Planning and Zoning Conflicts

Randall Knight, Reporter

Rich Civic Times 

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  March 1, 2017.  The Planning and Zoning meeting began at 5:00 PM and those in attendance were employees of Epic except for the city Building Inspector.    The board members present were: Susan House (Chair), Joey Stocking, Jim DeGroot, Jared Hislop and Zack McKee.  Lance Bourne and Tom Stevens were absent.

Mark Smoot’s request for the city to accept his request and plan for a PUD development on 200 N went into the third month.  The plan shows 5 commercial buildings and 27 vacation rental houses on the 6.09 acres.  The main focus was on the number and size of parking spaces, road width and setbacks.  Mark pointed out a change in garage design would provide more parking spaces and when added to the spaces on the north side of 200 N. the parking space requirement would be exceeded.  It was pointed out that one of the commercial buildings would have a restaurant with a 4000 sq ft dining room.  When asked about the cuisine, he said it had not been determined yet.  When the commission asked if garbage dumpsters would be used by the 27 residences, he said each home would have a garbage can that would be pulled to a pickup area by an HOA employee so the garbage trucks won’t go into the housing area.   The most heated discussion was about the road width in the housing area (20 ft versus 30 ft) and the required setback for corner lots.   The request was tabled until next month to resolve the last two differences.

There was a discussion to approve #16-07 in regard to the rental of RV units as a short term rental.   The commission was concerned about how waste and water supply would be managed and what the setback requirement for these units would be.  The proposal to update the ordinance was approved with 4 yea and 1 nay by Joey Stocking. 

The next discussion focused on the #16-08 dealing with fence height.   The commission restated last month’s concern of putting a 6 foot fence on top of a berm when the ordinance height is 6 ft.  The decision was to have Jim DeGroot approach the Town Counsel about reconsidering their recommendation to leave the fence height requirement to 6 ft above natural grade.

 

The miscellaneous discussion was in regard to a Conditional Use request in Hillside Estates.  Joey said a resident is thinking about a business that would provide wagon rides to a chuck wagon eating area and wondered if the commission would entertain the request. Jim DeGroot stated conditional use permits in residential areas had been requested in the past and shot down because it opens up Pandora’s Box because people will always stretch the limits that were set. 

Sun Dogs

Photo by Kami Dotson

Report on Garden City Flooding

Anita Weston, Reporter
Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  February 16, 2017.  Fire Chief Mike Wahlberg reported on the local flooding which happened a couple of weeks ago.  He said that on Friday morning at about 4:30—4:45 a.m. he responded to a call reporting that flooding was taking place at Harbor Village.  He said he was there in about 15 minutes and one of the sheriff’s deputies was there as well. There was not a breach in the canal; the water overflowed the canal banks.  The flooding at Lockwood was diverted to Highway 89. 

There was also flooding at the lower portion of Buttercup.  The residents directed the water into ditches and then under the road and into the lake.  Sand bags were taken to Azure Cove where there were also water problems.  Three homes there were flooded.

The fire department took command of the flooding.  Both Friday and Saturday many people from the community as well as from other towns came to fill sandbags.  There were various agencies helping and taking advantage of each groups’ expertise in dealing with the emergency scene.  There was especially good coordination between the city and the fire department.  

Chief Wahlberg said that colder weather will slow the flooding but he feels there will be more problems in the future.  There will be more significant rain and melting snow storms since it is only February.  The workers have left the sandbags in place so that additional water can follow the water paths that have been created.  Azure Cove gets flooding almost every year and will probably get more this year.  

Wahlberg also wanted to thank the Red Cross, the County, and other organizations that were so helpful.  He noted that Bill Cox, a County Commissioner, spent Friday here in Garden City, then worked to help some of the other towns in the County Friday night; and he was back in Garden at 6 a.m. Saturday morning to help some more.

Parson’s Construction Company donated sand and delivered it to where sandbags were being filled.  The County also delivered sand to help.  Parsons brought in an additional four loads of sand on Saturday.

The County was declared a local disaster which allowed the Red Cross to come in to assist.  Food, tools, shovels, and so forth were brought to help.

About 5,500 sand bags were filled in the two days.  Four thousand of those were filled on Friday.  About 1,500 more were filled on Saturday.  There are about 1,800 sand bags in reserve are filled and are being stored in the City Office area so that when water comes again, they will be ready for use.  There are 3,000 more bags at the City so that individuals can go and fill them as needed.

The City gave permission to breach the canal south of Logan Road.  The water was spread out on a large field.  The property owner, however, came and asked that the water be stopped from running through that area because it was too wet and muddy for the horses he had pastured in that area.  He was referred to the City to take care of that issue.

They used sandbags to patch the canal and slow down the water running onto his property. 

It was noted that owners of homes in the area should be made aware of the situation.  They should come and check their homes to make sure that they haven’t been flooded.

About a third of the individuals living in Azure Cove came and helped fill sand bags.

Chief Wahlberg noted that he felt it was a good idea to use Facebook to thank volunteers.  He noted that the Facebook technology had alerted people to the problems and is probably why so many individuals showed up to help with the sand bags.  He was very appreciative of all the help that was given and wanted to thank everyone who helped.

It was noted that there was flooding in Woodruff.  The highway was flooded in one area of the town.  Laketown had flooding on the south end of the lake.  Randolph also had flooding in their community.  

Garden City Fire Board Report

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times 

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  February 16, 2017.  The Fire Board’s Policies and Procedures manual needed to be updated and revised. Randall Knight was given this responsibility.  The updated manual was presented to the Board Members for their opinion.  It was noted that a really good job had been done, and the motion was made and passed to accept the revised manual. Knight noted that he would like to see a district map included in the manual.  Chief Wahlberg said he had a map that could be included.

Fire Chief Wahlberg reported that many of the firemen attend a winter fire school.  Several were able to gain needed certifications and all seemed to have a good experience.

 

All were involved in a live fire drill.  There were classes in extraction from a car wreck, grant writing, and so forth.  Wahlberg was able to pick up some new equipment and was in touch with several other fire chiefs.  He wanted to interact with other chiefs that were involved with short term rentals, but didn’t find any there who were involved with this item.

The class on grant writing was especially beneficial to Wahlberg.  He noted that he found out how many of the grants worked and how to get the things that are needed.

Wahlberg said that the Bear Lake Monster Plunge was successful.  There was a good turnout.  The firemen were there for safety reasons.  They cut the ice and cleared it so that people could jump into the lake.  Some were suited up in case any individuals needed assistance.  They need more volunteers another year to make sure it will run smoothly.  They got along, but the activity could be more enjoyable with additional help.  Search and Rescue were in charge of the parking.  Hopefully, next year, they will be able to handle it more smoothly

The Cisco Disco went well.  There were several people there who did go through the ice, but they were close enough to shore that they were able to walk back onto the beach.

Better and more advertising for both of these activities would bring more participants and people involvement.  Also, donations were asked for, but many individuals did not know where the containers were in order to hand in their donation.  Next year, donation spots need to be much more visible and available.  Also, people started walking out on the ice thinking it was thick enough.  They had to be brought back to shore.

Wahlberg also noted that the fire hydrant location on Sweetwater Hill have been covered by snow.  They need to be marked so that they aren’t damaged by snow plowing etc. All of the hydrants have been put on a GPS system so that they can be located even with the snow coverage.  All of the Hydrants also have been numbered.  Swan Creek has made sure all of their hydrants have been shoveled out from the snow.

Wahlberg reported that several shovels were lost in filling the sand bags.  People who came unknowingly carried some shovels away.  It would be appreciated if they could be returned.  Brush truck 43 had a starter issue but it is now back in service.

There were two structure fires last month—one in Meadowville and one at Ideal Beach.  The fire in Meadowville was handled by the Laketown Fire Department.  The basement and half of the garage were destroyed.  One individual was taken to the hospital because of smoke inhalation.

The fire at Ideal Beach was caused by a propane explosion.  The fire was called into dispatch, but those staying in the Condo used the fire extinguisher to put the fire out.  There was minimal damage.  It was caused by too much snow against the vent control that was on the roof. This could happen in any of the units.  A check was made throughout the entire resort.  There was one more unit leaking.  It was repaired and changes in the system will be made this next summer to make sure it won’t happen in the future.

There were six medical assists, 8 fire alarms, two propane leaks, and 1 CO call.  The fire chief was called to remove a dead deer at Lakota.  He asked that the individual call the Sheriff’s office or the DWR office for such situations.

The County is still working on their short term rental ordinance. 

Randall Knight noted that he had taken the GRAMA Training on line.  He spent approximately two hours to complete that training.  He will be reimbursed for the time spent.

High Water & Possible Flooding

There is easily still 1 to 2 feet of snow on the ground around Bear Lake and even some ice on the lake itself, so it might seem premature to be too concerned about how much water the lake might get this spring and summer!

The latest Bear Lake level forecast by PacifiCorp is a high probability for the lake to reach 5,922.2 ft. (UP&L datum).

That is almost 10 feet above its present level! And, within 1.5 feet of full!

By comparison, in 2011 the lake reached 5,921.47. The last time the forecast for the lake was in this range was in 1997, 1998 and 1999.

For the last 10 days, the flow into Bear Lake at the Causeway has been above 500 cfs. That has been raising the lake 0.1 ft every 2 1/2 days or nearly 3 inches in a week! And runoff around Bear Lake and upstream on the Bear River has not started in earnest yet!

The PacifiCorp press release mentions flooding on historic flood plains. That is something most of us have never witnessed and it's even hard to visualize along our man-altered stream environments.

There are a lot of variables that affect snowmelt, runoff and lake levels / river levels. A couple of warm windy cloudy weeks could sublimate a lot of snow and its associated water content. A couple of warm, sunny calm weeks could make all the snow melt quickly and runoff peak rapidly. Time will tell exactly when and how this happens this year, but the potential is definitely there for a really big water year.

Under the "Ounce of Prevention" category, whether you have property along the lake shore, along the Bear River or any of the tributaries, or happen to be in the bottom of a drainage that might not have seen water in several years, be prepared for high water and possible flooding. Be mindful that you don't even have to be in low-land or historic drainage to be affected by runoff. If the ground or ditches are still frozen, the snowmelt will just move over the top. 

Vegetation, construction or other conditions of the ground or landscape my cause deviations of flows or backups. So, take a fresh look, reevaluate the situation, move vehicles and equipment away from low lying areas along streams and rivers. If you are on the lakeshore, remove any docks, floats, piers, junk, etc to the high-water line.

It's a good year to think like a Boy Scout - Be Prepared!

David Cottle

Claudia & David Cottle
Executive Directors
Bear Lake Watch, Inc.
4544 Hwy 89
Fish Haven, Idaho 83287
208-945-2772
801-243-8980 

Working to keep Bear Lake "Clean, Deep and Blue"

 

Wisdom From The Pickleville Store

By Jim Stone, Pickleville Proprietor

Jim Stone 

Big smiles make us all love and live longer. One big smile I will never forget.  I have a tiny ma and pa store in Bear Lake.  The big stores are way busier than my store so I spend a lot of time outside working on keeping things clean and working in my gardens.  I take so much pride in this little old store.  My gardens are important to me as I live on their bounty all winter long with all the bounty from wild game that I hunt and harvest in the fall and winter, giving me fresh veggies and wild meat.  My trips to the grocery market are far and few between.

Anyways, there is a lady who brings her grandkids over to get them treats.  She is a treasure of a woman. I think she had over thirty grandkids and a handful of great grandkids. They all have a two dollar limit for what they can buy.  Some of them that understand what their limit is and get pretty dang close to it, most of them don’t.  They get a bunch of things they want and put it on the counter.  Money for some businesses is everything to them.  I’ve never had true money so I don’t really care about it what matters to me are the good things the kid’s grandma is doing for them.

Well about half the kids were off their two dollar mark.  Some were double two dollars some were triple or more it didn’t matter to me I just fudged the cash register and said that will be two dollars. Some of them wanted change but their grandma and me just winked at each other both aware of what was going on.

I grow strawberries and raspberries in my garden; I leaned over the counter and asked all the lady’s grandkids if they wanted to pick them fresh from the garden.  Not one of them ever had done that before. Big smiles were thicker than all the strawberries and raspberries.

 

Her grandkids wear simply blown away, kinda like flying.  They yelled “I found one, oh and I found one! Is it ok to pick?” I said “yes, every one pick two big handfuls then we will go mix vanilla ice cream with your berries and have a fresh Bear Lake shake.”

Well, we made shakes, we had so much fun.  So off they went. Their grandma tried to pay me -  the money I could have used, but I could do without it for my heart felt strong and in the right place.

Their grandma had been coming in the little store for about five years.  This year I was out front working in my gardens and saw her pushing a wheelchair up the bike path across the road. I watched her, she was so happy just flying away from her grand girls and pushing her grandson in a wheelchair.

All the way across the street she kinda shouted,  “thanks for letting my granddaughters pick your berries and make shakes, they were so happy they all went to bed with big smiles."

I said, “please bring your grandson over I would like to see his big smile.”  I had about fifty customers in the little store, it was all I could do just helping customers.  The boy was in a wheelchair.  I don’t know what kind of health problems he was faced with but I knew it wasn’t good and not fair.   I greeted them both at the front door and she greeted me like many times before with her granddaughter's big smiles all around.  

Her grandson could barely move his hands, kinda up and down like a bird’s wings but his face just lit up like the first time you turn the lights on a Christmas tree, everything about him was shimmering without any movement except his smile.

It was magnificent great big huge smile. His smile and a small up and down movement from his hands made me think he was happy and flying high just to do his best to express himself.

I’ve never experienced this before but something came over me, it was way bigger than I have ever felt.  I had just made the young boys acquaintance, but my higher power told me this was the first time but also the last time I would see his smile.

I had a whole line of customers waiting to hurry on their way.  I didn’t care.  I’m a small store but when I saw that young boy’s smile and his hands trying to express himself I knew he wanted to fly away.  He wasn’t gonna be here much longer.

I yelled out “sorry, all you customers are gonna have to wait a minute.”

I ran upstairs.   I had a kid’s book that I thought his grandma could read to him and I also had a remote helicopter that would fly up.

I gave him these few simple things.  His face was priceless, biggest smiles I’ve ever seen in my life my heart was ready to burst it was so full of simple love for big smiles.

A couple of weeks went by, I was so busy I didn’t notice much.  The young boy's grandma came in deep in thought.  I already knew that her grandson was gone; I could feel it before it happened.

She told me that she had read my little book to him and he smiled and flapped his hands up and down, but when he saw the helicopter fly he had bigger smiles, more handshakes and more movement in his body than she had ever seen.  Kinda like he was happy and wanting to leave and fly away.  

He is gone now in a better place. It’s crazy, I knew he was in a better place.  He loved the helicopter and he just flew away with big smiles.

I got a little broken up with this story so I wrote a little story kind of a poem that doesn’t rhyme.

Simply fly away.

Simply fly away to a better place,

Where I am healthy and happy, free from all my pain.

Waiting to run and play with my family, friends and dogs.

I’ve always wanted to run like the strong wind with my dogs.

I just know now I will have that chance.

I’m here now and they all will be here soon.

We will all reunite and run so fast we will just simply fly away,

While all in true laughter, big smiles, friendship, love and no more pain.

I’m going to be patient.

I heard a kind man say one time;

I thought he was talking about fishing,

How the rainbow trout were a fish but how they would just fly out over the water way up and above

You just have to be patient to catch one he said.

So I will be patient and wait.

We will all be together again.

And just simply fly away.

Secrist Gardens On East Side Of Lake Floods

Photo by Neda Secrist

Lake Levels Graphed

With all of the snow that Idaho and Utah have received many of you are wondering what the lake levels at Bear Lake are and what the out look for the year is based on the snow pack.

Head over to Bearlakewatch.com for all the information you are looking for and some amazing pictures of what the winter weather does to the lake.

Below is a graph of the projections for  2017 levels. A full explanation of what this means for Bear Lake can be found by following the link above.

Just keeping you in the know,

Claudia & David Cottle
Executive Directors
Bear Lake Watch, Inc.
4544 Hwy 89
Fish Haven, Idaho 83287
208-945-2772
801-243-8980

Working to keep Bear Lake "Clean, Deep and Blue"

The Lake Ice Has Thawed

Photo by Scott Dotson, Garden City

Bruce Warner To Run For Garden City Mayor

To The Editor:

I would appreciate it if you will place a short announcement in the Rich Civic Times.  Please announce that I plan to be a candidate for Mayor of Garden City in the upcoming election in November.

I am sending this announcement to you now because we will be heading back to China on Sunday.  We will complete our teaching assignment there in mid-July.

Because I will not be in the USA during the time for candidates to file for the office, Jennifer Huefner has agreed to circulate a petition to place my name on the ballot.  I ask that city residents, who would like to support me, contact Jennifer to sign the petition.  To be able to run, I will need 25 signatures.

As you probably recall, I was on the Garden City Town Council before we went to China.

My background includes being a CPA, an energy industry regulatory consultant for a Washington, DC consulting firm, and a real estate investor.  I have worked in both large and small businesses throughout my working life.  My wife, Kathryn, and I have six children and 14 grandchildren.  We love Garden City and the wonderful people who live in this area.  We have been full time city residents for the past 5 years. 

I am a compassionate conservative.   I would like to serve the City to assure that it remains the wonderful place it now is for individuals and families.  I will work hard to ensure potential negative impacts of growth are minimized, the environment is protected and the cost of government remains affordable to City residents. I do not seek to further my own personal business interests while I serve.  (Most of my clients live out of this area.)

Thank you,

Bruce Warner, CPA

​

Bruce Warner e-mail: brucewcpa@ya

​

hoo.com

​

Rich Sheriff's Report - January

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

TOTAL INCIDENT REPORT BY NATURE OF INCIDENT
Nature of Incident	Total Incidents
Agency Assistance	3
Alarm	3
Animal Problem	14
Booking Prisoner	1
Citizen Assist	14
Civil Process	16
Criminal History	4
Fire	3
Found Property	1
Fraud	2
Juvenile Problem	2
Lockout	3
Medical Emergency	7
Traffic Accident with Damage	20
Property Damage, Not Vandalism	1
Repossession	1
Attempted Suicide	1
Suspicious Person, Circumstance	1
Theft	1
Theft, Automobile	1
Threatening	1
Traffic Hazard	14
Trespassing	2
Utility Problem	2
VIN Serial Number Inspection	2
Welfare Check	4
TOTAL	124

  

TOTAL INCIDENT REPORT BY LOCATION
Location	Total Incidents
Garden City	56
Laketown	24
Out of County	2
Randolph	33
Woodruff	9
TOTAL	124

  

TOTAL INCIDENT REPORT IN GARDEN CITY
Nature of Incident	Total Incidents
Agency Assistance	1
Alarm	3
Animal Problem	5
Citizen Assist	6
Civil Process	5
Fire	2
Found Property	1
Fraud	1
Juvenile Problem	1
Medical Emergency	3
Traffic Accident with Damage	7
Property Damage, Not Vandalism	1
Suspicious Person, Circumstance	1
Theft	1
Traffic Hazard	10
Trespassing	1
Utility Problem	2
VIN Serial Number Inspection	1
Welfare Check	4
TOTAL	56

TOTAL INCIDENTS IN LAKETOWN
Nature of Incident	Total Incidents
Agency Assistance	1
Animal Problem	5
Citizen Assist	1
Civil Process	3
Lockout	1
Medical Emergency	2
Traffic Accident with Damage	7
Threatening	1
Traffic Hazard	2
VIN Serial Number Inspection	1
TOTAL	24

  

TOTAL INCIDENTS OUT OF COUNTY
Nature of Incident	Total Incidents
Agency Assistance	1
Civil Process	1
TOTAL	2

  

TOTAL INCIDENTS IN RANDOLPH
Nature of Incidents	Total Incidents
Animal Problem	3
Booking Prisoner	1
Citizen Assist	7
Civil Process	5
Criminal History	4
Fire	1
Fraud	1
Juvenile Problem	1
Lockout	2
Medical Emergency	1
Traffic Accident with Damage	3
Repossession	1
Attempted Suicide	1
Traffic Hazard	2
TOTAL	33

   

TOTAL INCIDENTS IN WOODRUFF
Nature of Incidents	Total Incidents
Animal Problem	1
Civil Process	2
Medical Emergency	1
Traffic Accident with Damage	3
Theft, Automobile	1
Trespassing	1
TOTAL	9

  

TOTAL TRAFFIC CITATION REPORT BY AREA
Area	Citations	Violations
Garden City	1	1
Randolph	2	3
TOTAL	3	4

  

TOTAL TRAFFIC CITATION REPORT BY VIOLATION
Description	Total
No Proof of Insurance	1
Speeding	3
TOTAL	4

  

TOTAL TRAFFIC WARNING REPORT BY AREA
Area	Warnings	Violations
Randolph	1	1
Woodruff	1	1
TOTAL	2	2

  

TOTAL TRAFFIC WARNING REPORT BY VIOLATION
Description	Total
Speeding	2
TOTAL	2