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Show THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Page 2 Volume IX Issue II November 1, 2003 Shanna Francis Tel: 745-2688 Fax: 745-0062 Cell: 791-4387 E-Mail: slfrancis@att.net UDOT Schedules Grand Opening for Wall Ave., 30th and 31st Streets Project Jeannie Wendell Tel: 745-2879 Fax: 745-2879 E-Mail: crwendell@att.net crwendell@msn.com OGDEN - The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) will hold an official grand opening ceremony for its Wall Avenue, 30th and 31st Streets project in Ogden. The general public is invited to attend. The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Staff: Opinions expressed by advertisers, columnists or letters to the editor are not necessarily the opinions of the owners and staff of The O GDEN VALLEY NEWS. Guidelines for Letters to the Editor Letters should be 300 words or less. Letters must be signed and the address of the writer submitted. The O GDEN VALLEY NEWS reserves the right to edit or decline printing of any submissions. Announcements Sought As a community service, The O GDEN VALLEY NEWS will print local birth, wedding, obituary, anniversary and missionary farewell & homecoming and Eagle Scout announcements free of charge. We invite residents to send their announcements to: The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS PO BOX 130 EDEN UT 84310 If you would like your submitted items returned, please send a stamped, selfaddressed envelope. The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS, while respecting all property received, will take no responsibility for lost or misplaced items. Please remember to keep a copy for yourself. Invitation for Articles The staff of The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS welcomes the submission of articles by our readership. We invite you to submit local historical accounts or biographies, articles pertaining to contemporary issues, and/or other material that may be of interest to our readers. We also invite you to submit to the paper, or notify the staff of local events. 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WHAT: Project Grand Opening Ceremony WHEN: Wednesday, October 29 at 11:00 a.m. WHERE: 30th Street and Monroe Blvd., Ogden WHO: Scheduled speakers include UDOT Executive Director John Njord, Transportation Commissioner Ken Warnick, Ogden City Mayor Matthew Godfrey, Ogden City Council Chairwoman Mary Hall, Representative Neil Hansen, Representative Joe Murray and Senator Dave Thomas. Musical numbers will be performed by students from Saint Joseph’s Catholic Elementary School. The grand opening will conclude with a vintage car parade and reception including light refreshments. Roadway widening and improvements are now substantially complete on Wall Avenue between 23rd and 33rd Streets, 30th Street between Wall Avenue and Harrison Blvd., and 31st Street between Wall Avenue and Washington Blvd. WOLF CREEK cont. from page 1 Q. What mechanism is in place to keep the company from arbitrarily running up customers’ costs and rates? A. The State of Utah Division of Public Utilities audits our financials annually to be sure we are not overcharging our customers, and to ensure that our costs are within state standards. Bary Golding of the PSC recently analyzed the company by doing a comprehensive audit. He supports both the company’s rates, as well as what we are doing as a company to improve our business practices. Q. What is the typical customer going to have to pay for water each month under the rate increase? A. In our analysis, we feel that a typical household with four occupants, and average landscaping should be using approximately 40,000 gallons a month for culinary and secondary water combined during the peak water use period. If that customer has both a culinary and secondary water connection, their water bill would be $53 during that season. Assuming a typical year, a customers average water bill will be approximately $43 per month. Q. In the last issue of The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS a chart was published comparing water rate structures for Northern Utah. Fifty-three dollars per month during peak season is considerably higher than the other companies represented in the comparison. Why is this? Letters to the Editor Feasibility Committee Member Explains Actions This letter is in response to some of the concerns put forth about the incorporation of Eden. Two of these concerns that I will address are the claims that our taxes (costs) will increase, and the methodology used in defining the boundaries. First, the easy one: costs. The costs of incorporation will be known only after the feasibility study is conducted. That is why these studies are done. Any claims to the contrary are not based on facts. The preliminary numbers you might have seen published are mostly irrelevant because they were based on assumptions and boundaries that do not exist in the current feasibility proposition. When defining the boundaries a number of things were considered. A major factor was economics. It was similar to developing a budget. Income on one side, expenses on the other. How do you balance them? Reduce expenses and/or increase income. 1. Areas that brought in little or no income but increased expenses and liability—like the reservoir, the hillsides, and the canyon—were excluded. 2. The full-time sheriff deputy now at the Jr. High would be too expensive for the city to afford at this time, and we didn’t want to do without him. Financial considerations aside, the Jr. High was excluded for a number of other reasons. The majority of students attending the school would not live within the Eden city boundaries. The city would have no control over the school, as it would still be part of the A. First of all, the chart compares the cities of Ogden, North Ogden, Pleasant View, Harrisville, Roy, and South Weber to Wolf Creek. Those cities may subsidize their water companies with property taxes. In addition, they acquired their water rights, developed their sources, and built their storage systems as many as 60 years ago. Our systems are relatively new and our costs significantly higher. These higher costs result in higher connection fees and water rates for our users. It boils down to the simple fact that it costs more to live in Eden than Roy. On the other hand, if we compare our connection fees and rate structure to Eden Water and Nordic Valley Water companies, I’m sure you will find that we are competitive. We have little or no incentive to charge higher rates, we just have to remain a going concern. Q. What is meant by conservation rates? A. Wolf Creek’s new water rates are designed to provide an economic incentive for conserving water. Our rates climb significantly after the initial and second tier to encourage users to conserve. It is not designed to generate more income, simply to get people to irrigate their landscaping responsibly, to turn their sprinklers off during rainstorms, to fix their leaks, take shorter showers, etc. We have some users who use over 100,000 gallons per month, which is clearly excessive. We hope that due to our rate structure, they will adjust their usage. Inspirational Thought Q. Customers are contesting the metering of secondary water. Why are we the only company in the state metering secondary water use, and how do we justify it? Greatness is not just where we stand, but in what direction we are moving. We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it. But sail we must, and not drift nor lie at anchor. --Author Unknown A. Back in 1980 I was one of the only people I knew using a PC to do spreadsheets. I believe that it won’t be long before other water companies install secondary meters also. Wolf Creek Water Company has to pay for water sources, storage, and rights— as mentioned earlier. That applies to both Deadline for material for the November 15 OVN issue is November 8. Weber County School District. The other main consideration was to include or exclude those who, at that time, had expressed an opinion about being part of incorporated Eden. 1. We wanted to include as many of the people that were interested in incorporation as we could. 2. It became obvious that some home / landowners were not interested in incorporation. Some of these areas that were on the border of the proposed city were excluded. Interior lots could not be excluded. We were accused of “cooking the books.” The two overriding forces that define the boundaries of a city are the desires of the people living in the area, and the fiscal realities of including or excluding areas. Of these two forces, we gave extra weight to the desires of the people to be included or to be excluded. If we were bent on incorporation at all costs, we would not have included some “net expense” areas where there was a stated desire by some of the residents to be included, and we would not have excluded some “net income” areas where there was a stated desire to not be included. Finally, with respect to city boundaries, people outside the city limits of Eden would still live “in Eden” as much as they do now, just like those who are outside the town limits of Huntsville, and when asked where they live, they say they live “in Huntsville.” Pete Rasmussen, Eden culinary water and secondary water. The costs associated with secondary water are less, but they are still significant. If one water user uses 100,000 gallons of water one month and the next-door neighbor uses only 30,000 gallons, guess who pays for the disparity when there is a flat rate for secondary water use? The individual who conserves water subsidizes the other who does not. The only way we know how to make the system equitable is to meter use, which we are now doing. In addition, as a condition of the loan the company secured, which was necessary for the development of our new secondary water system for Patio Springs, Eden Hills, and Eagle Ridge, we were required to initiate a graduated rate schedule for billing. How can you apply a graduated system without meters? Q. What can customers do to conserve water? A. The most significant way to conserve water is to introduce low-water landscaping and to have an efficient irrigation system. Becoming educated on how to properly irrigate your landscaping is also important. Wolf Creek is planning to hold a meeting each year at the Wolf Creek Clubhouse to help educate our users on practical ways to conserve water. We are also implementing a plan to help identify water leaks on the customer’s side of the meter. Q. Why has Wolf Creek scheduled a meeting for water users? A. We are inviting company water users to attend an informal meeting at the Wolf Creek Clubhouse on Wednesday, November 5 at 7:00 p.m. so the company can explain further the purpose of the rate increase, and to answer questions customers may have. We will also discuss conservation measures that we have seen implemented by other water users on the system. Selling your home? Call the Best. Over 35 Years Selling Experience Top Producer Premier Performance Award Winner Relocation Specialist Monthly Office Sales & Closing Leader Extensive Marketing Knowledge Negotiation Experience Sellers Service Guarantee #1 Office in the Valley Proven Results Valley Resident Dick Payne Broker 940-4040 Mobile 745-8800 Office |