By Kathy Bence

Pa’ Rus Trail in mid-October by Lori Cole

This November 18 meeting was relatively short, which is how I like them.

consent agenda:

City Expenditures

There was a discussion about city expenditures. Councilman Gary Chaves thanked the city manager for doing a great job of keeping expenditures and revenues in line. The city expenditures were approved for 2025.

Southwest Mosquito Abatement and Control District

Councilman Todd Sands reported on the Mosquito District. There were three cases of West Nile in Washington County last year. They were all around Washington Dam. Usually the mosquitos come from up north and are transported by birds.

The Mosquito Board had 369 service calls this year. Aedes aegypti mosquitos are here to stay and the district thinks they’re coming in from out of state in potting soil. They look worrisome and multiply easily in small amounts of water. Mosquito season is over but it’s good that residents call to report problems or even bites.

Business:

Employee Policies and Procedures Manual

The discussion began here. There were changes to four pages of this manual. The changes mostly involved generic fraud risk management. Things that can be rented, like the park, will be listed on the fee schedule. The motion was approved.

MOU for the Westfield Connector Road

This was a continuation of a previous discussion. Since that discussion, the city heard back from the fire district that they would not be allowed to use this road, as it is, for emergency vehicles. It was clarified that there is no agreement requiring the developer to open this road for the public or emergency vehicles. In other words, the city can’t force a timeline. While some would like the road done sooner, the city doesn’t want to pay for it. They never named the developer in the discussion, but I assume that is Firelight.

A motion was approved to deny approval of the Westfield connector road access.

Toquerville City Code on tree maintenance

This was a housekeeping item, that can be heard here, about anything blocking the sidewalks and streets: shrubs, bushes and other vegetation in public streets, sidewalks, and rights-of-way. The discussion decided whether UDOT standards of no tree branches below 14 feet should be enforced. Councilman Wayne Olsen shared his concern that if trees are too restrictive we take away the beauty of some of our streets. They approved the ordinance anyway with a height of 14 feet.

contract increase of $45,000

This was about the added expenses due to the cut for the bypass—the avalanche, the sand pocket, etc. The discussion begins here. This was all part of the road budget from the state.

The city has paid all of the bills but there is a contract increase of $45,000 with Applied Geotechnical Engineering Consultants, Inc to cover the revised scope of work.

It was mentioned that there was no engineering on the orginal cut and for this reason this group was brought in.

I have clear visions of lots of earth, sand and rocks falling, but I didn’t understand this discussion well enough to add any commentary. The motion to approve the contract increase carried.

Board Of Canvassers:

The election results were finalized. In this portion of the meeting, the city council served as the board of canvassers in order to certify the results from the November 4th election.

Again, our sincere thanks to those who are leaving and have served the city and residents. We welcome the new city representatives.

Calendar of Events:

Toquerville Trails Turkey Trot – Thursday, November 27th.
Christmas Tree Lighting – Monday, December 1st at 6:00 p.m. – Old Town Hall.
Winter Community Clean-Up – Saturday, December 6th to Sunday, December 7th, 2025 – Center Street Park, Westfield Park, TRE Park.
Wreaths Across America – Saturday, December 13th at 10:00 a.m. – Toquerville Cemetery.

Council & Certified Election Results