Good Stuff

By John Brown, The Man

A simple calculator for how much home you can afford

It's March. Spring is here in most places. And this is when the house hunting season starts to get rolling. I used to moonlight as a realtor. I started from nothing, ran my own little gig, and did very well. Then I got a book contract, and there was no way I could do three jobs. But I learned a lot.

One of the things I learned is that home buyers very frequently have a very hard time staying within their budget.

They set a number, start looking in their price range, then peek at the homes in a higher price range, and of course those homes look better. Why wouldn't they? They're more expensive! And, geez, they have such nice faucets and cool counters and a shower with five heads so you can wash your body from every imaginable angle, and suddenly many of my buyers would refuse to see cheaper homes. Because they just had to have the ultrawash shower.

Or a dent in a wall that's officially called an alcove.

Or a super deluxe gas heater fireplace that runs on banana peelings and saves gerbils.

Or whatever.

It's called house craze. It's a temporary thing. It passes as soon as you get in the house and start making the payments.

And then you wake up and realize you have a hot tub, and you hate hot tubs! What in the world were you thinking?!

Well, you had house craze.

The unfortunate side effect of buying too much house is that the mortgage eats up so much of the take-home pay that it makes everything else exceedingly tight. Or impossible.

You don't have room to pay off debts. Don't have room to invest much, or at all. Don't have room to have fun vacations. Don't have room for anything except the fricken-ricken, blankity-blank, #$%!* house!

This condition is called being house poor.

So house craze leads to being house poor.

Which leads to second jobs and stress and often more debt. You may also end up in a roadside ditch. The situation below occurs with more than just with cable companies.

The lender will tell you that you can lend up to 36% of your take-home pay!

Your eyes go wide, and you being to think that maybe you can afford two ultrawash showers. But just slow down and think for a second--the lender is the one SELLING you the loan.

Right...

Don't listen to the lenders.

Listen to common sense.

My advice is the same as Dave Ramsey's:

1.      Don't buy a house until you're out of debt and have saved enough to pay 10% of the purchase price of the house.

2.     When you're at that point, get a 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage with monthly payment that's no more than 25% of your take-home pay.

So that's my advice. You're free to do with it what you wish. Just know that being house poor sucks.

And all that to introduce the calculator which will tell you exactly how much home you can afford. It takes 10 seconds to fill in.

Download it and be happy.

How much home can I afford?

Morning

Photo by Tammy Calder, Calderberry Photography, Garden City

County Asked To Take Over Water System

Anita Weston. Reporter

Rich Civic Times 

RANDOLPH, Utah. March 6, 2017.  Terry Allen, Bear Lake Water System,  presented a petition signed by individuals living on Sweetwater Hill requesting that the County take over the Bear Lake Water System in that area.  It is currently a privately owned water system that covers four or five different subdivisions.  He also had a map showing the area currently providing water to those who live there.  He noted that it would be the entire system and excluded the sewer district which is an entirely different entity.

It was noted by the Commissioners that such a request would require holding a public hearing to talk about the system.  Allen noted that because it is a private system, they cannot apply for any grants or government assistance.  If the water system is taken over by the County, they could apply for grants to improve the system.

It was estimated that it would require at least $10,000 to survey the system to get all of the current boundaries on the map. 

The Commissioners made the motion to set the date for the public hearing for next month, April 5, 2017, at 1:30 p.m.

Allen also asked that protection of Zone 2, where all new water wells are being drilled be placed on next month’s agenda as well.  He would like to see the Commission create an ordinance to protect Zone 2.  Sunrise Engineering would be willing to send an engineer to the meeting to explain the justification and reason for such a zone.  The Commissioners set up an appointment at the next Commission Meeting on April 5 at 11:30 a.m. to talk with that engineer and Terry Allen concerning this item.

It was suggested that another public hearing be scheduled for April 5 at 1:00 p.m. to get public input concerning the Cisco Road Project.    This project will cost about $8.4 million.  The motion was made to hold the hearing.  A proposal was also made to perhaps borrow from the Community Impact Board for this project.

Mountain View

Photo by Sandi Gunderson Warner

Rich County Commission Meeting

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times 

RANDOLPH, Utah.  March 6, 2017. Troy Petersen and his wife appeared before the Commissioners asking that they be granted a license for running the old Camper World campground.  He has recently purchased this campground and would like to continue running the camp ground.  He reported that in the past, the campground was available only to those who had a membership with Camper World.  He, however, will make it an open camp area for anyone needing a place to camp.  The new name will be Bear Lake Venture Park.  He is planning on building a new office area, but will use the existing building until he gets the other completed.  There are 54 camping sites in this area.  His request was approved.

The County Short Term Rental Agreement was discussed.  It was decided to leave the ordinance as it is.  Conditional use permits will be needed in the Beach Front zone so it will be in force primarily along the lake.

There are currently 20 to 24 homes that are short term rentals in the County.  Commissioner Cox said that last week in the legislature it was determined that just because a home is advertised as a short term rental, it may not be being used that way.  Thus, in order to require a license for the short term rental, Mitch Poulsen will be asked to go to the people and prove that they are actually renting out the home.

The motion was made and passed to adopt the short term rental ordinance as written.  Poulsen will be the enforcement individual.  Those individuals who are managers of short term rentals were asked to get their clients into compliance with the County’s ordinance as soon as they can.

Indy Green is currently the president of the Barrel Club.  She asked the Commissioners to get new sprinkler heads on the water system so that the arena will be easier to use.  She noted that a certain amount of water is required in the arena blend in order to make the best use of the arena.  The sprinkler heads no longer turn so that the water doesn’t cover the whole area, only certain strips.  Commissioner Cox noted that he will get in touch with Bruce Dickamore and have him come check the arena blend to make sure it is still up to expectations.  He also said that the commissioners will make sure that the sprinklers work properly.

Green also asked that the commissioners fix the gate by the header box.  Currently there are two little gates that are actually a hazard.  The horses sometimes hit the gates.  She thought perhaps one large gate or no gate at all would be an improvement over the current situation.

The Commissioners noted that they are going to do some work on the arena this spring.  They are planning on getting handrails for some of the bleachers, build a ramp up to the bleachers, and upgrade several other items.  They will put the gates on their list.

Dale Wilson of the Road Department noted that there is a lot of rock that could still be crushed but that he didn’t think they needed much more.  The Commissioners said that he should have them hold off on the crushing.  This spring there will be a greater need for slurry seal and some of the money that would be used for crushing could be used to pay for this seal.

It was noted that there is approximately 18,500 tons of road millings available to the County at the present time.  Dale said that he thought that would be enough to be used on three city streets in Randolph, (about 1.8 miles), 1.4 miles over the hill to the Road Bridge, the Trail Road, and another mile from the bridge over to Brady's.  They would also like to surface the parking lot by the jail.  The surface will be 4 inches deep and 24 feet wide.  The distance for all three areas comes to about 5 miles of road which would require about 18,500 tons of road millings.

Last year they bought 130 loads for two miles on the Wills Road and the Golf Course road.  It cost about $35,000 for these two projects.

The company will charge for hauling the millings.  Going to Woodruff and back will be a bit more expensive than the other loads.  The Commissioners told Wilson to get a proposal from the company for what is available as well as the hauling. 

Kim Wilson came to get exemptions for all of the LDS Church buildings in the County.   The LDS Church has to file every year and have to have it approved every year by motion of the Commissioners.  This was done.

Many of the documents in the Courthouse are scanned.  They have been using a Company called Scanning Revolution.  However, they have been having some problems with getting the work done that is needed.  At least three departments in the Courthouse have documents scanned.  Debbie Ames, Kim Wilson, and Becky Peart all work in offices that do scanning.  They haven’t paid Scanning Revolution yet this year for scanning work.  They would like to buy a program from Brian Johnson.  He will charge the same this year as Scanning Revolution, but the software will be put on the others’ machines, and it will only be a cost this year.  The software will be on their machines from then on, actually saving the County money.  Debbie would need a new printer and special labels.  It would cost less than $500 for those items.  This will put the County online which will be a requirement in the near future.  The Commissioners agreed with their decision and encouraged them to go ahead and purchase the program this year.

Bear Lake Regional Commission Reports On Bike Trail

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah.  March 6, 2017.  Mitch Poulsen, Director of the Bear Lake Regional Commission, and Tyler Stewart, an engineer, appeared before the County Commission to ask for permission to survey the proposed bike path going southeast of Ideal Beach.  The plan is to extend the bike path as far as the Epic Rental Area or a bit further just before turning to the south along Bear Lake.  Poulsen had written a grant asking for $600,000 to $700,000 for this project.  The project will have to be scaled back because the grant only brought in $300,000.

Poulsen asked that a survey be made to determine a more accurate cost estimate for the bike path project.  Estimates could then be made as to the quantities of material that will be needed and give a better idea of how far the path can be extended.

Commissioner Cox noted that UDOT had completed a boundary survey that could give Poulsen and Stewart the necessary points without having to resurvey that area.  Cox said that where the cut had originally been made for the road, it was discovered that it was almost solid rock in that area which may require more money and effort.

Poulsen asked if he could withdraw needed funds out of the $47,000 grant that had been obtained for this project.  Cox suggested that the funds be made available from the county and then reimburse the County as the project moves forward.  Cox told them that once the project gets started the funds will be available.  State dollars can’t be obtained until after the project is underway.

Poulsen is still working with proposed routes for special events.  He has developed a map showing several alternatives that could be used by those setting up these events.  Cox asked that he be sure and let the commissioners know when and where the special events will be held.  They want to make sure there won’t be any problems.  The Commissioners, after looking at the proposed routes, gave a few more suggestions of areas and roads that might be used.

Joe Cole had asked Poulsen to get him placed on the April Agenda to get permission for the triathlon race to be held the middle of September.  Mitch passed this information on to the Commissioners.

Poulsen then reported to the Commissioners on the progress being made on the Resource Management Plan that is required by the State.  He is currently holding meetings every two weeks with different individuals to get the needed information for the various sections of the report.  He noted that he wanted to put the policies and procedures in the front of the article with short summaries for each area.  He said he thought he should emphasize and focus on the main six topics and then touch on the other 21 areas. 

Cox told Poulsen that if all important information on all 27 topics in the management plan is not included, the BLM or the Forest Service can take over certain areas without even consulting with or talking to the local government agencies.  He said it was very important that every section have as much detail as possible.

Poulsen said he would continue working on the project and gather more information as quickly as possible.