Garden City Planning and Zoning

Randall Knight, Reporter.  Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  January 8, 2014.  The Planning and Zoning meeting was held as scheduled at 5:00 PM.  The board members in attendance were: Lance Bourne, Jim Stone, Nate Gracey, Mike Schiess, Susan House and Pat Argyle.  Dewayne Gifford was absent.

Lance Bourne and Pat Argyle were sworn in as board members.  Dewayne Gifford was not present so he will be sworn in at the next meeting.  Lance was nominated as the Chair and Mike as the Vice-chair.  It was also pointed out the Chair needs to cast a vote at all times and not just when there is a tie.  This will provide a voting record of their opinion as well as the board members.

Riley Argyle, Garden City Public Works, shared what he had learned about developers bonding requirements and coverage.  Bonds are for the whole project and not for subsections of the project as previously understood.  The current city policy is to bond only the infrastructure of a development and not for the whole project.  The new understanding is if the developer is unable to finish a project then the bonding company is obligated to finish the project they provided the bond for.  Further clarification is required for the town council to ensure what the bond is covering; i.e. is it really for the total project or can it be separated in phases.

George Peart, County Building Inspector, reviewed the status of the building permits.  He stated all projects are going according to their plans with no issues.  Pat Argyle asked if he had gone into the Waters Edge project area prior to any work being done.  He said he had not.  The board requested him to find out what the intention was for the work that was done prior to submitting for a building permit.  Apparently some trees and shrubs have been removed near the lake and they are not sure if approval had been requested and approved by the Corps of Engineers to improve the land which is most likely considered to be wet land.  George stated that 31 building permits were given for Garden City and approximately the same number for the county in 2013.  No permits have been requested for 2014.

A discussion took place about increasing the height for buildings in certain areas by rezoning or conditional use permits.  Lance thought the flat area between Bear Hollow and Lochwood could allow for higher buildings because it would not impact the view for the buildings on the ridge west of this area.  He also thought building sites bordering BLM land could be possible areas for height increase.  Further discussion will be held with the Town Council, working groups and public hearings. 

Under miscellaneous discussions it was pointed out the ordinances need clarification so that all citizens can read and understand them without any gray areas.  Mike recommended that when a motion is made the affected ordinance needs to be stated.  Lance said public input will be controlled more and not allowed to distract the board members or sidetrack the discussion except during public meetings.

Lance also stated that new information for proposals will not be allowed during meetings in the future, and the requirement to present all information to be reviewed be submitted a minimum of two weeks prior to the meeting to give board members time for review.  Pat  Argyle asked for clarification on a couple of items concerning Waters Edge and during those discussions Randall Knight, GCFD Secretary, asked Norm Mecham to attend the next Fire District meeting to ensure the new fire district board members are brought up to date on the plans and agreements that have been made. 

Due West and Charlie Jenkins Concert!

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter.  Rich Civic Times 

RANDOLPH, Utah. January, 8, 2014.  Brett Argyle, Chair, County Fair Board, reported that the Fair Board would like to host a Due West and Charlie Jenkins concert on the weekend of August 9, instead of the Demolition Derby.  The Derby lost money many years and at best broke even.  Argyle asked to County Commission to pay the $10,000 needed to book the artists.   He felt that ticket sales would be above that, so the county would be reimbursed.  He thought that both Due West and Charlie Jenkins had a following that would come to the concert at the Laketown Arena.

Norm Weston, County Commissioner, said that even though he was not sure it would pay for itself, it might be a good idea to try it this summer.  The Rodeo is the main attraction for the Fair, but if this makes extra money that could go back to the Fair.  The commissioners wanted an event that was not too expensive.  They thought the cost of tickets should be $10 or less with a family pass

Tom Weston, County Commissioner, said that in the past, volunteers had taken unfair advantage of free passes which meant that many people did not pay for admission to events.  This makes it hard to pay for the Fair and Rodeo. They needed to issue passes more carefully in the future for people who had really worked on the projects.  The County Fair runs from August 9 to August 16 this year.

New Garden City Fire Board Members Appointed

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter.  Rich Civic Times 

RANDOLPH, Utah.  January 8, 2013. Garden City has recommended Brian House to fill position of Travis Hobbs, as their representative to the Fire District Board.  As House is no longer an elected official, County Commissioner Tom Weston needs to stay on the board.  Howard Pope has been appointed to replace Terry Allen who was the Chair.  Pope  has been a firefighter but is not currently serving .  Jenny England would also be willing to serve, but as her husband is a firefighter, there might be a conflict of interest.  Tom Weston  will continue to serve as the elected official needed by state statute.

Nightly Rental Unit Taxation And Regulation Discussed

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter.  Rich Civic Times 

Nightly rental units have been have been regulated in the cities but not in the county unincorporated areas.  Kim Wilson, Rich County Treasurer, said that if a private residence is being used as a nightly rental it ceases to be considered a residence but is considered a business.  That means that the interior furnishing are taxable property and the residence has to be taxed as a business. The residence must be used for the exclusive use of the owner or the interior furnishing are considered business property.  Anything under $10,000 in value is not taxed, but some of the furnishings and amenities of the rental units are very expensive.  Owners must self- proclaim the value of all personal property and that value is used.  Audits are performed by the state tax commission. 

The property must be disclosed on a tax form which asks for the initial cost of furnishings or such items as a Jacuzzi.  There is a depreciation schedule.   Bill Cox, Rich County Commissioner, said that Garden City has been very proactive in tracking nightly rentals and licensing them as businesses which confirm to the fire code and other safety codes.  Melinda Hislop, Bear Lake Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, is tracking rentals for transient room tax.  

Wilson will check other counties' ordinances.  Cox said, "we don't want people building in the county to escape regulation.  We need to have fire inspections just as Garden City has.  There are over 200 rental properties, we need to be consistent and we need safety controls.  If we allow people to rent and their property doesn't meet fire codes and we don't have ordinances to enforce the codes, then the county is liable if there is death or injury in the case of fire if they are considered a business and we have licensed them."  Mitch Poulsen, Bear Lake Regional Commission, is looking into this also. There is less liability to the county if there are ordinances in place.

Unused Marriage Licenses For Same Sex Couples No Longer Valid

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter.  Rich Civic Times 

RANDOLPH, Utah.  January 8, 2014.  Becky Peart, Rich County Clerk, was instructed  that they had been advised that marriage licenses that have been issued to the same sex couples have not yet been married  those licenses are not valid anymore.   The State of Utah will not recognize the validity of same sex marriages until the case has been resolved in court. The U.S. Federal Government, however, will recognize the marriages already performed in Utah for federal benefits.   Peart said there have been no requests for marriage certificates from same sex couples in Rich County yet.

Bear River Mental Health Audit

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter. Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah.  January 8, 2014.  Rob Johnson, Bear River Mental Health, gave the Rich County Commission an update on the organization’s audit for 2012/2013.  The independent auditors gave BRMH a clean audit this year.  The BRMH is required to have 120 days of operating assets to allow for emergencies.

Each year Rich County ‘s share of the  BRMH $5 million budget has been about $10,000.  That small amount is used to match state funds, which in turn matches federal Medicaid funding.   The counties are required to match 20% of the state funding based on population.  The state then contributes $1.8 million which matches $5 million in Medicaid monies to Utah. The total federal funding from which all states receive funding is $135 million. The state will require a greater match this year.

Johnson said that they are making cuts every year.  This year the revenue was cut by $300,000.   Seventy-five percent of cost is in personnel.   BRMH built a building in Tremonton this year with the Bear River Health Department to service the needs in that area.  They pay for Medicaid inpatient costs.  They are buying new computers to overlap.  The state will require a greater match this year.  The federal  block grants have been going down over the years as there are more and more  budget cuts. 

The Muddled Male

Alien Fruit

 

By Bob Stevens, The Muddled Male

         Whew, the Holidays are finally over.  Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoy Christmas except that it makes me tense.  Ann, my wife, would say that I get irritated, and me being irritated is what makes her tense.  But either way the Holidays bring stress into our marriage.  Take Christmas shopping for example.  Ann and I long ago reached an agreement that she would do the Christmas-shopping and present-wrapping if I would do the Christmas cards and the Christmas newsletter.  I thought at first that I had negotiated myself a really good deal since I could just sit there in the den watching TV, eating candy, signing cards, and stuffing envelopes.  That was until I realized that when Ann is doing the Christmas shopping I have to wander around behind her carrying the wallet and nodding in agreement as she frantically tries to select sizes and gifts that fit both the recipient and the recipient’s personality. 

            But the real tension builder is not the preparation for Christmas, it is the peeling of the Christmas pomegranate.  A pomegranate, I am convinced, was designed by a sleepy mathematician relying heavily on random number theory.  Engineers, on the other hand, tend to design things using the repetition of well-defined structures like the simple triangle.  A pomegranate is constructed with chaos.  If you think I am joking, listen to the dictionary definition of that supposedly delicious fruit.  A pomegranate is “A chambered, many seeded, globose fruit, having a tough, usually red rind and surmounted by a crown of calyx lobes, the edible portion consisting of pleasantly acid flesh developed from the outer seed coat.”  See, even the definition is cloaked in chaos. 

            Well this year I decided to throw all caution aside and peel my first pomegranate.  The dictionary was correct in saying that the fruit has a “tough, usually red rind.”  I might say that it is more like a rhinoceros hide with which I had to use a knife to start the penetration.  Once started, however, peeling off the rind was fairly easy except for the risk of staining your hands, the cupboard, and every piece of clothing you are wearing.  In fact in the instructions for extracting juice, the first warning is to put on an apron and cover your work area with plastic shopping bags to keep from staining everything in your kitchen.  What you end up with is a ball made up of an infinite number of seeds, each of which is surrounded by a little sack of tangy juice that is tasty but contains a high concentration of red stain.  The complication of a pomegranate, besides the fact that it is difficult to spell, is that there are random egg carton membranes running randomly through the fruit into which the seed pods nestle to keep them from breaking, and you have to flip each seed pod delicately out of the membrane and into a bowl without breaking the membrane.  The slightest bit of pressure or a misplaced fingernail produces a squirt of red dye which always lands on your chest.  I remember Ann saying, “Put a bib on or you are going to stain your coveralls.”  Well I told her, as every husband would, that I would be careful and not get anything on me.  I lied. 

            I have to admit that all the while I stood there looking down into this alien piece of fruit with squirting little seed pods, I kept thinking of the original Alien movie where the man in the space suit looked down into a flower with a seed pod and something squirted out suddenly, pierced his space helmet and into his body where it began to incubate.  Ann said not to worry, this Alien was much smarter than to pick a decrepit old man’s body in which to incubate. 

            Well I went through all of this because the internet said that pomegranate juice was high in antioxidants and was thought to protect one’s body from those elements that may lead to premature aging, heart disease, and some forms of cancers as well as prevent the hardening of arteries and high blood pressure.  Now how much more could a decrepit old man ask for.  Next time, however, I think I will just buy one of those bulgy, six dollar POM bottles full of pomegranate juice and chug-a-lug it straight from the bottle.  Now I have to go out and find a remotely controlled thermostat that is better than the Un-muddled Mathematician’s and pay him back for making me covet.