Because Ruby's officials first have the business to run, and with more than a million tourists visiting Bryce Canyon each year, 600 employees at the peak season and all the other responsibilities of being Garfield County's largest employer, the two haven't had much time to plan their office space or the city's next move.

The issue caught the attention of national media, too. A July story in the New York Times calls out: "In Utah, a 'Company Town' Means Just That."

Rod Syrett has said 73 of the 138 residents are his relatives. The rest work for his business. His new town council is made up of his employees, in-laws and direct relatives.

"It's bittersweet," said Kenda Porter, of the Bryce Canyon Resort property located nearby on U-12. The resort is outside of the city boundary. "A lot of people have said they are just downright greedy."

"We didn't do this out of greed," Syrett said. "We did it out of wanting to be a town."

And as a town, the company will get some financial help building sewers and water systems, sidewalks, roads and other big-ticket infrastructure items it's had to pay for in the past.

"We were having to pay for all of that out of private funds," Seiler said.

They also worry about the town's safety. If a fire breaks out, as it did a couple of years ago, it took fire crews from Tropic, in the valley below the national park, 45 minutes to chug their way over hills and roads to the hotel.

The Bryce Canyon City town council has had its first few meetings as a neophyte entity. New town officials gather in a Ruby's Inn conference room. Staff from the Utah League of Cities and Towns has been down to teach Mayor Syrett and the rest of the town council proper meeting protocol. State budget officials are teaching them about money matters.

More than 50 residents attended a recent "Dream Meeting" where everyone present could write their own wish lists for the town. Top on the list, according to Seiler, were the basic services most communities take for granted. Residents want good public safety, sidewalks, street addresses and better roads.

"This was just Ruby's dream," Syrett said. "And we followed through."

Legislative action

They tried for years — antagonism surrounded efforts to make Bryce Canyon City from the beginning.

Garfield County commissioners understandably didn't want to lose the $250,000 to $300,000 from their general fund contributed by taxes on sales at Ruby's Inn. The huge hotel's contributions made up 10 percent of the rural county's budget.