Home Care In Dammeron Valley, UT

A proposal that could add more than 200 new homes and space for commercial development in Dammeron Valley was put on hold Wednesday after residents shared multiple concerns at a meeting of the Washington County Planning Commission.

Commissioners voted to table the plan until the developer provides more information on the plan, raising questions about water rights, how the development’s open spaces would be used, and what types of commercial projects might be considered. They also said the development company, the Dammeron Valley Corporation, would need to provide an engineering report before they would consider moving forward.

Commissioner Ryan Owens said this next step could take a few months.

“It’s our responsibility as planning commissioners to listen to the public and provide a platform that’s sensitive to their needs but also recognizing a landowner or developer has rights as well,” Owens said. “So to try to weave the two of those together … is our responsibility, to create a harmony between the developer and current residents.”

A 'feasibility' plan

The plan as presented by developer Andrew Pace would create 224 new residential lots in areas on both sides of state Route 18 where it passes through the valley. The property is owned by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, a state agency (better known by its acronym SITLA) that would take revenues generated by the property's development and put it into a trust to benefit Utah’s public education system.

Pace said during the meeting that he considered the master plan to be more of a "feasibility plan" to see what recommendations and information would be needed to be approved by the county commission.

But many in the crowded room of concerned residents said they were unclear about whether the master plan presented at the meeting would be a final decision on how the land would be used.

Sheri Mandell, one of the residents who packed into the commission chambers for the meeting, said the decision to table the plan was a welcome one.

“[The county commission] made the right decision to think about it and eventually approve it, or disprove it,” Mandell said.

Flood worries

Over the course of the hours-long meeting, residents voiced concerns about sewage, drainage, fire safety, traffic and water.

Dammeron Valley is an unincorporated community of about 616 residents that was originally developed with small equestrian properties.

A flood that hit Dammeron Valley last year was also a major talking point of the meeting, with some residents concerned about what might happen if another flood of that magnitude happened again.

Dammeron Valley developer Brooks Pace, Andrew’s father, apologized during the public hearing portion for offending residents during his allotted time.

“I’m very sorry that we’ve created this problem for ourselves, the county, the residents,” Brooks Pace said. “My goal in life for 45 years has been to build a good horse community in Dammeron Valley. And these aren’t tiny lots. Get your facts straight.”

Resident Rick Johnson said he loves the valley and the work Brooks Pace has put into the development, and that he hopes proper work goes into the new development.

“I’m not against development in any way,” Johnson, a resident of Dammeron Valley for 25 years, said. “If the development follows all the laws, then that should dispel our fears.”

ST. GEORGE — A steady downpour of rain blanketed St. George and the surrounding area well into Wednesday night.

At 8:19 p.m. the National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the Santa Clara River in St. George.

According to the advisory, heavy rain will fall on a deep primed snowpack leading to the melt increasing. Flows in rivers will increase quickly and reach critical levels. Minor flooding of the Santa Clara River at St. George is forecast.

The flood warning followed an earlier flash flood advisory issued by the National Weather Service for Washington County lasting until 8:30 p.m.

Flooding caused by excessive rainfall was expected in southern Utah specifically for areas susceptible to runoff from the Pine Valley Mountains.

The advisory noted some of the locations that will experience flooding include Washington, New Harmony, Dammeron Valley, Gunlock State Park, Ivins, Enterprise, Leeds, Pine Valley, Veyo, Pinto, Snow Canyon State Park and Gunlock.

St. George News investigated early reports of possible flooding in Dammeron Valley around 4 p.m.

Earlier in the day the Washington County Sheriff’s Office issued the following statement via its Facebook page:

We have become aware that some people are worried, and there may be some talk on social media, that Baker Reservoir and Gunlock Reservoir may ‘spill over.’ Although it is true Baker is spilling over, it is doing so as designed. … The Washington County Emergency Services has been and is continuing to monitor the situation and everything is OK.

State route 18 was under a deluge of heavy rainfall with large puddles of standing water at the bottom of hills.

As seen in the video above, runoff from Baker Dam spilled over the roadway beneath, pooling to a dangerous level for passenger cars hoping to drive through.

At Zion National Park, visitor access is being impacted. According to the park’s website, “Drivers cannot travel from the East Entrance (near Mt. Carmel Junction) to South Entrance (near Springdale) due to rock in the road. We will remove this alert when the road is clear. This does not affect Zion Canyon Shuttle System service.”

Additionally, due to rockfall on Kolob Canyons Road, “Drivers cannot go past the Kolob Canyons Visitor Center.”

Forecasts called for heavy rainfall to begin clearing out of the St. George area after 9 p.m.

Photo Gallery

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ST. GEORGE — With the fire season underway and a need for a new and reliable fire apparatus to serve the communities up state Route 18, the Washington County Commission recently approved the purchase of a new fire engine for Dammeron Valley Fire and Rescue.

The purchase approval came in early June, and the lease to Dammeron Valley Fire and Rescue took effect Tuesday. The engine is slated to arrive later this month.

According to a press release from Dammeron Valley Fire, the agency’s current engine, a Becker Type 1 pumper – built in 1993 and acquired by the fire district in 2003 – has begun to show its age.

“With the demands of increased call volumes and training hours, the current apparatus has been plagued with critical maintenance issues and has exceeded (its) useful life for an active fire and rescue department responding to both structure and wildland fires, as well as medical and traffic incident calls,” Dammeron Valley Fire Chief John Hennessy said in the news release.

Washington County Commission Victor Iverson previously said the Becker fire engine was “held together by hope” and needed to be replaced due to its constant maintenance and upkeep issues.

The average service life of a fire engine is considered to be around 20 years.

The new engine – which was purchased for $562,000 with up to $100,000 approved for related equipment – is being built by HMC Inc. and tentatively is set to arrive at Dammeron Valley by mid-July.

Manufactured in Michigan, the engine is considered ideally suited to the Wildland Urban Interface along the SR-18 corridor, the press release states. It is 6 feet shorter than the Fire Department’s current engine and has a shorter wheelbase that will make the new engine more adaptable to the steep and narrow roads in areas of the area, such as Pinion Hills.

“The is for the purpose of not only fighting fires efficiently but having (an engine) they can rely upon to extend their service,” Commissioner Gil Almquist said in Tuesday’s commission meeting.

Dammeron Valley was chosen to receive the new fire engine because it is considered the best location to serve not only the immediate area, but the communities along SR-18 as a whole, Commissioner Adam Snow said.

“They are interested in putting out fires,” Almquist added. “They do not care about boundaries. History has shown they do care about what’s happening all around them.”

When a fire happens anywhere on SR-18, it is not uncommon for Dammeron Valley Fire and other fire agencies located on the corridor to respond to the scene due to mutual aid agreements.

Having the new engine also will be a benefit with the increased number of certified wildland and structural firefighters who have joined Dammeron Valley Fire and Rescue, Hennessy said.

“(The Fire Department) is responding to more calls than ever along the SR-18 corridor and beyond and thus far this year our call volume is 40% above last year,” Hennessey said in early June. “This new engine provides our members with a best-in-class apparatus that is reliable and adaptable to the ever-changing conditions in DVFR’s service area. … As rural communities in Southern Utah continue to grow at a record rate, it’s critical that emergency services keep pace.

This new apparatus ensures the Fire Department’s certified members have the tools they need to continue to respond to a record number of incidents safely and effectively, he added.

It generally takes up to a year for a fire agency to receive a new fire engine as the majority are customer jobs built from the ground up.

However, while attending a convention related to firefighting, county fire officials came across a company that would deliver an engine much faster, Almquist said. This is because the company already had the chassis, or frame, of fire engines built for fast orders, he said.

Washington City went through a similar process last year to obtain a new fire engine to replace one of its aging engines.

“The process (of getting the engine) was sped up with fire season looming,” Almquist said. “We can’t leave the residents up SR-18 without proper fire protection.”

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

ST. GEORGE — As far as weather, Labor Day weekend will have something for everyone starting with a lot of rain with less heat. And just in time for the Labor Day barbecues Monday, plenty of sunshine.

Stormy weather will move into Southern Utah Thursday night and last through Sunday evening. But this storm will be much different than the other monsoonal and tropical storms that have marked this summer.

It won’t be a case of it raining in Hurricane and dry in St. George, or flooded suburbs in Cedar City and nothing falling from the sky in Ivins.

Haden Mahan with the National Weather Service’s Salt Lake City office told St. George News that this weekend’s rain will be a shared experience.

He says while the typical summer monsoonal moisture from the south will be making a last summer showing, it will be combined with a fall-like trough coming from the west.

“The main difference is normally with our monsoonal setups most of the storms will be like daytime thunderstorms that billow up during the day and sort of die overnight and they tend to be more isolated,” Mahan said. “With this system, since we have the trough to our west, we’re going to have a lot more atmospheric lift. So the showers and storms are gonna be much more widespread.”

Mahan said the biggest impacts will be Friday and Saturday. According to the weather service, there is a 70-80% chance of rain Friday and Saturday throughout Southern Utah.

Unlike the last few storms, including a slight brush with Tropical Storm Hilary nearly two weeks ago, this stormy weather won’t necessarily be coming with a large number of watches and warnings, though Mahan didn’t discount the possibility of flash flooding – especially in areas prone to it.

“There are no watches in place but that could change, especially as we get closer to the event,” Mahan said. “There’s definitely the possibility for several flash flood warnings and even the potential for some severe thunderstorm warnings. But we’re not as concerned with the severe aspect.”

To underscore that point, just after 2 p.m.,Thursday, the National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch from midnight Thursday to Saturday evening for much of the five-county area.

But there is at least one place of possible concern: Zion National Park, which is expected to see one of the more crowded weekends of the year.

The weather service says the potential for flash flooding there is “probable” throughout the weekend.

“It’s pretty bad timing a storm like this for Labor Day weekend because it definitely could be pretty impactful,” Mahan said. “People shouldn’t necessarily be caught off guard because it will be a multi-day event of rain ongoing. It probably won’t be like your typical, ‘Oh, it’s really sunny,’ and then upstream it might be pouring rain.”

One thing that might be welcome locally is, at least for now, a goodbye to triple-digit temperatures. Highs will be in the 70s to 80s throughout Southern Utah, and Mahan said the storm’s humidity won’t necessarily be felt in the heat index.

And further north into Iron County, it’s going to be downright blustery, especially in the mornings.

“It’s going to start feeling like fall,” Mahan said. “In Cedar City, they may drop into the upper 40s on Monday morning, and then even St. George might be flirting with the upper 50s Monday and Tuesday morning.”

And while the outlook for the Labor Day weekend is stormy, Mahan said the last backyard get-togethers for summer on Monday likely will be saved as the clouds should clear out for Labor Day. Even better, the temperatures will remain in the 80s in the sun.

“There’s maybe a 5% chance of seeing something isolated on Monday. But for the most part, Monday is looking dry for Southern Utah,” Mahan said. “It should be pretty sunny on Monday but the temperatures will stay pretty cool.”

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ST. GEORGE — A Dammeron Valley man faces federal charges including unlawful entry into the U.S. Capitol during the riots in January.

According to the federal complaint unsealed Wednesday, charges have been filed against Brady Knowlton, 40, following an incident Jan. 6 where the government alleges the defendant entered the U.S. Capitol.

Knowlton was charged with three federal charges, including one count each of knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and obstruction of justice/Congress.

The charges were filed following an investigation headed by the FBI, according to the complaint signed by Special Agent Jeffery Weeks.

According to additional information provided to St. George News from U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, video footage of the Jan. 6 riots captured by national news agencies, as well as on mobile devices taken by those present at the scene, captured scores of individuals inside the U.S. Capitol building without authority to be there – one of whom was Knowlton, prosecutors allege.

During an interview between federal agents and a witness that took place on March 16, Knowlton was identified in several of the photographs taken both inside and along the exterior of the Capitol, according to the statement of facts from the U.S. District Court, which added that the suspect appeared to have a cell phone in his left hand with the camera facing out to presumably videotape his entry into the building.

Several minutes later the suspect was caught on the facility’s surveillance footage inside the Senate Chamber Gallery with a cell phone in his hand “likely videotaping the scene.”

Moreover, federal agents obtained the suspect’s phone records from Verizon that revealed Knowlton’s cell phone was hitting a cell tower close to the Capitol building on the day in question.

Knowlton appeared via video Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jared C. Bennett along with his defense attorney, David Finn, where he waived his right to a preliminary hearing. He is not currently in custody.

According to Utah court records, Knowlton has no previous charges or convictions. His next appearance in U.S. District Court is scheduled to take place Monday.

In addition to the events that transpired at the U.S. Capitol, which garnered national and international attention, approximately 200 people gathered at the Utah Capitol, though the scene was much calmer than at the nation’s capital.

This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Updated April 8, 11:15 a.m. to include additional details from U.S. District Court.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.