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Show Opinlm it CommmuQw Page 2 Orem-Geneva Times Wednesday, February 9, 1994 Editorial s sown for showplace beautif ioation project Although winter's chill is still upon the valley, seeds have been sown and will hopefully come to fruition in a future showplace State Street. The seeds sown are seeds of cooperation and civic pride. Orera City, State Street businesses, busi-nesses, State Street Project Organization Or-ganization personnel, UDOT, and landscape architect Fred Lil-jegren Lil-jegren are working together to create what Director of Public Works Richard Manning envisions en-visions will be "a beautiful, mmmimm w Orem Valentine 7534 the fourteen days of The calendar of love each passing year, And as the number beacons bright and clear, It holds each lover in a warm embrace. The magic of its spell fills every place, As love calls out to love, both far and near To purify its heart and banish fear. The Valentine retains a special space In every case of February love, And missives wend their way across the land In frantic flights of fancy high above. But on this message I will always stand: My love is lasting, love is ever new, And it will, surely, always see us through! Love Trails In The Sky n airplane streaks across the sky, Releasing phantom rope, That sparks a glimmer in my eye, And, in my heart, a hope. To see the silver missile soar Across that great expanse Reminds me of a distant shore Of happy circumstance: Where time and space may disappear; Where only thought is real. Where love and light can banish fear, And happiness can heal. I thrust my mind across the blue To seek that silver plane, To track the stars just out of view And stretch my agile brain. I must explore the void of space, And track the errant cloud; And contemplate the human race-The race-The humble and the proud. For just a moment in the night I loose the bonds of earth, As I achieve celestial flight In liberating birth. At last, I know and recognize The freedom to be free: When streaking through the starlit skies On to Eternity! beautiful street during the summertime." sum-mertime." Liljegren, whose services have been largely donated, presented plans for landscaping Phase I of the State Street Reconstruction Project to the City Council on February 1. Orem City has budgeted $100,000 for the landscaping. The responsibilities of businesses busi-nesses will be to receive training from members of the Beautifica-tion Beautifica-tion Advisory Commission in proper maintenance of the February grace landscaping, and then to follow through with the maintenance. The task of maintenance will be made easier through several features of the planned landscaping: simple drip irrigation irriga-tion systems that will discourage fatal over-watering; the use of long-blooming, drought-tolerant perennial plants; and the use of shrubs, bushes, and flowers rather than trees, which could eventually damage sidewalks and obliterate storefronts. Two separate walking-tour Council to change waiting provision again Rather than having a seven-day seven-day waiting period before any council action is implemented, the Orem City Council decided to apply the seven-day provision to selected agreements only. The seven-day waiting provision on council action was instituted in a January 11 council coun-cil review of its Policies and Procedures Pro-cedures manual. The provision's intent was to give council members mem-bers time to reconsider actions taken. However, Melody Downey, city recorder, detailed her concerns con-cerns about the "practical implementation im-plementation of the proposed changes" in a January 28 memo to Daryl Berlin, city manager. Downey appeared before the council on February 1 to present those concerns, which are: 1. The provision would unnecessarily delay much routine city business; 2. Emergency items having to do with safety or hazards could not be addressed in a timely way; and 3. Time-sensitive issues like bond deals could not be handled . appropriately. Downey said she conducted a telephone survey of other cities to see if they had delay or waiting provisions. She said all the cities said no, and seemed surprised at the question. Downey said when she asked specifically about agreements, most said they would not recommend a waiting period. Downey's recommendation was that there not be a waiting period, since all council action ex- LETTER TO THE EDITOR Against Constitutional Amendment on balanced budget Dear Editor: I am against the proposed "Constitutional Amendment" which would require a balanced federal budget each and every year. This would require drastic cuts in many programs including Social Security and Medicare, that help individuals and families all across the country. Although Social Security is self-financed self-financed and building a reserve (and therefor not contributing one penny to the deficit), Social Security would be subject to cuts because that's where the money is. Also Medicare is likely to be on the chopping block since it is the fastest growing portion of the federal budget. In addition Medicare cuts for deficit reduction reduc-tion could doom the prospect for health care reform (which I think is extremely necessary). I am for reducing the budget deficit abut Congress can do that now if they have the will! Sincerely, Evan A. Baugh 888 East 400 South Orem, Utah 225-1679 surveys have been done of businesses busi-nesses from about 1000 S. State to 1800 S. State. Representatives from the cooperating parties formed the group doing the surveys. sur-veys. The surveys helped determine deter-mine which businesses will be landscaped, which will remain the same, and which will not be able to be landscaped due to existing ex-isting conditions. Initial business reaction to the landscaping was negative, because it was assumed that sign-blocking trees would be cept for agreements can be brought back anyway. She suggested sug-gested establishing an effective date with only selected agreements, agree-ments, since very few are reconsidered. recon-sidered. Councilwoman Judy Bell argued ar-gued in favor of having the ability to reconsider. She said that agreements had caused the council coun-cil the "heartache and problems" in the past. She said that although al-though very few agreements are reconsidered, even two would be enough to justify keeping a check and balance. Councilman Kelvin Clayton said the council can always postpone action if they're not sure. "I'm willing to listen carefully care-fully and make appropriate changes," he said. Bell said, "I still think we need to have a waiting period when we're dealing with serious agreements." She said there have been two occasions when she had received additional information, in-formation, after the fact, that , had completely changed her - mind on issues. Downey said the council has the ability now to set an effective date for agreements. She said she would like to prepare a resolution with the direction not to hold on all documents. Mayor Stella Welsh said an effective date reminder could be noted on agreements. Orem City officials, council review infrastructure needs byREVABOWEN City Editor Orem City officials estimate that the city will need to spend approximately $1.5 million annually, an-nually, or 29 million over the next 14 years, to complete needed road construction and improvement im-provement projects. Statistics presented to the city council on February 1 by Richard Manning, Public Works director, and Ed Gifford, city engineer, showed that Orem could have a population of 120,000 to 145,000 in a total build-out under current zoning in future years. Gifford reviewed for the council coun-cil several of a prioritized list of road construction and improvement improve-ment projects that officials feel would help the city function better bet-ter and accommodate such population growth. Priority projects A project has been outlined to construct a road from 800 East to 920 East on 1200 North. A bridge would also be built over the Mur-dock Mur-dock Canal on 1200 N. at 1050 E. Water and sewer lines would be putin, and a traffic signal installed at 1200 N. 800 E. Cost is estimated at $420,000. Council members were told that this is a priority project because 120 homes have only an 800 North access. Another project would complete com-plete sidewalk and widen the street in the area of sidewalk improvement im-provement along 400 North, from State Street to Palisades Drive. Additionally, traffic lights would be installed along 400 North at 800 East and 400 East. Cost is expected to be $460,000. An 800 South proposed project would construct a collector collec-tor street from 800 W. to 1200 W., complete sidewalk improvements improve-ments on the south side of 800 going in. However, Iiyegren and the State Street Project Organization Or-ganization battled the negativity, and the businesses, contacted and consulted with individually, in-dividually, now feel excited about the landscaping plans. ReNae Brereton, chair of the State Street Project Organization Organiza-tion reported that businesses are now saying that they will help neighboring businesses, because the beautification will benefit both. Liljegren said that some businesses contacted have been SEMINAR . , and "cool stuff' something out of the ordinary and interesting can all be the basis for news releases. Becks trom also discussed the use of fliers to quickly disseminate dissemi-nate information and coupons; the importance of eye-catching brochures for direct mailing; the use of newsletters to keep in touch with customers; and the value of point of purchase (POP) items like posters. Finnerty outlined free services ser-vices offered to businesses by the Utah SBDC, including market research, cash flow analysis, and strategic planning. He said services ser-vices are offered to established businesses as well as those just starting up. Coping strategies Long and Beckstrom reassured reas-sured businesses that they intend in-tend to act as ombudsmen to help solve problems. Block leaders are being organized for each of six construction areas to dissemi- . Orem-Qeneva limes USPS 411-700 Published each Wednesday for $10.00 per year by the Orem-Geneva Orem-Geneva Times, 546 South State Street, Orem, Utah 84058. Second Class postage paid at Orem, Utah 84057 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Orem-Geneva Times, P.O. Box 65, Orem, Utah 84059 South from 900 West to 400 West, and install traffic signal lights at 400 W. and 1200 W. Cost of the project is calculated at $1.4 million. Funding sources Manning noted that current funding sources, such as the Capital Improvement Projects (CD?) fund, storm drainage fee assessment, and water and sewer revenues balances above operations costs, would not be able to cover the list of priority projects in Orem. Manning reviewed other possible pos-sible funding sources to cover the costs of such projects: 1. franchise tax (increase), 2. property tax (increase), 3. impact fees, and 4. bonding. He said raising rais-ing the franchise tax from 5.36 to 6 would give a projected annual yield of $285,000; a property tax increase from .001948 to .002548 would bring $780,000; impact fees, $825,000; and bonding would go back to the other sources sour-ces for pay-back. Manning said that Orem might be able to get some funding help through federal grants, but termed them "fickle things" that could not be relied on. Councilman Kelvin Clayton said he is opposed to raising the franchise tax, which was originally supposed to be temporary. tem-porary. He said that Orem City's lower-than-average property tax is an incentive for development. He said he supports having impact im-pact fees and that bonding has some feasibility. Councilwoman Judy Bell agreed with Clayton and said, "It is past time we seriously looked at impact fees." She said she does not favor raising franchise fees or property taxes. Since impact fees could only finance a maximum of 40 of so positive that they are planning plan-ning to implement similar landscaping at other business locations if the Orem plans are successful. It is hoped that the Phase I work will be successful, because it will set the tone for the work to follow. It is also hoped that today's excitement will hold up under practical pressures, and that patience, planning, and work will eventually produce a beautiful five-mile State Street showcase. Continued from Front Page nate information from Long and Beckstrom and to give feedback. Newsletters will be employed to keep businesses informed of progress. The seminar concluded with a panel discussion featuring Long, Beckstrom, Linda Walton, and Kent Nichols. Walton is a Provo businesswoman who went through the University Avenue reconstruction several years ago. Nichols is a UDOT project engineer en-gineer who worked on Ogden's Washington Boulevard renovation. renova-tion. Though panelists disagreed on the degree of negative impact the reconstruction might have, all of them emphasized that Orem businesses must avoid the negative, war-zone, siege mentality men-tality that afflicted Provo's 5th West reconstruction and created what Walton termed a "nightmare" situation, with business busi-ness falling off 75, and some businesses failing. improvements, Councilman Steven Heinz said the city would have to look elsewhere also, and if impact fees were set too high, 'Then you don't have to worry about any growth." "Balance is the key," Heinz said. "Hopefully, some of these projects can hold off until we get the money to pay for them." Council member Stephen Sandstrom said that, speaking as an architect, he has had clients change locations of planned buildings to avoid impact im-pact fees. He said imposition of such fees could stifle developments develop-ments that would bring revenue to the city. Mayor Stella Welsh said she was willing to look at all of the possibilities, and quoted some projections that say there could be 500,000 people in Utah Valley in 10 years. "I think we need to look at all of them," said Councilman Chris Yandow, although he added that he is reticent to raise property taxes. He did ask rhetorically if past tax breaks given to new developments is the reason why "we are coming up short now and having to look at these options." In summarizing discussion, Clayton said most of the council seemed favorable toward the , idea of impact fees for new J developments and toward the idea of bonding. Raising property taxes and the franchise tax seemed to be less palatable choices. Bell stated that she won't raise property taxes without citizens having the opportunity to vote on what projects they are willing to bond for. Discussion concluded and the council was told that staff will bring the matter back for further consideration. |