RICHMOND — City Council spent time approving an array of local building-use requests at its recent meeting, with nearly a full-room turnout.

A request to use the Community Building for routine “musician get-togethers” was passed unanimously.“It isn’t a show for bands to come and play and people to come and watch. It’s for people to come together and play music,” local Howard Iverson said. “Younger folk can come play with us older musicians. It’s fun and an opportunity for the young musicians around here.”

Iverson said the events would be absolutely free. When Councilwoman Terrie Wierenga expressed concern about clean-up, Iverson promised his extra time to tidying any mess. “I am a very clean person,” he said. Six years ago, Iverson worked on a similar community music project that was successful, so the council had little to question.

The project will be a bi-weekly community event, and the council granted Iverson a fee-waiver, to allow use of the building for free. Musical meetings will begin in upcoming months.

Star Trek enthusiasts and film-maker “wannabes” also gained permission to use the Community Building theater to mobilize their written scripts from paper to screen. Marla Trowbridge, from Trenton, and Stewart Hunsaker, Smithfield, presented their plan to utilize the local theater to increase the production value of their films. “We do have one film under our belt,” Hunsaker said. “With this building, we can build a couple of sets, and film what we need to film.”

In return for free use of the building, Trowbridge shared how valuable she believed “sweat equity” to be. “We spend a lot of time cleaning up and improving the space we use,” she said. The duo also invited Mayor Mike Hall to appear in their short film, as thanks for approving their request to use the theater. Filming will begin in early May.

The council also approved the 12,000-square-foot renovation of and addition to the old Pet Milk/WDCI factory for commercial warehousing, after an hour-long discussion. The conditional use permit was passed unanimously.

With the help of Fire Marshal Jason Winn of Cache County Fire District, the council formulated a specific set of stipulations at the meeting, which must be met before occupational use of the Pet Milk building is allowed. These conditions include:

• improvements made to the water line running across Main Street to 200 South.
• a 20 ft.-wide passage way to the building for fire vehicles, and a turn-around amounting to a 60-ft. radius, seasoned with all-weather pavement.
• installation of two fire hydrants within 450 feet of the building, with available water flow of 2,250 gallons per minute for two hours.
• disconnection of the existing sewer line, and installation of a private sewer lateral connecting to the city’s main sewer line

According to the council, no business except for warehousing will take place within the specified space of improvements, and said warehousing will only include “dead storage.” In other words, no animals, no active ingredients, and no hazardous matter will be stored within the warehouse.

Published in cooperation with the Hard News Cafe. Original story is here.