By Lynda Williams

Photo courtesy of Brad Langston

As I begin this City Council report on the May 6 meeting, I want to express my sincere appreciation to the individuals who maintain the Cemetery. During my recent visit, I was thoroughly impressed by the pristine condition of the cemetery grounds. I had come prepared to assist with some cleanup, and I was delighted to find that everything was immaculate. Notably, I didn’t even notice any headstones with dirt kicked up on their cement bases, which is a common issue caused by gophers. Toquerville can be proud of their beautiful Cemetery.

There is much going on in Toquerville. This is a long report. I tried it make it as concise as possible.

Since we are a blog and not a professional media outlet, we may occasionally get things wrong. Then again… don’t the media “professionals” sometimes get things wrong too?

In this report (I can’t promise this every time), you’ll find a link to the beginning of the council discussion, along with beginning and ending timestamps for the specific topics covered. AI helped with the timestamps so there may be some errors.

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We’ll start with the City Departments reports:

1. Ash Creek Special Services District Rep-Mike Chandler reports that the Treatment Plant is currently being commissioned. The LaVerkin pump station has been cut over, meaning the district is now fully separated into North and South service areas with no flow crossing the river.

The district is securing funding for the Virgin Pipeline and Pump Station via a public hearing. Mike said the cost will be covered by the participants from Virgin, so no rate increases for existing cities are anticipated. However, the postcard I received in the mail about a hearing “May 28, 2026, at the hour of 6:00 p.m. at 1350 South Sand Hollow Road”, gave me the impression we might be impacted by the cost. You can listen to his comments about the funding here and see what you think. (6:35 - 7:29)

Mailing about Ash Creek Special Service District Hearing

2. Fire Department Chief Robert Hooper provided the following updates regarding fire service operations

Station 43 handled approximately 65 calls in the last month with 12 in Toquerville. About half of those calls were fire related. The Chief noted that fire season has ended earlier this year. (Burning season?). Brush fires are frequently started by illegal yard burns.
The district recently acquired a heavy rescue truck to improve capabilities in confined spaces like trenches and structural collapse rescues.
Crews are performing monthly rope rescue training. Wild land teams and seasonal staff are prepared for the upcoming fire season.
The Chief received positive feedback regarding crew’s professional conduct especially during a recent injury call from a local nightly rental visitor. (11:27 - 14:04)

3. Assistant City Manager Darrin LeFevre provided several updates regarding current city projects and maintenance.

Boulder Ridge Subdivision: This project is nearing completion with focus currently on connections offsite utilities and addressing a punch list of final items.
Silver Cliffs Development: The Right of Way acquisition with the BLM for land north of “Devil’s Hole” is officially signed and complete, allowing the project to proceed with it’s pending MPDO application.
A stream bank clean up effort is planned for the City Park. Public Works staff will do initial trimming and the city is calling for volunteers to help clear debris from the stream to insure compliance with FEMA requirements. (15:23 - 16:09)
Toquerville Parkway Construction: the project is currently awaiting final approvals from UDOT regarding design requirements. Ongoing discussions involve coordination between the city, Stanley Consulting and UDOT to ensure all structural and safety requirements, such as guardrails and paint striping are properly addressed.
Additionally a new proposal is being discussed: To route natural gas utilities to serve the new subdivision without compromising the structural integrity of the bridge. (16:13 - 19:13)

4. City Manager Ben Billingsley mentioned attending a Round Table at the state capital with the state auditor to discuss Public Infrastructure Districts. (PIDs) This meeting resulted in a successful outcome via HB 507 which clarified the path for cities to remove PIDs as discreetly reported component units from their financial statements providing a big relief for the city’s financial reporting. (20:00 - 20:20).

Presentation by Washington County Water Conservancy District Zach Renstrom:

This was quite a lengthy presentation but since water is such a big issue right now I am going to cover a few points you will find interesting:

Interconnected Infrastructure: The county has built a large, interconnected system of pipes and reservoirs that allow water to be moved and stored across different cities, including Toquerville, ensuring a safe and reliable supply even during dry years. (21:46 -23:24)
Regional Collaboration: The district operates under the Regional Water Supply Agreement, which includes technical and policy committees where Toquerville City officials participate. These groups make important decisions about how to manage limited resources and set water efficiency standards. (26:22 - 27:52)
Long Term Water Strategy: the district is actively working to transition certain irrigation only reservoirs (like Gunlock Reservoir) to drinking water sources. This involves complex “exchanges” where reuse water will eventually replace Virgin River water for irrigation, allowing the river water to be treated for municipal use. (33:03 -34:10, 45:01 - 47:00)

Growth Management: The district has implemented policies for large scale developments (those using over 5 million gallons of water in Toquerville) to ensure they contribute value to the community. This process requires a formal presentation to the administration advisory committee, giving local cities a voice in these decisions. (38:51 - 39 -57)

Transparency Outreach: Renstrom emphasized that the district serves 95% of the county’s population and is open to public inquiries. They encourage citizens and policy makers to visit their facilities to better understand the infrastructure and budget. (23:52 - 55:12)

Why is Gunlock Reservoir changing? Gunlock Reservoir is undergoing significant transition as part the Washington County Conservancy District’s long term water strategy. Currently the reservoir is used exclusively for irrigation. (32:58)

Within the next 10 years the district plans to convert it into a complete drinking water reservoir. (33:10) This change is part of a broader, complex regional water management strategy.

Public Forum

Mike Franzese commented that with all the extra money spent on the highway there is still no Engine brake signs and reiterated that the noise from the road is unbearable to nearby residents. It is reaching the “hazardous” level on a noise meter.

Gary Chaves commented on the fact that the city is contemplating letting Solara build a neighborhood allowing up to 13% of the homes be nightly rentals. (1:00:36 - 1:00:45)

The existing ordinance caps nightly rentals at 6% to regulate prevalence of such units in the community.(1:00:21 - 1:00:32) Gary argued that the policy prioritizes developers interests over those of current citizens, noting that residents face more restrictive conditions, such as waiting lists, public hearings and inspection requirements compared to larger developments.

Council Members expressed concern that the current cap, combined with a lack of active enforcement for unlicensed rentals may be inadvertently penalizing those attempting to operate legally.

This is related to annexing property and was covered in this post. There will be an important Planning Commission Public Hearing tonight at 6 pm that will touch on these topics. (1:16:31 - 1;17:08)

Kathy Bence commented that Toquerville approved an interlocal revenue pledge agreement on March 5, 2025. The city committed $10,000 annually to the Washington County Sheriff's Office to help fund the Washington County Drug Task Force. This is to help provide drug enforcement services since Toquerville doesn’t have its own police department.

She questioned why the Sheriff’s office needed extra funding for something that is not a huge problem (yet, anyway) in Toquerville, and why it wasn’t covered with the funding they already receive.

She also pointed out that the sheriff who requested the extra funding from local cities resigned after allegations of misconduct.

Leeds made two $10,000 payments and their new mayor dissolved the funding pledge before a new one happened.

Business Items:

1.Fiscal year 2026-27 Tentative Budget: The Council adopted the tentative budget and set the public hearing date for May 20, 2026. (1:02:44 - 1:20:51)

2. Statement of property tax increase: the council acknowledged the inclusion of a proposed tax rate increase in the tentative budget, with information made available to the public. (1:22:06 - 1:22:46).

3&4. Westfield Park/change order: the council reviewed and approved change order 001, not to exceed $20,000.00 for additional work and conduit on Westfield Park project. (1:35:22 - 1:39:41)

The proposed property tax increase aims to fund 3 primary areas. (1:12:09 - 1:12:12)

Legal expenses: $62,000.00 annually, which accounts for 63% of the tax increase considerations. (1:12:14 - 1:12:21)
Pavement Preservation: A contribution of $20,000.00 toward the city’s street maintenance needs. (1:12:24 - 1:13:02)
General Fund Department Maintenance: A $16,000.00 allocation to cover inflationary costs and maintain current levels of service . (1:13:06 - 1:13:12)

5. Chief Toquer Reservoir Committee: Council appointed Ben Billingsley as a city representative to the Chief Toquer Recreation Committee. (1:39:41 - 1:42:09)

Work Items:

(1:43:12 - 2:07:22)

1. Currently the city has strict rules that prevent building on hillsides with a slope of over 30% grade to protect the natural landscape.

2. Firelight’s developer proposed building a recreational staircase, which currently isn’t allowed under these rules. City Council debated whether they should create exceptions to these rules to allow for public use trails, stairs or similar recreational access.

Supporters felt it could help the city become a better recreational destination and wanted to explore how to do this carefully, minimizing damage, and requiring site restoration.

Opponents were concerned that even small changes would create a “slippery slope” arguing that once you start disturbing hillsides the natural beauty is scarred and cannot truly be reclaimed or put back to it’s original state.

No final decision was made . The council provided direction to keep looking into what the parameters (like width of stairs) could be if they were to write an exception, emphasizing that any future process would need very strict oversight.

So far, to me, it seems like developers make lots of promises that never come to fruition and they are not held accountable to complete the developer agreements that they do get on paper. This same developer dangled the hope of a Amphitheater when he was getting permission to develop that area. Now it’s a staircase. Do we want that? And if we do will it ever really happen?

As for scars we need look no further than the beautiful hog back and the valley it protected.

Remember when the surveys went out and overwhelmingly the residents said they didn’t want to be a tourist destination? Time marches on and so does development. Be wise current stewards, you have a lot to think about.

3. The Washington County Water Conservancy District recently increased their wholesale water rate from $1.92 to $2.03 per thousand gallons, which affects the water the city buys for newer developments like Firelight and Anderson Junction. (2:08:19)

Currently the city’s historic core is supplied by local springs, while new areas on the Parkway and Anderson Junction use wholesale water purchased from the district. (2:08:34 - 2:10:48).

The City Manager expressed concern that the city is currently subsidizing these wholesale cost increases rather than passing them onto the specific users. (2:11:33)

The options discussed:

1. No action: Continue to absorb the cost, acknowledging that the high commercial rates already in place might cover the difference. (2:11:06)

2. Small adjustments: implement minor rate increase to specifically cover the recent wholesale cost hikes. (2:11:33)

3. Wholesale Evaluation: Conduct a comprehensive study to overhaul the extra rate structure, potentially creating different regional classifications. (2:11:50)

Council members were generally adamantly against creating different water rates for different regional classifications within the city.(2:13:22 - 2:16:32)

The council agreed that while the topic should stay on the city’s horizon for future planning, there is no immediate appetite for a massive rate overhaul, especially given other pending tax adjustments. (2:17:42 - 2:20:25)

Can you hear that collective sigh of relief …for now?

Calendar of Events:

1. Town Hall Mayor’s Address - Tuesday, May 12 at Old town Hall - 5:30 pm.

2. Memorial Day Commemorative Program - Saturday, May 23 at Toquerville Cemetery 10 am.

3. Summer Community Cleanup - Saturday and Sunday, June 6&7 at Center Street Park, Westfield Park, TRE Park and Toquerville Heights.

4. Movie in the park - Friday, June 12 at Center Street Park.

5. Volunteers needed for Ash Creek stream bank Cleanup - Saturday June 13 at Center Street Park - 8 am.

Council: A lot on the table