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Show L S.es Newspaper - Thursday, May 1, 2003 Page A7 ictEED LIMIT INCREASED 55 375 :ontinued from front page position is that the rity of people do not "v faster than a speed at they are comfortable, Jsthat most people drive Jj safe and reasonable Jier. That safe and rea- Die manner is reflected ,b 85th percentile speed, hat the city wants to do .set speed limits closer to J5th percentile speeds, Cj.e speeds a majority of les are traveling. For iple, on 800 East from "-sjr Street to 800 South, i5th percentile speed is ph, although the posted hmit is 25 mph. It is amended that the post-nit post-nit be 35 mph. ty Attorney Paul alDr son said that drivers Sgo faster than the 85th utile speeds are either poor judgement, or i j j y ao not care, anu no 1 limit or sign will e the behavior. "In that you need a ticket, and 11 an quote me on that." darging on the city's perspective, Johnson iSthat according to state Dosted speed Umits are 'lvadered prima facia evi-gf), evi-gf), and there is a rebut-J rebut-J presumption that if a 4 r is going over the post- ieed, they are violating NKylaw. The presumption :ops e challenged by a dri-viire dri-viire showing that their 0. Si was "reasonable and fe' snt". The 85th. per-""'le per-""'le speeds can be used to )rt that position. ked if those being tick- '(;are challenging the evi-ig-o in this way, Johnson ; "That's why we are not ig tickets for going 35 ITES n 8th East." isj::.blic Safety Director s fc: Larsen said his depart-is depart-is taking the position :as; -Seating the public about 1 actual speed limits jPljH-d be. He explained that law defines actual ijCS,'l limits based on stud-)X stud-)X j.- iat show that most peo-pc-.-cill not drive faster than i?8-3 already are, even if S'is limits are raised. By i ig a speed hmit that je enforced, the city is WMC: "reasonable", and will Cognized as such by the OR 3. of "".other reason for raising on collector streets, ssr ding to Larsen, is to i9. '- TABLE distinguish between them and residential streets. When speed Umits on both types of roads are 25 mph, people are not perceiving the differences between the streets, Larsen noted. Gifford said there is a "fear factor" among the public, pub-lic, that if speed limits are raised, drivers will always go ten mph more. That is not true, he asserted, citing as one example 800 East from 800 South to University Parkway. Drivers were driving driv-ing at 40 mph. When speed limits were raised to 40, average speeds did not increase. The "fear factor" cited by Gifford was reflected in comments com-ments from citizens participating partici-pating in the open house. Julie Reid, 400 South 950 West, said the formulas cited by city staff "failed to take into account that it is human nature to drive faster." "If you raise the limits, everyone is going to drive faster," Reid said. "It is not going to help." Anne Sperry, 839 South 890 East, said 800 South coming over the crest of the hill is like a "raceway", and that visibility is difficult. Vehicles travel so fast that they are right there before joggers, pedestrians, and other motorists can see them. People are driving too fast now, and will go 5-15 mph faster if limits are raised, she said. But others, like Jan Fielding, 1436 North Main, favor having the speed limits raised. Fielding said she has lived in Orem for four years, and came from a Texas subdivision sub-division with streets that are one-third narrower than Orem's, and speeds that were 35 mph. "No kids were hit in 12 years, there was no problem," prob-lem," Fielding said. "These lower speed limits are absurd. They make me crazy!" Development Services Director Stan Sainsbury asserted that as traffic is moved, there is less on the streets and the roads are safer. When speed limits are not reasonable, drivers tailgate tail-gate or try to pass slower vehicles, causing hazards. Susan Fisher, a crossing guard at Cascade Elementary School on 800 East, said she is worried about increasing speed limits, lim-its, not just because of her experiences as a crossing guard, but because of the nature of the neighborhood. With school boundaries on both the north and south sides of Center Street, there is considerable child pedestrian pedes-trian traffic back and forth across the road for soccer, park activities, and friends. "I'm concerned about the children who are crossing when I'm not there," she said. Shirl Finch, 334 North 800 East, said he thought it would be "terrible" to raise the speeds. He said it is difficult diffi-cult to get out onto the street now, and increasing speeds would also negatively affect property values. Jeff and Erica Beaty moved to Orem from Southern California seven months ago, and said they had come to the meeting because they were worried about the possibility of the city widening 800 East and taking front yards if speeds are increased. The city currently cur-rently has no plans to widen the street. Another road that seemed to be a point of concern for many at the meeting was Palisade Drive. Palisade resident res-ident A.J. Winkelman said speed and residential living just should not be mixed. He noted that the proposal is to increase limits on Palisade from 25 to 30 mph. "People drive closer to 50 now. The study says 27. Maybe I just see the high ones." Larsen said that if the city council chooses to raise limits, the police will check, monitor, do studies, and "hit it hard and long." "If speeds increase, I'll be one of the first to go to the council and say, We need to send these speed limits back down,'" the police chief declared. Gifford said officials will now take the public input received, including surveys filled out at the open house, and compile the information. If there are specific concerns or if people are upset, he said, city officials want to hear about it, and want it on paper. For more information, contact the city's Engineering Division, 229-7107. SS OREM 2003 Zontinued from front page id and performed a dance to the music (irn To Innocence." si used her 15 vears of ; training to dance to "A JJjj of Sky," and MacNeill .rmed a Scottish dance ices-r-)binson's Jig." ahPr&e most unique perform-xsff' perform-xsff' came from Amber is who showed slides of --art work portraying ""n who are heroes to jp! Laura Cherrington 1 ;ht intensity to the pro-yjjrj,- with her piano .:,:mance called "Theme Concerto No. 2 Third ment," Kara Haney r63 j ;ht it up a notch with er,' violin performance w,'":rzo Tarantella op. 16," astly, Gwen Bushman ft ; her training in sign 3' age to sign to the song -er of the Children." al performances were I7med by Khristen ""V;an, Keara Ellertson, 4tMahlum, Marie Claire, CZl Gibbons, Rebecca L-t:n and Ashlee Barrett. ' .' i-l J. i -L "i. mese contestants lot of creativity into customs to go with JVperformances. Millecan TjM up her performance "Habanera," Ellertson the crowd with her up K0 "All That Jazz," I"im, sporting one of the Ti creative customs, sang fjlldn't It Be Loverly." a ami. oang . me meioay Cn" and Gibbons sang a .written for the tragedy RlVPtember 11 and dedi- iq, the song was called 'cs unsung. jielson some acting to go along Her performance titled, "Home," and lastly, Barrett sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." While the contestants prepared for the On Stage Question Competition, Wiscombe performed a song-and-dance number, "I'm the Greatest Star." The On Stage Question Competition allowed for the contestants to express their opinions and ideas on certain cer-tain issues in the world. The competition consisted of questions such as "How would you teach self-esteem to youths" "Do you think the media has a right to know a politician's past" and "How would you teach young children chil-dren about eating disorders." The contestants also picked a mystery question out of a bowl which allowed for the judges, and audience, to get to know a little more about each contestant. Some of the questions that were picked out of the bowl were "What is your greatest life's accomplishment," "What is the main thing you will teach your own children," and "What kind of woman do you idolize." After the talent portion, contestants prepared for the Evening Wear Competition. While the audience waited for the final competition to begin, Wiscombe and her father Stan, performed a delightful performance of the well-known song "Unforgettable." The Evening Wear Competition allowed, once again, for the contestants to express their individual style while a short biography about each contestant was read to the audience and judges as they modeled their dresses. After that competition, and while the judges tallied their scores, Jennie Sandstrom wanted to thank Darla Lambson, Hostess Chair for Miss Orem, for all her hard work and positive attitude. Sandstrom also thanked many people in the community for their help with ' making Miss Orem 2003 a success. Wiscombe then sang a final song "Think of Me" and immediately immedi-ately after, a slide presentation presenta-tion was shown highlighting the year that Wiscombe has had as Miss Orem 2002. After much anticipation, the scores were in. The Miss Orem Committee presented some awards first before announcing the next Miss Orem. Cherrington won the Community Service Award, Millecan won the Non-Finalist Non-Finalist Talent Award, Gibbons won the Non-Finalist Non-Finalist Interview Award, Ellertson won the Committee Award, Bushman won the Directors Award, and Barrett won the Contestant Award. There was a tie between MacNeill and Smith for the Best Overall Interview Award and Smith won . the Best Overall Talent Award. Smith's attendants from first to fourth were: Cherrington, Haney, MacNeill and Nelson. Smith is the daughter of Ty and Joani Johnson Smith of Orem. She graduated from Orem High School in 2002 and is currently attending Brigham Young University with the goal of earning a bachelor's degree in dance education. ' i - .it - I ivj .., ' e , i . W .a ut. . ' , -...ay- Jeff and Erika Beaty are concerned con-cerned with possible effects on 800 East from raising speed limits. Jan Fielding is an Orem resident resi-dent who favors increasing posted speed limits throughout through-out the city. :i . - & V I - a,,. f X $ it-i w t v.rf( -y $,." .pj.x.&.X-t vf fe'i I I xv t;w - it if Id I v t ' " '"" ; ,1'hflk I V V' . .' 77'.ih ' ' . wl!" " ; , j- I i f t f it r . jJhfkx L 1 i. . A. i j 'f Cl'l'r,Tmr?'."' . i"Ti.tirTi Over 16?000 Utah County workers staff 386 high-technology firms CLYDE E. WEEKS, JR. Times Correspondent In May of 2003, over 386 high-tech companies are operating within Utah Valley, according to the latest report of the Utah Valley Economic Development Agency These businesses employ 16,002 people, locally, which is 10 percent of Utah Valleys total work force of 150,950 people. Three hundred thirty-nine of these businesses business-es are privately held, while 47 are publicly owned. The average publicly-held firm has 128 employees, compared to the 40-employee average aver-age in private companies. Some 152 of Utah Countys high-tech companies compa-nies are located within the City of Orem, according accord-ing to the report. This 40 percent located in Orem, is involved in a wide variety of technologies technolo-gies and applications, mostly relating to the computer industry. The demise of the Geneva Steel Plant, finalized final-ized during the past year, but steadily winding down during the past five years, has had much less economic impact on Orem's economy, than it might have done, as recently as 10 years ago. During the past fifty years, there have been percolating in basements and garages of dozens of people, which have transformed the City of Orem into a thriving high-tech community, rivaling Silicon Valley in California. Those entrepreneurs and their ideas have expanded throughout Utah Valley and have taken root in hundreds of locations. Some of those 152 high-tech industries established estab-lished in Orem within the past five years, as yet, have fewer than 10 employees. However, the following fol-lowing Orem industries employ more than a dozen employees: ABOUT.COM 46 CLEARSAND CORP. 15 COLLISION SAFETY ENGIN, 18 COMPU-SET 16 CORDA TECHNOLOGIES 20 CORNERSTONE TECH, 15 COST CONTROL SYSTEMS 15 DIGITAL MEDIA.GROUP 10 DIRECT SOLUTIONS 15 ELECT PREPRESS SERVICES 15 ELITE SYSTEMS 41 ENTERPRISE DYNAMICS 15 EVENTRONK 15 EXEVISION, LC 15 FIBERNET CORPORATION 15 FINANCIAL FUSION, INC. ' 49 FRANKLIN COVEY 10 GALAXY MALL (NETGATE) 126 GEODISCOVERY 48 GLYPHXJNC. 10 HELIUSJNC. 26 INFOTRAX SYSTEMS, LLC 80 INSTITUTE FOR NETWORK PROFESSIONALS 12 INTER SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS 10 NTERNET DEVELOPMENT 45 INTRA LIGHT SOFTWARE 15 LEGA TO SYSTEMS,INC. 92 MAD MAC COMPUTERS 30 MADISON RIVER TECH. 82 MAXSTREAM, INC. 17 MERASOFT 75 METASTORM, INC. 30 MILLENIAL STAR NETWORK 75 MILLENNIAL STRATEGIES 15 MOXTEK, INC. 70 NATIONAL LAN EXCHANGE 14 NETDOCUMENTS 30 NETVISION, INC. 30 NTTVERIO WEB HOSTING 150 NX LIGHT 15 PARISH CHEMICAL COMPANY 22 PATHWISE 11 PEROT SYSTEMS 31 PHONE DIRECTORIES 310 POWERSTREAM TECHNOL. 15 PRECISION ASSEMBLY, INC. 41 PROMODEL CORPORATION 45 PROPAY 25 PROPELLER PORT. COMPUTER 15 PROSOFT 15 Q COMM INTERNATIONAL 25 RETAIL INFORMATION 15 SATURN SOLUTIONS 178 SECURITY METRICS 18 SERVTEW CORPORATION 15 SOFTWISE, INC. 15 SOSYSTEMS 64 SWITCHPOINT NETWORKS 18 TOTALLY AWESOME COMP. 110 TRANSERA CORPORATION 90 VANTAGE CONTROLS, INC. 90 WESTERN STANDARDS PUBL. 15 WOLF ELECTRONS 130 XACTWARE INFO. SERVICES 175 One of Utah County's largest expansions of existing High-Tech Companies is Orem's Totally Awesome Computers, 1979 South State Street, which increased the number of its employees from nine in 2002, to 110 in 2003. While over the years, the Geneva Steel Plant and Brigham Young University have been among Utah Valleys largest employers, Utah Valleys High-Technology Industries have expanded the employment safety net, considerably, consider-ably, by providing hundreds of new jobs in the past half-century. Consumer prices have remained stable or fallen, due to low inflation and global competition. competi-tion. In April, 2003, personal computers, furniture, furni-ture, clothing and televisions all cost less than they did one year ago. Lower interest rates have allowed many Orem homeowners to refinance their mortgages. Meanwhile, gasoline prices have risen sharply during the past three months," as a result of the world situation, affecting crude oil prices. Economists say that the aftermath of the Iraqi War is likely to have a far-reaching impact on many Americans. LAKESIDE SPORTS PARK Continued from front page Although the softball fields will be unavailable to the public at large for use, the park does have a one mile walking path around the park and a children's playground available for public use. Lakeside Park is equipped with rest rooms, bleachers, a concessions facility, a large covered pavilion, picnic areas and more than 350 parking spaces. The park is another completed com-pleted project for Recreation Department, which has been very busy the last couple cou-ple of years. In the past year they have completed the Orem Skate Park, the Foothill Neighborhood Park, renovated reno-vated the Orem Fitness Center and finished two neighborhood parks next to Canyon View Junior High and Orchard Elementary. They still have several projects in the works also. The Orem Swimming Pool is projected for completion May 24 and in June 2004 the 44-acre Canyon Park will be completed. Nielsen's grove, a 22-acre park in southwest Orem, is also being worked on. |
