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Show 19, 2004 - Page 2 New Utah -Thursday, February Pleasant Grove ReviewLindon Review Opinion E The watched pot never boils r Tolerance is essential North county communities are taking different directions in response to a letter from the organization Utah Atheists to many Utah cities, addressing the tradition of beginning City Council meetings with prayer. Cedar Hills amended its City Council agenda to consider consid-er the issue and determine a policy; American Fork called on a pastor of a non-dominant religion to lead its prayer last week. In Lehi, the council members mem-bers have a voluntary prayer prior to the actual start of their meeting. Following that, there is a pause during which others may speak or, perhaps, offer their own prayer. Then the meeting officially begins. Others are still determining which direction they will take. The Lehi City Council may have been following the lead of Wellsville in Cache County. In that community, they have changed the "invocation" to an "opening ceremony." The ceremony cere-mony may be led by a board member or resident. Members of the public are invited to send letters to the city requesting an opportunity to deliver remarks during the opening ceremony on a specific date. Communities are scrambling scram-bling to find an interpretation which will avoid lawsuits and still allow them to conduct the business of the city. Our area is growing; there is no doubt. With today's growth has come an increased diversity diversi-ty not seen in previous years. In fact, Utah Valley State College is hosting a roundtable discussion with a similar topic next week. It is titled "Religious "Reli-gious Diversity in a Homogenous Homoge-nous Culture." It reflects the changes happening in many areas across Utah and the nation. Recognizing diversity is important; even more important impor-tant is the tolerance and understanding which should go with that recognition. Education is a vital key in creating the willingness to get to know others and their beliefs. At one of the first levels after education, there is tolerance. toler-ance. We learn to let others have their way, similar to children chil-dren taking turns as they learn to share. Much greater indeed is understanding. At that level we find ourselves knowing about others and caring about them. That should be the goal of all concerned. It is too bad that sometimes it takes the threat of a lawsuit to bring that important quality to the forefront. Anita's Lladro My wife Anita has been praying for patience lately. Bad idea. You pray for patience, you run the risk of being blessed with an opportunity to be patient. And that opportunity came last night, with a crash. Anita isn't much on accumulating accumulat-ing "things." For one thing, it isn't in her nature. She has always been more interested in people than things. For another, we've never been able to afford niceties. The "things" we've had have been utilitarian, but not especially exciting to own. Except for one thing: Anita's Lladro. If you're familiar with the hand-made figurines, you know how beautiful and . . . well, expensive expen-sive they are. Anita has always admired them, as much for the fact that they are Spanish - as she is - as for their elegant lines and colors. For many years she would just look longingly at them when she saw them on display. But when the opportunity came for her to go with her parents to her ancestral homeland in Spain, she worked and scrimped and saved to put together some extra spending money just in case they had a chance to go to the Lladro factory there. I'll never forget the look on her face when she unpacked her Lladr6 figurine after she returned home from Spain. With a wondrous won-drous mix of bliss and awe, she carefully pulled the delicate figurine fig-urine from the sturdy box in which it was packed and tenderly held it up for all to see. We oohed and ahhed at the lovely representation represen-tation of a mother wrapping a warm towel around her shivering daughter after a bath, and we wondered where this treasure would be displayed. "Are you kidding?" Anita asked. "It's going to stay right here in the box!" And that's right where Anita's Lladr6 stayed - for a while. But then we moved, and our youngest child, Jon, got big enough to keep his curious-but-clumsy little hands to himself, and Anita decided decid-ed to put the Lladr6 out. We purchased pur-chased a nice little table especially especial-ly for this purpose, and we put it right by our front door, where for r vim- v nearly 10 years it has remained as an object of beauty, a reminder of heritage and an homage to diligence dili-gence and hard work. Until last night. Now, I should point out that we understood the risks of leaving Anita's Lladro on that table in the hallway. Our eventual plan was to purchase a curio cabinet, where it would be less vulnerable to the vicissitudes of flailing teenage arms and legs. More recently, we've wondered about putting it away when our adorable-but-sometimes-anarchistic granddaughters grand-daughters visit. But the girls are so sweet, and they generally understand "no," and their parents supervise them well, so ... we left it out - a decision deci-sion Anita regretted as soon as she heard the crash last night. You would have been impressed with how patiently Anita handled the crisis. Clearly her prayer for patience was answered. She was calm, without a tear in her eye, and she responded with sincere love and affection to every "Sowwy, Gammy" from 23-month-old Samantha. "It's OK, sweetheart," Anita said. "No, it isn't," said Amy, our eldest eld-est daughter and Sam's Mommy, who understood all that the Lladro meant to Anita and who seemed to feel worse about its demise than her mother did. "It's just a thing," Anita said. "It can Now that the long-awaited Pleasant Grove freeway off-ramp is a reality, many residents wonder won-der how and when the anticipated commercial development will occur in the area, the area officially official-ly designated as the Pleasant Grove Gateway. Below are some frequently asked Gateway questions: What are the factors affecting commercial development in the Gateway area? Probably the most significant is that more than 95 percent of the Gateway area is privately owned, therefore development is controlled con-trolled by the property owners. Development of the area is a very high priority in Pleasant Grove City's Economic Development Plan, but it is primarily a private-sector private-sector project - assisted and facilitated facil-itated by the city as appropriate. Other factors are the economy, competition from nearby commercial commer-cial developments, such as The Meadows in American Fork and area demographics. What kind of development should we expect to see in the PG Gateway? Aside from Pleasant Grove's A I ier Bu 1 G design guidelines and property owners' preferences, the best indicator is to observe recent comparable projects in other Utah cities. The new Meadows project in American Fork, Jordan Landing Land-ing in West Jordan and many others oth-ers are following the "mixed commercial" com-mercial" development trend. Very few enclosed malls are being built in America anymore as developers are focusing instead on a blend of retail, entertainment, office and residential components. The retail components are usually anchored by "big box" retailers (stores of 50,000 square feet and larger) such as WalMart, Target, Home Depot, Old Navy, Kohls, Costco, and others with smaller in-line retailers and restaurants surrounding sur-rounding them like groupies trailing a celebrity. Being located in the highly visible 1-15 corridor will also likely attract automobile dealers and lodging to the Gateway. Gate-way. Pleasant Grove is committed standards ', development "P ' Way area? necessary r! merits f,r .' the forer,;168 dfcveloDmVer '.Tig en vd as id! new rf-siM." ' und" constr.;' , Catwa;anc the pro;pt,t:'' " tenants co.J With Pfertu estate priy what the bear. This , ej months or ,'.iei denced by 0i..es developmental the prrjper.. ; C should be; it' ...o i the precede .g. considerate' ier 10 expect tdfci ' dence of K-.-an in Pleasant?. ingthe; bly sooner. r iVKunni! (Hip (isnnnmfiits 'L 7f 4 he ALPINE The Alpine City Council has approved funding to repair about 550 feet of pipe from Chipman Creek to Dry Creek. The existing pipe is in poor condition and with the area already under construction for a subdivision. City planners said it was a good time to act. The council coun-cil approved S1 5,000 for the project with money coming from the Pressurized Pres-surized Irrigation Fund. ALPINE The City Council has authorized the city staff to accept bids for park maintenance services. In 2003, the city had a private company mow and apply weed killer to Smooth Canyon Park at a cost of $6,000. The city will begin accepting bids for the same work this year and will also include Burgess Park. Any interested parties can contact the Alpine City Offices for details on the bidding process. AMERICAN FORK With pieces written by some of the world's most renowned composers com-posers and reflecting a wide variety of styles, the American Fork Symphony Sym-phony will present its "Symphonic Silhouettes" concert on Monday. Feb. 23, at 7:30 p.m. The concert, conducted by David Griffith, will be presented in the American Fork High School auditorium, 510 N. 600 East. There is a suggested donation dona-tion of $3. AMERICAN FORK Ground was broken Monday, Feb. 16, for a three-story, 38,000-square 38,000-square foot building at 1159 E. 200 North. It will be owned by American Fork Medical Properties LLC and will support several medical suites, including American Fork General Surgeons, Utah Valley Pediatrics of American Fork, Dr. Doug Denys ENT, IHC Physicians Division and a pharmacy. CEDAR HILLS Cedar Hills residents are encouraged encour-aged to complete the Decisions 2004 Feedback Form included in this month's newsletter sent with the utility bill. The forms can be returned at the neighborhood meetings or returned to the city office by March 5 EAGLE MOUNTAIN A kinderaarten-thmMk be replaced. In fact, your grade charter schnni Th. d..l " fniw;r,.roi.o..: a,j ... 'dilutes s u.c wj ojjuih rv-cujuiny, will open ts fir;t torm A.. 1 "-nil next year so we can get another one." "I am?" I gulped. I knew her parents were planning a return visit, but I thought I had successfully success-fully avoided making a commitment commit-ment to the trip, citing poverty and claustrophobia. "Oh, yes," she said, still clutching clutch-ing a dustpan full of Lladro fragments. frag-ments. "You are." Funny, but I don't remember praying for patience. Aug. 23. The new school will be located in The Ranches community of Eagle Mountain, and is in the process of accepting open enrollment enroll-ment ope enrolment wj Feb. 28. Parent enrollment meetings meet-ings will be held at the Legacy Cen- ter in Lehi, 123 N. Center Street on Feb- 12 from 7, 09 P.m. and 21 from 10 a.m. to noon. Applied tions for enrollment will , ? available. Locations of ZmSi,': W'N vary until the new school Id ng construction is completed ad will be posted on the academy's Web site www.theranchesacade-my.com. www.theranchesacade-my.com. EAGLE MOUNTAIN Eagle Mountain has joined the Lehi Area Chamber of Commerce as part of the Cedar Valley municipality's munici-pality's quest to attract businesses and broaden the city's tax base. The chamber director Heather M.IIer welcomed the city into the organization on Feb. 3. Scot Hazard, Haz-ard, chair of the Eagle Mountain Economic Development Board, will act as city liaison for Eag'e Mountain Moun-tain and the Lehi Area Chamber. HIGHLAND Jon Schmidt, new-age classical pianist and composer, will have a benefit concert at Lone Peak High School on Saturday. Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. The funds raised will benefit children's education in Africa through the Lone Peak AfncAid Club. Tickets are available at the door for $10 for students and $12 for adults. Discount tickets may be purchased in advance through the school's finance office. Questions may be referred to Ryan Van Wagoner Wag-oner at 756-9562. HIGHLAND A new power substation in the middle of 2.58 acres was discussed at the Highland Planning Commission Commis-sion on Feb. 10. It is to be constructed con-structed at about 12000 North on 6000 West. A resident of Highland Hills, Mark Robins, whose house is located next to the substation site 'complained he did not know the substation would be going in when he purchased his lot. It was explained that the substation had been approved in the county before the area was annexed into Highland and the location had been decided just last April. City administrator Barry Edwards said, "I checked with the city attorney and found out we have no control over the site. Utah Power and Light has a non-expiring conditional use from Utah County. They are willing to work on the landscaping, land-scaping, to reduce the impact, however." how-ever." He added although Highland will get some of the power much of ' will go to Alpine. "We came in good faith to work with you. We hold an open house and notified everyone every-one in the area." said LeLynne Rodebach from UP&L. Construction Construc-tion of the substation will begin as soon as weather permits and it should be operational by June. HIGHLAND A Jiffy Lube and a car wash are Panned for the two-lot subdivision east ofthoKountiy Kornors service stajon. The subdivision on 11000 North received a recommendation Pining Commission on Feb. 10. Tho hoigh, of the fence to shield no vby nolghbois Was n J? ?aS ,h0 " docision. Site r architects both tjS'cOlS scaping a-- - or were resc ,e: u'cJ ensuring an wash that err addressed. ;:tin Crofts sal Bn power to tii 0 which v. : ;-e r ommeniatr i-the i-the City G:o::jdg 14 rile itei - 14 ir, st lei LEHI Prev:o-$; ChaT.be: y Area Chi" grown ex:o--12 nor.rs. r paid re-.:-more than . Thar.ksgv ber toa'd'i: five to 12 -r-al cha-gesr; offers ce-ta " insurance :v-.' and rV e- 3:: Lehicha-:' nmg and p" ship, rr,ect7 other ir.pci" chamber s ' Rodeo R.v-"-' Lehi Cot invoNed r Eao'e V" j tions as it. NORTH UTA.L'r. , Timp3n::,ff tnct has tee" treatment River. Boa"1; told thetca-'er Saratoga wastewater state that di Johnson sa -; N the app'-','1 G wasao--' )r satellite p!-: re NORTH UTA1"- trict board chair Feb-1-re-elected Sewby as and SouV3' Ai-is Ai-is last ye'ilt Walker. TW 'r; he bersareoV'i is Highl ;'', lde WillougW15 ' member; i b Mountain ;rte Blake, nearer can ro n;;th Leotham iss;id administrate; th,- hoard, 151 ,r Ma' Cound r. te PloasiVit TSSD-s$V, Li Nobeker. JT I lowar al approval for is the . -.. ...... -mwu wninw MMfiiiwn rvrrriTt3 Hr'i rr-.-r-3r rrt.tr r, .- .-irn rvroamitww - |