Washington City year-in-review: Nearly 1,000 pounds of drugs seized, lots of new homes and more public parks

WASHINGTON CITY — More firemen, new parks in time for spring and about a half-ton of illegal drugs seized by Washington City police officers were among the end-of-the-year highlights presented to Washington City council members Wednesday.

Washington City Council members and car dealership representatives break ground for the Sienna Hills Auto Mall, Washington City, Utah, Sept. 16, 2022 | Photo by Truman Burgess, St. George News

Managers from all Washington City departments addressed the council at the request of Mayor Kress Staheli, who wanted city leaders to be more informed about 2022 achievements.

“It was important to me that the council, this governing body, be up-to-date and informed about all the various departments within the city,” he said.

Community development

Drew Ellerman, director of community development, said Washington experienced its second largest year of expansion by issuing 796 residential home building permits in 2022.

“The record before that, the prior year, was 923,” he said. “You put those two numbers together and we have had over 1,700 new homes in two years — that’s a lot of homes.”

Homeowners in Washington aren’t slowing down on home improvements either, Ellerman said, with 1,346 total permits issued for projects like swimming pools or home additions. This is also the second most issued by the building department, with 1,465 granted in 2021.

A local swims in the natural spring at The Boilers park, Washington City, June 23, 2022 | Photo by Truman Burgess

Leisure services

The city will have new “major league baseball” quality lights for their fields just in time for the Little League season, Barry Blake, director of leisure services, reported.

His staff also has been working through the past year to complete two new parks. Sunrise Valley Park, a multiple-use park, is expected to be completed in April. An addition to the existing city-owned dog park is slated to open in June, giving residents more room for their pets to roam in a dog-friendly environment.

Police department

Police officers removed 837 pounds of illegal drugs from the streets, mostly from Interstate 15, said Washington City Police Chief Jason Williams.

In terms of pounds, police seized 330 of methamphetamine, 462.5 of marijuana, 32 of cocaine, 13 of fentanyl and 9,761 cartridges filled with liquid tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC. Officers also turned over $92,500 in cash seized during their investigations involving narcotics in the past year, some of which could possibly be given back for community drug and policing programs once the money is “processed through the court system.”

More than 14 pounds of suspected cocaine is recovered during traffic stop on northbound Interstate 15 near mile marker 13 in Washington City, Utah, Sept. 5, 2022 | Photo courtesy of the Washington City Police Department, St. George News

Several officers also received “ABLE training” in 2022, the chief told the council, with training for more officers already planned.

After the meeting, Williams told St. George News that Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement training is a project of the Innovative Policing Program developed at Georgetown Law.

After past events involving police conduct being questioned by the media and the public in other police forces across the country, such as the George Floyd case, he wanted Washington City officers to receive education on misconduct reporting and other innovative community policing methods.

“This will help to mitigate police misconduct and help to preserve that community trust,” he said.

Fire department

Fire Chief Matt Evans said plans for a new fire station south of Washington are being made for 2023. The fire department also bought a new ladder truck last year and hired three new firefighters.

Although the department experienced an increase in calls, with 2,675, property damages from disasters the fire department responded to decreased by $1.1 million from the previous year.

Bret Henderson, elected to the Washington City Council in 2021, ended the meeting saying he gained a new level of respect for city employees during his first year on the job.

“One of the things I’ve recognized is the quality of the employees of Washington City,” he said. “I had no idea the general quality of employees was so good, and that starts with our city manager and all of our department heads, all the way down to the employees. I am pleased by the high quality of all our employees.”

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

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!