New Boardwalk Trail

Garden  City is well under way in building the pathway from 350 S to the boardwalk to the beach.

Short Term Rentals, Fire District And Service Projects

GARDEN CITY ORDINANCE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER REPORT

June 9, 2016

Reported by Anita Weston 

Bob Peterson noted that a meeting will be held by the League of Cities and Towns dealing with short term rentals on June 13.  He has been asked to demonstrate the software Garden City has developed on the management of short term rentals that makes is much easier to handle.  Ten cities have been invited to this meeting in hopes of coming up with a standard that could be used across the state concerning the enforcement and management of short term rentals.

Peterson noted that one law or idea for the entire state would not be good.  Every town and city has unique features and problems that make one law for all impossible.  Hopefully, the individuals attending the meeting will be able to convince the state to allow local authority and come up with some standards that will allow each city or town to be able to handle and manage short term rentals. 

The state has required every city and county to write a CWPP (Central Wildfire Protection Plan).  Peterson has the outline done, and he is just finishing up the details that need to be included.  The City is about a year ahead of the deadline in working with and writing up the fire protection plan.

The Fire District will go over the plan to make sure the whole area is protected.  There will be public hearings held so that the community will be educated about fire protection as well as giving the public an opportunity to give their ideas and suggestions for the plan.

There have been two groups that have come to Garden City and volunteered to do some service projects.  One large group adults put in about 240 hours of service cleaning up the beaches.  The second group consisted of teenagers, and each of them put in an hour on memorial weekend also dealing with beach clean up.

The question was asked if the City could clean up and use some of the trenches and ditches on the beach.  It was noted that as long as they were established ditches, they could be cleaned.  Mayor Spuhler noted that Danny White has a map of all of the established ditches.  He asked Riley Argyle to follow through on this issue.

The City Cleanup Project is moving forward.  Most of the businesses have been contacted concerning the sign ordinance.  Peterson has picked up 20 real estate signs.  Most owners have been easy to work with.  Some of the broken down cars have been moved.

It was noted that 150 individuals used the shuttle service over the last weekend, especially on 150 South.  There were many others who parked their cars and walked down to the lake.  The City Park was really busy this last weekend as well.

The Code Enforcement Report included:

            4 cars on the beach

            8 ATVs had to be moved back from the water’s edge

            There was some individual swimming after 10 p.m.

            Some teenagers were climbing and jumping off the bowery

           

Peterson noted that the park is locked at 10:00 p.m.

Morning At The Marina

Photo by Andrew Stokes

More New Homes Being Built In Garden City

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah. June 9, 2016.  George Peart, the Residential Building Inspector, reported that there are seven residential permits currently open.  There are still several other licenses open from last year and, there are two additional applications currently being processed.

It was noted that to become a commercial building inspector is much more complicated and difficult than originally thought.  Thus, the City has contracted with Steve Hamblin to continue doing the commercial inspections in the City.

Peart attended the Planning and Zoning meeting and noted that that Commission is working on several project and PUDs.

Peart said that there are quite a few short term rentals out in the County.  The Rich County Commissioners are discussing how to handle the short term rental situation.  It appears that they will probably adopt the same ordinance that Garden City has developed with a few adjustments that meet the County’s needs.  The County will perhaps have to add an additional fee to the short term rentals dealing with sanitation issues.  Because most of the subdivisions use the large dumpsters, it is not possible to keep track of who dumps what.  However, it is known that there is an impact on the amount of garbage in the dumpsters in areas where there are short term rentals.

It appears that the Commissioners will allow short term rentals in the county.  With what information Garden City could give to the County, it appears that there are about 16 to 20 short term rentals currently active in the County.  Mitch Poulson will get more information and details that he will present to the Commissioners next month. It was discussed that perhaps it would be easier to charge the fees by the occupancy number instead of charging a license for each short term rental.

It was noted that Bob Peterson and Kathy Hislop are analyzing culinary water data for July and August of last year to determine if short term rentals have an impact on the City’s water system.  They will have that information in the next week or two.

Public Works Department Report

Anita Weston, Reporter
Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah. June 9, 2016.  Riley Argyle, Supervisor of the Public Works Department, reported on his activities for the past month.  The repair of the roadway on east 150 South has been completed.  That road is open all the way to the Lake.  It was noted that there is a warranty period in the agreement on this roadway so that if there are additional problems in the future, the contractor may have to come back again.  However, everything looks really good right now. 

It was noted that with construction beginning on the Water’s Edge Project, the City should minimize the amount of construction traffic allowed on 150 South.  It was suggested that the construction equipment and traffic dealing with this project be entered from the front of the property and not from the side at 150 South.  The parking lot and roadway at 150 South needs to be protected as much as possible.

The contractors at 350 South are doing well.  The walkway is about finished.  However, the hatch lid was ordered two weeks ago and still has not arrived.  The hatch lid is needed so that the owner of the well can have access to his water.  The hatch lid needs to have a lock to keep others from getting into the well.  Even with this slow down, the path should be completed by the first of July.  All of the rough grading has been done, and the road base will be put in place on Friday. 

There are only two culverts left to put in place on 300 West.  Argyle noted that he will be in touch with UDOT to make sure that the construction date of 2018 is still on the list.  The project requires a 80/20 match as this road is built.  That means Garden City will be required to put up $320,000 for the completion of this project.  Preparations for this road will begin in the fall of 2017.

Argyle asked that money be placed into his budget for software for the water treatment plant.  Currently, the system is running on XP.  However, almost everyone else has upgraded to Windows 10.  Because the company servicing the treatment plant has already made this change, they are unable to handle any problems at our plant remotely.  It will cost approximately $10,000.  Bob Peterson asked Argyle several questions and noted that he would be happy to contact the service company and make sure communications will be possible in the future.

The flag is flying at Heritage Park.  It is beautiful.  There are two lights missing that will be used to light the flag at night.  Also, the flag will probably get ragged with all the winds we have.  Argyle was told that when this happens, just take the flag down and make a new hem on the edges.  The flag should last for at least six months before this would be needed.

Garden City Engineer Report

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  June 9, 2016. Zan Murray, Garden City Engineer, noted that a MOU among the City, Elk’s Ridge, Raspberry Patch, and Foothill Estates was supposed to be in his hands by now.  He said that he would follow up with this item to see what is holding things up.  He will send copies to the Council members as soon as the document arrives.

Muirray noted that he has several architect friends who work specifically on recreational centers.  He thought that perhaps Bob Peterson would like to get in touch with them to answer any questions that still have not been resolved.  Peterson indicated that he would appreciate getting some additional input concerning the proposed recreational center.

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Raspberry Days Craft Vendor Profile

Wildlife Woodcarving
By Sandi Gunderson Warner, Contributor
Rich Civic Times







In 1994 Ron Davisson had, what he calls, a prompting from God to become a woodcarver. Up until that time he had absolutely no interest in art but felt it was no use to argue with the Master. His wife Lorna, who always nutured a desire to develop her artistic talents, eagerly embraced this new calling. Ron and Lorna work together combining their talents on each original piece inspired by nature.

“We carve the animals out of basswood from the linden tree. As we carve them, each animal reveals its own personality. We have fun blending the realistic and natural with a bit of whimsey, a dash of fantasy, and a sprinkle of idealism. We then choose a piece of birch and apply semitransparent color stains to enhance the the natural beauty of the wood grain which becomes the backdrop”. Although they carve all sorts of animals, mothers and their young hold a special place in their hearts.

So be sure to stop by and see all the goodies they are currently hard at work creating for the Bear Lake Valley Craft Fair during Raspberry Days, Aug. 4-6. You'll find them and many other talented local crafters in the Lakeside Bldg north of the library in the Garden City Complex on 300 West.

Bear Lake Watch Annual Meeting

Bear Lake Watch Annual Meeting

The Bear Lake Watch Annual Meeting will be held Saturday June 18th at 4:30 PM

Please come and join us at Conestoga Ranch in Garden City for hor d'oeuvres and a short informative meeting. 

Please click  here for directions and map to Conestoga Ranch.

We appreciate your support and hope to see you on the 18th.

Thanks,

Claudia and David Cottle

 

Musings of A Muddled Male

Freckles

By Bob Stevens, The Muddled Male

       I had a dog once.  At least I assumed he was mine since my parents were always saying things like, “Bob, your dog needs fed,” or “Bob, you need to clean up after your dog,” or “Bob, your dog is digging up the neighbor’s flowers.”

       We called him Freckles because his snout was white with a sprinkle of black spots.  Our neighbors used other names.  Take Cleve our grumpy neighbor, for example.  Cleve looked out his window one day just as Freckles jumped gracefully into the air to snag his teeth in the “back door” of Cleve’s long handled underwear fluttering in the breeze on the backyard clothes line.

       Cleve’s words were, as I recall, “you #@%^&~! dog let go of my #@%^&~! underwear and get the #@%^&~! out of my yard.”  Shortly after that we had to give Freckles away.  Not because of Cleve, mind you.  It was more about his tendency to wander out into the hills, roll in the rotting carcasses of dead deer, and then come running home expecting to come into the house and curl up on the rug in front of our living room stove.  I am talking about Freckles, now, not Cleve.

       I have often wondered if we could have kept Freckles had we worked with him just a little longer.  Ann, my wife, has told me many times that I would never have been properly trained if she had given up and just accepted me in the condition I was when we were married sixty-one years ago.

       Excuse me, I have to go.  I just heard the command to “heel” …. or was she just calling my name?