Garden City Council Meeting

Anita Weston, Reporter
Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  August 13, 2015. A request by Claudia Lopez that her Claudia’s Cleaning Service be granted a business license to conduct a cleaning company in Garden City was made.  Her request was granted.

Garden City Cemetery District requested that water rates be discussed with the City.  It was noted that because the Cemetery District has taxing ability, that they should perhaps raise their taxes slightly to be able to pay for the water used.  The area covered by the Cemetery District is much larger than the Garden City Limits.  If Garden City gives the Cemetery District a lower water rate, the citizens in Garden City would be paying the full bill for Cemetery water while those outside the City that also live in the Cemetery District would not be paying their share of the costs.  The citizens of Garden City would be paying the entire bill.  That would not be fair to either group.

Ordinance #15-22 is written to update the exemptions of height limitations.  The Council didn’t want the term “water tank” used in the ordinance.  They felt “fire suppression tank” would better explain what is allowed.  They also decided to take out the word “decorative”.  With those changes, the ordinance was passed.

Ordinance #15-28 is an ordinance that will update the requirements for a short term rental license.  Additional wording was added as follows:  Owners, property management company, and/or any other entity contact person.  This will hopefully clarify the necessity of the contract person who is qualified to solve problems that may arise.

The Council discussed Resolution #R15-06.  It is a resolution updating land use fees and miscellaneous fees for services rendered and providing an effective date.  It was decided that an annual inspection will be conducted by the fire chief for each short-term rental. The fire department charges a $30 fee for each inspection they make.  The city handles the collection of this fee which also requires time and paperwork.  Thus the fee for short-term rentals will need to be raised slightly.  There were several examples of similar changes that have been made this past summer.  Thus the resolution fee schedule was updated to take care of the changes that have occurred.

The ULCT (The Utah League of Cities and Towns held an information meeting last week.  Mayor Spuhler attended the meeting.  Apparently Towns can add a ¼ percent gas tax on all entities.  It is generally called a transportation tax.  It works exactly the same way the resort tax works.  Garden City generally receives about $30,000 from the resort tax.  The transportation tax could also produce some revenue for the City that could be used for road maintenance.  It would need to be placed on the ballot at the next election.