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Show 2 SPRINGVILLE HERALD Thursday, July 29, 2004 COMMENTMY Editorial Let's not by Martin Conover As most of us know Springville City has been in the process of drilling a new well on Canyon Road on property that was known as the "Drive Corral. The city chose a well driller who had drilled two previous wells for the city, one in the northeast section and the other known as the Evergreen Well. The first well was a "bust" because be-cause it hit what we were told was bedrock, and the other was a problem because of the well driller. In the end, although the well seemed promising, the city is not getting a lot of water from this well. The present driller was allowed to bid on the present Canyon Road Well because he promised to do a "better job" to city officials offi-cials who make the decision to allow bidders, and got the job because he was the low bidder. However, the Canyon Road Well has not gone well. When the well hit hard going material, the driller thought the city would not drill a test well to see what was down there, but the city did, and part of the well that had been drilled, but not cased in, collapsed on itself and" when the city said to the driller, drill on, the driller had to "re-drill" the weft and work through the hard stuff. Then the driller came to the city and asked that the 30-inch hole he was drilling be reduced to a 24-inch hole and the city agreed. Also it was reported by the city that the casing the driller was going to use was not the proper gage, or thickness of steel and worked stopped again, and part of the well again fell in again on itself. Again, operations ceased while the city and the driller talked about what to do, and it is our understanding that work has started again at the well. Also we have learned that the driller has been paid only for the work that he has accomplished. We encourage the city and its professionals stand tough on this well. We need the well for future growth, we know there is water at the lower levels because we have drilled a test well at the site. We have spent a lot of money over the last several years looking for water and now that it is at hand we should expect that the city staff and council stand firm, get the best deal for our money and the water which is needed. We thank the city staff and council for their hard line approach ap-proach to these problems and say "let's not get hosed now." Springville Police report Springville Police charged four 16-year-old male juveniles with theft after they were caught taking plywood from a construction site. They were from Payson, Goshen and El-berta. El-berta. Police had 271 calls last week including 41 that were for animal ani-mal problems. Justin Broderick, 998 E. 40 North, Springville, was charged with theft in a 2003 case. Mark Dean Christensen, 147 E. 200 North, Springville, was arrested for an outstanding outstand-ing warrant. Charges are being filed on Megan A. Dase, 135 N. 100 West, Springville, for harboring harbor-ing animals, unlicensed dog and animal with no rabies shot after her dog bit a juvenile at a park. Jesus J. Garcia, 2500 S. SR 51 trailer, Springville, was arrested arrest-ed for aggravated assault. Brian R. Gull, 134 W. 300 North, Springville, is being referred re-ferred to court for disorderly conduct. Sherri Nunnelly, 265 N. 100 West, Payson, is also being be-ing referred to court for disorderly disor-derly conduct. Brady Mark Hamilton. 240 S. 1300 East, Springville, was arrested ar-rested for a warrant. Jozef Harmata, 476 N. 300 East 4, Provo, was cited for doing busi- Springville Herald 269 E. 400 South Springville, UT 84663 An edition of The Daily Herald, a Pulitzer, Inc. 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We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, punctuation, taste and length. Letters are welcome on any topic. get hosed! ness without a license. John Wesley Hollar, 316 Brookcourt, Springville, was arrested for a warrant. Died Deven Hymas, 220865 HWY 89, Birdseye, was arrested for a warrant. Isaac Jacob Iker, 1025 N. 300 West, 83, Springville, was cited for assault. Charges are being filed on Wendy D. Johnson, 391 S. 1000 West, Payson, for open contan-er contan-er of alcohol and parking on a sidewalk. Misty Killpack, 311 N. 400 East, Springville, is being be-ing referred to court for theft. John Anthony Richins, 138 N. 300 East, Springville, was arrested ar-rested for a warrant. Gregory Vincent Snelson, 111 N. 1230 East, Springville, was charged with criminal trespass. Jamie Teresa Stubblefield, 360 W. 400 North 77, Springville, was cited for furnishing fur-nishing tobacco to a minor after af-ter police did a compliance check at Wal-Mart. Eric J. Cruz, 232 N. 1100 East, Springville, was cited for possession pos-session of marijuana and possesion posse-sion of drug paraphernailia. Several vehicles had windows win-dows broken out and contents taken. Missing is: $6; Pioneer speakers, amp and stereo equipment; 100 CD's and paycheck; pay-check; $8; $5 and gasoline; CD player; stereo and radar detector. detec-tor. Home burglaries resulted in the loss of 100 paintings; money mon-ey and a knife; and speakers and debit card were taken from a storage shed, and acoustic processor, amp, sub-woofer, sub-woofer, shotgun and fishing equipment were taken from a storage unit. Other thefts included a gas-powered gas-powered scooter; checkbook and credit card; rear license plate; lawn sprinkler; two bikes; several gasoline skips; wallet; and a vehicle was taken tak-en from a gas station near the freeway after the owner went into the store leaving the vehicle ve-hicle running with the keys irt it. Mapleton Police report Mapleton Police arrested Clint Robert Ekins, 158 E. 800 South, Genola, for two outstanding warrants. They had 46 calls last week including 14 for animal problems. Police chased a moose back into the hills that was on the loose on East Maple. A citizen also reported seeing a mountain lion at 1200 E and 35 South. Police are investigating an obscene ob-scene phone calls to a young woman. And the concession stand at the Ira alien Park was damaged after persons turned on the sprinklers. A camera, DVD and golf clubs were taken from a home, and a go-cart was taken from another. A tailgate is also missing. Real questions concerning downtown weren't asked on survey Editor I have just completed the Community Survey provided by the Springville Downtown Business Busi-ness Alliance, and confess that I am baffled. I was so baffled that I broke down and spent some time studying the Alliance web site. With a better education, I am trying to balance the appeal of the aesthetic improvements against my need to be able to get from one end of Main Street to the other. The Alliance is proposing to make the downtown area the social and economic hub of the city, and they point to Park City's Main Street as an example of how this can be done. Unfortunately, Park City has two things that Springville does not. Park City has ski resorts, and Park City has Woodside Avenue. Av-enue. Consequently, Park City has thousands of affluent people willing to walk their "walk-able Main Street" and make purchases, purchas-es, and it has an alternative route for people whose primary concern is getting through town so that they can be at work on WOT seeking citizen input by Caleb Warnock STAFF WRITER Transportation experts are asking Utah County residents for their opinions on four proposals pro-posals to reduce traffic congestion con-gestion in Utah County. UDOT officials are driving a "talk truck" around Salt Lake and Utah counties to encourage en-courage people to give their opinions about a proposed freeway west of Utah Lake, a new trail system, a bus-rapid transit route in Lehi, and a series se-ries of new roads in northern Utah County. A truck tows an A-frame billboard to different dif-ferent locations, where transportation trans-portation officials hope residents resi-dents will ask questions, look at maps and fill out comment cards about the four options. The roads and mass transit options would run from Salt Lake County to Utah County, said Teri Newell of the Utah Department of Transportation. Transporta-tion. Transportation experts have narrowed more than 600 ideas for transportation improvements im-provements down to four. After Af-ter a year of study, experts will choose one of the four and present it to federal transportation officials for approval by summer of 2006. "We want to make sure we've got the right four options," op-tions," she said. "We are going go-ing to study these four for a year in great detail and we want to make sure we don't get to the end of that year of study and somebody says 'What about this other option?' op-tion?' " But even if the option is approved, ap-proved, Utah legislators have no plans to include any of the projects, which will cost hundreds hun-dreds of millions of dollars, in their 30-year list of transportation trans-portation spending priorities, said Mountainlands Regional Council director Darrell Cook. Unless the project is given a funding slot on that list, residents will not see any of the improvements before 2030. With Utah County's transportation trans-portation woes growing, the Legislature may not be able Cannon responds to 911 repoort Congressman Chris Cannon (R-UT) issued the following statement after release of a report re-port by the 911 Commission: The Commission's report is an important reminder that the real blame for 911 lies with al Qaeda and its determination to destroy our way of life. The terrorism ter-rorism carried out by Osama Bin Ladin and his followers is different thaq anything America Ameri-ca has faced before, and we must be determined to stop it. What is also clear from the report re-port is that America's intelligence intelli-gence agencies need to work more closely together to help time. I can't get past the fear that while this beautifully and thoughtfully-crafted plan will make Springville's Main Street much more attractive, it is also going to make Main Street as difficult to traverse as Park City's Main Street or' Provo's Center Streets are, and as a result, re-sult, the city's economic viability will be negatively impacted. Is Main Street's primary function to be a social and economic eco-nomic hub, or is Main Street's most important function to be a street? Does the current plan allow it to function in both capacities? ca-pacities? If not, citizens need to re-visit the proposal and ask the right questions before demolition de-molition begins. Before we redesign re-design our streets to accommodate accom-modate the "progressive tourism" the Alliance envisions, envi-sions, we need to figure out where will we get the tourists. What are the possibilities of setting up temporary obstructions obstruc-tions that mimic the placement of the tree-lined medians we will eventually have under this plan? Most corporations "usability test" multi-million-dollar propos- to ignore the need for transportation trans-portation improvements here for long, said Dan Nelson of Mountainlands. As more and more people speak out in frustration about traffic in northern Utah County, the Legislature will be forced to act. "The question is how much pain can we live with?" he said. "The higher the population, popula-tion, the higher the number of vehicles ! on the road, the more interest there will be. As we add more congestion, the pain gets harder and eventually gets to be more than we can bear." Newell said completing the study and getting federal approval ap-proval for one of the options to relieve congestion will make it easier to transportation transporta-tion experts to petition the Legislature for funding. "When we've had an opportunity oppor-tunity to find out what the option op-tion and the funding should be, it will make it better when we go after funding," she said. Population projections show that Interstate 15 will fail if the proposed freeway and other roads and transportation trans-portation improvements aren't put into place between 2014 and 2023, said Cook. The improvements could also be built in pieces rather than all at once. Each of the four options experts ex-perts will be studying propose pro-pose a different combination of roads to go with the new freeway, bus-rapid transit and the trail, Newell said. Maps and a description of the four options can be found online on-line at www.udot.utah.gov mountainview. Residents call also fill out an online comment com-ment card about the different options. Transportation officials will also give presentations about the four options in city council meetings in Lehi at 7 p.m. on Aug. 10 at City Hall, 153 N. 100 East, and in Pleasant Pleas-ant Grove at 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 12 at City Hall, 70 S. 100 East. The meetings are open to the public. prevent future attacks. "As detailed in the report, during the 1990s terrorism was approached as a law-enforcement issue. Today, we realize that terrorism is much more. It is a global war that must be taken seriously and a battle that needs to be taken to our enemies. Under President Bush's leadership, America has taken an aggressive approach to defeating terrorists. I will continue to support the President's Presi-dent's efforts and our troops defending us at home and abroad as we fight the War on Terror." als before they implement them. I'd feel better if I could experience experi-ence the changes before they were made permanent. I'd like to see if 5 p.m. traffic could actually actu-ally maneuver in only two lanes before I support a proposal to eliminate road space. As I understand it, the purpose pur-pose of the survey is to determine deter-mine what businesses to "recruit" "re-cruit" to the area. If the consumer con-sumer base to support these businesses existed, would they not already be here? And what of the existing businesses? Will auto parts fit into the Alliance's "common philosophy" and marketing mar-keting campaign? Will appliances? appli-ances? Will an afterechool program pro-gram designed to support at-risk at-risk children? If not, where does the Alliance propose to ask these entities to re-locate? It seems that the services, goods and events available in the downtown area of Springville should be determined by the free enterprise system, not by survey results. My greatest concern with the Alliance survey, however, is that it did not ask the most important im-portant questions. For example: Rate hike won't offset losses from Geneva bankruptcy byAmieRose STAFF WINTER Taxes from thousands of new homes and a slightly higher property tax rate wont offset the Utah County tax dollars lost in the Geneva Steel bankruptcy and losses from state-as-sessedpropertyinUtah County. Utah County commissioners set the county's 2004 tax rate Tuesday at 0.001425, upfrctn0.001413in2OOaThe increase wont make a big difference inmost tax Mis, though It wimeanan extra $L20 for every $100,000 of tax-abte tax-abte value onahorne. Under state law, a county must collect col-lect what it collected mproperty taxes the year before, and sometimes it has to adjust the tax rate up or down to keep tax revenues the same. It can collect more money if there's growth in the county during the year, but any other increases requireatruth-intaxation requireatruth-intaxation hearing. The county raised the tax rate because be-cause overall property values dropped with the Geneva Steel closure, White said Geneva Steel's assets, before bankruptcy, bank-ruptcy, were listed on the county's books at about $200 million. The company com-pany hasnt paid taxes since 2000, when it paid nearby $2 million The county wiped out the company's over-due over-due tax bfll in March, in exchange for the company waiving its claims of overpaid taxes in 1999 and 2000. It Hatch: 911 Commission Report an honest appraisal of what went wrong Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) called the report released today by the 911 Commission "an honest hon-est appraisal of what went wrong" with American coun-terterrorism coun-terterrorism efforts prior to September 11, 2001, and said the report contains several useful ideas for improving counterter-rorism counterter-rorism efforts. "An event as historic and catastrophic cat-astrophic as 911 requires a hard look at what happened. You can't pull any punches," said Hatch. "The 911 Commission report released today is an honest hon-est appraisal of what went wrong prior to September 11th, and the Commission has done a great service to the American people with its blunt review of our counterterrorism systems." The 911 Commission ended its lengthy examination of the events leading up to September 11, 2001 on Thursday with the public release of its report, including in-cluding conclusions as to how to make America safer. "I appreciate the attempts made, in addition to an uvdepth narrative review, to provide ideas for strengthening our counterterrorism efforts," said Hatch. "These ideas will contribute con-tribute to the significant efforts already made and programs implemented im-plemented by the Congress and the Administration. I am skeptical skepti-cal that creation of a so-called 'Intelligence Czar' or other restructuring re-structuring is either necessary or helpful. I'U remain open-minded, open-minded, but frankly, I do not want a politicized intelligence czar, nor do I understand how another or different layer of bureaucracy bu-reaucracy will address the reform re-form that must occur inside the intelligence community." "I would also differ with some aspects of the Commis Do you support the idea of creation of a Historic Downtown Down-town Springville? ; Have we made it clear to taxpayers tax-payers how much these improvements im-provements will cost, who will be paying for them? Do you understand that the planners intend to make it more difficult to drive along Main Street? Are you in agreement that the economic and aesthetic advantages advan-tages outweigh the disadvantages? disadvan-tages? Asking me to "be part of the future of historic downtown Springville" after the decisions that impact me have already been made, and without giving me answers to the most pressing press-ing questions, is like asking me to put a check-mark by which television station I watch, and only listing KBYU as an option (see section 21 of the survey). I feel a bit manipulated. I appreciate ap-preciate the opportunity to give my input. Next time I need someone to ask me all of the questions. Lynnae W. Allred Springville wont pay taxes this year but wffl pay next year atamuch lower rate than in the past because the equipment on the property is gone. Even with the rate increase, Utah County will probably sail come up short mproperty tax collections, White said. It will be between $200,000 and $250,000 less than it needs. Utah County assesses property taxes tax-es on businesses areiharrra that are k cated within the county boundaries, said Utah County Assessor Kris Poul-son. Poul-son. The state assesses property taxes on businesses that have equipment crossing county lines, such as cahfe and phone companies, Rxflson sad fi that property bsesvaluebecause of deprecation de-precation or because the techridogy is outdated, the county cant adjust the tax rate on that property to make up for the loss like it can f or property as-sessedby as-sessedby the county. Growth in the county ends up making mak-ing up for the losses in state-assessed property, instead of bringing more money into the county to pay for the increased service needs createdby the growth, Whitesaid "We're just trying to get along wMi the same amount of money," he said, EventuaDy the prcUemwihtax dollars dol-lars from growth making up for lost taxes on stateassessed property could mean a tax increase, White said, That time isnt now. sion's criticism of Congressional oversight," Hatch added. "In particular, I do think that some of us recognized the growing threat that terrorism presented, as far back as the 1980s. But I look forward to discussing the Commission's conclusions with my colleagues in Congress, including in-cluding the idea of unified homeland home-land security oversight." Hatch is Chairman of the Senate Sen-ate Judiciary Committee and Ranking Member of the Select Committee on Intelligence. The Springville Herald Customer Service 375-51 03 485651 Fax 489-7021 239 L 400S. Springville, Utah 84663 Putfcher IGrk Parkinson Manger (nig Conover cnnrartaaldexhuMn Et&or Pat Conover ortfyrjvpraam Ppge desgnad fayout Marria Harris Ad Layout MymaJefFers Typesetter Sherri Harris Offia Manager JanealDuffh SendNewshenstousal ortrjyavpnuorn ) |