Garden City Council Meeting

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  October 9, 2014. Bear Lake Academy of Martial Arts requested to conduct a martial arts education business at 50 South Bear Lake Blvd. (where the Firehouse Pizza is located).  They would be using the basement of this facility.  The license was granted when the fire marshal has finished his inspection.  A short discussion was held concerning parking at this location.  Everything appeared to be fine.

Ordinance 14-17 dealing with business license policies and procedures was discussed.  It was noted that wording should be changed to give the Council more authority to handle unusual situations.  It was suggested that the wording should be changed to include that the Council may impose certain conditions on a business using their discretion based upon the conditions and circumstances of the request.

Season’s Resorts requested that their encumbered lots be unencumbered.  This allows the company to begin to develop this area if they so desire.  This was approved by the Council.

A discussion of a new encumbrance/Covenant to run with the land procedure was approved.  Since the encumbrance/covenant was established for vacant lot fees within the City only, it was noted that it should not be registered with the County.  The City needs to be notified 30 days prior to the request being made to encumber or unencumber adjoining lots.

When sales of different lots are made, the responsibility of letting the City know rests with the seller of the property.  A penalty of a minimum of $120 plus $10 per month will be assessed after the first year of such a sale if notification is not made to the City.

UDOT has proposed to purchase a small piece of land for the US 89 Third West turn lane going south.  The cost of the property is $2,175.  A motion was made and passed to approve the sale of this land.

The City meeting was closed and the public hearing was held concerning the gun range and the water impact fees.

The City Meeting was resumed and the following actions were taken:

The gun range item will be pursued and more information will be obtained.   The new impact fees were discussed by the Council.  It was finally determined that the final agreement with Mr. Mecham will be brought back to the Council to be looked over prior to signing.  The motion was made and approved to impose the new impact fees that were suggested in the public hearing.  All council members voted for this action except Darrin Pugmire.  He voted no and stated that he thought a less expensive solution could have been found.

Mike Wahlberg, Garden City Fire Chief, appeared before the Council.  He was unable to obtain a MOU from the County Ambulance EMT Association.  He noted that this organization is funded by the County. They, apparently, do not have the needed funds to provide a $3,000 grant. Wahlberg, however, requested that the City give their emergency grant to the Fire Department this year so that they could get started training more EMTs.  The City indicated that they didn’t think that grant should go to the Fire Department each year.  It is something that several organizations may apply for and obtain.  The Fire Chief indicated that he would go to the County to see if they would agree to reimburse these funds after the completion of the training of individuals becoming EMTs.  He will report back to the City.

It was decided that the City Employee Christmas Party will be held on January 9, 2015.  The City Community Christmas Party will be held December 6, 2014. 

It was determined that 5 commercial picnic tables will be purchased for Heritage Park.  They cost approximately $1,000 each.

The City Council will contribute the usual $200 towards the Halloween Bash held each year at the KOA.

Bess Huefner reported that the Skating Rink should be set up around the 24^th of November.  She noted that the Christmas lights should be hung soon before it gets to cold and wintery.

Bruce Warner asked what type of impact fee should be assessed for the log cabins that are being built by Mr. Webb just north of Jim Stone’s store in Pickleville.  He was told that Mr. Webb should be charged ¾ of the full fee for each cabin.

Warner and the Mayor have been in touch with Chris Coray concerning annexation of Sweetwater Hill into Garden City.  Additional conversations have been set up to discuss this issue further.

Waarner also reported that he had talked with Mike Madsen.   Madsen had an agreement with the City to build a water line north from Swan Creek to get water to the subdivision that he built.  He has come to the City and would like to be reimbursed for the water line construction costs.  The agreement was for five years and cost $100,000.  The Council said they would think about this matter.

Jim Christensen had problems with his water bill of $23,995.  It was noted that $9,000 was the cost and that $14,000 was overages.  The City said they would look into the matter and make some adjustments if justified.

Chuck Stocking noted that the pool is doing well.  One wall, however, needs to be tiled or recovered with cement board or something that handles steam and humidity.  He is also still working on a place to store the pool chemicals.

There is a possibility that a grant could be obtained for the kiosk.   There is still some money owed for the kiosk.  The suggestion was made that perhaps those businesses advertising there could pay a small monthly fee to keep it current and viable.  The ads need to be put in such an order that the same one isn’t always first.  It was thought that perhaps they could be cycled through so none are given more attention than any others.  It was also suggested also that the type of computer and software that is in the kiosk be made available in different locations within the City.