Local Author Publishes Book

Wayne Fisher, who lives in Garden City, has published his first book Fall on Your Knees, A Nephites Journey to Bethlehem.  Despite the title,

the book is more a coming of age story with two brothers and their relationships with their father and lovers.  It is like being in Wayne's head as he dreams because time and space are suspended as the characters start out in Book of Mormon times but have Spanish names and quickly become a kind of American teen talking in slang and referring to current TV programs and movies, then sail to fantasy lands, fall in love, and end up with a rather disquieting scene with Mary, the mother of Jesus. 

Wayne was involved in a car accident which left him unable to walk or use his arms and hands and made talking very difficult.  In spite of this, he has trained a software program to understand his speech and with difficulty he can write a sentence, so this 100 page book took a long time to write. Even though he struggles to speak, those of us who know him love his wicked sense of humor and gospel knowledge.

The book sells for $4.99 on Amazon.com with a $5 shipping and handling charge or you can get one for $5.00 from Wayne Fisher directly by e-mailing him at santofloyd@msn.com.

Madsen Water Agreement

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah. November 13, 2014. Mike Madsen appeared before the Council asking that he be allowed to charge impact fees if and when land owners to the North want to connect to the water line that he personally installed.  He noted that he had spent about $97,000 to extend culinary water north.  Since development has slowed, no one has shown an interest.  However, Madsen felt that he should be able to recover some of his costs if and when development begins.  He was asking for an extension of the current agreement with the City that expires in 2020.  He asked for an additional ten years.  The Council indicated that they would be happy to extend the time period. 

However, the City would also like to make an agreement with him so that the City could also attach individuals in that area who are already using Garden City water onto that water source if there were problems with some of the older lines in that area. Madsen was told he could charge what he wanted to developers as an impact fee.  However, the City would like to make a fair agreement with him to allow the City to pay for use of his line as needed in the future.  Zan Murray, the City Engineer, said that he would write up a fair agreement to be made between the City and Madsen. 

Holidays At The Allinger Theater

Proposed City Ordinances Affects Businesses

Joey Stocking

Bear Lake Chamber

Just for your information the Town of Garden City is working on two ordinance that could have an impact on your business.  The sign ordinance and an ordinance limiting the location of Short-Term Rentals (STR).

 

Garden City's Planning & Zoning generously asked the Chamber to help propose a new sign ordinance. We held a meeting follow our regular chamber meeting last week. I have taken the current sign ordinance and cut it down to 8 pages. It is still in a rough form, however, when finished  I hope it will be less restrictive, more clear, and give businesses the freedom to attract customers.  At the same time I hope it will help keep the city looking beautiful.  If you have anything that you specifically want to see or not see in the ordinance please let me know immediately.  You can read the current ordinance here under section 11c-600.  I will send the new draft as soon as it is cleaned up.

 

Garden City's Planning & Zoning (P&Z) proposed making a zoning map showing the locations that Short-Term Rentals (STR) would be allowed.  They proposed only allowing STRs in the following developments: Snowmeadows, Buttercup, Cherimoya, and Harbor Village.  Current STRs outside of these areas would be grandfathered in. There are many areas with Home Owner Associations (HOAs) that already do not allow STRs, however, this proposed zone would notably ban rentals in areas not currently in HOAs such as the beach front areas or those near the city center.  By significantly decreasing the amount of areas that allow STRs this will limit the amount of lodging options for potential visitors to Bear Lake and would be harmful on the future economy of the Bear Lake area.

 

Fewer visitors means fewer customers at businesses.  There are many points of view not considered here.  I only mention the economic impact on businesses.  I encourage you to become informed on this subject and then communicate your thoughts to the members of P&Z and town council. 

 

While this STR issue could negatively affect businesses, in general I appreciate the efforts of those on town council and P&Z.  The relationship between the city and businesses has been strained in the past but I look forward to working together to responsibly develop the economy of Bear Lake and make Bear Lake a wonderful place to play, work, and live.

October Sheriff's Report

 RICH COUNTY SHERIFF’S REPORT

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah. October,2014.  Each month the report is written into an article.  It might be interesting to see the report as it is handed to the Rich Civic Times.

LAW TOTAL INCIDENT REPORT BY NATURE

                   OF INCIDENT

Nature of Incident	Total Incidents
Agency Assistance	6
Alarm	2
Animal Problem	5
Attempt to Locate	3
Burglary	1
Citizen Assist	5
Citizen Dispute	1
Civil Process	11
Criminal History	8
Domestic Disturbance	1
DUI Alcohol or Drugs	1
Fire	2
Fraud	2
Juvenile Problem	2
Lost Property	1
Medical Emergency	9
Missing Person	2
Traffic Accident with Damage	6
Traffic Accident with Injuries	1
Suspicious Person-Circumstance	9
Theft	4
Traffic Hazard	3
Traffic Violation	1
Trespassing	2
VIN Serial Number Inspect.	4
Welfare Check	2
TOTAL	94

LAW TOTAL INCIDENT REPORT,

            BY LOCATION

Location Code	Total Incidents
Not Defined	1
Garden City	25
Laketown	21
Out of County	1
Randolph	29
Woodruff	17
Total	94

Maggie and Jiggs

By Bob Stevens, The Muddled Male

      When we travel I always seem to get a severe case of gout.  I like to think of it as a genetic flaw gifted to me by one or both of my parents.  Ann, my wife, on the other hand, claims that it is my own fault for living too much like Jiggs, a cartoon character of my youth.  In Wikipedia you will find that Jiggs was one of the main characters in an influential American cartoon strip called Bringing Up Father which was created by cartoonist George McManus.  It was distributed by King Features Syndicated and ran for 87 years from 1913 to the year 2000.  

       Most people called the strip Maggie and Jiggs after Jiggs the husband and Maggie, his wife.  The humor centered on Jiggs, an immigrant Irishman whose previous occupation was a hod carrier but came into wealth in the United States by winning a million dollars in a sweepstakes.  Though newly rich, he still longed to revert to his working class habits and lifestyle.  His constant attempts to sneak out with his old gang of boisterous, rough-edged pals, eat corned beef and cabbage, and hang out at the local tavern were often thwarted by his formidable, social-climbing, rolling-pin wielding, critical and scolding wife who claimed that Jiggs’ constant battle with gout was his own fault, caused entirely by his uncontrolled lifestyle.

      Now I don’t eat corned beef and cabbage, and I don’t hang out at a tavern.  Neither is Ann a social climber nor does she carry a rolling pin, but she does claim that my gout is entirely the result of my uncontrolled lifestyle, just like Jiggs.  I tried to explain to her that gout is simply the result of too much uric acid in my system, a compound that likely comes from my genes, which makes it my parents’ fault.  She immediately responds with her analysis that there is little difference between the uric acid that I claim causes my gout, and the carbonic acid that puts the fizz in my favorite pop.  “Acid is acid,” she says, and goes on to remind me that my gout comes as a result of my poor choices while traveling.  And that is the same argument she has been making for the fifty-nine years we have been married.  Okay, I admit that she is correct in saying that I drink more pop on the road than I do at any other time, but I still maintain that Carbonic acid is not Uric acid and fizz is not gout, proving that the cause for my gout is my parents’ fault, not mine.

      I will confess to you, however, that shortly after starting our current trip I began to feel twinges of gout in my toes.  So without telling Ann, I voluntarily switched from drinking pop to drinking sugar free, carbonation free, pomegranate flavored water as a possible way of staving off both gout and high blood sugar, fearing that if Ann found out that I had come down with either she would change into a rolling pin swinging Maggie.  I am happy to report that my secret switch in drinks did help with the gout.  But my blood sugar hit 160 by the second night of our trip.  I still claim it was not my fault, unless you call stopping twice to have Chinese food where I was caused by some unknown force to consume several portions of sweetened walnut shrimp, orange chicken, and sweet and sour pork my fault.

      It was what happened at the Chinese restaurant, however, that caused me to think that Ann just might deserve more credit for insight and power than I had been giving her.  We had been having a vigorous discussion regarding whether or not my need to purchase an iPhone 6+ to replace my iPhone 5s that is barely a year old is really a necessity or an extravagance.  When the meal was over and we opened our separate Fortune Cookies, mine said, “LAVISH SPENDING MAY BE DISASTEROUS, BE CAREFUL.”  Ann’s said, “ENJOY WHAT YOU HAVE, HOPE FOR WHAT YOU WANT.”  And I did not make that up.  Now I don’t know if Ann has been outsmarting me because she is smarter than me as she claims, or because she is a witch that can change the writing on the slip of paper contained within the cookie while it is still sealed in its package.  She admits to being a witch but said that she is a GOOD witch who is only looking out for my well-being.

School Board Election Results

The school board elections resulted in every incumbent losing to a challenger whether it was in a primary race or in the general elections.  Most of the winning candidates ran on a "change" platform.
One race, School Board District 4, is still tied with 4 outstanding absentee ballots.

The results:  School Board 3; Monty Weston 85, Ralph Johnson 80.  School Board 4; Eric Wamsley 81, Dallas Clark 81.  School Board 5; Bryce Huefner 131, Tamalyn Calderl 89.

 

"Didn't Want To Confuse People"

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

Redistricting the School Board

RANDOLPH, Utah.  November 5, 2014.  Commissioner Bill Cox responded to newly elected school board member Bryce Huefner’s query about why the County Commission had not acted to reapportion the school board as required by the Utah Code.  Huefner pointed out that 8 months ago he had come to the board with data which could have been used. 

Cox said, “We couldn’t  have a committee it until after the election  because people would be confused about where to vote.” 

Huefner responded that redistricting should have been done at least 3 years ago.  “This is a process and people understand this, they would not have been confused.  We came to you as a committee months ago and you promised to get the committee selected within a month.  We have heard nothing.”

The commissioners said they were angered at the fact that Huefner had called the Lt. Governor’s office to report the fact that Rich County Commission had not followed the Utah Code regarding  the proper redistricting  of the county. 

“This is my second presentation to the commission,” said Huefner, who had a power point presentation and charts which demonstrated the growth from the 2000 Census to  the 2010 Census.  By 2010, Garden City had grown more than the other cities in the county.  It is now 19% larger than Randolph and the 5 board seats need to be reallocated by Utah law.

Huefner had convened a county wide citizen’s committee to look at population, land area and logical break points and  proposed a division of the county  as such:  Garden City North from north Garden City to the highway;  Garden City South, from south Garden City to Sweetwater Trailer Park and Round Valley; Laketown, Laketown unincorporated, Laketown and north Bear River Valley: Randolph, Randolph  City and Woodruff , south valley and Woodruff to the Wyoming border.  Each district is contiguous and has approximately 450 people.

Cox said that Huefner had appointed himself as the “Reapportionment  Czar.”  Huefner said he was a concerned citizen representing a committee of other concerned citizens and as a citizen had a right to come to the commission.  Cox said the commission had identified a 14 person committee which they would appoint  immediately.  A list of county reapportionment committee members includes: Bill Cox, Bill Kennedy, Renae Barker, Cally Leavitt, Taylor Payne, Shawn Groll, Betty Mills, Sim Weston, Chris Hopkins, Mike Meeks, Pete Cornia, Bret England, Curtis Moldenhauer, and Tammy Calder.

Norm Weston said they would take the advice of this committee, not the citizen’s committee Huefner represented.

Then Huefner pivoted to another discussion, that of changing the County Commission to a County Council.  The meeting grew testy after Huefner brought up the idea that the county needed a county council which had 5 members which would be apportioned just like the proposed school districts and which would give broader representation.

Huefner said that Garden City Residents don’t feel that the county commissioners represent them.  “You three are ranchers, I love ranchers, but you don’t understand us.  Tom Weston challenged Huefner to tell any time he or the other commissioners had not responded to his needs. “Now we in Garden City area feel that our viewpoints are not being respected,” said Huefner.  

Cox asked, “ in what did we not support Garden City?” Jennifer Huefner said “ I would like to see less divisiveness, and that broader representation will make us more cohesive.    We know you have done a lot of work for us.”

Norm Weston said “We don’t need Garden City to tell us what to do.” Tom Weston said angrily, “tell me exactly what we haven’t done for you.”  At this point Huefner closed his presentation.

Ambulance Situation

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter
Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah.  November 5, 2014.  Randall Knight, Garden City Fire Board, gave the Commission the names of two volunteers for the new fire board opening.  The Commissioners nominated Jenny England for a four year appointment to the Garden City Fire District. 

Knight asked about the ambulance situation with Cache County and Rich County.  Last month a person was trapped in a vehicle for an hour in the Cache Forest while they waited for the ambulance to come from Logan.  If the ambulance from Garden City had been called it would have taken 10 minutes.

“There is a MOU existing,” said Bill Cox, “signed 5 years ago.”

“That information was not passed on to the Laketown dispatcher,” said Randall.  “So they followed their policies and procedures and called Cache County.”

 Knight said, “we need to use common sense.  Is there an obvious time boundary so that the ambulance could go to the closest response point?”  Kim Wilson, EMT, said, “we cannot respond in Cache County because they are a paramedic service and Rich County is not.  They also do not like to give up the revenues from their ambulance which costs more."  Knight said that we should not put revenue before saving lives.

Sheriff Dale Stacey said that Cache County has to invite the Rich County ambulance into Cache County and right now they do not like to do that.  Rich County cannot send in an ambulance legally without that invitation.

“We have to work with the Sheriff and bring Cache County public safety people in,” said Cox.   Knight asked if the meeting would be set up.  Cox said he would have the Sheriff come to talk with the board.

“Right now there is no legal impediment,” he said.

One Game Away From State Championship

Rebel football jerseys figures on display to cheer on team in cities around the county. Championship game at 1:30, Friday, November 14 at Cedar City.
Photo by Gary Mckee 

2013 Tourism Report

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah.  November 5, 2014. “Tourism related tax revenue grew a healthy 26.5%  in fiscal year 2013, with over 20% increases in county transient room tax, resort community sales tax (Garden City) and restaurant tax revenues.  Rich County’s 2013 taxable sales in the leisure and hospitality sector were highest in the summer and lowest in the winter, with a significant increase from the previous year in fall and winter accommodation sales. Restaurant sales in the fall of 2013 were 30% above sales the previous year.  “ said Melinda Hislop, director of the Bear Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau.

In 2013 tourism jobs increased by 25%, and room occupancy rates increased as well.  The Bear Lake State Park reported 184,355 visitors in 2013.

The TRT grants have been awarded.  The  Overlook Visitor Center will receive $22,000, Bear River Heritage 1,000; Logan Canyon Byway will match another grant with $1000.  This will be the last year for Byway grants.  Randolph was awarded a grand for a PA system for the baseball field.  Rendezvous Chamber of Commerce will receive $4000 for a map and new website.  Rich County Sheriff was granted funds for public safety during tourist season. 

The BLVCB will do more in state radio advertising this year.