Council tables breakwater/flood‑control pit decision, asks staff for bids and feasibility

Parowan — Council members on Jan. 8 continued a months‑long discussion about the city’s breakwater flood‑control/sediment pit and directed staff to assemble more information before deciding a course of action.

Staff summarized three options: 1) minimal action (process staged material for riprap and address immediate flood capacity needs); 2) solicit bids under a model similar to Cedar City’s recent contract where a contractor removes and shapes detention basins in exchange for the material (referred to in discussion as the “Phil Schmidt” plan); and 3) operate the site as an enterprise fund, purchasing equipment to process material over a multiyear program and using material for city projects as in‑kind match for grants.

Council members raised operational questions about long‑term maintenance, the composition of staged material (clay, sand, boulders and debris requiring screening and crushing), permitting constraints (current ordinance permits citizen self‑collection), permitting and enforcement, the city’s capacity to run a processing operation given public‑works priorities, and whether the city’s public‑works staff could spare the labor hours required.

Council agreed to seek a feasibility study, sample bid agreements (including what Cedar City used for its Coal Creek detention basins), and cost estimates for equipment, fuel and staffing. A motion to table the decision until the next meeting to gather those materials passed with no opposition.

What happens next: Staff will compile bid language, Cedar City contract examples and feasibility analyses for council review at the next meeting.