Garden City Public Works Information

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah. January 8, 2015.  Zan Murray, City Engineer, and Riley Argyle, Public Works Department, reported on the projects currently underway in Garden City.  Bidding on the 150 South Parking lot will begin in February.  They have met with Water’s Edge Development to adjust the parking design to incorporate future driveways and drainage improvements that they wish to make in the future. They are still making arrangements to get all of the easements in place.

The Bear Lake Special Service District is moving forward with the sewer construction and lift station relocation.  The waterline for the Water’s Edge Development has been extended under the highway and east to the location of their meter.

While working on 150 South, it was discovered that there were two homes that had not been metered.  That was immediately remedied.  The quonset hut is gone and most of the trees that had to be removed have been taken care of.  The project there is moving forward.

Riley Argyle noted that UDOT is going to allow the city to cut through the Logan Road in order to lay the water line.  This needs to be done prior to May 1.  At that time, the State will put in a turn lane at that point and will be able to repair the cut.  This will save the City a large amount of money.  The City will have to work quickly to make sure they can meet the May 1 deadline.

The Parking lot of 75 North is done.  Argyle will move the city lights to the parking lot at 75 North in the Spring.  There will be a public hearing on Memorial Day Weekend concerning the gun range.  Not much progress has been made concerning Elk’s Ridge. 

Two more muskrats were shot at Heritage Park Pond.  The staking is done for the culverts on 300 West.  The City needs to measure the amount of water being used from the Heritage Park well to keep the pond full.  These stats need to be collected.

The sander on the snow plow is giving problems.  The workers will try and get by this year, but will definitely need to get a new one for next winter. 

There have been quite a few problems at the pool.  The humidity censor needed to be replaced.  A heater was placed on top of the pellet stove to get better circulation and help make it warmer in the swimming area.  The pool water heater went out and had to be repaired. 

There have been a few water leaks this winter, and there have been three frozen meters. 

Zan reviewed the Shundahai easement and requested some adjustments to allow for the property around the pump houses to be in the City’s name and also provide adequate space for the City to maintain around the buildings and access them for maintenance.  Those changes were recently made by Jeff Hansen on the plat. 

The question was asked concerning the Shundahai tank and the costs incurred to pump water to fill the tank.  A comparison was requested by Bruce Warner concerning all the costs incurred if the Shundahai tank was purchased including pumping expenses and how much a new tank would cost.  He asked that the purchase be postponed until this comparison was completed.

A meeting is scheduled for next Wednesday with some state representatives. Tom Weston, Commissioner, and other interested individuals are invited concerning the enlargement of the Bear Lake Marina.  The State is not interested in another wharf or marina but will consider enlarging the current harbor.  Everyone will need to work quickly in order to have everything ready for this item to be introduced into the legislature the session.

George Peart, the City’s Building Inspector, was in attendance at the Planning and Zoning Meeting.  He noted that several ordinances were approve by the Committee and will be sent to the City Council for their approval as well.  P&Z also had discussed signage issues.

There is a problem with the Stump Hollow Road.  It is a City road and there are some issues.  It should be widened in order to meet ordinance requirements.  It also needs to be fixed.

Brian Burr is having is shop remodeled into a short term rental.  The road going to that location doesn’t meet City requirements, but it is a private road.  George noted that there probably wasn’t anything that the City could do to take care of that problem.  There is no impact fee for fire because there is no change in the footprint size.  However, it is changing from commercial to residential, and there will need to be a change in water fees.

Dismantling of Cisco's

A popular local spot on the Marina is being taken apart for new ownership. It will be missed!
Photo by Bryce Nielson

Garden City Planning And Zoning

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times 

GARDEN CITY, January 7, 2015.  A public hearing began at 4:30 p.m. allowing the public an opportunity to question and make suggestions concerning six ordinances that the Committee has been revising and updating. 

The regular meeting started at 5:00 p.m.  Members of the Planning Committee discussed in detail the various ordinances they have been working on. 

Ordinance #15-1 allows short term rentals in all zones in Garden City except where Homeowner’s Associations do not allow them.  Homeowner’s Associations must provide the city with a letter stating they do not allow Short-term rentals in their subdivisions along with a copy of their CCR’s showing that they are clearly prohibited. 

Ordinance #15-2 notes that no building or structure shall exceed the height allowed in the zone in which the building or structure is being built. 

Ordinance #15-3 is an ordinance that updates the height and phasing allowed in a PUD/PRUD.  The height requirements shall not exceed 35 feet except in the Beach Development Zone where the height shall not exceed 25 feet.  If a developer is developing the property in smaller units, each phase must be able to stand alone. 

Ordinance #15-4 is an ordinance making changes to the zones.  Updates and requirements as well as a list of permitted uses and conditional uses is set out in the ordinance for the Residential Estate Zone, the Single Family Residential Zone, Multiple Family Residence Zone, Recreational Residential Zone, the Hillside Estates Zone, the Commercial Zones 1, 2, and 3, Parking Areas, Commercial Building Splits, the Highway Commercial Zone, the Beach Development Zone, the Manufacturing Zone, the Agricultural Zone, the Planned Unit Development/Planned Residential Unit Development areas, Flag Lots, and Affordable Housing Areas. 

Ordinance #15-5 is an ordinance updating the height and phasing in subdivisions.  Building height shall not exceed the limit for the zone in which the subdivision resides. 

Ordinance #15-6 was written so that homes can be built in commercial C2 and C3 Zones.  It was discussed for quite some time.  It was decided that some additional items needed to be added and changed in this Ordinance.  

Ordinances #15-1 through #15-5 were passed by the Planning and Zoning and were sent on to City Council for their approval.  Ordinance #15-6 was tabled and will be added to the Agenda for next month.

The City Council approved the ordinances that were sent to them. 

**The above ordinances #15-1 through #15-5 that were passed by Planning and Zoning were also accepted by City Council at their meeting held January 8, 2015. 

The Planning Committee also discussed the sign ordinance.  Committee member Susan House had taken pictures of many signs here in Garden City and showed them to the individuals present at the meeting.  It was decided that the pictures could be made part of the sign ordinance as examples of what kind of signs are encouraged for use by businesses and what did not look good and should not be used.  This item will be placed on the agenda for next month.

The Planning Committee is still struggling with how many parking stalls should be required by new businesses in order to accommodate their customers. Parking seems to always be a problem here in town.  The members of the Planning Committee were asked to check out businesses in other cities and locations to see how this problem has been handled by them.  This item will also be on the agenda next month.

Quaggas Are Close

This is way too close to Bear Lake!

We just received this information from Utah Department of Wildlife Resources.

"... quagga mussel veligers have been identified and confirmed via DNA analysis in a sample taken from Deer Creek Reservoir.  As such, we have taken measures to place a "closure order" on the reservoir that requires decontamination of all watercraft exiting Deer Creek."

This is very sad to see. We can only hope that they don't survive and thrive as an adult population. If they do they most certainly start a domino effect down the Provo River, Utah Lake and Jordan River. 

This is a serious reminder to be extra cautious in the use and cleaning of your own and any visiting watercraft visiting Bear Lake. We encourage all who have "permits to launch" to self-police and require all vessels to be inspected before they would be allowed to cross your property to launch. 

We will be following this with great interest.

Keep you posted,

Claudia Cottle

Bear Lake CPA

Bear Lake Tax & Accounting provides income tax preparation, consulting and accounting services to

individuals and businesses (LLCs, partnerships, corporations and proprietorships).  We work with clients in a wide variety of industries in many states across the country. We specialize in real estate.

 

We have secure data systems, easy access to your information and a variety of ways to exchange data. We can help you with your accounting and Quickbooks questions. We provide payroll solutions.

 

Bruce Warner, CPA (owner)

Steve Larsen (accountant)

website: bearlaketax.com

Phone 801-783-3457; cell 801-916-6494

29 W Tamarind Way

PO Box 420

Garden City, UT 84028

Tips For A Frozen Lake

UTAH STATE PARKS ICE SAFETY TIPS 

Salt Lake City – Utah State Parks Boating Program Manager Ty Hunter reminds visitors to be careful when venturing out on the ice. With varying temperatures, ice conditions can change quickly. Hunter offers the following safety tips:

 

- Test the ice. Drill a hole close to shore to determine ice thickness. People should stay off the ice if it is two inches or less. Ice four inches thick will typically hold the weight of a person.

- Always carry ice picks and a life jacket. If you fall through, ice picks provide grip and traction allowing you to pull yourself out of the water. A lifejacket keeps you afloat if you can’t self-rescue.

- Stay calm. If you do fall through the ice, remain calm and keep your head above water and control your breathing. Keep all clothing on to stay insulated. Swim towards the ice opening and use your ice picks to secure and pull yourself out.

- Reach, throw and don’t go. If someone falls in, reach something to the victim like a ski pole or tree branch; throw a rope or extension cord; don’t create a second victim.

- Dress for weather conditions and layer your clothing

For more information or for current reservoir conditions, visit stateparks.utah.gov.

The Unmuddled Mathematician

The Trip

By Chris Coray, The Unmuddled Mathematician 

Well, we just got back from a great trip visiting friends who live in Germany.  We spent a week with them  visiting Christmas Markets and then took them to Spain (in the region called Andalusia) for two weeks.  There were many wonderful things to see, places to visit, and bratwurst for Bobbie to eat.  She has been known on previous trips to Germany to skip important meetings just so she can go eat another bratwurst.  I need to describe this object.  Imagine a pretty much bent hot dog at least a foot long.  Then put it in a dinner roll that’s about 3 inches across, leaving 4-5 inches of this unusual very light colored hot dog sticking out of both sides of the roll.  That’s it, unless you have added mustard.  I guess you’re supposed to eat the naked dog portion first (that’s what we did), and then finish off the part with the roll.  On a separate note I observe for the record that I ate six pieces of pickled herring, prepared by the speedy driver.  This was a real challenge for me.  It tastes exactly like it sounds.  Bobbie loves it but not me.  However, I fulfilled my social obligation, with dignity.

Travelling in Germany is interesting as well.  Our hosts, at least the fearless female, follow the German rule for the freeways, called autobahns.  The rule is that there are no rules.  She drove 110 miles per hour as though it was normal.  While I expressed concern with excessive speed it made no difference and so I must remind myself not to give KS and RAJ any more heat about driving too fast.  Besides, that experience paled to my driving a rental car in Ronda, Spain.  Following the installed GPS I found myself driving up a long set of steps.  Not bumps, but serious, narrow steps.  It was like the opening scene of a James Bond movie.  Somehow we survived and so did the car.

Andalusia is beautiful, with millions of olive and citrus trees.  The oranges were in season, very inexpensive, so we drank lots of fresh squeezed OJ.  The Spanish are better cooks that we Americans (Elvira excluded), so the food was great.  The architecture is in some cases more than a thousand years old so that was spectacular in its own right.  There was a gate in Trier, Germany, built by Julius Caesar.  We visited the largest (in volume) church on the earth in Seville, Spain.  130 yards long on the inside from end to end.  And wouldn’t you know it in a prominent place is the tomb of that famous Italian (born in Genoa, Italy) of Christopher Columbus.  Yeah, I thought he was Spanish too.  Wrong.  While Spanish royalty Ferdinand and Isabella sent him, he was still Italian.  And the notion that people thought the earth was flat is just false.  They knew it was round but didn’t think they could carry enough supplies to survive the round trip journey, hence it was really a big deal.

Bobbie got to visit the Christmas markets in Germany, France and Spain, a long time wish, bought lots of trinkets and we continue in our belief that you should travel while you still can.  The only casualty during the trip was Bobbie’s Blackberry cell phone, which died during the trip.  So when we got back we replaced it with an IPhone 6, which came with a rag to wipe the green envy color off the Muddled Male’s face when she flaunts it in front of him.  In response, he has taken to carrying his homemade wood 6+ carrier (instead of an actual phone) about which we dueled in this paper a couple of months ago.  It is the closest thing he currently has to Bobbie’s phone.

Of course at the end of a long trip the thought of home grows larger and more desirable.  But not the thought of the long, long, long journey in a plane from Frankfurt, Germany to SLC.  But then we got a break unlike any we had ever seen.  At the last minute, without our doing anything, we were upgraded on the overseas Delta flight to a class called “Business Elite”.  What a deal.  Sit down, press a button, and the seat becomes a complete horizontal bed with a down blanket.  Press another button and the bed gives you a massage.  The food was even good.  We cannot afford to buy such luxury but happily accepted the seat change.  It made the trip much more bearable.  We are happily home but seeking  extra clean rags to add to the Muddled Male’s supply as he is going through them like hotcakes removing the green stuff oozing from his smile.

Moose Sighting

Lakeside moose wandering through the valley.
Photo by Tammy Calder

Rebel Basketball

Rich Rebels vs Bear Lake

Rich Rebels vs Summit
Photos by Tammy Calder

Mental Health Report

Bobbie Coray, Reporter
Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah.  January 7, 2015.  Reed Ernstrom, director of the Bear River Mental Health, and  Rob Johnson presented the Bear River Mental Health financial report to the county commission.  The independent auditor reported that the statement of financial position had no negative findings and praised the audit.  BRMH built a new residential facility after selling the old one.  The three counties, Box Elder, Cache and Rich match state dollars which match federal funds, so that means that $339,000 by the three counties was leveraged to over $8 million in funding.  The increase in income this year was from increased Medicaid funding.  Each year they negotiate a rate with the health department for how much they will get, but the eligible patients increased so the Medicaid payments increased.  Over 75% is used for therapists and other personnel. 

Reed Ernstrom said they have 6 apartments that they want to sell, but there was some discussion about where they put the out-patients as it is a transition place.  There is a willing buyer.  Some of the employees want to keep the apartments for more difficult to place people.  But they manage over 2,000 people in the local area without incident.  The people in the apartments are checked on every day.  “We want to get out of the apartment business.  Rentals are not as tight as before so it is easier to place people.” Ernstrom stated.

There are 1 ½ therapists in the Rich schools.  It seems like the school administration and sheriff’s office have embraced Donavan Faucette seeing people in the schools one day a week.  He starts in Laketown in the morning and then works at the Rich High School.  He also sees private patient making two 12 hour days.  Susan Johnson, does a half day. 

“We feel very good about what is happening here, “ said Ernstrom .  Rich county’s match is $5,000.

DNR Update - Coyotes, Mountain Lion and Sage Grouse

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah. January 7, 2015. A check for $11,560 for Payment in Lieu of Taxes, (PILT) was given to the County Commission by Justin Dolling, Regional supervisor Division of Natural Resources. They manage thousands of acres in Rich County. Revenue is generated from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses. Dolling reported that  John Owen is the new conservation officer in this area. 

County Commissioner Bill Cox asked about the Quagga Mussel Program.  Dolling thought that the new check program improved over the summer and plans are to continue it next summer.  Cox said that there is there some concern that Owen is being used only for the Quagga Mussle Program when there are other needs .  Dolling said that there will be additional people at check points so that Owen could attend to other issues.  Tom Weston said that there were a lot less people stopped at the Laketown check than the other check points which surprised him.  It seems that most of the boats are coming on the Logan Highway.  Dolling said, the DNR doesn’t  want mussels coming from Lake Powell.  There are so many informal launch sites in the lake that it is hard to police and some people think that canoes and small watercraft don’t need to be inspected, but they do.

It took a while to get people educated that it was necessary to have their boats inspected.

Coyotes are being taken to save the mule deer population, but the funding for that program may not be reauthorized.   It was a two year authorization.  There were about 6,800 coyotes killed this year in Utah because of the DNR $50 bounty.  The county also pays $20 per hide if hunters are not on the DNR program.  In Idaho they had a mass harvest of coyotes and wolves.  Wolves are still protected in Utah.  They have tracked wolves from Yellowstone which have travelled as far as Morgan, Utah.  Dolling said “Grizzlies are not far behind the wolves.” The black bear population is growing well.   DNR took a mountain lion on New Years.  It was tranquilized and then fled underneath a nearby deck.  DNR had to take the boards off the deck.  The animal was not completely under the drug so they had to wrestle it.

Turkey vultures in Laketown are making a mess as are the flocks of turkeys  in the area.  They have started fall hunts to curb populations.  The problem said Cox is that the turkeys live in Garden City.  Dolling said that they are planning trap many more and relocate.  Sage grouse are nearly on the endangered species list, but not yet.  The population is stable in Utah, but they are still low.  They cap the number of hunters for sage grouse.

School Board Redistricting Update

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah.  January 7, 2015.  School Board Redistricting should be done by the end of February according to County Commissioner Bill Cox.    They have been creating large maps based on census data using Automatic Geographic  Reference Center software.  Cox said that they sent Bryce Huefner’s maps to AGRC to produce large maps the committee can use.  They have used  legislative researchers who are working with interactive maps so that boundary lines can be drawn and redrawn as possible solutions are discussed.  The committee will meet at the end of January and will have two more meetings in February.  One of the criteria the committee is looking at is at registered voters and where the most children live although, by law, the only criteria that can be used is census population data.  Many committee members are unhappy with the census data which shows Garden City with a larger population than other cities. But the redistricting based on census data is a state requirement.