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Show The Salt Lake Tribune B2e UTAH Tuesday, June 20, 2000 Cash DealProposed for West Jordan Ex-Managers City Council to decide on three payouts to former employees BY JOHN KEAHEY THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE JORDAN City negoti ched deep into the taxpockets Monday and cash-settlement agreements with three senior managers vhoeitherresignedorretiredlast veek Former City Manager Dan Dahlgren. the focal point ofa year- long Salt Lake County District At forney’s investigation” into city purchasing and biddingpractices. gets the most generous. package: $129,400. in cash. and 18 months of mmsurance-premiumcoverage. Former City Attorney Greg Curtis, who quit in reaction to Dahlgren’s resignation during last week's closed-door West Jordan Cc ity Council session, is expected to e meeting. is slated to get 900 in cash and, part ofhis retirement plan. $21,800 will be paid as premiums to his medical anddental insuranceproviders. Thethree agreements go before the council tonight for final approval. Little, if any, opposition is expected. The settlements “speak for themselves,” said Council Member Lyle Sumr “I kind of gulped when. we talked about Dahlgren’s severance, but after dis: ing it with the council, we agreed informally that it was reasonable.” The yearlong district attorney's investigation uncovered bidding irregularities for a major portion said theyrecall the discussion and overthe past few months,the need tofreeze staff hirings andtrim fat fromthe budget, and how we seem to be rewarding ex-employees for sponsible directlyor indirectly for the actions of his subordinates, manyof whomeither resigned or werefired. The settlements basically cover wrongdoing. It (the Soileipent of- fer] is too much.” Dahlgren is the onlyone of the six monthsofsalaryfor eachof the three executives, plus compensa: tion for compensatory time served and unused vacation. Part of Dahigren’s total packageis an additional $50,000 cash payment. three whose resignation was actively sought. Curtis’s and Ander- son’s actions cameontheir own. District Attorney David Yocom, Thetrio, in accepting the pack- whenhereleasedthe results of his ages, agree not to have anyfurther claims against thecity or any ofits officials. staff's yearlong investigation last month emphasized that he could find no evidencethat anyone finan- In addition, thesettlementissue. Theonly onebesides Summers reachedfor comment wascouncil cially benefited from the soccerfield and sewer-line transactions. However, he pointed out that the statutes andordinances that were brokendid not have criminal sanctions attached to them. Yocom said Dahlgren and st investigators found that the city memberBrianPitts, long a Dahl- nior staff members wer‘re just guil ofthe.construction.during the mid. 1990s of a West Jordansoccer com- plex. Also questioned was the performance by. city employees: of 2,300 hours of work in behalf of a community charity. Few council members on Monday, including one of Dahlgren’s sharpest critics, Mayor Donna Evans, appearedwillingto address overpaid a sewer contractor by morethan $400.000 for a project at gren supporter. He acknowledged he wasinvolved in the discussions 7000 South and Redwood Road Noneof the City Council's min- “and surance payments. utes or audio tapes mentionedthat the overpayment was approved. Acitizen critical of the way Dahlgren and others have con- Former FinanceDirector David Sanderson, whoretired during the although two current council members. and other cityofficials $36,160. No- mention was made in his settlement agreementof in- council meeting tonight and address three issues during the public comment period: “The lousy waterpressure we've been getting subsequent “yes” vote. Dahlgren, with a $90,000 annual salary, was the seniorofficial re- would prefer not to comment.” ducted city business, Norman Riggs, said he would go to the BY JOHN KEAHEY ampleased.” Whiletheinitial 100 percent in- DRAPER se sounded steep, Draper offi- Numbercrunchers at Draper's City Hall have been holding their breath since March. ° That was when they discovered the city might have to double roperty taxes in this southern alt Lake County community. But, as of Friday, the callus-fingered calculator punchers hadslashed a record $10 million budget to $8.7 inillion ‘» Theresult: no tax hikeinfiscal 2001 A take “I that relieved City Council will up that budget tonight. was surprised myself to hear [news of no tax increase],” said council member John Shakula. “At our last meeting . I thought we would have to raise faxesa little bit, but apparently our staff found a wayaround that and1 “Whenwe started this budget cycle, the council had voted in Februaryto build the newstation, cials notedthat thecity has one of but in the meantime the location the changed. Wehavenot yet acquired the property.” Smith sajd. The newstation was going to be built on land donated bya devel- state's lowest rates. Thecity’s typical roperty-tax tax bite for asingle-family dwelling is roughly $105:a year. Doubling that would put Draper in the “average” range for Salt Lake Valley communities. oper in southeast Draper. But a consultant recommendeda differ- n so, council member Paul ardsis glada tax hikeis off the ent location, at Highland. Drive andTraverse Ridge Road. “lamsurprised, andalittle skeptical,” said the first-term council memberwhile waiting for an airplane. in Las Vegas. “How could they possibly get percent to azeroincrease’ It wasn't easy, said City ager Jim Smith. The biggest break and more than $500,000 in savings — came when the city post- ponedconstruction of a newfire Station. Summers hopestonight's action puts the issue behindthe divisive council. “Wehavea lotof businessto get will allowusto get on withit.” wewill needa newoffice building “And then we will have to determine whatto do with the historic Park School,” home of the currently crampedCity Hall. “We don’t have a good way:to payfor them now,” Shakulasaid. “Tamproposing that citizens have the opportunity to decide in a bond shooting, the suspect reportedly Voters said no in 1997, when take the moneyfor it out of the that would have renovated the old budget,” said Smith. school to houseCity Hall. Edwardssaid he has a better idea, anyway.“Increase economic development in this community so business can pay for these needs through increased sales and commercial preperty-tax revenue,” he said. “The residents are paying enough property taxesasit is. NegCe) Dee MLR Cay Ballet JONAS KAGE, ARTISTIC DICTION In additionto the grand, fulHength productions of Whether ‘tis nobler to payfull pricefor singletickets The Taming ofthe Shrew and A MidsummerNight's or save money witha full season of world-classballet, Jtah premieres!), Ballet West will honor thatis the question, Ofcourse it’s not really muchof a Dream(both its founder, Willam Christensen, with a revival ofhis questionat all. Seasonticket hc oiders save money(over popular Nothin’ Doin’ Bar. The seasonalso includes 40%in some cases), get to orde! t their The Nutcracker commandperformancesofthe very popular Polish tickets now,before theygo onsaleto the general Pieces and ThemeandVariations, and the Utah publicand receivethe bestreservedseats in the premieres ofArtifact II, Lilac Garden and Who Cares?. house. Makea shrewddecision. Call Ballet West today ADelta (ag Air Lines ants aU FM worried family members scoured neighborhoodsandpostedfliers in the hopesoffinding the man. They offered $5,000 to anyone with inHutchings’ body was found on the Jordan River Parkway near 6300 South by a man and his daughter. He died from-a single gunshot wound that appears to have been self-inflicted, according to police. A He thenwaited on the front lawn for. police. Stefines was pronounced dead by doctors at McKay-Dee Hospital’ in Ogden. The other woman, whohad been hit over the head with the butt of the pistol, remained hospitalized handgunwasdiscovered near the body. Status Improvesfor Hantavirus Victim have a second case of the plague, similar to the hantuvirus, after a 7-year-old Millard County girl was upgraded fromseriousto satisfactory condition recently at LDS Hospital. As result, the Carbon County man was movedoutofanintensive care unit at the hospital after more than a week and onto a general care hospital floor, hospital snc? san Jess Gomezsaid Mon- 1 ealth officials are still ..g whetherhe and his 47-year-old Cathleen Dimick, contracted the disease at admitted into Fillmore Community Hospital on Friday witha high fever and swollen glands. The plague is also a rodentcarrying disease, specifically a bacterium that mimicssimilarflulike symptoms as the hantavirus. But cultures taken from her blood haveso far produced no evidence of the plague, and she has recovered more rapidly than expected, public health workerssaid. “The recovery is so quickit really doesn’t looklike it's plague,” said Gerrie Dowdle, manager of the communicable disease program with the Utah Department of Health. Whilethe girl’s cat had infected lymph nodesin its neck and the same time — most likely while laying a foundation for his new house between Wellington and died two weeks ago, had she becomeinfected with the plagueit would have been a much shorter Price. Colleen Dimick was rushed incubation period, Dowdle added — about three-to-five days vs. nearly two weeks. “Nothing looks suspicious right now. Given her fast recoverythis just does notfol to LDS Hospital on May 30th and died that evening of complications from the virus, namely severe respiratory distress. Meanwhile, southern Utah health-care workers are continuing to- investigate whether they fo} ARAL ene eed ea 26 ville who had been missing for more than a’week. Hutchings was last seen by his wife June 8 as he left for a morningbike ride. When he hadnotreturned two dayslater, formation as to his whereabouts. they rejected a $6.5 million bond “We are probablygoing to need Murraypolice have identified a bodyfound Saturdayafternoon on the Jordan River Parkwayas that of Byron Hutchings, 61, of Taylors- bors he had just killed someone. the 2001 fiscal year, so we should Smith and Shakula_ warned, however,that the city will have to tackle the tax beast within the next yearor so. For starters, the new fire station will have to be in the 2002 budget, and there are other construction needsas well. Q walked next door andtold neigh- in BalletWest's Katrina Weinstrom Cg| (801) 323-6900 shot Stefines in the chest after an argument with her and another woman. Police believethe trio had been drinking heavily. After the mouie, BMPSUMaeia1) March 30.31, April 4 May 18,19, 24 Countyjail on suspicion of homicide. Accordingto police, the man themselves for these things.” YOLOIMIG DUSILYV FOV SYVNO[ Curden-* Who Care otAa killer, an Ogden man who has been booked into the Weber “Werealized this week that the station will not be completed for Ballet West's 2000-2001 Season AN EVENING OF BALLETS | MT Aa CindyJosephineStefines, 41, was Ogden residence of her alleged election whether they wantto tax New Season Now OnSale! LL mentthat involved three people. found dead around3:30 p.m. at the began exhibiting severe symptoms of the rodent-carrying disease the dayof his mother’s funeral, was for city workers,” Shakula said. On His Toes! Saoeen MAN’S BODYIDENTIFIED Chris Dimick, the 23-year-old year old hantavirus victim who a newpublic works building, and We're Keepin Shakespeare THE TAMING OF THE SHREW Monday night. A Sait Lake City woman was shot to death at an Ogden home Mondayafternoon after an argu- on with,” he said. “I very much hope the action we take [tonight] aNETA Introducit WOMANFATALLY SHOT of “poor management.” That Sigh of Relief? It Was Draper Dodging a Tax-HikeBullet THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE FOR THE RECORD low along with plague. But until we get our handson those cultures, we just don’t know what she had.” |