Letter To The Editor: Septic Tanks On Lake?

I thought you should know the Rich County P&Z just passed pre-approval plat for 36 homes on the lake shore WITH SEPTIC TANKS. Yes, 36 septic tanks on the lakeshore.

I think the public needs to know this- Idaho doesn't allow anything within a mile of the lakeshore to have a septic tank. It is my belief Rich County needs to endorse the same requirement. All of the south shore is on sewer, Garden City is on sewer, why is the county allowing this subdivision septic? Money?

The Department of Environmental Quality is not happy about this either- they don't want to see the "jewel of Utah" compromised by that many septics.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Krista Klein    email: moo@holeycow.com

The Canyons Of Bear Lake, Fish Haven

Photo by Lauriann Wakefield

Garden City Usurping County Land Rights On Gun Range

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah. October 1, 2014.  A public hearing for gun range in Garden City will be held at the  City Council meeting at Thursday October 9 at 5 p.m.  Richard Droesbeck, Utah State Parks, said that he has performed some sound tests and also shot at the Logan Range to see how the sound would travel.

At the city meeting the public can see the drawings and research that has been done and make comments.  Droesbeck reported that  Danny White went to an HOA meeting of the Sweetwater trailer park  which would be adjacent to the gun range to hear their concerns.  State Parks has alternate sites, but the Mayor of Garden City wants to have the gun range close by the city.

Commissioner Bill Cox said  “This is actually county property.  Why are the public hearings in Garden City.  It is up to the county to push this.  Who pays for the liability insurance?  Will Utah local Governments pay for something that is out of their area,” said Cox, “I don’t think so.  Gun ranges are high risk as far as insurance.  There are a few things that we have to know before we sign off on it.  Garden City did not notify the county of the meeting, other than sending the agenda. This is county land not city land.”

Droesbeck said that there was a meeting called by Garden City with State Senator Lyle Hillyard about the suggestion for a jetty on the south end of the Garden City Fire District.  Evidently Hillyard suggested that expanding the marina might be more cost effective and serve more people. “ Again,” Cox said, “where they are proposing the jetty is in the county.”  Droesbeck said that Garden City proposing things outside of city limits is problematic without county approval.

255,000 Visitors To Bear Lake Parks

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter
Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah. October 1, 2014.  Over 255,000 people visited the Bear Lake State Parks, Richard Droesbeck, Utah State Parks,  noted in a report to the Rich County Commission.  This was an increase of 10,000 visitors from last year and gross revenues of $916,000 were also up. There was a profit of $423,000 from this park, but most of the profit goes to other parks in the state system. 

Droesbeck outlined events that State Parks hosted or sponsored such as the Cisco Disco, Bear Lake Monster Plunge, Second Annual Bear Lake Shake, Third Annual Bear Lake Swim which had 78 participants, Ninth Annual Bear Lake Brawl Triathalons and the Raspberry Days Bear Lake Light Parade.   State Parks did search and rescue.    The north courtesy dock was replaced at the marina.  Ramp docks for east side beaches were put in.  Cisco beach is now twice as long as it was and the north dike was repaired.  Willow group sites for RV at Rendezvous Beach now have power. 

The AIS check stations for quagga mussels have been closed. They decontaminated several boats which they suspected had quagga infestations. Commissioner Bill Cox said that he observed boats coming in after 11 p.m. as late as 1 a.m. after the check station has closed which could be a problem.

Commissioner Tom Weston asked why with over $400,000 profit there is not a full time maintenance person at Rendezvous but was told budget cuts mean that position was eliminated and park rangers have to take on the responsibility for cleaning restrooms and repairing them.

Future projects include a mast lifter at the marina and paving done at Cisco Beach.  They are improving First Point parking and power so there will be a light at night for night boating. Droesbeck said that they were working on access trails from Bluff campsites to the lake.  On Fourth of July weekend every campsite was full, other weekends were 95% full.  State Parks are trying to make parks more OHV friendly and to connect trails.  They would like to have a trail from Rendevous Camp Ground to the state park rest area and then up  to Meadowville.   More parking along the lake is needed as well as an OHV trail near the lake and an OHV map.  There is a need for a route from Logan Canyon into Garden City with a 15 foot pathway.   There is OHV money for building those trails and grooming them.  The Town of Garden City would like to groom the trails from Richardson Canyon to Garden City.  

Off Highway Vehicle Issues

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter
Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah.  October 1, 2014. Chris Haller, Utah State Parks, Off Highway Vehicle Department, said that the program is still going even though there have been severe budget cuts.  There are grants for trail heads, vehicles and trails.  They will fund a statewide study for data on users and a plan for OHV use.   They will work with registered vehicle owners to see what their needs are and their usage and why they ride.  State Parks hope to have the study completed next year.  They are working on a statewide message and educational tools with many partners. OHV has a 2 million budget from ½% from Motor Fuel Taxes. 

Commissioner said that OHV users pay for the highways with their fuel taxes but bikers do not, bikers use the trails and highways without paying a user fee. Weston thinks that they should.  There are several counties and states that assess user fees, said Haller.  It will take legislative action to assess a fee.  “When bikers want to use the highways for bike races,” said Weston, “they should pay a fee.  Bikers don’t pay for search and rescue, but they use the resources.  The fat bikes ride on the trails groomed for OHV. We need legislators who will push that idea.”

Fall Sunrise

Photo by Tammy Calder

Money For Needed Transportation For Seniors & Low Income Families

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter
Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah. October 13, 2014.  The Bear River Association of Governments, BRAG, was awarded a grant for transportation vouchers for seniors, persons with disabilities and low income persons to help financially with fuel for transportation to medical facilities, counseling and training.  This is temporary assistance for rural needy families and is a pilot program.

BRAG has been funded for 100 clients in rural areas. They will be given vouchers for $.34 a mile.  BRAG budgeted $400 per client per year.  “It really doesn’t cover the cost of a trip to Logan,” said Commissioner Bill Cox.  Coventing said they were still working on the details. They will start the program in a few months.  The county will need to designate a liason who will help a client fill out the eligibility and intake forms.  The client then gives the voucher to their driver and the driver sends it to BRAG.  One check per month will be issued to a driver. It can be used by family members. Until the county designates a liason, call Coventing at the Bear River Association of Governments in Logan, Utah.

County Hazard Mitigation Plan

Bobbie Bicnell Coray, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah. October 1, 2014.  Zach Coventing, regional planner, BRAG, and Mitch Poulsen, director of the Bear Lake Regional Commission, discussed the county hazard mitigation plan,

The 2000 the Hazard Mitigation Act required county plans.  The first plan was done in 2004, updated in 2009 and now it is being updated again.  This plan looks at natural hazards so that the county would be eligible for disaster grants after a disaster or grants to mitigate a hazard.

Emergency managers, elected officials, special services and the general public worked with Coventing to identify hazards.  There will be another meeting in November to work on the plan and strategies.  Adoption of the plan will be in February.  This will provide hazard maps for each community so that the communities can work on any emerging problems.  These maps will include changes in demographics and land use.  FEMA has software for earthquake simulation which the state will run for Rich County.  Coventing said that Rich county struggles with getting GIS data.  

There is a state wide mapping committee which could do mapping for Rich County if the county applies.  They are now working with Salt Lake County and other populous areas, but Coventing said that the changes in population during peak tourism seasons in Rich County might make them more interested.

Rich County has no flood plain mapping excepting for Woodruff.  Earthquake and liquefaction maps are outdated and the data is poor, geotechnical experts are needed.  Fire hazards have been identified and have good data.  The Utah geological survey is gathering high resolution elevation data at 2 meters which will help with flood and geological fault data, but need partners because it is expensive said Coventing.   Because of infrequent landslide danger in the county, landslide data needs to be updated. Some landslide issues are being raised in Garden City as houses are being built near canals. Critical infrastructure has been mapped

.

Hazard specialists will come to a public meeting in October or November.   Tom Weston said that “it doesn’t take much to take out power here.  If it is winter at 20 degrees below zero it might pose a real hazard.  There needs to be an emergency response plan made for that.”  Coventing said that some counties are doing emergency fairs to educate citizens about natural disasters.  Each town has to adopt the plan to be eligible for emergency funds.

The Muddled Male

I Hearrrr Youuuu

By Bob Stevens, The Muddled Male

        We live in a marvelous time.  If you have a problem, there is likely some technological device that can be invented to solve it.  Take deafness, for example.  If you were living in the sixteenth or seventeenth century and your wife claimed you were either inattentive or deaf, they might hand you an instrument called an ear trumpet as a way of helping you hear better.  For those of you who have never heard of such a device, it was a funnel shaped instrument, large at one end and small at the other.  The person struggling to hear would place the small end of the trumpet in the ear and aim the large end at the source of sound he or she was trying to hear.  The purpose of the large end was to gather in as much sound as possible which would then pass through the gradually narrowing passage of the trumpet to be focused at the small end now sticking in the person’s ear.  I have never been certain as to whether the ear trumpet actually did amplify sound, or that the sight of some poor soul with a funnel sticking out of his or her ear just caused people to talk louder. 

        In today’s world, however, amplification of sound is taken care of by the engineering miracle of electronics.  My problem turned out to be a degradation of hearing at the higher frequencies with the loss of hearing becoming worse with each increase in pitch until at the highest pitch observable by the normal human ear, my ability to hear had dropped to a level near the category termed as “Profound Hearing Loss.”  Although that might be a disadvantage to me, it was an advantage to Ann, my wife, who was gloating that she had been correct the whole time she had been trying to convince me that I was deaf.  As impossible as such a hearing problem would have been to solve using an old fashion ear trumpet, it is easily dealt with in this era using tiny hearing aids hidden behind one’s ears, each hearing aid containing a complicated electronic circuit that allows different sound frequencies to be amplified individually to a different volume as needed to allow the wearer’s ear to hear equally across one’s hearing frequency range. 

        So I succumbed to a test drive of the model recommended by the hearing aid specialist, and I admit that I am noticing a difference.  Since the higher frequencies I was missing are now being amplified to a volume I can hear, I am becoming aware of sounds that I haven’t heard for years.  Like the swishing sound your socks make as you walk across a hardwood floor in your stocking feet.  Or the rustle of leaves when a light breeze is blowing.  I hear crickets in the weeds around our house that I thought had left for St George one winter and never came back.  When the kitchen tap is running I can hear the crinkling sound that water makes as it hits the bottom of the sink in addition to the rumble I had been used to hearing.  And besides the sound of the cuckoo in Ann’s favorite clock I can now tell that there are whirring gears that make the sound possible.  Ah, and the sound of music.  With my new hearing aids I no longer have to be satisfied with thinking that I am listening to a duet between drums and a bass guitar.  I now also hear the lilting sounds of flutes carrying the melody and piccolos adding the trill.  And the best news of all? My hearing aids connect directly to my iPhone with Bluetooth so that I can answer a call without even having to take my phone from my pocket. 

        I admit that I was in Geek Heaven until the other day when I went to Wal*Mart with Ann to restock our pantry.  It was right there in public as we stood before the soup display that I realized that my hearing aids were paying more attention to what was going on in the rest of the store than they were to Ann who was telling me something important about the can of soup she was examining to make certain that there was nothing harmful listed in the ingredients.  I was straining to hear Ann, but what my hearing aids were amplifying were the sounds of every cart being pushed through the store, every crying baby, and each tired child as they ran up and down the aisle screaming about things they wanted to buy.  And I could hear the loud conversations of people visiting five aisles over.  But I couldn’t make out what Ann was telling me about the soup even though we were standing side by side.  So if in the future you come across us shopping in Wal*Mart and you notice that I have a funnel sticking out of my ear, don’t worry.  I am just trying to hear what Ann is telling me about the soup at the same time I am trying to ignore the din of life in a very busy and public place.  And if you stop to talk to me I may have to turn me head so that the large part of the funnel is pointing at you while my eyes are looking the other way.  That won’t mean that I am guilty of something and I am embarrassed and looking away, or that you bore me.  It is merely my way of staying focused on what you are saying instead of the squeaky wheel on a cart fourteen aisles over carrying a crying baby.  Another interesting thing, I wore my new hearing aids to Church today and no one except my son noticed I had them on.  They certainly would have noticed, however, had there been a funnel sticking out of each ear.

Paper Piecing Class

Garden City Fire Board Needs New Member

GCFD Fire Board Opening

The Garden City Fire District is requesting applications for the Fire Board.  Applicants must be at least twenty-one years old and live within the district.  This is a four year appointment and requires the board members to attend the monthly meeting held at 6:00PM on the third Thursday of each month at the Fire Station.  The members must attend at least 7 of the 12 annual meetings and complete a Local District Board Member Training session within one year after taking office.  Experience as a board or team member would be beneficial, but not mandatory.

Applications must be submitted on-or-before 24 Oct 2014 to the Fire Chief, a board member or emailed to mumknight@cut.net.  The selected candidate will be notified no later than 7 Nov 2014 and voted-in during the November Fire Board meeting on 20 Nov 2014.  Randall Knight can be contacted to answer any questions or concerns.

Randall Knight

GCFD Secretary

435-946-9786

801-602-1752

Gracey Resigns From Garden City Fire Board

Chris Coray, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  September 25, 2014.  The Garden City Fire District governing board held its monthly meeting September 25, 2014.  Present were Perry Wakefield, Randall Knight, Christina Gracey, and Howard Pope.  Brian House was absent.  There has been some remodeling in the station.  New carpet and other improvements are completed or underway.

In follow up action from previous meetings, board members and Chief Mike Wahlberg reported that none of the three items of (1) obtaining legal counsel for personnel review,  (2) completing a set of procedures for fire boat operations, (3) and obtaining bids on the proposed storage shed have been completed. 

The state imposed fire restrictions for unincorporated areas are still in effect until removed by the state.  In incorporated Garden City, Chief Wahlberg will begin to grant burn permits Oct. 1.

Chief Wahlberg and Tom Wahlberg reported on their training courses in Emmitsburg, Maryland, which both reported as being valuable and extensive.

Tiffany Wahlberg discussed the financial statements for the district.  She said that several months ago the state and the district went through a set of “agreed upon procedures” and the district is in compliance.  She indicated that the district had $330,000 in cash on hand.  Funds exceeding $180,000 in cash on hand must have a dedicated purpose and the board and Chief Wahlberg said that the highest priorities for the funds are self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), further improvement of the building, personal protective gear, and mobile equipment (firefighting trucks).

Citing family responsibilities, Christina Gracey said she was resigning from the governing board effective at the end of the current meeting.  The meeting proceeded without comment.

Chief Wahlberg indicated that a new ISO rating process was about to occur.  It is a measure of both fire danger and the local ability to handle and suppress fires.  Chief Wahlberg said that it used to be the primary method insurance companies used to rate fire danger and firefighting capacity (and hence insurance rates) but that in his recent experience most insurance companies are now directly talking to him about specifics in the district.

2014 Scholastic Book Fair

The 2014 Scholastic Book Fair will be held  at the school in Laketown during the week of October 6 – 10.  Great buys on current and interesting books for children and young people.