Attending Members: Mary Esther Putnam (Chair); Dall Winn; Jeff Gardner; Spence Beckstrom; John Nichols.
Also Present: Gerald Schiefer (Fire Chief); George Cropper (Treasurer); Beverly Udell (Secretary).
Guests: Scott Vance; Ray Lindblom; Elaine Lindblom; Violet Esparza; Jerry Self; Darlene Self; Guin Winn; Doug Labrum; Fred Pendleton, Judy Randall (for Rob Tersigni – Washington County Sheriff’s Office); Kirk Flannigan (USDA Forest Service.
Absent: N/A
1. General Business:
a/b. Welcome – Meeting was opened by Mary Esther (Chair) at 5:03 PM and the Pledge of Allegiance was said.
c. Minutes: The Minutes from the meeting held on June 4, 2008 were read by each Board member individually. Dall motioned to approve the Minutes, Spence seconded that motion and all else approved.
d. Pine Valley Building Permits Reviewed: None
e. Board Member Reports:
Mary Esther: She heard that the 4-wheelers were out of control on the 4th of July, so she called Rob Tersigni. Rob said there had been a deputy in Pine Valley all day on the 4th. Rob said that we MUST call in problems, so that the Sheriff’s Department can know of them. Gerald verified that there were indeed 3 police in the valley that day. Judy Randall said that she herself was here on and off for most of the day. She stated that she knew of another officer that was here for almost the entire day. Judy said that she had only stopped two 4-wheelers, but she knew that the other officers were very busy that weekend. Gerald took that opportunity to pass out his ‘Fire Chief’s Report’ – on which item #15 discussed his views of the ATV issue over the holiday weekend. Gerald said that the 4th of July was okay, but it was actually the 5th of July that was horrible. Mini Jeeps were also a HUGE problem – kids riding without helmets, no licenses, underage drivers, property owner’s fences that were cut to allow OHV to go through that then also allowed the cows to get out. Judy reminded everyone that they have to have probable cause to stop someone, meaning that they can not just stop people because they feel like it – even if they are on a 4-wheeler. Members of the audience chimed in that speeding cars are also still a problem. Someone asked if the Forestry Department can put up signs stating where the 4-wheelers are allowed (or not allowed) to go, which they indeed can, but they want to be really careful not to become a valley of signs. Another problem with signs is that people love to shoot up the signs or tear them down. * Judy mentioned that the Department really likes being able to use the Fire Station as a base. They are very grateful for that as it is very helpful to them. * Judy also mentioned that she gave some stiff citations to speeding dump trucks in Pine Valley today. * So far there are not any helmet requirements for UTVs.
Spence: Law Enforcement – on the 23rd of August – there will be a County meeting in which they will vote on approval of the creation of a “Local District” whose purpose is law enforcement in Pine Valley. The Board Members for that District will be appointed by the County Commissioners. Spence would like at that time to be able to draw up specifics for what we would like the Sheriff’s Department to do for us. * Regarding the “Roaming Cattle Petition” that was drawn up a while back by some town’s members – the County decided that they will continue to leave Pine Valley as open range. The holders of the permits allowing open grazing in specific areas are responsible for repairing fence lines. * The Forestry Department is hoping that soon there will be a “motorized forest plan” with no crosscountry ATV riding allowed – possibly by 2009.
Jeff: The speed limit has been changed on the main road entering town (going past the meadows) to 40 mph. * Gerald asked if we can mitigate the roads with oil to keep down the dust. Jeff answered that usually it’s the property owners that have to foot the costs for the oiling, which could run about $300 each. Jeff fixed one pothole in Pine Valley himself by purchasing 100 pounds of gravel to fill it with – but the hole was so large that the gravel didn’t fill the whole thing.
Dall: We are hoping that with the increase of Impact Fees that we might be able to put an addition onto the fire house. The addition would be a separate addition on the East to accommodate fire trucks (we are in need of a Water Tender that right now we don’t have room for.) The addition could hold 2 more vehicles. They want it big enough (which is costly) to have both “in” and “out” doors for the vehicles to be able to drive straight through. They will meet with a contractor to see what the exact needs are and to explore the costs. Dall is estimating that it could cost around $200,000. He would also like to include exhaust fans (something we don’t have now) to keep the fire personnel safe from those fumes, as well as to keep the gear cleaner from the exhaust soot. We would also have to include a 10×10 foot shed for petroleum storage. Mary Esther brought up that they should also be thinking of other costs like windows, plumbing and heat.
Fire Chief – Gerald: See attached report.
Treasurer’s Report – George: See attached report. * George also added that the Utah Money Management Council wants us to send them a report twice a year regarding our account balances. * A letter was read that was sent in by LaMar Terry asking for public displays of our ongoing budget. George said that such a thing is already available because it is posted on a web site through the State Auditor’s Office. It shows financial reports for each month. * George has a bill for $7,816 for insurance, which covers the building, trucks and general liability – but does not include bonds or Workmen’s Comp. * George would like to change insurance from Workman’s Comp to the Utah Local Government Trust. The Board okayed that move.
2 – Public Comments: Members of the audience were there to ask why they received a letter from the County saying that they could no longer park their RVs or trailers on their property. The Board didn’t have an answer for them since the letter came from the County and not from the PVSSD.
Dall moved for the meeting to adjourn at 6:30. All were in favor.
The next Board meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 5:00 P.M.