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Show page 2 Times Newspaper Wednesday, May 1, 1996 Editorial Agency attempts to address. problem of affordable housing in county Affordable housing is hard to come by in Utah County, That was the message of Gene Carly, executive director of the Housing Authority of Utah County, who made a presentation to the Orem City Council April 23. The average sales price of a Utah County home has reached $134,000, placing the area as the "9th least affordable" housing market in the nation. Housing costs here are up 17 in the last six months alone. Wages do not begin to keep up with such a spi-raling spi-raling increase. Carly told the council that 750 qualified families are on a waiting list to receive help from the :l'i:-. 'J'.'f'Ji, '.5-" ---S3r..' '."V 4 rWii- Celebrating National Music Week: The Utah Valley Symphony The Utah Valley Symphony is here To celebrate its triumph of the year! With violins, violas fitly strung; The bass and cellos, resonating, too. The nascent notes are seeking to be suna. As other instruments, now. rendezvous. The French and English horns anticipate -Their tones, sonorous, sounding rich and deep. The trumpets and trombones flash their gold That gilds the notes they Play to captivate. The oboes and the clarinets then leap To capture all the notes a heart can hold. The piccolo, the flutes and the bassoon Romance percussion, barp and tuba's tune! Those instruments, inanimate and still. Now feel the hands that make them resonate And speak. The supple fingers then fulfill Their roles to form the notes that emanate. The Concertmisfress sounds the classic "A." Each player's instrument he finely tunes. The maestro enters in a dauntless manner. And like a seasoned musical gourmet. He quickly signals and he importunes The Symphony to play The Star Spangled Banner! The audience arises, then, to sing; That rousing anthem makes the rafters ring! And then, the Provo Tabernacle benches Are swiftly soaked with wafer f musically! J "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" quickly drenches Them all with water, enthusiastically. The oboe soloist astounds the whole. Concerto movements, marvelous and rare. Showcase the strings. And Intermission falls! The maestro, very eloquent and droll. Regales the audience with things to share About the symphony that he recalls. "Scheherazade" by Rimsky-Korsakov Becomes the Piece the audience will love! The story of the sea and Sinbad's ship; The tale about the princess and the prince: The Festival of Baghdad and the trip By sea in which the soulful music hints Disaster Utah Ualley Symphony - - now ends its season with a great ovation. Ensemble excellence has blessed the hall! The air is filled with strains of harmony And song. That musical illumination Has made a memory we shall recall! agency. Its purpose is to provide housing for low-income people, either by subsidizing rents or by providing low-cost rental units. ; Lynette Jacob, an Orem resident resi-dent and businesswoman, serves as Orem City's representative on the governing board of the agency and assisted in the presentation to the council. ' The Housing Authority of Utah County owns 75 units in Orem, which are not centrally located, lo-cated, but are "scattered out". These are three, four, and five-bedroom five-bedroom units which Carly said do not compete with the private sector, because most of those in the private sector who are renting out units do not want to rent to larger families. The agency also owns four other single family units, located on 1200 South in Orem. Another eight units provide transitional shelter for abused women and their children. Those units, which opened in January, are called Women of Willow Cove. A total of 87 of the agency's housing units are located in Orem. The units are rented to low-income families who pay not more than 30 of their adjusted income in-come for housing. The average monthly rent paid by a family on the program is $170 plus some utility expense. Letters to Who roots for Editor: Somewhere in the United States, a woman files a lawsuit against a store that sold the bullet bul-let to the man who shot and killed her husband. She wants $8 million from the store, but we all know the odds are against her in this case. I have just a few questions about this lawsuit. Number 1: How was the store at fault for her husband's death? Number 2: Does $8 million really compensate compen-sate for the murder of a loved one? Number 3: How does she think she's going to win such a 'ridiculous lawsuit? Ridiculous lawsuits are plaguing the country everywhere. They are filling up the courts and causing civil cases to go unheard until much later times than originally planned. How are lawsuits screened before entering the courts? Or are they even screened at all? It doesn't take a whole lot of effort to file a lawsuit. For a little money and a good lawyer, one could win a lot of money from a large company over the slightest of indiscretions. There is no process for screening lawsuits before they enter the courts, so if one files a lawsuit one could at least be assured that it will be heard. What is one doesn't win? At Council approves transfer of funds for SummerFest The Orem City Council approved ap-proved a transfer April 23, 1996, ' of $12,600 from the council contingency con-tingency fund to the Orem SummerFest Sum-merFest Committee. Assistant City Manager Jim Reams led a discussion of the proposed action with the city council. Reams said he believed the request was "reasonable in light of what has been happening happen-ing in the past". Carry-over funds from previous years' Sum-merFests Sum-merFests had been used, but those funds are currently depleted. de-pleted. Reams said it has been increasingly in-creasingly difficult to solicit and ' obtain sponsors, coupled with the fact that there has been a general increase in costs over the years. Part of the funds request, $2,600, would replace the bankers ban-kers along Center Street and in the City Center parking lot. Committee chairman Carol Walker said durable banners that could last a number of years would be purchased.. In a letter to the council, Walker stated: "Currently the SummerFest Committee is operating op-erating on a budget of $10,000. $7,5000 of that budget is used for the fireworks. This leaves only $2,500 to function with and The agency's report stated that a Public Housing Comprehensive Assistance Project (CLAP) grant (approved by HUD in 1994) in the amount of $430,000 is slated for improvements of the Orem public housing units. Work began on a ten-unit Lakeridge family development devel-opment in September of 1995. The HAUC also conducts an annual yard beautification for its public housing residents, encouraging encour-aging families to plant flowers, clean up yards, and beautify the landscaping around their homes and apartments. In late summer, judging is conducted by an expert panel and recognition is given to those "deemed most deserving"; the Editor lawsuits? least heshe has succeeded in costing- the other, partyjegal fees, and slowing down the courts just a little more. Big companies are often willing to settle out of court, though, simply simp-ly to avoid the media. Therefore, if one files a suit against a large company, hisher changes of receiving at least some money are pretty good. I find that in most cases, people are just trying to find excuses ex-cuses to get money from somebody some-body else. Greedy people just want more money and so they blame stupid things on others. It's really not fair to the rest of us who know who to blame for our mistakes. If I were to fall off of a ladder, at least I would know that it was my fault and not that , of the ladder company. People simply need to take responsibility respon-sibility for their own actions and not look to others for the blame. People like this who get swept away in their greed are only making life harder for the rest of us. To you who are reading this article, I beg of you, please make life easier for the rest of us, and don't get caught up in the lawsuit law-suit frenzy that is sweeping across the country so rapidly. Thank you for your support. Rebecca South to pay for the cost of setting all the events up... With the rapid growth of the city J;he demands for larger events and an increase in-crease in activities has been overlooked because of the lack of funding that is presently available." avail-able." Reams said that any money not used by the committee could be carried over for the next year's celebration. , Councilman Tim Christen-sen Christen-sen said he did not think the council should pad the budget to carry money over for another year. " Councilwoman Judy-Bell -said she has been involved in planning the SummerFest for "many years". What used to be a one-day event has grown, and the original $10,000 budget is "not realistic now". She said she hoped the committee could come away with enough money to carry over. Reams said the difference between be-tween the actual outlined expenses ex-penses ($8,500) and the request ($10,000) was $1,500. Christensen said he believes the SummerFest is "one of the " best things Orem does", and moved to approve the transfer. Council vote was unanimously in favor. Benefits of the program include: in-clude: 1. Families work together to accomplish a specific goal; 2. Pride is taken in creating colorful and attractive yards; 3. The public's pub-lic's impression of public housing is greatly enhanced; 4. Neighboring Neighbor-ing property owners feel the need to beautify and dress up their ; yards; and 5. There is a reduction in HAUC maintenance costs. : HAUC also gives assistance in j weatherization to lessen high energy en-ergy consumption and the impact of high energy costs. The agency contracts with several cities and the Mountainlands Association of Government to administer HOME funds for housing rehabilitation reha-bilitation as well. A "Cop On the When you're a teacher, you have alot on your mind. You're grading papers and preparing lessons and managing and motivating and disciplining, and you don't want to spend ex- , asperated energy over little things (usually caused by little children) that become raodblocks-to a smooth day.. For instance a desk. A desk . with books. A desk with books that cannot be used because wedging them into the desk are 'fourteen crumpled note's that: never made it home, candy wrappers sneaked during math, a baseball cap, two half-finished art projects, a paperback book order, six rulers borrowed from the teacher, and some other stuff in various stages of decomposition decom-position that may have, at one time, been lunch, but may surely ; ; end up as a prize-winner science project. And when you're a parent, you get busy, you earn a living and make the meals and do the laundry and balance the check- ' book and shuttle kids to games 1 and movies and scouts and school. And you don't want to spend precious time getting irritated ir-ritated over small things (from r; small minds) that throw your schedule off. Like a shoe. A lost shoe. A shoe that for some strange reason was not taken off in the same room as its mate. A shoe with a small owner who has no consideration for the fact that you're late for work, but you help the small owner look once again under the toys that are under clothes that are under the bed and through shelves or disheleved books and puzzles and paints and rock collections, trading cards and stuffed animals. ' It's a rare child who's organized. or-ganized. It's a child to be treasured and adored and , maybe taken to a doctor for examination ex-amination or perhaps cloning. I have no helpful hints for City amends Qode By ordinance, the Orem City Council took action April 23,' 1996, to amend chapter 2 of the Orem City Code to enact section 2-7-11 conformance with the Office of Management and Budget Circular A-110, entitled Grants and Agreements with Institutions In-stitutions of Higher Education, Hospitals, and Other Nonprofit Organizations. The section, states that.the. city will follow the purchasing guidelines as included in an attachment at-tachment in the circular when federal funds are used. , Background information on the agenda item stated that the pity already follows the specific guidelines, but a formal enactment enact-ment would "eliminate a comment com-ment in the next CAFR" the Comprehensive Annual Financial Finan-cial Report issued by those who conduct an annual audit of city financial records. One of the rec- " ommendations from Grant Thornton LLP in the report for the year which ended June 30, 1995, was that the city amend the code as stated. Block" program has an Orem police po-lice officer and his family housed in a formerly high crime area, providing visibility that has helped the problem. Jacob complimented low-income people who are not afraid to try and make a success out of their lives. Councilwoman Judy Bell expressed a particular concern con-cern for the "working poor" and said she really believes that "a great many of us" are one or two paychecks away from similar situations. She complimented the agency for providing "dignity" to those needing low-income housing. Home and School: Vital Links 1 v by LILY ESKELSEN I t President, Utah Li t Education Association children on straightening out I their bedrooms or their desks or their lives. I have no magic spec- tacles that will make them see ;. with our eyes. If I did, I would buy a pair for my children. And I would never again stand at the ; doorway to a room with a bed covered with magazines, a car- ; pet covered with clothes, and a desk covered with microwave popcorn bags and apple cores and ask a stupid question like, "Why don't you clean your room?" And hear an even more stupid answer like, "I did." No helpful hints for children. But maybe one for adults. Develop perspective. Remind yourself daily of, fheir better qualities. They may be bright, athletic, funny, kind, industrious, in-dustrious, friendly, creative or bold. Focus on their talents. Strive for the ambitious. A college col-lege education. A Broadway performance. per-formance. An Olympic medal. -But as for a bed up every morning. morn-ing. Save some time and energy. Give Up.. Extra drive approach okayed Label Express, 1275 South 1600 West, received Orem City Council approval April 23 for a third drive approach at the location. loca-tion. Public Works Director Richard Rich-ard Manning told the council that Keith Larsen, traffic engineer, engi-neer, had looked at the site and determined that a third exit . would. "expeditejhe movement" of traffic on 1600 West and allow trucks on the site to move in a way that would not interfere with traffic on 1600 West. One of the conditions outlined out-lined in the resolution stated, "When the property immediately immedi-ately south of Label Express develops, de-velops, the southernmost drive , approach shall either become a shared approach between label Express and the property to the south or shall be closed." City Attorney Paul Johnson said an agreement or a letter on that condition "would make it stronger". Councilwoman Judy Bell moved for approval of the third drive approve with a fourth condition con-dition that a letter be signed by Label Express owners stating that should the property to the south develop, the approach would be shared or closed. Vote was unanimously in favor of the motion. If I had learned education I would not have had time to learn anything else. Cornelius Vaiulerbilt |