City Response To Shore Lodge Estates Assertations That Subdivision Streets Are Private

To the Editor:

Garden City was recently sued and believe the courts will fairly disseminate the facts and decide the outcome based on the rule of law.  We are confident that public access to the public lands will continue for future generations based on the evidence and the law.  

As the Mayor, it is important to know the homeowners decided to seek litigation and not work the city after repeated attempts.  The roads are dedicated and recorded both in the original and amended plat for perpetual use of the public. Furthermore and because the designation was for the perpetual use of the public, taxes for all these years were never paid by any resident of Shore Lodge as they were exempt because of the public nature of the recorded deed.  

I would highly encourage your readers to carefully read all the 22 points and not be swayed by the rhetoric.  Our single objective as our city grows is to provide Garden City residents, homeowners, and visitors more access to beaches, trails and other outdoor recreational opportunities. 

Experts who have reviewed our case feel very strongly Shore Lodge roads to the beach are clearly for PUBLIC USE and we will continue to do what we believe is necessary and ethical.  The public accesses are available for walking and you have every right to go down those roads and use the beach and enjoy them.

Mayor John Spuhler, Garden City

(Ed: Note: Since the city's Legal Response was in a PDF file, we have had to retype and condense the response from Garden City's Attorney following.  Garden City can send you the entire PDF file if you wish)

1.   Shore Lake Estates Subdivision is located between Highway 30 and the Bear Lake high water mark of 5,923.65 feet.

2.   The City is the Permittee of a sovereign lands General Permit from the State of Utah which Permit grants the City the sovereign lands lying along the line from 250 North in Garden City at the high water mark and east to the water's edge....all of which constitutes a part of Bear Lake's Beach front which the State of Utah has designated for public recreational purposes.

3.   The Sovereign Lands are located immediately adjoining the eas boundary of the Subdivision and extend ito Bear Lake's bottom and include Bear Lake's water surface

4.   Garden City is responsible under its General Permit to provide police fire and other emergency services and monitoring of the Sovereign Lands.

5.  The Plat for the Subdivision was filed on June 19, 1960.

6.  The Original Plat created 40 separate subdivision lots and seven separate streets, which provide acess to the lots and the Sovereign Lands.  Each of the streets runs from the Highway directly to the Sovereign Lands.  Access to the Sovereign Lands from the streets remain open.

7.  The Owner's Dedication set forth  in Original Plat provides that Shore Lodge Estates "hereby dedicate for pertetual use of the public all parcels of land shown on this plat as intended for public use."

8   In September 1962, an amended plat for the Shore Lodge Estates were filed by its then ten owners whereby the number of lots in the Subdivision were reduced from 40 to 29 lots,"but whereby the number and location of the Streets remained unchanged."

9.   The Owner's dedication set forth in the 1963 amended plat was slightly changed from the 1960 dedication,  makes the statement, "Shore Lodge Estates do hereby dedicate for the perpetual use of the public all parcels of land shown on this plat as intended for public use."

10.  There is nothing in either the Amended or Original Plat to indicate that the streets are not intended to public use as is generally true with regard to steets that are ordinarily so shown on subdivision plats.

11.  The Streets were exempted from the Rich County property tax rolls which strongly indicate that the subdivided streets were not intended to be private but were intended in fact to be dedicated for public use.

12. The Special Improvement District for Sewer Services installed public sewers and sewer lift stations in each street and the SID and Garden City retained the necessary rights to access and maintain the same.

13.  Maintenance of the sewer lift stations is paid for out of Garden City's and the SID revenues with responsibility for any accident, discharge or failure of the lift station being the responsibility of the SID.

14.  The Subdivision lots 1-5 and 10-21 have Garden City public water lines and public water meters in the streets. Lot 7-9 and 22-28 have related Garden City public water and meters and Garden City maintains the above with public funds.

15. The streets were accepted and became part of Garden City's public streets when the plats were signed and the Subdivision was annexed and Garden City and the SID provided services.

16.  Only the owners of lots 26-29 petitioned to Vacate the Street located between their respective properties by petitioning the Garden City Town Council to vacate the same by ordinance and was recorded with the Rich County Recorder on July 9, 1969.

17. No Covenents, Conditions, Restrictions or Easements for any Home Owners Association related to the property have been filed or been appealed.

18.  While recorded By-Laws for Shore Lodge Estaes HOA for the Subdivision have been provided, the same were not recorded against the Subdivision's individual lots of record.

19.  Not all lot owners in the Subdivision agree that the streets are private, as asserted.

20.  Adverse possesion of real property, such as the subject streets, is precluded for any real property held by a governmental entity and designated for any present or future public use.

21.  A plat that is signed, dedicated and acknowledged by each power of record and approved according to procedures operate to dedicate all streets and other public places and vests fee of those parcels in the municipality or county for the public use named, or intended as shown on the plat

22.  Shore Lodge Estates lot owners have not applied or nor have they request that the subject streets be vacated as public streets.

"Any member by the public, including any public employees and officials, who may have at any time examined either of the plats, would have had the reasonable and compelling right to assume tht each of the streets shown theron had been dedicated to the public for public use, including their use for access to Sovereign Lands and to Bear Lake.  There is nothing shown on either plat that would provide such a member of the public, or public employee or public official any reasonable basis for reasonably assuming otherwise."

From the Law office of Ray G. Martineau

Possible Road Closure And Elkridge Land Problems

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah. July 2, 2014. Glen Thomson reported that he has been working with four of five different divisions of the Forest Service on a research project that they update every ten years.  In the process of checking out various locations to determine changes over time, the Forest Service researchers traveled on a badly damaged road.  The Forest Service noted the area and condition of the road.  Thomson thought they might close the road in the future if repairs were not made.   Thomson didn’t want any road closures and asked the Commission to check into the matter.

In looking over the maps and information, it appeared that perhaps the Forestry people thought they were traveling on a Class B road that the County should maintain.  Instead, they were traveling on a Class D road which is a category of road that generally is not maintained.  The Commissioners said they would look into this matter and clear up any misunderstandings.  They also requested the county individual in charge of the roads check out the area where repair was needed.  This individual noted that he would report back to the Commissioners on how serious the damage to the road was.

Jill Brown of the Utah Association of Counties introduced herself and noted that the Utah Association of Counties wants to become more familiar and involved with the various Counties in the State that belong to the Association.  She noted that the Association’s web page is going to be redone and updated.  Links to the various County web pages will be included, and their site will be friendly and easy to use in searching for information.

She reported that the Association would like to help do good things for the counties through media exposure and by sharing resources.  She indicated that she would keep in closer contact in the future and was looking forward to working with Rich County.

Dave Oram owns a home in Swan Creek Village.  He owns two lots (numbers 94 and 95) and would like to build a garage on the second lot.  He would, however, like to place the garage in such a way that it would go over the property line.  The Commissioners stated they would approve the plan if Mr. Oram would agree to tear down the garage to maintain the original property lines if he ever sold the property. A Building Covenant Agreement was accepted.  The County Building Inspector, George Peart, noted that he felt good about the decision and would grant a building permit to Mr. Oram. 

Kim Wilson, the County Assessor, brought a group of personal property exemptions for the Commissioners approval.

Debbie Ames reported on the recent tax sale held June 25.  She noted that there were no bids on two pieces of property originally owned by Frank Smith.  The property should, by default, thus go to the County.  However, the IRS had a tax lien on these properties.  Law requires that the Federal Government be given 120 days after the sale date to decide if they want to take the properties for back taxes. 

Ames also reported that one piece is actually a section of road, and the other is assumed to be where a water pump station is located that provides water to Elk’s Ridge.  However, the exact locations of these two properties need to be surveyed to be exact.  She recommended that the Commissioners have the properties surveyed so that if the County ends up with the land, they will know where it is.  If the Federal Government takes the property, the County also needs to know exactly where these pieces of land are located.

Ames noted that there was another issue concerning these properties that must be considered.  Apparently an agreement was made between Smith and the LeGrand Johnson Concrete Company.  Frank Smith was to build a fence on the north side of the road to keep people out of the gravel pit.  That was never done.  This may become an issue to any new owners of the property.

The Commissioners asked Ames to get a surveyor to find the exact locations of the descriptions on the deeds to make sure problems in the future will be easier to handle and understand.

Mitch Poulsen requested that the Commission hold a public hearing giving the citizens of the County an opportunity to give their opinions about making Rich County an enterprise zone.  He has been working on the documentation to bring this about, but a public hearing is required before he can proceed further.  By making the County an enterprise zone, business owners will become eligible to apply for various types of incentives and helps to grow their businesses.  The responsibility for getting the incentives is left up to the businesses to make application for what they feel could help them.

The Commissioners decided to hold the hearing at 1:30 on Tuesday, August 5.  The Commissioners have to move the next Commissioner’s meeting to the first Tuesday in August and will hold the hearing after their regular business has been concluded.

Poulsen noted that a new member needs to be appointed to the County Planning and Zoning Committee.  The Commissioners noted that they would work on this matter.

Poulsen reported that there have been no special event permits given for July.  There are a few events scheduled during August, and every weekend in September has been scheduled.  It was noted that bicycles probably should be registered and licensed.  Everyone is told to share the road, but bicycles don’t pay anything for that privilege.  All other vehicles carry the cost of roads and their maintenance through registration fees and licenses that must be purchased.

It was noted that the State is currently surveying the lake shore to indicate where the high water mark is located.  They are going to do the entire shore this summer so everyone knows where their property lines are situated.

The Commissioners went over the voting information from the previously held election.  They determined that the reported election results will stand, and that the voting information was certified correct.

Resolutions for agreements between each of the four towns and the County were made noting that the building inspection services provided by the County are used by each of the towns.  Each of the towns will need to adopt these resolutions in their town meetings.

Sunset On The Fourth

Photo by Kathee Stone, San Rafael, California

Do You Qualify For Property Tax Abatement?

PROPERTY TAX ABATEMENT 

If you will be age 66 or older on or before December 31, 2014, or if you are a widow or widower and have not remarried, you may qualify for a property tax credit.

To receive a discount on your property taxes, you must fill out a property tax abatement application.  This application is available at the Rich County Treasurer’s Office.

Information to be reported on the application includes household income, social security number, age, name, etc.  An applicant’s household income must be less than $31,208.

Only property tax on a primary residence is eligible for a property tax credit.

If you have any questions or you would like an application, you may contact the Rich County Treasurer’ Office.  Phone Number 435-793-5155.

Rich County Sheriff's Report For June

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah.  There were 159 incidents reported by the Sheriff’s Office during the month of June, 2014.  The most frequent incidents were:  21 Sovereign Land issues, 19 citizen assists, 14 medical emergencies, 11 animal problems, 10 traffic accidents with damage, 9 thefts, 8 civil processes, and 6 alarms.

These incidents occurred as follows:  one not defined, 76 in Garden City, 30 in Laketown, 2 out of County, 31 in Randolph, 1 in the south end of the county, and 18 in Woodruff.

Garden City had 11 medical emergencies, 10 citizen assists, and 10 sovereign land issues.  There were 6 thefts, 5 civil processes, 5 alarms, 4 animal problems and 3 agency assists.  There were 2 burglaries, 2 domestic disturbances, 2 traffic accidents with damages, 2 traffic hazards, and 2 VIN serial number inspections.  There was one each of the following: a citizen dispute, a Fish and Game issue, found property, a lockout, lost property, a missing person, a traffic accident with injuries, some property damage--not vandalism, a suspicious person/circumstance, a trespass, a weapon offense, and a welfare check.

Laketown had 10 sovereign land issues, 3 traffic accidents with injuries, 2 attempts to locate, 2 citizen assists, and 2 welfare checks.  There was one each of the following:  an agency assist, an animal problem, a domestic disturbance, a DUI alcohol or drugs incident, a fire, a fraud, a traffic accident with injuries, a suspicious person/circumstance, a theft, a traffic hazard, and a weapon offense.

Randolph had 4 animal problems, 3 criminal histories, 2 child abuse or neglect, 2 citizen assists, 2 DUI alcohol or drugs calls, 2 fraud incidents, 2 juvenile problems, 2 traffic accidents with damage, 2 thefts, and 2 transportation of a person/property.  There was one each of the following:  an alarm, an assault, a civil process, a medical emergency, a suspicious person/circumstance, a traffic hazard, a VIN serial number inspection, and a welfare check.

In Woodruff there were 5 citizen assists, 2 civil processes, 2 animal problems, 2 medical emergencies, 2 traffic accidents with damage, and 2 suspicious persons/circumstances.  There was an assault, a traffic hazard, and a transportation of a person/property.

There were two out of county incidents.  One was an attempt to locate and the other was a sovereign lands issue.

There was also a traffic accident with damage in the south end of the County.

There were 12 citations and 13 violations in Garden City, 8 citations and 8 violations in Laketown, 5 citations and 7 violations in Randolph, and 8 citations and 9 violations in Woodruff as reported in the Total Traffic Citation Report.  That results in a total of 33 citations and 37 violations during the month of June.

Twenty of the citations were for speeding.  There were two each of the following:  valid launch permits required, no proof of insurance, and motor vehicles on the beach.  There were one each of the following:  failure to register or expired registration, a previous owner’s plates, a DUI alcohol/drugs incident, passing where prohibited, parking--stop or stand on side, failure to remain at the scene of an accident, driving under the influence, an open container/drinking alcohol, right of way stop/yield sign, operating and vehicle by persons underage, and discharging of a firearm.

The Traffic Warning Report show that there were 11 warnings and 11 violations in Garden City, there were 20 warnings and 21 violations in Laketown, and there were 2 warnings and 2 violations in Woodruff making a total of 33 warnings and 34 violations.

The Traffic Warning Report included such things as valid launch permits required, AIS check station skip, failure to stop at check station, unregistered vehicles, ATVs on the beach, mini motorcycles on public property, speeding, motor vehicles on the beach, altered/defaced/removed capacity stickers, and parking below the high water mark.

Garden City Planning & Zoning Report

Randall Knight and Anita Weston, Reporters

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  July 2, 2014 The regular P&Z meeting scheduled for 5:00 PM was cancelled because a quorum wasn’t present. Only three board members were present: Pat Argyle, Dewayne Gifford and Susan House.  Those not present were: Lance Bourne, Jim Stone, and Mike Schiess.  Jim Hanzelka was also in attendance.

There was a general discussion regarding parking and occupancy.  Chief Wahlberg restated the Fire District’s position regarding occupancy which is based on a formula that uses the square footage of the structure and a specified area per person.  The easiest way to set the limits is by working with the business owner to set a reasonable limit because the formula always exceeds reasonable limits.  He was also not aware of any food establishments having a posted occupancy sign but feels it would be a good requirement.

There was also a discussion in regards to short term rental limits.  Argyle said there is an ordinance requiring parking and occupancy limits to be posted in a conspicuous place.  The ordinance also requires the owner to have a designated person within 15 minutes of the property.  If a concerned resident feels these limits including noise limits, are being exceeded, the procedure is to call the designated person. Therefore, if there is a short term rental property near you it is prudent to know who the designated person is and what their phone number is so you can report the issue and hopefully have it resolved.  Call the city and ask Gary Cox to get the name and number.  If the issue is not resolved within a reasonable time after 15 minutes has elapsed call the police.  Once the property owner is notified three times their business license will be revoked.

Chief Wahlberg reported there is no fire restriction so far this year.  Firework restrictions will be imposed above the canal and only Utah legal displays can be setoff.  

The Unmuddled Mathematician

Spaulding and the Flints and a Final Thought on Pot Guts

By Chris Coray, The Unmuddled Mathematician

When I was a young boy we lived next to the main cemetery in Salt Lake City.  Really close, as in 50 yards.  We used some of the wide-open spaces with no graves as our playground.  There was even a greenhouse in one section operated by my best friend’s dad.  Sometimes I would mow grass and help in the greenhouse. 

On Memorial Day hundreds, if not thousands, of people would travel into the cemetery to decorate and dress graves.  My friend’s dad would let us take some live potted petunias out to the gate and sell them for what we could get to people driving into the cemetery.  At the end of the day we got to keep the money.  For a 10 year old kid it was hard to imagine what to do with all the loot, which on one occasion totaled $14.00.  In one day! That was serious money in those days.

The day after Memorial Day I would get on a bus and go downtown to State Hardware.  The money was burning a hole in my pocket.  I would ask to see the flint marbles.  For those of you who don’t know, the flint was the marble you used as your shooter.  In games of competition your flint was never part of any wager.  We used cheap glass marbles for those.  The flint was sort of like your baseball glove or your special bat.  Anyway, the merchant at the store would open the drawer of his flint cabinet and nestled on maroon velvet was a collection of flint marbles.  They were beautiful and the only difference between those and the crown jewels of England was scale.  After carefully handling each I selected the one that fit my fingers the best and was also the most beautiful.  This marble cost about $2.00 but the bounty had to be spent.  I kept all my flints in my special box of treasures.  With lots of use the flints would appear to get small impact curves just under the surface.  We called them moons.  The basic drill was to take the mooned flints and bury them in mom’s Crisco can overnight which seemed to make the moons disappear.  The moons came back after the grease on the flint dried out and my mom somehow managed to live with the dirty finger tracks and marbles in her Crisco.  Life was good and I hadn’t yet spent all of the Memorial Day loot.

The next stop would be the sporting goods store next to the marble place.  There I would buy a small cubic box, not more than 3 inches on a side.  In the box, wrapped in actual soft tissue paper, was a brand new Spaulding baseball.   The cost was just over $2.  They were beautiful and they even had a great smell.  Maybe it was the horsehide cover.   Not a scratch mark anywhere.  I would take the ball home and put it carefully in my Mickey Mantle glove (you never put your glove away without a ball in it).  We were extraordinarily careful playing catch with the new ball, for no one wanted to put the first ding in the surface (sort of like driving a brand new car).  Inevitably, the ball hit the ground hard and then we had just a really good used ball.  Life actually got easier as we stopped worrying and just played.  And I still had 10 bucks in my larder to buy presents for members of my family on special occasions.  I had an ideal childhood.

On a final topic, I’ve decided to open my own fast food place here at Bear Lake.  We’ve got a bunch of hamburger/milkshake places with big lines.  My idea is to offer a new specialty, i.e. the pot-gut squirrel kebab. No locals need to eat them since we will be too busy trying to find ways to eliminate them legally.

There are so many this year I thought that there must be a use for them. I thought we’d just put them on a skewer, barbecue them up to crispy, and offer the out of town buyer one of just two options (this to keep the line moving fast).  The two options would be head first or tail first.  Salt, pepper, and condiments to suit your taste. 

Are you wishing by now that either I had stopped writing after the baseball or you had stopped reading there?

Berry Princess Contest July 30

Come join Princess sisters Anna and Elsa at the Miss Berry Princess Contest Wednesday, July 30th @ 7pm, as we kick off Raspberry Days 30th Birthday Party!

Contestants must be age 4-6 at the time of the contest and must be full time residents of Rich or Bear Lake County. Apply by July 10th, after which the contest might be open to non-residents. Autographed t-shirts will be available for purchase. Everyone welcome to attend! For questions or to register contact Brittney Lundgren 435-757-9594

Raspberry Days 2014  "Berry Happy 30th Birthday!"

Miss Berry Princess Contest

FROZEN in summer!

Wednesday, July 30th 2014 @ 6:30pm

Contestants must be a full time resident of Rich County or Bear Lake County and be between the ages of 4-6 at the time of the contest.

Register your princess contestant NOW! Space is limited!

Friday, July 10^th is the deadline!!

Contact Brittney Lundgren (435) 757-9594 or brittney_lundgren@yahoo.com

Information

Theme:  Frozen in Summer

Dress: Princesses can wear any pretty dress they would like to wear!

Pictures: Taken by Jill Petersen on Friday June 11, 2014, location and time TBA! Pictures will be displayed       during Raspberry Days Event and can be picked up from the city office to be treasured forever.

Judging: Prompt Princesses Please arrive EARLY no later than 6:30Pm to have a short princess interview before the contest. Judging will continue during presentation of the contestants to the crowd.

Program: Decisions will be made during a short Frozen program for the princesses that they will not want to miss! Princesses will then be bestowed with a gift and The Berry Princess and attendants will be crowned.

Parade: Thursday, July 31^st, Princesses will load on the float in church parking lot, behind the stage, 30 minutes before the parade @ 5:30pm.  Princesses will be picked up promptly after the parade in the same location behind the stage.

 With this application, please include a short Bio or clever introduction of your princess, no more than 150 words, to be read by Anna or Elsa at our contest!

 Please also include a $25 application fee. Please submit to the city offices or directly to Brittney

 Your princess will be given an opportunity to have the spotlight to do or say whatever she would like for no more than 3 minutes during the contest!

Princess Application

Name _____________________________ Age _________ (4-6yrs) Birthdate ____________________

City________________________ County _________________ (Full time Resident of Bear Lake or Rich County)

Parents Phone _________________________ E-mail ___________________________________

Other (Any information we should know about your princess) _______________________________________________________________ *DUE BY JULY 10^th!