[0:00] You know what?

[0:03] Oh, the times if we could

[0:08] call this meeting order. Special town

[0:10] council hearing meeting. It's Tuesday,

[0:12] June 30th, 2026, and it is 6 p.m. Let's

[0:16] start with the pledge.

[0:20] I pledge algiance to the flag of the

[0:23] United States of America and to the

[0:26] republic for which it stands. One nation

[0:31] indivisible with liberty and justice for

[0:34] all.

[0:38] Anybody want to do prayer?

[0:41] Our

[0:46] dear Lord, we thank thee for

[0:50] the

[0:52] blessings that we have here as a town

[0:54] and the community that we have created,

[0:56] the support that we show to each other.

[0:59] We

[1:01] ask you to please bless that this town

[1:03] will receive rain and that we will

[1:06] continue to grow together and come

[1:08] together to support our neighbors and

[1:10] show our love for one another.

[1:13] We ask you please bless our water people

[1:16] with wisdom and guidance that they may

[1:19] make the most prudent choices for our

[1:21] town so that we may prosper and and

[1:24] thrive in the coming years and our

[1:26] children and our children's children may

[1:29] be able to also enjoy the beauty of our

[1:34] little community that we have curated

[1:38] with thy help.

[1:40] We say these things in Jesus Christ.

[1:42] Amen.

[1:44] >> Thank you.

[1:45] >> All right. Roll call.

[1:46] >> Scott here.

[1:47] >> Mike Ferrar here.

[1:49] >> Love here.

[1:49] >> Richard here.

[1:51] >> Kevin will be here, but he'll be a

[1:52] little late. Any conflict of interest?

[1:55] >> No.

[1:56] >> Nope. Me neither.

[1:58] >> Okay. Mayor's town update reports,

[1:59] recommendation, announcements. I'm going

[2:00] to use this uh time to talk about the

[2:03] water. You're going to have to excuse my

[2:05] voice. The no sleeping caught up on me.

[2:07] Body got weak and I got sick. So, I

[2:10] never get sick, but it happens every now

[2:12] and then. So, okay, let me tell you

[2:14] what's going on with the water. I'm not

[2:16] going to cover too much of what I

[2:17] covered in my last meeting.

[2:19] I don't want to be redundant, waste

[2:21] everybody's time. It was recorded. You

[2:22] can go watch it.

[2:25] We had talked about drilling a new well

[2:28] um next to the old one. We were able to

[2:31] avoid doing that. Um, we were able to

[2:34] blast the merit well, uh, get down

[2:36] deeper, run our pipes, which casings

[2:40] deeper, and get towards the bottom and

[2:42] get it working again. It's not

[2:44] performing as it was, but it is working

[2:46] again.

[2:48] Um, when we first hooked it up, we were

[2:51] struggling. As you guys know, I told you

[2:52] I had them turn the pivots back on so we

[2:55] could test. Um, we ran them for three or

[2:57] four days and we couldn't get the merit

[3:00] water and the merit level, I'm sorry,

[3:02] water the water level and the merit well

[3:04] to go up to our pump. It was all the way

[3:06] down. So, I called the the farmer and

[3:09] asked him to shut the pivot off and they

[3:11] did about it was around 11 or 12. And by

[3:14] the late afternoon, early evening, our

[3:16] water levels have come way up. So, we

[3:17] definitely know uh the pivot is creating havoc on our two

[3:22] wells. Now, with that being said, it's

[3:25] not just that. I think if this would

[3:27] have been three or four years ago, it

[3:29] might not have been an issue. My theory,

[3:31] I mean, we are in a drought. We're in a

[3:32] state of emergency in the entire state.

[3:35] We haven't had any rain. Um, we have

[3:38] good aquafer studies from old ones. We

[3:41] have well studies. We have all this

[3:42] stuff that says this shouldn't happen,

[3:44] but they're all before the drought.

[3:45] They're all over three years old. So, I

[3:47] do think, you know, that's the first

[3:49] thing they all say, "Well, according to

[3:50] our data, this shouldn't be happening."

[3:51] Well, I get it, but it is. And I just

[3:54] think the date is old. We haven't The

[3:55] three years of drought is catching up.

[3:58] So, um, we're stabilized right now.

[4:01] After we did that with the merit well,

[4:02] the Gregor well was barely we had about

[4:05] 2 feet and if I turned it up too much,

[4:07] it would make a vortex. Obviously, we

[4:10] can't see this. Well, we did actually

[4:11] put the camera down, but you can't when

[4:12] it's running, you can't get the camera

[4:14] too close, but it created a vortex and

[4:16] would suck some air. So, I had to really

[4:17] play with the with the uh speed of pump,

[4:20] the motor to get a balance there. And we

[4:23] weren't putting out enough water. Once

[4:25] we got the merit well up and running, we

[4:27] were not putting out enough water to

[4:29] supply the town. So, I asked you guys to

[4:31] conserve water. We filled up the tanks

[4:33] all the way as full as we could get them

[4:35] and we just turned that well on. It was

[4:38] producing about

[4:41] almost 100

[4:43] gallons per minute. We need about 250 to

[4:46] keep the town alive. Um, so I asked you

[4:49] guys to conserve. We ran the merit well.

[4:51] We shut the Gregerson Well down, which

[4:52] was a very hard decision. Um, these are

[4:55] all decisions that I have to make. Um, I

[4:58] don't have nobody I get to call. I don't

[5:00] have a boss that I get to call and ask

[5:02] what to do. I get lots of advice from a

[5:04] lot of people, a lot of people in the

[5:05] state, but nobody will tell you what to

[5:07] do. They just give you some facts and I

[5:09] have to make these decisions. So, very

[5:11] hard decision. I decided to shut down

[5:12] the Gregor some well. Um, and we pulled

[5:15] everything out and we blasted that one

[5:17] and got extended the pipe got all the

[5:19] way down to the bottom super deep and it

[5:22] thank God it worked [clears throat] and

[5:23] we got more water out of that one.

[5:26] >> Why scam with it?

[5:27] >> Yeah. Scary.

[5:30] Um, so that was a a positive. That was

[5:33] the only positive through all this. It

[5:35] was very exciting. We did that all in

[5:36] one day. Don't ask me how we got it

[5:38] done. We were out there super late. had

[5:40] the well running by nightfall and you

[5:42] guys were able to start using water

[5:44] again.

[5:46] Sorry, ahead of time. So, that's where

[5:48] we're at now. We've been stabled. We're

[5:50] putting out enough water. I think we're

[5:52] okay. We haven't without the pivot

[5:54] running. Um I'm working with the farmer

[5:56] and the property owners and all that

[5:57] about the pivot. The state I've been in

[6:00] solid state meetings. Um unfortunately,

[6:03] there isn't a lot of um protection from

[6:05] the legislature and the state for

[6:07] municipal water. um you know goes like I

[6:10] kind of told you guys goes by water

[6:12] gates and um stuff like that. So um I

[6:16] know a lot of people I I get some

[6:19] suggestions and I and I appreciate the

[6:20] suggestions stuff like we'll just turn

[6:22] the pivots off

[6:24] if it was that easy. I promise you I

[6:26] would do it. Just do this. Just do that.

[6:28] There's a lot of there's so much going

[6:30] on that that you guys cannot possibly

[6:32] understand all the laws and the rules

[6:33] and all that. So basically

[6:37] what's going on is I told you guys the

[6:39] river I told you guys I said it's a

[6:41] river and I'm going to explain that a

[6:43] little more that we're in our aquifer

[6:45] and when I talk about the aquifer the

[6:46] river is an aquifer any an aquifer is

[6:49] just a source of water down there in the

[6:51] rocks that's it so any source of water

[6:53] doesn't matter where it comes from that

[6:55] is the aquifer but what to make

[6:57] everybody understand it I keep talking

[6:58] about the the aquifer south of the

[7:01] cinder hill right here south of uh

[7:03] Richard Cinder Hill right here. And I

[7:06] think that's the according to all the

[7:08] information I have, that's like a big

[7:10] aquifer. Then I told you guys we're on a

[7:12] we're drilled into a river that goes out

[7:14] to the Virgin River and it's a lava

[7:16] tube. Now it's not I don't and I need to

[7:18] explain this and I didn't explain last

[7:19] time. It's not like this like you think

[7:21] when I said river fast blowing river

[7:23] inside of the river is what they call

[7:24] basalt and basalt is uh holds the water

[7:27] and it's like a big sponge. Picture a

[7:29] big sponge inside of this lava tube. So

[7:32] it's not fast. So, if you can picture a

[7:35] sponge as it's, you know, you tilt it a

[7:37] little bit, of course, the water is

[7:38] going to run in the sponge, but it's

[7:39] going to be very, very slow. So, if you

[7:40] come to this end of the sponge and put a

[7:42] straw on and suck all the water out,

[7:44] this is what your recharge rate is. It's

[7:45] how fast you're going to recharge. So, I

[7:47] may suck all the water right here, the

[7:49] sponge goes dry, but it's still wet up

[7:50] here, but it's not going to instantly

[7:51] flow into there. So, you have to wait

[7:53] and let it recharge. And that's really

[7:56] what the recharge rate of the aquifer

[7:58] has gone down to where it's not keeping

[8:00] up like it did before due to the

[8:02] drought, I believe. So, um, the again,

[8:05] the farmer did nothing wrong. He got a

[8:07] permit. That's the state. That's what

[8:08] the state the state issued. Everything's

[8:10] legit. There's nothing wrong. He's being

[8:12] very cooperative with us. We're we're

[8:14] talking. We're working. Um, he's done

[8:16] nothing wrong. Um, I fault

[8:20] the state. I mean, if I got to blame

[8:22] someone, ultimately it's my response to

[8:24] keep you guys a water, but in my

[8:25] opinion, the reason is the state. But

[8:27] I'm not going to fight the state. I'm

[8:29] sure other towns and other cities deal

[8:31] with the same thing. Um, so that's

[8:35] what's going on. The long-term plan, the

[8:37] long-term solution is I don't remember

[8:39] if I said this last meeting and I

[8:40] haven't said a lot. I I have been

[8:42] awarded

[8:44] couple when this all started when we

[8:46] when I got the pipeline money, I was

[8:48] worried the 3.2 million might not be

[8:50] enough and I knew that we would need

[8:52] more wells and aquafers or a different

[8:54] aquifer. So, we had went to Celeste

[8:56] Malloy. I went to I I spoke to Celeste

[8:58] Malloy and she had this big bill that

[9:00] she was doing and she said um why don't

[9:03] we get you in on this for the money? How

[9:06] much do you think you would need to

[9:07] cover this? And I said well a million and a half might cover but 2

[9:10] million would get us out of trouble.

[9:12] Long story short, she put us in the

[9:13] bill. We were everything was going

[9:15] great. New president came. Bill went

[9:18] away. Had to redo a whole new bill.

[9:20] Redid the whole new bill got awarded.

[9:23] We've been awarded $2 million. Now,

[9:25] there's some red tape to go through with

[9:27] that, but we we know for sure we're

[9:29] getting $2 million. There is a price

[9:32] match, what they call price match. We

[9:33] have to come up with $400,000. There's

[9:35] some

[9:38] waiverss you can do for that, and that's

[9:39] what I'm doing. I'm working with the

[9:40] state. We're in a state of emergency.

[9:41] So, I'm working on that. The plan with

[9:43] that $2 million is that [clears throat]

[9:45] accompanied with the USGS report that

[9:47] we've been waiting on forever that has

[9:48] now been promised. Now, that we're in a

[9:50] state of emergency. I should mention

[9:51] that I declared a state of emergency for

[9:53] the town. you can't get any assistance

[9:55] from the state unless you declare a

[9:56] state of emergency. So, as the the mayor

[9:58] has the authority to do that, I declare

[10:00] a state of emergency. Um, so being

[10:02] [clears throat] in a state of emergency,

[10:03] we should have the aquifer study back

[10:04] within a month. Um, we will use the

[10:08] aquifer uh study report and the $2

[10:11] million and we will determine where

[10:13] there is likely to be water. This is

[10:16] based on when we're drilling. Let me

[10:17] show you this. When we're drilling, I

[10:18] know I'm jumping all around, guys. I'm

[10:20] sick and I'm I'm tired. When we're

[10:22] drilling, as we're drilling, this is 320

[10:24] ft. This is 310 ft, 3290. We take out

[10:29] we, there's obviously a driller there. I

[10:30] don't drill. I'm watching and probably

[10:32] in their way, but I'm out there all day

[10:34] long and learning. And when they're

[10:35] drilling, they're taking dirt out at

[10:37] different levels. And you study this

[10:39] dirt and you know what the dirt is. This

[10:41] goes into a well log and these samples

[10:42] go to the state. The state does that for

[10:44] every well, town, private, any well that

[10:47] someone drills and they collect all that

[10:48] data. They utilize this data for USGS

[10:52] studies and stuff like this to try to

[10:54] picture paint a picture of how the

[10:57] dirt's working and where there's going

[10:59] to be water because the clay doesn't

[11:00] absorb water. So there's no water in the

[11:02] clay. So if we have clay, there's no

[11:03] water in it. You need to find certain

[11:05] soils and the basalt is where the water

[11:08] will be. So that's the information

[11:11] they'll have. We'll take that

[11:12] information and we should be able to

[11:13] determine some areas throughout town

[11:16] here close to Apple Valley proper that

[11:18] has that kind of material. They'll get

[11:21] us in an area. They can't tell you drill

[11:23] right there. They're not going to do

[11:24] that. Unfortunately, they're not.

[11:26] There's programs we'll put that the

[11:28] engineers have. We'll put that

[11:29] information along with the old aquifer

[11:31] study and all kinds of information and

[11:33] AI will go through there and give us

[11:34] positions where we think there's water.

[11:36] Then, I know this is going to sound

[11:37] corny and crazy. Maybe some of you it

[11:39] doesn't, but you get a Witcher. And uh

[11:43] I've never been a believer, but here

[11:45] recently I've been watching some guys

[11:47] with a Witcher. And I had two different

[11:49] guys come out at two different times,

[11:52] didn't talk to each other, and both

[11:54] picked out two places where there'd be

[11:55] water. So I said, "That's pretty crazy."

[11:57] So I I'm starting to believe it. You get

[11:59] a Witcher. There's another method, but

[12:01] witching actually is very is more

[12:02] successful, has a better success rate.

[12:04] And uh there's a guy known around this

[12:06] area um that's supposedly the best and

[12:09] I've talked to him before and he's

[12:10] always offered to help. So we will witch

[12:12] it. Now the problem with witching is

[12:15] depending on the Witcher, you might just

[12:17] find a little bit of water, you might

[12:18] find a lot. Some guys claim they can

[12:20] tell you that. I don't know. We'll witch

[12:22] it. We'll find the best location for

[12:24] water and we'll drill for water. Now the

[12:27] complications that come with that.

[12:29] First, we got to find the water. I've

[12:31] just told you about all that doesn't

[12:32] guarantee the which you're saying it's

[12:33] right here. None of this is a guarantee.

[12:35] Probably will hit water. Then we got to

[12:38] get enough water. It has to be

[12:39] performing well. Um you know get 10 20

[12:42] gallons a minute. That don't help us

[12:43] much. Um I would think anything under I

[12:47] mean if we get 50 we'll run it. If we

[12:49] get under 50 we're not even going to

[12:50] waste our we're going to drill somewhere

[12:52] else. Maybe at 50 we'll see. It helps.

[12:55] Um then after we find the water then we

[12:58] got to test it. Make sure it doesn't

[12:59] have radium and it meets all the state

[13:00] requirements and all this stuff. It's

[13:02] good water. Then we got to put all the

[13:04] well stuff in and do all that. Okay.

[13:06] Then we're going to with we're going to

[13:08] do a couple of these. I want to get I'd

[13:09] like to get two or three wells. I'd like

[13:10] to get three 400 gallons a minute on a

[13:12] different aquifer. Um that gives us some

[13:15] redundancy and stop depending on this

[13:16] aquifer here. Um then with the rest of

[13:19] the money, we'll lead a pipeline from

[13:20] those wells up to the tank or tie into

[13:23] the pipe somewhere else. We'll have to

[13:25] do engineering for that and see what we

[13:27] can there's pressures involved and all

[13:29] kinds of stuff and we'll get water up to

[13:31] the million-gallon tank the new million

[13:32] gallon tank that should start

[13:33] construction in August.

[13:36] But for now we can talk about those two

[13:37] dates. We get water up to the tanks. So

[13:39] that will give us some redundancy. Um

[13:42] maybe this aquaer will hold out forever,

[13:44] maybe it won't. Nobody knows. I mean

[13:47] honestly it could shut off tomorrow even

[13:49] though we're not running the pivots and

[13:50] everything looks good right now.

[13:51] Tomorrow it could dry up. And and I've

[13:53] known this this is nothing new. I mean

[13:55] this always any town is dependent on you

[13:57] know a couple wells that can happen. Um

[14:00] but we didn't have the money to drill

[14:03] new wells and everything's been good

[14:04] until now it hasn't. So we were very

[14:07] close. We we almost we should have had

[14:08] the celeste money on our own at the end

[14:10] of the year. Now we're kind of

[14:12] expediting everything. So uh there's

[14:15] always silver lining silver lining on

[14:17] the cloud or the silver lining is this

[14:19] happens but it triggers a lot of other

[14:21] stuff to happen. So, that will be the

[14:23] long-term fix for our water

[14:26] is finding other aquifers, drilling into

[14:28] them, and piping the water up to million

[14:30] gallon tanks. So, we'll have backups.

[14:32] Um, if the drought continues, they can

[14:35] all dry up. I I I'm not God. I I know

[14:37] people want to feel warm and cozy, and I

[14:41] can give you my opinions, and I can tell

[14:43] you guys, I'm looking at the level of

[14:45] the water and what I feel good about

[14:47] based on everything I've known, I know,

[14:48] I've learned. But again, I'm not God.

[14:51] Um, nobody even there's nobody

[14:54] in the world that can tell you exactly

[14:56] what's going to happen without you.

[14:57] You'd have to go down there and swim

[14:59] around it, I guess. But and we can't do

[15:01] that. We don't have that technology.

[15:03] Even with the USGS reports and all this,

[15:05] they're educated guesses based on

[15:08] geology and the structure, the dirt in

[15:10] the ground. So, um, none of it's uh a

[15:14] for sure thing. Um, but the more

[15:16] redundancy we have in place, the better.

[15:19] So that's the plan. Um I have like I

[15:21] said I have declared a state of

[15:23] emergency that makes us eligible for uh

[15:26] funding and help and stuff like that. Um

[15:31] in the meantime I am working with the

[15:34] farmer over there. Um a few people have

[15:36] asked me other stuff. Yes I am. And I've

[15:37] told him he knows I am actively pursuing

[15:40] with the state with the property owners

[15:43] to shut him down. Now yes I'm the bad

[15:46] guy. Uh, I know the I know the

[15:48] gentleman. Um, my son knows the

[15:51] gentleman. He's the first person my son

[15:52] calls when he has a problem with a cow.

[15:54] He's always willing to help. I don't

[15:57] like to mess with anybody's livelihood

[15:58] or anybody's wire. Anybody. Even people

[16:00] don't like me in this town. I don't like

[16:02] to do that. Better yet, someone that's

[16:03] nice and I like and they're just a good

[16:05] person. It sucks. I hate this. It's It's

[16:08] horrible. But uh three years ago, I put

[16:11] my hand on the Bible and I promised the

[16:13] sword of God that I would look out for

[16:15] this town and you guys, not the farmer.

[16:18] So,

[16:19] it's one of those things that I have to

[16:21] do and and it's not fun. It's it's one

[16:22] of the anytime I have to deny someone's

[16:25] request or send out a um violation

[16:29] notice and I I hate it. It's the worst

[16:30] part of the job because I just try to

[16:32] please everyone. So, this is probably

[16:33] one of the hardest things I have to do.

[16:35] Um, but it's what I signed up for and

[16:37] I'm doing it and uh, he's working with

[16:40] us, but ultimately in case not, I'm

[16:42] actively pursuing to stop the pivots.

[16:44] Um, I like them. I like looking at the

[16:46] grass and and I like the we're a we're

[16:49] farming. It's what we're supposed to be

[16:50] about, but emergencies call for

[16:53] desperate measures has called for

[16:55] desperate. I don't know. Fired. I'm not

[16:58] going to let that go. But yeah, I don't

[16:59] like to do it, but that's what I'm

[17:00] doing. Um,

[17:02] well, I think that's it for the water.

[17:04] I'm going to see if these guys have any

[17:06] questions. I'm gonna open up some

[17:07] questions. You guys, I don't want to get

[17:08] into it too long of a thing, but we'll

[17:10] go. Do you guys have any questions?

[17:11] Because this is all going to lead up to

[17:12] some stuff that's going on later. So,

[17:14] >> with the fourth, do you want to talk

[17:16] about fireworks?

[17:18] >> We can. Yeah, there's no fireworks.

[17:22] » A reminder.

[17:23] >> Yep. Absolutely.

[17:24] >> We can ban them all. So, you're gonna

[17:25] have to go to St. George. There's so we

[17:28] had a big

[17:28] >> Yeah, that's right.

[17:29] >> We had a big mayor email and they were

[17:31] saying who's going to do what because

[17:32] the governor put out a state uh wideband

[17:35] on the fireworks, but he did give the

[17:37] option for a town mayor and the fire

[17:41] chief to get together and designate an

[17:43] area that you could light off fire. Most

[17:45] everybody said, "No, no fireworks." And

[17:48] that's what Apple Valley stance is.

[17:49] That's my stance. I'm not going to take

[17:52] any chances, especially when

[17:53] everything's dry and we don't even have

[17:54] no water to put out a fire. Um, and I'm

[17:57] not going to disrespect the firefighters

[17:58] and and I think some of the towns, and I

[18:00] don't like to get in with other mayors,

[18:02] some of the towns are allowing this in

[18:03] designated areas. I don't need a

[18:05] firework to show the love for my

[18:07] country. They just don't need it. Um,

[18:09] not in these times. Sure, I like

[18:10] fireworks. I like to light stuff. I like

[18:12] to blow stuff up, but I'm not going to.

[18:14] We're not going to start a fire here in

[18:15] Apple Valley. And you're not going to

[18:17] get much help. Every freaking

[18:18] firefighter in the States out and

[18:20] probably other states is out here

[18:21] fighting these massive fires. There's

[18:23] been three lives lost. I'm just not

[18:25] going to disrespect the fire department

[18:27] uh and put them in that situation. I'm

[18:29] not going to put the town at risk. It's

[18:30] not just our town. The fire is going to

[18:32] spread to the other towns and it's just

[18:34] not going to happen. So, we're not

[18:35] having any fireworks at all here. Um and

[18:38] yes, there will be patrols and yes, if

[18:41] you're caught doing them, we there's

[18:43] going to be a zero tolerance. So, um I

[18:46] will probably have Ildell PD here, the

[18:48] sheriff will probably be up here. Just

[18:50] stuff that's out of my hands. They're

[18:52] just going to be up here patrolling

[18:53] because of these issues. But yeah, no

[18:54] fireworks.

[18:56] >> What a better way to celebrate our

[18:58] country than to show your respect for

[19:00] your community and your your fellow man

[19:03] than

[19:04] >> by not burning it down.

[19:05] Yes. Exactly.

[19:07] >> I just don't think it's fair to not only

[19:09] your town, but the neighboring towns. If

[19:11] something gets sparked off, it's not

[19:12] going to just be Apple Valley or St.

[19:15] George. It's going to be the whole area.

[19:16] So, some of the other mayors were not

[19:17] happy about some of the other mayor's

[19:19] decisions, but that's their business.

[19:21] That's their town.

[19:22] >> Are we gonna go over number four?

[19:27] » No, no, this is just No, we're gonna

[19:29] roll into all that. That'll be us. I

[19:31] just kind of doing look for the town and

[19:32] the residents. Um, okay. Do you guys I'm

[19:34] going to open up to questions out here

[19:36] about the water.

[19:38] >> Yes, sir.

[19:39] >> What I understand is uh just a quick

[19:42] thing that pivot next to the road. I

[19:45] seen the permit on that he had 170 foot

[19:49] whale. We went 300 ft. She went another

[19:52] 130 ft according to permit over 9 and

[19:54] 1/2 in Casey. That's the first pivot.

[19:57] The second pivot is running right now.

[20:00] It's been running and running and

[20:02] running. The second pivot I think I

[20:05] mentioned to you when I came in there

[20:06] was a drilling rig there, but the only

[20:09] thing I could find on the second pivot

[20:11] was 160 ft. I don't know if he went a

[20:14] little deeper with that drilling rig

[20:16] about two months ago. No, they're just

[20:18] cleaning them and stuff like we did.

[20:20] They have to have a permit to go deeper

[20:21] and it will be in the well logs. But

[20:23] >> the one that did went 130.

[20:25] >> Yeah, the one by the highway. That's the

[20:26] one we have shut down right now. He I I

[20:28] didn't tell him to shut down the others

[20:30] first. He needs to run them because it

[20:32] did damage to his crops when we had him

[20:33] off for those days. But though, that one

[20:35] up there does not though that does not

[20:37] seem to be affecting the town's water.

[20:39] My belie

[20:40] >> That's why. Yes, I still believe he's

[20:42] getting surface water. He hasn't gone

[20:43] into our office.

[20:44] >> He hasn't gone as deep. Uh, this is just

[20:47] a rumor, but I don't know. Travis Holm

[20:50] is running that thing.

[20:51] >> I had heard that he quick

[20:55] claimed that land with the pivots to

[20:58] another person.

[20:59] >> He lost all the property.

[21:00] >> He lost all so he doesn't own any of it.

[21:02] And he didn't

[21:03] >> he still owns Crimson, the northern one,

[21:05] the northern development, that property,

[21:07] he still owns that one. There are

[21:08] foreclosures going on, but the West

[21:11] Temple where the this pivot is,

[21:12] everything on Main Street, everything

[21:14] other everything else Travis owned, he

[21:16] lost

[21:17] >> in

[21:17] >> he lost and forclosures. He he quit. He

[21:21] did a deed in lie of there's a lot of

[21:23] legal stuff there. Instead of a

[21:24] foreclosure, the new investors that had

[21:27] the prop uh that held the lean out of

[21:29] Texas now own the property.

[21:31] >> Texas. And that's what I was thinking.

[21:32] >> Yep. They own the property now. Yes,

[21:34] sir.

[21:34] >> Okay. So, we didn't drill well over

[21:36] there. Uh, I seen the drilling rig over

[21:39] there. One of our whales. One of two.

[21:41] >> No, that's what we use. It's the same

[21:42] machine that they used to blast and

[21:44] clear.

[21:45] >> That's the same thing. They cleared it

[21:46] out. And that well itself, those two

[21:49] whales, of course, one's a backup and

[21:51] one we used.

[21:51] >> No, no more. They're both used.

[21:53] >> Yeah. How deep are they? And what size

[21:56] of casing do they have?

[21:58] >> Uh, the Barrett well has an 8 in casing.

[22:00] The Gregerson has a 10-in casing. And

[22:02] they're both sitting right at the bottom

[22:03] of the aquafer close to about 300 ft.

[22:05] >> Are they that deep? Yes, sir. And once

[22:07] you get down to 300 ft on the aquifer,

[22:09] you start hitting clay and clay doesn't

[22:11] absorb water, so there's no water in the

[22:13] clay. So, yeah, we're we're about maxed

[22:15] out. We have and we have our casing

[22:17] about 10 ft off of the off the bottom.

[22:18] You don't want to put it all the way on

[22:19] the bottom because you'll start you can

[22:21] start sucking silts and stuff. So,

[22:23] >> and I wonder you can run all those

[22:24] pivots over there and have a lot of

[22:26] water when we're kind of uh still

[22:29] pushing bubbles.

[22:32] >> You'd have to talk to the state

[22:33] legislator about that one. So yeah,

[22:35] that's uh that's the way the states ran.

[22:37] I just have to play by those rules.

[22:39] >> You blew out the pivots and you say that

[22:40] did help.

[22:41] >> Uh we No, he shut the pivot down. The

[22:43] southern pivot,

[22:44] >> the wells. Yeah. Yeah. No, we Yeah, we

[22:46] blew them up. We got the pivots. We got

[22:47] the casing. The casing is the pipe. I

[22:50] say casing. I I used to say pipe and so

[22:52] I hung out with the drillers all weekend

[22:54] and they kept saying, "No, it's not

[22:55] pipe. It's casing. That's the pipe that

[22:57] goes down there and the pump and the

[22:58] motors hooked to the end of the casing

[23:00] or the pipe and we are sitting all the

[23:02] way as deep as we can go." I didn't know

[23:04] we realized we were that deep. Yeah,

[23:06] >> there's nowhere left to go. I went as

[23:08] down because what I did on my property,

[23:12] I had those sprayers that with the long

[23:15] nets. I eliminated all those and put in

[23:18] a quarter inch little drip line and cut

[23:20] my water down to a lot with the little

[23:23] drip line rather than those sprayers.

[23:25] If you want to make change, Richard, on

[23:28] a

[23:28] >> on a community level, we really need to

[23:30] reach out to our representatives and

[23:33] plead our cases to them

[23:35] >> because

[23:35] >> And you think they will hear us?

[23:37] >> No.

[23:38] >> I'm agree with them. I agree. Try

[23:42] >> we've done nothing.

[23:43] >> No, I agree with Kevin 100%. But

[23:45] ultimately,

[23:47] >> no. Because St. George and Salt Lake and

[23:49] all these other cities are going through

[23:51] the same kind of stuff and they're all

[23:52] complaining and they have way louder

[23:54] voices than we do.

[23:55] >> Got more fires, 92,000 acres than

[23:58] anywhere in the United States. They're

[24:00] busy. They haven't got time for Apple

[24:03] Valley

[24:04] on their general.

[24:05] >> You would

[24:07] usually gets taken care of.

[24:09] >> You are correct. Not when we only have

[24:10] two. Correct.

[24:11] >> Not when we have 450 registered voters.

[24:15] Only half of those votes.

[24:16] >> That's right. It's a fact. I don't care

[24:18] what anybody says. I be politically

[24:20] correct or not. That's what they look

[24:21] at. But I will tell you the state has

[24:23] actually been very responsive and very

[24:25] helpful. And so at the water

[24:27] conservancy, Zach always jumps in. I,

[24:30] you know, when this all goes down, I

[24:31] send out a massive email. I've the

[24:33] governor had given me all these

[24:34] connections to different people, heads

[24:36] of departments that can help and I send

[24:38] out a massive email and Zach was the

[24:40] first one to jump in and said, "Let's

[24:41] get a Zoom call going. Let's do this."

[24:43] Zach's always there. But they've all

[24:45] been very good at helping and offering

[24:46] assistance and expediting permits. We

[24:49] had the permit while I was on the Zoom

[24:51] call. She said, "Is that permit right

[24:52] now to blast that well and get going?"

[24:53] So, they've been very cooperative with

[24:55] stuff like that. And we're trying to

[24:56] help with expedition.

[24:57] >> Shame is look at who's here. I mean, I

[25:00] am totally disgusted at who shows up.

[25:03] There may be a few people on Zoom, but I

[25:05] thought

[25:06] >> a lot on Zoom.

[25:06] >> Not

[25:08] >> and they and most people watch the video

[25:09] later. I don't know. It usually has a

[25:11] count up here. Oh, 34. Last time there

[25:12] was over 100, but there's 30.

[25:14] >> Most of part should be with the people

[25:16] coming here, too.

[25:17] >> Sure.

[25:18] >> I I think they expect us to do our job,

[25:20] Richard. I really do. A lot of people in

[25:23] the community, I think they expect us to

[25:25] make the right decision as best we can.

[25:27] >> Well, I think they need to be involved.

[25:29] >> Well, I do too.

[25:30] >> You know, I don't expect

[25:32] >> I don't disagree with that, but I'm just

[25:33] saying I I believe a lot of people

[25:35] >> Yeah. Well,

[25:36] >> just want

[25:38] All right,

[25:39] >> Linda, go ahead. So, I know that when we

[25:43] had this study done, we had the one

[25:46] aquifer, which is one, which was running

[25:48] the town, and we had aquafer 2 that I

[25:50] understood was up in Main Street high

[25:53] up, but it's still ours. But it was at

[25:56] that point it was what um Homes was

[26:00] going to use.

[26:02] >> Nobody owns the aquafers. Anybody can

[26:03] use it. If you own the property on top,

[26:05] then you get water, right?

[26:06] >> So, do we own the property on top?

[26:08] >> No, we don't own any propert. town owns

[26:10] the this town. I don't know. I'm new to

[26:12] being mayors and stuff, but I feel like

[26:13] this town

[26:13] >> piece right here.

[26:14] >> I would think I thought the town would

[26:16] own a lot of property, but of course, we

[26:17] own the roads, but that's we don't want

[26:20] properties.

[26:21] >> That one that supposedly

[26:22] >> Here's the thing. These these property

[26:24] owners that I've dealt with, these large

[26:26] properties, Carrie Holt, the grass, the

[26:28] brothers, they are the Hershey's very very generous with I can give you a

[26:35] small easement and stuff like that. I

[26:36] can imminent domain it. It's not a

[26:38] problem. I don't believe in it. I don't

[26:40] want to do it. I would rather work with

[26:42] them. If I have to, even though I don't

[26:43] believe in it, again, I promised you

[26:45] guys these things. I will do it. But so

[26:48] far, like with the pump house, the

[26:49] easements, I got all those guys to

[26:51] donate that land. And I'm sure that's

[26:53] going to happen.

[26:54] >> Nobody really did the well.

[26:56] >> Not yet. We haven't We don't know where

[26:57] we're going to drill yet. So, once we

[26:58] figure out what we're going to drill,

[26:59] then I'll go to the property owner and

[27:01] say, "Hey, I need to come out here and

[27:03] drill because this is where we think

[27:04] there's water." And I'll talk to Carrie

[27:06] Holt or the Graphs or Hershey or whoever

[27:08] owns the land and I'm very confident, they will work with the

[27:13] town. They've been great to this town

[27:14] and they're always like, "Yep, no

[27:16] problem." And they'll give us the small

[27:17] easement and then we got a drill. Then

[27:19] we have water rights. We don't need

[27:20] their water rights. We have our own

[27:21] water rights.

[27:22] >> Yeah.

[27:23] >> And the other thing is it looks like he

[27:26] um the farmer cut the one that was

[27:29] taking so much water.

[27:31] >> Yeah. It's been off.

[27:32] >> No, but it looks like he cut it today.

[27:34] No, I cut it the other day.

[27:37] >> Oh, the grass. I see. What? Yes. Yeah,

[27:39] it was time to cut it. Um, he didn't get

[27:42] much. I talked to him. He didn't get

[27:44] much because of he stopped watering it

[27:46] for us that very first Thursday, but

[27:48] it's been cut. But that doesn't mean

[27:49] it's it's done because you cut it, you

[27:51] water it again. Usually get three or

[27:53] four. I'm not a farmer, but you get

[27:54] three or four cuts out of one plant,

[27:57] >> right?

[27:57] >> So, yeah.

[27:58] >> I saw it cut and I thought, well, he's

[28:00] at least taking his loss and getting as

[28:02] much as he could. And then he's still

[28:04] watering the one that's

[28:06] >> Yeah, it's a horrible situation because

[28:07] I mean we're over here going our water, our water. And I get that.

[28:11] And like I said, I feel horrible. He has

[28:13] put money into the well. He's put money

[28:15] into the pivots, the plants, and he has

[28:16] a lease and it's a bad situation. No

[28:19] matter there's there's no winners, so

[28:21] he's going to lose um if he shuts those

[28:23] down and loses the crop. He's out money

[28:25] of his pocket. So it's a bad situation.

[28:27] It's not something I feel good about.

[28:29] >> Yes, ma'am. government agency gave the

[28:31] okay to do the pipeline originally

[28:35] >> without without the the the updated USGS

[28:38] ser survey

[28:40] >> state division of drinking water

[28:43] everything

[28:44] >> they would be really the ones at fault

[28:48] for giving the okay and now we didn't

[28:50] now we were in a water you know

[28:52] >> pipeline has nothing to do with this

[28:55] pipeline was everything was fine until

[28:56] we turned the pivot on you'd be out of

[28:58] water regardless

[29:00] due the drought, the pivot turned on and

[29:02] we're out of water.

[29:03] >> In fact, the pipeline if we do run out

[29:05] of water completely will be the saving

[29:08] grace cuz I can turn on those t like I

[29:09] always told you guys someday you'll be

[29:11] so happy to have these when you can't

[29:13] flush your toilet. I went through we I

[29:15] amongst a few other people that live in

[29:17] Cedar Point went through three days

[29:19] without water and you can't flush your

[29:20] toilet. You have to take a bucket of

[29:22] water and pour it in there. It's not a

[29:24] pleasant thing. You don't shower. We

[29:25] bathe with uh what do you call them?

[29:27] Baby wipes and stuff. So, in an

[29:29] emergency, if this does go dry, we will

[29:31] turn those wells on over there. I've

[29:33] told you guys before, I got the state

[29:34] approval to fire up those well with

[29:36] radium. I got to give you guys a 24-hour

[29:37] notice and say, "We're putting the

[29:38] radium water in and we will turn those

[29:40] wells on and we'll send water back this

[29:42] way." So, you will have water. It's

[29:44] going to be tight, but you'll have water

[29:46] and we'll put out a a strict water

[29:48] conservation and you will have water.

[29:50] So, thank God that the state gave us

[29:52] that money and we have that pipeline

[29:54] because this aquafer is is we're in a

[29:56] drought, guys. Well, the the main reason

[29:58] for putting it in even from the very

[30:00] beginning was so that we had flow across

[30:03] the whole community from one end to the

[30:05] other

[30:06] >> ultimately we are one community.

[30:08] >> Well, exactly. And also we had three

[30:10] separate units which it takes three

[30:12] times the amount of effort to keep it

[30:14] maintained for the state and everybody

[30:16] involved in it. By consolidating those

[30:18] together, it makes it a lot easier to

[30:20] operate the whole water system as a

[30:22] whole.

[30:23] >> Drought's bad. I mean there like I said

[30:25] it's not just us. It's the entire state.

[30:27] Unfortunately, we're out here in the

[30:28] desert. I think it makes it a little

[30:29] worse than Salt Lake. At least they have

[30:31] snow up there, snow pack. Although it's minimal, but it's an issue. I mean,

[30:36] like I said, back on May

[30:39] 25th, I think it was, the governor

[30:41] declared a state of emergency. We're in

[30:42] a state of emergency due to the drought.

[30:44] The entire state, um, you guys haven't

[30:47] seen me implement water restrictions too

[30:48] much. I've tried to avoid it. I don't

[30:50] like to tell people that they can't wash

[30:52] their car and squirt down run their kids

[30:55] slip and slide till their kids pool is

[30:57] the last thing a mayor wants to do. I've

[30:59] avoided long as I can. They are coming.

[31:00] I don't want to miss I am working on

[31:02] water conservation now. You are not

[31:04] going to see for a very long time uh uh

[31:08] no water conservation. This is going to

[31:09] be a way of life in Utah now. Um it's

[31:12] just the way it is. I mean, um I don't

[31:14] know how bad it's going to get if if

[31:16] even if we got rain tomorrow, it I know

[31:18] soon it rains, everybody goes, "Oh, we

[31:19] got rain." Listen, we're not even that's

[31:21] not the tip of the iceberg. The only

[31:22] good thing rain does is you should be

[31:23] turning off your sprinklers and not

[31:25] watering your lawns and that saves us a

[31:26] little water, but we only get 10% of

[31:29] that water going down and it takes years

[31:31] to recharge. It's this is going to be

[31:33] the way of life for a long time. We live

[31:34] in the desert and we're in a drought. I

[31:37] don't I I'm not God. So, we will be I am

[31:39] working on water conservation plans.

[31:41] They will be implemented. I'm going to

[31:43] do my best to make them voluntarily, but

[31:45] if push comes to shove, they will be

[31:47] enforced and you will be cited for it.

[31:49] it it's we're in a state of

[31:51] emergency. Yes, ma'am.

[31:52] >> So, maybe it's time that the state

[31:54] starts monitoring wells.

[31:57] >> What did you say earlier?

[32:00] >> No, I'm not going to say it.

[32:01] >> That's the same thing as what he just

[32:03] told Rich. You got to go talk to Yeah, I

[32:04] agree with you. I I'm on your guys'

[32:06] side. They don't monitor wells. They

[32:08] don't have there's no meters on these

[32:10] wells right here. Any of these wells,

[32:12] any private well in Utah does not have a

[32:14] water meter on it.

[32:15] >> Everybody here is accountable for the

[32:16] water, but not private wells. And I've

[32:18] disagree with that from the moment I've

[32:19] came here and they've said, "Oh, yeah.

[32:21] We're going to fix that. We'll fix

[32:22] that."

[32:22] >> Do you think he's taken more than acre

[32:24] feet?

[32:25] >> Who? The private people.

[32:27] >> Yeah.

[32:27] >> Oh, no. He has he has tons of water. He

[32:30] has more water. Yeah, he has 800

[32:34] >> shares just right there. There's more

[32:36] over here because here's remember

[32:37] everybody of these guys that own these

[32:39] water shares want him to use them

[32:41] because if you don't use your water

[32:42] shares you lose them.

[32:43] >> So he doesn't have to own them. Other

[32:45] people can own them and say hey use mine

[32:47] because right now we're going through

[32:48] adjudication process and people that

[32:50] aren't using their water rights lose

[32:51] them. Use them or lose them

[32:53] >> and they're taking they're going to

[32:54] Yeah, but they're going to take people's

[32:55] water rights. And uh

[32:58] >> so people will tell him all day long use

[33:00] my water rights. Use my water rights.

[33:02] >> Do the private wells around.

[33:04] >> Yes. Nobody's nobody's monitored. So

[33:06] they may get one water right and use

[33:08] more um they're not monitored. So yeah,

[33:10] I agree with you 100%.

[33:13] >> Culinary water in the future.

[33:16] >> I agree with you 100% on that. I wish

[33:18] they'd be monitored. Yes, sir.

[33:19] >> Apologize for not being here for a

[33:21] while.

[33:22] >> I probably have a couple redundant

[33:23] questions if you don't mind.

[33:25] >> Sure.

[33:25] >> So

[33:28] Richard just said that the upper well of

[33:30] Justin's is possibly on a different

[33:32] aquifer. No, it's I don't think he's

[33:35] into the aquafer. I think he's getting

[33:36] groundwater. He's not deep enough to hit

[33:38] the aquafer.

[33:39] >> So, where I go with that question is

[33:42] right Farmer John down the road when we

[33:44] were talking about the golf course and

[33:46] the hotel. The guy across the street up

[33:49] there had 3,000 acres.

[33:54] » He come to a meeting when we were

[33:56] talking about the golf course, the hotel

[33:58] being built. And he's told us in this

[34:01] meeting. He goes, "I got enough water to

[34:03] feed Alpha Valley three times over." Do

[34:06] we remember that conversation?

[34:08] >> No, but I think you must be talking

[34:09] about a ballad for the Ballard. Was he

[34:11] come here? And

[34:12] >> so if you leave Alpha Valley, you go

[34:14] down with that car.

[34:14] >> There's no water over there. That's what

[34:16] you're asking me about.

[34:16] >> That's what I'm asking. But we already

[34:18] know that the golf course they didn't

[34:20] find any water. He bragged about having

[34:23] water. So that was one of my questions.

[34:24] I'm

[34:25] >> guessing he's bragging about water

[34:26] rights. Some people think that water

[34:28] rights mean you have water.

[34:29] >> The difference

[34:29] >> and water rights is pay for water.

[34:32] >> Oh, no.

[34:32] >> Yeah, you can own all kinds of water

[34:34] rights, but if there's no water down

[34:35] there, nobody owns anything. So, yeah,

[34:37] there's no water. There's not that kind

[34:38] of water anywhere that way.

[34:40] >> What did that happen to? Again, sorry,

[34:43] redundant.

[34:45] >> What's happening with the hotel is

[34:46] supposed to get the 8 in pipeline out of

[34:48] our well

[34:50] >> what's going on with that?

[34:52] The state has to approve all that and

[34:54] the state has asked for a updated uh

[34:58] water

[35:00] basically saying what do we have and

[35:02] what they're going to require. They only

[35:03] require max because you have to go by

[35:05] max. The worst case peak day 80 gallons

[35:08] a minute. So here's the thing. If we we

[35:13] have promised to give them water um this

[35:16] is based on the information we had at

[35:17] the time if we're in a drought. So, I

[35:19] still want to get them water and that's

[35:20] part of the Celeste Malloy bill that I

[35:22] want to get uh wells drilled in a

[35:25] different aquifer and get water over

[35:27] here because we need that because if

[35:30] they go away, your water tank goes away

[35:31] and I don't know what we're going to do

[35:33] from there. We got a

[35:34] >> fourth question.

[35:35] >> Failing water tank for the water tank.

[35:37] >> They are.

[35:38] And so, we have to make sure

[35:40] that we get water to them no matter

[35:42] what. So,

[35:44] >> oh

[35:45] >> it's a thing for our water tank. Yep.

[35:48] So, they're doing a water tank and one

[35:50] more. So, what about if someone wants to

[35:52] build 500 houses? Now, are we promised

[35:55] we have to do all that as well?

[35:57] >> It's a very

[36:00] >> a good question.

[36:00] >> It's a good question because yes,

[36:03] legally legally a town, a water company

[36:07] has to provide people with water. If you

[36:10] have it, if you have water rights,

[36:12] legally you have to provide it.

[36:15] With that being said, I fight it all I

[36:16] can and there's gray areas and stuff

[36:18] like that, but ultimately I've been told

[36:20] if we go to court, we would probably

[36:21] lose. Um, but a lot of them are willing

[36:24] to help you bring water in from other

[36:26] sources. Um, but the state's not

[36:30] >> We talked about every source we got.

[36:32] >> I know. I know. Trust me, I'm I'm

[36:34] >> We do have a limit.

[36:35] >> So, the state is not very supportive of

[36:39] anti-growth people.

[36:40] >> There's just not

[36:42] >> I get that. That's why we're in a state

[36:44] of emergency. And you'll go town still

[36:45] building to find water and then we have

[36:48] to guarantee water to

[36:50] >> the good news that I always say. Here's

[36:52] the good news is here's what I always

[36:53] say. Within the last 50 years, I don't

[36:56] want to go back a 100 years to a ghost

[36:57] town. Does anybody know anywhere in our

[36:59] country that a town or city's ever ran

[37:01] out of water?

[37:04] >> I don't know of anywhere. So, you don't

[37:06] run out of water. this ultimately the

[37:08] state

[37:10] >> ultimately the state is not going to let

[37:12] a town run out of water.

[37:14] >> And my belief, this is my belief, the

[37:16] ultimate the state's not going to let us

[37:18] run out of water if they got to go down

[37:19] to

[37:21] uh St. George and steal water and bring

[37:23] a pipe up here. I don't know. But

[37:25] ultimately, I've never heard and if you

[37:27] do I even did an internet search, I

[37:29] couldn't find of any towns other than,

[37:30] you know, ghost towns a long time ago

[37:32] that have let ran out of water and went

[37:34] away, gone down for a few days. that

[37:37] think a water truck the water

[37:38] >> I mean was there five people in the town

[37:40] as a water truck won't do nothing

[37:41] >> the people

[37:43] >> I I should say of any significance I

[37:45] mean if you have three people in a town

[37:46] and it ran our water maybe but

[37:48] >> couple years ago

[37:49] >> the water tank will do nothing for us to

[37:50] bring a water tank it would wouldn't

[37:51] even last a millisecond so um yeah I've

[37:55] never seen one so that's the that's the

[37:56] silver lining I guess I just think you

[37:58] know but ultimately

[38:01] as we get these $2 million grants and

[38:03] stuff like that they throw money at

[38:05] things

[38:05] >> and that's awesome some

[38:08] when you first said that Mike like

[38:10] [clears throat]

[38:11] are we going to spend $2 million with

[38:13] somebody going that's where I won't

[38:15] spend $2 million right there you know

[38:18] >> yep

[38:18] >> that's not being funny I'm serious it's

[38:20] like um

[38:22] >> so

[38:23] like I'm in the discussion

[38:25] >> one more go ahead

[38:26] >> question is so when we run out of water

[38:28] and hire this well drilling company to

[38:31] go out there and stuff

[38:34] being the construction stuff like that.

[38:37] You got guys go and drill the well. Do

[38:39] they have some agency? Are they a

[38:42] contractor that's known to know

[38:45] about Apple Valley? They got the knowhow

[38:48] or they just guys to punch a hole in the

[38:50] ground wherever you tell them to.

[38:52] >> Some Some will have some will have

[38:53] knowhow. The guys that we hired.

[38:55] >> Yeah.

[38:55] >> Oh, they had a lot of knowledge. Yeah.

[38:56] They drilled the well. They drilled the

[38:58] pivot that that took our water.

[38:59] >> Well, I know. [laughter]

[39:02] So, yes, they they were very good. Okay.

[39:04] In fact, uh, if I would tell, and I

[39:06] don't use the club business, but Cluck

[39:07] Drilling, if anybody needs to drill

[39:09] well, they they literally, we're going

[39:11] to get into this later, we had quote

[39:13] from them for almost $140,000 to drill a

[39:15] new well, and he screwed himself. I

[39:18] should watch, sorry for my language, he

[39:19] screwed himself out of that deal. He

[39:21] didn't get to drill a new well by saving

[39:22] us money and fixing our well. So, very

[39:25] good guy, very honest, hardworking. They

[39:27] were out there all night. Changed family

[39:29] plans.

[39:30] >> Total respect for Club. Joe was amazing.

[39:32] He really was. one story real quick. I'm

[39:35] at Melba a week before we had a water

[39:38] problem and I I drove out of town

[39:41] before this all happened. I was out of

[39:43] town and all this happened. I could shut

[39:45] my water off. I'm I'm out of town. But

[39:47] I'm at the mailbox. I talked to two

[39:49] residents and I haven't been to these

[39:50] meetings for a while, but I've been

[39:52] watching Justin drilling the well

[39:54] alongside the highway. They stopped a

[39:57] week, then they start drilling again.

[40:01] Something's going on with this. I'm

[40:03] pondering this. This is before anybody

[40:06] told me that we had a water problem or

[40:08] facing one and I'm going something's not

[40:11] good here. So I asked the other

[40:14] residents

[40:17] one thing was have we got back results

[40:20] for aqua per study. Both of them told me

[40:23] yes it's on the Apple Valley website.

[40:26] >> The old one is from 2015.

[40:28] >> Yeah the one the old one ate 10

[40:29] >> and it's not going to be it. that one

[40:31] from 2015. You can read it and it's

[40:33] going to be pretty. They don't change a

[40:34] lot, but

[40:35] >> we started one a year ago, though,

[40:36] right? We've been

[40:37] >> Yeah. Yeah. No, no, no. Yep. I've got

[40:38] the preliminary report. We a verbal.

[40:40] It's not written.

[40:41] >> I remember that.

[40:43] >> No, we have not got it yet. It's

[40:44] supposed to have it within a month now.

[40:46] >> So, they were misinformed. The other one

[40:48] was go,

[40:49] >> why why is Justin drilling a well along

[40:52] the road there?

[40:54] >> What do you mean?

[40:55] >> Oh, we were told that he needed to move

[40:57] his well.

[40:59] Can you drill deeper?

[41:00] >> You have two residents so misinformed.

[41:03] >> Oh, trust me, there's a lot more than

[41:05] two spent

[41:07] move a 30 ft.

[41:09] >> There's a lot more than two people

[41:10] misinformed. Unfortunately, I get people

[41:12] I half the critic 90% of the criticism I

[41:15] get is always bad information. people if

[41:18] you could and even when I tell people

[41:20] there's still I could we and you could

[41:21] go back to my office for the next week

[41:23] and I could just flood you with

[41:25] information that all this stuff I have

[41:27] to process and I mean that's all I might

[41:29] it's like being an how much I hate this

[41:32] misinformation and I know better believe

[41:35] it

[41:35] >> yes I appreciate that because I won't

[41:37] lie to you guys I'll tell you and I try

[41:39] to do this as often as I can on social

[41:41] media as much as I used to be because

[41:43] I'm out here in the sun all day drilling

[41:45] wells and I'm trying to get stuff done.

[41:47] But I do my best to keep you guys and I

[41:49] will not lie to you guys. Will not

[41:51] >> question.

[41:52] >> Yes, sir. And then I'll jump online. I

[41:54] think I got one.

[41:55] >> Is Hillale in Colorado City

[41:58] having water problems too like us?

[42:00] >> Everybody in the state had water

[42:01] problems.

[42:01] >> State they've been working on theirs for

[42:04] even before we got started over the last

[42:07] water.

[42:08] >> They've had a bunch more well pushing.

[42:10] The good thing is they have that that

[42:12] creek creek up there and they do have

[42:14] springs up there, but everybody's going

[42:16] through the water problems and they have

[42:18] they used to have well problems where

[42:19] they would go have to do water

[42:20] conservation when the wells went down.

[42:22] It used to be a little worse than ours

[42:23] because the wells I don't know about the

[42:25] actual aquafer but the aquifer they're

[42:27] sitting on is supposedly comes all the

[42:28] way over here. It's huge. That's where

[42:30] we were drilled into a Cedar Point, that

[42:32] aquifer, but we got the radio. So we

[42:34] knew if we drilled anywhere around Cedar

[42:36] Point, the odds were very high we'll get

[42:39] radio. We're not going to go back there

[42:40] and drill now. We're hoping to come this

[42:42] way just east of Main Street and try to

[42:44] get away fur f far f far f far f far f far f far f far

[42:45] farther away from Cedar Point and not

[42:47] have radium. But there's there's a

[42:49] chance we could drill down and have

[42:50] radium. Now the the geologist USGS says

[42:54] there's no more odds of us hitting

[42:56] radium there than anywhere else just

[42:57] because there was radium in Cedar Point.

[42:59] We're far enough away that that

[43:01] shouldn't affect because the water

[43:02] doesn't have radium. The dirt has radium

[43:04] and it goes into the water. just start

[43:05] one more and then I'm gonna go.

[43:06] >> Uh so in the future now

[43:10] I know you sent out emails.

[43:13] >> Are you going to continue that if we

[43:15] have emergencies where we have to come

[43:16] back on water?

[43:17] >> Yeah we'll do we'll always send emails

[43:19] once we get the water conservation plan

[43:20] in place we'll send it out in in regular

[43:22] mail. The best form of communication in

[43:25] my mind I know some people don't like

[43:26] social media that's fine is signing up

[43:28] for the text. I try to put everything on

[43:30] the text too

[43:31] >> and I know a lot of people have said

[43:33] that's great. I think just about

[43:34] everybody texts. Um I don't spam it. We

[43:37] don't go on there and just I try to only

[43:40] I can do it. Nobody else. I'm the only

[43:41] person has access and I try to keep it

[43:43] that way. So we keep the min I I kind of

[43:45] watch what we send so you're not getting

[43:47] hit with a bunch of stuff and that is

[43:49] the best way. I truly believe

[43:50] >> last one I saw seven o'clock Saturday

[43:54] week and go back watering and stuff.

[43:56] >> Yeah, that was the last one I said.

[43:57] >> If anybody needs help signing up with

[43:59] the text messages, I can definitely help

[44:01] them.

[44:02] >> Anybody else? So, we can get out. I got

[44:05] one person on the line and I know

[44:06] Peter's going to have a a long- winded

[44:08] one. So, if there's anybody with a short

[44:10] question. Nope.

[44:10] >> Not everybody has text and email.

[44:13] >> Yes, ma'am.

[44:13] >> I have a question. Does anybody else's

[44:15] water smell like garbage and just smells

[44:18] so horrible and I I never seen drink it

[44:22] >> just recently?

[44:23] >> Yeah.

[44:23] >> No, it's been going on for a while.

[44:26] >> Like, what do you mean the whole time?

[44:27] Like the last few weeks or years?

[44:29] >> No, just since salt this situation. So,

[44:32] we drilled down so we got down so deep

[44:35] we've hit water that hasn't probably

[44:36] been utilized in a while and you'll get

[44:38] some sulfur smell to it. Um, the first

[44:41] day I had a few people saying they smell

[44:43] sulfur, but they said it went away

[44:44] quickly. As we cycle through the water,

[44:46] as it gets to the tank and different

[44:48] stuff, the smell will go away. It's

[44:49] perfectly safe. There's nothing wrong

[44:51] with it. It meets all state guidelines.

[44:53] Sulfur smell is just a cosmetic thing.

[44:56] Yeah, I agree it doesn't smell great,

[44:57] but uh it will clear up. I don't I can't

[44:59] tell you it's going to clear up tomorrow

[45:01] or a week or a month, but it will clear

[45:03] up.

[45:03] >> I scared to drink.

[45:04] >> No, no, you can drink it. I promise you.

[45:06] I would not lie to you. I'm drinking it

[45:08] right now. This is what I don't you

[45:09] know, this is what I drink. It's

[45:12] >> Nope. You're good. It's just It might

[45:13] just have a sulfur smell to it and it

[45:15] should be going away. I've heard a lot

[45:16] of people tell me it's getting better

[45:17] and better. Some people say it

[45:18] completely went away. Okay, Peter

[45:21] online. Peter has his hand up.

[45:25] Let's unmute Peter and see if he's still

[45:27] there.

[45:31] muted on his end. No, there you go. Go

[45:33] ahead.

[45:34] >> Yeah. Yeah. It's good to speak with you

[45:36] again.

[45:37] >> Thank you.

[45:38] >> Do you hear?

[45:39] >> See you. Good to see you, Gloria.

[45:41] >> Yes. Yeah. Well, I I must I must say the

[45:45] water looked really good today. Um, I

[45:49] filled up my poor man's swimming pool

[45:52] and uh it's a cattle cattle trough. You

[45:57] know, I'm I'm I'm trying to move things

[46:01] into a little bit of a lighter heart,

[46:04] but can uh my question is can we get a

[46:08] commitment from our town reps to

[46:11] preserve

[46:13] the assets, the commons, the water that

[46:17] we have for the people that have already

[46:19] committed to live here. And um that

[46:23] would be that'd be fabulous because I

[46:26] know this is a beautiful place and

[46:28] developers would love to Excuse

[46:33] me. Sorry. Um you're going to have to

[46:36] delete that. Um they would love to, you

[46:41] know, we could condize this area, but

[46:45] you got to be you you got to work within

[46:49] the resources we have. So, can we get a

[46:52] commitment from our town reps, the town

[46:55] council, your planning commission that

[47:00] we're a little bit limited, aren't we?

[47:03] >> You know, I don't think there's been an

[47:05] administration in this town that fights

[47:07] the growth more than our planning

[47:09] commission and our current council.

[47:11] >> I know.

[47:12] >> And I appreciate that.

[47:13] >> The only thing we can't promise is stuff

[47:15] that was approved in the past. If

[47:17] they've done a zone change, there is

[47:19] nothing we can do about it. And

[47:20] including water. Water is not an excuse.

[47:23] Unfortunately, for according to the

[47:25] state legislature, water is not an

[47:27] excuse to not grow.

[47:29] >> Like it or not, makes sense or not, I'm

[47:31] [laughter] with you. But that's the fact

[47:34] is that's not an excuse not to grow. So

[47:37] change has been done. There's not a lot

[47:39] we can do. I continue to fight it. Um

[47:42] we, you know, lawsuits may come from it.

[47:44] I don't know. I'll do everything I can

[47:46] to protect it. If I get us in a lawsuit

[47:48] over protecting our water, as long as

[47:50] you guys agree with me and you have my

[47:51] back, I'll I'll do it and we'll fight

[47:53] and I'm not as scared to fight with

[47:54] anybody. Uh, and I'll do it. So, that's

[47:56] my commitment. I I'm sure that they're

[47:58] pretty much feel the same way. Um, but I

[48:00] think they're we all live here and we're

[48:02] all protecting it the same way. We have

[48:04] our investments here. We live here. But,

[48:06] yeah. Um, you know, you guys know how I

[48:08] felt coming in. I didn't want to change

[48:09] nothing about Apple Valley. I guess some

[48:11] people said, "Come in and shut the door

[48:13] behind you." Yeah, I guess I'm guilty.

[48:15] Yeah, I would have loved to have done

[48:16] that. I know it's not realistic, but I

[48:18] would have loved to have done that. So,

[48:19] yeah,

[48:20] >> I'm I'm just saying that, you know, the

[48:23] resource

[48:24] >> there's a limit.

[48:27] >> You know, um

[48:28] >> Yep.

[48:29] >> We we agree with you, Peter.

[48:31] >> We agree with you 100%. We'll do what we

[48:33] can.

[48:35] >> We too that everybody in this community

[48:37] should

[48:37] >> It's a lovely place. I would love to

[48:40] have everybody come here and live here

[48:43] and enjoy what I have enjoyed for 23

[48:46] years. Um, and

[48:49] >> not me, I'm stingy.

[48:51] >> Um, Zion National Park is a nice Zion

[48:55] National Park is a nice place to have in

[48:58] your backyard. So,

[49:00] >> yes, it is. It's a beautiful place. I

[49:02] agree with you. Oh, uh,

[49:03] >> fight every day to protect it. And, and

[49:05] yeah, I I, uh, in fact, if you don't

[49:08] know already, I'll go ahead and tell you

[49:10] we were served with Travis Holmes

[49:11] lawsuit, um, a few days ago. I don't

[49:14] think it's public knowledge yet, but it

[49:16] is now. I just told you guys. So, we

[49:17] have been served with the lawsuit that

[49:19] we had that I said was just a threat

[49:21] because we haven't been served. We've

[49:22] actually been served now. So, yes, we do

[49:24] everything we can, including getting in

[49:26] lawsuits to protect the water and

[49:28] protect the growth. So, um, as long as

[49:30] you guys support that, I'll keep doing

[49:32] it. Um, and we'll we'll fight them.

[49:35] We'll go to court and we'll fight

[49:36] people. I mean, I know what's right and

[49:38] we'll fight for you guys. So,

[49:40] >> anybody else?

[49:42] >> Yes, sir.

[49:43] >> Doesn't the city have the right to

[49:47] make developers when they come in bring

[49:49] some water with them?

[49:52] >> They can. They have to bring in water

[49:54] rights. But, but remember, water rights

[49:56] don't mean there's water. So,

[49:58] >> so yes, we can require we can we have

[50:00] the option of making them purchase some

[50:02] from us if we have extra

[50:04] >> or they have to bring in their water

[50:05] rights.

[50:06] >> There still got to be water.

[50:06] >> But you still got to have water. Yes,

[50:08] sir. You know, but you are correct.

[50:11] >> Real quick, did that land sell that the

[50:14] farmer lease

[50:18] >> last two weeks ago or a week ago? We had

[50:21] heard that just that day there was a new

[50:24] owner. Yeah, it got Yeah, there's that's

[50:26] what we were saying earlier. He Travis

[50:27] lost the property. There's a new owner.

[50:29] It didn't sell. It was foreclosed, if

[50:32] you want to say that way. Repossessed.

[50:33] Yeah. Okay.

[50:34] >> So, there's a new owner. Now, the new

[50:36] owner is sending it to auction uh as a

[50:39] foreclosure. And the reason he's doing

[50:40] that is that will clear all the loans on

[50:42] it because Travis took out after he he

[50:46] went and got more loans on the property.

[50:48] And so, when those guys take it, they

[50:50] have to assume those loans. But if you

[50:51] go through the foreclosure process,

[50:53] unfortunately those people that loan

[50:54] millions of dollars to Travis lose

[50:56] everything. There's there's no recovery

[50:58] because they're not the senior leanh

[50:59] holders. So this will clear the land and

[51:00] they'll own it free and clear. They are

[51:02] not developers. They're investors. They

[51:04] will sell the property.

[51:06] >> So [clears throat] it doesn't mean

[51:07] everything's

[51:09] done and over. But

[51:11] >> and do we have to go with the halfacre

[51:14] lots or whatever the zoning?

[51:16] >> I don't know yet. I mean, we're

[51:18] >> we're we're going to I'm sure we're

[51:19] going to wind up in court over some of

[51:20] this, and that's not our plan. No, no,

[51:23] they we voided those DAs. And that's

[51:25] what I thought we did.

[51:26] >> So, yeah, we we've

[51:28] >> Yes. I can't say too much about it.

[51:29] Okay.

[51:30] >> But, yep, we're fighting it. So, okay

[51:32] guys, with that, we are going to close

[51:34] that out. And if you guys online don't

[51:36] want to stay around for the last two

[51:38] little portion of this, you guys want to

[51:39] leave, that's fine. We're just going to

[51:41] go into our meeting for our budgets and

[51:44] stuff like that.

[51:45] the audio which is the break phone

[51:48] because I can't hear the line.

[51:49] >> Yeah. So, if you guys want to talk, you

[51:50] can go outside and talk, but she has to

[51:52] be able to hear the recording for our

[51:53] official meeting.

[51:57] » Trisha,

[51:58] >> we have to be quiet because she has to

[51:59] be able to hear. If you guys want to

[52:00] talk, go outside, talk all you want. The

[52:02] meeting's over. We're just going to do

[52:04] uh town council stuff now.

[52:05] >> You have a public hearing though.

[52:07] >> Yep.

[52:08] >> So, now I'm going to open up public

[52:11] comments. Three minutes each. If anybody

[52:12] has any comments that are not about that

[52:14] water stuff we just went over, I I guess

[52:17] you can't comment on that, but we're not

[52:18] going to answer questions. Anybody

[52:20] online? Anybody in the audience? Nope.

[52:24] Okay, I'm going to close out the public

[52:25] comment. We're going to roll into public

[52:27] hearing for item number two, resolution

[52:29] R-20226-2024.

[52:31] I'm sorry, let me do that. Item number

[52:33] two, resolution R-20226-24,

[52:36] adopting the fiscal year 2027 budget.

[52:40] Any comments online? Anybody in the

[52:43] audience?

[52:45] Nope. Okay, I'm going to close the

[52:47] public hearing for item number two,

[52:48] resolution R-2026-24,

[52:50] adopting the fiscal year 2027 budget.

[52:53] Going to roll into discussion and

[52:54] action. Item number three, resolution

[52:56] R-2026-24,

[52:58] adopting the fiscal year 2027 budget.

[53:00] Nothing changed since you guys saw it

[53:02] last. We made zero changes. There was no

[53:05] comments. There was nothing. So, it just

[53:06] stayed exactly how it is. So, now we

[53:08] just have to make final approval. So, it

[53:10] goes into effect tomorrow morning.

[53:15] Just if you guys got any questions about

[53:16] it, but like I said, nothing changed

[53:18] from our last meeting.

[53:19] >> I'm make a motion we approve resolution,

[53:24] excuse me R-2026-4

[53:27] adopting fiscal year 2027.

[53:30] Second

[53:30] >> roll call vote.

[53:32] >> Got the other I s I

[53:34] >> Mike Ferrar I have I

[53:36] >> Richard Palmer I

[53:37] >> motion carries

[53:39] >> on item number four resolution R-2026-23

[53:44] declaring a water supply emergency and

[53:46] authorizing emergency expenditures.

[53:49] Now let me tell you guys what's going on

[53:51] here.

[53:52] So, the original quote was to $130,000

[53:58] to drill a new well and then $25,000 to

[54:02] clean the merit well um to get it up and

[54:05] running. So, we had to clean the merit

[54:07] well, get it up and running to hopefully

[54:09] hold this over with water and then drill

[54:11] a new well we thought next to it. And

[54:13] then we were still going to have to

[54:14] blast the Gregerson well. So, uh, we

[54:17] were able to get to the bottom of the

[54:19] merit well, clear it, get the get the

[54:21] casing down there, so we didn't have to

[54:22] drill a new well. So, we could

[54:23] eliminate, I quote, $130,000 quote, but

[54:27] we still had to blast out the two wells.

[54:29] We're into this for about $70,000 for

[54:32] the drilling. We're into this for about

[54:35] $25,000 for the pump company that did

[54:38] the pump and the motor and pulled

[54:40] everything out. We're still waiting. Oh,

[54:43] I had to buy a shipping container

[54:44] because we had to tear down the

[54:45] buildings to drill deep to get the drill

[54:47] rig in there. We bought a shipping

[54:48] container with 4,000. So, we're right

[54:51] about 100,000 right there. The only

[54:53] things that are still outstanding is the

[54:56] electrician and the Kada guy, which are

[54:58] going to be some pretty heavy costs. I

[55:00] estimated this whole thing um at less

[55:02] than $150,000 or less. I have applied

[55:06] for

[55:08] state emergency funding with the

[55:11] I could remember the department um but

[55:13] it's the emergency state of emergency

[55:15] with the with the state. Technically

[55:18] these are kind of not eligible for that

[55:21] but they're trying to help us. They're

[55:22] looking at a gray area. It's going to

[55:24] the governor's desk. Um, so we're

[55:26] looking to get some relief there, but

[55:29] ultimately if we do not, ultimately the

[55:31] town is responsible for these charges

[55:33] and I'll figure out how to pay for

[55:35] everything. Um, but what the resolution

[55:38] is, I know Kevin was suggesting question

[55:39] is just

[55:41] basically approving these emergency

[55:43] expenditures.

[55:45] Um, and

[55:47] >> I guess my biggest question is where are

[55:49] these funds coming from? How can we

[55:51] afford to take care of this? And also, I

[55:54] just want to make sure that I'm looking

[55:56] at this $200,000

[55:59] merit authorized. Are we approving you

[56:02] to authorize an emergency spender of

[56:04] $200,000 at this meeting right now?

[56:07] >> Yes.

[56:08] >> Okay. And is that like a one-time thing

[56:10] or to come to council? We need to all be

[56:13] involved in it or is this something that

[56:14] you do on your own?

[56:19] » Yes, this is an emergency situation that

[56:22] we are authorizing. I'm trying to

[56:27] » No, this is the one time deal

[56:30] council part

[56:32] in the future with somebody else where

[56:34] we don't

[56:35] >> Yeah. Yeah. Remember and and I

[56:37] >> need to stay within.

[56:38] >> Yep. And I agree. And and remember every

[56:40] anything we change I do keep a log of

[56:42] and if if uh at some point we think

[56:45] we're going away, we want to change

[56:47] something, we can but the next council

[56:49] will change it back. But um

[56:52] >> those uh until the emergency condition

[56:54] has been mitigated.

[56:55] >> Yeah, that's what this says. And and I

[56:57] try and I and I tried to bring it to

[56:58] council as soon as I can. We actually

[57:00] were going to do this something sooner,

[57:02] but we knew we had this on Tuesday. But

[57:04] yeah, I mean honestly,

[57:06] even if I can't, I'm not going to lie to

[57:08] you guys. I'm going to do it. I'm not

[57:09] going to let my town run out of water.

[57:11] >> Got to do it.

[57:11] >> I mean, the same as I told the state,

[57:13] I'd rather ask for forgiveness than

[57:14] permission. When they were sapping about

[57:16] the permits and all this stuff, I said I always told you guys the state, I

[57:19] won't do something without your per

[57:21] without telling you, but I'm not waiting

[57:22] for permission. I'm telling you, this is

[57:24] what we're doing. And uh I promised you

[57:27] I'd tell you. But yeah, ultimately, I

[57:29] mean, I'll try to get a meeting as

[57:30] quickly as I possibly can and get you

[57:32] guys involved. Um, but yeah, ultimately,

[57:35] just like the last few days, I mean, I

[57:37] know you know, Kevin, because you're

[57:38] here. Um, yeah, I wasn't sleeping. I was

[57:41] out there. If I wasn't in here on

[57:43] conference zooms or shooting emails, I

[57:45] was out there at the well site um

[57:48] drilling wells and stuff. Yep.

[57:50] >> Yep. So yeah, I've uh I've uh

[57:55] overstepped my purchasing power on this

[57:57] one. So like I said, I'm going to ask

[58:00] for forgiveness instead of permission.

[58:02] Um

[58:03] >> well, as we approve resolution RS2026-23

[58:07] declaring a waters by emergency

[58:09] authorizing emergency inspectors. Just

[58:11] before we vote on that,

[58:14] >> thank you. I just want to make sure we

[58:16] all understand what we're handing over

[58:18] here is temporary, but it could go long

[58:21] term. I'll be honest with you, I for the

[58:23] most part don't question anything the

[58:25] mayor's ever done because everything

[58:26] I've ever been involved in, it's been

[58:28] 100%. And I believe this will be the

[58:31] same way. But I still need to bring it

[58:32] up

[58:34] >> that we understand what we're doing

[58:35] >> for sure. Absolutely. Okay.

[58:37] >> Motion on the table. We're just waiting

[58:38] for a second.

[58:39] >> Second.

[58:41] Who' you get Jenna?

[58:42] >> Richard got roll call vote.

[58:46] >> Mike Far.

[58:48] >> Richard.

[58:50] >> Motion carries. We don't need a close

[58:52] session. If someone wants a motion here.

[58:57] » All in favor?

[58:58] >> Motion carries. Meeting adjourned.

[59:01] I take a few.

6 30 26 Special Town Council Hearing and Meeting Video

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