Beach Use Discussed

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times 

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  August 14, 2014. Danny White, City Planner, noted that the CIB grant won’t be determined until February of next year. 

Currently there are no funds for beach improvement.  The grant covers mainly writing of management programs and plans. 

Permission from the Army Corps of Engineers should be forthcoming this next week dealing with 300 West and 150 South.  White has written up the mitigation plan that has been accepted by them. 

White conducted a survey on how people are using the beach.  He noted that at least half of the people coming to the beach stay in Garden City for their lodging.  However, half of the people visiting the beach go outside Garden City.   The majority of the people using the beach in Garden City use the City Park access.  Mayor Spuhler noted that he would like to see this change—that more people stay within the City for beach access as well as lodging.  He noted that the beaches need to be improved. 

The Mayor felt the beaches could be improved by bringing in sand and making berms near the water.  He also suggested that the City get a permit to disk and blade the beaches.  Doing this would also get rid of the deer flies habitat thus reducing the number of these pesky insects.  

It was noted that ditches used in the past to help drain beach areas should be reopened and maintained.  This would help tremendously in draining excess water from the sandy areas. 

The Mayor requested that the budget be checked to see if there were enough funds to begin working on some of these suggestions.