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Show AMERICAN FORK Thursday, May 19, 2005 Page 2 JEWS AND NOTES New AF budget awaiting approval Increases to go toward capital improvement and new equipment Barbara Christiansen AriHTii ;in Fork is preparing to piiss a new budget for the upcoming up-coming fiscal year. The projection projec-tion is $.'. 1 million, up from the projected $.,' X million for the year (.'riding June 30. " This is a fiscally sound and conservative budget," said Budget Bud-get Officer C '-ill fiy Jensen. Nearly $2 million of the increase in-crease is in the capital improvement improve-ment and equipment fund. "Fquipment purchases show a significant increase to update fire protection gear for the firemen," fire-men," wrote Jensen in the tentative tenta-tive budget she presented to the council for review. Other equipment included in the budget are a first response vehicle for the paramedic program, pro-gram, cemetery land, a library server, and lease of a fire truck, computers for the olice and a mower. The city's broadband budget has Ix'en cut from $.12 million mil-lion to$l.ti million. This move was anticipated because the construction has been mostly completed. ( irowth in the community has contributed to some changes in the budget. Sales tax revenues are ex-X'cted ex-X'cted to increase, although some of those funds will be used to pay bonds and reimburse reim-burse the developers for some redevelopment projects. The rate of building has slowed down and corresponding correspond-ing fees from building permits have tx-en adjusted. With a proposed partial moratorium on the sale of cemetery cem-etery lots, the budget reflects a decrease in revenue. There is an additional decrease de-crease in funding the city anticipates antici-pates receiving from providing fire protection to areas in the county, (irowth within the communities com-munities has shrunk the amount of land in the county boundaries. boundar-ies. Public comment opportunities Work session: May 19, 4 p m Public hearing: June 14. 7 p m. Council to adopt budget: June 21, 5 p m NorthCounty NEWSPAPERS ' r.'j,n AmPTitar. Foil. Kirk Parkinson ' ww l re fitsiJt'iil Diblisltoi F (kiiF insuntJherdldoMiH com Marc Haddock 7 7669 North Counfr JilO' ml Mr); It F niheiiil- leMra com Cathy Allred 7S6-7669 l fhi )utt.i Spnngs. fl Grove c dllrp Jditvi ,il(Jp. tra coo 1 Barbara Christiansen 7r 6 7669 Amencjn Fori Alpine. Cedar Hs b; hnMitjnsenJieraldetra com Landon Olson 225-1340 Orem, ineard lolsot 1 Wheialcip Ua t om Beky Beaton 766 7669 Sports rbf-atontiheulr)e tra corn r.vriUiMi.'rKsssza Lane Dubois 756 7669 Ad'ertising Account Eecutrve Idubcxsdheraldextra com NEWSSTAND PRICE: $0 50 SUBSCRIPTION RATE 1 year (in Utah County) - $36.40. Sunday, Thursday and holiday deliveries (which includes the week of Easter plus Memorial, Independence, Pioneer, Labor, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day). 1 year (outside Utah County) - $45 40 1 year (in Utah County - Thursday only) - $36 40 USPS 018 SS0 ISSN 1&71-68A5) t-wirhi. iw.w-.wm .. Sm.-.mI.w! TO KEEP YOU INFORMED AND INVOLVED .'( V - ii . t ' . 4 i Mm - - A beastly time Mu huel Currusco is dressed as the Beast at the second annual Princess Ball at the American Fork Public Library. Staff members suid the turnout was good and those who attended seemed to have a good time. Funds raised will augment the library's collection. Revenues from motor vehicle fees may decrease as the Legislature Leg-islature is changing the method of taxiing off -road and recreational recre-ational vehicles to an age-based system. Kmployees would receive a 1 percent cost-of-living increase and be eligible for performance evaluation increases that are expetled to average $50 per month. The position of a full-time fire chief has been proposed. While that meaas increased expenses, it may make the city eligible to receive some grants, which would help offset the additional cost. Another new position, that of overseeing the storm drain program, had previously been budgeted and is in the process of being filled. American Fork is considering hiring a new assistant planner and splitting the duties of the current assistant planner to include serving part time in the economic development depart Phone:756 - 7669 Fax:756-5274 DAILY HERALD PUBLISHING CO. a. 1 f -1 i . .. frr W1 Jennette Esplin 756 7669 Office Manager John Taylor 756 7669 Graphic Designer Landon Olson 344 2558 DesignerCopy Editor Mark LaRocco 344 2570 DesignerCopy Editor Leah L Culler 344-2561 DesignerCopy Editor Kent Davis 756 7669 Photo Technician ckw.w six . ikpwr jr. ( - m Itw-MOT UT M,io.i Mimlm: Au0 Run. Ck-uBKxs , r JJ2m J I it i v XVj V; V jt. Ill .... -4 VV ment. There have been some items the city has been considering, but have not been included in the budget. One is a pressurized irrigation irriga-tion system. The City Council has been looking at creating a secondary water system for several years. If it were to be adopted within the fiscal year, the city would bond for the improvements im-provements and have to revise the budget. Other items that have been considered but not included in the budget are funding a debris basin and purchasing land at the boat harbor. CITY NOTES I Firemen's breakfast planned The American Fork volunteer volun-teer fire department will host the annual Fireman's Breakfast from 6 to 10 a.m. on Memorial Day, May 31, at the fire station, 96 N. Center St. Time for a elieve it or not, some people . . ; in Summit County think three county commissioners aren't -., enough to handle the needs of .i the rapidly growing county. - - - - ' This is interesting because at least one of the people who feel this way is a Summit County Commissioner. Com-missioner. He is uncomfortable that the executive and legislative powers are wielded by the same organization. The system lacks the usual checks and balances found in most elective offices in the United States, and consolidates consoli-dates too much power in too few hands. Now that's something you don't see very often politicians looking to reduce their individual influence in government. gov-ernment. While some folks in Utah County also think this county has outgrown the three-commissioner form of government, govern-ment, our commissioners don't echo that concern. In a recent public meet ing, two of the commissioners said they would listen to a proposal for such a change, but they don't encourage or necessarily support it. So I thought it would be interesting to compare the two counties. According to the 2003 population estimates of the U.S.: Summit County has a population of just over 33,000, while Utah County's is almost 400,000. Summit County grew by 1 1 percent since 2000 that's pretty high, an increase of 3.2W. Utah County grew by 8 percent since 2000 although less than Summit County by percentage, it represents repre-sents almost 30,000 people. In other words, in the last three years, Utah County has increased by the entire population of Summit County. In fairness, it should be noted that 18,000 of the residents in Summit County live in the unincorporated unincorpo-rated part of the county, and the county commission commis-sion is their only elected governing body. In Utah County, about 12,000 residents live in the unincorporated areas, and most of these are rural. But stili, Utah's County Commission is responsible respon-sible for more than 10 times the population of Summit County. After all commissioners represent repre-sent everyone in every area of the county, incorporated incor-porated or not. I Resident seeks help Mark Strickland, a resident of northwest north-west American Fork, sought help from the City Council on May 10 for lack of landscaping and deleterious conditions of a neighboring property. Another neighbor, Alan Foth-eringham, Foth-eringham, said the property has gophers on it, which kUl his rose bushes and depreciate the property value. Jim Hardy, the city's enforcement en-forcement officer, said he has visited the home for seven years and notified the occupant the weeds needed to be cut down. Usually the owner is compliant, but lets them grow back, Hardy said. "As a neighborhood, we have offered to put a yard in and help," Strickland said. "My understanding is that the city is unwilling to step up to the plate and enforce it." Lack of landscaping has been considered a misdemeanor in Pleasant Grove, but American government change? r n Marc Haddock THE EDITOR'S COLUMN U i m ft JOSHUA BROWN North County Fork has not enacted such a law. "1 will be happy to look at Pleasant Grove's ordinance," said City Attorney Kevin Bennett. Ben-nett. He said the weeds were conditions that fall under the city's present law and can be enforced. Mayor Ted Barratt told the neighbors to work with the police to continue the citation process. Before the two left the City Council meeting, Strickland was given an invitation to join the Beautification Committee or the Nuisance Abatement Committee. Com-mittee. I Traffic study to be redone Mayor Ted Barratt promised the city would request the Utah Department of Transportation do another traffic study at 300 West and Main Street to see if current traffic volumes would warrant a signal light at the intersection. So if members of the Summit County Commission Commis-sion are considering adopting a more representative representa-tive form of government either a larger commission com-mission or a mayor-council form of government it shouldn't be surprising that some in this county are looking at a similar change. It wouldn't be the first time. In the 1980s, there was widespread dissatisfaction with our three-person county commission . There was a perceived lack of representation rep-resentation of the people, and a sense that the commission was being run as a good ol' boys club. Also there was some frustration that a supposed "gentleman's agreement" to spread out geographical representation representa-tion on the commission was not being followed. The agreement was supposed to make sure representatives from the rural north and even more rural south of the county had a commission seat. So a panel was formed to look at making county government more representative. Wilson Sorensen, a longtime president at the school that eventually became UVSC, headed up the committee that included in-cluded representatives from all over the county. Malcolm Beck, the then-mayor of American Fork, was on the committee, which had lukewarm luke-warm support from the public, and bp service from the sitting commissioa The group met once or twice, but without support sup-port from the elected county officials, nothing much happened. Beck was elected to the commission, commis-sion, and north Utah County had representation again. And the panel went away. That was more than 20 years ago. The county has grown a lot since then. The old geographical ties have become less important. Agriculture has become less of a factor in the community, and in many cases, our rural lifestyle isn't so rural anymore. Perhaps these changes are part of the engine that's driving a new effort to re-examine the county's coun-ty's threeommissioner form of government. Still, it's going to take a groundswell of popular popu-lar opinion to force a major change in county government, and, as was seen in the '80s, it's pretty hard to maintain that kind of effort long enough to make a real difference. Irrigation Continued from Page 1 levels. Reporting to one central cen-tral computer a computer that can be accessed by cell phone the system would also shut down lines where a head or valve breaks and report re-port the location of the break. "In the event of rain, it shuts itself out," said Cal Houghton, parks superintendent. superinten-dent. "Right now, if it rains, we have to visit every park to put the sprinklers on rain delay. With 30 parks, it takes half a day to get around to all of them." A similar system installed at the American Fork Cemetery Cem-etery in 2004 has already decreased water usage there by 40 percent, reported Ray Garrett, cemetery sexton. "This system's incredible," incred-ible," Garrett said. "Fifteen years ago, when we used the old hand valves, we used roughly 45 million gallons per year. When we automated, auto-mated, we cut our usage to 25 million gallons per year. When we centralized, we cut to 15 million gallons per year and that was during the drought." Estimated at S30.000, a central system would cost the city a little more than 4 percent of what the bonded irrigation upgrades cost. But centralization was not a provision of the bond, so officials are preparing an application ap-plication to the Central Utah Water Conservancy District for a Water Conservation Technology Grant. Funded from federal sources, sourc-es, the grant could provide up to 65 percent of the cost of a central control system. The city's portion of the cost could be paid for out of savings generated from decreased de-creased pumping expenses. Steve Parker, American Fork's water superintendent, superinten-dent, said he sees this as an important investment. At the city's present rate of water usage, Parker predicts that a moratorium on new building will be necessary in two to three years. "The biggest reason to push for centralized irrigation irriga-tion is conservation," Parker said. "Right now the biggest water user is our parks." Discs Continued from Page 1 that is moveable," said a former member of the parks steering committee. Bollwinkel encouraged the city to consider creating the course. "The city spent $1 million to acquire Art Dye and more than $600,000 to improve it," he said. "It makes sense now to get their money's worth from the investment. Disc golf will provide opportunities opportuni-ties to use the park and will let people know where it is. "A skate park costs hundreds hun-dreds of thousands of dollars to build and only benefits a small sector of the community. commu-nity. A disc golf course costs less than $5,000 to install, and it benefits a broader section of the community." Myrick agreed and said the Art Dye Park would be ideal for a disc golf course. "It's the terrain," he said. "Much of the park is left natural and people can play without ruining the area. Steep hills and trees make the course so unique and fun." There are 11 disc golf courses in Utah, including "Camelot" in Moab, which is built on sandstone. Some dedicated courses charge for play, usually $1 to $5 per day, but most are at public parks and there is no charge. The game can be played with over-the-counter plastic discs or specialized discs, designed de-signed as drivers or putters, similar to traditional golf. Putters have a blunt edge and drivers have a sharp edge. Downtown Continued from Page 1 As part-owner in the company com-pany that owns the building recently occupied by True Value Hardware, he plans on renovations there, also. "We have made the decision we will follow the pattern of the other building," he said. He plans on following the old Chipman Warehouse look. Both Peterson and Jacob expressed ex-pressed hope the renovations will enhance downtown and encourage others to follow. - - I r i J 5 ( H s Hi -f POOR |
