Council Member Reports

GARDEN CITY COUNCIL MEMBER REPORTS

October 8, 2015

Reported by Anita Weston

Pat Argyle reported that she has been assigned to the parks and city beautification.  She would like to purchase seasonal flags that can be hung from the City’s light poles.  She noted that it would be fun to have something for Halloween, silk flowers in the spring, Thanksgiving items, and so forth.  She, however, wants to purchase the flags after the holidays this year so that they can be gotten on sale.  They would then be ready to use during the next year.

She would like to see some kinds of contests that could be held to gain citizens’ interest.  She noted that perhaps the quilters would be willing to sew some flags and have a judge determine a winner.  There might be other groups that could compete in various City activities.

She is also in charge of Raspberry Days.  She requested a copy of the Raspberry Days budget.   It was noted that that budget is not yet ready but would be available soon.  Pat indicated that she is excited and ready to go to work for the City.

Darrin reported that he had attended the County Commissioners’ meeting held the previous week.  He asked if the County had decided on whether to pursue the gun range or not.  Since there had been no negative comments at the hearings, the Commissioners indicated that it looked like the gun range is a “go”.  The Commissioners asked Darrin if Garden City was going to take care of the maintenance of the gun range.  Darrin noted that since it had been such a long time, he didn’t know what Garden City would be doing.  He said he would talk with the Council to see if they were still interested in helping in that way.

Darrin asked if the County could work on the road up Hodges Canyon and on over into Richardson.  The Commissioners noted that there were some real issues with the spring, with the road that is in bad shape, and with the problems the owners have been encountering.  They asked Darrin if he would be willing to go to the owners and visit with them to see what they would like to do.

Darrin reported that the Commissioners were especially pleased with the support the County Fair and Rodeo had received from people from the Garden City and Laketown side of the hill.  That activity was one of the must successful they have had, and they wanted people to know that they appreciated all of the support given by those individuals living in the County.

Darrin noted that a decision needs to be made on using the RDA (Rural Development Area) money.  He suggested that perhaps more parking could be placed on 200 North to make that lake access similar to all the others in town.  The current RDA monies will end in a couple of years.

It was suggested that perhaps the City could create and apply for a CDA (Community Development Area) grant.  In order to create such an area, a project must be associated with it.  An area needs to be set aside where the project will be built and designated for economic development.  Currently most taxes go to the County and the Schools.  In a RDA or CDA, more of the taxes collected from that area go into the development of that area.  Since a larger percent of tax monies from that area flow into that project for approximately 25 years, the project stands a much better chance of being successful.

Bruce Warner was asked if progress was being made concerning Elks Ridge and gaining an access from there to Raspberry Road.  Bruce noted that the individuals owning property on Elks Ridge must create a home owners association.  So far, this has not been done.

Chuck Stocking works with both the library and the pool.  He noted that the library board does not meet until the following week.  Individuals working with the pool may take advantage of full day seminar the following Wednesday dealing with critical services required when working with public pools.