temps and the most snow in 70 years. And for this we moved south?

Sunny and hardly any snow here in Bear Lake at the same time.. heh heh! 

The Muddled Male

By Bob Stevens, The Muddled Male

Starvation

         My father was seven years older than my mother.  They met when she was eighteen, and married when she was nineteen and a senior in high school.  It was 1934, and knowing what people would assume, they slipped away from family and friends to get married privately in Pocatello.  My dad gave the Justice of the Peace an extra five dollars to keep the marriage secret because my mother wanted to finish High School and knew that she might not be allowed to do so if the word got around that she was married.  When the two of them arrived back in Ogden they found that in spite of dad’s five dollar bribe, the facts of their marriage had already appeared in the local newspaper.  It wasn’t long before word got back to the School Board who immediately made the obvious assumption and ruled that my mother would have to leave school.  Knowing that the Board was wrong, and hoping that they would listen to reason, she asked for a formal hearing.  There she stood, a shy teenage girl trying to convince a bunch of old men that their decision had been both wrong and unfair.  Somehow they were convinced and agreed to let her finish her senior year.  I tell you all this to prepare you for my arrival one year later. 

         My mother, still a young girl but now a High School graduate, was preparing to have her first baby.  And she was doing so with no previous experience at mothering.  She came from a broken home with her only siblings being two younger brothers who were tough as Hobnails and always into mischief.  Not only did her brothers feel that they did not need mothering by an older sister, they were dead set against it because being chaperoned might restrict their opportunity to get into trouble.

 

          And so my mother found herself with a brand new baby, me, but without any idea as to what mothers did.  There was no Similac or baby formula in those days.  There were two choices, cow’s milk or mother’s milk.  They didn’t have a cow, and they couldn’t afford baby bottles for feeding, so they chose mother’s milk.  As I grew and began to need solid food the challenge to feed me escalated because I suddenly began to crave French fries even though I had never seen one, tasted one, or even knew that they existed.  Beyond French fries and mother’s milk I was excessively picky with an innate distrust of cooked beets and pureed liver.  Several months later, after she and my dad scraped together enough money to take me to a doctor for a checkup, she was embarrassed to find that I was malnourished.  I tell you this to prepare you for my adulthood several years later 

            I was a cautious Engineer even as a youngster and so to make certain that I never embarrassed my mother again by being malnourished I strived to be over-nourished.  My diet included plenty of my favorite elixir of life, French fries, along with hamburgers, milkshakes, and more than enough sweets to make certain that my diet was well rounded.  I became so nourished that before long I was carrying 200 pounds on a 5’-8” frame.  That is the point at which Ann, my wife, became Ann, my mother.  At first it was the simple things she restricted like cutting back on French fries and milkshakes.  Then she began to read labels and, like my friend the Un-muddled Mathematician who collects numbers, she never saw a calorie that she didn’t count.  Then her focus shifted to things like my favorite pudding and diet pop whose contents include hard to pronounce words like Aspartame, Tetrapotassium Pyrophosphate, and Phenylketonurics.  “The evil deeds of conspiring men,” she called them.  My use of multiple cans of diet pop for hydration bit the dust because it contains Phosphoric and Malic acids which are bad for my teeth, she claims.  Drink water instead of pop, she always tells me.  It is natural and is much better for hydrating your body for a proper fluid balance than is diet pop. 

Now she has a vendetta against Hydrogenation.  Saturated Fats are bad enough by themselves, she tells me over and over, but Hydrogenation also turns saturated fats into trans-fats, which are bad for anyone’s diet.  Now I am afraid to tell her that water (H₂O) is just hydrogenated Oxygen for fear that my diet will be down to one slice of low calorie, sugar free, gluten free, one hundred percent whole wheat bread with a small glass of water.  Without the water.

 

 

Deer In Elvira's Yard

Photo by Elvira Luzack

Water's Edge & Parks And Trails Master Plan Recommendations

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times 

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  December 4, 2013.  Kathy Hislop, the City Clerk, reported to the Planning and Zoning Board that an Appeals Board has been created.  The City has never had such a committee in the past.  The first meeting of the Appeals Board was December 4, 2013, Wednesday morning, at 9 a.m. in the City Offices.  She wanted the members of the Planning and Zoning Committee to know that they are a body that makes recommendations to the City Council except for conditional use permits.  They are solely responsible for conditional use permits.  

When individuals fell they need another opportunity to develop property and have been turned down by Planning and Zoning, they can go to the Variance Committee (sometimes called the Board of Adjustments) asking for an exception to the City ordinances.  They can then continue to the City
Council.  Again, if they feel they need another opportunity, they can go to the Board of
Appeals and on to District Court. 

Norm Mecham asked for approval on his Water’s Edge Development plan.  It is a preliminary plan to develop property at 50 South Bear Lake Blvd.   There was an issue with the number of parking spaces.  Several plans have been submitted.  The one that appeared to be the most aesthetically pleasing and safest doesn’t meet the parking requirement of the city ordinance.  After much discussion, the committee decided to use the present plan. 

The Planning and Zoning members walked through almost every item on the plans.  They discussed open space, they asked about what was public and what was private land, and they questioned the studies that are required such as traffic numbers, traffic flows, water usage estimates, and the Army Corps of Engineers for wet land permission.  They noted that an easement for public access to the lake will be needed.   

Building height was also a problem.  However, it was said that this item was not something that Planning and Zoning had the authority to negotiate.  Planning and Zoning members felt they needed to follow the city ordinances and finally gave approval to the Development plan with the stipulation that building height ordinances be followed.  In the commercial area, the buildings can be up to 35 feet high, and in the beach area height can be up to 25 feet. 

Danny White, the City Administrator, asked members of Planning and Zoning to give some suggestions of things they would like to see concerning the Parks and Trails Five-Year Master Plan.   Heritage Park needs a lot of work.  It needs to be landscaped around the pond and parking areas.  The irrigation system for the park needs to be installed.  Play ground equipment needs to be purchased and put in place.  Disability access and making handicapped compliant needs to be kept in mind as these items are constructed.  Perhaps a soccer and softball field could be fit into the park as well. 

It was suggested that a lift for the pool be purchased and put in place to give handicapped access there.

Beach access and parking will continue to be a high priority.  It appears that the State has set aside about $100,000 to help with this goal.  This amount, however, needs to be voted upon by the State Legislature.

A bike trail through Buttercup and along Paradise Parkway would be great.  It was noted that developing trails along the banks of the canals would make wonderful walking opportunities.  A walking trail around Heritage Park would also be nice.  The City Park needs more parking.  The parking along the south side of the park needs to be widened and more parking is going to be added on the east side of the park.  With the widening of the parking on the south, new restrooms will also be needed. 

White asked that as members come up with more suggestions and ideas, that they get them to him.  He is working on the plan and would appreciate the committees’ help.

Winter Inspiration

Photo by Lauriann Wakefield.

Rich County Sheriff's November Report

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times 

RANDOLPH, Utah.  November 2013.  There were 79 incidents reported during the month of November.  There were nine citizen assists.  There were eight civil process and eight animal problems.  There were seven medical emergencies.  There were five traffic accidents with damage and four each of the following:  impounded vehicles, suspicious people/circumstances, and VIN serial Number inspections.  There were three alarms, and three traffic hazards.  There were two each of the following:  agency assistance, citizen disputes, controlled substance problems, juvenile problems, vandalism, and welfare checks.  There was one each of the following:   an animal noise, an attempt to locate; a burglary; a death; a domestic disturbance; a fraud; a lockout; lost property; property damage, not vandalism; a theft; a trespass; and a weapon offense. 

There was one impounded vehicle incident at an unknown location.  There were 39 incidents in Garden City.  There were four each of the following:  civil processes, medical emergencies, and VIN serial number inspections.  There were three each of the following:  animal problems, citizen assists, and suspicious persons and/or circumstances,   There were two each of the following:  agency assists, alarms, citizen disputes, traffic accidents with damage, traffic hazards, and vandalism.  There was one each of the following:  an attempt to locate, a burglary, lost property, a trespass, a weapon offense, and a welfare check.

There were nine incidents in Laketown.   There were three impounded vehicles, two citizen assists and one each of the following:  a controlled substance problem, a juvenile problem, a suspicious person/circumstance, and a theft.

There were 22 incidents in Randolph.  There were three civil processes and three traffic accidents with damage.  There were two animal problems, two citizen assists, and two medical emergencies,  There was once each of the following;  an alarm, an animal noise, a death, a domestic dispute, a controlled substance problem, a fraud, a juvenile problem, property damage—not vandalism, a traffic hazard, and a welfare check. 

There were eight incidents in Woodruff.  There were three animal problems, two citizen assists, and one civil process, one lockout, and one medical emergency. 

 

There were 16 traffic citations and 16 traffic violations. Nine of these were in Garden City, two in Laketown, three in Randolph, and two in Woodruff.   Fourteen incidents were speeding, one was a right of way stop/yield sign, and one was intoxication.   

Garden City received one warning and two violations as shown in the traffic warning report.  Randolph had one warning and one violation.  Woodruff had one warning and two violations.  Of these incidents, one was an expired registration, one was no proof of insurance, and three were speeding.

 

Digital drawing by Savannah Lamping

 

Scott Tolentino, fisheries biologist at the DWR, said in a recent talk that Bear Lake is over 100,000 years old. I like to think that a magical monster like this still lives in the ancient turquoise blue water and occasionally appears to people who believe in magic.