Cisco's Is No More

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter

Rich Civic Times 

It was not without a late night drama, before Bryce Nielson was allowed to pull his Cisco’s building out of Bear Lake with an enormous semi-truck. 

According to Nielson’s wife, Doreen, the State had decided that since the building did not come out of the lake by January 30, the Nielson’s had defaulted and the State Parks now owned the building, even though he had been given permission to leave it at the lake until the professional movers could come on February 12.

So they had to send their attorney to negotiate with the State and by midnight February 11, the Nielson’s were told that the State would sign off after they paid for a $2 million insurance policy.  The Nielson’s came prepared with bail money however, prepared to defy the yellow tape barrier, in case the notification of the sign off had not reached the local administrators.

Richard Droesbeck, State Parks, said that the state renews concessionaires licenses every 5 years and that this year they went through a process directed by the Division of Purchasing which made the specifications for the bid.  The bids were reviewed by the committee and the lease was awarded to Brian Hirschi in a more formalized procedure than the past.

Bryce Nielson offered to sell the facility and docks and other equipment for which he paid $250,000 for $115,000, but a significantly lower offer was made to him.  So he decided to sell off what he could and move the iconic Cisco’s. The move cost him $8,000. 

Nielson bought Cisco’s eleven years ago from Jack Dahl after Jack’s partner passed away.  Cisco’s has been at the marina about 20 years.

Laketown resident Dixie Nelson said with tears in her eyes, “It is sad. When you deal with a bureaucracy you never win.  I don’t think they will realize the impact of this for some time.”

Asked what would happen if the new operator did not build a new facility and operate it, Richard Droesbeck of Utah State Parks said that the State would have to rebid it.

After 20 years, Cisco’s is no more.

Cisco's in a temporary slip

 

Adding insult to injury, the boat motor would not start, so Bryce Nielson and friend had to row the
ropes to the opposite dock to hand pull the building to the ramp.
 

Easing it on to the semi-truck.

It took a pick-up pulling a semi to get the cabin moving.

Cisco's leaves the lake.
Photos by Bobbie Coray

 

Correction

Our article on the Marina expansion described the fill needed as riff - raff which elicited this funny response from reader Scott Tolentino of Garden City.

Editor, 

You might want to edit the article about the marina.  It says 350,000 cubic yards of riff-raff are needed.  It should be rip-rap or better yet:  rock, rip rap.  Myself and several others qualify as "riff-raff", but the rock needed for the marina construction does not.  Thanks.

Scott Tolentino

City Council Discusses Water Tank And Water's Edge

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter
Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  February 12, 2001. Zan Murray, City engineer, said that JUB Engineering researched whether to build a new water tank or to buy an existing tank.  They found that USDA Rural Development gan give a grant for water projects of about 45% of the cost and finance the rest at 3.5%.  That is based on the economic status of community. Garden City qualifies because its Median Gross Income of $36,000 is 88% lower than the state average of $45,000. This proposal takes the yearly cost down to $38,000 on a loan for $1.6 million at 3.5% a year. 

It also makes the cost between the new tank and the old tank comparable.

“What are the real costs of both tanks,” asked Spuhler, “if you can buy new for the same price as old and design it the way you want and where you want?   Rily Argyle, public works, said a new tank could be put in the south area where there are some water availability deficiencies.

Councilman Bruce Warner said with a new tank there is a possibility of overrun.  Argyle said, “with the old tank we will put in a pumping station at $50,000-70,000, wheras if we put in a new tank we will not have to do it.”

Warner said, “since the cost is not a factor we need to look at it on a non cost basis. A new tank would be best.”  Argyle said he agreed. 

Murray said, “excepting for the risk contingency and the time to take for it to be built, it is better to build a new one.  We can include the cost of interest and add latent capacity in our impact fees.”

Warner suggested  that the city move on it quickly.  Pugmire  would like to see if they can site a new well close to a new tank.    The City will do a site evaluation then review it for the possibility for a well.

On another matter,  the 150 S and 300 W waterline construction will be advertised, it will be over $185,000 for small construction.   It should be completed before Memorial Day.  An easement on 150 S has been discussed with adjacent land owner Norm Mecham as he is concerned about drainage.

Approval  was requested for Norm Mecham’s preliminary platt for Water’s Edge.  It has gone through P & Z, easements and drainage issues are being resolved.  Everything else meets city requirements.  City Enginner Zan Murray said that Water’s Edge’s engineers took the time to go through the city requirements and ordinances and made it comply with everything needed.  

It will be a PUD consisting of an 84 room hotel, 72 condo units and 3 commercial mixed use buildings located between 50 S and 150 S Bear Lake Blvd.  Phase one is the hotel, parking and beach frontage are part of each phases.  The entire common area will not be built out but as each phase goes in the hard surface parking will be built according to plan. There will be access to both 50 S and 150 S entrances.

Developers have talked about doing the underground parking with phase I.  It was approved.  Each phase will have to be approved as it comes on. 

Approval by Garden City means that the concept is approved.   Mecham can now invest in the final design which is expensive.

Garden City Council then approved the annexation of a piece of property in the center of town which still was considered county.  It was an island of county in the city.  This is 14.63 acres and is west of 300 west.

In addition six ordinances were approved which pertain to such things as culvert installation and size, requests for water service, updating the Garden City fireworks requirements, sidewalks, motorized access and an ordinance establishing policies and procedures for a suspension or revocation of a business license, short term rental licenses and concessionaire licenses.

Report On Ad Hoc Meeting On School Board Redistricting

From Garden City School District Facebook Page.

Bryce Huefner: "If you didn't make the meeting about moving the discussion forward on redistricting on February 10 in Garden City, you missed a very good one. There were 12 or so people present. It started a little hot, but we were able to discuss our concerns and came to a consensus. We support the commissioners in getting this completed by the first of July. We also appreciate the work of the committee and the commissioners.

Andy Stokes will be approaching the county commissioners in March with some benchmarks we discussed tonight. We hope the ideas are acceptable.

The best part of the meeting was at the end as we talked about the maps, the process, the effects of change and the county in general. We really want to see success for all. 

The question was asked: "What can we do to support the ranching community?" Because none of us are ranchers, we really don't know much but one thing we can do for starters is support "our" county fair better and build bridges.  We know it is not much but it is a start. Well, that was the discussion, wish you could have been there."
 

Joey Stocking Thank you Bryce. That was a super informative meeting. I'm sorry I had to leave early. I love that you are taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with constituents and discuss what is the best way to proceed on things. And I highly respect that the consensus that was agreed upon and that you chose to support was something that was probably slower than you were originally wanting. You are a good man!

 

Zack McKee I am not gonna lie I was pretty skeptical about going into this meeting but I am glad I did. This meeting was about how we can help our commissioners set goals to reach their final goal by their selected date. And just like Bryce said, probably the best part in the meeting was the discussion of how we (the Garden city community as a whole) should make it a priority to support our county in anyway possible. We should support our county fair more. If the ranchers are ever in a BLM quarrel we should jump to their side and defend them.

Loved the outcome of the meeting and the direction.

 

Ben Negus I too was concerned at the beginning of the meeting thinking it was going to be a lot of butting heads. I appreciate the approach everyone took of being respectful of others opinions. I feel like we took a big step in the process of uniting our county. Thanks Bryce Huefner for taking time to listen to all and adjust your ideas to the ideas of your constituents. Wish more people would have come.

Deer At Sunrise

Photo by Travis Hobbs

Employment Opportunities

Jacob Lake Inn is now hiring for summer 2015 positions.  Interviews for summer employment will be held Wednesday, February 18^th at the Logan LDS Employment Resource Center (175 West 1400 North, Suite C.  Logan, UT) from 9am to 5pm. These positions are intended for young people ages 18-23. Room and board are provided plus $1100 (average) per month. Earn money in an LDS environment to pay for next semester or a mission. To make an interview appointment, please call the Logan LDS Employment Office at 752-7911.

(Positions include Servers, Baker, Baker’s Assistant, Kitchen Prep, Clerk, Cashier, Counterperson, Service Station Attendant, Merchandiser, Salespeople, and Front Office Assistant.) 

Utah State University’s Spring Career Fair is on Wednesday, February 25, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Taggart Student Center Sunburst Lounges on USU campus.

Musings Of A Muddled Male

Long Live Bob

By Bob Stevens, The Muddled Male

        I think that I am going to live forever.  You are probably thinking that is impossible, and I would have agreed with you a month ago, but now I am beginning to believe that I may never expire.  And it is my dentist’s fault, as I am certain you will agree once you read my explanation.   Remember that the last time you read this column I mentioned that I had been to our dentist to see about fixing a painful tooth.  The problem was easily corrected by a simple extraction, leaving Ann, my wife, disappointed because the extraction took less than a minute and caused me no pain.  Before proceeding with the extraction my dentist, who is very professional and explains things carefully prior to any procedure, sat with me to discuss the advantages and/or disadvantages of doing a root canal followed by the purchase of an expensive crown, or grabbing the offending tooth with a pair of pliers he keeps around the office and just jerk it out.  As I was pondering the options I happened to mention that I was turning eighty soon and didn’t want to spend a lot of money on something that would last longer than I would.  In an attempt to reassure me my dentist responded, “Oh you will still be around for a long time.  In fact, after you reach one hundred I will begin doing your dental work for nothing.” 

        Well I laughed because I suspected he was joking, but Ann took him to be serious and immediately began planning a change in my eating and exercise habits to make certain that I would last long enough for her to collect on what she considered to be a generous offer from our trusted dentist.  Ann, you see, is very frugal.  If you searched our house you would find the storage area under our stairs filled with various sizes and shapes of empty cardboard boxes, and our three-car garage filled with similar boxes but larger in size.  All of that because she saves every box in case, according to Ann, “We happen to need a box to hold something we want to ship or store.”  I used to argue but got caught too many times stealing a box from her collection because it was just the right size and shape to hold something I needed to hold, and I didn’t want to drive to Logan just to buy an empty box. 

        And she hates to throw away something of substance because, as she keeps telling me, “You never know when we might need just that particular item.”  Take today, for example, when she found a bottle of medicine purchased in 1994 which was for her mother who lived with us on and off through her declining years until she died in 1995.  I’m not certain how the bottle ended up still sitting in our medicine cabinet since we had packed up and moved three times since 1995, but there it was, and she was struggling with the possibility that I might encourage her to throw it out.  I shouldn’t complain, however, since her hesitancy to chuck things out just because they are old and of no value probably saved my marriage several times over the past sixty years. 

        So if you see a little old couple pull into Walmart to buy a few groceries and park at the far end of the lot where the wife forces the gray haired old man to shuffle a half mile to the store entrance as a way of getting him to exercise, that might be us.  And if you see the wife grab the little old man by the ear as a way of pulling him past the M&M Peanuts and over to the broccoli, that will definitely be us.   I may not be able to walk when I am one hundred, but since I will be getting free dental care I should be able to chew.  That assumes, of course, that during the next twenty years our dentist doesn’t earn enough replacing my crowns to retire and move to a private island somewhere in the South Pacific where he surfs but no longer works.  Although for the life of me I can’t believe he would move to the South Pacific and leave an office full of gorgeous assistants.

Rich Rebels VS Tabiona

Rich Rebels Beat Tabiona 66 - 56

 

 

Rich Rebel Girls vs Tabiona

Rich Rebel Freshmen beat Tabiona 41- 31
Photos by Tammy Calder, Calderberry Studios

 

New Marina Discussions

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter
Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah.  February 4, 2015.  Zan Murray, JUB  Engineering, gave a report on the progress of the proposed Bear Lake marina expansion.  They had meetings in Garden City to discuss ideas brought forth in 2007.  The main idea was to make it fit the needs of many agencies, so that all could participate financially.  It was suggested that the entrance south to build a queing lane off of Harbor Village and get cars off the highway.  There is a need to increase the number of boat slips as there is a waiting list of 200 people who want to lease slips.  The new marina will include a new seven lane boat ramp and the expansion will double the amount of boat parking.

One of the main reasons to update marina is to lower the floor for sailboats on the new ramps. Currently boaters have to pull sailboats out before the season is over since the water level gets too low.  There is also a proposal to add utilities to the north slips and create a beach area on the south east of the marina.  

It will cost about $31 million to build a new marina.  Half of the cost is the materials,  350,000 cubic yards of dirt and riffraff are needed. 

Where do the funds come from?  This information is going to go before the legislature.  UDOT, DWR and State Parks could all be involved.  This year they will make a request to State Parks to build a programing and planning document to tighten the request and do geo technical work to look at local materials used for fill as that will be cheaper.

Tom Weston said there seems to be some excitement.  Economically, it will draw more people and boost taxes.   There may be a need for a material processor to move into the area for the time of building the marina and that would create some new jobs. 

The planning costs would be just under $100,000.   If the state would fund this, there would be a lot more information to go after funding.  “Quickly get the proposal to me,” said Cox as he would be going to the appropriations committee next week.   The old marina was built in 1960s and then expanded in 2000.