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Show BpWWMUgjUyiU! pwqilBMitsawn T"" W'V'W'T''r' 1 Wgg Orchard Empress Theater Elementary page 5 page 7 3'f responds to Tribune article on police respopse time The following statement was provided by West I alley City Public Relations Office. An article published by The Salt Lake Tribune in Sundays Feb. 2 paper paints an alarming picture of police response times in West Valley City, noting that residents wait an average of eleven minutes and 45 seconds for police to respond to the most serious crimes. Though the story includes a number of statistical computations and comparisons, City officials worry that the article doesnt paint an accurate picture of police response in the City, noting variables in statistical reporting, staffing con- time, but on that call, the West Valley City officer was there five minutes after being disThe rest of the patched. response time was based on a judgment call by the dispatcher as to when it was appropriate to send the officer. The chief does not control the dispatch- compared cities can play a role in affecting response times. West Valley City has an approved employment level of 187 with 170 officers currently deployed. Of the other 17 positions, 6 positions are open, 2 officers are in the academy, and 9 are in field training. In 2007 on average, there were 166 officers deployed, a situation from which er. the city is now recovering. cerns, and benchmarking issues. There are so many statistical variables in response times... the time can change dramatically depending on what factors are considered, says City For Manager Wayne Pyle. example, the Martinez case that was illustrated accurately reported the overall response Response time information and response priorities aie based on a variety of factors and can vary greatly. Was the data accumulated for specifictime frames? Were statistics (rush requested for high-traffhour) periods? Was there any ic major construction project going on that would negatively impact response times during the statistical period? What was the weather like? Was the call for service made during or after the incident? Did the responding officer w'ork the incident before arriving on scene? The list of variables is never ending and varies from city to city. In addition to statistical variables, the staffing levels in the .i u ufinmiin WWjq $ 43 r i&ml - I j-- t been tough for us wise, but weve staffing worked all year to fill those positions, and are getting closer to full staffing, Pyle continued. Do we need more officers? Possibly, but response times will not give the answer as to how many officers that might be. In the final analysis, how'ever, improvement in response times is important, and the Tribune story helped us examine our owm method for assessing that response. Interestingly, by the Tribunes analysis, W'est Valley's response times have improved over the three year period studied despite population increases and the bad staffing in year experienced 2007. for support for the project. Jensen approached County Parks and Recreation, and the decision was taken to move the Taylorsville equipment to Magna. n A skatepark can cost half a million to a million dollars, Johnson said. This portable equipment cost about $45,000. So hows it working out? Scott Connelley (20), of W'est Valley City, went out to Magna to try it and said, Its probably better for roller blades, because it has more vert, and the metal ramps are not level with the ground. When you hit the metal from the concret, it slows you down. Its a little rough and can mess up your balance. Scotts brother Tyler (17), said, There could be more, like bowls, and rails for board full-blow- Magnas skate park: its a start, but skaters would By Colin B. Douglas News Editor Something like a verdict is coming in on the new bikes, boards, and blades facility at Magna's Copper Park: it works better for rollerblades than for skateboards. Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation finished installing the equipment about the first of December. Unlike that found at skate parks, the n and portable, metal is equipment full-blow- like more. bolted dow n to a concrete pad. Park Operations Director Wayne Johnson explained that the equipment was originally installed at the Taylorsville Recreation Center in 2000. But it never took off, he said. It was just gathering dust. Meanwhile, according to Johnson, a Magna youth group was holding bakesales to raise money for a skatepark. When they had raised almost S3,000, they went to County Council Member Michael Jensen to ask sliding. Austin Hinkle (15), of Magna, agreed. Theres not enough stuff to do, he said. Theres a lot of wasted space. Nevertheless, judging by the after-schotraffic there, what we have is a step in the right direction. ol elly Benson Apartments prompts proposed hanges to West Valley City ordinances By Colin B. Douglas News Editor The West Valley City Council is considering a change in zoning ordinances to add a definition of senior housing and move senior housing from the category of permitted use to conditional use. According to a supporting document to the councils 1 1 Study agenda for the March the proposal is made Meeting, in light of public cor.cers over a recent senior housing development on the comer of 3100 South and 3600 West. The proposal came up for discussion at the March 11 Study Meeting. Although the document does not name the project, the Housing Authority of the County of Salt Lake plans to build the Kelly Benson Apartments for chronically homeless seniors at that location. A citizens group called SaveOurKidsUtah.com has led opposition to the project, arguing that a chronically homeless senior population will present an unacceptable risk to 600 school children who use a Safe Walking Route that passes immediately adjacent to the site. In recent discussions of the city council, the desire has been expressed for the zoning ordinances to be changed to ' " 1T ntr-- 1 Tf ? Its Verdict on. Magna's bikes, boards,-an- d blades park: better for blades . ' Acid bomb explodes on 7200 West WVC Says article helpful, but doesn't paint full picture VOLUME 101 NUMBER 11 cause any such projects to come before the council before they are approved by Planning and Zoning staff members. The proposed changes respond to that concern. The proposed definition of "senior housing reads: SeniorHousing means a single family or multifamily dwelling where at least one of the residents is 55 years of age or older. For senior housing developments with multiple dwelling units, at least 80 of the dwelling units must have at least one resident that is 55 years of ageorolder. The proposed amendment would also specify as a condi- See Zoning on page 4 Left: Arson Investigator Ren Egbert displays components of an acid bomb that was planted on 7200 West Friday night. Right: Bomb squad members of the Unified Fire Authority hose down area where acid bomb exploded Friday night. By Colin B. Douglas News Editor Two acid bombs were planted by what appear to be pranksters on 7200 W'est Friday night, and one exploded. Stephanie Bonacci, who lives on 7200 W. just northward of 4100 S., heard a loud pop during the night, and when she went outside the next day she found two plastic water bottles on the street, containing a blue substance, one of them exploded. Her husband, Griffin, called the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, and the investigating deputy called the Unified Fire Authority (UFA) for support. Ren Egbert, a UFA arson investigator, explained, These HB40 survey ready The final versions of the HB40 survey and the accompanying brochure are ready for rdeas? and wijl be mailed out through the next few weeks, as announced by Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroons office. The survey will give residents of townships in the unincorporated county an opportunity to express their preferer-ence- s for the future of their communities. Town hall meetings will be held in the townships as well, in connection with the survey. The Kearns meeting was held March 4, and the Magna meeting will be held March 24, at the Magna Recreation Center, 3270 S. 8400 W'est, from 6 to 9 P.M. In their final form, the survey questions will be as follows: 1. Regarding the existing form of local government in your area, would you like to: a. See things remain the same-n- o changes to your existing form of local government. b. See the form ernment change. of local gov- Which of the following options is your preferred w choice: a. Joining an existing city or town that Is located near my property (Annexation). b. Forming a new city or town (Incorporation). c. Remain in unincorporated Salt Lake County AND as part of a township (restrictions on future annexations). d. Remain in unincorporated Salt Lake County BUT not as part of a township (no restrictions on future annexations). e. Other 3. Please provide a brief explanation as to why you chose your answer in Question 2 2. (optional): 4. If there was a vote held today on incorporating the portion of Salt Lake County in which your property is located-holikely would you be to vote in favor of incorporation? a. Very Likely b. Likely c. Neutral d. Unlikely e. Very Unlikely 5. If you were asked to sign a w devices are made with toilet bowl cleaner and a wad of aluminum foil. They produce a gas that causes the device to explode. The danger is that it not only with considerable explodes force, but it splashes a caustic substance around that can cause serious injury, Egbert said. Egbert said the devices appeared to be the work of pranksters. to go out petition that would annex your property into an existing city or town that is adjacent to your property-ho- w likely would you be to sign that petition? a. Very Likely b. Likely c. Neutral d. Unlikely e. Very Unlikely f. Depends on which city or town would annex my property 6. If you chose f in Question 5, which city would you most like to join or annex into? 7. How long have you owned this property? a. Less than 1 year b. At least 1 year but less than 5 years c. At least 5 years but less than 10 years d. At least 10 years but less than 15 years e. 1 5 years or more 8. Please indicate your age category: a. b. c. d. 18-2- 4 25-3- 4 35-4- 4 45-5- 4 e. 55-6- 4 f. 65 and over Orchard principal reports to parents on mold issue We NOTE: EDITOR S the on weeks two ago reported T. progress by Douglas Orchard Elementary School and the Granite School District toward correcting a problem with mold at that school. Since Orchard Principal then, Rebecca K. Tesch has sent the following letter to parents. March 6, 2008 Orchard Elementary School, we had developed a problem with water accumulating under the building. With moisture, mold may follow. Because Orchard was build over a soil crawl space, there has been a musty smell in the building for years, yet inspections had not revealed mold. Discovery. In the spring of 2007, a worker from the Utah's employment services Parents, Over the past year, you've been aware of construction at the school. You've trusted your children with us as we've investigated the water drainage issues and mold that followed. You've watched the construction and checked the updates. Now, with more answers, we'd like to give another update, including the work that has taken place and the history behind it. The History. At Douglas T. repre- senting OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health) came to visit the school, inquiring about possible health issues from mold for employees. The school and district coopereated fully, even running air samples, tape samples and visual tests to look for evidence of problems. OSHA did not run any tests, but waited for the district tests to be returned, and completed a visual inspection. The school found 2 small patches of mold, about 14 inches in diameter. tested and removed them. Once the results were in, they were given to OSHA. Those results indicated that 3 of the 7 inside samples, had mold counts that were higher than outside, while 4 were lower. As there are no guidelines for an "acceptable amount" of mold, the district and OSHA used the criteria that we wanted the air cleaner in the building than outside. Using this high standard, the district concluded that there was some mold in the building, and action should take place, npt just for the employees, bufffor the children. Planning. Immediately upon hearing the results, and before OSHA reported their findings that employees may be impacted by mold in the building, the district began designing an See Mold" on page 10 |