One of the really nice things that we have been able to enjoy in Springdale is the Farmers Market that has been held on Saturdays for the last few years. In addition to fresh, wholesome fruits and vegetables, a few entrepreneurs have been selling some delicious snacks like brownies, little cakes, and jam and jelly.

It seems those delightful days are over. The damn government regulators have stepped in and put a stop to it.

During the winter, while the market was closed, meetings have been held and stern warnings have been delivered. The Farmers Market won’t be nearly as much fun from now on. Here’s a brief summary of Utah’s “Rule R70-560. Inspection and Regulation of Cottage Food Production Operations.”

“We got more rules to trip you up than you can ever possibly follow. Don’t even try.”

Making a few cakes in your home kitchen for sale just isn’t possible. You basically have to dedicate your home if you want to sell a brownie legally in Utah. You can’t use flour or nutmeg from your kitchen cabinet, or yeast from your refrigerator.

“R70-560-4(d): A cottage food production operation shall: Provide separate storage from domestic storage, including refrigerated storage”

You have to register with the State, pay a fee, have your kitchen inspected, submit all recipies for approval by the State, display the registration certificate whenever you sell anything, keep labeled samples of anything you sell for two weeks after you sell it … just the regulations telling you how you have to print labels goes on for two pages.

You can’t even have a dog or cat in the house, let alone in the kitchen.

And then there is Title 4 of the Utah Agricultural Code, Chapter 5 Utah Wholesome Food Act, Section 9.5 Cottage food production operations. I’m not sure why we need both a law and Rule R70-560, but we have both anyway.

In my darker moods, it seems that the only purpose served by all these rules is to protect WalMart and Albertsons from competition. If a brownie is sold anywhere, they want to sell it. So their lobbyists “assist” our legislators by helping them write laws that make it impossible for my neighbor to sell that brownie. After all, it seem to me that when people really are harmed by unsafe food, it’s the big guys that are at fault. They have a scale of operation that can afford to “appear” to follow all these rules while at the same time spending as little money as possible actually producing safe foods. I know whereof I speak. My wife used to be a lab worker charged with testing foods for the State of Utah. They never actually enforced the rules. It was mainly busy work just for show. Businesses had the political power to protect themselves.

An “unintended consequence” of this overregulation is that a lot of this cottage industry just gets driven underground. That means that there is no regulation at all, no collection of sales tax, and open, public, enjoyable activities like the Farmers Market can’t exist.

In other blogs, I have mentioned that I serve on the Springdale Planning Commission. I understand why we have ordinances that are often painfully similar. I used to argue with the professionals that Springdale hires to help us apply these ordinances by asking why it was wrong to simply use good judgment instead of endless regulation. The answer is that the concept of trusting people to actually use good judgment just isn’t part of our system of government. The problem is that if there is a loophole anywhere, somebody will crawl through it. So, on the Planning Commission, we probably spend more than half of our time just rewriting the ordinances to make them more and more detailed and exact. In other words, the same kind of rules that are taking all of the joy out of the Springdale Farmers Market.

The net result is that we’re all being reduced to the lowest common denominator. If anybody gets hurt doing something, the answer is that nobody will be allowed to do it anymore. If some sleezeball anywhere is grinding up nuclear waste and selling it as brownies, then the answer is that everybody, everywhere has have every brownie tested to make sure there’s no nuclear waste in it.

I’m not sure what the answer should be, but it sure would be nice to be able to buy a brownie from my neighbor’s kitchen at the Farmers Market.

The calendar wallpaper for this month is at 1024 x 768. I created one for myself at my wide screen resolution of 1920 x 1200. If you would like a custom resolution for your monitor, just add a comment with your resolution specification and I’ll create one just for you.

I have long been an advocate of a “Springdale Public Forum”. This is a pretty great community as it is, but I think it could be better if we had a better way to come together with common understanding of common problems and issues. For example, I recently received a forwarded email about the Rockville/Springdale Fire Department. It seems that there is a proposal to double the fee we all pay to keep it going. There weren’t any details in the email. Just a date when the issue will be discussed and a name and email address of a person you can send questions to. That person will probably get a lot of the same questions asked over and over again.

This is an ideal example of something that could be cleared up before the meeting by using the online technology available today. The way it works now is that people get together in little clusters and talk about it. When the meeting actually comes around, just clearing up the false ideas that those little clusters invent will probably be a big challenge. Getting to some sort of consensus about the right thing to do may be impossible in just one meeting.

Currently, the process of information about public issues is fragmented and inconsistent. These are the ways that we get information now.

• Personal conversations
• Various “meetings” – Town Council, Planning Commission and meetings like the Rockville/Springdale Fire Department Board Meeting
• The Post Office bulletin board (An important source of news!)
• Emails
• The Springdale web site

The people who run this town say they really would like more public participation in town affairs. We hold elaborate affairs just to get their input. The recent “General Plan Barbecue” is a great example. We basically threw a town party just so we could get people to express their opinions about what ought to be in the town’s General Plan. But we’re not willing to step out of the mold of announced meetings of some sort and the fact is, most of the formal meetings are deserted. Nobody shows up. That ought to be a red flag that something is wrong and needs to be fixed … but it isn’t.

I run the Planning Commission and I’m very sensitive to the fact that there are strict state laws that govern what can be said, who can say it, and when it can be said in formal meetings. The format is just not good for creating understanding about what’s really going on. It’s great for making decisions efficiently but it leaves people “in the dark” about why decisions are made the way they are. During the General Plan Barbecue, it was plain to me that most people just didn’t understand why some controversial decisions had been made. As a Commissioner, I would still have to be careful about what I posted in an online forum. But – as nearly as I can tell – I would really only have to avoid comments about current applications where applicants have a legally protected right to a decision made in a formal setting with specific rules that protect those rights. If a question concerned anything that was not the subject of a current application, I believe I could explain myself freely and that people have a right to know. If it concerned a Town Ordinance, I don’t think there’s any problem discussing it. And people who are not officials could say whatever they like.

With a Springdale Public Forum, meetings could be announced and the major topics listed in a place that has “one stop information shopping” for all members of our community. A brief explanation … such as “Why we need the increase.” … could be included. Then other members of the Zion Canyon Community could leave messages with questions and comments about it. As an example, I’ll bet there are people out there who know exactly what’s going on with the Fire Department. They could explain what they know for the benefit of the rest of us. My “guess” about it is that the emergency medical services that we enjoy here are very expensive to maintain, especially with our limited population base. My “guess” is that the Board has concluded that we have to either buck up with more money or cut back the level of service that we claim to provide. But what do I know? My only source of information right now requires me to take the time of the underappreciated person with citizen responsibility for the Fire Department. And then I only get that one point of view.

I like to use the phrase, “public and accountable” when I discuss my idea. A lot of people might think a “Springdale Forum” would be like the ones that you see in media web sites where people call each other names and only nut cases seem to post messages. (In fairness, some forums have intelligent, well-reasoned commentary. I like to think that the people who write comments to this site are a pretty good bunch.) In my vision, a Springdale Public Forum would be owned and operated by the Town of Springdale. People would be required to have a login and password to access the site and they would have to use their real names, not an alias. That alone would do a lot to help the forum be “public and accountable”. Citizens of Springdale, and the Zion Canyon community in general (Rockville and Virgin), would be automatically part of the Forum. Other people could gain access by applying but we could turn down anybody who doesn’t really have a reason to sign up to keep it focused and targeted on our own issues.

For reasons I don’t fully understand, I’m getting very little traction with my idea. I’ve even located a source of grant money that could be used to develop the forum, but nobody seems willing to touch the idea. People actually seem to be afraid of it. It might be because years ago, Springdale had a pretty bad experience with town governance. The Town became polarized and people on opposite sides of issues became nasty to the point of attacking each other’s property. I didn’t live here at the time, but the papers in Salt Lake actually printed articles about Springdale politics in a sort of “News of the Wierd” way. To the great credit of the people to live here, an attitude of “first of all, let’s get along together” has become a foundation principal here now. I give our former mayor, Phillip Bimstein, a lot of the credit for making that positive change happen.

A “public and accountable” Springdale Public Forum can be as friendly, helpful, and courteous as any other format. It could also be a lot more effective. ColorComments.com is not the right place to discuss Springdale issues, but it might be a place to start on this one. I’d really like to read what other people in Springdale think about this idea in the comments

If you weren’t in Springdale on Saturday to see the annual St. Patricks Day parade, it was your loss! The parade was bigger and better than ever this year. They didn’t even have to put every emergency truck on top of the mesa into the parade to bulk it up this year. And we had an honest-to-god high school marching band. Where else can you trade wisecracks with the guys in the parade?

This is the third year in a row now that ColorComments has covered the parade. The temperature was perfect. The sky clear and blue. And the people just as friendly as ever. Half of Washington County and probably Kane County were there watching too. The belly dancers were absent last year, I’m really glad to see them back again this year.

Springdale had prizes for the best entries this year. A $100 Grand Prize and $50 for each of five categories. And more cash prizes for the Green Jell-o Sculpture contest.

Again this year, about half the town marched, the other half watched.

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Click images for full size versions.

As I write these words, a light plane – undoubtedly some tourist with enough money to rent one for a few hours – is circling over Zion Canyon and Springdale making a sound like an angry lawnmower. A couple of tourists get a scenic thrill ride. Meanwhile, every visitor to the park – and all of the residents of Springdale and Rockville – get to listen to them clattering back and forth through the sky. A few days ago, I attended an “Open House Session” at the Springdale Canyon Community Center put on by Zion Park to let us know what they are doing to create a “Soundscape Management Plan”. More than one Springdale resident suggested that they supply the people here with anti-aircraft guns to solve the problem. The Park Service took that ‘under advisement’. Action on the suggestion is not expected soon, unfortunately.

For my own part, a bazooka would do a better job. The noise that bothers me is the damn motorcycles. A swarm of those will go up Zion Boulevard and I look for rockfalls that have been rattled down. My only consolation is that the people riding them are closer to the noise than I am. As I pray for rain to follow them on their journey, I meditate about painting a silicone oil slick on that sharp corner down SR9.

The Park Service recently asked their visitors what was important to them. They found out that almost as many visitors come to enjoy the soundscape (91 percent) as the scenery (93 percent). (“Report on the Effects of Aircraft Overflight on the National Park System”) The Park Service put together a nice web site about the sounds of nature. Find it at: http://nature.nps.gov/naturalsounds/.

My sources tell me that Zion Park is on target to be the first park to have a soundscape management plan. The plan is open for public comment until April 9, 2010. You can read more about the Zion Park plan and comment about it at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?parkId=113&projectId=30628.

Since Americans seem to be intent on following Japan, China, and India in populating every square inch of land, we probably need to learn a little more about how to avoid violating each other’s space. Blasting your noise into my space is a violation.

This last storm had a lot of water in it.

When I fed the birds this morning, their seed dish had at least a full inch of water in it. That’s a lot of water in a 24 hour period. The mountains are white. The little ponds I have dug around the house are all full because the ground is saturated now. (My goal is to make sure that if a drop of water falls up here, it stays up here.)

From my back yard, it looked like the drought has been broken – at least for the time being. That’s a big relief. Last fall, I wrote that We Need Some Rain!. The Virgin River basin was down to less than a quarter of normal; the worst in the state.

I decided to check into that in more detail so I looked up the actual numbers from the US Natural Resources Conservation Service. If you look at the totals starting on January 1, you can see that this last storm has put us at least four inches ahead of last year. The big storm at the end of January was a huge boost too.

But the dry fall I complained about in October makes the total water year (which starts October 1) still only about normal. We’re now at 24.1 inches at Kolob. At this same time in 2009, we were at 24.4 inches – the 2009 water year was still just slightly better so far.

So if you think this storm is going to fill up Lake Powell, think again.

We’re pretty good at recycling things at our house. But a friend passed along a tip that showed us we can get better. I thought it was worth passing on to you.

Lisa sent me this email:

Many of us are looking for ways to make a difference. Check out what this 12 year old in Iowa has done.

http://recyclecaps.webs.com/

I’m hoping his web site goes viral (See Note 1). It could happen!

We’ve been throwing away our bottle caps! We won’t be doing that anymore. The site states that any store selling “Aveda” products will take the caps for recycling. I checked it out. Aveda claims that it’s true! There’s one location in St. George. (See the map.) Since it’s Sunday today and they’re closed, I can’t call and ask. But I’m going to start recycling my bottle caps anyway.

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Note 1: Viral. It’s a good thing. See http://www.answers.com/topic/viral

Springdale – my little town in Color Country – is pretty great, but they’re not perfect. One of the things they do is make it very, very difficult to own a home here without being part of a “homeowners association” – HOA. The reason is that Springdale simply chooses not to take any responsibility for a big chunk of the infrastructure … mainly roads. They do demand that roads be constructed up to some minimal standards – mainly width and grade restrictions to ensure that emergency vehicles can get their jobs done – but after that, its the responsibility of the HOA to maintain the road.

I have several gripes about this.

1 – I don’t get an equal share of the services that are provided to other residents.

A lot of Springdale residents live on roads that are owned and maintained by the Town. We all pay the same taxes. Why don’t we all get the same services? I’ve talked to HOA consultants about joining a lawsuit about this. But I just don’t like getting things done through lawsuits. It mainly makes the lawyers rich and “justice” very, very often has nothing to do with the outcome.

2 – Springdale maintains a “fiction” about the quality of roads as a result.

One of the objections to simply giving our roads to Springdale is that Springdale claims they are not up to the quality standards of the Town and would have to be improved to meet that standard first. News Flash! Neither are the other roads in Springdale. Step one of the “twelve steps to recovery” is to recognize and admit the truth.

3 – It costs us a lot more to do the same work than it would cost Springdale.

If my HOA fixes the roads, we have to work out a deal with a contractor individually. Springdale could bring a much higher economy of scale to the process and fix them a lot more economically. And they would do a better job of making sure the contractor did the right job. I work with the Town of Springdale on other things. They do a good job of the things I know about. I wish I could get them to take this one on.

But most importantly, I’m forced to devote time, effort, and money – a not inconsiderable amount of money – to an organization that really has only an artificial relationship to my life here. I can’t understand why I can’t just give the same amount of money to Springdale and let them fix the roads instead.

It’s not that I don’t like my neighbors. The occasional get-togethers that result from being part of an HOA are nice. They would be nicer if we didn’t have to talk business … but, Hey! – they’re still nice.

I thought this was a really interesting “picture” of the Grand Canyon.

As the storm moves in today, you can see the Grand Canyon outlined in rain (green), then slush (pink) and then snow (blue). The high plateaus that the canyon cuts through are entirely blanketed in the furious snow storm, but as the elevation drops in the canyon, the snow turns to rain. It’s much more clear than any topographical map.

You must remember Levi Johnston. He was the nice looking young man up there with Governor Palin on stage during last year’s campaign. He “Tripped” up Ms. Palin’s daughter just before the campaign got serious. He has since decided that this wasn’t the life he had planned for himself and he’s been cashing in on his accidental celebrity status with nut commercials. (Seriously. He’s advertising pistachio nuts.) He’s also got his own ghost written book out and shows off his hockey stick in a Playgirl nude photo shoot.

More seriously, Mr. Johnston has also claimed that he is holding back the real dirt about Sarah Palin. (See note 1) When Palin stepped down as Governor, it was widely speculated that it was part of a deal to avoid more damaging revelations about her administration. There’s no credible public information about that however. (Mr. Johnston’s claims are certainly not credible.)

Meanwhile, although Johnston hasn’t held back other body slams against Palin, Ms. Palin is uncharacteristically playing nice and claims that Mr. Johnston is still “part of the family.” (On Oprah) She seems to be avoiding any suggestion that relationships aren’t just peachy with Mr. Johnston. Today, details from Ms. Palin’s own “cash in” book are available. (You won’t be able to add to her wealth by buying it until next Tuesday.) Wonder of wonders, in Ms. Palin’s fairy tale world, Mr. Johnston seems to have disappeared from the face of the Earth. Although no one else is spared, according to the Associated Press, “the 413-page tome doesn’t contain a single reference to the father of her grandson.”

Hmmmmmmmmm … I wonder why.

None of this would make any difference and I certainly wouldn’t be writing about it, but Ms. Palin refuses to go back to Wasila and quit screwing up American politics. Amazingly, she appears to continue to believe that her opinions ought to make some slight difference. More amazingly, right wingnuts are actually listening to her. She was a major presence in the revolting right wing’s effort to snatch the House seat in New York’s 23rd District.

The good news is that the main victim appears to be the mainstream Republican party. The majority of Palin’s book is about bad ol’ McCain campaign staffers. (They kept the ‘goodness that is Sarah’ all bottled up.) In Florida, they’re now going after Republican Governor Charlie Crist and professional prognosticators give them a good chance. Even here in Utah, Senator Bennett is rumored to be in trouble with “true” Republicans chewing away at his pantcuff, principal among them candidate Cherilyn Eagar. Want to see Joe the Plumber in action? He’ll be right here in Color Country next Tuesday to share his expertise and vast knowledge with you. (Well … actually, only half vast.)

I can hardly wait for Palin’s “15 minutes of fame” to be over.
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Note 1:
In an interview with Maggie Rodriguez on the Early Show Johnston says, “There are some things that I have that are huge. And I haven’t said them because I’m not gonna hurt her that way. … I have things that can, you know — that would get her in trouble, and could hurt her. Will hurt her. But I’m not gonna go that far. You know, I mean, if I really wanted to hurt her, I could, very easily. But there’s — I’m not gonna do it. I’m not going that far.” He wouldn’t dish any details, but he claimed they were things Palin did while she was governor of Alaska.