A Council Meeting Devoted to Water use
By Brian McNary
Photo sourced from the Confluence Park Treatment Facility Website
Department Reports
Ash Creek Special Services District
I must be living right. This meeting, which can be seen here on YouTube, was about water.
It’s not very often that I can say the best presentation of the night came via the sewer district or as we call it in these parts, the Ash Creek Special Service District. That’s how it happened Wednesday night.
Mike Chandler gave the presentation. He said sewer service has now been extended to Virgin and Firelight. Mike then sat down and gave the floor to Darrin LeFevre for a few minutes.
The issue of water and water delivery has been a lifelong pet peeve of mine. I have long believed that if you induced residents to conserve water by giving them a big enough break on their water bills- they would curtail water use all on their own. Toquerville residents pay some of the highest water rates in the state. My thoughts on water and a link to my “Water Manifesto” on Substack can be found here.
Assistant City Manager
Darrin LeFevre said the city was working on a traffic plan.
In other news, soil samples and examinations at Westfield Park have indicated that the park property may have had prior excavation work performed on it.
Darrin said that the city is in the process of putting guardrails on the intersection of the Parkway and the turn onto Toquer Blvd. No clear date for completion of that project has emerged because UDOT is still evaluating it.
There is only one slow vehicle turnout (lane) being contemplated for the Parkway and it is not going to be on the steep hill leaving LaVerkin near Trail Ridge. This was not music to my ears since I have been stuck behind numerous trucks and motorhomes going up that hill at 20 MPH. The proposed turn out will be much closer to the Firelight turn off.
City Manager
Ben Billingsley, City Manager, gave a presentation on a survey being conducted by Utah State University which I did not fully understand.
Presentations
Ash Creek Special Services
Mike Chandler then stood up and gave an excellent presentation about Ash Creek Special Services. I must say that Mike is an excellent speaker. Logical, chronological, and no social utterances. Mike explained a little about the new treatment plant, capacity, and design. He explained a little about reclaimed water, discharge, and where it goes from here and how the system will eventually tie in to Chief Toquer Reservoir.
Water Emergency Plan
JD Adams then stood up and spoke on behalf of the city, including our water storage capacity of 3.6 million gallons, and the need for generators to get water where it needs to go in the event of an emergency. We currently have three pump stations. An emergency plan is required when Toquerville reaches 3300 residents and the plan will be reviewed every 5 years thereafter.
Public Forum
In the public forum portion of the meeting, Gary Chaves, stood up and asked the council to review the nightly rental ordinance. Currently there is no mechanism for an easy transfer to another person, in his case, his wife or a new owner.
Business Items
Council adopted the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Strategic Plan.
Council adopted a Property Tax Revenue and Truth in Taxation Policy. For more details, Kathy Bence wrote about this here.
Work Items
Washington County Water Conservancy District wants Toquerville to adopt “Ultra Water Efficiency Standards” for new development.
Ben Billingsley then spoke about efficiency standards for new development that greatly restricts water usage. Developers will receive a 6 thousand dollar reduction in impact fees for not building swimming pools and reducing or eliminating irrigated lawns among other water saving features.