Some Past Projects and Activities

Because Santa Clara was a much smaller city that Cedar, I think it gave me the opportunity to have six-years worth of experiences in ALL aspects of city government.  For this post, I thought I'd just rattle off some of the things I was involved with, either as mayor or on the council just to give you a glimpse of the range of things I've been involved with.

Council 1996 and 1997

We constructed an earthquake-resistant water tank at the mouth of Snow Canyon providing 2.5 million gallons of water storage for the city.

Added a second fire station to service the northern section of Santa Clara.

Planned Pioneer Parkway in northern Santa Clara that provided the only east-west alternative through the city during the flood of 2005 when Old Highway 91 was washed away.

Worked with UAMPS (Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems) as Santa Clara moved into ownership of its own power system to ensure that we had a reliable, low-priced power grid.

Installed a looped water system that created more balanced water pressure throughout the city.

Worked with law enforcement and firefighters in the city to insure that they had the tools they needed to   keep the city safe--including the above-mentioned fire station and a new fire engine.

Purchased a street sweeper to keep the city clean and to assist the folks in the valley with the endless clean-up of the leaves from Santa Clara's signature sycamore trees.

Added a stage/pavillion and playground equipment to the city's main park.

Mayor 1998-2002

Acquired enough water rights from various sources to drill a new well that can produce over 1,300 gallons per minute of some of America's finest culinary water.

Procured land that has since become the home of four baseball fields, a water park, and Lava Ridge Intermediate School.

Funded and constructed Pioneer Parkway.

Added miles of biking/walking trails using matching funds from the Utah Department of Transportation.

Added statues throughout the city via private funding to commemorate notable citizens.

Worked with developers to create landscaped trims in their subdivisions to create a more beautiful city.

Worked with citizens to accumulate funds to make downtown Santa Clara particularly beautiful during the Christmas season.

Worked with local citizens to create Heritage Square, a beautiful spot downtown that has hosted hundreds of community events.

Worked with developers and homeowners to manage the water problems that were creating havoc with the blue clay and causing home damage.

Instituted a "Distinguished Citizen" program to honor and spotlight regular folks in the city who had provided voluntary service to make the city better and had as yet gone unrecognized.

Worked with St. George City to fund and construct Sand Hollow Aquatic Center on the Santa Clara/St. George Border

Signed a water compact with the Shivwits Band of Paiutes that enabled a pressurized irrigation system for Santa Clara farmers from the Santa Clara River, and thus enabled the Shivwits Band to have water for their own economic development.

Worked with Washington County Conservancy District to build a water system that allows water to be moved from one end of the county to the other to meet the needed demand.

Worked with designers and architects to develop a plan for downtown Santa Clara, which now makes it one of the most beautiful downtown landscapes in Washington County.

Created an Economic Development Board, and a City Utility Board to advise the Mayor and City Council in those two matters, and to seek out ways to improve both for the city.

Served on the Executive Board of the Washington County Solid Waste Board.

Negotiated with the state's Air Quality Control Board when the refused to grant us permission to run our auxiliary diesel-powered generator when there was a heatwave and power prices from outside sources were spiking. They finally relented and we saved thousands of dollars.

Met regularly with Mayors of St. George and Ivins to coordinate city projects.

In two separate instances, went personally to the homes of landowners who were locked in lawsuits with the city over land issues, and talked with them until we came to common ground and settled the suits amicably to the benefit of both parties.

Wrote a monthly mayoral newsletter that gave the members of the community an inside look into our deliberations which was greatly appreciated by many citizens.

Arranged for unused city property to become a dog agility park.

Occasionally would walk into neighborhoods and knock on a random door and talk to the person that answered to ask them about their feelings concerning the standing of the city.

Wrangled with the president of a cell phone company when the tower we got turned out to be considerably taller and uglier than the tower that was represented. The tower was replaced.

Worked with Santa Clara Historical Society to greatly enhance and promote Swiss Days, our annual heritage event.

Worked with Washington County Solid Waste to provide dumpsters quarterly in various neighborhoods so the citizens could clean up their yards and bring the debris to a nearby location for disposal.

Suggested and worked to install a 24 hour dumping dock at the Washington County Landfill so citizens wouldn't have "The dump was closed" as an excuse for defiling the desert.

Worked with Gerald Sherratt when he served as president of Tuacahn to develop a cooperative agreement between our city and the complex in Ivins.

Expanded the city limits to provide protection for Native American Petroglyphs which was the beginning phase of the Santa Clara River Reserve.

Worked with the Bureau of Land Management to provide a balance of protection and recreation of the BLM lands inside city limits.

Served as a charter board member of the Southwest Mosquito Abatement District when West Nile Virus and Equine Encephalitis began to threaten the region. This involved going to each city council in the county to enlist their financial support to form the District.