March Garden City Council Meeting Report

Kathie B. Anderson, Reporter

Rich County Times 

GARDEN CITY, Utah- March 2013. Zan Murray, Garden City Town Engineer, reported that the meter project in Harbor Village and Cisco Landing is well below budget. It was suggested that Garden City purchase city meters, which would also be cost efficient.  

Riley Argyle, of the Garden City Public Works Department, reported that the Heritage Park Pond will need more bendinite since at least 10 feet was lost during the winter.  Zan Murray will conduct an evaporation test on the pond.  Home water meters and landscaping will be put on hold until the thaw begins. Two rebuild kits will be required to get the pumps going again. In about two weeks, the City will need to purchase parts. At the present time, equipment is down to the “bare bones”. Replacement parts will cost $11,000. This work needs to be done before the warranty expires. There have been several spring time leaks that must be repaired. Travis Argyle and Travis Hobbs attended the State Safety Conference.  A seasonal person to help beautify the town, clean the canals, etc. will likely be hired in April.  

George Peart, Rich County Building Inspector, attended the March Planning and Zoning Meeting and acknowledged that the committee had several legitimate concerns such as the sign ordinance, ingress and egress in Lochwood Subdivision, rental space in the Texaco gas station for Subway, and parking requirements. The kiosk public works project will allow city employees to build the kiosk without a contractor. Peart asked Garden City if any “transfer of rights transaction” has ever occurred. The answer was “no”.  

Andy Stokes, Code Enforcement Officer, reported that temporary signs will be allowed for businesses, thereby encouraging more businesses to stay open during the winter. Temporary directional signs will also be allowed for temporary events. The signage can be set up five days before the event, but must be taken down within five days after the event. A form on the city website must be filed out before a sign will be allowed.

Danny White, Garden City Administrator, reported on the decorative signs and solar lights. Weather permitting; installation of the solar lights will begin in April. The garden City banners for the lights have been designed and manufactured. The banner for Raspberry Days has been designed and Raspberry Days lettering is being made darker.  

The master plan for Heritage Park and the possibility of running irrigation lines and planting some turf this year are being looked into. Creating a designated parking area with compact road base is also under consideration. The kiosk is now in the final phase of design. A structural engineer at JUB Engineers is reviewing the kiosk plans to make sure the design is sufficient to support the loads to which it will be subjected. Mr. White is working with JUB to revise the city’s master plan to predict how many new buildings will be built by 2050, determine how many buildings could be built based on current zoning, and create a GIS layer for the Garden City Zoning Map. Data is being collected on existing parks and trails which will be analyzed to determine Garden City’s future needs. 

The Traveland RV Park located at 145 North 300 West is under the new ownership of Steve Knap.

A business license was discussed and approved by the Garden City Council. 

Ordinance #13-03 is an update of REQUIREMENTS FOR A SIGN PERMIT

Ordinance #13-04 is an update of SIGN DEFINITIONS 

Both of these Ordinances were discussed and approved. These new updates will be listed under the Garden City Website. 

Elections by mail were unanimously approved by the City Council. 

The Garden City Town Council proclaimed April, 2013 to be CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH,which will be implemented by actively promoting and improving public awareness; encouraging responsible intervention; and supporting the collaborative mission of Strengthening Families and Protecting Children.