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Friday, August 18, 2017

Garden City Staff Reports

Anita Weston, Reporter
Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  August 10, 2017.  The rain during the week caused some flooding along Bear Lake Blvd.  The KOA area was covered with water and La Beau’s Drive Inn also had water damage.  Apparently, the culverts that are close to these two locations had not been cleaned properly for some time.  The water had no place to go and backed up at the two locations.

The culverts belong to the State.  It appeared near LaBeau’s that the culvert there had purposely been covered.  There was no marking to show where the culvert was located.  The culverts were put in place by the state many years ago.

All of the staff members were happy they had survived Raspberry Days.  There was some damage to the sprinklers on the Church lot.  There were some issues with power as well.  Several of the booths needed more outlets and more power.  Another year more power will be required to satisfy everyone.  It was suggested that the application sent to possible booth owners include a section to be filled out giving their power needs.  It was also noted that a liability release form be included in the application.  Most individuals do not get commercial insurance for such a short activity, so the city needs to be protected by such a release.

Council Member, Chuck Stocking noted that he had just been to a fair.  He had a booth and was required to pay for any power that he used during that event and was separate from the booth price itself.  He had a schedule of what was charged for various amounts of power.  He gave that electricity break-down to Pat Argyle and suggested that all vendors pay for their own power in the future instead of the City paying that expense.  The Council members agreed that in the future all booth vendors will be asked to pay for their power usage

The City is going to be short $400,000 to get Third West in place this next summer.  Several options had been discussed last month.  It was decided that the city borrow from the state.  The money can be borrowed for five years at zero interest.  If the loan is not paid off by that time, interest will be added to the remaining balance.

Glen Gillis , Commercial Building Inspector, reported that he had given out 46 citations.  Twenty-eight of them had been resolved.  Seven were not taken care of, and those individuals will be receiving certified letters this week.

Building is moving forward in town.  The Beach walkway has been started.  Smoot is making some changes at Harbor Village.  Norm Mecham has plans for a new PUD and will be submitting his information to the office this week.  Water’s Edge is planning on building a hotel.  They want to get all the footings and foundations put in before winter.  They will probably not try and work through the winter.  Smoot at his 200 North location is ready to begin building employee housing behind his shop.

The City has created a list of possible complaints that may be submitted.  There will be choices given to individuals when they call in a complaint.  By determining the kind of complaint, the call will be directed immediately to whoever is responsible for handling that item.  This will save a lot of time and ensure that all complaints will be sent to the proper individuals and will be handled as soon as possible. Parking problems is the number one issue in the town.

Logan City is currently considering bringing air service into their City.  They are trying to make Logan a ski destination area.  This could work well for Garden City because of the number of short-term rentals that are available during the snowy season. 

Zan Murray, the City’s Engineer, noted that he is still attempting to get the final signature on the agreement with Elk’s Ridge.  The easement is in hand.  They have only one more signature that is needed.  Murray had to redo the document because of a change.  This required that everyone had to sign the new revised agreement.  He said it would be taken care before the end of the week. Another individual who owns land up above Elk’s Ridge wanted to be able to use the ingress/egress that was required of Elk’s Ridge Subdivision.  He was told that he would need to work with Elk’s Ridge Subdivision homeowners and not Garden City.

Murray is finishing up the final questions on the water project.  Funding is always a problem.  They will be looking into the impact on water rates.  Currently, the base rate is $44 for those within the City limits and $66 for those outside the City.  This water rate may appear high, but because of the water treatment plant, it is necessary.  Murray is looking for a grant to help with water prices.  He is hoping to find a grant that will pay up 45 percent of the current water prices.

The boardwalk project is moving forward.  The handrail will need 4” x 4” posts.  There will be an update on the boardwalk at the next meeting.

The City needs to update the city’s road map.  B and C roads should be checked to make sure the length of them is accurate and highlight the city’s roads on the map and include all paved, graveled, and dirt roads.  The 300 West road will add miles to the city’s current road lengths.

The Hoyt Subdivision has a gate that is on city property.  There was an agreement between the subdivision and the city that expired this past year.  That agreement has not been renewed.  Currently, it is difficult for a car to turn around down the road to the Hoyt Subdivision.  Originally there was to be a 90’ circle there to allow for easy turning. The dumpster for this Subdivision is also on city property.  It will need to be moved back into the Subdivision allowing for the circle turnaround.

There are at least nine different items that the city needs to take care of .  The workers will meet on either the 8th or 9th of September to make plans and arrangements to take care of these items.

The city did trade property previously to make Third West a bypass road by smoothing out the curves by the fish pond.  However, nothing was done to make sure all details were covered.  This item now needs to again be addressed and necessary changes need to be written down and attached to a map so that any property transactions can be taken care of in a timely manner.

George Peart, Building Inspector, noted that there is a small trailer on Buttercup that is smaller than a sheep camp.  No permit can be issued for any trailer less than 750 square feet of living space.  This trailer will need some kind of inspection.  It was built in South Jordan but no specs are available because it was home-made.  George said that he couldn’t pass on the trailer.

The national code is less restrictive than the state’s regulations but, you do need specs, and you need a zone for that size trailer.  Buttercup is the area where trailers are permitted, but the trailers must be able to pass inspections.  People building their own trailer off site create some real problems.  When they build off-site, they need inspections during the building process.

Two permits were granted since the last meeting.  One will have solar heat and the other is a regular home.  Peart noted that he is still getting calls for short-term rental inspections






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