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Show I More LOCAL news than any other source! For homo delivery cell 756-7669 or see our web site at www.newutah.com Vol. 23, No. 8 Wednesday, February 2 1 , 200 1 . 50 cents a single copy y I i r i I i IT l n u IT - 3 s k a si f r i, i e . e i T It I I I I i I. 1 I If 3 1 31 I r I- - a 1 City sees good times coming The economic outlook for American Fork is mixed, according to a recent report given by the city's Economic Development Director Linda Walton. .V While the forecast is good overall, there are some areas she and city officials are working on, she told the Chamber of Commerce. One of their first priori-ties priori-ties is finding a suitable tenant to occupy the former for-mer Fred Meyer building on East State Road. Before Albertson's moved to its downtown location, it occupied the east end of the strip mall. The company placed restrictions in its lease, designating that no other grocery store could be placed in the development. Property owner William Perry is considering various vari-ous ways to solve the dilemma, including purchasing pur-chasing that portion of the lease from Albertson's. In the meantime, city representatives are working work-ing with other business owners in the area to help them market their firms to help them maintain their vitality under the uncertain uncer-tain conditions. On the other side of the community, development is set to happen soon in the area north of Kmart. Woodbury Corporation -owns the property and has -looked toward developing it for a number of years. Recent excavation work has centered around obtaining permits from the Army Corps of Engineers for wetlands areas. Things could change quickly, said Walton. "Theoretically they could start as soon as June 15," she said. The project would be constructed in phases, with two to three large "box" stores in the first phase, along with smaller shops and occupants of the pads along State Street. Miss American Fork contestants sought Potential contestants for the Miss American Fork pageant are invited to turn in their applications and begin preparing for the June 9 event. Applications are due April 6. Contestants may be from 17 to 24 years old and reside in American Fork, Alpine or Highland, or have worked in one of those communities for at least six months. There is no entry fee for the scholarship pageant. Further information or applications are available by calling 372-7946. 4 l, I ST ,.,t "... . y W f v , . 4 W : -.,; - - M '' -. k it '-f ' fis J M "-"; ..' A,'' 1 A: Jfc.-W""- -.--.J.-.v.J..J.-....v..-J,v,-.J,.-..-.v.,.-i. -J Photo by Barbara Christiansen Workers from Miller Stone put the finishing touches on the historic amphitheater, recently purchased by American Fork City. Historic amphith eater nas stone work replac ed By Barbara Christiansen City Editor Restoration work at the American Fork amphitheater amphithe-ater is nearly completed and workers have commended com-mended the city's Historical Preservation Committee for saving the structure. ' Miller Stone of American Fork did the work over a two-week period. Their large crew replaced cement and some missing rocks, matching them to the look and color of the existing structure. "The Historical Society asked us to replace it, make it safe, and still retain the old look," explained Brent Miller. Previous repair work in the past had stood out from the other rock work. Some of the former work was replaced during the latest restoration. The red sandstone was mined from Browns Canyon near Park City. Workers cut it to fit the spaces and also made it match the weathered look See STONE on page 12 rV7 p schoo arents voic I concern By Kalyn Secretan Pleasant Grove residents raised concerns at the Boundary Change Information Meeting held last Thursday at Grovecrest Elementary. The auditori-; auditori-; um was full of parents and students who raised objections objec-tions about the plan to send from 96 to 141 students to American Fork High School. A 12-page handout was given to the patrons as they arrived at the meeting. It offered five different options for the boundary changes. Alpine School District Assistant Superintendent Virginia Johnson represented represent-ed the Alpine School District. Projections for growth were focused on the screen for the audience to see the concerns the District has in trying to keep all the high schools equal at about 1500 students. stu-dents. The plan is to gradually move students during their sophomore year to a different differ-ent school. A committee made up of eight representatives from each of the three high schools has been meeting on a weekly basis to recommend recom-mend boundaries for the boundary change. The two different options involving the Pleasant Grove area were Plan A and Plan B. Both plans would take the students from 2600 North to the Murdock Canal from 4800 West to Pleasant Grove's east boundary. It would also take what was described as a boot area, the students from State Street north to meet the 2600 boundary with a jog over to 1650 West up to 1100 North and then the long thin boundary would be from 1520 to 1300 West. There are 96 students within the area. The additional addi-tional area to bring the total of students to 146 Boundary discussions continued this week with meetings Tuesday night at Mountain Ridge Junior High School in Highland and a meeting scheduled for tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Shelley Elementary, 602 N. 200 West, American Fork. Tuesday's meeting took place after the newspaper deadline. The school board will meet on Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 6 p.m. at Lone Peak High School, and the boundary issue is a probable prob-able discussion item. The board is expected to vote on the boundaries at its March 13 meeting, which will be held at school district offices in American Fork. would include two more blocks, on 1800 North to 2600 North from 100 East to 1200 West. The plans would affect this year's seventh, eighth and ninth grade students who would all be making the transition when they enter the 10th grade. The school board hopes : to equalize theschor'f? with a strong philosophy to keep the schools at a 1,500 to 1,600 enrollment. An additional addi-tional Boundary Meeting was held last night at Lone Peak to propose moving 357 students to American Fork High School. Sara Beck spoke at the meeting in favor of everyone every-one working together to support the school district. "As a former American Fork High graduate, I would like to see all schools work together with one heart and See SCHOOL on page 12 Heritage Management will review changes Council inks contract to sell old AF hospital By Barbara Christiansen City Editor The final t's are being crossed and the i's are being dotted on an agreement between American Fork City and Heritage Management, to sell the former American Fork Hospital building build-ing to the care center. City Council members approved a draft of the contract to sell the building, making a few changes which will be presented to Heritage for their final consideration. One of the first major issues which was addressed was whether the lease was still in effect. The city leased the building with a right to purchase. The question centered around a time when Heritage was late with some of its payments, then brought those up to date but dis puted paying late fees. Council member Don Hampton expressed the good faith of the business. "There have been times when they have been a little behind in some of their payments," he said. "I have talked with our counsel from time to time. I am confident we have worked in the best interest of our elderly loved ones and the citizens of this community. "They have been completely on time on their payments. I am confident they have not been in default. They have accommodated our requests." The council worked out a change in the wording word-ing to specify that Heritage could exercise that right to purchase on a one-time basis. The stipulations stipu-lations indicate that if they were not able to obtain financing, the lease would be back in effect. In that lease is the provision offering them the right to purchase, which could result in a round-robin purchase plan. American Fork City Attorney Kevin Bennett indicated he felt the option would be available only once. "At this point, I think they would have had their option," he said. Heritage Management representative Cory Bell said the point was well-taken, but not relevant. rele-vant. "I think it is a moot issue," he said. "Our intent is to buy this under this agreement," he added. 1 T w American Fork woman becomes state coordinator for Binky Patrol ' By Barbara Christiansen City Editor Jessica Carlson never thought she would be the statewide chairperson chair-person for a national organization. organiza-tion. Her passion for the work involved has led her to that position, posi-tion, and she loves serving there. However, she maintains that she is not different because of it. "I am definitely just your average aver-age every-day person," she said. "All you have to do is have the love ARM WISHES in your heart." The love she refers to is that enjoyed by members of the Binky Patrol, a "non-profit organization dedicated to providing comfort one binky at a time," according to its slogan on the stationery. Binkies are blankets, and nationally the group has provided over 75,000 of them since they were founded in Laguna Beach, Calif., in 1996. Carlson joined last year after giving birth to a stillborn son. "I went through a lot of the grieving process," she said. "About October I felt I needed to do some volunteer work. I went online and looked at volunteer pages and discovered dis-covered the Binky Patrol needed an area coordinator." She was initially concerned that she would not be suitable for the position. "I was very shy and I didn't know that I could do this," she said. "I gave it some thought and got a hold of Susan (Roush, the founder). I ended up volunteering to be area coordinator." Although it has been a challenge, chal-lenge, she is happy to be in her position. "I am very glad I did," she said. "I also roped my family into it. My brother and sister-in-law serve with media relations and resource provider relations. My mother helps with a lot of the blanket making. I went to friends. I talked them into it, too. "My grandma right now is making up a booklet for volunteers. volun-teers. It has little secrets on how See BINKY on page 12 X " - t ! i 7-- .-.-, t ; 4 -Ltk Photo by Barbara Christiansen Jessica Carlson sews a "Binky Patrol" label onto a blanket. ft R COPY t |