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Show DAVIS REFLEX-JOURNA- NOVEMBER 18, 1986 L, Laytons onion business is alive and prospemg By DONETA GATHERUM the 1920s. The Davis County Agriculture annual report of 1922 says You take some sweet Valencia onions grown from LAYTON acres of fertile farm ground. Next seed on the George E. Dibble farm in West Layton yielded 1225 you invest $350 per acre for bushels per acre, with less than two herbicides, fumigates and $350 per percent under the number one acre for labor. You will need to buy large category. Jeff Stevenson is a third generathe best hybird seed for this area. tion onion farmer. His grandfather, Finally, you spend several months of hard work trying to make your John David Stevenson, started raising onions in the 1920s. The monetary investment pay. If you are lucky, things will work business, along with special growright and this gamble of land, time ing techniques developed through and money will pay off. If the experience, was handed down to spring is too wet or too dry, or wet George Stevenson and now to Jeff. Jeff says a farmer needs to reat the wrong time and dry at the ceive $2.50 per 50 pound bag to wrong time, and if the fall is wet, then you lose. Either way, there is stay in business. Yield is down this year because of a wet spring folalways another year when maybe, just maybe, things will be better. lowed by unusually dry weather, The market price will be up. There just when the onions needed moiswill be no spring hail storm.. The ture to germinate. Harvest time rains will hold off until the crop is wasnt too bad. Although there was rainy weather as the harvest out of the field. started, it stopped and the onions For 50 years Hines and Company, and the farmers along West had ample time to dry before they Gentile and in West Kaysville, were crated. Rain causes neck rot have gambled. Some years they in the onions. The harvesting process is diffehave lost. Other times their investrent than in most field crops. The ment has paid dividends. onions are lifted out of the ground Hines and Company, the second oldest continuous business in at the end of the growing season, Layton, is a wholesale company which is around the first of Septemthat bags and distributes Yellow ber. They are allowed to dry for three day to a week. Next, the Gold, the brand name for sweet onions are topped, which allows 1936 in Founded onions. Spanish by Norman Hines with Clarence L. the neck of the onion to cure down. Bone, as plant superintendent, the This can be done by machine, but plant was originally located on farmers have discovered hand East Gentile Street about where labor is better. A work crew along the freeway crosses Gentile today. with a crew chief comes in each When land was needed for the freeyear from Texas to work the onion fields contracted to Hines. These Genmoved West to Hines way, tile, adjacent to the D&RG tracks. field workers weed through the The operation of the railroad is not summer months and top the onions important to Hines any more. For at harvest time. They spend about at least the past seven years, all six months in Utah. Finally, the onions are crated shipments have been by truck. and Steve transported to the Hines wareIts cheaper, explains house for sorting and bagging. Top Mittendorf, plant manager. prices are paid for the large number Originally Hines processed potatoes and onions. The impact this one's and a lesser price is given for business had on Laytons economy number twos, which are smaller. was great. A newspaper article dated Sept. 20, 1946 stated the onion and potato crop was expected to bring in $100,000. Growers would receive $1.39 per bag for number one potatoes and 44 cents for number twos. The Layton plant exported 100 carloads of onions and stored another 50 carloads for later exBy DONETA GATHERUM port. In 1946 and today, Hines marFARMINGTON NegotiaMost of the onket is ions are trucked to North Carolina, tions between Layton City and the South Carolina, Georgia and Solid Waste Management District moved yet another step closer to Texas. The West Layton soil is well agreement last Wednesday when suited to onion growing, and the the Solid Waste Management Disfarmers in this region have adapted trict Board passed a resolution of their methods to get the best pro- intent to accept Layton into the ductivity possible. This has paid District as a full member under the off with high yields in good years proposed conditions Layton has and enough in bad years to keep the stated through City Council action farmer in business. Onions have and through Laytons spokesperbeen grown in West Layton since son, Mayor Richard McKenzie. This year the average yield was 700 pounds per acre. That was down from last year when farmers averaged yields of 1 100 pounds per acre. Fifteen hundred pounds per acre would be a top yield. The Hines plant runs from September until February. Onions are sorted, bagged, stored at cool temperatures with low humidity and shipped in truck loads of 900 bag lots with 50 pounds to a bag. Fifteen to 20 people are employed at the packing plant. The number of acres in onions production for Hines has stayed at about 320 acres during the past 50 years. The number of onion farmers has decreased greatly. Today about 12 SORTING AND BAGGING of onions at the Hines and Company plant in Layton has become more refined through the years, though care is still taken to be sure the product is fresh and undamaged. farmers grow all the Hines onions. Steve Mittendorf says a few years ago, a big operation was 10 acres. Today, the average grower has 50 acres. Many farmers work together in a partnership. Sometimes a bad year for the farmers can be a good year for those working in the packing plant. If the fall harvest time is wet, the onions have to be processed quickly. This means more workers are needed and they will work longer hours. Terry Hines can share many onion growers horror stories. One year, the onions had to be loaded into trucks and shipped to the mid-Wefarmers forpig feed. The paid the freight. The onions were a gift. Other times, the spoiled onions are taken out onto the salt grass flats and dumped. The work of an entire summer is totally lost. Onions are a gamble crop, Jeff Stevenson states again. A Spring hail at the wrong time can wipe you out. These are more common since the lake has increased in size. Rain at harvest time can be devastating. When you lose at this gamble, you just wait until next year and invest again, with the chance that things will be better, dmg st mid-We- st IN 1946, POTATOES grown on the Hines Farm were washed, selected and bagged for market. That year, the county produced over $100,000 in potato crops. Bum Plan council opens door to Layton e. Fifth in series The Tax Act and You By JOHNNY E. WILLIS, CPA INDIVIDUALS Interest deduction: the 1986 Tax Act has eliminated consumer interest as a deduction for tax years beginning in 1987. Consumer interest is defined as interest not incurred in a trade or business or activity engaged in for the production of income. is charge cards, auto loans Interest that will be and such. The Act has preserved the interest deduction for interest on mortgages secured by your principal residence or a second residence. This will apparently include first, second and equity-typ- e mortgage loans as the Act allows an interest deduction to do not exceed the purchase price the extent the mortgages-loan- s of the residence plus the cost of improvements. Consequently, taxpayers will be obtaining second and equity type mortgage loans to do their financing in the future. Medical Expense Deduction: For taxpayers filing an itemized tax return, the limitation for medical expense will increase from 5 to 7.5 of adjusted gross income. Consequently, all medical deductions over 7.5 of a taxpayers adjusted gross income will be deductible as an itemized deduction. non-deducti- BUSINESS Meal expenses: The Act reduces the amount a taxpayer may deduct for meals to generally 80 of the cost incurred. These meals include entertainment meals, business meeting meals, meals away from home, and meals furnished to an employee at an employers workplace. There are cases where the amount may be fully deductible: . Reimbursed meals to an employee (then the employer is subject to the 80 rule); 2. Employer furnished meals that are excludible from employees gross income as minor fringes; 3. Meals fully taxed to the recipient as compensation, and 4. Items sold to the public, such as restaurants, or furnished to the public as samples or for promotion. Restaurants may continue to deduct meals consumed by their employees at the worksite. n is still required for any part of a meal A retains the same substantiation reAct The deductible. to be The expense must be directly law. current as a quirements related to the active conduct of the taxpayers trade or business. Business must be discussed either before, during or directly after the meal. The Act also disallows a portion of meals that are considered lavish or extravagant. A portion of the meal will still be deducti- ble subject to the 80 rule. It is imagined that the allowable portion will be based on government per diem rates for different localities. 1 business-connectio- if and when Layton asked to join, stated Robert Palmquist, Chairman of the Solid Waste Management Board. At the Layton City Council meeting of Nov. 6, the Council This action would occur members authorized Mayor McKenzie to continue working with the District to obtain a landfill management contract. Layton City Attorney, Mark Arnold said this would probably mean that Layton City would join the Solid Waste Management District. The Layton Council did not sign a proposed agreement between the District and the City. Council members reserved the right to review the proposal at a later date before making a final decision. The main condition that Layton wants in the agreement is ownership of the NARD landfill. When the Solid Waste Management THE GEORGE E. DIBBLE farm in West Layton was the scene of this 1922 harvest. Sweet Valencia onions grown from seed have continued to provide large harvests through the years, with very hugh yields and few onions coming in under number one size. Layton Council considers planning recommendations Dis- trict was formed, the member-citie- s agreed to relinquish their ownership of the landfill to the District. Layton wants to retain landfill ownership and contract to the special service district for landfill management. Mr. Palmquist says this difference of opinion can be resolved by establishing a three-ma- n governing board for NARD that would consist of a member from the Solid Waste Management District, a member from Layton City and a member from Clearfield City. Hopefully, this Board would enter into a contract with the Solid Waste Management District for management of the landfill for a period of 25 years, the bonding time for the GO bonds used to finance the Districts waste to energy recovery plant. According to Mr. Palmquist, af- ter the 25 year contract expires, the cities who belong to the District would have the option of assuming independent ownership of their landfill share once again. Ownership would be retained and the District would function as a contracted, management entity. Mr. Palmquist said the District has not talked to Clearfield City about joining the group. So far, all discussions have been between Layton and the District. If Clearfield doesnt join the service district, they would have the option of managing and operating their portion of the NARD landfill. Should the Layton City Council decide against joining the Special Service District or signing a landfill management contract, Layton could also operate their portion of the landfill independent of the Special Service District. The waste to energy burn plant" is scheduled to open in the summer of 1987. LAYTON The pattern of considering several planning commission recommendations at each council meeting was followed again Thursday evening, Nov. 6, as the Layton City Council listened to rezone requests, subdivision final plans and annexation proposals. All items presented by the planning department received unanimous Council approval. The first planning commission proposal the Council considered was a rezone request submitted by Leo Rasmussen. He wanted to build some storage sheds and a pizza place on property located at 2605 N. Hill Field Road (north and west of the 1 store). The pizza place would front Hill Field Road while the 10X and 10x24 storage sheds would be at the rear of the property. This met with no opposition and was quickly approved. A rezone and annexation request submitted by Dan Bridenstine had aroused some concerns from people living east of U.S. 89 in the block-constructi- Valley View Drive area. Mr. Bridenstine asked for the annexation of about 15 acres of property at approximately 1400 North and east of Highway 89 (Paul Walton property). He also desired a zoning of which would allow home construction on 10,000 square foot lots. Citizens were concerned about e the citys plan for U.S. 89, a highway that is highly congested. Scott Carter, Community R-l-- long-rang- Development Director, stated there are no definite plans for the area but that in the future some frontage road system oni both sides of the highway will probably be needed. Some of the entrances to U.S. 89 will probably be closed, leaving about four main roads on the east side of 89 open for highway access. Mr. Bridenstine and Neil Wall, a partner in the development, stated the first phase of the subdivision would be 26 lots. The entire project will consist of possibly 90 lots. Curwhich requires rent zone is R-15,000 square foot lots with 100 foot frontage. Much of the property included in the development project is hillside and many lots will retain the larger frontage and total size. Some of the property that will be developed is already zoned for the smaller 10,000 square foot lots. Mr. Wall indicated there is a pos- - Dental office opens Dr. Ted H. Green, DMD announces the relocation of his family dentistry practice to the Kaysville Professional Plaza, 475 N. 300 W. Dr. Green has practiced dentistry in Kaysville for the past five years. Before moving to Kaysville, he graduated from the University of Oregon Health Sciences Dental School in Portland, Ore. He obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Utah. A resident of Kaysville, Dr. Green is active in church and scout activities, is married and has two children. sibility that the 1987 Weber Basin Home Show will be held on this project site. If this is the case, larger lots will be developed with homes built in the $125,000 to $200,000 price range. If the home show chooses another site, the project will consist of very nice homes in the $80,000 to $100,000 price range. The Council gave unanimous approval to the rezone request and the annexation. The final planning commission recommendation the City Council considered was plans for Cottonwood Subdivision Phase 2. This is located at 1800 North Highway 89 on the north side of the first phase. There are 20 lots in this subdiv- ision. Council approval. quickly gave |