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Show rag 2 OREM TIMES Thursday, December 14, 2006 NEWS AND NOTES TO KEEP YOU Orem seeking candidates for interim City Council seat Reva Bowen NORTH COIJNTv '.'Ad Orem has begun the process of filling the vacant City Council Coun-cil seat left with the resignation of Stephen Sandstrom, who was elected in November to the Utah State Legislature as a representative from House District 58 Sandstrom read an official letter of resignation at the conclusion of his final City Council meeting Tuesday. A public notice concerning the vacancy is set to be published pub-lished in the Daily Herald Dec 17, 24, and 31. The notice states that those interested in submitting submit-ting their names for consideration consider-ation as an interim member of the City Council "mast be registered reg-istered voters and have resided in the City of Orem for the past year." An interim city council position, posi-tion, the person selected by the Orem City Council to fill Makeover Continued from Vagi- I mended Thorn's home for the organization's holiday "Subcontractors "Subcon-tractors for Santa" program, new in its eighth year. The association as-sociation selects about 40 to 50 homeowners every Christmas that could use some help with home projects, replacing a window, win-dow, fixing a plumbing leak or repairing an electrical problem, said Rob Schaffer, association president and owner of Schaffer Schaf-fer Homes. Arts Continued from Page 1 outside the city boundaries for a continuous period of more than 60 days was retained, rather than stricken, from the approved legislation. It also requires a member of the Arts Council to have "a demonstrated demon-strated interest, competence, or knowledge of the cultural arts." Passed by Orem voters in the 2005 municipal election, the Cultural Arts and Recreations Enrichment (CARE) Tax is a NorthCounty NEWSPAPERS ' 399 E Stale St Pleasant Grove Kirk Parkinson 443 3250 Vice PresidentPublisher kparkinsonheraldextra.com Marc Haddock 443 3268 North County Editor mhaddockheraldextra com MJ-i.uj.ir 2 Cathy Allred 443 3262 Lehi. Saratoga Springs, Pi. Grove callredheraldextra com Barbara Christiansen 443 3264 Amencan Fork, Alpine. Cedar Hills DcnrisiianseriKsneraiaextra com Mike Rigert 443 3265 Orem, Vineyard mngertheraldextra.com Beky Beaton 443 3267 Sports bbeatonheraldextra.com Josh Walker 443 3260 Advertising Account Executive jwalker heraldextra com Volume 134 Orem Tmes Deny Herald Edition USPS 411-700 a weekly newspaper puDteshed at 399 E State St Pleasant Grove, Utah 84063 Penodicate postage pan) at Pleasani Grove, Utah B4062 and at additional mang ottices Poatmasur: Send address changes to Orem Times PO Box 65 Orem, Utah 64059 0065 Published Thursdays ov Lee Publications which K a division ot Lee Enterprises Inc Mtilbw: Audit Bureau ot Circulations the seat would serve through Jan. 7, 2008, at which point the candidate elected by voters for the seat in the November 2008 general election would take office. If he or she wishes, the interim city council member may choose to be a candidate for the council seat in the 2008 election. City Recorder Donna Weaver Weav-er outlined the application process pro-cess and the series of meetings that will be held by the City Gnincil to fill the vacancy in a Dec. 13 memorandum from her office. Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2007, at noon is the deadline for an applicant ap-plicant to submit seven copies of a letter of interest that mast include the applicant's name, address, telephone number, a list of qualificatioas, and a recent photograph. The copies are to be submitted to Donna Weaver, City Recorder, at the Orem Recorder's Office at the "Somebody came up with Subcontractors for Santa and it was a hit," he said. "So we've made it an every -year thing." Yet with Thorn's home plagued with cold drafts from a dilapidated front door, faulty window in her 13-year-old son's room and a second-story water leak dripping into the family room, just for starters the Bests and Schaffer are going well beyond the call of duty. Thorn, who is employed full-time and president of Timpanogos High School's PTA, is not a single mother one-tenth of one percent sales tax that will be in place for eight years and generate an estimated $1.6 million annually. The revenue will be used by the city to fund publicly owned recreational and cultural facilities facili-ties and private nonprofit cultural cul-tural organizations in Orem. By ordinance, the Orem Arts Council's duties will include promoting pro-moting the cultural arts; advocating advo-cating for the role of the arts in civic life; and encouraging artistic artis-tic development by recognizing outstanding achievements in and contributions to the arts. Phone: 756-7669 Fax: 756-5274 DAILY HERALD FDBLISBIKO OO. MM mm Jennette Esplin 756 7669 Office Manager Erin Stewart 344 2558 Project Coordinator, DesignerCopy Editor Julia Fullmer 344 2570 DesignerCopy Editor Jeremy Harmon 344 2585 Photographer Issue 49 INFORMED AND Orem City Center, 56 North State Street, Suite 200, Orem, Utah 84057. A special City Council meeting meet-ing will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 3, at 6 p.m., when applicants appli-cants will be given three minutes min-utes to introduce themselves to the City Council The council will then adjourn into a executive execu-tive session. A second special meeting will be held Monday, Jan. 8, at 5 p.m. The City Council will convene the meeting and go into a closed door session. At 6 p.m., the council will reconvene recon-vene the open meeting "to consider filling the vacancy," according to Weaver's memo. The regularly-scheduled City Council meeting on Tuesday, Tues-day, Jan. 9, at 6 p.m. will begin with an oath of office ceremony cer-emony for the interim council member. Prior to the meeting, at 5:30 p.m., a reception will be held in the City Center ro by choice. After her husband, Kent, died unexpectedly, she remarried. However, that marriage mar-riage soon dissolved after a few tumultuous years. Though Thorn tried the best she could to keep up the maintenance mainte-nance and repairs on her home, as a single mother, there was only so much she could do. The Bests and the homebuilders association decided her home could use some extra Santa help this Christmas. At least six Utah Valley building companies volunteered vol-unteered their time and materials materi-als to work on Thorn's home. Arts Council members will also review Orem's Cultural Arts Master Plan and make periodic recommendations to the City Councfl. To avoid conflicts of interest in allocating CARE tax funds, the Orem City Council has decided that for at least the first year, it will be solely responsible for receiving and reviewing applications for the tax revenue. By law, the City Council makes the final decisions deci-sions on how the funds are used Any recommendations or input from Arts Council members mem-bers would be informal. Bring out The Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays always bring out the best in people. Here at the North County Newspapers, Newspa-pers, we've seen this year after year as members of the north county communities communi-ties have participated in our Christmas Family program We started in the late 1980s, when the newspaper publisher, Brett Bez-zant, Bez-zant, sought a way to give readers an opportunity to help a family in need. We sought the names of families who needed help from our readers, and we received many responses. That first year, we went through and selected two families for our readers to help. We printed information in the newspaper giving specifies ah it the needs of the f amity members, but by selecting two families, we were able to list the children together so the families could not identify iden-tify themselves. We offered the remaining letters recommend ing families who needed help to the public, so that individuals who wanted to adopt an entire family for Christmas could do so. Then we sorted donations for the families we had chosen and made our deliveries on Christmas Eve, with Santa daus riding along. Making those deliveries are some of the sweetest memories of working for the newspaper newspa-per in those years. But we became victims of our own success. Within a few years we were sponsoring four or five families, allowing our readers to help provide pro-vide some part of their Christmas. The program was successful because people could contribute on many levels, from providing a doll for a little girl to donating a Christmas turkey to all of the families. We ran out of room in the office, and had to use an empty building out back to store the donations until Christmas time. Our office manager spent hours each day cataloging and sorting the gifts. And finally it was more than we could manage. So we altered the program, and the newspaper newspa-per office became a kind of clearinghouse for needy families. We still took the letters suggesting suggest-ing families in need Then individuals or families INVOLVED tunda. Weaver encourages those with questions to contact her at 229-7298. NEWS BRIEFS I City Beautrfication Awards Christmas 2006 On behalf of the Orem City Councfl, the Beautification Commission would like to recognize the following individuals in Orem for their holiday decorations. The Commission appreciates all the great effort that went into decorating the homes in Orem this year. The winners are: Stan and Linda Allman (611 W800S), Kim and Michelle Crawford and family (228 W 600 S), Paul and Paula Duerden (1031 N 475 E), Moe and Marlene Beaujeu (135 Westview Circle), Cir-cle), Ronald Wyatt (567 N 550 W), and Jim Fairbanks (865 E "Since then the project seems to have grown immeasurably," she said, overcome with tears. "I dont know if words describe how we feel, how grateful we are that people are willing to open their hearts, those we know and dont know. That's what this world is all about, people helping others and filling in the gaps." The only other Christmas present in her life that comes close to the gift from the Bests and the Homebuilders Association Associa-tion is a quilt that a close friend made for her from swatches of Members of the now disbanded dis-banded Cultural Arts Advisory Commission were told that they can retain a seat on the new Arts Council if they desire. "I think it's a good idea for those who were on the original commission who would like to remain, to be able to stay on," said Sandstrom, adding that the more openings will bring "new blood" to the group. Councilman Dean Dickerson agreed with Sandstrom, and noted that those who have an interest should be made aware of the opportunity. the best this season Marc Haddock THE EDITOR'S COLUMN ana we couidnt turn them away. The needs are the same as in past years. Many of the families nominated this year are single parent families, suffering from a recent re-cent divorce and the resulting financial devastation devasta-tion Others suffer from illiss and abuse. One woman, a single mother with a young daughter, has taken on the added burden of three nephews and a niece who came to her with little. "They can use anything from shoes to hats. They came with their tattered clothes and broken bro-ken toys," reads the letter from the woman nominating the family. Another woman with three daughters has left an abusive relationship and moved in with her mother, who lives on Social Security. Most dont ask for much. Common requests are some new clothes and a few toys. Each letter let-ter includes a contact person who is not a family member and who can serve as" a go-between for those who want to help. If you are interested, come in to our office at 399 E State Road in Pleasant Grove, read through the letters, and see if there is someone there you might help. There arent as many nominations as we've seen in the past, which is good news. But there are many children who will have a very meager Christmas or none at all unless their family gets a little help. And there are many of us who have more than we require. 550 S). I Debtors Anonymous A weekly meeting of Debtors Anonymous takes place at the Seville, 325 W. Center St.. Orem each Thursday evening beginning at 7 p.m in the third floor library for individuals who struggle with overspend ing, overdrawing or excessive debt. Debtors Anonymous is a 12-step support group for those recovering or wanting to recover from their addiction addic-tion to debting or overspending. overspend-ing. It is also for those recovering recov-ering or wanting to recover enough to make sensible decisions deci-sions regarding paying bills, making purchases and keeping keep-ing records. For information, see the Debtors Anonymous Web site, debtorsanonymous. org, or contact contacts are Sue at 2254303 or Anuria at 770-3139, or just show up at the meeting. her late husband Kent's Sunday Sun-day dress shirts. Thorn said The repairs being done to Thorn's home would cost in the thousands of dollars, Schaffer said "Everybody seems to want to get involved in Subcontrac tors for Santa," he said "That's why we do it to help people. It is very rewarding when a homeowner appreciates what you're doing. It's a feel-good thing. The people who help get involved, they re the first ones who want to help out the next year." "Let's not start out with less than a quorum," he said Applications for positions on tne Arts council can be submitted submit-ted to City Recorder Donna Weaver's office through Jaa 2, 2007, at 5 p.m. The mayor makes the appointments, which will likely be approved by the City Council at its Jan. 9 council meeting. Plans call for the openings to be posted on the city's Web site (www.orem.org), and for word to be circulated through the Neighborhoods in Action organizatioa would come in, peruse the letters and select a family to help. Over the years literally hundreds of families had a Christmas thanks to our Christmas Family program. But times have changed Others noticed no-ticed the need and similar programs have become available. The United Way has operated its very successful Sub for Santa program for many years. Now several local high schools sponsor Angel Trees. Service clubs adopt the needy. Our small effort was becoming becom-ing redundant. This year we thought it might be time to hang up the Santa hat. Then the nominations started coming in, Midtown Continued from Page 1 the south wing is expected to be completed by June with the north wing done in late 2007. The west wing, which will house a European-style cobblestone shopping street and a new Hale Center Theater The-ater should be finished some time in 2008. "It's going weH" My-ler My-ler said of the construction schedule. "Things are moving mov-ing right along." Nearly 200 construction workers representing dozens of subcontractors operating under the direction of general gen-eral contractor Big D Construction Con-struction have been laboring on the project since 2004, he said Next month, Midtown Vil lage will announce newly signed retail tenants including includ-ing a pizzeria, deli and two other restaurants, said David Runnells, sales and marketing market-ing director for Myler's Orem-based Tower Development Develop-ment Services Inc Previously announced shops on the European Street include a jeweler, a bakery, a chocolate boutique, wedding and tuxedo emporium and reception center. Second-story office units and third-story condominiums condomini-ums in the west wing will look down on the European Street, utilizing a mixed-use configuration similar to that in the south and north wings. Runnells said there win be 10 to 15 shops on the Euro pean Street. When completed, Midtown Village wfll have 300 condominium condo-minium and penthouse units in the three wings ranging from 900-square-foot studios to 3,500-square-foot high-rise penthouse suites, and every thing between," he said Though most of the units have been sold, there is limited lim-ited availability and models are supposed to open in February with the first units opening in April, Runnells said People want more conveniences conve-niences and there's a large empty-nester population, so there's quite a bit of momentum momen-tum for cities to push for them. David Runnells SALES & MARKETING DIRECTOR FOR TOWER DEVELOPMENT SERVICES A significant draw to the Midtown ViHage, the new Hale Center Theater has been in the project's nlans for several years and win almost double the seating capacity of its current Orem locatioa "We've been verv excited to have them on board." Runnells said "They add to the traffic and excitement of the project." An estimated L100 to 1,500 parkine stalls are planned to provide parking for residents, office errmlov- ees and shoppers, Myler saia. Once comDleted the Mid- town Village win eclipse xne wells rargo Center in downtown Provo as the strv. est multhise development in Utah County, he said "This facility win be about seven times larger " Run nells said Multiuse develooments are a trend that isnt go ing away, he said Tower development Services is proposing a oroiect similar to Orem's Midtown Village in uenterviiie. "The projects all over are reacting to the change in demographics. People want more conveniences and there's a large empty-nester population, so there's quite a bit of momentum for cities to push for them," Runnells said "There's many examples exam-ples of them and youU probably prob-ably begin to see a lot more of them coming online.1' For more information about residential unit availability avail-ability at Midtown Village, contact David Runnells at 226-8696. r A tPOOR |