| OCR Text |
Show PAG36 JULY 14, 1995 In all honesty and fairness, up to this point, Circle Four has not asked the community to furnish anything for them, feast of all an infrastructure around the parameter of existing homes to allow for LETTERS TO HIE EDITOH f Dear Editor, In regards to the piece n the Milford Monitor July 7, 1995 m titled APATHY. t As City Councilman I have taken a lot of alack, from citizens and now from die paper. I believe that what we as a council have done is for the best, for the city, and for the people of Milford. It seems that our News Paper accuses the City Council of not properly advertising of some of our doings in regards to the new sewer and water project However, our News Paper has been to all of the City Council Meetings and does her own thing with all the minutes. It appears to me that the newspapers, being the WATCH DOG eyes and ears,-T- HE OF THE PEOPLE-sho- uld inform us of all the things that have apparently been ed neglected It seems that maybe our watch dog is blind and deaf, do we read on or do we go get a new puppy. sJohn Carter Councilman Carter Dear Editor: In the July 7, 1 995 issue of the Milford Monitor page 3 top left hand column is an article with the title apathy. I personally take great exception to the article and while you certainly are entitled to your opinion I should like to respond to this article of unfair accusation. First of all lets look at the word apathy. Apathy means, according to the dictionary, lack of lack of interest, indifference, emotion. Well now, it seems to me that the mayor and the city council have put in not a few dozen but a few hundred hours in attempting to better the city and the town so mat we can continue to enjoy the quality of living that we do enjoy at this time. There certainly is a lot of scuttle-bregarding the water and sewer project, raising of water and sewer rates, so on and so forth. In December the city council held a public hearing to get the feel of what the town wanted us ut to percent loan money will ever be made available to M2fbrd City again as there are numerous cities and towns applying for the same loans and grants that MUford City was just successful getting. The long list growth. The company undoubtedly the benefits Milford recognizes VaDey has to offer, wide open spaces, a political and social system that has rolled out the red carpet to welcome them, uncrowded schools, a good hospital - just to name a few. Has anyone ever talked to them about impact fees? Not prepaid taxes; not tax recapture schemes; not pie in the sky to cover every possible contingency; just some down to earth, realistic help with immediate growth needs! of cheaper cities and towns mat Alice Smith quotes in the newspaper will eventually become similar priced cities and towns as they are also faced with fixing, repairing, and upgrading their water and sewer systems. Of the typical 230 typical Utah towns Alice quotes approximately 160 of those towns have applied to the same entities that we have applied to for the same funding. We were just fortunate to get it When the other cities and towns get it they to will be faced with having to raise mere water and sewer rates accordingly. With respect to Milford City council passing a budget for with out having it fiscal 95-9- 6 3. Calls to a number of other cities on the list did not indicate dramatic increases planned for the future. At the risk of being tarred and feathered, it's pertinent to mention rates in "another community" in the county. Those residents are paying $10. for the first 10,000 gallons of water and .30 per 1,000 overage, with an option of 4.50 for pressurized irrigation water. Sewer rate is $4. per month. Their city manager reported that, with current upgrades already in place, they can issue at least 150 building permits. Impact fees from those permits, set earlier this year, are designed to protect existing residents and provide future upgrades without increases. Various other cities on the list reported similar strategy. available for public inspection for the specified period, that is partly correct Again, we did what we had to do. Due to computer problems, new help in the office, and a large influx of work load on the city office it has been very difficult to compile the budget and get it ready for public inspection. There is a filing deadline that the budget has got to be filed with the state. By the time we had the budget worked put with the help of the city auditor we had very little time to advertise it Again, we did what we had to do. We did the best job we could with what we had to work with. It is very easy to set back and point fingers. It is a tot tougher to make the decisions mat the city council and the mayor are faced with having to make particularly in this last six planning and realistic spending of public funds must be incorporated in government goals at every level. - 4. Presenting the increased rates as "median'' was at least misleading, and possibly downright devious. 5. The budget The City Council was advised of the problem several months ago. Procrastination created this situation. 6. Mayor and gentlemen, you overlooked one question: What is pledged for security on those bonds? Now, let's add a few 1. Why is the water and sewer upgrade map still changing? AND Why will the final plan not be available for public inspection until AFTER the loan agreements have been signed? 2. Please explain the priority schedule for the upgrades. What area is first, and who will be left out if the money runs short? 3. Is there a question of ethics involved when both the city and private developers employ the same engineer at any given stage of system planning or upgrade? ' While I am on the soapbox, here are a few more comments: 1. Last week the Monitor conducted a poll of four councilmen regarding the support facilitiesT" When Cedar was dropped from the list and Minersvillc's status was rethey had applied for annexation. evaluated, the ecet went down to less 2. Almost two years ago a large To the best of my than SI. number of residents signed a petition council wrote only the knowledge, for extended area calling service to one letter after the original petition in enable them to call Minemilie, calling support of this county-wid- e Beaver, and Cedar City for an With recent approval of the system. addmon to the base bill and no toll on agreement between U. S. West and the individual calls. At that time it SCUTA, the time for that benefit has was the consensus of the council that passed, probably forever. the monthly increase (about S7.) Lighten up, fellows! It's would be too much of a burden on election year. Since you didn't like those on fixed incomes. (Note: This "APATHY" this time YOU choose same council has not hesitated to the word. adopt water and sewer rates topped Alice Smith bv only six other cities in the state.) nandwquued" h fact, one wasn't quite sure whether "Iback the family insurance I sell with good neighbor service!" , And our new computer system makes that good service even better. Call me. BRENT STAPELY 757 N. MAIN, BEAVER Like 51 a good neighbor, State Farm is there.19 Tti rata proposed Circle Four annexation. Not one of the four knew the amount of acreage involved at the time we spoke, nor did they know the amount of acreage needed for the actual feed State Farm Insurance Companies Home Offices: Bloomington, Illinois months. Those decisions are going to get tougher as the city continues to grow and its going to be hard. But again, the city council and the mayor will do a thankless job to the best of there ability. I would like to encourage people who are in difffgrftfmftnt with any of these things mat affect them directly, personaUyv end-aa citizen of the town to please come to the public hearings when they are advertised and tell us what your thoughts are. Tell us why you dont warn us to do this and why you don't want us to do that Without your input we have to do what we believe is the right thing to do. That is exactly what we have done. For the betterment of everybodynot just a s do. I personally (Mark Dotson) had my secretary call everybody she could call in four or five hours out of the phone book telling people that we were having a public hearing and to please come tell us what you I personally want us to do. contacted a dozen or so people in addition to the phone calls my In that public secretary made. hearing there were 13 people in the audience. Of those 13 there was only one single individual who we had called and that I had personally contacted. May 16, 1995 another public hearing was held in the gym. Alice Smith is absolutely right the acoustics were bad in the gym and it was difficult to hear. I have no problem with that Again, I personally called or contacted 23 people. I said to them we are going to raise your water and sewer rates please come and tell us what your feelings are. One person out of the 23 people I contacted showed up at that public hearing. There were a few people at that public hearing but only a handful. Just a handful. Anybody to suggest that we have demonstrated a total for constituents is disregard absurd. When nobody absolutely will come to the public hearings and tell us what they want us to do then we have to do what we believe is the right thing to do. We have done what we believe is the right thing to do for the total betterment of the entire community. Yes it is going to cost us some money. Yes it is going to possibly put a pinch on some people. At this point we see no other alternative. If we want to continue to use the water and particularly the sewer system in this city we have got to fix it Some people say Why are we doing it all at once instead of a little bit at a time.' The water and sewer system, in my opinion, is in the condition it's in because the city hasnt charged a sufficient amount of money in a long long time so that improvements could be made as they went along. This is part of the problem. We have no choice but to fix it now. The loans and grants that have been made available to the city for the purpose of repairing and upgrading our sewer and water system is literally a one time deal. The money is available now to do it all now which is why we are going to do all that we can now. It is very doubtful that grants and or one 0 JL I) (Qiao a Last Chance feweverybody. Respectfully submitted, Mark D. Dotson Sharing similar thoughts: Russell Smith John Carter Harlan Thomas to Dance to 0 G Larry Sower Mayor Mary Wiseman Barmtt '0 Another Word "O Mayor, Gentlemen, and the council member who presented himself as other than a gentleman, Let'i look at the facts: Live atffto '4 Councilman Dotson, you are exactly correct in your assertion that very few citizens attend public bearings. However, from the May 16 hearing in the gym, the comments I heard from my position in the audience were not generally favorable to the increases. Did you bear those comments? 2. Correct again, Councilman; the low interest and no interest loans are e deal. Why do you literally a think Milford was chosen above the other applicants? Is it for the same reason Beaver County was chosen for a LEDI Grant to fund a county planner? In case you folks haven't noticed, there is a new industry in town which has tremendous support at the state level. 1. Hugh one-tim- Yes, Circle Four Farms is bringing jobs to the community. Yes, property values arc increasing. Some of you were elected by talcing a stand against the company. If you are one of those, and have changed your mind wanting to now put your support behind the company, have the courage to stand up straight, throw out your chest, look your constituents in the eye, and give the reasons why your position has reversed. Yes, there are a number of the water and aewer lines are in need of or replacement Those repair upgrades are the responsibility of the city. Proper planting and saving from the enterprise funds would moat likely have avoided a crisis. V .lulu 24 R JU V 9: P.M. to ' 2T 1 : A.I ; 77io PUB Is a prtvatoclub for members only. 'mord' utah 413 S. Man in 001-307-24- 00 |
