Cisco Disco Winterfest

January 28, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

This annual event includes the CISCO DISCO, a favorite local tradition, and is the biggest winter event of the Bear Lake Valley. Activities for the whole family.

MONSTER CISCO DISCO- Dip net for Cisco fish on the east side of Bear Lake at dawn. Traditionally "Cisco Beach" is the best place to go. The reasonable State Park fee applies. You'll also need to have a Utah fishing license.

Monster Bait Tournament - Bring your BIGGEST little Cisco fish to the Utah State Park Marina before 2 p.m. to be entered in the contest. Great prizes for several age categories.

Monster Craft Fair - crafts, food, and raffle prizes.

Monster Chili Cook-off - Judges will determine who has the best chili. Great prizes will follow. Spectator taste-testing to take place after judging.

Monster Polar Plunge - "Go jump in a lake!" and help raise funds for the Common Ground Outdooa Adventure an organization based in Logan, UT. Costumes highly encouraged as there are prices for groups and individuals. $30 per jumper.

bearlakemonsterwinterfest.com

The History of the Cisco Disco Bryce Nielson

Annual event started small in the mid 1980’s. A good friend, Don Archer and I would get together to catch a limit of cisco each year. Since it was cold, Don would bring a Coleman stove to make a pot of coffee. People would stop by for a cup and wonder what we were going to do with the cisco. When we said, “eat them” many folks wondered what they tasted like so we shared.

Don started bringing a fry pan, flour and oil. When you cook cisco, eat them fresh. Usually, fishermen are so sick of cisco after cleaning a hundred, they put them in the freezer and forget about them. A couple of months later they thaw and cook them and wonder why they taste so fishy. After they tasted them, fresh, on the tailgate of the truck, they changed their minds.

As the years passed, the cooking of Bonneville cisco, fresh, grew. It really took off when Ralph Blotter and Andy Bolos became involved. As an organizer by nature, Ralph decided to take it to the next level and cook his world famous scones and have Andy provide the fresh cut fries from his restaurant in Ogden. He planned to feed everyone on the beach. The crowds exploded and there was always a big fire and lots of antifreeze and socialization.

My dear friend, Doug Miller, Utah Outdoors, showed up one year when it was well below zero. He noticed everyone standing around the fire in the normal, duck coverall dress jumping up and down, hands in their pockets, trying to stay warm. The only one sitting in a chair was Heber Stock, of original pioneer heritage, of Fish Haven. He was our oldest participant and was there every year until he passed away at 85. He could remember gill netting cisco under the ice as a boy filling buckets with fish on a sleigh pulled by a pony.  Doug wanted a parting shot with all the crazy fishermen including Heber so we all stood in a line dancing back and forth trying to keep warm at which point Doug dubbed the movement, the “Cisco Disco”. It has been a tradition ever since. People come and go and for the last few years Scott Tolentino, with lots of friends, have continued to host the Cisco Disco. It was great to see kids and adults, coming out in the cold, eating freshly caught cisco with tarter sauce, hot fries and scones, slathered in honey butter.   It was always free, with a tip jar to help buy supplies.

As the years passed, the volunteers grew and the word spread. Soon members of the local LDS Wards started to come in increased numbers. The Jessica Ward, a local gal, organized a polar plunge at the Bear Lake State Park Marina to raise money for charity. That event also grew and it was natural for them to combine forces. Both outings started to have hundreds of participants, so the Bear Lake Rendezvous Chamber of Commerce got on board, and publicized the “Cisco Disco” which brought more visitors to Bear Lake during January. Utah Parks and Recreation facilities were filled around the third Saturday in January, so they became more involved and didn’t charge Park entrance fees. It continues to grow and there are many other things going on during that time.

I am pleasantly surprised so see what happened over the last 30+ years. In the 1980’s, interest in cisco fishing had declined since the heydays in the 1960’s. Fishermen had always worried how it would affect the fish population, few fished with cisco as bait and it was too damned cold. Now, the crowds have returned. Not all of them fish for cisco, but many are dressed in crazy outfits it jump in the lake and always a ton of families and kids. It is still cold, but they don’t care.  It is all part of the annual Cisco Disco FUN.

Cisco’s Sonar

By Bryce Nielson, The Cisco Kid

Lots of snow in the Bear Lake Valley.  I received an email from the editor asking me if I would write something about the snowfall.  I guess she figured I had been here a long time (1974) and often brag about being an observer of our environment that I would have some enlightening comments.  There was only one problem.  As the snow started, I left Bear Lake for the Riviera Maya in Mexico for a week.  I heard about it but missed it laying on the beach.  I did arrive home to the aftermath however.

Weather is tricky business.  It is like fishing or anything else.  You remember the exceptional events but everything else rapidly fades into the fog.  I have seen many major snowfall events here but struggle to remember the specifics.  Drifting around in my mind is one snowstorm in years past that dumped about 5 feet.  I don’t remember what year or date it occurred but I do remember many buildings having their roofs collapse.  It may have been a result of the snow or a rain afterwards.  I do remember specifically a yellow equipment shed, directly south of Brian House’s home flattening, never to be rebuilt.  Other snowstorms had significant snow but the effect was magnified by heavy wind.  Those are the ones that close schools.

So you have moved to Bear Lake in the last 10 years.  You are now snowed in or out.  You soon learn what a Skidster is since it is the only thing, other than a big blower, that can deal with this amount of snow.  So what does the future hold?  The only thing that is accurate about weather is what happened the day before.  So I decided to use real data about where we are now compared to past years.  The NRCS maintains SNOTEL stations to measure precipitation.

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/water/snowsurvey/

  

Remember, this is a moment in time over years.  Lots of things can happen from here on but 2017 was almost as high as 2008.  Remember that?

Snow Becomes Dangerous

Photo by Rich County Sheriff

Short Term Rentals In Rich County

Kerri Hislop and Anita Weston,  reporters

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah.  January 4, 2017.  A follow-up on last month’s short term rental discussion was conducted.  George Peart and Kim Wilson will be responsible for handling the details concerning the short term rental ordinance.  They had some questions for Mr. Mitch Poulson and the Commissioners.

Peart asked that a better definition of the areas where short term rentals will be allowed in the County be written.  He also felt that some appointed body or group such as Planning and Zoning should be included in permitting or excluding short term rentals.  He said that some group that has a public agenda is needed so that the public will be aware of what is happening concerning short term rentals.  He noted that there are several HOA’s that have written in their rules that short term rentals are prohibited.  Other HOA’s are experiencing problems in their areas even when short term rentals are allowed.  He felt something needs to be done to take care of the problem areas by making some rules or stipulations before short term rentals are allowed.

Wilson noted several wording errors that make the ordinance difficult to understand.  She also noted that currently short term rentals in the County are being taxed as residential dwelling, but are businesses.

Snow Falls

Photo by Amber McKee

Photo by Hans Neissen

Olsen Letter To Garden City Residents

Anita Weston, reporter

Rich Civic Times 

The following letter was received by most of the Garden City residents.  It was sent by Phil and Connie Olsen.  Apparently they own a home in Shore Lodge Estates.  This is for your information in case you did not receive a copy of the letter:

Dear Garden City Resident,

Our names are Phil and Connie Olsen.  We’re your neighbors and we’re writing you today about an imminent threat to private property rights at Bear Lake due to actions now being taken by Mayor John Spuhler and the Garden City Council.

Like you, we love Bear Lake!  Our family legacy extends back more than 100 years.  Phil’s mother was born in Star Valley, Wyoming in 1913 and started coming to the lake in a horse-drawn buggy with her family when she was a small child.  After she graduated from Utah State University, she was a school teacher in Garden City in 1937 and 1938.

We’ve owned property in Shore Lodge Estates at Bear Lake since 1971.  The project consists of 29 individual lots that share common driveways among blocks of four or five lots.  It was developed as a private subdivision and it was approved by Rich County back in 1960, long before Garden City performed this function.  We built a cabin on our property in 1978.

In May of 2013, Garden City unlawfully, and without any warning, removed six gates from the driveways in Shore Lodge Estates and installed signs indicating that our driveways were available for general public access to the lake.  Our Homeowners Association objected and filed a lawsuit against Mayor Spuhler and Garden City.  On July 26, 2016, after a three-year long legal battle, Judge Thomas Willmore issued his ruling in which he confirmed the fact that our driveways are private property.  This is how he summarized his review of all the facts:

“A developer intending to indicate private streets within his development on the plat must either name them “private driveways” on the plat, or simply state that all land intended for public use is indicated on that plat and then fail to indicate any such land.  By all appearances, this developer has done the latter.  The use of the words “Streets” in the owners’ Dedication does not indicate any land for public use.  The Defendants have presented little else of relevance to support any other finding.  For a declaration to be effective, an owner must have a “clearly manifest intent” through either declarations or surrounding facts and circumstances.  Not only do the declarations and surroundings facts and circumstances fail to show a clearly manifest intent to dedicate, they appear to constitute evidence of intent not to dedicate.”

As a result of the judge’s ruling, Garden City was forced to return our gates and to abandon their claim on our driveways.  (We’re happy to send you a copy of the judge’s complete ruling or to provide you with additional information.  Please send a request to:  shorelodgehoa@gmail.com)

To the shock and dismay of the Shore Lodge Estates property owners, many of whom are elderly, Mayor Spuhler recently notified the HOA that the city now intends to seize maneuver which is intended to be used when private property is required to meet a “compelling public need.”  It is also intended to be used as a means of last resort when all other options have been exhausted, which is certainly not the case here.

A far better solution is to establish better planning policies going forward.  Some of this is now being done by the city as it requires new developments to provide public access points as part of the zoning and approval process.  This was done recently with the Water’s Edge development and the Legacy Beach Project.

The use of forward planning to secure public access points is a better solution for both the homeowners and the city.  Shore Lodge Estates, for example, was not planned with public access in mind.  Had the requirements for public access been in place, it would have been a simple matter for the developers to provide public access on the northern-most edge of the property.  That would have insured the privacy the homeowners’ desired and it would have provided the access that the public wants as well.

Forward planning reduces the costs to the city as well.  For example, the only cost to the city for the Legacy Beach Access will be the preparation of the public access lane.  Public access at the Water’s Edge project will be completed by the developer.

In attempting to seize our private driveways, the city has already spend over $100,000 in legal fees and, if the city decides to move ahead, it will have to spend significantly more money as they are required to pay market value for our driveways, pay the lawyers (potentially both the city attorney and the Shore Lodge Attorney), pay for studies and adjustments to US 30, as well as pay for environmental studies for all associated actions.  We believe that this money would be far better spent on improving the public accesses currently owned by the city and for securing long-term solutions without forcing homeowners to give up their private driveways.

We are asking for your help to encourage the Garden City town council to thoroughly consider the cost of taking their intended action to seize private property.  Instead, let’s encourage the city to spend our tax dollars on the improvements of public access points it already owns and to spend money on projects located closer to the center of town where more people can benefit.

We encourage you to let the mayor and the members of the city council know what you think.  We also encourage you to attend the upcoming City Council meeting scheduled for Thursday, January 12^th at 5:00 p.m. at the Garden City Office Property.

Sincerely,

Phil and Connie

Rich County Management Plan

Kerri Hislop and Anita Weston, reporters

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah.  January 4, 2017.  The State of Utah requested that each county in the state prepare a resource management plan. The plan was to include many areas and topics of interest to the State.

Mitch Poulson, the Director of Bear Lake Regional Commission, was asked by the Commissioners to write up this plan on behalf of Rich County. There is a deadline that needs to be met in submitting this plan to the State. Mr. Poulson was asked to report to the Commissioners how the plan was progressing and to see if they could help or assist in any way to move the plan forward.

Poulson presented a rough draft to the commissioners of a few of the areas that were requested to be included in the management plan. He submitted material concerning the following:

The current assessment of all natural resource issues was submitted.

County culture and history—how it is going to fit with Rich County

Management strategies are included that will affect the locals.

A weed section will be written. Greg Peart will assist in putting this section together.

Forrest management which includes firefighting cost, logging effects and so forth, will be included as well.

Water rights which include water shed, flood plains, and wet lands will also be summarized.

Wildlife resources, which include the role of predators, will be a separate section.

Tourism data will be added. Deanna Rothlisbeger will be assisting with this area.

Energy Resources, particularly looking into solar farms, will be considered.

Wilderness areas that support fish and wildlife will be included as well. The suggestion was made to check with the forest service for specific wilderness areas within the County.

A discussion was held to determine how much money should be spent on the report, what part of the budget will be affected by the report, and how that will work for the County.

It was determined that peer review would be needed as well as making sure all areas are covered. The state regional guide needs to be contacted in case he has suggestions for additional areas that needs to be included, or some that perhaps can be removed from the plan.

The plan needs to be comprehensive with plans included with each issue as well as enough detail and information to satisfy the state’s request.