Editorial: School Board Reapportioning Law

What is the reason for redistricting the Rich School Board?

In order to meet the United States Statutes of “One man, one vote”, the Utah Legal Code requires periodic reapportionment of elective office regions.  In particular, the Utah Code requires local school districts that are part of a larger collective district go through this reapportionment process under a variety of circumstances.   The first requirement of reapportionment listed by the Utah Code is that it must occur at least every ten years.  Rich County has not complied with this principle of the reapportionment code, which has been in place since at least 2000.  Hence, each day this task is not completed is an additional day for which the county is not in compliance with state law.

In Rich County the process of reapportionment is to be carried out by the county legislative body, in this case the county commission.  The commission is aware of the current non-compliance and Commissioner Bill Cox is a member of a recently appointed committee created to suggest appropriate new boundaries for the 5 local school board districts.  The committee met November 19, 2014, and has scheduled its next meeting in mid-January.

 By law, the districts are to be apportioned to be equal in population, as contiguous as possible, but the key criteria for reapportionment is population.  Commissioner Cox has properly instructed the committee that population (not children or registered voters), as determined by the U.S. Constitutionally mandated census of 2010, is to be used in the process.  As an exact splitting of a county into 5 identically sized districts often is not completely consistent with the companion legal goal of contiguity, some variance from precise equality is allowed by the courts.  For a U.S. congressional reapportionment the variance from ideal permitted is not more than 1%.  For school districts such as ours the variance from ideal allowed is generally higher but if that variance from ideal in reapportionment exceeds 10%, the courts would likely overturn the proposed redistricting.

Census data available online from the U.S. Census Bureau (which at this late date cannot even be challenged), makes this task arithmetically easy and the process should be completely sterile and apart from personalities, instead it should be based solely on geography, community, and census population.  The current variance from ideal is so large (81% in one case) that the “One man-one vote” requirement is not close to attainment.  It is time for the county to promptly complete the legally required task.  Citizens do not get to choose which United States or Utah State laws to obey.  Neither, especially, should the county government.

Chris S. Coray

Parking Layout at 350 S. Disputed by Neighbors

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah. November 14, 2014.  Sandra Carlson and her daughter-in-law appeared before the Garden City Council to see if some changes could be made to the new parking lot at 350 South.  Sandra lives on the corner of 350 South and Bear Lake Boulevard.  She has two double gates and a single gate along 350 South.  When the striping was done at this new parking lot, striping was done in front of one of the double gates.  It was set up for handicapped parking.  The other double gate was left so it could be used to drive into her lot.

She informed the Council that she had not been aware that anything was being done by her home until late summer.  She felt that she should have had an opportunity to at least express her ideas and explain why she needed both of the large gates.  She felt that the striping was a real problem.

Her daughter-in-law, Stephanie Carlson, asked the Council why the parking stalls were only 9’ x 18’ instead of the required 9’ x 20 as stated in the City’s ordinances.  She also noted that the road was only 22’ wide when the ordinances required 24’ for a roadway.  She asked if a variance for these two changes had been obtained by the City.  She said these were real issues and that the City should at least follow its own ordinances.

It was noted that when they pull in a larger truck or trailer, it would almost be impossible to make a turn and drive into the lot with the parking stalls as close to the gates as they are.  In addition, they felt turning into her lot while dragging a boat or 4-wheeler behind their vehicle wouldn’t be possible.    They asked if at least one of the parking spots on the north be removed to be used for a wider turn to be able to get into her yard.  They both indicated that turning around is going to be very difficult as well.  There is not a turn around.  If all the stalls are parked full, there will be no place to turn around.  Cars on the South will have to back out onto Bear Lake Boulevard to get out of the parking lot.

Stephanie Carlson also noted that the parking lot is right on the property line, no extra space was allowed at all.  She had a concern about overnight parking, and letting the public know that this was a dead end street.  She didn’t want individuals parking there all night.  Also, because of the close quarters, she asked that a sign be put up to indicate that no trailers or trucks should be allowed to park in that area. 

Concrete barriers had been placed on the north side of the lot.  There are no homes or lots on the north whereas there are two homes on the south with no such barriers.  Zan Murray, the City Engineer, noted that a cement swale was put next to the sidewalk that alerts drivers that they are as far into the parking stall as they should go and was used in place of the cement barriers.  He also indicated that signage would be put up to let people know the rules for parking in that particular area.

Sandra Carlson and Stephanie Carlson were told that they would be informed in the future of any changes of work that may be done in that area.  The apologized for not getting more information to them sooner.

Icy Cold Over The Warmer Lake And There Is Fog!

Photo by Tammy Calder

Fire District Seeks Improved Coordination with Cache County

Chris S. Coray, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  November 19, 2014.  The Garden City Fire District Board held its monthly meeting.  All members were present except Perry Wakefield.  County Commissioner Tom Weston and Sheriff Dale Stacey also attended.

The major item of discussion in the meeting was the initiation of an effort by the fire department to increase coordination and support with Cache County concerning accidents on US 89 between Garden City and Logan, so that the nearest agency responds to an emergency in the canyon.

Chief Wahlberg and the board will prepare a draft agreement by December and hope to have it jointly agreed upon by both counties in January.  While the purpose of this effort is to render needed emergency medical or other assistance in the canyon it does not in any way involve EMS services provided by Rich County.  The proposal discussed would allow for the Garden City Fire Department to respond automatically to calls for assistance between the Rich-Cache boundary on US 89 down to the Franklin Basin road in Cache County.  This would be a shorter run for Rich County than Cache.  The word automatically is an essential and fundamental part of the agreement.  There is already a mutual aid agreement between the two counties where if one asks the other for assistance it is provided.  If the new agreement comes to fruition, assistance would be provided automatically, without Cache County having to ask or invite Rich.   Further, this proposed agreement would involve only the dispatch of fire department equipment into the described part of Cache County on US 89, not an ambulance.  Chief Wahlberg explained that in almost all cases medical aid (or extrication equipment usage) could be made by fire department personnel, most of whom are EMTs.  There was a question raised about EMT training possessed by Rich County personnel versus paramedics in Cache County.  Chief Wahlberg said that in most cases Cache County sends EMT personnel with the same level of training as Rich, seldom sending the paramedics.

Commissioner Weston thought this proposal was a good idea and if a detailed agreement could be reached by both counties he thought that the Rich County Commission would formally support it.  Sheriff Stacey explained that changing the aid agreement from “if invited” to “automatically” was a substantial and strong change.

It needs to be repeated that this proposed change would involve the Garden City Fire Department, its equipment and personnel, and not the Rich County EMS service.  Commissioner Weston said that he believed the Rich County EMS unit should consider the same kind of agreement but such a proposal should be initiated by the EMS unit.

As a final note on this topic, it continues to be the case that no mutual aid agreement exists between Rich County and Bear Lake County, Idaho.  Neither county renders emergency public safety support to the other, the cause of which Commissioner Weston attributed to lack of legislative agreement between the two entities.

In other work the board rejected both bids for a storage shed and will re-bid the project.  Bonuses for salaries were approved for Chief Wahlberg ($1,000) and Tiffany Wahlberg, CPA and accountant for the district ($500). There were minor adjustments made to the 2014 budget and a draft budget was approved for 2015.  The public hearing for the 2015 budget will be Dec 4, 2014, at 6 p.m.  Randall Knight requested an update and review on the department’s 5 year plan.

In January, the Cache County EMS Authority meeting will include discussion of a written agreement that could provide additional, and perhaps faster, medical response to people requiring emergency treatment near the summit of Logan Canyon.

Herald Journal Article, November 21

by Amy Macavinto, Reporter, Herald Journal 

On Oct. 29, a Rich County woman was injured in a single-vehicle rollover on U.S. Highway 89 near the summit of Logan Canyon, three-fourths of a mile from the Rich County line. She was conscious but not completely responsive, and it took more than half an hour for an ambulance to arrive.

Because the crash was in Cache County, emergency responders in Logan were paged at 10:12 a.m., and a helicopter was requested almost immediately. The first emergency response vehicle arrived 30 minutes later; the ambulance arrived at 10:46 a.m.

Meanwhile, 8 miles away, Garden City Fire District Chief Mike Wahlberg waited, just in case his agency was called to assist.

“Had we known it was my wife, we would have just gone,” he said.

Wahlberg’s wife is just one of many accident victims to be injured in the far reaches of Logan Canyon.

Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Lee Perry said the fastest response time he has ever had to the upper part of the canyon is 20 minutes on a good fall day with no traffic. Typical response time is 30 to 35 minutes.

But on a snow day, you can expect to add up to an hour of additional response time, he said, and that’s on top of the time it takes for someone to get to a location where they are able to report a crash.

Response times to the same area, the upper part of the canyon, from Rich County could be reduced to as little as 10 minutes.

According to Wahlberg, there is a mutual aid agreement between the counties, but it only allows one agency to help the other when specifically asked to do so, and there is no agreement in place that allows for an automatic response.

Logan City Fire Chief Jeff Peterson said this issue has been discussed in the past, but a workable agreement was never reached. But, he said he is all for it.

“Getting help to the people is my absolutely No. 1 priority,” he said.

Wahlberg, who has been chief of Rich’s fire district for a year, said this is an issue he always intended to address, but his wife’s crash just accelerated his zeal for it.

“I can’t say enough good about Cache County and Logan Fire,” Wahlberg said. “They are top-notch at what they do. My opinion is not that anything is wrong with their service; it is not about the geographical boundary; it is about who can offer the quickest response.”

“I am not going to rest until I see a solution and get it fixed,” he said.

According to Wahlberg, the Garden City Fire District has the ability and resources to reach the scene quickly, start extrication and first aid.

“We have 27 firefighters, and most of them are EMTs with advanced-level training,” Wahlberg said.

They are equipped with an engine, a ladder truck and a rescue-extrication vehicle housed at the fire station in Garden City — 6 miles to the county line, Wahlberg said.

While he is a full-time chief, the remaining firefighters are paid on-call volunteers, many of whom live near the station and are able to respond quickly.

“When we are paged on a run we can usually have units rolling within four or five minutes,” he said.

Wahlberg said he has no expectations. He just wants to be able to have the ability to respond, to stabilize a patient and prepare them for transport.

Even with Rich County’s help, Logan responders will still be required on scene, and all patients transported by ground ambulance would go to a Logan hospital because there is not a facility in Rich County.

“Often it is our residents stuck in a wreck,” he said. “The only thing we gain out of this is the peace of mind, knowing we are taking care of people.”

According to Perry, this type of agreement exists between many other agencies and would be nothing but beneficial to drivers in Logan Canyon.

“It makes a lot of sense for them to work together,” he said. “I have to applaud those guys for getting together to work this out.”

amacavinta@hjnews.com

Garden City Council Reports

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times 

GARDEN CITY, Utah. November 14, 2014.  Chuck Stocking reported that the library is looking to purchase a terminal for handling credit cards.  It would cost approximately $120.  Darrin Pugmire indicated that he had a terminal he would be happy to donate to the library.

The library is considering changing their hours.  They thought of having the same hours for three days a week.  It may then go over the 20 hours per week.  The Council noted that as long as it wasn’t more than two or three hours, that would be okay.

Two of the Library Board Members finish up their terms the end of this year.  Marsha  Solum and Carman Madsen are the two new members who have been chosen as replacements for those leaving the board. Kathie Anderson is leaving as Chair of the Library Board in December after several years of dedicated service.

Work on the City pool has been completed.  It looks much better and is safer as well.

One of the signs purchased by a business and placed in the kiosk has been taken.  The question was asked if anyone knew who or why it had been taken.  No one in the group had any information concerning this sign.

A request was made to use one of the City’s buildings for the empty nesters’ meetings.  The City has been very accommodating in the past in allowing community groups access to their facilities.  It was suggested that a list of rules be drawn up that would have to be followed in order to use a  room.  They would need to clean the bathrooms, vacuum and clean the carpets, stack chairs, and so forth.  They would also be asked to provide a deposit in case of problems or difficulties.  Also, if the City has an opportunity to rent the facility, the group would be asked to let the paying customer use the facility.

Darrin Pugmire noted that lifeguards must have background checks.  After a short discussion, the motion was made to have background checks taken on all City employees.
 

Pugmire indicated that there in no road to a home in Garden City.  An address is required and the road needs to be made to the home, and it should be given a name at that time.  The Council didn’t care the road name or what route was taken to get to the house.  They decided it should be left up to the home owner.

The roads are doing well.  More striping will need to be done next summer.  It was suggested that on Third West from Logan Road to Highway 89 by the KOA striping be done on both sides of the road as well as the center.  The side striping really assists drivers in bad weather.

Bruce Warner noted that bringing natural gas into the valley is probably going to be more difficult that he first thought.  It will cost about $17 or $18 million dollars to do so.  Currently, people in the area have already installed propane.  In addition, there are many homes that are not lived in during the winter months when consumption would be at its highest.  Thus, recovery of the funds required to bring natural gas into the area would take much longer than originally thought.

Garden City Council Meeting

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY,Utah.  November 14, 2014.  April Wuthrich owns Xtreme Movement Dance Company and wants to conduct a dance studio and offer dance classes.  She has made arrangements to use the basement of Firehouse Pizza which is located at 50 South Bear Lake Boulevard. The Council made a motion to allow her to have a business license.

Peter and Bethann Matousek requested that they be allowed for a covenant to run with two parcels of land.  Permission was given.

A discussion was held concerning the annexation request of several land owners who desire to become part of Garden City.  The Council signed the necessary papers to allow them to begin this process.

The Bear Lake Community Health Care Center requested that Garden City sponsor them in applying for a Community Development Block Grant.  They would like to create an office space in their facility for working with people with behavioral health problems.  The Council approved the request.

There was a discussion about applying for a grant or loan funding from the Utah Community Impact Board (CIB) in order to complete a Beach Management Plan.  The grant request would be for $40,000.  CIB would provide $20,000 and the City would have to match that amount.  It was decided that this item should be looked into further and requested that this item placed on next month’s agenda.

The City and some of the Sweetwater Subdivisions have talked about annexation of that area into Garden City.  There are several items that will need to be considered before any action will be taken.  The discussion will continue into the future.

There was a short discussion concerning short term rentals.  There were several members of the community present who were concerned with some of the suggestions that are being discussed.  Darrin noted that he attends the Planning and Zoning Committee and had this placed on the agenda so that the Council Members would be up-to-date on some of the issues that exist.  However, no action was to be taken.  Actually, the recommendations for action in this area will have to come from Planning and Zoning.  If the concerned individuals want to keep current with what is happening in this area, they probably should attend the Planning and Zoning Meetings.

The Garden City quilters asked for $500 to help them continue with their humanitarian efforts.  The City has assisted this group for a number of years and indicated that they would help again this year.  The money will be taken from the library/arts/park/pool budget since the work they do falls into the artistic area.

Community Decorating Event

Come Join In Decorating The Garden City Community Tree

Update: Saturday, December November 22 at 2 p.m

Raspberry Square

To be entered for the drawing, bring a homemade ornament for the tree. You can also bring things for Sub for Santa!

The Unmuddled Mathematician

Sometimes a Bully Meets Justice

By Chris S. Coray, The Unmuddled Mathematician

In the movie that is played continuously on TV for 24 hours, Christmas day, titled “A Christmas Story”, there are many family experiences that are timeless.   One of the vignettes is about the kid at school who, with his small and obnoxious assistant, bullies and terrifies all the other kids who are physically smaller than he.  This is pretty much everybody.  But in the movie he gets his due.  This is a real story about a similar experience, and it is not meant to be humorous.

My wife and I have two children, both wonderful daughters.  Like all families, there are struggles.  Our eldest daughter Kim had really bad allergies as a toddler which made normal sleep almost impossible.  Too much congestion.  But we had remedies.  Every week I would give my girl a shot which gradually built up her immunity and she got better from the allergy.  However, when she turned 5 and entered school we discovered that she had a lazy eye and was only really seeing out of one.  She never, ever complained.  For two years every morning when she woke up I would put a patch on her good eye and she lived in at best a fuzzy and dim world.  Sometimes I would draw spiders or other stuff on her patch. The memory of watching her as she tried to see the pictures in kid books still tugs at our hearts. 

After two years the lazy eye had gone from essentially blind to 20/60 with correction.  No further progress was possible so to this day that eye is just held in reserve should something happen to the other.  And as for the other eye, the good one which itself was not perfect, the doc suggested that at age 7 we use a new product, a Bausch and Lomb soft contact lens.  This was new science and it was expensive.   Kim had a fluid filled lens case for the contact but while the case was made for two, she had but one lens.  At school she knew she was different and had vision unequal to her classmates.  As always, no complaints ever, no anger.  She just kept on being kind for that is what is in her heart.  Overcoming her difficulties made her more sensitive and gentle, not less. 

Her one lens allowed her to have a mostly normal life.  Games that require depth perception, like tennis or other games with balls were beyond her capacity.  And she had what all kids need, one or two really good friends.  Unfortunately there were a couple of classmates who were just plain mean bullies.  

The school had grades K-6.  One day in the winter when Kim was in the 5^th grade, a  6^th grade male bully who had been tormenting her all year, just to be mean,  grabbed her lens case, which in fact had the soft lens in it getting cleaned, and ran outside, throwing the white lens case into the snow on the school playground.  It could not be found.  Something snapped in Kim.  Whether it was her sense of fair play or a deeper understanding of how mean this action was, she went after her older classmate.  Kim was a thin, strong child and she was upset.  She tackled the older boy and soon was sitting astride him, pounding his face with her mitten covered hands.  While bigger than Kim the boy could not escape and the beating continued.  A strange thing was that there were several teachers out with the kids observing all activity.  They had seen the whole thing and they intentionally did not stop the application of justice.  They let it continue.  Soon the snow was mixed with the bloody nose drops of the bully and only fatigue ended Kim’s pounding of the bully. 

All of this was reported to us second hand.  It is not possible for me to understand why anyone would remove the capacity of another to just plain see and it is a good thing I was not there.   After learning the details that evening I visited the father of the young man in his house, who I believe was at least as upset with his son as I.  He immediately agreed to provide a new contact lens and applied whatever discipline he thought appropriate after I had left his home.  I still smile a little at how a 6^th grade boy must have felt about getting his clock cleaned by a 5^th grade girl.

Today Kim is the CEO and an owner of a company with 350 employees.  Some of the current employees were among those who gave her a hard time throughout the public school years.  She has never rejected a job applicant because of unkind behavior directed at Kim in their school years.  In other words, she forgave in all cases, remains generous to all, especially to those in need, and has joy in her mind and heart.  Her forgiveness helped her grow. 

Rebels Take State

The Rich Rebels beat Diamond Ranch 20 - 0 for the State Championship held in Cedar City, Utah this year.

Photo by Bryce Huefner

Photo by Tammy Calder

Photo by Susan House

Letter To The Editor

From Joey Stocking, regarding the ambulance situation in Rich County:

I wish I would have known this was going to be discussed. I appreciate Randall asking these important questions. This report sounds really confusing though. The Sheriff is quoted as saying we "cannot send in an ambulance legally without that invitation" and Commissioner Cox is quoted as saying "Right now there is no legal impediment." So which is it? And does Rich EMS know what it can or cannot legally do. I am really concerned about this issue and want to help see it resolved. I am sure there is a lot I don't understand, so I want to be careful when I say that I want to see the closest EMS team respond to calls. I've tried doing some research on the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services (BEMS)website (https://health.utah.gov/ems/rulereg/).  It states a "unit may only provide service in its specific geographical service area except as provided by R426-3-800 Aid Agreements." This brings up a few questions: What is the Rich EMS geographical service area? I am guessing it is on Ambulance Situation

Nutcracker Ballet - Thanksgiving Weekend

 

Cache Valley Civic Ballet

Presents

Thanksgiving Weekend

 

November 28 & 29, December 1, 2014

Evening Performances at 7:30 and Friday & Saturday Matinee at 1:30

Tickets $12 - $25

Discounts offered for Students

Ellen Eccles Theater - 43 South Main - Logan 435 752 0026

 

www.cvcballet.org

Nutcracker Princess Tea:  The Bullen's Center

Friday and Saturday Nov 28 & 29  11:00 - 12:30

Wetland Study Proposed

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times 

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  November 13, 2014. Danny White, a wetlands specialist, reported to the Council the work that he has been doing along the lakeshore.  He is currently writing a report and applying to the federal government for a permit to allow the City to maintain the beach areas.  This permit would allow cultivation of the sandy and lake bed areas.  Lake bed areas are the areas where there is very little vegetation and/or sand and are easily approved.  All of the wetlands that contain special aquatic vegetation must be mitigated to be included in the beach maintenance program. 

When areas are mitigated, other locations must be found and traded for those areas that would be changed in any way.  It usually is a trade of two acres of new wetlands for one acre that is to be destroyed.   There are lots of phragmites along the lake shore, and here the government allows five acres of phragmites for one acre of mitigated land. 

Danny wanted to know how much the City wanted to mitigate and what areas needed to be include and/or excluded.  The Council asked that everything possible from below 200 North south to Blue Water Beach should be included.  There was approximately 330 acres that will be included in the permit.  Most of this area can be actively managed without much mitigation.  One of the most prime areas on the beach is below 150 South. 

It was noted that the City has a limited amount of money for beach management.  It was thought that perhaps people who live along the lakeshore would be willing to adopt areas near their homes to keep clean and cultivated.  If the permit is obtained, beaches can be plowed, harrowed, mowed, and so forth in order to keep them sandy and insect free. 

Danny noted that he would be willing to take the Council Members along the beach next spring to show them where the exact areas are located so that there would be no misunderstanding of what can be managed and what must be left as wetlands. 

If and when the lake comes up and stays up for a few years, areas there are currently known as wetlands will be choked out.  When the water goes back out, these areas could then be claimed as lake bed areas and added to what the City already has included in their permit.  This will much less costly than trying to mitigate more land at the present time. 

The motion was made and passed to fund White to finish his study, write it up, and submit it with the paperwork to request the federal permit.  Included in the motion was the tour for the Council Members in the spring.  Wight noted that the paperwork should be completed and will be submitted in early December to the federal government for the permit.

. 

Garden City Engineer Report

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  November 14, 2014.  Zan Murray, the City Engineer, reported to the Council on the work that has been done during the past month.  It was noted that the parking lots on 75 North and 350 South are substantially complete.  All items on the 75 North parking lot have been completed and accepted.  There are few items on 350 South relating to parking, striping, and landscaping that still need to be completed.  Most of these will probably be finished in the spring.

The design for the 150 South parking lot is all but complete.  The sewer district is currently working on relocating their lines and lift station.  CentraCom will also be moving their lines for the roadway widening.  There will also be some waterline work that must be completed before the parking lot is paved.  Norm Mecham will be upsizing the pipeline from the West side of Bear Lake Boulevard to the location where his meter will be installed to service his development.  There are also some city improvements at 70 East and 90 East that will be made.  These will be funded through a grant.  The grant is about $500,000.  The total cost of the project will be closer to $600,000.  The City will have to pick up the difference.

Staker Parsons is the contractor doing the City Park parking lot.  They will not start this project until spring.

The Water Master Plan has been submitted to the City, and the final bill for this work has been sent to the City as well.

Zan reviewed the Shundahai water tank agreement and made some suggestions that he felt would be more understandable and clear for all involved.

A glamping (glamourous camping) development has been suggested west of the rodeo grounds.  Zan and others involved met as a group with the developer to discuss water and other infrastructure items.  An equivalent ERU (equivalent residential unit) impact fact has been determined for campgrounds and has been included in the Water Master Plan.  The waterline size has also been calculated and given to the glamping development organization.

A meeting was held with Swan Creek Irrigation Company to discuss an agreement to use water shares to irrigate the parks instead of using the Pickleville well rights.  A service area map needs to be prepared showing where Garden City will be using these water shares so Swan Creek Irrigation Company will have it on file for their records.

Garden City Planning & Zoning Report

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  November 13, 2014.  The Planning and Zoning Committee sent several ordinances and ordinance changes to the City Council for their approval.  The first was a new definition for the term “Gross Leasable Area.”  The Council  passed this change.

The next ordinance was written to create a hotel/motel zone within Garden City town limits.  There were actually four small areas that they determined would work well.  The Council felt Planning and Zoning and done a good job of locating some good locations and accepted the new zoning ordinance.

There was an ordinance written that incorporated changes that all subdivisions must be fully surveyed prior to approval.    This ordinance still allows developers to build in phases, but everyone will be aware of the actual size of the overall project. The ordinance was accepted.

The last ordinance for consideration would allow homes to be built in all commercial areas.  After a discussion concerning this item, the Council felt that some additional information was needed prior to passing this item, and asked that Darrin Pugmire get some additional information from Planning and Zoning.

Because there was a new zone created, approval was also given that the maps be updated to show the hotel/motel zones that have been made.

Garden City Public Works Report

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  November 13, 2014.  A request was made by a citizen to the City Council to have their water turned off and to actually be cut off from the system in order to save the $42.00 monthly water fee.  There are unique circumstances at this location.  It was noted that the water to the building involved has a 6” pipe which was put in place at a significant cost to the City.  The meter there was also more costly then most. There will be a $10 lot fee, even if the water is shut off.  Removing the pipes and meter completely off the property will be expensive.  If water is requested later date, an impact fee will have to be paid.  It would require much more time and effort than just reconnecting to the system.  Riley Argyle, the Public Works Director, said he would figure out the costs involved in this request.  He also noted that later on, if the building is put up for sale, it will be much less saleable than it is in its current condition.

The Heritage Park project has been completed.  The sidewalk is in place, landscaping, and the other items have been completed.  The large tree by the Ray Lutz home has been moved to the park as well.

The summer homes just south of 150 South have now been metered.  There were seven homes there without meters.  All but one has been taken care of.  The last one will be metered this coming spring.

It has been decided to install 2 culverts close to Heritage Park on Third West.  This will just be a beginning to get the necessary culverts along this area.  These two will be put in place and the others will be added as time permits.

The fence at Buttercup is in place.  The dumpster pad will need to be enlarged so that the County trucks will be able to pick up the trash.  The trucks are larger than was thought.

There are four decorative light poles left.  Riley thought perhaps they could be put in Heritage Park.  Mayor Spuhler, however, thought it would be better to put two of them on the East side of the new parking lot at 75 North and the other two on the north side of the new 350 South parking lot.  This would give better visibility in those areas.

Darrin Pugmire, Council Member, will be working with Commissioner Tom Weston concerning the proposed gun range.

UDOT has requested permission to work at nights to put in the turn lane at 300 West.  They want to do the work early in the summer and have it finished by the end of May.  Mayor Spuhler noted that they should probably make the request to the Variance Committee.  The Council didn’t see that it would be a problem since there are no homes close to this area.  Riley Argyle said he would follow through on this item.

Riley asked where the ice skating rink should be placed this winter.  He noted that a small ice rink had been donated to the City along with ice skates.  He reported that when he checked the donated rink, there were only some sides, and it was really small.  It was finally decided that the pond at Heritage Park could be used for the rink.  The shallow end will be marked off and can be used for skating.  The skates that were donated are in good shape.  The decision was made to get ride of the old skates and use the new ones.

Riley noted that more sand is going to be needed this winter.  He thought that three more loads will be necessary.  The sand is used mainly for subdivisions that have really steep areas, and the sand gives a better grip in those areas.  He also reported that the snow plows are up and ready to work.

Riley asked where the Christmas lights were to be placed this year.  It was determined that they should go into Raspberry Square instead of at the City Office where they were placed last year.  It was determined that more people would be able to see and enjoy them there.  There will be a large 22’ tree at the square.  There will be a Christmas light contest held this year.  Three members of the Council have been asked to be judges.  More information about the contest will be available as we get nearer to Christmas.

Mayor Spuhler requested that Riley set up a meeting with Elk’s Ridge Home Owners’ organization to discuss what is happening there.  Resources and plans concerning this area need to be discussed and decisions made to get things moving forward there.