Attending Members: Mary Esther Putnam (Chair); Dall Winn; Spence Beckstrom; John Nichols;
Jeff Gardner
Also Present: Gerald Schiefer (Fire Chief); George Cropper (Treasurer); Beverly Udell (Secretary)
Absent: N/A
Guests: Robert Herpel; David Codding
1. General Business:
a/b. Welcome – Meeting was opened by Mary Esther (Chair) at 6:02 PM and the Pledge of Allegiance was said.
c. Meeting Minutes for December 1, 2010 were reviewed. Dall motioned to approve the minutes. Spencer seconded the motion. Motion carried. There was not a meeting in January 2011.
d. Pine Valley Building Permits Reviewed: N/A
e. Bob Herpel: Bob (Utah Heritage Realty) is in the process of selling the home on 815 W. Carter Circle to two individuals (partners) that wish to turn the property into a “reunion center and corporate retreat”. They state they will not be renting ATV’s and horses, though they would not be able to stop guests from bringing up their own. They would most likely advertise that it is a good location for horseback riding, and even possibly put in corrals for people to house horses while vacationing. No alcohol will be served, nor will it be allowed. No smoking in the building either. They are expecting to put in about $50,000 in landscaping, and will also include asphalt parking and a fenced-in yard to keep guest contained on the property (versus hopefully not wandering onto the yards of bordering neighbors. The property consists of four lots that are in one parcel (1 ½ acres). The house is a 10 bedroom/8 bath, plus a separate 2 bedroom apartment over the 6 car garage. The problem is that the home is so large, that it is a problem to try to sell for anything but some type of public facility. It is currently inline with zoning for a FR-13.5 (Forest/Residential), which allows for the same rules as the Dixie College building that is right across the main road. Mary Esther asked Bob if there would be a limit on how many cars can park there – Bob wasn’t sure. Allen Cannon (previous owner) had started an amphitheater on the property, which the new owners plan to finish, along with bonfire capabilities which will meet our fire department rules. Mary Esther asked when they expected to go to the County for a ‘conditional use’ permit and Bob answered that they could not do that until after they owned the property. Ownership is close; they are just waiting on additional funding. Bob himself has nothing to do with the partnership – his role is simply as one of the real estate agents in the sale. Spence met with Deon (from the County) who told him that the current zoning allows for private use, but not public use, which is why Bob said they need to obtain a ‘conditional use’ permit. In contrast to the Dixie College building which is more isolated, this property is in a neighborhood with close neighbors. George mentioned that even the college building sometimes violates what they are allowed to go as far as their guests are concerned. Mary Esther did say that the College building has strict rules about cleanup, etc. The college is a $75.00 per day rental. Dall added that when the Dixie College building was originally set up, they guaranteed that no one would be spending the night there, but they do have sleepovers frequently. Gerald told Bob that if the Cannon home was turned into a public use building, they would need to add indoor sprinklers incase of fire. He also added that they should look at the Pine Valley general plan for guidance. David Codding (neighbor) said he had no problem with what was being discussed thus far. He has found in situations like this, there is often a lot of resistance prior to establishment, but once the facility is in place, people often find it is not as bad as their fears were. David’s only concern is with rowdiness and noise.
f. Board Member Reports:
Mary Esther: N/A
Spence: Regarding cows, Spence noticed that a lot of fence is not in place. The ranchers moved their cows two weeks early this year in order to help the public. Spence wondered what happened to the idea of paving roads in Pine Valley – he was told that idea was laid to rest, mostly because of the costs involved. The conscientious of the Board is that we still need more Jersey barriers placed higher up the road on Deadman’s Curve.
John: Observed there were a lot of cars around the check-in station leading into the Forestry area. Since the gate is now locked there, a lot of people are parking there and walking in. One day someone from the Forestry Dept. accidentally left the gate unlocked and about 20 cars went up the road so that people could sled by the reservoir. This winter has been much quieter as far as EMT callouts, in part because of the Jersey barriers at Deadman’s and partly because of the locked gate at the entrance of the Forestry area which now keeps out people who want to sled. John also spoke about the road in front of the Brandin’ Iron that flooded when a culvert got blocked – now there are 2 creeks in the Cox pasture instead of one.
Jeff: We need road work around the Valley since the flooding, but that won’t happen until things dry up more.
Dall: N/A
g. Fire Chief – Gerald (see report) We had 7000 volunteer hours in 2010, pretty impressive for such a small department. The Pine Valley Dinner Committee ordered new t-shirt and caps for the members of the Fire Department. As of Feb. 2011, we now have 134 fulltime residents in 64 homes..
h. Treasurer Report – George (see report).
2 – Public Comments: N/A
Spence moved to adjourn at 7:15. All were in favor. The next Board meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at 6:00 P.M.