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Show Volume VIII Issue VII THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Page 11 July 15, 2003 -Paid Advertisement- Citizens Beware! Think before you sign! If you sign a petition for a feasibility study for incorporation: What will you lose? What might it cost? What will it change? What are the motives of those pushing for incorporation? Unless there is a clearly stated disclaimer on the petition, if you sign your name on the feasibility study request, your name will automatically be forwarded to the formal petition of incorporation. To remove your name, a formal written request to the Weber County offices would be needed to remove your name from the petition. This is an open letter to Steve Clarke, Dick Manley, and the Steering Committee for Incorporation. These questions MUST be publicly answered in this newspaper before proceeding with a Feasibility Study for Incorporation. We ask: 1. What part does zoning play in the push for incorporation? You have answered: “Questions of the future of zoning in incorporated Eden were ‘beyond the scope of your study.’” We disagree. We feel that zoning is the primary motive for the drive for incorporation. Steve Clarke publicly stated in a presentation to landowners that the steering committee vision is, in his words: “Eden should become a city.” “City sewer and water will be an advantage to landowners desiring to develop land.” You the citizen will be paying for this “advantage,” and has NOT been factored into the cost of incorporation. “A good city master plan would MAXIMIZE the value of these large tracts of land.” Our question: How do you maximize the value of land? You increase the density? It won’t just be 1-acre lots. With “city” sewer and water, it will be ¼ acre lots . . . or less. One of the first things to be discarded with Eden’s incorporation seems to be the Ogden Valley General Plan, and with it, all the ordinances that have been enacted to bring the general plan into compliance, i.e., architectural standards, night sky ordinance, density requirements, pathways, sign ordinance, and various other protections that enhance the rural quality of our community. You stated at a large landowners’ meeting that the Ogden Valley General Plan falls short of what is needed for a city, which turns the Valley into a bedroom community of Ogden. The Ogden Valley General Plan provides for managed residential and commercial growth. Precisely, what do you want to changed, and why? 2. Meetings have been held without public notice of time and place. Why? If incorporation is in the best interest of our community, why haven’t there been public notifications of time and place for the multiple, behind the scene meetings that are being held? On June 19, some landowners were invited to a “very important landowners meeting,” while other landowners, many with large holdings, were not invited. Some people are invited to meetings—others are not? Why? Though the steering committee articulates that all meetings are open to the public, times and locations vary, and are not made publicly available to allow attendance by the community. A volunteer government would likely operate in the same informal, unprofessional fashion. 3. Weber County says that the pre-feasibility study showed that incorporation of Eden would cost between $500,000 and $700,000, yet you said it would cost nothing in new taxes. Where is the pre-feasibility study, and why hasn’t it been released for public scrutiny? What assurances do we have that: 1. The county’s projections are wrong, or 2. Services won’t be compromised if additional costs are not incurred? Hooper has been held up as an example of incorporation with no increased taxes, but they fear that they are losing their “rural” community. Other areas (West Haven) have had to implement taxes. Which provides a rational comparison when we live in an area where government services tend to be more expensive? If Wolf Creek is factored out of the incorporated area, the cost of incorporation will be higher. The discrepancy of figures for the cost of incorporation in the pre-feasibility study does not include the cost of city water and a sewer system, which will be forced on all residents of the Valley with increased density. 4. If the current goal is to include a small area of Eden now, is the future goal to then annex adjoining landowners who are currently opposed to incorporation? 5. We feel that most people who live in Eden, moved here because of the country setting, clean air, recreational opportunities, peace and quiet, scenic vistas, open space, and animal habitat, in spite of limited services currently available. We also feel that incorporating Eden will drastically change these valuable assets. Sincerely, Dave Holmstrom Rich and Kathy (Granath) Peterson |