Eighteen Wheeler Philosophy

Unsung...Heroes

By Mel Hansen, The Eighteen Wheel Philosopher

Last Saturday evening, the 4th, I was climbing the middle sister east of Evanston, Wyoming, heading east for Atlanta. The freeway was a tad bit slick..but I was passed by a school bus loaded with students, most likely basketball players, headed for home.

Every time I see a school bus my thoughts instantly go to the greatest school bus driver ever...Delford Webb.

It takes a special kind of person to be a bus driver! I could never do it! Not only do I..NOT..have the patience to put up with young kids...older kids who still act like little kids...but I couldn't shoulder the responsibility that I literally would be..responsible..for each and every life on that bus! One miscalculation or distraction could cause the loss of life! Never was I the least concerned about my safety when Delford or LuRene was behind the wheel. They were the BEST!

My parents always taught me to address my elders as, Mr. & Mrs., Uncle/Aunt, Bro./Sis., Teacher, etc etc... but for some reason this didn't apply to Delford and his lovely wife, LuRene. I, along with just about everybody else, addressed Delford and LuRene as such. I've given this a lot of thought through the years as why I addressed them as Delford and LuRene?... and this is what I came up with!...quite simple really!...think about who was one of the very first people you meet as a 5 yr old starting school in Kindergarten?...the bus driver! "Hello!..my name is Delford!...what's yours?" Delford and LuRene became my earliest friends!...and as such you become comfortable with them, even to the point that you...TRUST THEM WITH YOUR LIFE!...these kind of friends you call by their first names.

Delford picked me, along with 6-7 others, up for kindergarten in his own personal car. If my memory serves me right?...it was a two toned turquoise green and white?

All through my 1st and 2nd grade school yrs I stood right next to Delford, with both hands on the chrome bar that ran from the handle to the doors of the bus. (Delford was my protector from the high school boys who liked to tease me...it wasn't bullying!...just fun natured teasing is all)
My parents had the greatest respect and confidence in Delford and LuRene! Countless times I heard them say...especially from my dad when my mum would stress about those long winter ball trips..."nothing to fear as long as Delford is behind the wheel...there isn't anything that Delford can't handle!, and he'd never put those kids at risk!"

As I grew older I became..at times..a bit of a problem on the bus...so I was..requested..to take the front seat! I could probably count on both hands how many times that Delford wasn't behind the wheel...and when he wasn't his sweet wife, LuRene, was. While sitting on the front seat I observed LuRene's driving skills...she could double clutch and shift gears with the best of them! But I came to the conclusion that LuRene was at one time in her young life a...ballerina! She operated the clutch/brake and fuel pedals with the tips of her shoes!

In my high school basketball playing days...as I boarded the bus..Delford would greet me with a, wink and a grin, and tell me in a hushed tone..."now you behave and keep it down back there..so I don't have to stop this bus and come back there and...skin your ass!" "Will do!", I'd tell him. Thankfully I still have skin on my ass! I knew who he'd be looking for first, every time he looked over his glasses into that long mirror above his head to keep an eye on his passengers...so I'd grin and wave at him as we made eye contact with each other..and he would grin back while shaking his head back and forth.
Delford and LuRene were also the custodians of the school. Delford had the fastest returnable key chain in the west! His key chain probably weighed more than 20 lbs and you could hear him coming well before you saw him. 

LuRene was often behind the lunch counter serving up lunch with her patented smile!
For me...Delford and LuRene were...Comfortable Constants! If I didn't see them both several times a day...it wasn't a good day!

Countless times Delford would open the gym to us...even after basketball practice!...I think that he thought enough of us to do so...maybe he thought...if they're in here playing basketball..they're less likely to be getting into mischief and trouble some place else!?...he was right!

I wonder how many times Delford and LuRene...any bus driver for that matter... is told..THANK YOU!!..for getting me to and from safely!?? I'd like to think that I did...but ashamedly so... I can't remember telling Delford and LuRene thanks! They certainly deserved it from everyone riding the bus! Thanks!...would've certainly made their job worth it...and put a smile on their face everyday!...such a small price to pay for yrs of dedicated service.

The last time I seen and talked with Delford and LuRene, about 2 yrs ago at a funeral service in Laketown, I sat down next to them...put an arm around them and finally...Thanked...them for keeping me safe as a youngster on the bus. I'm sure they'd rather of hauled Charlie Manson around than me! But being the humble heroes that they are...they just smiled, said that they were glad to be a little part of my life and that I really wasn't all that..bad!...and that they enjoyed doing what they did. To me...No body!..did it better!

I think we had/have the best school bus drivers in the state! Who better to bus our children around than those who were born/ raised here!?...learned how to drive in the coldest, weirdest weather county in the state!

And like my parents...I never worried about my children's safety as long as Rose, Lois (Delford and LuRene's two daughters), Harry Bennion, Bob Johnson and Lynn Weston were behind the wheel! And for the other bus drivers in our county that I personally don't know...and all bus drivers everywhere...I thank you all!!...for having the patience and courage to love and protect our children!...you all...are truly Heroes!
And even though Delford and LuRene are retired...Delford being in his 90's!...I'd trust them both still!..to drive me anywhere! But more importantly...I'm thankful that they were, still are, two of my first..and trusted..friends! I'm a better person for knowing them! 

Flag In The Snow

Photo by Tammy Calder, Calderberry Photo, Garden City

Rich Middle School Honors Students

RMS Students of the Month - January 2017

Stetson Rothlisberger

Tessa Ward

Tayla McKee

Ryker Conk

Riley Taylor

Amanda Schulthess

RMS Citizens of the Month - January 2017

Ayden Handley

Darleen Petersen

Brenen Argyle

Capri Kurek

Aaron Cook

Taylee Cornia

Library Needs Dog Runs

The Library is looking for large dog runs that are in good shape for a summer garden project for the children of our community.  Anyone wishing to donate or sell one (affordably), please contact the library at librarydirector@cut.net or 435-946-2950.  Thank you for your support.

Morning Wagon

Photo by Tammy Calder, Garden City

Garden City Council

 COUNCIL MEETING

February 9, 2017

Reported by Anita Weston

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  February 9, 2017. Dieter Walters requested a short term rental license for his property on 767 Spruce Drive.  His application was lacking George Peart’s signature, and there were some electrical problems that needed to be taken care of.  The Council approved the application upon condition that the above items be resolved.

Charles Van Wagoner has hired Bear Lake Property Management to handle his property located at 533 Raspberry Patch Road as a short term rental.  The Council approved the application for a license for this business. 

Dennis and Carol Judd own property at 55 North Sherry Lane.  They applied for a short term rental license.  Apparently this property has just been sold and the new owner’s signature is needed on the short term rental application.  Also, a better layout on parking needs to be submitted to the City.  Approval was given on condition that the above two items be resolved.

Ordinance #16-08 was sent to the Council from the Planning and Zoning Commission.  This ordinance concerns the height of fences, and the item was discussed by the Council.  The question was asked concerning when commercial and residential properties are next to each other what height of fence should be allowed?  Several other examples of when fence height might be different than the one height suggested in the ordinance.   The Council decided that the Ordinance should be revisited by Planning and Zoning.

A request has been made to re-zone property along 200 North from approximately 120 W to Bear Lake Blvd.  The request is to re-zone the property from the current C3 zone to a PUD (Planned Unit Development) Zone.  The request was made by Mark Smoot.  The Council passed the rezone.

Bob Peterson, the Code Enforcement Officer/Planning and Permitting Liaison to the council, presented two studies—the Water Usage Report and the 2016 Sales Tax Report.  Both of these reports are presented in separate articles.

Elk’s Ridge water system easement and property agreement was discussed. It should be recorded in the next few days. 

Mayor Spuhler noted that the Appeals Authority Board needs to add another member to the board who is employed by the City.  Sharlene Millard was recommended as the individual to fill this spot.  This will bring the board compliant to state code.  The suggestion was made that perhaps the Council should look into making some additional changes to this board.

Garden City Council Reports

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  February 9, 2017.  Chuck Stocking noted that the Library needs to create an organization called “Friends of Garden City Library”.  This will allow the library control over donations that are given to the library.  It will cost approximately $1,200 for federal and state fees to create this appendage to the library. Since this item was not on the agenda, it was suggested that it be placed on next month’s agenda. 

Stocking also noted that the library has been updating their computers and backup support for the new machines.  This expense was about $4,300.

Pat Argyle reported that she attended the last Raspberry Days Committee meeting.  She needed to know if bids had to be taken in obtaining entertainment for this event.  The Council said she could do as she wanted in that area.  They reminded her that the booth price had been raised by $200 which should give her a bit more freedom for entertainment.

She wants to get a sponsor and a large screen to advertise what is happening during the three days of the event along with having the entertainment also on the screen as well as performing live.  Ads could be shown between entertainment numbers.  The size screen desired will cost about $6,000 for the three days.  This will allow a great deal of freedom for those attending the event.  What is put on the screen can also be picked up in people’s homes, on their electronic devices, etc.  The Council thought it would be a good idea and encouraged her to continue moving forward.

Jennifer Huefner noted that she is working with Mitch Poulson on her trails project.  They will be having a meeting this next week to discuss where County trails and City trails meet and where all are located.  Poulson is in the process of using a GPS device to get accurate placement of the trails.  Huefner noted that upkeep of the trails has been ignored.   She felt that some group or revenue source needs to be established so that the trails can be properly groomed and maintained. 

Darrin Pugmire reported that the cost of shutting off culinary water to a business or home and then turning it back on later is not reasonable.  He noted that the turn on fee includes an impact fee which is way out of budget for most people.  It is especially difficult for individuals who move from one location to another or who have multiple connections.  He recommended that a standby fee be put in place for those who fit into this category that have off/on situations.  It was suggested that he come up with the amount of the standby fee and get this item on next month’s agenda.

Mayor Spuhler noted that the HOA, Shore Lodge, has been working with him to come up with a solution of getting more people to the lake.  Shore Lodge members feel that all the people should use 150 South to get to the beach.  However, that entrance/exit is so overloaded now, that other options need to be found. 

Legacy PUD has given the City an 8-foot wide walkway on the south side of their property that allows people to walk to the lake.  This entrance/exit will need to be made into a boardwalk allowing people to easily use this access.  Mayor Spuhler said that Shore Lodge HOA is considering helping pay for this boardwalk and the Mayor will no longer consider eminent domain.  People will not be able to drive to the lake, but will be allowed them to walk down to the lake shore. 

Good Stuff

Two Movies, a Book, and a Shovel
By John Brown, The Man

We’re going to start with the shovel because it’s been dumping snow this year, and I know there are some folks out there who want a quicker way to clear the snow from their driveways and walks. And, boy, do I have something for them.

I think it’s safe to say that the Brown family clears more snow by hand than the average American family. We have a driveway and street that together are a little over a tenth of a mile long. Here’s a picture.

We clear that lovely stretch of road by hand with shovels. (Yes, we are crazy; more on that below.) Most of the time we have it cleared long before any city plow shows up. But we love our city plows because they can do the heavy work at the edges. And they can do all the work when it really gets heavy and deep. And we love our neighbors with tractors who’ve come to our rescue as well.

Still, we do most of the clearing. We began our mad shoveling craze for one simple reason: we couldn’t get to our house when it snowed. And it was a pain in the neck to hike that tenth of a mile.
Part of the problem is that we live on a hill, and there are a couple of steep stretches. Another part of the problem was that we had not availed ourselves of this higher technology called snow tires. We thought all-weather tires would do just as fine. 

Wrong. Big wrong. They don’t even come close.

With all-weathers, on a hill, you have to keep the road clear. As in to the blacktop. Because once you build up even a small layer of snow, you’ll get slick patches, and then the all-weathers do nothing but spin.

But we didn’t discover that until a few years into it. And by that time, we’d learned that shoveling such a long drive was not only good exercise, but it also was a great way to teach our four girls not to fear hard work or projects that seemed daunting.

I know some of you are thinking, dude, why not purchase a snow blower, or a pickup or four-wheeler with a plow?

Because snow blowers at the time, much less four wheelers and pickups, were out of our budget. Because I’d much rather spend the money on a family trip somewhere fun. Because why spend the money when you can line up as a family and create your own Brown Family Snow Blade and give your kids stories to tell their kids about living in the Gulag?

Anyway, it’s what we do. Fast forward now to this year. Three of our daughters have grown up and gone off to college. Nellie, my youngest daughter, and I can usually still get it done. But this year’s record snows kicked our butts. Royally.

Now, we’ve tried all sorts of shovels. I can guarantee, if it was at a store for sale, we’ve tried it. We’ve used brooms. We’ve used all sorts of configurations of girl, woman, and dad power. After all that experimentation, we found a standard scoop shovel to be the best for general snow and a square garden shovel to be the ticket for ice. But this year our trusty tools weren’t cutting it.
So, after one long day on the driveway, I went on line looking for a better shovel. And after looking at quite several contraptions, I found The Snowcaster.

You can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GDLEXwlrEM

It’s basically a plow. One made for a human to push.

This thing had to be better than pushing shovels. So I ordered it and assembled it. The curved blade of incredibly hard plastic rises 9 inches above the ground and is three feet long. Its nifty design allows you to simply flip it to change the direction of the blade.

After using it this last six weeks on multiple snows of everything from ten inches of powder to three inches of watery slush, I will simply say that it’s amazing. It was so good, I ordered a second unit.
The Snowcaster does have a limit—you’re not going to plow three-feet of snow with it. You’re not going to plow a build-up of two feet. If you’ve got a lot of wet snow over a large area, you will break a sweat. And sometimes you’ll still need a shovel to toss snow at the edges. But for moving large quantities of snow out of the way on asphalt or concrete, it’s the best thing I’ve found to date.
If you are like me and don’t want to purchase a machine just yet, have snow to move, and want to dramatically reduce the time it takes to move it while providing some fun for the kids, I think you’ll love The Snowcaster. I ordered mine directly from the company here: https://thesnowcaster.com/. The model I chose was the 70SNC. I wouldn’t suggest the long model unless you rarely get snows above three inches. I say this because on some days with lots of snow the three-footer was about all I could push.

Okay, onto the movies. I have two excellent ones to recommend. Both of which are based on true-life events.

The first is Denial, a British-American historical drama, that tells the story of how Deborah Lipstadt, a holocaust scholar, was taken to court for libel in Britain by David Irving, a man who claims the Holocaust never happened. In America, you’re always innocent until proven guilty. However, in Britain, with libel, the burden of proof is upon the defendant. So how do you prove you weren’t slandering someone? The movie was thrilling and fascinating. And gave you something to think about afterwards. If you enjoyed Woman in Gold, you’ll enjoy this.

The next is Hidden Figures, an American biographical drama, that tells the story of female African-American mathematicians at NASA. These women were employed as computers—that was their official job title. Of course, this was before electrical computers and calculators, and what they did amazes me. The story is about the USA struggling to catch up to the Russians in the space race, and how four of these women helped while dealing with deep-seated prejudice against Blacks and females. It is full of humor, poignant moments, and surprises. It’s one of the best films I’ve seen these last few years. I don’t know what to compare it to. All I know is that you will laugh, be amazed, become outraged, and cheer. 

Lt. General Michael T. Flynn. Flynn is a former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and Assistant Director of National Intelligence and is now our National Security Advisor. If you want to understand how he is likely to advise the president about our war against radical Islam, let me recommend his book The Field of Fight. In the book, Flynn describes his background as an intelligence officer and how critical good intelligence is in this fight. He then describes his take on who the radical Islamist enemy is and how he thinks we can win the war against them. He shares several surprising insights that only someone with his experience can and reveals as well how good and smart leaders can disagree about strategy. One of his main points is that we will never win the war by killing bodies—this is an ideological war, much like the war we fought against communism. For those wanting to get past news blurbs and hear the man speak for himself at length, I think you’ll find this book interesting. 

And because, Dear Reader, you read all the way to the end, I will give you two more movie recommendations. Moana is a great, fun, family film. La La Land is an enjoyable musical romance that will probably break your heart. It did mine.

The Freeze And Thaw In Rich County

Bryce Nielson, County Emergency Coordinator

What a week!  Normally the folks around Bear Lake would be watching the snow outside and seeing temperature from 30F to 0F.   There would be snow, a frozen lake, and just trying to exist until late March hoping for spring.  As in past years, however, nothing seems to be normal anymore. 

The week started with a thaw and then catastrophic winds.  The weather station at Logan Summit clocked winds at 103 mph.  They poured into the valley and if it wasn’t tied down, it blew away.  The lake was completely frozen with ice averaging 4-5 inches thick.  The winds pushed against the ice sheet and finally broke it away from the shore at Garden City.  It pushed some ice up along the east side but when the wind quit it drifted back into the lake.  I have never seen this phenomenon before.  In the process, it blew four power poles down on Little Long Ridge which were basically inaccessible.  Rocky Mountain Power had to bulldoze a road to the site and then drag the trucks into to make repairs.  The power was out in Pickleville, Sweetwater Hill, Laketown and the south end for over 30 hours as the guys worked around the clock to restore it.  The community came together and helped one another and made it through the event.

As people were recouping, the rain and warm temperatures continued and on Friday morning water was flooding houses along Raspberry Patch Road.  Lots of damage.  The television stations came and instantly Utah knew about it.  I need to clarify a point.  It was reported that the canal breeched.  The canal was empty except of snow and ice and the water just ran over the top of it.  The community once again rose to the occasion.  People and kids came in droves to fill sandbags from the County truck that was equipped with a bagger.  A lot of pizza was consumed on that cold rainy day.  I couldn’t be more proud of everyone.  It makes my Emergency Manager job doable.  The Town of Garden City, Rich County Roads, local LDS wards and guys with heavy equipment all participated.  There was water coming out of North Canyon, Garden City Canyon, the canyon above Harbor Village and Broad canyon.  Azure Cove was threatened.  Folks met the challenge with thousands of sandbags, hard work and aching muscles.  By Saturday morning we were under control and the operation ceased.

I hate to say it but this was a rare anomaly in February.  This has nothing to do with normal spring runoff which is going to be monumental this year with all the saturated snow on the ground.  When the high elevation snow starts to melt and the Bear River floods it will impact everyone.  Deployed sandbags will be stored for future use.  The citizens will rise to the occasion again.  Bear Lake will come close to filling and all the beaches will be gone for the summer.  Just like it was forty years ago.

The weather is unpredictable now.  Whether it is due to climate change or natural cycles, no one knows.  Just look at the positive aspects and deal with the negative ones.  We still live in the best place in the world.

Beauty In The Snow

Photo by Laurianne Wakefield

Garden City Water Usage

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times 

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  February 9, 2017.  Bob Peterson, City Manager, was asked by the mayor to determine how the culinary water in Garden City is being used.  He gathered monthly data from the last several years and found the following results:

The city has spent time and effort on trying to determine how much water is being used by different groups having things in common.  One category was home size—small (under 2,000 sq. feet), medium (2,001 to 4,000 sq. feet), and large (over 4,001 sq. feet).  There were 78 homes that fit into the small area, 463 homes in the medium group, and 33 in the large category.

Some 451 homes have lawns and 123 do not have lawns.  There were 99 homes that were primary homes, 385 were secondary homes, and 90 other secondary homes that are short term rentals were used in the study.

The top ten water using homes used 8% of the water.  The top 11-100 homes used 38% of the water.  All other homes used 54% of the water.  The total amount of water used by the top 100 homes was 170,262,000 gallons.  The average amount of water used by these homes was 1,702,620 gallons.  The top 100 homes or 17 % of the single-family homes used 46 percent of the city’s distributed water.  The top 10 homes used 31,142,000 gallons of water and averaging 3,113,200 gallons. 

The top 100 water using homes shows that 98% of the top 100 homes have lawns.  That leaves only 2% of the top 100 homes without lawns.  The water usage on these non-lawn homes can be traced back to the following issues:  Home 1 had a major water leak in April 2014, using 637,000 gallons.  Home 2, a second home owner runs water 24/7 in the winter to prevent his pipes from freezing.

Removing these two anomalies in the data shows that 100% of the top 100 homes have lawns.  It should be noted that 80% of the top 100 homes were classified as a medium size home.  The other 20% were small and large in size.  Of the 22 Short term rental homes, 17 were medium size, 1 was small, and 4 were large.

The top 25 water using non-lawn homes includes 4 primary resident homes, 14 secondary homes, and 7 short term rentals.  The average occupancy is not known in the primary or secondary homes.  However, the average number of individuals in the short term rentals is 34.  The average amount of water usage by the primary resident homes is 904.8 gallons.  The average amount of water usage by the secondary homes is 855.2 gallons.  The average water usage for the second home short term rental homes was 794.7 gallons.

The conclusions that resulted from this study shows that the top 100 homes used 46% of the city’s distributed water.  The top 10 homes used 8% of the city’s water.  STR (Short term rentals) second homes were only 22% of the top 100 water using homes.   The average amount of water used by the homes in this study was 646,000 gallons.  The average amount of water used by the top 100 water users was 1,702,620 gallons.  Out of the top 25 water using homes without lawns only 28% were short term rentals.  From the top 25 water using homes without lawns, short term rental homes average 794,000 gallons.  From the top 25 water using homes without lawns, primary resident homes and second home owner used on average 1,600 per month more water than short term rentals.

Garden City Sales Tax Report

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times 

GARDEN CITY, February 9, 2017.  Bob Peterson was asked by Mayor Spuhler to look into sales tax and resort tax monies from 2014 through 2016. 

The following chart shows the sales and resort tax figures:

SALES AND RESORT TAX
Sales and Resort Tax	2014	2015	2016
Direct POS* Sales Tax	192,000.74	215,826.69	259,317.25
Garden City Sales Tax	144,697.24	158.020.46	181.148.96
Direct POS* Resort Tax	275,928.56	308,860.90	375,449.19
Garden City Resort Tax	272,423.73	302,107.76	366,606.99

*Point of Sales

POS of sales for 2015 was an 11.7% increase over the previous year.

POS Sales for 2016 was a 20.1% increase over 2015.

POS Resort for 2015 is an 11.9% increase over 2014.

POS Resort 2016 was a 21.6% increase over 2015.

The following table shows Rich County Tax Revenues:

Tax Revenues	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
General Property Tax	$1,173,793	$1,150,010	$1,142,521	$1,160,109	??
General Sales & Use Tax	$83,172	$86,461	$28,369	$99,826	??
Transient Room Tax	$116,724	$159,727	$186,527	$223,000	$289,221.62
Restaurant Tax	$32,986	$40,889	$35,172	$57,758	??
Option Sales Tax	$80,154	$84,407	$74,791	$95,767	??
Total Tax	$1,536,829	$1,521,494	$1,467,380	$1,636,460	??

Helping Hands

Flooding Comments

Reported by Kathie Anderson,
Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, February 11, 2017. Bryce Nielsen, Rich County Emergency Service Manager told The Salt Lake Tribune that, in addition to the Harbor Village homes, officials were keeping a close watch on Azure Cove area, another vacation-home development where about 15 unoccupied residences could be threatened by flooding if rapid snowmelt and rain continue unabated.  “We are trying to get the word out to the owners to come on up and check on their properties,” noting that the county had laid in sandbags and sand for them, if needed.

There has been an unbelievable response from people working tirelessly on sandbags.  They have filled 10 dump trucks of sand into bags.  Here are just a few comments from people on Facebook:

John Spuhler:  “Great efforts all around.”

Jim and Marilee Lealos:  “Good luck Bryce, keep up the fight.”

Emily Jacobsen Stocking:  “I have a sick kid at home today and feel the same way.  I keep asking Joey to let me know what I can do from home.”

Brittney Williamson Lundgren:  “Wondered about having my kids make cookies and having them taken down to the sandbagging site.”

Jennifer Castillas:  “Dom wants to know where we can find Noah’s Ark!  He has a feeling we are going to need it.”

Elaine Reiser Alder summed up so many of our feelings in her comment:  “Thank you all from all of us who love the city and the lake.  You are our heroes!!!!”

Kathy Hislop from the Town of Garden City:  “Watch the Garden City website for updates on the flooding situation.  We will keep it updated and let you know what is needed.  Thanks to everyone who has helped so far!”