In 1998 when the city of East Carbon struck a deal with what was then Penta Creek to close off access to public land near Grassy Trail Reservoir, the move was controversial.
It is no less so today as some residents of the county think that access to 2,400 acres of public land near in the area should be restored.
“What I am here today to ask is that you open the gate so that this land can now be accessed,” said Marcus Palacios of East Carbon as he addressed the Carbon County Commission on Oct. 1 at their regular meeting.
The situation began when Penta Creek and the Magnificent Seven wanted to purchase several parcels of land around the area of the reservoir in 1996. During the ensuing two years East Carbon filed a lawsuit against the company based on the fact the city’s water supply is located in the area and the private entities wanted to close off access to the reservoir.
The deal to settle the lawsuit, as was reported in the Sun Advocate on June 25, 1998, stated that the company would “convey by quit claim deed all of the rights, title and interest and to Grassy Trail Reservoir in Sunnyside Canyon.” The agreement also granted an easement across the privately owned land for the city to get into the reservoir to do maintenance and repairs on the dam and waterworks.
However the deal also ended the right of the public to access the reservoir and use it for recreation and in addition the pubic land that was near the reservoir was locked up by a gate placed across Whitmore Canyon Road to keep people other than city workers out.
However, the road was considered by the county, to be a county road at the time. Penta Creek had installed a gate sometime in 1996 and a few months later the county came in and removed the gate. In the agreement the gate that was installed later was to be “installed at a location to be determined by Penta Creek and was to be no lower than the fork in the road…”
“The city was pressured into closing that road,” Palacios told the commission. “Penta Creek bullied the city into the agreement. The reason given was contamination of the water but it was really so the Magnificent Seven could make the land purchase.”
He pointed out that it was somewhat unclear where the gate should be placed and where it was put created the problem.
At the time of the closure there had been problems with the reservoir in terms of public use. Vandalism, littering and other kinds of things were a problem at the water hole. However the Division of Wildlife Management at the time was against the closure too. Louis Berg, who was the aquatic manager in the late 1990s pointed out at the time that the closure would eliminate any kind of fishing recreation in the area with residents having to drive a very considerable distance to fish anywhere else. He said at the time that while the reservoir would still have limited natural fish, closure of the reservoir “…will be a completely wasted resource if the public can’t fish there.”
“We want access to this public land by way of a county road,” said Palacios as he continued his presentation. “We are asking you to open the gate.”
The commission, however, was not ready to consider that yet. They not only exclaimed fear concerning the reservoir’s preservation as a drinking water source, but also said that the document Penta Creek agreed to was connected to East Carbon.
“We have the legal authority to do this,” said Commission Chair Jae Potter. “But we need to see where the city and the Bureau of Land Management (which controls the public land behind the gate) stand on this.”
Assistant County Attorney Christian Bryner also pointed out that the county was not alone in the entanglements.
“Before the county jumps in let’s see how the cities interpret this,” he stated.
Commissioner John Jones said that he would like to see a change, but felt the same as Bryner.
“We need the elected officials in East Carbon and Sunnyside involved in this,” he said. “We need to work as a partnership. Personally I would like to see the reservoir opened as a fishing facility.”
The commission agreed to communicate with the cities and talk about the situation.
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