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Show Page 2 The Ogden Valley news Volume XXV Issue XIV August 15, 2019 The Ogden Valley news Staff: Shanna Francis Tel: 801-745-2688 Fax: 801-745-2688 Cell: 801-791-4387 E-Mail: slfrancis@digis.net Jeannie Wendell Tel: 801-745-2879 Fax: 801-745-2879 E-Mail: crwendell@digis.net crwendell@msn.com Opinions expressed by advertisers, columnists or letters to the editor are not necessarily the opinions of the owners and staff of The Ogden 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 Ogden Valley news reserves the right to edit or decline printing of any submissions. Letters to the Editor Fun Week Volunteering! My husband and I had a great few days helping the wonderful people who run the Charity Garage Sale each year in Huntsville. We spent time with friends and neighbors from the area who come from all religious backgrounds to help raise money for Make-a-Wish and others in need who have lost someone, or who are struggling with ill family members. Elizabeth, Cindy, Mike, Leslie, Laurel, Kay, and so many more that they can’t all be named, have run this for over 20 years—100% volunteer operated. They are efficient and have all bases covered for any situation. Plus, they make fun—helping and working side-by-side with great people for a great cause. Thank you to the Hillstrom’s, Stitt’s, etc. for To our amazingly generous neighbors in Ogden Valley, Thank you all for your wonderful support of the Ogden Valley Charity Garage Sale, which just held its last and final sale July 26 and 27. We are astounded at the generosity of the valley throughout the years, and we are grateful to all of you who contributed in so many ways. With great sadness, this particular committee is no longer able to continue the tradition of a charity garage sale. It has been our pleasure to have hosted it for the past 21 years. This final charity garage sale made more than $28,200—enough to sponsor two MakeA-Wish children, and make a contribution to the Infant Bereavement program at McKay Dee Foundation. The balance will be used to help make a difference in the lives of Valley children and families with Valley connections who have medical needs or other traumatic situations. After the sale, we also contributed some donations to Habitat for Humanity, Ayuda en Mexico, Christmas Box House, Lantern House, and Roads to Independence. In addition, we were still able to fill three trailer pods full for the Deseret Industries to support job training for people in the community. In these past As a community service, The Ogden V alley n ews 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 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. Awards that have been earned by the reader, family members, neighbors or friends are also sought. While the staff of The Ogden Valley news invites the submittal of information and articles, we reserve the right to select which material will be considered for publication. All material, to be considered, must be submitted with the full name, address and telephone number of the person submitting the material. The OgdenValley news’liability on account of errors in, or omissions of, advertising shall in no event exceed the amount of charges for the advertising omitted or the space occupied by the error. The Ogden Valley news does not endorse, promote or encourage the purchase or sale of any product or service advertised in this newspaper. Advertisements are the sole responsibility of the advertiser. The Ogden Valley news hereby disclaims all liability for any damage suffered as the result of any advertisement in this newspaper. The Ogden Valley news is not responsible for any claims or representations made in advertisements in this newspaper. The Ogden Valley news has the sole authority to edit and locate any classified advertisement as deemed appropriate. It also reserves the right to refuse any advertising. Note: The contents of The Ogden Valley News are copyrighted. To protect this publication and its contributors from unlawful copying, written permission is required before any individual or company engages in the reproduction or distribution of its contents, by any means, without first obtaining written permission from the owners of this publication. The deadline for the OVN September 1 issue is August 15. Kay Larrison, Huntsville Ogden Valley Charity Garage Sale Says Thank You to the Valley for 21 Great Years! Announcements Sought 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. a wonderful week of sorting clothes, putting up canopies, and watching a fine-tuned machine at work. We had a great time, despite the hot weather followed by rain. We will miss the opportunity to do this again! twenty-one years, we have made and donated more than $211,000—fully sponsoring 23 Wish children, and assisting 44 families, to date, with medical issues who have Valley connections. It truly has been a valley-wide effort and has been a win-win-win-win for so many people. The range and scope of the help we received this year was truly heartwarming. We could never have done this annual event without all the amazing contributions of items to sell from generous Valley residents. We are deeply indebted to the old and new friends of the garage sale who helped set up all the displays or who assisted in the takedown and cleanup. The Kendrick family of Arrow Disposal and the Rawson Family of Recycled Earth donated dumpsters. Kirkham Construction donated a Honey Bucket. The volunteers were fed throughout the week by incredible neighbors and friends. Other thoughtful people stopped by with brownies, cookies, fruit, icy pops, drinks, and ice cream sandwiches. Local schools and churches, such as the Ogden Valley Community Church, allowed us to use their tables. Jeannie and Shanna of The Ogden Valley News graciously gave us space in the paper to announce and advertise the sale. Many kind individuals, church groups, and families spent hours hanging clothes and organizing books, and several big-hearted donors gave just to give. Each year we have made new, life-long friends. We hope this tradition has inspired many of you to search for ways to serve in our local community. And if others decide to do a similar event, we hope you will support those efforts. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. We will miss you! With love and affection, Left to right: Leslie Nixon, Mike Hillstrom, Cindy Hillstrom, Craig Kuhnly, Jayne Bennion, Kent Bennion, LeeAnn Bowes, Leslie Stitt, David Richardson, Laurel Kirkham, Bill Carnahan, Kay Triplett, Liz Stitt, Lynn Graves, Gary Bingham. Front: Katie Stitt Johnson and children, Emily The Ogden Valley Charity Garage Sale Committee Jane, Luke, and Clara. YES, Short-term Rentals ARE a Bad Thing! A week before the Harts published their editorial, “Airbnbs, a Shooting, and Growth,” several cars in Huntsville were rifled through. The culprit? A short-term renter. Like the Harts, the owners of a Huntsville Airbnb didn’t have cameras at their property either. They didn’t verify any IDs or meet the renters to verify that they were who they said they were. The owners didn’t even have the renters’ names when we contacted them about the thefts. They simply left a key, inviting them into our neighborhood. While leaving a key under the mat, a typical practice for shortterm rentals, is convenient for the renters and the owners (and safer for those parties), it’s problematic when a crime is committed. In response to the thefts, the police officer immediately stated that the police wouldn’t pursue the thefts unless the thieves could be caught with the stolen goods. Even with multiple cars broken into, the officer declined to fingerprint any of the cars (though unlikely, it is not impossible that a fingerprint would have been recovered). Despite witness statements that around the time of the thefts, a car that was driving abnormally slow (less than 5 mph on a 40 mph road) in our neighborhood turned into the short-term rental house, and even more incriminating, receipts from a neighbor’s stolen wallet (the cards and IDs from the car burglaries were kept, raising concerns for identity theft) were strewn from the neighbor who got burglarized, all the way to the corner of the short-term rental house. Even so, the responding officer knocked only once on this house. The officer didn’t return until a neighbor reported seeing the renters again the following night on his property, looking into his cars with flashlights. Another neighbor came forward, identifying the same renters congregating on our property around our vehicles. Sadly, I’m doubtful that the illegal short-term renters will be held accountable for their actions. Additionally, even though there are hundreds of short-term rentals in the Valley on websites like Airbnb and VRBO, Weber County officials aren’t monitoring these sites. They only take action if the houses are reported to them. Our sheriffs aren’t taking these crimes seriously, officials aren’t taking action against the illegal short-term rentals in our area, and we now have to be suspicious of who is staying in our neighbors’ homes. Previously, our neighborhood was defined by the collective sharing of harvests (we knew who are neighbors were and we looked out for each other), but people like the Harts want it to be defined by short-term rentals so they can line their own pockets. They make a plea for people who are using their second homes as an investment that skirts regulations (Donating their ill-gotten gains to their own charity—a tax write-off?—doesn’t negate this illegal activity), yet they disregard the people whose primary residences are in the Valley and the people running legitimate businesses in the Valley. The reality of short-term rentals is they bring commercial business into residential neighborhoods (neighborhoods where previous applications for commercial busi- nesses like bed and breakfasts have been declined). And are these second short-term rental homes paying they higher property tax rate, or receiving the discount primary homeowners receive? Parties in the houses rented out every weekend isn’t the only issue associated with shortterm rentals, they also bring an increase in property crime, according to recent studies, which, unfortunately, we experienced. Additionally, the Harts didn’t check their facts in regards to short-term rentals helping to decrease new construction. A study by the Economic Policy Institute found that short-term rentals decrease the available units in a community, which translates into increases in new construction; it’s simple economics. The Harts also conveniently ignore the fact that there are several licensed hotels, inns, and bed and breakfasts in the Valley that aren’t operating at full capacity. Unlike short-term rentals, these businesses verify who is staying at the property, maintain property security measures, employ local persons, and pay their fair share of taxes. On the other hand, short-term rentals have been shown to negatively impact these legal businesses. To answer the Harts’ question, yes, shortterm rentals are a bad thing! They’re bad for the people who make their homes in the Valley and invested in the community, and they’re bad for the people trying to operate honest businesses. Tara Trejos, A Valley resident for over 30 years |