| A 60-ton crane lowers a set of pre-constructed restrooms at the Gigliotti Fishing Pond in Helper. The costs of purchasing the restroom facilities for the pond were funded with $26,000 in restaurant tax monies from Carbon County. |
It was freezing cold last Friday and the snow was beginning to fall. Something else also fell into place in Carbon County.
A new set of pre-built restrooms, constructed of formed concrete, wood, metal and plastic was delivered to the Gigliotti Fishing Pond in Helper on Friday morning.
Built in Spokane, Wash., the structure was removed from a flatbed truck and put in place by a 60-ton crane.
Funded with $26,000 in restaurant tax monies from Carbon government, the restrooms were approved for purchase when Ross Gigliotti, who is leasing the property the pond is located on to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources for 20 years, donated the land for the restrooms to the county.
Last summer was the first time that the pond was opened and, despite several setbacks, it proved popular.
However, facilities for sanitation were lacking at the site and officials were concerned about the situation.
The Division of Wildlife Resources applied for restaurant tax funds, but the state agency was told by the Carbon Commission that, unless project organizers could put the improvement on public land, the county could not legally give the DWR the money to fund the restrooms.
Officials from the state agency approached Gigliotti and the local resident agreed to donate the property so the restroom facilities could be funded at the fishing pond.
“This is a good addition to the pond,” said Louis Berg, DWR aquatics manager for the Carbon County area. “We are happy it has arrived.”
The truck hauling the pre-constructed building showed up around 9:30 a.m. accompanied by a crane from Salt Lake.
It took the crew about an hour and a half to get the truck and the machine into position and rigged up and then the crane picked up the 44,000 pound building and placed it in the predetermined spot, near the entrance to the pond.
The site had been prepared by DWR personnel. The plumbing for the restrooms had already been placed by Helper city and Price River Water Improvement District personnel.
“We had the plans to the building and they had to place the plumbing just right so the building could be put right over it,” said Berg.
Crews from all the agencies were on hand last Friday in the event adjustments needed to be made.
“Once the building is set in place, the company that sold it to us will set it up and winterize it,” said Berg. “Then it will be opened and prepared for use in the spring.”
The new facilities feature two uni-sex restrooms. The restrooms also have two drinking fountains on the front of the building, one for adults and a lower one for children and for individuals who may visit the fishing pond in wheel chairs.
The pond in Helper may not be the last one put in Carbon County.
The DWR is looking to locate another fishing pond near Price, either within the city limits or on ground near the county fairgrounds.
There has also been speculation about putting a fishing pond in Wellington at some point in the future.