Pickleville Philosophy

Kerplunkin
By Jim Stone, The Pickleville Philosopher

Well ya know when ya gotta go, ya just gotta go!  I hope this fun story isn’t too graphic to tell but I had an awesome day duck hunting.  Then I just watched one of those reality shows on TV. It was about Alaska and a honey bucket. Some of you might not know what a honey bucket is. It’s just a big ten gallon bucket which when you are in the outdoors, the honey bucket is where ya go to do your business.

Speaking from my experience it’s pretty uncomfortable.  Well years ago I was running a float trip with my dog Bozwood, he was a big bear of a yellow lab, I think he was more human than a dog. We were on one of Alaska’s wildest rivers running a float trip for salmon, grayling, giant rainbow trout, char and pike. We would float 125 miles from the head water to the ocean once a week.  Then a big float plane would pick us up at the bottom and fly us to the top to do it again. Me and Bozwood loved it. At that time in our lives we were best friends living the Alaskan adventure together.

Well, when your charging the amount of money that a fully guided world class fishing trip floating a wild river of Alaska having all most all your comforts of home provided for you by the hard working guides, you make it almost like being in a wild home in the outdoors.

We headed down the river with a bunch of yuppies from New York City. Remember the part of having all most everything from home except one thing I never had really thought about like a toilet with water in it that you can hit a button or lever. When you have a honey bucket in Alaska on the river you have a bathroom tent and a deep hole with a roll of TP and a toilet seat attached to some frame work to have pretty nice comfy toilet seat with a dry hole below it, but there’s no kerplunk like when there’s water in the bottom.

I had one of the clients from New York, Bob, ask where the bathroom was. I showed him where it was. Bob came back to camp in like 30 seconds and he did not look so good. When you’re a public servant like I’ve always been, like a waitress or food business or grocery store worker, tips when you get one are a big bonus. I call it working the tips. So ya work extra hard and pay attention to every ones needs.

Bob couldn’t use the bathroom for a number 2.  Bob said he just couldn’t do it without water in the bottom so there’s a kerplunk. So when you’re a guide or a public servant ya get paid a wage but ya work the tips.

Well, I got a little closer to the wild Alaskan river and I dug a deeper hole. I hit water and dug a few more shovel full to make sure there was a kerplunk zone for Bob.

I was working the tips I needed to save my tips and money two have a business of my own. I went back to camp and told Bob, “man you got all the comforts of home go give it a try.”

I was worried about Bob. But Bob was successful. He came back to camp and he got his kerplunk. So from there on, all the guides were trained to dig a deep hole so there is always water for the kerplunk.

We had a wonderful fishing trip we caught some huge fish. We had great fresh wild food. I would go pick wild berries and make pancakes, French toast with berries on the side. Again working the tips so we got to the end of our fishing adventure and Bob finally got comfortable and he had a fun time.

Bob came up to me after we had a great trip down a big huge Alaskan river and reached out and shook my hand. That’s how a lot of people hand you a tip. A tip is really cool, it is telling you that they appreciate you and your hard work.  It is "thanks for making me feel at home and all the great food, fishing, being like I’m doing all these wild things with my safe zone like being in my own home." Bob shook my hand with $500 bucks for a tip...ha ha… what a tip! So from then on us guides dug a deeper hole for the kerplunk. It was amazing, our tips went up that year. True story.

Beach Anyone?

Photo by Jason Wade Matthews, Garden City

New Residential Subdivision Discussed

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY , Utah.  February 8, 2018.  A discussion was held concerning the conceptual plan for a residential subdivision of approximately 100 acres.  The land is west of Hodges Canal and between the existing Cherimoya Subdivision to the east and the future Shundahai to the west, and north of Hodges Canyon Road.  The subdivision will be approximately 87 lots with a minimum of ¼ acre per lot.  This land, the John and Noreen Trust, is currently being handled by Randall Hansen and Bonnie Jorgensen as the trustees.  The information presented to the council members was given by Jeff Jorgensen, the husband of Bonnie Jorgensen.

The City is planning on putting a water line easement and a road along the top edge of this property between the Hansen land and the future Shundahai.  The new water line and Paradise Parkway gives both water and a good ingress/egress to this property making it an excellent area for development.  There will be three east/west roads within the subdivision itself.

Phase one is being called Cherimoya West which includes 23 lots.  Five of those lots on the south are very steep but are part of the plan.  This property is in the recreational hillside zone which is perfect for this type of subdivision.  A motion for approval was made and passed.

Members of the Planning Commission asked for some additional time for discussing two ordinances.  They also requested that they be given a copy of these ordinances that the City passed at the special meeting held at the beginning of the year.  They were not sure of the wording of these ordinances that had been approved by the City Council.

Resolution #R-18-01 is a resolution authorizing the issuance and sale of a class C road revenue note and related matters.  The City needs a $350,000 loan to finish out Third West this coming summer.  Authorization of payment from the road funds to pay the short-term loan is needed.

There will be a public hearing on this item next month.  A motion was made and passed on this item.

A short discussion concerning sanitation dump fees was held.  It was noted that Garden City paid $21,000 last summer to take care of all the large dumpsters in town.  This item will be put on the agenda for next month.

Third West Funding And Public Works Projects

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  February 8, 2018.  Glen Gillies, Garden City Commercial Building Inspector, said that he had approved the Bear Den.  He noted that Smoot is going to begin building the Adventure Center soon.  There is a big convention center being built on the south end of the Harbor Village light house.  They are at the sheet rock stage and plan to have the building finished in time for a large convention that is scheduled in June.  The convention will have more than 400 attendees. 

Gillies noted that several Logan contractors have complained when they have had to follow code.  They said they might not come over here to work when they are held to such high standards.  Gillies said the standards are those set in the code book and are supposed to be followed regardless of who the contractors are.

Zan Murray, Mayor Leonhardt, and Kathy Hislop were in Richfield for a meeting.  They were told that the State would help with the $350,000 that is needed to complete 300 West.  This is going to be most helpful and appreciated.  There will still need to be a short-term loan to get everything done on time.

The 300 West right-of-way has been finished up and now only needs to be recorded at the County.  The bid will go out in March or April for some of the work that needs to be done on this road.  The road should be completed by the 24^th of July.

The new water line going south has about 85% of the plan completed.  The water line must be put in prior to the completion of the road.  The plan is currently being reviewed.  It will be bid as soon as possible.  This needs to be done before mobilizing the contract on the road.  Interim financing is in place.  There is one more UDOT meeting scheduled.

The right-of-way going south on Paradise Parkway has been taken care of.  The road going down in Hodges Canyon is quite steep.  It may have to be moved a bit further west, then turn east back to the parking lot on Hodges road.

Because part of 300 West is steep, it may not be able to handle big trucks.  It was noted that there should be room for a trail alongside  300 West to allow people to ride bikes and so forth. 

The State is looking toward spending  $5 to $7 million dollars to help alleviate congestion on Bear Lake Blvd.  There are problems at the Harbor, at intersections to Third West at KOA and at Buttercup.  Turning lanes should be put in at those areas.

Riley Argyle, Public Works Supervisor, noted that he will be starting to work on sidewalks in Garden City that need to be fix or replaced.  There is a real tree issue damaging sidewalks in several areas of the town.  There needs to be some rebar used in places and the roots on many trees need to be dug out.  The sidewalks will be 5’ wide as far as possible.  There are some spots where the sidewalk will have to remain at 4’ such as in front of the Church.  Here the sprinkling system makes it impossible to widen the sidewalk in that area.  He noted that he will work with 100’ long areas at a time.  This will allow him to do the cement work and still be able to carry on some of his other responsibilities. 

Bear Lake Watch noted that the Lake is down 4’ from the high-water mark.

Weekend White Out

Lauriann Wakefield, Little Starling Photography, Garden City

Garden City Council Reports

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times 

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  February 8, 2018. Mike Leonhardt, Mayor, noted that the City has not raised the travel per-deim for a long time. Currently, employees are given 45 cents a mile for travel.  It was suggested that the Council investigate this item and have it placed on next month’s agenda.

The Mayor noted that one of the top ten businesses in Utah this year is housed right here in Garden City.  It is called SDRHelper (Short-Term Rental Helper) and has 22 full-time employees.  Leonhardt said that there are more than just short-term rentals in town.  "We have a high-tech business here that will hopefully encourage others in the high-tech area to look toward Garden City as a good place to be."

The boardwalk down to the lake on the South end of town has been completed.  Hopefully, people will be interested and will walk down to see how nice it is.  There are a couple of caps that need to be placed on some posts, and the fence on the south side of the boardwalk still needs to be installed.

Leonhardt said that the state has decided that they will help Garden City with some funding to pay off the debt that was incurred when the water treatment plant was mandated by the state to be built by Garden City. 

Councilman Darrin Pugmire said that Third West will be completed this summer.    He attended a meeting held by the State Governor.  Bear Lake is considered a real hot spot.  There were some recommendations made to try and get Garden City better prepared for the influx of people that occurs each summer.  The Governor’s number one priority for this area was to get better access to the marina and to enlarge the marina.  The next item was the intersections from Highway 89 onto Third West down by the KOA and the intersection from Buttercup onto Highway 30. 

Councilman Howard Pope wanted to thank Glen Gillies for the work that he has done on the swimming pool.  The pool has been greatly improved.  There is a new handicap lift available.  There is a new furnace, a new boiler for heating the pool water, and a maintenance schedule is being prepared for the pool manager and overseer. 

Currently, groups can reserve the pool for $25.  Pope felt that this fee should be doubled.  Currently the $25 only pays for the pool manager and two life guards.  None of the other expenses are taken care of with this amount.  He also thought that the pool fee for nonresidents should be at least $85 when they reserve the pool.  He also thought that the entrance fee should also be raised.

Pope noted that there has been good progress made on the pool the last few weeks.  There is still a way to go to make it more inviting and self-sustaining he reported.

Pope will be going to a trails meeting next week.  There also needs to be more interest in trail maintenance which will be addressed at this meeting.

Pat Argyle, Councilwoman, said that Raspberry Days plans are moving forward.  She reported that a paper plan has been drawn for development of Heritage Park which includes power and sprinklers.  These two jobs will be out to bid soon.  Argyle noted that Heritage Park will be used for Raspberry Days next year.  This will be the last year Raspberry days will use the parking area by the Church. 

Ken Hansen, Councilman,  noted that there is a 2” water line at Swan Creek that needs to be moved.  It is currently in a private right-of-way.  It will still have to go under the bridge.  There was not much interest when the bid was let so that the City may have to do this job themselves.

A water pump went out at the water treatment plant.  It is currently being rebuilt.

There is a plan to run some water lines down the new Third West area  This needs to be done almost immediately.  Also, there needs to be enough crossings under Third West completed prior to the State putting in the new road.

The library is getting new lighting.  It will make the library area much brighter. The library was also able to obtain a 501C account.  This allows the library to accept donations and hold fund raising activities.    

New Concession Stand For Fair

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter
Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah. February 7, 2017. Tyler Pugmire, Fair Chairman, said that the town of Randolph got a grant of $40,000 from room tax and he would like the county to match this.  The existing concession stand will be torn down and a new one put in.  It will have among other things, stainless steel grills.   It can be used for T ball , softball activities and horse shows. 

Commissioner Bill Cox said that perhaps the road crew could tear the old concession stand down.  Dallin Smith, the new County Extension Agent, said he would look for more money if it was needed. 

The show ring and the bleachers need to be improved.  Pugmire is planning to put lights on the show ring.   He will put the project up for bids.  One power pole has to come out, Rocky Mountain Power said that they would unhook the building for the demolition and then rehook it.