GARDEN CITY, Utah. June 12. The Garden City Council discussed ordinance changes. There is now a requirement of a cash deposit of
125% of the value of the infrastructure rather than a developer giving a bond If the infrastructure is not completed, then
the cash is used to finish the project or the developer can give the city 150%
for the build out of that phase.
There was also a discussion on business licenses, if a
business is on a transient business license , it costs $1500 for the whole
summer which is much cheaper than other resort places said Mayor John Spuhler. Councilman
Bruce Warner thinks it keeps businesses out of the area. But others on the council said it protects
existing business from people who come at peak times and take away tax paying
businesses.
Council man Warner said that “the city gets a lot of grants which
make our finances look good, as if we have a lot of revenue.” He asked “how are we doing in our other
spending especially with water?” Spuhler said that now with the new rates the
city is now paying for water .
Warner asked, “do we have a general fund reserve for
anything or an emergency that comes up?”
Spuhler said there are some dedicated accounts like resort tax which
have funds, above the general fund. Warner
asked if there was any unused excess.
Councilwoman Bess Huefner said that the city is saving for 300 West. Huefner said that cities are allowed a certain amount of excess by law. The resort tax is creating a lot of revenue
for parks, library and pool. Warner suggested that the resort funding be used for transportation costs rather than another
tax.
Huefner said that the city need a new lawn mower and the city
should be budgeting for it. There are large park mowers that could be obtained
for $10,000 each and should be put in the budget.
Spuhler said that it could be put in next year’s
budget. “I’d rather spend money on one
14 passenger bus to try it out this summer.
They will need to budget $20,000 for an ADA compliant bus, a driver and trailer
to pull beach toys. It will be wrapped
to protect the paint with the logo “Where Families Come to Play”. The money will come out of the tourism and recreation
budget so it will not come out of the general fund.
State Lands is receptive to Garden City making a plan to
improve the beaches to remove the phragmites and other noxious weeds if the
city plans for wildlife preservation.
They will then allow mowing of invasive species and they will even do it
themselves right away. “But,” said
Spuhler, “ if you want to disc the area
then you need a study.” “If we mow now,”
said Spuhler, there might be an
area that you could disc right now without a study.” Planning money is easier to get than action
funds. Warner asked if there were places
where sand could be brought in to improve the beaches. It was noted that the sand has to be Bear
Lake sand from the north end and it is almost gone. The jetty marina concept could be a
possibility, perhaps a strip of beach could be added to the jetty.
Huefner said that we need to purchase beach front land for
the future and to do a study which will allow the city to clean the area below
the areas that are for sale now, so that they can look like Ideal Beach. If the city purchased the lands there would
need to have a wetland study done giving the city permission to disc everything
below high water mark. “It is almost
prohibitive to buy beach land now.”
Huefner said, “but if we don’t plan for beaches now it will be gone and
we are not allowing hotels on the beach. “
“If we buy the two properties it will be several million
dollars,” said Spuhler. “How do we pay
for that?” Bess Huefner said that we
ought to look for the future to preserve beaches for the future growth. We need a study on what our options above the
high water line. Gary Cox, city
administrator, said that there may be money from the Army Corps to restore beaches
since the draw down from Rocky Mt. Power has degraded the beach.
Bess Huefner talked about the Mud Lake Symposium The north end of the lake has good beaches
because of the water and wind patterns.
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