Pine Valley Local Administrative District Board Meeting &
2024 Proposed Fee Public Hearing & Meeting
May 1, 2024
Attending Board Members: Frank Davie, Chairman (excused); Tom Nielsen, Vice-Chairman, Bob Dalley (excused), Emily Nielson, Herman Nordbruch
Attending PVLAD Assistants: Rick Peetz, Treasurer; LaDawn Christensen, Secretary
Attending Guests: Gene Phillips, Vincent Terry, Larry Gardner, Claudia Davis, Brian Davis, Robert Hardy, Steve Shakespeare
Welcome: Tom called the meeting to order and welcomed the visitors.
Prayer & Pledge of Allegiance: Larry offered the prayer, and Robert led the pledge of allegiance.
Pine Valley Overlay Zone Requests: Vince Terry represented the Rob Leavitt home for an addition. Emily explained the reasoning behind the Pine Valley Overlay Zone Ordinance and reviewed specific guidelines. Emily approved recommending that the county issue a building permit; Herman seconded, and all in favor.
April Meeting Minutes: Tom approved the minutes, Herman seconded, and all in favor.
2024 Proposed Fee (Public Hearing): Tom explained the reasoning for the public hearing, in that the annual fee for the Pine Valley Local Administrative District was included in the annual fire assessment fee billed by the Pine Valley Special Services District. While no increase is proposed, this public hearing is being held to ensure clarity.
Tom closed the PVLAD meeting and opened the meeting for the public hearing, limiting it to two minutes per person and five minutes if representing a group.
2024 Proposed Fee (Public Meeting): There were no public comments. Emily moved that the 2024 proposed fee would remain flat at $20 for residential homes and nothing for vacant lots. Herman seconded and all in favor.
The public meeting was closed, and the PVLAD meeting continued.
Board Member Reports:
Pine Valley Activities- Tom mentioned the Cinco De Mayo Community Party is being held May 11 at 6:30 PM.
Traffic Report – Tom reported he spoke with Lieutenant Thompson at the sheriff’s office to find out exactly what is needed to support Pine Valley during peak traffic periods. Tom asked Rick to provide Brian Davis with the raw traffic data to format into a report the county officers can review and be most effective in covering during peak traffic days/times.
Herman reported the Washington County Crime, indicating the statistics and indicators for the past month. He noted that the jail population has increased every month this year. He mentioned the St. George News reported an animal dumping site in Veyo, which a Las Vegas woman was arrested for using. Herman said we should report anything suspicious when hiking, riding, etc.
Tom asked Robert if he had any noteworthy health issues to report. Robert noted that measles is spreading and highly contagious.
Widening Main Street/Walking Path: There is no update. Larry commented that the county was approached when he was on the board, and they supported the idea.
Community Watch: Gene reported a successful Nuclear Protection and Planning meeting on April 27th. Another meeting will be planned in approximately three months. The board discussed the proposal for additional radios and decided to table it until June’s meeting.
Tom asked Gene to discuss the community bulletin board signs near the church coming into Pine Valley. Gene created a map for one board with trailheads, points of interest, etc. It will be repainted, lamented, and mounted. Scott Dunkleman will generously donate to the improvement of the signs and maps. One bulletin board will be moved to an area near the mail building.
Sheriff’s Office Report: Discussed in the board member reports.
Treasurer Report: Rick reported on the April financials. Emily approved, Herman seconded, and all in favor.
Citizens Request: None
Meeting adjourned. The next scheduled PVLAD meeting will be June 5, 2024.
Pine Valley Special Services District Meeting
May 1, 2024
Attending Board Members: Mary Esther Putnam, Chairwoman (remote attendance); Bob Dalley, Vice-Chairman (remote attendance); Allen Cannon (excused); Emily Neilson, Steve Shakespeare
Attending PVSSD Assistants: Rick Peetz, Treasurer; LaDawn Christensen, Secretary
Fire Chief: Robert Hardy
Attending Guests: Gene Phillips, Tom Nielsen, Larry Gardner, Scott Dunkleman, Claudia Davis, Brian Davis, Donna Gardner
Welcome: Emily called the meeting to order.
April Meeting Minutes: Steve approved the minutes, Mary Esther seconded and all in favor.
Due to timing, the 2024 Proposed Fee Public Hearing and the 2024 Proposed Fee Public Meeting were postponed until after the Treasurer’s Report. For organizational purposes, the items listed below are in the agenda order.
Emily made a motion to move items C and D on the agenda to below item K to accommodate the published 7:00 PM start time for the Public Hearing. Steve seconded, and the motion passed.
The items listed below are in the original agenda order for organizational purposes.
Emily closed the PVSSD meeting and opened the public hearing & meeting.
2024 Proposed Fee (Public Hearing): Emily explained the proposed increase in the annual fire assessment fee to $250 for residential, $100 for vacant lots, and $475 for commercial and short-term rentals. In addition, the board proposes a $200 annual fire inspection fee for all short-term rentals.
Emily asked Robert to present the reason for the fire assessment increase.
Robert discussed that the fire department had a cash reserve several years ago. Since that time, several large purchases have occurred, including Engine 141, an ambulance, a CPR device, and a patient monitor, which has depleted the reserve. Many upcoming costs are out of our control, including the radios the fire department uses, which will not be compliant with county dispatch after September of this year. New radios will cost the department $80,000. The fire department does not receive financial assistance from the State to purchase radios due to its class rating for being a part of Washington County.
There are 29 volunteers in the fire/EMS department. The volunteers have been excluded from paying the yearly fire assessment. Robert proposes that the volunteers pay the annual fire assessment and receive a stipend based on their involvement in the department, up to $599 a year.
Emily opened the meeting for public input, limiting it to two minutes per person and five minutes if representing a group.
Larry wanted to understand more about the stipend and why going from a volunteer to a stipend. Larry replied that it was abrupt, and he was surprised no one else was concerned about it. Rick mentioned that most of it is cost if offset by the volunteers paying for the assessment fees. The stipend is approximately $7,000, which is not a large amount. The budget for next year is much higher and cannot be sustained with the current fire assessment fee. Robert said that most of the increase is due to the radios, the cost of the older equipment, and replenishing the reserves.
Donna commented that she has a small STR home and only had 45 nights of guests in 2023. She wants to know how the board can justify the numbers for a small STR compared to a larger STR home.
Rick replied that the STR increase is the same percentage as the amount of the fee assessment increase. Emily said the rates had not increased in the past years due to the reserve, and that isn’t an option now. The fee is much less than in other communities.
The public hearing was closed, and the PVSSD meeting continued.
Discussion of the 2024 Proposed Fee
In all the discussions, Mary Esther noted that there is no alternative, even though some feel it isn’t fair. She will go along with the proposal.
Steve commented that when the county considered consolidating the districts, the other districts had such low impact fees that they didn’t have the funds to operate. The county urged the SSDs to increase their fee assessment rates every few years, which was crucial.
Bob commented that it has been challenging to decide to increase the fees, but due to the depleted reserve, it must be done. He strongly suggests an increase.
Emily moved to approve the 2024 proposed fee increase as laid out: $250 for residential, $100 for vacant lots, $475 for commercial and STRs, and strike the STR fire inspection. Mary Esther seconded, and all were in favor.
Board Member Reports:
Steve noted that the roads in the valley will be graded, but unsure of when it will be completed.
Mary Esther thanked Emily for heading and organizing the proposed fee hearings.
Snow Ordinance: No updates.
Fire Department Report: Robert reported seven EMS calls in April and one unattended campfire call-out. A total of sixty-three volunteer man hours were reported, along with twelve equipment hours, a hundred and fourteen training hours, and thirty-four miscellaneous hours for a total of two hundred and eleven fire/EMS volunteer hours.
Steve commented on the volunteer hours, which save on ISO (Insurance Services Office) rates. The ISO scores fire departments’ performance against its organization’s standards to determine property insurance costs. Robert noted that Pine Valley has the same ISO rating as St. George.
Short-Term Rental (STR) Fire Inspections: Steve commented that if the county is not ready to approve the STR Fire Inspection with the state or county codes, we should hold off on the inspection part of the proposed fee increase until next year. Steve, Tom, Robert, Emily, Brian, and Rick discussed the matter, including safety, and Robert mentioned that it may not be worth our time. Time applying for grants would be more beneficial to the department.
EMS Supplies from Enterprise: Bob questioned last month whether Enterprise was paying for any EMS supplies. Robert reported that Enterprise pays for 90% of the operational EMS supplies.
Community Center: No update.
Treasurer Report: Rick discussed the financial report. Bob approved the approved, Steve seconded, and all in favor.
Citizen Requests: None
Steve proposed the ending of the meeting, Emily seconded, and all in favor.
The next scheduled PVSSD meeting will be on June 5, 2024. PVSSD Board Meeting adjourned.