Garden City Fire District County TRT Request

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah, May 5, 2021. Randall Knight, Garden City Fire District Board Chairman, said that a few years ago, the board bought a fire rescue boat for the lake.  Every time they go out in the boat, they use a gallon of gas per mile and there are repairs that need to be made on the boat at an average yearly cost of $5,000.

Mayor Mike Leonhardt, Garden City, suggested that the Board apply for TRT monies.  There are more than 100 new short-term rentals coming on this year and more and more people are coming to Garden City as tourists.

Commissioner Bill Cox  asked if on the lake the Garden City Fire District boat is in the jurisdiction of State Parks.  “If you haven’t been requested by Parks you are on your own,” he said. 

“We always get a request.” Knight replied.   

The state parks provide the slip.  The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is that the Fire District will respond to anything on lake as long as they are formally requested by State Parks.

“I think State Parks should help you financially.  Ask them to come up with a contract. “ Cox said.  “ We need to have that discussion.”

Knight has talked to Senator Wilson about getting that on State Parks agenda.  Cox felt that the District was  taking on a responsibility that is State Parks. 

“Are you under the state Parks liability?  Or yours?” Cox asked.    Knight replied, “I am worried about that too.” 

The Fire District is asking for about $10,000.   Commissioner Jonathan Lee asked if water rescue wasn’t out of their area of responsibility.   Knight said he was concerned about that too, but that they save at least 2 lives a year. 

Cox said a fire in the lake or on the side will be the Districts responsibility, but that Search and Rescue is responsible for people lost in the lake.  Cox said that an MOU is necessary to define some lines of responsibility.  State Parks should pick up some of the financial responsibility.  The Commissioners will follow up with the State Parks Director.

Knight said he was also concerned about the proposal to build a 515 pad RV park which will double the population of Garden City.  This is of concern for emergency services. “Do we need to expand to a new Fire Department building on the south end of town,” said Knight.  “I think we should plan for the future and plan on more full-time employees as the city growing rapidly.”

In October, the Fire District Board updated the policies and procedures manual.  Knight reported that they are having trouble getting people to serve on the board. He asked if the board could include some secondary homeowners who have expressed an interest to serve.  Cox said that his thoughts are mixed on that and he suggested that they take one board position and make it a secondary home resident.  Allow in the policy for a board member to be on a virtual call to vote also which would allow a secondary home resident to attend a meeting without driving to Garden City. Firefighters cannot be on the board because of a possible conflict of interest.

RESPONSE from Garden City Fire Chief, Mike Wahlberg

A little clarification is in order. Indeed, this was the discussion as written, but the meeting had many misinformations presented as fact. The search and rescue jurisdiction for Rich county rest solely on the Sheriff and his search and rescue organization. State parks does not have jurisdiction on Bear Lake for rescues and only do it because it is a service that they offer and are in a position to offer it. There is no mandate for DNR to respond to rescues and searches and their jurisdiction is just law enforcement on the lake and adjacent parks property and watercraft safety and enforcement. 

An MOU between state parks and the sheriffs office may exist that covers them being able to respond to searches and rescues. The Fire District boat has a primary responsibility and mission to mitigate fires and hazmat releases in the marina and within the Fire District boundaries. This boundary extends to the midline of the lake and from the Idaho border south to the rest area on the south end of the lake. The Fire District has the capability, the personnel, the training, and the advanced equipment to offer on the water search and rescue service and is trained and equipped at a level that is at a minimum of equal to the State Parks boats and operators. 

State Parks are wonderful and have been very good to work with and have requested and accepted our assistance many, many times. Our personnel have found and rescued many victims and saved quite a few lives since putting the boat into service. Additionally, we have assisted the Bear Lake County Sheriffs office and search and rescue as well as Idaho Bear Lake State Park with water rescues as well as finding and recovering drowning victims. At no time does the Fire District "jump" callouts and take it upon ourselves to just go out and participate in searches or incidents without a request or agreement being made first between either State Parks or the Sherriff's deputies or Search and Rescue. These request or agreements are initiated most often through a phone call or over the radio and on occasion through our dispatch paging system. Our department receives nothing for offering these services and expects nothing. 

We will not be asking State Parks for compensation and will be developing and signing new MOU's with Utah State Parks and the Rich County Sheriff in the immediate future. We will also never request compensation from the Sheriff for our services that we offer. If any additional monies are requested for our district then possibly the TRT is a source, but the boat will operate regardless for the benefit of our citizens and visitors. 

As for the Fire District position on the proposed RV park adjacent to Hodges Canyon, our district makes it a policy to not take a position on matters that don't present an immediate threat to public safety and fire related issues. We are effectively neutral. That being said, board members and fire fighters are humans and sometimes make mistakes and make comments that may give the impression that the Fire District feels a certain way or has an official position in matters such as the RV park. As the Fire Chief I can assure you that despite any personal feelings concerning the matter, we have no position on the matter and I hope that settles the issue for us. 

The Garden City Fire District and its volunteers and employees are striving to be forward thinking, provide excellent service for our citizens and visitors, and be the best equipped and trained they can be in order to assure the highest level of public safety that we are charged with. We will continue to serve the community to the best of our ability. Mike Wahlberg Fire Chief Garden City Fire District