Anita Weston, Reporter
Rich Civic Times
RANDOLPH, Utah. February 5, 2020. Dale Wilson, County Road Department, reported to the Commissioners that three cattle guards need to be replaced. He has obtained three bids for this project. Some of the guards are 16’ x 8’, some are 20’ x 8’ some companies use cement blocks, and some treated timbers, etc. After looking at the bids, the Commissioners asked that Wilson go back to the companies for bids for the same size cattle guards. Currently, it appears that the companies had made offers, but the bids were for different sizes. Also, the Commissioners asked that he obtain bids that use similar ways of installing them.
Wilson had also gotten bids for slurry seal for the Man Head Road and Mountain Road. Two of the bids were exactly the same amount. The third company was higher. The motion was made and passed to accept the Morgan Pavement Company. He has done good work for the County in the past.
Ben Nadolski from the Division of Wildlife, came to give the County a check for a little over a $1,000 which is for rural Utah. Bill Cox signed for the check and then asked Nadolski quite a few questions concerning the Division of Wildlife and how it is working in Rich County. He wanted to know how he was managing the wildlife in the area. He asked, "Would it be possible to be given more time for emergencies, does the office keep track of wild animal birth rates in the Rich County area, how have weather conditions helped or hurt Rich County, from top down for predators in the County and are they increasing or decreasing, and what legislation concerning Rich County is being discussed, etc.
A motion was made and seconded to accept the check. The check is given for state taxes for wildlife habitat in the County.
Mitch Poulson, Bear River Regional Counsel, noted that each additional short-term rental that comes into the County needs to be inspected. The inspection is done by the fire chief. Poulson suggested that the County charge a permit fee for the fire inspection be $250, and a renewal fee of $100 be charged annually. However, the fire inspector is paid $40.00 to do the inspection. It was suggested that the $40.00 amount be an additional fee charged at the time the inspector completes the inspection instead of taking the $40.00 out of the $250.
Poulson is pursuing a grant for the bike path. He is applying for $70,000 for base and asphalt so that the bike path will be asphalted all the way to the lake from Ideal Beach. He is working with the Governor’s office.
It was noted that there is a 40-acre parcel near Swan Creek. The request was made by Troy Peterson to rezone this property for a gravel pit. However, no permit was requested at the County Office for such a zone change. If it were rezoned, the public would be able to go across this property, traffic would be encouraged., and large equipment would go back and forth using the gravel pit.
There were four in the audience. They asked if they could talk to the Commissioners about this issue. Each owns property on the 40-acres. They have built homes on these lots. It was said that Troy Peterson needed some gravel a while ago to fix some road or something. These ladies allowed him to go across the property once to get a small bit of gravel from that area to take care of his problem. He now is determined to turn the 40 acres into a gravel pit, going across these lots, using big equipment, and taking all of the gravel from the pit. He told them it was required and necessary that he do so. They are currently in litigation trying to stop him from going across their property. Troy told these lot owners that the Commissioners had the responsibility to decide if the gravel pit could be used or not.
This action was taken before the County Planning and Zoning Commission, and it was denied. Now the issue was moved to the Commissioners. The lot owners requested that there should be no access to the gravel pit. They don’t want big heavy equipment going across their properties. They asked that only their own cars be allowed on that property. There has always been an agreement to give access to those cleaning the canal that runs through that area. However, they do not want the area turned into a gravel pit.
The Commissioners noted that nothing should be done until the court case is completed. If anyone is asked for a rezone for that area, it will definitely be denied until further information is obtained, and that no conditional use permit be allowed.
The Sanitation Department asked permission to purchase 300 dumpster cans for $15,000. Two bids had been obtained. However, there were enough differences that the Commissioners decided that a motion be made to allow the Sanitation Department to buy 300 cans for $15,000 from the Totter Company.
The Sanitation Department is also asking to purchase a welder. The motion was made to purchase the Lincoln Welder from Air Cutter and leave the Plasma cutter for another time. The meeting was adjourned.
We are celebrating the sesquicentennial of Randolph this June and I was invited to be on a committee for planning the festivities. My part is tourism (remember lover of history) so I have learned even more, and I’m in awe at how much history surrounds me. 
After reading this story my good friend and I visited the “Nail Jail” to see if we could find Coughlin’s initials carved in the walls. We did not find his but found many others carved into the massive cast iron doors. The jail now only has 2 cells and is a little different than what I have read. A burn mark by the front door is evidence of one man’s unsuccessful attempt of breaking out.
