by brian McNary

I must confess that I should have written this post while my memory was still fresh. At my advanced age, I have diminishing recall and I can no longer tell the true from the false. Currently, I am struggling with reviewing the YouTube video of the December 4th meeting armed with the knowledge that the meeting wasn’t particularly interesting the first time around. So here goes.

Department Reports, but mostly the bypass

I noted that on this agenda, City Department Reports came first. I love the utility of that. Since the Public Forum comes next, that means we can get up and say something useful about what was said during the report section. I often have a lot to say but I usually chicken out and remain seated.

I am going to roll the first three department reports into a discussion about the bypass road since Merlin Spendlove was not present for the Hurricane Valley Fire District. The bypass road or Toquerville’s Big Dig has been slowed by rockslides, land acquistion, utility pole relocation, leaks, and the dreaded “sand pocket.” Rocky Mountain Power provided a cost for relocating the utility pole but the cost was not disclosed.

There was some discussion about whether or not there is moisture seeping from the top of the hill or not. There is a dark area in the cut that certainly looks wet. Whether it’s water, leakage from a septic tank, or black gold remains to be determined.

The turn lanes into Cholla have been completed.

(Photos in the addendum below)

Reports, other than the bypass

JD Adams gave the Public Works report. JD said they have fixed 22 leaks this year. He also said there were some cross connection questionnaires that had been sent out with only a handful of people responding. He is hoping for a better response. Adams also mentioned the Christmas tree (or limbs) disposal slated for after Christmas.

The rest of the department reports were pretty straight forward. There was some discussion of pending planning and zoning activities from Emily Teaters. There was some discussion about dogs and that residents could have up to four dogs. Beyond that residents would need to obtain a kennel permit or perhaps even a dog breeding permit. Mayor Sip chuckled and said something about a dog with puppies- which would be exempt.

WCWCD Reuse Contract approved

In City Business:

The council voted to accept the Washington County Water Conservancy’s Reuse Contract. We are now one of 5 signing cities with 2 to go. Most of the other business items were housekeeping and schedule changes.

Traffic and dogs

There was also some discussion about a leash law under business item #4, the dog control ordinance. I would like to deviate here just a bit and talk about the bane of small towns everywhere. Traffic and dogs.

Years ago, in a town just a shade bigger than Toquerville, newspaper reporters asked our Chief of Police what his two biggest problems were.

Without hesitation, he said “traffic and dogs.” I’d like to discuss dogs first. We had a leash law that demanded dogs either be leashed or under voice control of 25 feet. I found “voice control” was an arbitrary term and hard to measure. Dogs seeking out females in heat, cats and other critters, passing vehicles, and the occasional fight- rarely concern themselves with the voice control portion of leash laws. I found this out the hard way when a German Shepard off his leash decided he wanted to make a snack of my puppy one afternoon. I got bit in the fracas as the owner kept yelling at his dog to stop and I was jerking on his collar. So much for voice control.

Jack, enjoying old age after his near death experience as a puppy.

Traffic was an even larger problem. Eventually we formed a traffic committee, which was selected by the Mayor and Council Members to make recommendations to the city. My job was to facilitate and take recommendations to city fathers. It was useful in that the most vocal opponents of our approach to traffic enforcement began to realize that there was no solution. The traffic club worked well for pedestrain safety. We installed a lighted crosswalk (lights actuated and embedded in the pavement) along with a lighted sign that was actuated by pedestrians. It works well and some 25 years later-it is still in use.

I heard the city discuss two other items on Wednesday night. Vision obstructions near intersections and speed. I had on occasion asked residents to trim back trees and shrubs which actually worked without an ordinance. Imagine that! During traffic club discussions, I liked to remind people that traffic laws and signage only exist for one specific reason. The safe movement of vehicles and pedestrians. That’s it.

When a piece of road looks safe, drivers will drive faster. Reducing speeds on safe stretches of road creates enforcement problems and speed traps. There are mitigating things such as speed surveys or traffic calming measures that can be employed rather than drastic speed limit reductions or hiring traffic cops. Let’s keep that in mind as we begin to feel Toquerville’s growth.

Calendar

Wreaths Across America, Saturday, December 14, 10:00 A.M. at the cemetery.
Christmas lighting contest. Sign up by Dec 19 at City Hall.
City offices closed for Christmas.

Addendum: bypass photos

Dave Esquer provided some bypass photos which you can access here. You decide, but if it’s frozen water, it’s likely water.

Council,The Big Dig, Traffic, and Dogs