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Show SfamhmMlvamintT INS I DR Working together Community, fHitfi W .A lt niufibry offuMli have common fOal4 COMMUNITY Coins and tokens V V, CoIWiiun fchots ijice ofl'uhV y p;M7 A less?' AUGUST 30, 1007 4 DAVIS COUNTY'S COMMUNITY NEWSPAI'KIt VOL 15, NO. 173 Crisis looming for libraries Officials CITY LIMITS BOUNTIFUL of the county, usage has brought say year of reckoning for budget in less than two years OyTOMBUSSOECnO LMmn TARMINGTON - While Djti County Library officials are looking at the coming year with optimum, huiluct-uivthat Picture changes to concern when it comet to IVW. Library Director Pete Gia coma toiJ the library board of c trustees Tuesday that 1999 may mark a crisis year. That's if ue are not able to alter rending in some fashion. Our services mill start decreasing, we will have to cut hours," he said. City moving to buy land for new park the building to near rapacity, as well. It has taken 2) years to reach that point, but talk over many years of eventually needing to use the basement area is now near the point of necessity, Gta-cosaid. North Branch in Clearfield and South are built on similar floor plans, and both originally Negotiation aro proceeding to buy egt seres lor c fly park to be developed in long nme gravel pit. The Oty Council ho given ns nod ot approval to enorts to ImaiuO purchase ot property in tho old Foss Lews Gravel P4 lor a regional park. Tho pt is on the south side ot Davis Boulevard (1300 Cast and 3300 South) and will mciudo a 103 lot subdivision which has already been approved, a city spokesperson says. The park will mciudo two soccer fields, regulation-suewith one ol those fields to be sunk Into the ground lo double as a detention basin. The sides ol that field will be grassed In and provndo stadium-typsealing for games. Among preparations the city is asking to be done before finalizing the purchase are removing rubble at the bottom of the pit. grading, spreading lop soil throughout the park property, and opening the property along Davis Boulevard by pushing in the berm that currently exists there so as to create a visual access to the housed senior cilicn centers. However, the GolJen Years Senior Center vacated the Bountiful library many years ago, leaving its old space and an auditorium. And while limned use has been made of the basement since, administrators have been reluctant to expand downstairs until absolutely necessary because it will It's not fear of impending require staff to handle ongoing doom that makes Giacoma say activity on two levels. Shelving was recently added to that, but stark realities that everyone living in Davis County North Branch and Giacoma said space there should be adequate knows: growth. "Central Branch (in Layton) is for the foreseeable future. But at Central, built on an enready to surpass South Branch tirely dilTcrcnt plan and with only (in Bountiful) as the busiest one level, expansion initially branch, and there isn't any more means into the lobby "and then room, Giacoma said. wc'il have to expand the buildThree new shelving areas Giacoma said. where recently added to bring the ing." Board member Craig Leavitt "inner library area" to capacity. asked about limiting need for adwill He said it now be necessary because of inditional shelving to look at using the lobby area creased access to information serto intensively provide library over the Internet or CD ROMs. vices. We started to hear that 20 At South Branch, basically the See CRISIS3 only library serving the south end park. With ByTOMBUSSELBERG FARMINGTON - Davis County Library officials say the system is bursting at the scams in some places, with circulation reaching an all-tihigh. In fact, Library Director Pete Giacoma says more space must be found soon to handle growth at Lay-toCentral Branch Library. ns The countys population has nearly doubled in the last 20 years, and the library system has grappled to keep on top of that growth. A new library was opened in Layton during that time, the North and South Branch libraries were opened in 1975, and the main library in Farmington has seen extensive remodeling within the past year. two PEPPER PICKER: A local contractor has been awarded the low bid to build the View Drive holding pond. Out of five bids, Bouchard Construction submitted the low bid of $52,100 for the project in the Peachwood subdivision on the citys east side. City Recorder Ginger Miller said the project should be completed by this fall. There have been ongoing problems with the holding pond that was previously installed. It has broken down and flooded neighboring properties. A water line has been laid from the site to help control drainage. Charles TIM 4 No fishing, diving from road bridge SCHOON Standard-Examin- Tax notices bring revolt Clearfield, county flooded with complaints following new valuations By BRYON SAXTON Standard-Examin- NICHOLSONStandard-Examine- r Runners fumble with water on the way to Antelope Island Salt Lake last Saturday. The race began Great the dunng at Antelope Drive and Main Street in Layton and ended on the island. More photos and results on page 2. WATER BREAK: ball fields, Bid approved for holding pond pick-it-yours- BRIAN d South Weber Dunn of Ogden picks piles of peppers at Day Brothers Produce in Davis County last week. Dunn takes advantage of the fields at Day Brothers to get cheap fresh produce. At, right, Dunn tries to pile as many peppers as posibble into his half bushel basket. Run to Antelope Island regulation-size- one of which will accommodate hundreds of people to sit and enjoy the games. A report from the State Library Commission indicates that the library system compares favorably with neighboring systems in some respects, and falls short in others. Statistics released for 1996 show the librarys holdings at 344,501 items or 1.78 items per resident. With the countys population estimated at 216,000, that would mean about 200,000 are directly served by the system. Kaysville operates its own library and has a population of about 15,000.That 1.78 items per person is slightly below long-hel- d national standards that place the desired ratio at two books per resident. However, that per capita ratio has steadily increased See UBRARY3 I serve as an outstanding soccer competition area City Manager Tom Hardy said, with Davis County library compares well with others Standard- - Examner corespondent these conditions. believe the property could Davis Bureau In recent days more than 50 frustrated property owners have taken their tax hike complaints to the Clearfield City Council and the Davis County Commission. The problem is, neither one of the entities is approving a tax increase. Oh, yeah. Clearfield City officials were considering it. City Manager Jack Bippes said they were considering maintaining the 1996 property tax rate rather than adopting the lower 1997 rate to capture $120,000 in growth revenues versus only $40,000. fhe additional funds would be used for capital improvement projects. But after hearing from residents on how increased property evaluations from the county mandated by the state raised their taxes from 13 to 17 percent, the council without hesitation adopted the new, lower certified rate. The action alleviated residents property tax bill by an average of about $7. Problem is, most of the rest of the tax increase is due to state officials requiring annual adjustments to property values be made in ensuring equity among taxpayers. Deputy County Auditor LaMar Holt said the reassessments in the fourth of a five-ye- ar plan, are based on property appraisals or what land is being bought and sold for in a particular area. Another contributing factor to the higher tax bills mailed out last week, is Davis County voters approved in May a $75 million bond to build new schools. So, whats a frustrated taxpayer to do. Holt recommends by Sept. 2 filing a tax relief application in room 100 of the County Courthouse in downtown Farmington. Any household income less than $19,950 in 1996 could be eligible for a 1997 abatement. In addition abatements are avail- able to seniors, widows or widowers. Holt said appeal applications are also being taking in the same room up until Sept. 15. In 1996 the county reviewed 3,000 appeals, and in most cases some adjustments were made, Holt said. We are subject to mortality, said County Commissioner See TAXES3 i Youre welcome to stand on the cottonwood bridge that separates this community from Uintah, but dont plan on fishing or diving off. South Weber officials have met with their counterparts in Uintah to discuss signage and other concerns raised by nearby residents. However, City Recorder Ginger Miller said we wont kick people off for standing or looking." Small signs indicate no swimming or diving is allowed from the bridge. CLINTON Residents complain of maintenance yard A group of citizens with homes abutting the city maintenance yard are complaining about unsightly conditions in the yard. On Tuesday the City Council agreed to draft up a plan by Oct. 1 to provide a butter and clean up the area. The contractor providing secondary water system has stored pipe in the yard, adding to the unsightly appearance. There are difficulties due to a water ditch between the yard and the homes. 08773100003 J 8' |