Welcome to The Senate Site

By Lyle Hillyard
Senator, District 25 (includes Bear Lake)

Last Saturday, I attended a regional conference about the future of Bear Lake. I heard on the radio station that as of the morning of June 28th, the Bear Lake area had received over 4.6 inches of rain this June, beating the last record by over an inch. I was disappointed to see that the Lake had not come up very much. It was certainly sunny and warm yesterday for the conference.

During the conference, we discussed the unbelievable growth in both private homes and recreational properties, including hotels, and the public safety issues that surround the lake. The growth has slowed down this past year but is poised to take off again. If you are thinking of buying a place at Bear Lake, now is the time to make the investment. The local communities have worked hard to install sewer systems along the West shore and improve the water. The big problem is there are so few homeowners and tax base that these improvements prove very costly to those who actually own property there. A representative from the Lake Tahoe oversight group was there to discuss what they had done and the mistakes made as they tried to preserve that body of water. There needs to be more investment from State and Federal governments into the infrastructure to preserve this asset. It was refreshing to see the cooperation between the local Utah and Idaho officials. Bear Lake is about 50/50 in each state.

The second issue we discussed deals with public safety. It was best stated by Commissioner Bill Cox from Rich County: We have about 2,000 citizens most of the year but on the 4th and 24th of July, we have about 30,000. Our sheriff can’t handle the bump. Many people travel from Wyoming through Utah and vice versa buying these goods in Wyoming so there is no Utah tax collected and then they use it in Utah causing more of a problem for law enforcement. Rich County is rich in people but poor in money. They have a low property tax base and little sales tax base. So the need for extra law enforcement is a real problem.

Another public safety problem is a recent Idaho Supreme Court case involving Rich County. The Rich County police chased a felon in their county and he ended up in Idaho, where he hit and seriously injured some people innocently parked at side of the road. The Idaho Court held that the Idaho officers were covered by governmental immunity, but not the Utah officers. This means that the Utah officers and other official governmental employees dare not go into Idaho. They shared a story of a woman carried by a Utah ambulance to the Idaho line and then they had to wait until the ambulance arrived from Montpelier and a transfer could be made. Idaho personnel can come into Utah without exposure. I want to see if we can help with any Utah enactment. Legislators from Idaho promised action in the upcoming session in their state. This is now a problem along our entire northern border and has implications for Snowville. What if someone is injured just north of the Utah/Idaho line and must wait until the ambulance arrives from Burley? The Lake knows no boundary.

Overall, the conference was a great way to recognize and try to work out some issues so that all may enjoy the Great Bear Lake!

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home

Twitter Updates

Follow @UtahSenate on Twitter