Council Report
by Brian McNary
I think the best way to present the summary of the August 2nd council meeting is to be direct and concise. There were many issues discussed which left me with an array of questions which require further research. Much of that information will need to be located and consumed before I feel comfortable writing about it.
We did a brief introduction for the Toquerville Sentinel.
Leif Bjarnson spoke on behalf of the Toquerville Citizens Readiness classes scheduled to begin September 14 at the Town Hall meeting room. We have a link for this at the top of our page. Classes are designed to help people ready themselves in the event of a grid failure or other calamity.
City Department Reports
The city prepared and submitted two grant requests to FEMA. It is unclear to me what the first grant was for but the second grant was for an “erosion hazard” study.
The Westfield Park project will be moving forward with fencing for hazardous areas, construction of restrooms, and landscape design.
A blasting schedule will be available today from the city (August 3) after residents complained about the unannounced blasts last week on the bypass project.
The water main break in Trail Ridge Estates has been repaired. They are hoping to patch the road in a couple of weeks.
Discussion Concerning Land Swaps, Public Infrastructure Districts
This was a fascinating topic or so I thought and worthy of a deeper dive than any information I am prepared to deliver now. I will just give readers a brief overview.
The state of Utah has an agency called the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration. It is commonly referred to as SITLA. SITLA identifies property held by BLM within the state and then swaps land owned by the state- for land held by BLM. SITLA then converts the newly acquired property for other uses like mining. They use the money they make to help fund Utah schools.
Sounds well meant and altruistic.
SITLA has identified 4 land parcels they would like within the City of Toquerville. Two of the parcels are just North of the interstate at Anderson Junction. The other two parcels are just west of the new bypass road which is under construction.
What do they intend to do with those parcels of land is anyone’s guess. In my previous life, I was well educated by a few people regarding public land which is owned by the taxpaying public and administered rightly or wrongly by states and the federal government. Anyway, from that discussion we transitioned into public infrastructure districts.
A public infrastructure district is a development within a city or county where the infrastructure is financed through the use of bonds. Taxpayers living within that P.I.D. must repay the loan at interest to the bondholders. This is on top of any other assessments levied upon them.
So could SITLA sell property they acquired for private development? Could a P.I.D. be developed, paid for, then left for the city to maintain?
The city is taking a cautious approach right now which is well warranted.
A discussion for another day. Item last concerns a subject we have written about here before.
Agreement for Washington County Court/Staff for Code Enforcement
The city is moving ahead with it’s plan to codify or write legal definitions for code enforcement. Vicious dogs, short term rentals, and other complaints received by the city that might require clarification and enforcement.
The city also entered into an agreement with Washington County to administer the code enforcement case load and track the resolution of defendants, citations, and fines.
Fine revenue would be split 50-50 between Toquerville and Washington County. Attorney Snow thinks that is fair for the work and effort put forth by the court to record and track dispositions.
The city expects to hire a code enforcement officer this month.
Toquerville must also provide it’s own prosecutor and public defender if the need should arise.
Attorney Snow thought we should draft an RFP (request for proposal) to attract attorneys who might be willing to provide those services.
Highway Cleanup
Please help cleanup the highway if you can from Anderson Junction to the LaVerkin Bridge on Saturday, August 5. Volunteers will meet at City Hall at 7 a.m.