Current Ivins Issues

  • Police, Fire, EMS Update
    Mayor Hart held a Public Safety Talkabout on Wednesday, April 24th. Our Police and Fire Chiefs gave an overview of where we are now with public safety and what they plan next to not only maintain but improve the level of service. About 50 residents participated, either in person or by Zoom, in almost 90 minutes of Q&A. They expressed gratitude for the quality of public safety, but also a lot of concerns. I took notes about the concerns raised.…
  • Is Ivins A Healthy Place?
    The Utah Health Department’s “Healthy Places Index” (https://map.utah.healthyplacesindex.org/) says that Ivins is healthier than 67.8% of Utah cities. We score even better on transportation (we’ll see how that holds up in the future) and a clean environment. We score miserably on neighborhood conditions because the index prioritizes “tree canopy” which makes sense up north, but not so much in a desert. We should pay attention to everything that contributes to making Ivins a healthy community. Doing that will help us…
  • It’s Not My Fault
    It’s Not My Fault. But it’s time to talk earthquakes. When I was in grade school we were taught to hide under our desks if there was an earthquake or even a nuclear attack. I doubt that would have worked well. So, what should you do in an earthquake? Find out this Thursday, April 11th, at City Hall (85 N Main St.) at 7pm. Dave Williams chairs the Emergency Preparedness Committee for Ivins. This Thursday members of Santa Clara Ivins…
  • Your Voice Matters: How’s Life In Ivins?
    Ivins is participating in Utah State University’s “Wellbeing Project.” It’s an online wellbeing survey being done through the end of April. It will report on residents’ well-being and attitudes about community issues. The goal is to use these results in our planning and decision-making to support the overall quality of life in Ivins. The interesting thing about this survey is it does not explicitly define well-being. It allows each of us to explain or interpret what well-being means to them.…
  • Bigfoot And Affordable Housing
    Both are elusive creatures that everyone talks about, but few, if any, have seen. Even so, the State Legislature is putting more pressure on cities to find housing affordability solutions. On top of that, the Governor is calling on cities to create 35,000 “starter” homes for first-time home buyers. In response, Mayor Hart created an Affordable Housing Task Force. The goal is to find solutions that “fit” Ivins, rather than the cookie-cutter approach the State is using. City Council member…
  • Police, Fire, EMS Talkabout
    Join us for a Talkabout on Public Safety that will take place on Wednesday evening April 24th beginning at 7:00 PM at Rocky Vista University. The panel will include Fire Chief Andrew Parker and Police Chief Bob Flowers with members of their staff. This forum will provide an opportunity to learn where we stand with our current levels of service for Police, Fire, and EMS, and to ask questions. If you are unable to attend, you may participate via Zoom…
  • Goldilocks And The Reservoir
    There was a city council work meeting on March 21st to discuss potential problems a proposed Dry Wash reservoir could create. It wasn’t a public hearing, but more than 80 residents attended. Thank you! Your attendance made a difference. Even though it wasn’t a public hearing, the Mayor invited a number of residents to speak about their concerns. Ivins resident Wayne Pennington spoke and recommended changes to the size and shape of the reservoir that would help mitigate some of…
  • What Flushes in Vegas Stays in Vegas
    The proposed Dry Wash Reservoir in Ivins would store wastewater in the winter to be used for outdoor irrigation somewhere in the county during the summer. To help residents and the City Council better understand and maybe even appreciate wastewater, the Washington County Water Conservancy District (WCWCD) organized a tour of facilities in and around Las Vegas on March 14th, where wastewater is being used to protect water resources and at the same time provide some scenic wildlife habitat. About…
  • The Latest In Landscapes
    Join us for a Talkabout on Wednesday, March 20th at 7pm at Rocky Vista University to learn more about the City’s new relationship with Utah State Univerity’s Center for Water Efficient Landscaping and the resources being developed to support Ivins’ residents in reducing outdoor water use. This conversation with residents will be led by Dr. Kelly Kopp. She is Director of the Center for Water Efficient Landscaping. Kelly specializes in drought tolerant vegetation, particularly grasses, and conversion techniques that can…
  • Reservoir Reservations Remain
    There was a large turnout at last night’s Talkabout at Rocky Vista University, with a lot of questions and answers about Dry Wash Reservoir. Most of the evening was devoted to answering questions from the audience, after a presentation from Zach Renstrom, General Manager of the Washington County Water Conservancy District. Some misconceptions were cleared up, but a lot of resident concerns voiced last night remain. To deal with those, the Mayor announced the City will begin a series of…
  • Ivins in Action
    Have you wanted to get involved more in our community, but aren’t sure how or what groups are out there? Good news! There is a new, small team of volunteers working on creating a volunteer database, connecting interested residents with projects and groups and organizations that help make Ivins such a great place to live.  On Thursday night, the Ivins City Council unanimously supported a proposal by two Ivins residents, Tiffany Wynn and Shauna Fisher to identify and leverage volunteers…
  • A Gift of Cottonwood Glory
    At last night’s city council meeting Mayor Hart thanked Elizabeth Fortney for her generous donation to the city of her photograph on metal entitled, “Cottonwood Glory.” Elizabeth “Liz” Fortney is well known for her talent as a photographer and her generous devotion to the Arts in Ivins City. As a member of the Ivins City Arts Commission, Liz dedicates her energy to promoting the many artists living and working in Ivins City. She currently serves as the Commission Secretary. Liz…
  • How Can Something So Foul Look So Good?
    Please join us for a “Talkabout” on Wednesday, February 21st, 7:00 P.M., at Rocky Vista University. This one focuses on Water. Yes, again. Water. We’ve got a lot to figure out! Like a reservoir… in Ivins? Like using wastewater… in our yards. The book, Purified, published last year is all about using wastewater. One quote in the book was, “Throughout human history we have worked tirelessly to distance ourselves from wastewater.” Now we’re planning to bring it back to our…
  • Let’s Meet. Better Yet, Let’s Talk
    It has been a custom for Ivins residents to meet together annually near the beginning of each year to discuss the past year and the year ahead in the mayor’s Annual Neighborhood Meetings. Well, they are happening soon, so please mark your calendar. I hope to see you there. They will take place on Tuesday February 27th for residents living east of 200 East; Wednesday February 28th for those living between 200 East and 400 West and Thursday, February 29th…
  • Honey, I Shrunk the Reservoir
    This is a guest article by Wayne D. Pennington, a resident of Ivins. Wayne is a PhD geophysicist and a retired Dean of Engineering at Michigan Technological University.  This work has been undertaken on his own initiative and he has not received any compensation for it from any party. Don’t blame Wayne for the title though. That was me. His title is: A White Paper on Technical Plans for a Proposed Reuse-Water Reservoir in Dry Wash, Ivins, Utah. Here is…
  • Citizen Request… Not Citizen Arrest
    I saw a post on nextdoor yesterday saying, “Whoever was responsible for getting the extra stop signs put up on Kayenta… thank you!” I thought this was a good opportunity to make a sales pitch for residents using a “citizen request form” to ask the City to take action on issues. Because that’s what got the stop signs installed. Here’s the story. You can thank Rob Goodman for the stop signs. He came to a city council meeting on November…
  • Ivins Youth Council at State Capitol
    The Ivins Youth Council attended the opening of the 2024 State Legislative session. This two-day event at the State Capitol started with a discussion with Senator Don Ipson at the Capitol, a tour of the Capitol, Supreme Court, and Senate, and dinner with the State House Representative for Ivins, Neil Walter, where Youth Council members talked with Representative Walter for almost two hours. The next day included a chance to meet youth council members from around the state and participate…
  • Is The Reservoir Plan All Wet?
    The Washington County Water Conservancy District (WCWCD) started construction on a reservoir near Toquerville in November. Dry Wash Reservoir in Ivins and Graveyard Wash Reservoir in Santa Clara should be built between 2024 and 2028. Right now, Dry Wash Reservoir is expected to start construction first, in 2024. But which goes first keeps changing. So, how does Dry Wash Reservoir fit with our community vision? What will we put in the reservoir? How clean is that water? Who will use…
  • Saturday Night Favor
    Over the past few years, the State Legislature has passed legislation limiting our ability to control development in our community. And it looks like they plan to keep doing that in 2024. So, I’m asking for a favor. Please come and talk to Senator Don Ipson and Representative Neil Walter on Saturday night, January 20th at 7pm at Rocky Vista University. We have been guaranteed a minimum of 60 minutes of Q&A! Yes, Saturday night isn’t ideal, but with the…
  • Developers With Seeger Syndrome
    Developers in Ivins have the Seeger Syndrome. For Pete’s sake, they’re hammering in the morning! They’re hammering in the evening! They’re hammering all over this city! Ivins issued 100 to 150 residential permits a year between 2015 and 2018. Permit activity almost doubled after 2018, peaking in late 2021 at close to 300 permits for the year. Then permit activity fell dramatically in 2022, ending the year with only 136 permits issued. But 2023 is a completely different story. This…

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