by lynda williams

Kanab Reservoir by Lori Cole

Constitution Day

Near the beginning of the September 18 City Council meeting, Councilman Chuck Willliams offered a presentation commemorating Constitution Day. The Constitution was signed into being on September 17, 1787.

Chuck was assigned by the Secretary of the Air Force to work on a Constitutional Commission that was preparing for the 1987 Bicentennial Celebration of our beloved Constitution. Chuck’s group developed the Pocket Constitution which was distributed to millions of people. The Pocket Constitution is still being printed to this very day. Chuck remembered the great honor he had of being in the White House Rose Garden with President Ronald Reagan and Chief Justice Warren Burger for that momentous celebration.

Toquerville City participated in the Bells Across America Celebration of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. They gathered at the Old Town Hall to ring the bell, much as the church bells of Philadelphia rang out when the U.S. Constitution was first signed at 4 P.M. on September 17, 1787.

The invitation read: Come be a part of this special moment as we celebrate the enduring principles of our Constitution and reflect on the values that unite us.

I pray that the principles are enduring and we will all be more mindful and familiar with the rights this treasured document affords us. Have you read, studied or defended the Constitution lately?

Toquerville Royalty

Announcing the new Miss Toquerville and her Attendants:

Miss Toquerville……………………….Hannah Williams
1st Attendant…………………………..Cheralyn Higbee
2nd Attendant………………………….Miley Jones
3rd Attendant…………………………..McKenzie Higbee

The new Toquerville royalty was presented to the City Council where Mayor Sip congratulated and thanked them for the work and service they will render the city in the coming year.

Congratulations girls! Our City will be well represented by these poised and beautiful young ladies.

Intermountain Health Care Annual Update

In attendance was Joelle Jacobsen, St. George Regional Hospital Operations Director, our own Cyndi Gilbert of Toquerville and Board of Trustees Chair and Christa Hinton, St. George Regional Hospital Communications Manager.

Cyndi Gilbert was proud and excited to show off the beautiful award St. George Hospital recently received. Our hospital was recognized as the #1 hospital in the nation out of 175 hospitals across America, providing world class health care to our area including such things as a hyperbaric chamber, life flight helicopter, cardiac thoracic surgery and spine surgery.

It was a great accomplishment to bring the new Emergency Department to Hurricane along with the best of health care to our area. I’m sure many of us have already realized the comfort and convenience of having that beautiful new hospital close by.

There will also soon be a new Emergency Department at exit 2 in Desert Color.

You may view the full presentation on City Council’s YouTube channel.

Hurricane Valley Fire District – Truth in Taxation Presentation

***You should have received this notice in the mail***

Chief Joe Decker reported that so far this year there have been 4,350 calls. The Chief explained that they do not have the funds to carry on this level of service next year. The following discussion applies only to that portion of property taxes or sales taxes that go to the Fire District. You can view the discussion starting here.

Property taxes will go up in 2025 unless the tourist tax passes. The question seems to be would you rather pay for fire protection through property tax or let the tourists help pay for it through a sales tax. In the past the sales tax plan has failed to pass at the state level- which is where it would originate.

It was stated that, as an example, a sales tax of .1% will provide one million dollars for the Fire District. The real rate would be more like .7%. That sales tax would not apply to fuel or groceries but would apply to restaurants, motels, and the things tourists use. If the sales tax doesn’t pass, the fire districts line item will need to go up and the increase might be as much as 52%. If the tourist tax passes, our property tax could potentially reduce.

Councilman Wayne Olsen expressed concern and asked, “Has anyone ever seen property taxes go down?” He then said the Fire District might have to do what everyone else does: Live within your means.

A couple of observations here. Tourist taxes came into vogue some 30 or 40 years ago. That is the idea that instead of paying your own taxes- you pass that cost onto someone else. It is a win-win for locals. You tax tourists for infrastructure costs when in fact- the actual drain is minimal or essentially nonexistent. Local politicians also like the idea of taxing non voting citizens. It is the essence of taxation without representation.

Wayne Olsen brings up a salient point. Do we have a taxing problem or a spending problem? Clearly, we don’t have a taxing problem since that is the biggest expense many of us bear. Could it be possible that we have a spending problem instead?

It was mentioned that new people moving in should bring in more money. The Mayor explained that’s not how it works. Councilmen Todd Sands clarified that the increase seems to be to pay competitive wages so they can keep their employees. I wonder how it will work when Firelight is finished…

There will be a public hearing on this issue on October 7.

The Bypass

Darrin LeFevre, the assistant City Manager and director of Engineering Services, gave an update on the Toquerville Parkway which begins here.

Ben Billingsley (the new City Manager) and Darrin LeFevre have met with UDOT to see just what it is going to take to satisfy their requirements.

One of the issues is that the road is currently 2 lanes but needs the capability of becoming 4 lanes before the state will accept this road.

*Photo of the south side of the Hog Back facing Toquer Blvd*

This begs the questions: What will it take to get the additional property needed to meet this requirement? (legal descriptions, deeds, signatures) There are three property owners that have not signed off on property that is needed for this to happen.

It is my understanding that the current road has sections built on property that is not yet legally owned by Toquerville.

All of this begs more questions: How did we get into this position? Who is paying for all the extra costs?

As far as the Hog Back, the north and south sides of the hogback have been further studied. The final report has been sent to UDOT for review. The expected start date for the North end is mid October with a completion date estimated for December. The estimated completion date for south slope is mid-October.

They are trying to keep the dust down as much as possible by spraying it down with a lot of water.

The City Council recognized the fact that work on the Hog Back area is starting as early as 5:45 am and that may be too early, especially for the residents that live close by. Darrin said he would talk to the contractors about that.

Much of the material being removed from the Hog Back is going out to the race track area of the bypass road to fill in the sand pit area. It will be backed by a fabric material to stop possible erosion problems.

Public Forum

In his allotted time of 3 minutes, Stacey Eaton brought up many of the questions I had also thought of. His comments start here. He asked:

Who is paying for the additional right of way width needed to accommodate 4 lanes of traffic?
Is that cost going to be passed on to property owners?
Is that not already part of the right of way?
Will UDOT accept the road before we get those right of ways?
Is it true that Toquerville is working with Leeds to allow them to dump their traffic from 700 new homes onto the bypass road? Why the hell would Toquerville do that? Let them go through Leeds to the freeway and out that way. No one from Toquerville will drive that direction.

He also commented that obviously Toquerville’s budget has “money to burn!” The city needs to seriously look at reducing the tax burden here. Obviously we have more money than we know what to do with and “we’re just pissing it away.” The General Fund had roughly $1.2 million.

Why did the city spend $500,000 for a “back” truck? “$100,000, roughly, to make the last City Manager go away which is absolutely ludicrous. Everyone knows the city is better off without her”, and giving her indemnity? Why in the world would we do that? Just say, hey go away and whatever you did we will just turn our backs. These things are crazy! We need to get a handle on policies and decisions we’re making with the budget.

Mike Walker (his comments start here) from Anderson Junction voiced concerns about water lines, sewer maintenance, repairs on street and wondered about fees he was being charged.

Appeal Authority

There was discussion on appointing Lyn Creswell as the appeal authority for Toquerville City. Ben Billingsly stated that he has a great resume and is quite affordable. Bruce Jenkins was the previous appeal authority.

Attorney Eakin said land use code changes will go through him as well as through Planning Commission and City Council. State laws and city codes apply and he would have no ability to change the city code.

This appointment was approved.

Boulder Ridge

A new board of trustee was appointed to the Boulder Ridge Public Infrastructure District (PID). This is a non-paid position and exactly what they do isn’t clear but you can listen for yourself here.

The council also approved a final plat application submitted by Jerry Eves for Boulder Ridge. The application can be viewed here and here.

Leased vehicles

Toquerville currently has 8 leased vehicles. It is time to return vehicles with a check for $92,000 or extend the leases. Council prudently decided to retain fleet as is for 3 more years. So they extended the lease agreement with United Fleet Services.

Agricultural Districts Modified

The council amended and restated Toquerville City Code 10-9: Agricultural Districts to modify the allowed uses and physical restrictions for this zone. The discussion starts here.

My understanding is that the 1/2 acre zone was created in March. In July they allowed a residence on the 1/2 acre. The only thing they clarified was permitted and conditional uses related to the 1/2 acre and one acre zones.

I have had some concerns:

The emphasis in the discussion seemed to be that the damage was already done—we now can double the density possibilities. What is the purpose of an agricultural zone if not to preserve openness and an agricultural or country feel in an area?
Most municipalities require 20 acre parcels in an agricultural zone. I can see how it benefits developers, but how did this benefit Toquerville residents to allow a 1/2 acre agricultural zone?

At least the planning commission assured that changing an acre agricultural lot into two 1/2 acre agricultural lots is a zone change (thank you Dean Haymore), which requires neighbors to be notified. Originally it was presented as something that would just happen without notifying neighbors or paying a fee.

I was also concerned about the tax differences between a residential and agricultural zone. When moving from one acre to 1/2 acre, and basically building two houses on what was once a one-acre lot, do they keep the reduced agricultural taxes? Apparently they do, but to keep the discounted agricultural rate, the property owner proves on a regular basis that the land is used for agricultural purposes.

Calendar

Fall cleanup will be Monday, Sept 23 to Wednesday, Sept 25. Dumpsters will be at the east side of the city park on Center street.

A community readiness meeting will be held Thursday, October 10 at 7 pm at City Hall.

council & concerns