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Show WEEKLY REFLEX DAVIS NEWS JOURNAL, NORTH DAVlS LEADER, DECEMBER 25, 1980 ection By NORMA PREECE L. Rex Anderson, city auditor , met with the council during their regular council meeting on Tuesday evening. Mr. Anderson was there to answer questions concerning the annual audit of the city. He indicated that he was well pleased with the new city administrator, John Thacker. MAYOR GAR Elison asked if there were any specific changes needed. Mr. Anderson said the control is in the departments and the department heads should understand their budgets and it is their responsibility to stay within the budget. He also stated that the budget and wise use of it will become more critical as the years go by." Mr. Thacker said the newly organized Redevelopment Advisory Committee is focusing on the Kaysville city block, and felt they should not spend time on this particular block if the council is not considering vacating the block. He said the council should consider any ramification from such a move, or whether it would be better to add on to the buidling to provide more space. So far the committee has not considered the financial impact. MAYOR ELISON indicated that a move from the present site does not appear economically feasible, but if it is shown to be feasible, the council would be willing to vacate and make the city block available for development. The council noted that there are no deed restrictions nor restrictive covenants on the land of the city block that they are aware of. The mayor extended thanks from the council to Supt. Walt Meacham and his department for the Christmas lighting on Main Street. MR. THACKER reported that Dr. Russell Williams is again threatening to close Burton Lane from SR 273 to where it meets the Palos Verdes road at 50 West. run at the expense of the The mayor noted that the county has paved and plowed snow on many roads in the county where there are no deeds. The council agreed to ask the planning commission to review this in relation to the master plan and make some recommendations. This item will be brought before the council in Janurary. also prove negative, the THE COUNCIL approved the auction of surplus bicycles and other city property on Dec. 22. The council received a letter from Atty. William McQuire, representing Max Woodward and Revell George, asking permission to cut into Crestwood Rd. to look for a sewer problem which has caused a backup twice in their homes. IT WAS the consensus of the council that since the first video of the line did not indicate any problem with roots, that a second video could be homeowners, homeowners and should this could install valves in their lines. Mr. Thacker will inform the attorney and the homeowners of this decision. THE COUNCIL approved the application for a beer license for the R&B Store on south Main St., owned by Tom Randall Distributing Co. of Layton. Supt. Meacham presented a power sales agreement which covers the sale of excess power from the 1PP Plant to other entities. He stated, When cities originally approached bonding for the IPP Plant, there w as much concern as to the excess pow er generated by the plant w hich would have to be paid for by the city whether or not they could use it. Be cause the city felt a more firm contract was necessary for this excess power, this agreement and resolution was drawn up from imput from the cities back-flo- MR. THACKER explained that the agreement provides for the sale of surplus power under a firm contract w ith certain California cities. On question from the council to why no profit would be made on this power resale, Mr. Thacker pointed out that Utah cities belonging to IPP would be giving up any profit in return for the California cities assuming all of the risks. THE COUNCIL moved to approve the excess power sales agreement and resolution providing for the sale of surplus power from the IPP to designated California cities. Mayor Elison stated that the 1979 Legislature had provided for the modification of election procedures for the second and third class cities to eliminate potential abuse and needless expense involved in city elections. He stated that the ordinance had been prepared by the Utah Municipal League of Cities and Tow ns. P Under this change, anyone ho w ants to run for city office could come into the city office and file an affidavit to place their name on the election ballot, eliminating the need for 25 signatures on a petition, and also any party designation. This would allow any person to run on their own merits without support of a particular group. w AFTER DISCUSSION by the council, it was moved to adopt the election procedure by a unanimous vote. MARK D. MICKELSEN A Sunset official requesting that financial plans for a four to five city computer merger be thoroughly examined before any of the is surrounding north Davis towns make a decision on ture computer purchases. SUNSET MAYOR Norm ready for a computer system, but doesn't know if a dual merger with Clearfield is economically the best idea, at this time. Clearfield City Council members voted unanimously last week to sell their outdated Lockheed computers and pursue buying another system one Sunset could share. But Mayor Sant said Sunset is still in the planning stages and is not ready to make a decision yet. HE SAID both Kaysville and Syracuse have expressed an interest in a possible four to five city merger. To buy a Cadillac system. the mayor said, there have to be more than two cities involved. ONCE THE multi-cit- y plan is drawn up, the features w ill be shown to the various city leaders, Mayor Sant noted, and then a decision can be made by each entity. The best system, he said, would include four to six smaller communities tied together with a common phone line. WE WOULD have to get a capabilisystem with add-o- n ties for cities like Kaysville and Syracuse that are still growing," he explained. "But these things can be worked out. iuliiCifvConiputerlifjerger By MARK D. MICKELSEN LAYTON Kaysville and Syracuse authorities are not exactly jumping at the chance to participate in a proposed north Davis County computer merger. THOUGH HE says the city Kaysville City Manager John is definitely interested. Thacker Wednesday ex- plained that the city is undergoing some major personnel transactions and must put the issue on hold. The main advantage of a multi-cit- y merger, he said, is that the participating com- munities have the capacity to do a lot of things with less cost. HE SAID where Kaysville does not need a singular computer to keep track of police records, with four or five cities involved, each could have access to such a system and save themselves a lot of time. By GARY R. BLODGETT Its anyones guess what 1981 and the remainbut one der of the 1980s will bring economically thing for sure is that the year 1980 got most of us off on the wrong foot. ECONOMISTS are reluctant to talk about the year just ending. For public record they want to say that everything was just fine. But they know that isnt true, and openly admit it. Davis County suffered economically just as much as any other sector or nearly as much, anyway U.S. of Utah or the HOME builders admit that real estate sales were down drastically; automobile salesmen had "their worst year in memory, and retail stores also had a steep downtrend in total sales. The latter admit that there have been just as many shoppers as usual, but thats what they are shoppers, not buyers. Sales tax revenue for the state proved that point. MANY RETAIL store owners especially those operating outside the large shopping malls as well as Mr. Thacker emphasized that the city wants to participate in the planning stages of the merger to determine their needs and identify how those needs can be met." CURRENTLY, none of the cities involved in the proposed merger have gotten together to organize an official financial plan, he said. In Syracuse. City Administrator Phil Barber said the merger would be too costly to the city. He explained that the city's workload is currently not heavy enough to justify a computer. AT THIS point, the mayor and council act like they're not interested," he said. The merger cost to Syracuse would be about $15,000. according to Mr. Barber. The city isn't ready for that." he said. The administrator added that the city's revenues are slow coming in and said the admit that retail some of those within the malls sales are off 20 to 50 percent. said one local I really took a financial beating, If remain asked to who anonymous. store owner, to have to real Im better soon, going things dont get 3 shut my doors for good. SPIRALING interest rates seemed to have had a tremendous effect on some buying, but had little effect on other types of purchases. It seemed to depend on the cost of the purchase and whether or not the buyer had to borrow money to make the purchase. homes, And one reason that major purchases took a tumble is cars and many large appliances because of "tight money and record high interest rates. ITS NOT just that the prime interest rate shot to a record high 21.5 percent just before the holidays, and 20 percent during the peak summer months; the major cause of reduction in retail and real estate sales remains with tight money. How did some retail businessmen survive the economic crunch while others went bankrupt? ONE REASON, and one reason only, admits one situation could get worse before it gets better. Funding for the computer system "would have to be programmed into next year's budget." he said. He reiterated that the acting mayor and city council are not interested in it (merger) at that they might only share the technology, or programming benefits of the system, w ithout merging to buy hardware. Though they haven't made a definite decision vet. Clearfield city officials are selling their old Lockheed computer system and have asked Sunset to join them in a dual merger. Lay ton had been looking into a SUNSET MAYOR Norm Sant said last week he would rather participate in a four or five city merger between Sun- computer merger until two weeks ago when Layton authorities informed the cities Kaysville. Layton and possibly Fruit Heights. present." SUNSET, Clearfield and tri-ci- set. Syracuse. Clearfield. successful businessman is the fact that most of those who were successful put out a lot more money for advertising. We had to be aggressive in our sales and pricing techniques as well as do a lot of advertising try our best to outdo our competitor," said one businessman. In that respect, I guess the economic slump has been good for us. It really made us work our tails off." THE OPENING of the new Layton Hills Mall, the Ogden Downtown Mall, and the new Salt Lake Crossroads Mall caused a lot of concern and some loss of business to smaller independent retailers in all of Davis County. Most county residents found it necessary to tighten their purse strings and live on a more rigid budget than ever before. While interest rates were spiraling and causing a shortage of money, personal spendable income was not keeping up with inflation. INFLATION during the year increased at a pace of more than .5 percent per month much higher than the average increase in salaries thus causing the actual purchasing power of the family dollar to dwindle. 1 Many of the larger cities feel like possession of the actual is necessary, according to the mayor, who added that the advantages of the bigger system far outweigh the advantages of merely having the equipment nearby. equipment fu- Sant said last week his city is OJTER WONDERLAND IT W AS the consensus of the council that a letter be drafted to the Congressional Delegation urging that any tram consiructed to Francis Peak be made open to the public for use of mountain lands for recreational purposes. Cities In Computer Merger Plan SUNSET to make this beautiful scene of corner of 620 East and Larsen the wonderland at winter was taken during a very brief Bountiful. Picture Dive, broke when sun the through the heavy overcast period f fog, smog and smuck that has prevailed over Davis for the past and most of northern Utah Cbunty several days. Weather forecast is for a clearing and warming trend. FOLLOWING a discussion. Carol Page, councilwoman. moved that the council be given time to review the document more thoroughly and the matter be tabled until the council meeting on Jan. 6. The council approved. Councilman Russ Bracken. referring to the Dec. 2 meeting with Jack Brigance with regard to the transmitter site, reiterated his stand that the tram to be built from the valley floor to Francis Peak FAA station should be available to the public. More North Davis By Cold and fog combined A legal document drawn up by the city attorney creating a trust account for a swimming pool and recreation fund was presented to John Thacker, city administrator, for consideration. WITH FOUR or five cities involved, payroll and budgetary techniques could be programmed into the computer for each entity and separated by only the city's name. Due to spiraling inflation, Mayor Sant said the smaller cities drastically need a computer system w hich can visibly document their spending capabilities. HF. POINTED out that Clearfield's decision to move ahead with Sunset only is slightly premature, and said he was under the impression the cities were supposed to put a package together, then make some decisions on the matter, together. "Kaysville has shown an interest." he said, adding that Syracuse and possibly even Fruit Heights might consider involvement in the plan, under the right conditions. I STILL say Lay ton is interested in it (merger)." he said, angry about Clearfield's comments that Layton will only share technology on the system, rather than hardware. "We've got to get a computer system in Sunset." the mayor concluded. "We would all be better if we'd join together." County Assessor Issues Warning To Auto Owners FARMINGTON Davis County Assessor Thayne issued a warning today that auto owners who have not yet paid their 1980 registration fee will be assessed for two years if they wait until after Jan. I to register their vehicle. Cor-brid- HE NOTED that all cars, including those due in December, must be registered by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 31. or a two-yeassessment will be made for Thus car owners w ill be subject to payment of personal 980-198- property taxes for both years, he emphasized. HE ADDED, however, that persons w ho are short of funds at this time of year may have their auto taxes assessed to their home taxes for 1981. This assessment is good only until April 15, when all taxes must be paid in full, the assessor said. For further information, contact Mr. Corbridge at the Davis County Courthouse. or Farmington. ext. 352. grb ), Open House Set For Crestwood Prof. Plaza An open house date has been set for Tuesday, Dec. 30 for the Crestwood Professional Plaza located at 47 East Crestwood Road. Kaysville. THE PLAZA has reached full occupancy and the open house will celebrate the event and present the public an opportunity to become better acquainted with Kaysville's health care professionals. Those working in the plaza offer the most up to date modern medical and dental facilities in the area, including some of the most unique and attractive offices in the intermountain west. The practitioners feel that this is an opportunity for citizens of the community to learn what is available for the..- health care needs. np - One statewide economic report noted that Utahns during the first half of 1980 had an average increase in their salaries of 12.6 percent over 1979. THIS INCREASE was the same percent increase as 1979 over 1978 while the inflation rate was trend of nearly 20 percent spiraling at a record-hig- h per year. And while residential construction in Davis County was off substantially in 1980, new retail construction primarily because of the Layton Hills Mall .amounted to $6.1 million for the first 10 months of the year compared to $6.6 million for the same period in 1979. SO WHATS in store for the future? No one really knows, or will comment on thier precise feelings. They will only say that although the economic growth rate has been in a decline for much of 1980, it appears now to have leveled off. But we cant expect a normal period of extensive economic growth until inflation and high interest rates become more favorable than they are now, said one economic observer. AND THATS one observation you can count on. |