OCR Text |
Show 0 R E M TIMES Thursday, August 14, 2008 NEWS AND NOTES TO KEEP YOU INFORMED AND INVOLVED Page 2 Orem makes tire Rewa Bowen NORTH COUNTY STAFF Tampering with or attempting attempt-ing to remove a parking enforcement en-forcement boot from a car is' now a crime in Orem. The Orem City Council approved ap-proved amendments to the City Code on Tuesday regarding towing and parking enforcement. enforce-ment. The ordinance makes tampering tam-pering with or trying to remove a boot a Class B misdemeanor. "It's amazing how many people try to remove that boot," said Mike Barker of the city attorney's office, "and it's amazing how many people are successful." Although some cities charge a person with theft of services, Barker said the city's legal staff did not want to get into a gray area, opting instead for the misdemeanor charge. The reorganization and clarification clari-fication of the city's ordinance, which was last amended in 2003, provides for better disclosure dis-closure of fees charged, and facilitates a smoother transfer of a booted or towed vehicle back to the owner. Towing companies can be removed from a rotation list used by the public safety department de-partment if they violate city policies, but provisions are also made for possible appeal and reinstatement. Property owners are required re-quired to clearly mark restricted re-stricted parking areas. When cars are towed, notice must be given to the public safety department. de-partment. The vehicle owner and lien holder must be given written notice of a tow by the towing company. Abandoned vehicles may now be taken to lots located outside of the city. Barker said the ordinance Mall Continued from Page I said. Cinemark officials have not yet decided upon a name for the new theater. He said the company also is currently in the process of switching auditorium projection machines over from 35 mm to the new industry standard, digital digi-tal projection technology, but couldn't say if the Orem theater will have the upgrades when it opens. A neighboring dollar theater, Festival Cinemas (formerly NorthCounty NIWSPAPIRS 399 E. State St. Pleasant Grove Marc Haddock 443 -3268 North County Editor mhaddockheraldextra.com LLLLUiJlB Cathy Allred 443 3262 Lehi, Saratoga Springs, PI. Grove callredheraldextra.com Barbara Christiansen 443-3264 American Fork, Alpine, Cedar Hills bchristiansenheraldextra.com Mike Rigert 443-3265 Orem, Vineyard mrigertheraldextra.com Beky Beaton 443-3267 Sports bbeatonheraldextra.com Josh Walker 443-3260 Advertising Account Executive jwalker heraldextra.com Volume 135 Orem Times Daily Herald Edition, USPS 411-700. a weekly newspaper published at 399 E. State St, Pleasant Grove. Utah B4063 Periodicals postage paid at Pleasant Grove, Utah 81062 and at additional mailing offices Pottmeater: Send address changes to Orem Times. P.O Box 65. Orem. Utah 84059-0066. Published Thursdays by Lee Publications, which is a division of Lee Enterprises, Inc. Member; Audit Bureau of Circulations (SKI Kinfe) mm LEARNING NEW MOVES ...,-, .- l 1 1 f mt ' ft'-r 1) Vr-fir? r - : c: -v Chelsie Hightower right teaches and Casey Treu to help in their Tuesday. is an attempt to maintain a balance between the rights of property owners to control who comes and goes and uses their property, and the need to give fair warning of parking regulations to visitors. "We think that this ordinance ordi-nance balances that," said Orem public safety director Mike Larsen. OREM BRIEFS Council opts against mandatory manda-tory recycling at apartments The Orem City Council decided de-cided at Tuesday's meeting not University Mall Cinemas), 959 S. 700 East, will close its doors before the new Cinemark theater opens this fall. The 18,000-square-foot building will be converted to retail space. Just south of new movie theater the-ater complex, ground has been cleared in recent months for the future construction of a 20-acre 20-acre outdoor retail center that will include 71,000 square feet of new retail and restaurant space, said Cindy Koenig, the mall's marketing director. Tentatively called University Mall Village, the development similar to so-called outdoor lifestyle centers such as Shops Phone: 756-7669 Fax: 756-5274 DAILY HERALD PUBLISHING OO. omr ?IPIf Jennette Esplin 756-7669 Office Manager Megan Carleton 344-2558 Project Coordinator, DesignerCopy Editor Allison Davies 344-2570 DesignerCopy Editor Ashley Franscell 344 2585 Photographer Issue 34 boot tampering CELIA TOBINDaily Herald a private lesson at Center Stage in Orem to Jenna Johnson preparation for an upcoming ballroom dance competition on to approve an ordinance that would have required landlords to provide recycling containers contain-ers at apartment buildings or stacked dwelling units. But the council did express support for incentive options such as the city placing the special containers contain-ers at strategic points in the community. "I really do like the idea of making recycling options available," said Councilman Mark Seastrand. Mayor Jerry Washburn said the city's volunteer recycling program has a much higher weight per container rate than the average because Orem resi at the Riverwoods in Provo or The Meadows in American Fork is securing commercial tenants whose customers enter directly into the business rather than through an indoor shopping shop-ping mall. It's expected that the retail shopping center will be anchored by the Cinemark theater and three major restaurants. restau-rants. "We're looking for tenants not found here in Utah," Koenig said. "We're looking for more stores and restaurants." Construction on the outdoor retail center won't begin until The Woodbury Corporation that owns University Mall Preserving a piece ontell Seely died Tuesday doing one of the things he loved best recreating rec-reating the experiences experi-ences of his pioneer ancestors. Seely was one of two people killed when a pickup crashed into a dozen people re-enacting a pioneer handcart trek in Fairview Canyon. He was 74. I met Montell 32 years ago when I took my first job after graduating from college as the editor of the Emery County Progress. He was all of 42 at the time, but heeemed like a pioneer even then. Montell and I lived in the same LDS Ward in Castle Dale, and not long after I moved into the community, he was made a counselor in the ward bishopric and I was asked to serve as the executive secretary. We didn't have a lot in common, but we became be-came friends. I was a newcomer, with a new family and a' new profession. He was a man who longed for simpler times, the descendant of pioneers who were sent to the inhospitable San Rafael Swell. Natives of Emery County are quick to point out that this area was the last place in Utah designated for settlement by Brigham Young. He died shortly after sending Mormon pioneers, pio-neers, Montell's ancestors among them, to try to cultivate soil that has so much alkali in it that sage brush has a hard time growing. Greasewood, which thrives on the toxic dirt, is the most common plant. Montell was still farming that same land. When I knew him, he was operating a mercantile mer-cantile store in downtown Castle Dale to help finance the family farm. When I moved to Castle Dale, the entire area was in the throes of economic growth fueled by the construction of two Utah Power-owned, coal-fired electrical plants and the subsequent boom in coal mining the plants created. I found that growth exciting and a source of news for my small weekly newspaper, the Emery County Progress. Montell found it a challenge to his way of life. At one point he stirred up the newcomers when he wrote a letter to the editor and com- dents want to participate. "Orem does not mandate recycling," he said. "We have a very high container rate because people have bought into the program, and are invested." The council asked city staff to look at the options for incentives, in-centives, and to bring back suggestions at a future work session. Fence modification OK'd A Trex, rather than a masonry fence, was approved by the Orem City Council Aug. 12 for property located at 1080 E. 800 North. knows how many tenants are committed to locating there. 1 She estimated it would probably prob-ably take 2 to 3 years for the project to be completed. "But it could be a lot sooner," Koenig said. Earlier this summer, the former for-mer Joe's Crab Shack restaurant restau-rant on the outlying southwest corner of University Mall was torn down to make way for a new multi-tenant retail building similar to the one on the south side of the mall's exterior that houses a Starbucks, Chico's and Inkley's Camera. "We're not prepared to announce an-nounce any tenants yet," said 1 Marc Haddock THE EDITOR'S COLUMN 1 Yiiinrv in rne ' J r-i . 11 ForMontejt'V;-? sonal. Wherjt a balloon and heart-felt lamented the hardsi The products held its fj It will re In the popular Ing about r tn nearbjf J made thi best he c which we I haven1 years, but He will be I- f f- n tsnr it misss, , a crime Normally, the city requires that a sevetvfoot masonry fence be instaTled where r commercial and residential ' property interface, to shield the residential property from npise, stojc traffic, or other impacts It Hte commercial devetoptfihihe Tjrjst brand fence is reportedly made with sawdust and polymers and looks like a wooden fence, but has less maintenance issues. Applicant Dust in Dastrup of Strategic Properties Group, requested the fence modification modifica-tion because the property to the east, although zoned residential, is being used for a commercial enterprise. The city has given the Finch family property owners own-ers until the first of the year to bring the property's use into compliance with zoning laws. Roundabout signs to b reconsidered re-considered The Orem City Council is not sure it wants to set a precedent by approving signs in the roundabouts at the Sleepy Ridge housing developments, develop-ments, and will reconsider the issue at the first council meeting meet-ing in September. One sign, at the 575 S. Sleepy Ridge Drive roundabout location, has already al-ready been installed, and gives the name of the housing development. devel-opment. ' Advantages listed by city staff to having the signs in the roundabouts are that they identify iden-tify the development, compliment compli-ment the landscaping, and are maintained along with the landscaping by a homeowners' homeown-ers' association, and not the city. (. But several City Council members at the Aug. 12 meeting meet-ing expressed their concerns about setting the precedent of approving signs in the public right-of-wa. Rob Kallas, University Mall general manager. "We're still negotiating those." The mall is also renovating the Canyon Court outside of Mervyn's where it will house the new Tree House play feature fea-ture for children that for many years was fepted in the center of qne of theinain mall corridors corri-dors just west of the food court. Kallas said the rebuild is currently cur-rently under way and involved widening the, court itself and making changes to the roof. "It will be larger and more interactive" he said of the new Tree HousHf atively slated of history plained about the "trailer trash" in the area. At the time, about half of the community com-munity lived in mobile homes, chiefly because there weren't enough houses in the county for all the construction workers who had been hired to build the power plants, and his choice of words was unfortunate for someone trying to operate a business. One of Seely's lasting legacies is the Castle Val'sy Pageant, which was first performed in August of 1978. Montell wrote the script and songs for the pageant. He also scouted out the natural outdoor amphitheater where it is still performed. My family had left the area before that first show, but we came back to see our former neighbors perform against the backdrop of the San Rafael Swell. Montell started the show with a flourish, driving a team of running horses pulling a wagon across the stage with the crack of a whip, and he was clearly enjoying himself. Later in the sltow, the performers re-enacted a mud fight in an actual irrigation ditch to demonstrate dem-onstrate the animosity of the early water wars in Utah's deserts. There was a good amount of religion as well, since Montell had created the pageant to demonstrate how faftbthe motivating factor fac-tor that induced thjf .4 (ome to Emery rimt - v 'Bl L , ' -vkysper- 3 t t "Wowed " led a la father ". fibedto tfthe i, which tirday. - s. -fliea t'talk- irlence j, he had : .ft ,; kicestors if'ostSO (,',Je character. LB,,. . h f fadt u ik -' i it' it ' - If Bus Continued from Page J roadways. Mountainland Association of Governments, the UTA, and the Utah Department of Transportation are all involved in the project. Chad Eccles, a MAG transportation transporta-tion planner and project manager, said the BRT is "an intricate project" that will involve "AJaLofgjye and take." - - " ' Goodrich said the design team is taking a balanced approach to the project, and trying to provide for pedestrians, pedes-trians, bicyclists, businesses, and other affected interests. "We need to make sure that our accesses to businesses business-es in this area are as good or better than they are right now," he said A laundry list of city goals presented Tuesday included the intention to widen University Uni-versity Parkway in such a way that the BRT system could be converted in the future to a light rail transit (TRAX) system without having to widen the road a second time. Space for the 30 feet of widening necessary to create cre-ate the lanes will likely come from landscaping and parking park-ing areas along the corridor. Eccles expressed confidence confi-dence that the project will qualify for federal funds. Though public meetings about the proposed rapid transit system have been held for the project and local business owners are being kept in the loop, Mayor Jerry Washburn recommended that agencies and planners involved "go beyond the formal for-mal notification procedures" to make sure people opportunities opportu-nities to provide feedback. "This is a big deal," said Washburn. "This is going to change the whole nature of our transportation system in this community." Ramp Continued from Page 1 mute, groups of vehicles attempt to access 1-15 at the same time, which slows down traffic," said John Hig-gins, Hig-gins, UDOT project engineer. "Ramp meters regulate how frequently vehicles access 1-15 by creating gaps which allow motorists to merge safely without creating additional ad-ditional travel delays." Initially, the meters will be in operation on northbound ramps from 7-8:30 a.m. and from 4:30-6 pjTi.Sniithhound ramp meters "will be in operation op-eration from 4:30-6 p.m. An electronic sign at each ramp entrance notifies drivers driv-ers when ramp meters are operating. They can also be activated for heavy oneway one-way traffic before and after special events in the Orem-Provo Orem-Provo area. Thompson, a Salt Lake County resident, uses ramp-metered ramp-metered interchanges near his home and on his commute com-mute to Orem. He says the meters are effective. "They click through vehicles very quickly," he said. The Utah County system also includes meters installed at the 1200 West interchange in Lehi and the 500 East interchange in-terchange in American Fork, which will be activated at a future date. With traffic congestion on 1-15 in Utah County increasingly in-creasingly causing longer travel times and delays for motorists, Thompson said the meters should result in fewer traffic interruptions. "Travelers will have an easier time getting on the freeway," he said. "It will improve the overall operation opera-tion of the freeway system, improve safety and reduce overall vehicle emissions." Freeway ramp metering systems are nothing new in Utah. Davis County was the first, with an 1-15 ramp meter system in use since 2000, followed fol-lowed by an I8Tmeter system at select interchanges in Salt Lake County the following year. More changes are in store for 1-15 in the next few years. A major M5 reconstruction project is currently slated for 2011 and construction on the Pioneer Crossing Boulevard, a planned east-west arterial route to connect Eagle Mountain Moun-tain and Saratoga Springs from Redwood Road to 1-15 at the American Fork Interchange, Inter-change, will begin sometime next year, Thompson said. |