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Show d Utah Stat Pross ;.. Ino St!7 flf Salary- Stodly Mea IMiw Qjy jobs Perfraaaimce Volume 54 Number 15 Wednesday, April 11, 1984 PRICE TWENTY FIVE-CENTS I ri. jv ' XT " ' r... Skating rink at new State Park could well be termed sunken gardens. Reclaiming Reclaim-ing project may cost State more than original park-and chances are good that it will be flooded again. Picnickers will have to contend with mud, slime, and goo in addition to traditional ants at State Park unless pumps at State Park are able to suck up a lot more of the flood debris. Now what can they do about the rotting odor that permeates the area? . 6 Termed Tax For Utah "Utah lawmakers came up with a genuine, old fashioned tax miracle when they developed and passed H. B. 6 in the special session last week," according to the Utah Taxpayers Tax-payers Association. H.B. 6 deals with the recent Supreme Court ruling which held the 1978 assessment freeze unconditional." "I really did not think such a simple and fair solution could have been found for such a complicated problem in such a short time," said Jack Olson, Executive Vice-President Vice-President of the Utah Taxpayers Association. . i. , "Taxpayer's fears of a whopping "' 46 property tax hike this year diould now be greatly eased bacause of legislative action last week." "In order to minimize the huge iwhich would have resulted from lift-ling lift-ling the '78 freeze, the lawmakers ting the 78 freeze, the lawmakers FED Streets Must Meet City Standards Planned Residential Develop ments continue to create problems for both developers and Orem City Council Coun-cil and Planning Commission who must approve the plat plans prior to construction. Last week City Council members held a work session on the matter of developing ways to insure that developers complete the plans as approved ap-proved by the council. It was decided decid-ed that the planning commission would measure each plan against predetermined pre-determined guidelines. Council also requested that similar elevations not be constructed adjacent to each other Council OK's Adoption Of State Exemption Plan City Council members approved Tuesday night to give notification by resolution of Orem City's active participation par-ticipation in the Utah State Retirement Retire-ment System and also to adopt the employee exemption plan. During the past two years, the City Ci-ty has offered its employees an option of participating in the Utah State Retirement System or an alternative retirement program. State Legislature recently amended the Utah Code provision allowing the option and passed S.B. 39 which gives local governments (which had established alternative retirement programs) methods of meeting requirements for full and active ac-tive participation in the Utah State Retirement System. The code amendment also provides pro-vides that elected officials and certain appointed officials may be excluded from coverage in the Utah State Retirement System provided an ex Tax Eetunas Meed Proper Postage taxpayers nave an extra day to file their income tax returns this year because the traditional deadline-April deadline-April 15 falls on a Sunday, Postmaster Clyde E. Weeks said today. However, he said, the Postal Ser ) Property provided for a 20 assessment discount on locally-valued residential residen-tial and commercial property to account ac-count for costs which reduce the actual ac-tual amount a property owner receives when he sells his property," proper-ty," Olson said. "The lifting of the '78 freeze increases in-creases the assessed values of homes and businesses by 40, but when the 20 discount is applied the resulting net increase is but 12 (1.40 x .801.12)," he explained. "Legislators also took action to prevent windfalls to redevelopment agencies and order the State, Tax Commission to'"reduce the ,1984 statewide 23.25 mill school levy to offset off-set the increase in values," added the Utah Taxpayers Association spokesman. "HB 6 also implements the 106 percent property tax revenue in a PRD. Private versus public streets was the issue discussed Tuesday. Coun-cilmembers Coun-cilmembers decided that private streets should meet the same standards stan-dards as city streets regardless of width. It was pointed out that developers often choose private over public streets in order to be more creative and sometimes to get more density from a piece of property. If these streets are not up to city standards it creates problems when the city is asked to take over the streets at a future time. emption plan is adopted by the City Council. Council member Stella Welsh opposed op-posed the otherwise unanimous vote on he grounds that the amendment is unfair. "If some city officials have the choice of exclusion from coverage, all city employees ought to have the same choice," she objected. City Council also voted to establish a committee to study the west side of Orem regarding future development. The committee will respond to those concerns. Members will include at least two residents of the area under consideration, members of the city staff, and at least two members at large who may not live in the area but may have property there. The study will look at properties west of the freeway and from the northern nor-thern to southern limits of Orem. vice has been notified that the Internal Inter-nal Revenue Service, in compliance with its regulations, will not pay postage due costs for federal income tax returns mailed without postage or bearing insufficient postage. Such mail will be returned to the sender. ; 4- ' ' Miracle Owners limitation law which was used during the old state reappraisal program. This law limits property tax rates and provides that they must be cut as assessments go up. A taxing unit can receive no more than a 6 increase in property taxes over the previous year," said Jack Olson. Olson added, "The bottom line is that when the 20 discount and the 106 tax limitation provided for in HB 6 are taken together, most taxpayers tax-payers will see their 1984 property taxes increases considerably less than 12 in most counties." "However, we feel a ' 12 increase in-crease is still too much, but the legislature has done all it can to reduce the tax shift resulting from the court decision. Now it's up to school boards, county commissions, and city councils to reduce their tax rates," Mr. Olson said. Council Okays Training Funds City council members approved funds in the amount of $7,500 to be taken from the contingency fund to pay for paramedic training and overtime costs incurred by the Public Safety Department. City Manager Daryl Berlin explained ex-plained that the costs were incurred when the State Emergency Medical Division requested that the city send more officers in for paramedic training. While they were being trained, the local department had to pay someone to fill their time slots, said Berlin. In other action Orem City Council Coun-cil set a hearing for 7:30 p.m. on April 24 to outline the proposed Community Development Block Grant 1984-85 budget. Arequested 8 x 20 and 12 foot high sign for Maple Tree Plats on Lot 1, Plat E, 1700 North 80 West was opposed in favor of a 4 x 8 foot sign. Councilman Harley Gillman felt the large sign posed no problem "unless we are setting a precedent." Councilman Glen Zimmerman said, "I think we are setting a precedent," and made a motion to approve a 32 square foot sign. The motion passed. The council also approved a request to construct an addition to an LDS Church located at 800 South 440 East. The addition will be constructed con-structed on the south side of the existing structure. The City Council also authorized Mayor DeLance W. Squire to execute an agreement between Orem City and the Bureau of Reclamation to relocate a water main to allow for construction of the Jordan and AlpineAqueducts. It will be necessary to relocate approximately 1,050 linear feet of the city water main between Mountain Moun-tain Oaks Subdivision and Skyline Meadows Subdivision. The BOR will reimburse the city of all cost, estimated to be less than $50,000. ) A compensation study presented to City Council Tuesday night will be discussed with department heads and employees before adopting, according ac-cording to City Manager Daryl Berlin. Hay Associates recently completed com-pleted the study on assignment of Orem City. "It will clear up a lot of internal equity problems, said Berlin. He anticipates that the study will help resolve salary Issues and will bring lower paying positions into in-to a range that "makes sense." The extensive report involved a copyrighted system of job evaluation. "It is all based on job content, not titles," said the consultant. con-sultant. He said equity at Orem City is "not too bad at the exempt level, and not too good at the non-exempt level." He found that 30 percent of 180 salaries are not equitable with Excel Tower Hearing Postponed Council Approves State ;etirement Participation A public hearing for Excel Inter-financial Inter-financial Corp. was continued once again to allow further study of properties proper-ties for construction of proposed twin 10-story office buildings. City Council members Tuesday approved a hearing hear-ing to be May 1, at 7:30 p.m. A hearing also was set Tuesday for April 24 to consider rezoning a 6.8 acre piece of property at 13th South and 2nd East in Orem. The May 1 hearing will be to consider rezoning the 4.1 acre piece of ground at 1300 South and Main. Excel vice president Rick Muir said his firm also is considering con-sidering two pieces of property in Pro-vo, Pro-vo, also on the corridor. i City Manager Daryl Berlin said the request for the hearing postponement postpone-ment was made formally to him to allow the firm another 30 days to-evaluate to-evaluate a variety of alternatives. i Mayor DeLance W. Squire said, Hearing Raises Questions Early press time Tuesday prevents timely coverage of the Public Hearing held last night at the Orem City Council meeting on the proposed master plan amendment and zoning change for property located from approximately 500 East to 800 East and from 1200 North to 1600 North. The amendment would alter the land use from low density residental to Research and Manufacturing Manufac-turing Parks Land Use. The commission for Economic Development in Orem (CEDO) requested re-quested these changes to allow the development in the City of Orem. Two neighborhood meetings were held to discuss this proposal. A great deal of input has been provided by residents in the area since that time. Most vocal of the opponents to the park is David Lisonbee of 262 E. 1600 N. A handbill citing beefs of Lisonbee and several of the neighbors to the Hatch Will Make Annual Report April 18 at L JHS Education, the threat of flooding, Geneva Steel - all subjects of concern to citizens of Central Utah, will be disucssed as part of the seventh annual an-nual "Report to Utah", scheduled for Orem, Wednesday, April 18, by Senator Orrin Hatch. ' 'Good communication and close contact with Utahns is one of my most important priorities," Hatch stated, "and our annual Report to Utah is one of the ways I learn the views and concerns con-cerns of Utahns as well as report on my activities in the Senate." m is ' ' - "i;vr m f J x Ms? ff!ill!pii: 1 1 ... if- . t tl' i ! 1 n :si4:SSiSi::.:t::..; 1 t 4 .' Have outfit-will travel. Lynette Jacob, Orem Chamber of Commerce, gives plug to Chamber members to get out and bring in those new members and win a chance to travel to faraway far-away places. Paul Taylor heartily approves. jobs of similar content. The Hay report showed that compared to the rest of the world, the lower level pay in general is above average, but as job content goes up pay falls off dramatically compared to the private sector and is a bit below other Utah cities. The report also showed non-cash benefits are "extremely competitive" com-petitive" and well above average. Twenty-five percent of the city's staff fall below the recommended minimum. Combined salaries of these 69 incumbents are $126,948 in annual dollars below the minimum range. This represents 2.4 percent of the total payroll. Fourteen employees, em-ployees, or five percent, have salaries which exceed the recommended recom-mended range by a combined total of $11,970. The Hay consultant recommen "We are meeting almost daily trying to work out a solution that won't impact im-pact the neighborhood." To those in the audience waiting for the hearing , Tuesday he apologized and added, "We appreciate your patience." , While many neighbors objected to the towers being built on property west of Main and 13th South, most hope the towers will be built in Orem. At the same time Provo City is "bending "ben-ding over backwards for us and are trying to make it economically viable for us," said Muir. "We'd like to locate on the 13th South corridor," said Rick. "There are financial differences on all the properties to consider. Both Muir and Gary Sabin, president presi-dent of Excel, graduated from Orem High School. "We want to remain in Utah Valley," they have said. proposea park charges the city council coun-cil with ignoring its master plan amendment procedure. "No thorough studies have been presented which address the city's own guidelines for master plan amendments such as: a. compatibility with adjacent areas; b. impact on street system and all other public facilities; c. conformance with social, economic and environmental policies; d. maintain intent of Master Plan and orderly development," Lisonbee says. In preparation for the hearing CEDO completed a Policy Statement along with Development Guidelines prepared for adoption to regulate uses, building heights, parking, landscaping, land-scaping, signage, circulation, and lot size. Covenants, conditions and restrictions also were prepared to guide architechural and development controls within the park. The statement includes several letters from Development Managers on research parks in Aurora, Colorado; Col-orado; Charlotte, North Carolina; Orlando, Florida; Columbia, Maryland, and San Antonio, Texas. In CPR Sirills Taught Saturday At Mall The American Red Cross is sponsoring spon-soring "CPR Saturday" on Saturday, April 14 at the University Mall in Orem. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, or CPR is a method of providing artificial ar-tificial circulation and breathing to a person whose heart and lungs have stopped functioning because of heart attack, shock or drowning. Every : J ded freezing these top 14 salaries until un-til others are brought to minimum. The report recommends merit pay should be administered for exceptional ex-ceptional reasons only. Salary adjustments ad-justments should be based on three reasons: structure Increase, merit Increase or promotional Increase. "The better one performs the higher should be the salary." The report measured job performance in ranges of provisional or marginal, competent, commendable or distinguished. Total plan payout would be $21, 780, for "commendable," performances perfor-mances employees should reach, the consultant said. Marginal performers perfor-mers should be terminated after a short trial. "It is hoped the structural adjustments ad-justments will be implemented by July after approval of City Council. At present Excel is involved in development of the Homestead in Midway, redevelopment and expansion expan-sion of Trolley Square and the Brickyard Plaza in Salt Lake Valley, as well as Mountain Springs Travel Center in Springville. They have outgrown their office space at 1686 W. 820 N. in Provo and plan to use a major portion of one of the proposed towers for Excel and will lease the remainder of the office space. They also hoped to establish a restaurant on the top floor and a helicopter pad on top of one of the buildings. City Council opposed the original request to rezone for the 10-story building at Main at 13th South in a zone approved for a 48 foot (three story) building. - Answers every instance the letters were positive stating that the parks had enhanced surrounding residential areas and that homes and properities had steadily raised in value. Also included in the statement is an extensive traffic imput study. The conclusions of this report indicate that should 800 East be fully four-laned as proposed by Orem City government and currently funded, the traffic volumes on 1200 North, 1600 North, and 800 East would be no greater than Service Level A, which is the lowest level of traffic volume used by traffic traf-fic engineers for transportation planning. plan-ning. Of special interest also is a letter let-ter accompanying the report from Clint Topham, Urban Planning Engineer, stating that the research park as proposed would have "no adverse impact" upon traffic flows surrounding the park. Opponents to the park argue that the study has not been extensive enough and betrays the trust of those who purchased homes in the area with the knowledge that it would be zoned for single family homes forever. year it saves the lives of many who are subject to accidental illness or injury. FREE classes in CPR will be taught by certified instructors all day Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m. Classes will begin every hour and last approximately approx-imately two-and-a-half hours. The Red Cross will be set up inside the Mall in front of Mervyn's. Chamber Offers Fabulous Prizes For New Members The Orem Chamber of Commerce Com-merce will be holding their annual membership drive. The Commerce will compete against the Provo Chamber of Commerce from May first to May 31. The grand prize for the competition include a three day and night trip to Mazatlan for the first place winner. Second place will be a river trip for down the Salmon River or Cataract Canyon - the winner's win-ner's choice of river trip. Third place will be a weekend at the Marriott Hotel. The Orem Chamber of Commerce Com-merce said for those who are Interested In-terested in helping with the membership mem-bership drive to contact Shauna or Connie at 224-3636. The losing Chamber will receive a buffalo chip that goes to the losing chamber every year. |