News Around Town - August 24, 2011

After canceling the City Council meeting scheduled for August 16, the City re-scheduled the Escalante City Council meeting for August 24.

Escalante Canyons Art Festival:

Public comments were accepted and included a great update regarding the Escalante Canyons Art Festival. More than 100 artists are expected and most motel rooms in town are booked. The Economic Development Committee estimates that the festival brings more than $30,000 into town.

A $2,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts has allowed construction of movable walls on which art will be hung, providing a more stable and attractive look to our Community Center displays. Remaining moneys will be devoted to construction of a stage so that we do not have to move the Boulder stage to our town. (The new stage will be available for other community activities, as well.) 

Donations for the Silent Auction have been coming in, but more items are welcome. (If you have something you want to donate, please call Karin Simmons at 616-1075.) 

Other topics presented to the council included the up-coming 10 Year Anniversary of 9-11. A Day of Volunteerism was suggested as a way of honoring this milestone. A second Skyhoopi Sidewalk Sale will occur on Saturday, September 17th, (see below).

Planning and Zoning: Although there were no official updates, a few items were discussed during the Planning and Zoning segment of City Council. Three building permits and/or business licenses were issued. Eventually, the issuing of business licenses will be transferred to appropriate sections of the city, per Mayor Taylor. Two seats are vacant on the Planning and Zoning committee. A new alternate is needed and a zoning administrator is needed to monitor the community for infractions. Five people have put forth their names for P & Z.

Scheduled Items: Among Scheduled Items, a water connection was approved for stock watering purposes. A lengthy discussion was held about a water connection, which may extend to two connections in the future, to the east of town. Variables such as cost and water pressure were discussed. This project will be further considered with Guy Graham, councilperson in charge of water, when he becomes available and will likely be presented for approval at a future date. A third water meter was passed with little discussion.

Bank Lights: Although the citizen who designated the item on the agenda was not present, Tara Woolsey asked to speak on behalf of the Wells Fargo Corporation security and property departments. She explained that the current lighting is determined by standards of both Wells Fargo and the State of Utah. Should the lighting be modified, the City of Escalante would be responsible for the quarterly insurance payments. Although lights were shaded to the west of the bank at the request of the bed and breakfast owner, there cannot be changes to the lighting on Main Street. Changes that are deemed unacceptable to the bank risk jeopardizing the presence of Wells Fargo in our community.

 Little League Field: Councilman Allen requested monies for a fertilizer and weed deterrent product to be used on the high school Little League field. This field is a joint venture for community and high school sports. Cost is estimated at $500. Funding was granted.

Backhoe Lease: A previous request to consider a backhoe lease was discussed and denied. Due to funding cuts at the state level, the city currently is not able to afford this expense.

Animal Control: The City continues to fund the housing for eight dogs (plus one stray) that were seized due to animal mistreatment. This case will be going to court as the defendant has arranged counsel. Meantime, continuous barking, once the concern of many in-town Escalante citizens, is now troublesome to Officer Dunton and his family. The family was thanked for their public service of providing an animal shelter.

Water for Outbuildings: Scheduled items concerning the Fire Department were tabled, as well as discussion of Ordinance 2011-03 regarding multiple water connections per city lot. City Council anticipates another work meeting with Planning and Zoning in order to work out how citizens may bring water to outbuildings without violating Planning and Zoning restrictions which mandate only one “residence” per lot. Citizens might seek water links for garages, canning sheds, external personal offices etc. but will be restricted from constructing a second residence. Mayor Taylor stated that he would meet an architect about such issues. The wording of this ordinance will be challenging.

Business Licenses: Mayor Taylor described his preference that business licenses be issued through the City Council after being reviewed by the relevant department. Other cities conduct business in this manner. The issue was tabled until all departments are represented.

Storm Water Damage: Councilman Allen reviewed recent problems with storm water drainage. He said that, in his opinion, the water system, the Fire Department and the Kazan Clinic projects have been completed. “Now, our biggest problem is drainage,” he said, briefly reviewing recent storm-related drainage debacles. Mr. Allen intends to contact Earth Fax, the engineering firm that did the master plan for Loa. That city, smaller than Escalante, recently had a master plan done at the cost of $17,000. Funding for one half of the plan costs came via grant. Mr. Allen intends to pursue such a plan for Escalante. Meantime, he will work to remedy more immediate problems such as the flooding “out Center Street,” improved sloping of our roads and pursuit of a grant to assist in funding.

    

Property Transfer: Garfield County School District property at the high school, a triangle of turf by the highway, will be sold to the city which will, in turn, work to insure maintenance.

Road Block: A road that has been in place since 1935, perhaps earlier, splits the Elaine Shurtz property, located in the northwest quadrant of town. The property is shown on tax rolls of that date as a divided piece of property. The current owner wishes to sell the property as a single piece of land and wishes to reunite the sections in order to complete the sale. The town attorney reportedly sent a letter to the current owners telling them that they could block off the road. A number of citizens live further west along the road and object to their loss of right-of-way. The question of “eminent domain,” thus emerges. Concurrently, the question of ‘”property rights” is also an issue.

Mayor Taylor consulted a number of sources, including the State of Utah, and concluded that the attorney’s letter was in error. In order to vacate a right-of-way, a specific procedure is mandated and a public hearing is one of the required steps. Closing an established road is a community decision. The property owner will petition the City to start the process. “We will work together as a community,” said Mayor Taylor.

Department Reports:  Departmental Reports were limited at this meeting. Greg Allen described his informal polling of citizen preferences about shielding the side(s) of the airport light. He has not yet received the petition to shield the light but stated that it contains 15 signatures. He went on to say that approximately 75 people want no change of current airport lighting and that the ratio was two or three to one to leave the light alone. “I will listen to both sides,” he said.

As the meeting wound-up, Mayor Taylor asked each attendee to return next week with a friend. (Editors Note:  Stuff is happening. If you want to help steer the direction of our community, consider showing up.)  

Kazan Clinic:  Funding for the proposed improvements to the Kazan Clinic, such as increasing to 5+ days of service per week, providing a sliding fee scale for those without insurance, adding certain services such as pharmacy, physical therapy, mental health and x-ray, was not granted. Indeed, at the national level, the previous $800 million dollar budget was slashed to $40 million. Not one new community clinic in Utah was funded. Nonetheless, community members and leaders report that “this is only a set-back” and that “we will continue to work on the clinic project.”

Sidewalk Sale: Skyhoopi Thrift Store plans another sidewalk sale which is scheduled for September 17 from 8:00 (or so) to 12:00. The sidewalk sale held earlier this season was successful and fun!  Cost to rent a spot at the sale is $10.00. To arrange to sell your odds & ends, contact Miriam directly at the shop or call 826-4566. Stop by the sale when you do your other Saturday errands including checking-out the produce at the Farmer’s Market.

    

Escalante Canyons Art Festival: The Committee held a semi- final meeting prior to the festival weekend on September 23rd and 24th. This year’s festival is shaping up to be, quite possibly, the best ever. A scientist from NASA will be the keynote speaker (bring binoculars!), as will our local historian, an antique book specialist & Utah historian, an East Coast artist and college instructor, an archaeologist and an art history professor from BYU. More artists have entered than in the past and the vendor spaces are nearly filled-up. Fund raising efforts continue and donations for the silent auction are still being solicited. Volunteers may join in the effort continue to be actively sought. If you would like to be part of the festival, please call Sandy Larsen: 826-4470 or Karin Simmons: 616-1075.

Letter to the Editor: We would just like to express our gratitude and appreciation to Officer Dunton and his wife, Heather, for taking on the recent city dog problem. They have personally taken upon themselves the care of eight other dogs, on top of their own livestock and animals. These animals are very well taken care of and their family spends a lot of their personal time seeing to the animals’ well-being. Thank you for caring about the animals and thanks so much for your service to our community! Tara Woolsey and Laura Lisonbee.

 From the Mayor’s Desk:  I came across something I’d like you to think about. “The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist is the man who cleans up the river.”  ~Ross Perot. Let me know what you think. I’d love to have you be an activist in our community. Let us all be involved.