Home Care In La Verkin, UT

LA VERKIN — A new hot springs resort is coming to LaVerkin: Zion Canyon Hot Springs. Its source will be the Pah Tempe Hot Springs, also known as the LaVerkin Hot Springs, and the resort will be built from the ground up once design plans are finalized. The successful resort Iron Mountain Hot Springs in Glenwood Spring, Colorado has officially contracted 15 acres of land for the resort, with three acres being leased from the Washington County water conservancy.

Zion Canyon Hot Springs plans on pumping spring water 2300 feet straight from the spring to the resort’s estimated 16 individual pools.

Mogli Cooper, a co-owner of the company and leader of the Zion Canyon Hot Springs development, explained the long road it’s taken to get to the design phase of the project.

“I shared my vision with Corey Cram of the county water conservancy in 2018 and he said if it would happen, it’d be a long process,” Cooper said. “But I figured, what else am I going to do?”

Once she met with Cram, the pursuit of Cooper’s vision began. But since the target hot spring is on government land, Cooper said, the process crawled along.

“We met with LaVerkin city council, the mayor, the city engineer,” Cooper said. “We began the very public forum for the land procurement, qualifying through the government based on our experience with Iron Mountain Hot Springs, financial capabilities and how to run the resort. We qualified for all those and were picked, but since it was during COVID, it took even longer.”

Cooper emphasized that Zion Canyon Hot Springs won’t be a “family-pool, tidal-pool” resort. Instead, she said, it will be a lot like Iron Mountain Hot Springs.

“It’s going to be first class. It’s a class act. It’s not your run-of-the-mill hippie dip,” she said. “We have individual pools that seat six to eight people comfortably. We may have one larger pool, but every pool is individually fed from the springs, and they always turn over for fresh water.”

“We don’t chlorinate our water, so it’s pure mineral water. We also extract the heat out of the water at the end of the day. In Colorado, we run the hot water through pipes under the sidewalk to defrost the walkways.”

Due to the contracted land being close to private property and other homes, Cooper said, the project has worked closely with its neighbors to develop plans according to local desires.

“The neighbors worry about their privacy, which is a legitimate worry to have, since this is a commercial business moving into their backyards,” she said. “Over time, I think they’ve come to see we’re not going to be a temporary, obtrusive, pass-by business.

“We had a public forum where they told us what they’d like to see. One person had a concern about having handicap ramps, which we’ve considered and adopted. Another thing we’re implementing is privacy fences and walls around the parking lots to have a visual barrier from residential neighbors.”

Along with co-owners Steve and Jeanne Beckley, Cooper built the Iron Mountain Hot Springs from Glenwood Springs in Colorado from the ground up in 2015.

“Very similar to LaVerkin, very active in the late 1800s, went through many owners, then bulldozed in 1995 until we bought the land,” Cooper said. “We wanted to bring back the hot springs in a novel way. We have 16, soon to have 26 pools in Iron Mountain. That’s the vision we have for LaVerkin, for Zion Canyon Hot Springs.”

Steve Beckley, Cooper’s business partner, was a petroleum engineer in Colorado, and he frequently spelunked mountain caves. He fell in love with Glenwood Caverns, and he and his wife reopened the caves to the public since being closed in 1917. Beckley and Cooper joined forces and set their eyes on Glenwood Springs, finishing Iron Mountain Hot Springs resort in 2015.

Cooper did not share an estimated construction date.

According to Washington County’s water conservation website, the Pah Tempe Hot Springs are currently closed to public access due to environmental and safety issues. The hot springs are located on the Virgin River between Hurricane and LaVerkin, and they produce more than seven million gallons of 107-degree water a day. The springs feed about 109,000 tons of salt into the Colorado river a year.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

In the city of LaVerkin in Utah, USA, a series of damaging landslides are destroying houses. The slope failures are occurring on a steep bluff on the edge of the city on a street called 560 West. At least two houses have been lost to date, whilst another was evacuated last week. Google Street View shows the issue well:-

St George News has a good article about this interesting case study. The landslides are located at [37.20705, -113.28223]. Google Earth has good time series imagery that shows the evolution of the situation well. Initial issues were noted as long ago as 2005, when same damage was done to the land around one of the properties. The image below shows the situation in 2011, including the steep bluffs of the LaVerkin Bench and the houses at the top:-

By May 2013, the situation had deteriorated markedly, with a substantial slope failure starting to eat away at the edge of two of the properties:-

By April 2021, another part of the slope had become very active, and two properties had been demolished:-

The most recent image, from May 2023, shows the massive enlargement of the area of landsliding:-

The city council commissioned a geotechnical report into the site that was completed in January 2021. I think there are two key findings in the report. The first is that the geology consists of essentially impermeable basalts overlain by permeable stream flow deposits, with some made ground. This is the classic situation for a perched water table in weak materials, which often leads to slope failure. The second is that the source of the water that is driving the landslides is considered primarily to be the infiltration of unconsumed irrigation water from the field and lawns across LaVerkin Bench. The report considers that the contribution from unconsumed irrigation water is four times that of precipitation.

The report suggests that the first line of mitigation could be a drainage system to intercept the excess groundwater, but I suspect that the cost would be high.

For the homeowners, the situation is tragic. Insurance does not cover this situation in the USA (and indeed in many other countries), so the property owners bear the costs. A Gofundme has been set up to support them, but it has raised a only modest sum.

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LA VERKIN, Washington County — A sudden landslide in Southern Utah has left one couple homeless with no answers as to where they can go.

Four weeks ago Denise Poulsen heard a knock on her door. Workers with the city of La Verkin let her know there was a water leak. Just two days ago Poulsen learned they needed to evacuate immediately.

The home was Poulsen’s for nearly a decade and it was supposed to be their final move.

“This was our to-die-for house,” Poulsen said.

Her parents gifted the house to Poulsen and her husband as their inheritance so they had no mortgage payments and could retire peacefully.

A Utah couple was forced to evacuate after a water leak turned into a landslide beneath their home.

Tonight only on @KSL5TV at 6 PM, hear from the home owners about what happened. pic.twitter.com/TaTWkei20P

— Erin Cox (@erincoxnews) October 27, 2023

In 2021, two nearby homes were lost to a landslide, but Poulsen didn’t expect her home to be next.

“The city had been notified of a water leak coming off underneath our house, coming down the hillside and asked us to please take care of it,” Poulsen said.

Poulsen called the Geotechnical testing company that gave them the approval to build there in 2015.

When Geotechnical Testing Services, Inc., arrived on Monday, they found cracks in the siding, dips in the flooring, and a landslide at the bottom of their home.

In a letter to the Poulsen family, the company owner advised they should “immediately move out. Based on our observations we estimate that a catastrophic failure of the landslide and residence could occur at any time.”

Poulsen was told the house might not be standing the next morning but opted to stay the night.

“Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. we had a doorbell ring and there were 10-12 ladies who said ‘hi, we’re here to move you,’” Poulsen said.

By the end of the day, friends secured an Airbnb and storage unit for the Poulsen’s.

Now the Poulsen’s are looking for their next home, something they can afford while retired and while Poulsen completes bone marrow cancer treatments.

“We’re doing cancer and homelessness,” Poulsen said.

Their insurance won’t cover it and Poulsen said the city of La Verkin isn’t helping either.

A spokesman for the city told KSL in an email that the exact source of the water is unknown and the city is monitoring the situation daily. “Our first priority is for the safety of the residents,” the spokesman wrote.

As for Poulsen, she’s still grappling with the loss of her dream home while trying to make sure she doesn’t lose anything else.

“There’s always two choices: to cry or to laugh,” Poulsen said. “I learned a very long time ago that it only gives you a headache to cry, so smile.”

Friends set up a GoFundMe account for the Poulsens. You can contribute by clicking here*.

*KSL TV does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.

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A Colorado investor is looking to build a $30 million resort in La Verkin.

La Verkin • A popular pastime relegated to memory by La Verkin residents in Washington County is poised to make a major comeback.

Nearly a decade after the La Verkin Hot Springs resort was shut down and closed to bathers due to legal and financial woes, Colorado investors aim to build a new $30 million resort.

Mogli Cooper, co-owner of Iron Mountain Hot Springs in Glenwood Springs, Colo., and her investment team are proposing to build Zion Canyon Hot Springs, which would be situated on about 16 acres on the opposite side of the Virgin River from the old resort.

“This is something that is definitely going to happen,” Cooper said. “It will be a wonderful and attractive retreat, and it will be located on a perfect spot above the Virgin River.”

As envisioned by Cooper, the resort will include a parking lot, an entry building with locker rooms, about two dozen or more hot soaking pools, a fresh-water pool, a sauna and other spa-like amenities. Cooper said there also could be a Kneipp walk, where bathers get a foot massage by walking on polished pebbles in alternating hot and cold water in special tanks.

And depending on market conditions, a hotel and restaurant could round out the amenities at the resort.

While Zion Canyon’s actual features are up in the air and could change, the investors are already tying down 13 acres next to State Route 9 for the parking lot. Moreover, they signed a contract in July with the Washington Water Conservancy District, which will lease about 3.25 acres for the pools on the south side of the resort.

Under the terms of the 50-year lease, the district has also agreed to provide the resort with access to the water in the La Verkin hot springs it owns for $25,000 a year, automatically adjusted for inflation, or 2 percent of the resort’s annual gross ticket sales, whichever is greater. But Zion Canyon will have to pay for everything else, including installing and maintaining pipes.

“Essentially, [the lease] allows the company to come in, capture the water, pump it up the hill to their ponds and then return all that water to the district,” said Zach Renstrom, the Washington Water Conservancy District’s executive director.

A significant side benefit, he added, is the water returned to the district’s La Verkin hot springs will be cooler and thus help endangered fish such as woundfin, Virgin River chub and spinedace, which stop eating and start to get stressed when water gets too hot.

Renstrom and Utah Sen. Mitt Romney toured the shuttered hot springs earlier this month. During his visit to southwest Utah, Romney warned that significant water conservation must happen in the region, or development opportunities will also dry up.

La Verkin Hot Springs – alternately known as La Verkin Sulphur Springs, Dixie Hot Springs or Pah Tempe in its various incarnations over the past century – produces approximately 7 million gallons of 107-degree hot water per day and releases 109,000 tons of salt (more than 6,800 semi-truck loads) each year, making it one of the top three pollutants of the Colorado River, according to the conservancy district.

District officials are working with the Bureau of Reclamation to explore the possibility of desalinating the springs. In the meantime, they want to make the water from the springs available for recreational pursuits.

(Design by The Land Studio, Inc) A concept plan of the proposed Zion Canyon Hot Springs that, if approved, would be built in La Verkin, Utah.

In 2013, the district acquired the hot springs, which was a recreation hot spot for decades but had fallen into disrepair from frequent disuse, after a protracted legal battle with the previous owner, who went bankrupt.

Soon afterward, the water district closed off public access to protect its assets, and out of liability concerns due to frequent rockfalls and other hazards. District officials explored reopening the site, but decided it would be safer to facilitate an off-site resort that would be operated by private owners.

“Government is not set up to run a resort like this, and we really shouldn’t be running resorts,” Renstrom said. “We had to figure out a way to balance the needs of the public versus the private sector. We also realized that for people to use and enjoy this water, we needed to pump the water somewhere that’s safer.”

Working with Washington County, La Verkin and Hurricane officials, the district put out a request for qualifications four years ago and soon picked Cooper and her team due, in large part, to the success of Iron Mountain Hot Springs, which draws more than 270,000 customers a year since its opening in 2015 and has a similar history as La Verkin’s hot springs.

Progress on the proposed resort was slowed by the coronavirus pandemic but is now heating up. Although no timetable has been set, Cooper is optimistic construction on the resort can begin within the next year.

Ivins City Recorder Christy Ballard remembers frequenting the La Verkin resort as a child on occasion with family and friends. But the stench from the sulfur at the springs, especially from the pools in the caverns, was so foul she usually opted to swim elsewhere.

“It was stinky,” Ballard said. “Honestly, most of the time I would go to the city pool instead because you didn’t smell bad afterward.”

Although he lives across the river from the former resort, former La Verkin Mayor Karl Wilson says he can still smell the [the sulfur] once in a while.

“For us locals, that’s just like a sweet flower,” he quipped. “As young kids, we liked to play in the river because of the hot and the cold and the mud. We’d have the river water coming down mixing with the hot spring water. So sometimes we get a little above the springs to cool off.”

Wilson supports the proposed resort but says some worry about La Verkin losing its small-town feel. For his part, he argues the resort will be a boon to the area’s economy and draw visitors from Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and from as far away as California and Colorado.

La Verkin is located on State Route 9, a major road leading to Zion National Park, which attracts up to 5 million visitors a year. Cooper said that traffic, along with La Verkin’s close proximity to St. George, should make the resort profitable, just like Iron Mountain in Colorado.

“We’re hoping to divert some of those visitors [from Zion] and from the surrounding areas,” she said.

While the look of the new resort is conceptual at this time, La Verkin City Administrator Kyle Gubler is hopeful it will pan out. Nonetheless, he said Zion Canyon investors still need to present a site plan, comply with zoning and get the city to sign off on the resort.

Editor’s note • This story is available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.

LAVERKIN — Vitalpax Inc. plans to create new jobs and invest in rural Southern Utah after receiving a post-performance tax credit in April.

The Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity awarded Vitalpax Inc. with a temporary, marginal tax reduction as part of the Legislature’s Economic Development Tax Increment Finance program, according to a recent press release.

“Utah does not provide upfront cash for corporate retention and recruitment,” the release said. “Instead, the state offers a post-performance tax credit after the company meets specific obligations, including capital investment, new high-paying jobs, and additional state tax payments.”

Vitalpax may receive up to 30% of the additional state taxes it will pay, qualifying for a portion of the total tax credit each year it meets the criteria outlined in its 10-year agreement with the state, via the Rural Economic Development Tax Increment Finance tax credit, according to the press release.

Vitalpax’s CEO and founder Dalyon Ruesch said the tax credit will save the company funds that will be used to purchase production equipment, which will increase revenue. The company will put additional revenue toward adding new jobs.

Southern Utahns can expect Vitalpax to create up to 40 new, high-paying jobs over the next 10 years, per its agreement with the state, the release states. Among them are manufacturing, laboratory-based and warehouse jobs, Ruesch said. The company offers its employees health benefits, paid time off and a 401(K).

Vitalpax is also partnering with local universities to provide internship opportunities, he said.

Additionally, Vitalpax will invest $5 million in rural Utah through infrastructure enhancements, such as repurposing existing buildings. The company has a preliminary goal of building a 50,000-70,000 square-foot facility, which will allow Vitalpax to put on “the right dog and pony show for customers,” Ruesch said.

Vitalpax also plans to invest in Artificial Intelligence-driven automation, Ruesch said.

“We have equipment that is automated, but AI is going to be the way of the future when it comes to production facilities,” he said.

The potential expansion has at least one economic official excited.

“We’re excited to see Vitalpax continue to grow in La Verkin, Utah,” Dan Hemmert, the Office of Economic Opportunity’s executive director said in the press release. “The company’s dedication to its local community has been obvious throughout our discussions, and we wish Vitalpax continued success.”

About Vitalpax

Vitalpax was founded in 2014 and manufactures dietary supplements and personal care products that are sold to other businesses, Ruesch said. According to Vitalpax’s website, the company will print, package and ship products as part of their full-service contracts.

Vitalpax’s vision is advancing vitality and promoting health and wellness, Ruesch said. While looking for inspiration and guidance, Ruesch read his great-grandmother Mattie Woodbury Ruesch’s autobiography, part of which focused on her health concerns.

In a chapter titled, “My Quest for Health,” he said she wrote about vital fruits and vegetables, which helped him to create the company’s name: “vital” for his great-grandmother and “pax” for packaging.

A picture of his great-grandmother hangs in the lobby with her creed framed underneath.

“To serve. To grow. To seek beauty, goodness and truth everywhere,” the beginning of the creed reads.

Ruesch said the company is focused on the well-being of its colleagues, customers and community, adding that employees are referred to as colleagues as part of the corporate culture to promote a more equal environment.

Vitalpax is working with Talent Ready Utah’s Adopt-a-School program, through the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity to create a service-based partnership with La Verkin Elementary, Ruesch said, adding that while the partnership agreement is still in process, it’s an exciting way for the company to serve its community.

Ruesch said it’s easy to be biased about Southern Utah, considering the perks of living, recreating and owning a business in what is “arguably, America’s playground.”

“I couldn’t think of, you know, doing it any other way,” he said. “You know, there’s just so many opportunities. There are challenges – absolutely – but if it were easy, it may not be as exciting.”

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.