Garden City Council News

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times 

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  March 14, 2019.  A motion was made and passed to allow Top Coat Nails a business license.  This business will conduct a nail technician apprenticeship program at 88 South Bear Lake Blvd.  The request was made by Aftyn Reese.

A new company, House of Pop for Bear Lake, requested a license to conduct a gourmet soda shop that will serve snacks in the Epic Rental building.  This building will be located at 201 North Bear Lake Blvd.  It will be managed by Russell Madsen.  A motion was made and passed to allow this company to obtain a business license.

Gary Halverson owns a home at 641 Balsamorhiza.  He wants to get a short-term rental license.  The contact company will be Bear Lake Luxury Rentals owned by David Baird.  A motion was made and passed to allow this home to have a short-term rental license.

Jeff Harwood has a home at 288 West Stuart Drive in Snow Meadows.  He requested a short-term rental license and the contact company is Vacasa.  The request was approved.

Chuck and Nancy Thomas own a home at 119 Tamarind Way.  They requested that they be given a short-term rental license.  The contact company will be Vacasa.  The motion was made and passed to allow this home to be used as a short-term rental.

A couple of young boys were sitting in the audience.  They appeared to be taking notes.  The Mayor asked why they were at the meeting.  They introduced themselves, Ryder Rasmussen and Austin England.  They are both working on the Citizenship in Community Award Scout Badge.

They are required to attend and listen to a City meeting.  They will need to talk with the Council Members and write up what they learn.

Mayor Leonhard immediately made a motion that Ryder and Austin be honorary council members for this meeting only.  He then invited them to come up and sit with the City Council Members.  

Robert Speirs and Kent Fisher own the Village at Lighthouse Pointe PRUD.  The PRUD contains 27 parcels.  Fisher requested a termination of Covenant to run with the land, Phase I, The Village at Lighthouse Pointe PRUD.  The Council made a motion to terminate this Covenant.  The Council then removed Lot 26 from the Village of Lighthouse Pointe PRUD. Fisher wants to build a home on that lot.  In order to do so, that property had to be unencumbered.

The remaining 26 lots needed to again be encumbered.  The motion for the Covenant to Run with the Land, Phase I, The Village at Lighthouse Pointe PRUD for the remaining 26 Lots was made.  The motion passed.

A motion was made and passed to go into a public hearing.  The topic being discussed concerned some land currently owned by the City.  John and Melissa Spuhler asked if they could buy this land from the City.  The land is parcel #41-29-000-0017 which is a ten-acre piece of property west of Buttercup Estates Subdivision.  There were no questions asked by the public, so the motion was made and passed to go back into the regular City Council Meeting.

Jennifer and Bryce Huefner were at the meeting and requested that this property to be purchased by the Spuhlers be open to the public for getting to the walking trails above this property.  It was promised that the public will be allowed to go across this property.  This will also eliminate any liability on the part of the City if any problems arise.

The motion was made and passed that John Spuhler be allowed to purchase this property with the stipulations that the public will be allowed to hike across this property.  Spuhler will keep the trails from problem erosion.  Also, this area is a non-motorized trail.  No motorized vehicles of any kind will be allowed along these walking trials.

Norm Mecham is the owner of the Waterdance PUD.  He requested that the city approve this planned unit development located at 185 S 100 W.  This PUD will include a rental home community with single family, multi-families and condo units; with associated amenities, parking, and open space.  Some commercial buildings will be included.  This PUD has been divided into 15 phases with the first phase already being built.  The City Council noted that the information presented to them was not a development plan but a conceptual plan.  The motion was made and passed that Waterdance PUD conceptual plan be approved.

Three companies submitted bids for a contract for the Town of Garden City Water System Improvements.  All three bids were close.  The Company CTI was the lowest bid.  It was about $720,000.  This will be for the 24” line down the Canyon.  It was noted that there was not enough money out of the 2.1.  The City will have to come up with more money.  Mayor Leonhardt noted that if the project was started quickly, some money from the current budget year could be used.  Then, the remainder of the money could be taken when the new budget that begins the first of July.

This project has a deadline of November 15 of this year.  The Mayor suggested that perhaps the City should take the next couple of weeks and determine more closely the amount of money the City will need to raise and from where in the budget this money will be pulled.  He asked that the final decision on this project be postponed until the next meeting.  The Mayor mentioned that they needed to investigate the contingency fund and some other possible grants or other money possibilities.

A motion was made and passed that the bid be awarded to CTI Construction Company.

During the public comments section of the meeting, Barbara Turnbow noted that there are people still struggling concerning the Waterdance project.  She noted that First West is not a wide road.  This could be a real problem.  The Mayor said that Mecham is following all the rules so far.

The Council made some changes in Ordinance #19-09 dealing with short term rental requirements.

Currently, the City fire chief goes to each short-term rental with a check list of the requirements to make sure the homes are safe.  The Council has decided that this responsibility will be shifted to the home owners.  After the first fire check by the Fire Chief, they will do their own checking, and the City will do random follow-ups to make sure requirements have been met.  The City is getting new software that will automatically go through checking all of the short-term rental requirements.  If someone fails to mail in their self-inspection, the software will pick that up and the owner will be reminded.

The last page of the ordinance covers items that can only be handled after the new program has been installed.  Thus, the Mayor asked that the Council passed a motion for the changes that have been approved but leave out the last page since it can’t be considered until after the program is in place.  It was noted that this software will cost the City $15,000 each year. The motion was made and passed on the changes made to Ordinance #19-09 except for 8-606 (the last page information) which won’t be available until the software is in place. 

Resolution #R19-01 needs to also be updated.  A resolution was made and passed to update the annual renewal fee of $100 for the short-term rental properties.  The initial fire inspection done by the Fire Chief will cost an additional $40.

There was a short discussion concerning ways to obtain more money to build more necessary infrastructure.  The suggestion was made that perhaps $10 or $12 per occupancy for the short-term rentals could be applied.   This would bring approximately $50,000 to $60,000.  All this money could go into the general fund and then used as needed.  It was also noted that the TRT tax could be increased by 1%, which would bring in about $105,000 in revenue.   No action was taken on this matter. 

Jeff Jorgensen presented Phase One to the Council which includes 13 lots.  It is in the Long Ridge at Bear Lake Subdivision and is just west of the Cherimoya Subdivision.  The exit from this Subdivision will be on a road down a draw on the SW of the plat.  They have a 30 foot right of Way through Shundahi which will allow for a 20-foot gravel road giving access to the public as well as an exit from the Long Ridge at Bear Lake Subdivision.  The road has a couple of spots that are 9.8% grade and 9 percent grade. The Spears property will be put into the Hansen Trust and the signed deed will be recorded.   The motion was made and passed to allow this subdivision to begin work on Phase I.

There is a development agreement that the City will build the main water line along the Hansen property.  The City will do all the stubs into the Hansen Subdivision, all the sewer lines will be alongside the water lines, and there are dedicated easements to the City.  Utility lines easement obligates the City and the developers to work to get roads in place and be aware of all open space.  

Jeff Jorgensen gave a short talk concerning working on side-hills and taking care of open space.  He noted how lots can be lengthened to taken in open spaces that will need to be taken care of by the City if not included in the lots.  He had a formula and gave some good ideas that the City will probably use in the future dealing with open space on hillsides.

Food trucks must be placed in commercial zones but are also required to be in food truck zones.  It was noted that it is possible to have a commercial zone overlaid by a food truck zone. This would meet state as well as city requirements.  This would mean that food trucks would have to buy their business license here in the City, and the City would also have some money coming from sales taxes that would be collected by the food trucks.

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