Council & grading, waste, Bypass
by lori cole
Dwarf Bear Claw Poppies by Lori Cole
The first city council meeting of February was relatively short, lasting just over an hour as several people who normally speak were not in attendance. Here is a short summary of the various items covered, to include my impressions:
To park or not to park
Work on the Toquerville ordinances continues. There was a great deal of discussion about the parking ordinance and after the long back-and-forth I believe the decision was tabled.
My impression is that the city is trying to prevent people from car-camping on public property which includes the city right-of-way on neighborhood streets. By creating such an ordinance, it would prevent Toquerville citizens from letting their own out-of-town family/visitors park in front of their house and stay overnight.
I didn’t measure the time, but I would almost swear this discussion took up half the meeting. The intention of such an ordinance has our best interests at heart, but I wonder if the restriction on citizens and their visitors will be acceptable.
Waste and More waste
Solid Waste report: A contractor dumped asbestos at the facility and the removal and mitigation is underway. The contractor was identified and assisted with clean-up. You can watch the discussion here on YouTube.
The Mayor asked if they had “broken ground on their new waste station” and the answer was “no” because the funding has not been approved yet. The funding request is coming up in a public hearing.
This is an expense that I have not heard of previously and I will have to investigate further. Question: What does a new solid waste facility (or “station”) mean for taxpayers in WA County and Toquerville?
Grading and dusting
Assistant City Manager LeFevre provided an update on Boulder Ridge and the discussion begins here.
The grading is underway as it was approved.
One of the councilmen reported seeing a large amount of dust blowing across the highway during the grading and questioned the contractor’s stripping of the land and lack of dust mitigation efforts.
Last year, when the council discussed the grading ordinance, it was my understanding that the city was not going to allow contractors to grade (strip) land without doing other construction activities. It appears however, that the contractor is doing exactly what residents and the council have complained about for at least the last few years – they are creating a lot of dust and doing no obvious mitigation because there is no other construction underway. In the past, we’ve seen major swaths of land stripped of vegetation and animal habitat destroyed, only to see it remain a wasteland for years after a development plan was abandoned.
This Boulder Ridge project is not easily googled, and it’s not listed as a development on the Toquerville City website. I believe it is a 1556-unit community of townhomes, vacation rentals, and apartment complexes to be built on the previously lush, green, juniper and boulder laden area across I-15 from Anderson Junction.
This development was mentioned previously in a post. Check out this article by Toquerville Sentinel contributing writer Lynda Williams in the city council report dated September 2024.
After the meeting, I tried to refresh my knowledge of this development. A map I found indicated the area along “Cool Breeze Way” is zoned business and manufacturing. I will have to double-check what the Boulder Ridge developer is planning to erect on all that acreage.
Toquerville Bypass
Assistant City Manager LeFevre provided some updates on the bypass road as well:
· The sand pocket has been filled with rocks, so hopefully that hazard is mitigated.
· The power boxes are going in and the plan is to re-locate the power and water at the Toquerville Cemetery Road site beginning Tuesday, February 11th. (There is a Rocky Mountain power outage that was scheduled Tuesday.) Reportedly, the power will be re-routed across Hwy 17 the following week which will allow completion of the south end of the bypass road.
· A water sample taken from the leakage area on the hillside at the south end of the parkway indicated that there was no sewage involved. The city found a water leak and capped it, but they are reporting that water will continue to leak out of that area because the hillside contains clay which retains a lot of water. The weather will need to warm up before the water can fully evaporate. Reportedly, the structural engineer is not concerned about any further instability due to the water leak.
I wonder if that is the same engineer who approved blasting through the hogsback and putting the bypass over a sand pocket, etc?
City Manager Report
Ben advised that the Utah legislature is in session and he is watching for any legislation that will impact our city. So far, he does not see anything controversial being promoted. He encouraged the council to watch the weekly meetings of the Utah League of Cities and Towns. I located the organization on YouTube. Whenever I hear from a government official that governing is being committed without any controversy, I think that controversy may need to be introduced. Just a thought.
The City Manager also reported that it looks promising that the .03 cent sales tax will be approved by the legislature, which means Toquerville property owners will not have to carry the entire burden of Hurricane Valley Fire Districts monetary needs. An increase in property taxes last year can be repealed and the sales tax increase will fund the fire district. As far as I know it has not yet passed but is expected to do so.
Dropping a property tax increase for a sales tax may sound good, but not if the money is already there and no additional tax is needed. Michelle Peot contributed an excellent post explaining why we already have the funds to cover the fire district but instead use those funds in an attempt to bring more visitors to Southern Utah.
The Hurricane Valley Fire District needs projects for their wildfire crew to work on to mitigate wildfire risk. They are working with the water district and the state fish and game agency to clean the brush out of the streambeds, but they need to do more.
If you have suggestions or want to propose a project on public or private land, please contact the fire district.
Money down the bypass
Stanley Consulting asked for another $300k to continue the work on the bypass project until July. It was reported that the bill is expected to be less than 300k, but they need to pre-approve the money for the continuing work. One of the council members spoke up and expressed his discontent with Stanley Consulting, advising he has a list of things that the firm has done that have had to be walked-back, re-worked, cause delays, and have cost the taxpayers of Utah additional tax revenue on the bypass project.
He said someone needs to look out for the citizens of Toquerville (and Utah taxpayers in particular who are paying the bill.) Someone mentioned how hard it would be to find another consultant to come in at this point, and the city is required to have a consultant on the project. The council approved the $300k.
Interlocal Agreement with Washington County for Elections
Washington County has been conducting the elections for the City of Toquerville for the past several years. This Interlocal Agreement renews the previous agreement and the money is already in the budget. The agreement passed.
Calendar of Events
Strategic Planning Sessions – Budget Year 2025-2026 The public is invited to “come and listen” to the 2nd strategic planning session to be held on February 13th from 12 PM to 4 PM.
There is a Readiness Meeting on February 13th at 7 PM
The Toquerville Community Clean-up will be held February 22nd and 23rd, with dumpsters proved around the city. Information on the specific locations for dumpsters were not provided.
Somehow my report on the meeting turned out to be longer than the actual meeting. Have a great week!