Rulon Crosby Requests Subdivision Road

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah. January 6, 2016. Rulon Crosby was in attendance at the Garden City Planning meeting.  He had not made arrangements to be on the agenda.  He was at last month’s Planning Meeting and was asked to bring a plat with everything he is planning to do carefully laid out with all dimensions and so forth so that the Commission could make informed decisions.  He had also been given a list of many items that needed to be addressed and resolved prior to being given permission to move forward with his subdivision.  Lance Bourne, Planning Commission Chair, felt that since he was at the meeting and wanted to present his plan, he should at least be given the courtesy of being allowed to speak to the group.

However, when  Crosby started out by telling the Commission what the set backs should be on the property that he owns, Bourne requested that he present his plat.  Crosby noted that he was there to make sure that the Commission understood that there was enough distance between the twin homes that he owns.  He said there was enough room for the set backs for each building as well as room for the road to go between them for ingress/egress into his subdivision.  He had a letter from his attorney that told the Commission that the distance between the two homes was ample. 

Bourne noted that the Commission was unable to make any decisions or accept the attorney’s letter.  The Commission must follow the procedures that are in place.  He requested that  Crosby follow the ordinances and procedures that have been put in place in order to get permission to create his subdivision.  He was also asked to get his paperwork into the Commission two weeks prior to the next Planning Meeting in order for the Commission members have an opportunity to look over the plans and make sure that all requirements have been met.  Then, when the next meeting is held, decisions and suggestions can be made.

Rich County Commission Notes

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah.  January 6, 2016.  Justin Dolling, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, gave Rich County the DWR PILT payment for 2015.  There are 2300 acres of land under federal control, the  Payment in Lieu of Taxes is about 50 cents an acre which is paid from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses. 

DWR would like to help with county plans.  They will share the information and data sets they have collected.  They will send the data electronically first. 

Dolling said that there is a coyote predator program, and lion tags are being given out. Bears are doing well, and need to have the population reduced.  There may be a bear hunt.  There have been wolf sightings and one wolf trapped and killed has been sent for analysis for DNA.

The Commissioners approved the inter-local agreement between Garden City, State Parks and the County for the Gun Range proposal.

Gary Bagley and Richard Wilcox, School Institutional Trust Land Administration, discussed the county’s communication site. All  communication lease sites during the last 5 or 6 years have been routinely looked at.  When they put the towers they followed the legal description in 1984, but the survey was wrong so some of the county towers are not on county land but on state land.  There is no provision to buy property non competitively now. 

Bagley said that the easiest way to solve this is to lease the land from the state.  He suggested a 20 year lease short term right of entry permit.  The lease could cover both sites. They need to resurvey. 

Tom Weston suggested moving the buildings to county land. But the translator needs to be on the edge for good reception so the towers need to stay where they are.

Still Not Cold Enough To Freeze The Lake

Photo by Bear Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau

Garden City Planning Commission

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah. December 6, 2016. At the beginning of the New Year, a new chairman and vice chairman were selected by the Commission.  Lance Bourne was asked to continue as chairman and Susan House was selected to continue as vice chairman.

Jake Weeks, the owner of Jake’s Place, appeared before the Commission.  He requested approval of architectural standards and plans for remodeling his business.  He has been working with the commercial building inspector and the fire chief to make sure he is following all of their requirements.  He is making a deck on the east side of his restaurant.  It will have an opening on the north with a railing of wood slats around the deck.  He is going to build a drive-through with an ingress/egress from the north off Highway 89.  The Commission approved the deck and other changes except for the ingress/egress area.  That matter will need to be taken to UDOT since that corner is such a busy area during the summer months.

Bob Peterson asked for approval on an ordinance updating the commercial zone and an ordinance updating the residential estates/agricultural zone.   It was noted that both of these ordinances allow certain types of businesses and that the list of those types of businesses needed to be changed.  Peterson indicated that he will bring the updated ordinances before the Commission at the next meeting if his suggestions are approved.  The Council approved his suggestions.

It was noted that there are a couple of subdivisions currently being considered.  The developers have property that is on both sides of the highway.  Even though the road goes through the middle, both parts of the property can be considered part of the same project.

Several people in town have noted that there are no designated wet lands within Garden City.   Mayor Spuhler said that there are wet lands within the City.  Whenever there is a question about whether an area is a wet land or not, it should be turned over to the Army Corp. of Engineers, and not be left to individuals to make such determinations.

It was noted that there were 52 building permits issued in Garden City this past year.  Several homes are currently being built, even though it is winter.  Contractors are glad to have work and are moving forward.

There are 400 acres of school trust lands above Garden City. These acres could be developed.  They have come up with four different conceptual plans.  The property is divided by the highway.  They have come up with what is known as a nature side where there would be trails, a ski area, and walking paths.  The other area would contain cluster homes.  The City will be involved in helping develop the nature side and will be given permanent easements to continue the development and usage of these areas.

Sewer To New Development On East Side Considered

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah.  January 6, 2016.  Mark Stringham and DeWayne Gifford, Bear Lake Special Services District, told County Commissioners that the district is considering extending the sewer 3 1/2 miles on the east side of the lake for a subdivision.  The state wanted to get involved with a feasibility study on putting the sewer to the new properties.  The new properties need to be annexed into the district in order to have sewer service. 

The annexation process is two step process.  First, there needs to be a public hearing. There are some residents who do not want to be annexed, and it takes 51% of the taxable land owners to agree to the annexation.  Those who already have septic tanks do not want to pay the additional costs, but the developer of the lots would like to be linked to the sewer as would the Boy Scout Camp.

The cost for Eden to hook on would cost a little over $50 a month with an additional $1,000 to hook on.  Property owners would be required to remove or take offline septic tanks.  Any new construction would be required to be connected. 

The state and county want a sewer system to protect the lake.  Development can be stopped by the existing residents who want to keep their septic tanks.  The developer, Sid Winters, is considering a conservation  district with a smaller development footprint if he could use septic tanks instead of sewer.  He also asked if he could drill wells.   He thinks that he could get a conservation development grant if he had a smaller footprint which would make the project feasible. They will go ahead with the public hearing.  

All West Telecommunications Update

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah. January 6, 2016.  Jack Walkenhorst, All West Telecom representative, gave an update to the Rich County Commission.  The sports channel has been dropped because  the content providers increased prices. A survey was taken and only 20% are willing to pay an increase of $8 per month for that service.  All West asked the providers to allow them to put the sports channels on the expanded tier but they would not allow them to do that. However they are still working with the provider. 

Walkenhorst said, “Our margins are small to cover cost of programming and equipment. They provide telephone, broadband and TV for the northern part of the county.

Over the past 5 years $1.5 million has been invested in 90 miles of fiber optic along SR15 from Woodruff to Cokeville and Deseret Livestock.  There are 200 locations that have fiber directly to the site including the schools, Bridgerland and other large users.  Even so, there are some remote areas that cannot be provided services.

Silver star communications has a site on the Crawford Mountains. That could be an option for remote areas.    All of Randolph has fiber to the homes but they need to upgrade Woodruff.  Walkenhorst said that All West wants to get everyone upgraded to fiber and upgrade the whole system. They work with UDOT when build outs happen to cut costs. 

All West supports local sports and gives scholarships.  They see broadband services as their future rather than phone service as many are going to cell phones.

This is our new look for 2016!

We'll  be back next week

Happy New Year

Bear Lake Visitors and Convention Bureau Photo