Washington City Youth Council

On February 13, I had the opportunity to join a great group of young people from our community as they visited the legislature, toured the state capital and met with Governor Herbert. This group is the Washington City Youth Council.

The Washington City Youth Council is in its second year of existence and has already become an example throughout the state. It has been the desire of our City Council to create a Youth Council for some time and with great leadership of some of community "go-getters" we were able to do that, this last year. Under the guidance of Volunteer Advisor: Carmen Snow and Assistant Advisor: Wendi Bulkley and the oversight of Councilmen Hudson and Turek, our council has attracted some wonderful young leaders, provided a great curriculum, and given them many opportunities to serve and engage within our community. Our Youth Council draws from Pineview, Desert Hills, and Millcreek High Schools. These young people are bright, ambitious and eager to make a difference in their community and world.

During their one-year term on the council they learn about positions in city and state government, Roberts Rules of Order, and how to effectively engage in community dialogue and process. They then put this all to good use by getting involved in our city by assisting with Cotton Days and other service projects. They have sold our famous "shadow dogs" and they visit our council meetings often. As you watch these young people you are impressed with their demeanor, their knowledge and how they represent our great city. Last year in a conference of at Utah State the Washington City Youth Council took second place as the Best Youth Council in the state of Utah; quite an achievement for the first year.

We are proud of the youth of this community. This Youth Council is indicative of the responsible, caring, young citizens we have here. We hope many of our young people will consider serving on this council. The Youth council is taking applications for next year, until February 29.

Thanks Youth Council for all of your great work! We know our future is in good hands.

Telegraph Towers

I have been asked recently what is the status of the unfinished building on Telegraph Street (across from Veterans Park). This building was intended to provide retail and office space in our downtown area. It was approved, permitted and began construction in 2010.

In approximately Fall of 2010 construction activities ceased on the property. It was communicated to the city that the reason construction had halted was due to a failure in securing the needed funds for its completion. There have been a lot of parties with various legal interests and legal positions on this project and therefore it has become a very complicated situation which is the subject of a multi-party lawsuit. And the courts will ultimately have to decide responsibility. In the meantime, the owner continued to hold an active building permit and was hopeful that all of the financial issues would be resolved. In Spring of 2011, Washington City requested that the owner provide bracing to the existing and unfinished walls, assuming that construction would begin within a reasonable amount of time. In August 2011, the owner informed the city council and staff that it would not be renewing its building permit and that the owner did not anticipate the building getting completed in the near future. Washington City then inspected the facility and believed that the wall supports/bracing, although appropriate during a construction period, would be inadequate on a permanent basis. The building was declared "unsafe" by the City. The owner appealed this decision to the local Board of Adjustments, which heard its appeal in November 2011. The Board of Adjustments ruled in favor of the city, declaring the building "unsafe" in its current state. Among other things, the owner was ordered to either complete the building, bring the walls down to six feet, or to provide sufficient support/bracing to ensure safety and permanence. The owner was also required to fence the property and provide other on-site safety measures. The owner has turned in a set of plans showing enhanced building supports/bracing and those plans are currently under review.

The primary role of the city is to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens. We feel that this building, in its current state, presents a potential danger to our community. We will continue to work with the owner and others to ensure that all safety measures are employed and dangers mitigated. We continue to hope for an acceptable resolution for all parties.

Roger Carter
City Manager

Council Members

The start of the new year will bring some changes to the Washington City Council. It is true statement that "there is nothing as constant as change."  Beginning in January we say good-bye to Council members Roger Bundy and Mike Heaton. The combined experience of these two council members expand several decades. Both Councilmen Bundy and Heaton have served on numerous city councils as well as planning commissions. Their experience and wisdom has been extremely valuable as they have lead Washington City through the slow years of little growth and no money, to the boom years of rapid growth and strong economic development, to these final years of a challenged growth and a deeply painful recession. It can be certainly said of them, that-they have seen it all. Unless one sits and watches the events unfold, how they affect our city, and the daily leadership provided by a good mayor and council; they can never appreciate the skill and value of these individuals.

I have been very fortunate to work with not only these fine council members but many others who have come and gone. The work that each of these men and women have performed will have an impact upon our community and the lives of our citizens for years to come. I have been privileged to have always worked with completely unselfish individuals. The job of a city councilman is a difficult one. You get complained about often, yelled at occasionally and rarely please everyone at the same time. You spend a lot of time in meetings, talking with citizens, away from your families and for very little compensation; other than to say you served your community. We may not always agree with their decisions but we can't question their love and commitment to this community. It has been said that "opinion is left to those who stand on the sidelines." The men and women who have served on our councils and commissions are individuals who have chosen to leave the sidelines and enter the game, no matter how banged up they might get. It is they who have made the history of Washington City so rich, who have formulated our vision, and lead us into a bright and prosperous future. I appreciate their service.

So, like we have done so many times before, we say good-bye to good friends of this community; grateful that they will continue their role as citizens and say hello to new individuals who will continue to define and lead us. Through it all Washington City will continue to grow and prosper and create a community that "feels like home."

Roger Carter

City Manager

Sullivan Virgin River Soccer Park

Recently we opened the Virgin River Sullivan Family Soccer park. This park is in its first stage and will continue to be expanded in the future with soccer fields, play grounds and more pavilions. This beautiful location for a park was made possible through the partnership with the Sullivan Family many years ago. We are grateful for their relationship and donation to the city. Many times we are asked how and why we build these many beautiful parks in our community, let me address each of those.

How do we build these parks? The seven parks and fisheries that have been opened up in the last five years have been paid from the new growth that has occurred in the city. It might not surprise you to know that Washington City is adding just under 1,000 residents per year to our community (even in spite of the downturn in the economy). These residents when they build their home pay an impact fee. This fee is used exclusively to provide the facilities that these new residents will use; such as parks, trails, water lines, new streets, etc. Without impact fees existing facilities would be inadequate for our population or the current residents would need to pay for these new facilities in their taxes. Washington City has been able to add all of these facilities without increasing the tax load on our residents.

Why do we build these parks? Washington City has a large number of young families as citizens. Our senior population is more active and we live in a climate where the outdoors can be enjoyed year-around. Parks and trails add to the quality for life of all of our citizens. We continually find that individuals and families are making decisions on where to live based upon the quality of life of an area. We believe this is one of the reasons we have shown greater growth in Washington City than in our surrounding communities; we truly are becoming the city of choice in our area. For me however the reason we build these parks was in a experience I had the other day. As I was driving down 300 East I passed a young boy about 9 or 10. He was riding his bike with a fishing pole and tackle box strapped to the back. He was smiles from ear-to-ear as he prepared for his days adventure of fishing at the newly built fishing pond. If you ever question "why" we build these facilities, drive over to any of our parks and watch our families celebrating birthdays, walking hand-in-hand with their kids around the trail or listening to the squeals and shouts of the soccer game going on, and you will know the answer.

Completion of Telegraph Street

Photo courtesy of lenhartimages.com

It seems like Telegraph Street has dominated my recent blog postings, but it has been such a significant project in our city that it has been worth noting. Well, those days are about to come to an end. The project is wrapping up. We will be holding a ribbon cutting for the opening of our new Telegraph Street as well as the restoration of the old bell tower on Monday, October 17, at 6 pm, in front of the old school (museum, 25 north Telegraph Street). This event will include comments by the Utah Department of Transportation representatives, a representative from our Historical Society, and from the Washington City Mayor, Ken Neilson. If all of that doesn’t sound exciting enough for you, then we are also offering hot dogs, hayrides, and the mayor and council will be taking a tour of Telegraph with a vintage car drive. This event will also include the introduction and ringing in of the restored bell tower at the old school. It will be the perfect night to reflect upon our past, as we listen to the chimes of the tower, and glance down the corridor of of our future, as we officially open Telegraph Street. You won’t want to miss it!

I also want to mention one other item associated with the street widening project. We have a very talented, local citizen who has taken it upon himself to document the work on Telegraph through pictures. Ron Lenhart Photography has done a great job of capturing the spirit of this project for us to always remember. You can find his work at lenhartimages.com. Thanks Ron for the pride you have in your community, as demonstrated by your very professional work.

I hope to see you all Monday as we ring in a "a whole new era...where it all began."

9/11

This might be a little different blog than normal, as I am not updating you on street improvements or other items happening in the city; but I do believe that this topic is as relevant to our community as any is. I hope we all took a few minutes yesterday to reflect upon and stand in memoria of the events that occurred ten years ago, on September 11, 2001. No doubt we all remember where we were and what we were doing. For me, it was living in another community. I was delivering my kids to school and in an uncharacteristic way, turned on the car radio that morning. Like many of you I was pretty well numb as the days events unfolded.

The memories of 9/11 are forever seared into our memories. From burning towers and collapsing structures, to the site of emergency personnel entering buildings and never returning. I remember the pictures of average citizen heroes reaching out to help people they didn’t even know. We were stunned at the gaping hole in the pentagon, moved by the crater in Pennsylvania and inspired by the cheering of the crowds as the emergency and heavy equipment rolled into New York. It was a time of varied emotions.

I never knew anyone personally who lost their life in those events that September, but in the last ten years it is hard to find anyone who has not been affected by that day. For me, it was watching a brother-in-law enter the war-zone in Afghanistan. He was later injured in a road-side bomb but was one of the fortunate ones who came home.

Those who perpetrated the attacks on that beautiful fall day wanted to break our spirit and destroy our way of life. They wanted to replace our sense of community and association with a state of chaos and disconnection. I think you will agree with me, that on the days following 9/11 just the opposite happened. We all pulled closer together, took more time to appreciate our relationships and drew strength from one another.

I love the concept of community. The idea where we collectively come together for the common good. Certainly one of the enduring messages we should take from 9/11 is how important it is to remain connected with one another and how important it is to strengthen the relationships we share with one another as a community, a state, and as a nation.

Telegraph Road Update

I thought I would give you an update on how things are progressing along Telegraph. We are in our home-stretch and should be completed by mid October. Street lighting has been installed throughout the project. The planter boxes, which are the work of a local artist Mike Upwall, are being installed and planted. These planter boxes are a unique design feature which will not only house large, shade producing trees for our downtown but will provide sitting benches for those who desire. The sidewalks are being installed at the bridge deck and then they will begin to do the beautiful rock work on the parapet walls of the bridge. Turn lanes are being installed and they will be of a stamped, colored concrete. All intersections will have turning capability. One of the final items will be the staining of a portion of the all the sidewalks. I believe that you will really like the final product of this long-awaited project.

I hope you have paid attention to the installation of the old bell tower. We look forward to making the chimes a permanent part of the downtown when we officially open up the new Telegraph Street. We have had some interested businesses watching the development and making some inquiries about our downtown.

We believe that the downtown will be inviting to new businesses but still maintain that small community charm that makes Washington "feel like home."