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Show I WEEKLY REFLEX I I 4 DAVIS NEWS JOURNAL, NORTH DAVIS LEADER, DECEMBER 30, 1981 i By DONETA GATHERUM LAYTON The Layton City Council had a full agenda to consider at their Dec. 17 meeting. The first item of business was to set a hearing to consider the zone of 56.25 acres of property located at the intersection of Antelope Dr. and Hill Field Road. This property was zoned CP3 18 months ago so developers could build a hotel complex. However, tight money, high interest rates and a poor revenue bond market have caused delays in the construction of the hotel. The developers are still interested in the project and the planning commission recommends an extension in the time allotted to complete the project. A PUBLIC hearing date was set for Jan. 21 at 8 p.m. The council can either keep the property in the CP3 zone to allow the hotel development or change the zone back to the original one. A second public hearing will be held Jan. 2 1 to consider zoning 16.58 acres of ground at 600 N. King St. to allow light in- dustrial development. The property will also be up for annexation into the city of The week before Christmas the valley was clear of snow and the high of 67 degrees throughout balmy temperature shot to an of the to But Davis County. many, it was a white Christpleasure mas with some parts of the county getting up to a foot of snow. all-ti- THE SNOW Layton. COUNCILMAN John Bak- er, representing the three council members who sit on a board of equalization for the Rainbow Drive Improvement District, reported the board had completed their work and Life Or Death: Who Decides? By MARK D. MICKELSEN Editors Note: Until federal legislators come up with a definition for life and death, many In the medical profession are left to make their own daily decisions about ly ill and seriously-injure- d patients. This is the first in a three-paseries with of article dealing the question of life and death. With the possible exception of taxes, Americans can now control almost every facet of their lives. EATING, DRINKING, sleeping, dieting, wealth, edu- cational experiences, job opportunities. To a certain extent, we have the power to make judgements and decisions which will afreet us for the rest of our lives. But there is one decision which, ultimately, may have to be made by someone else. The decision as to when we are to die. THERE ARE those who believe the "end will come as a result of some catastrophic event nuclear war, a tornado or earthquake, a flood. Others see a prediagnosed exit, the kind where a doctor tells them you have a few months." One would suspect, however, that a remaining majority of people would rather leave the decision up to fale. a New In the Jersey court was forced to make a life or death decision in mid-1970- 's the case of Karen Ann Quina-lan- . Ms. Quinlan, a young and active teenager from goodly parents, lapsed into a deep coma after ingesting drugs and alcohol at a party of her friends. . TORN BY medical reports that their daughter may not cover, Karens parents rere- quested that she be taken off the machines which had prolonged her life. Legal experts grabbed hold of the Quinlan case, forcing the issue into court and claiming that the Quinlan's were, in fact, requesting the termination of their daughters life. Some likened the request to murder. AFTER MONTHS of bat- tling, the Quinlan's won their case. But when the doctors Karen from the machines, the comatose girl continued to breathe on her own. The case of Karen Ann Quinlan prompted legal and medical professionals to reevaluate their positons regarding life and death. EVEN TODAY, legislators argue definitions. What is life? When does death occur! they ask. The Quinlan case opened the eyes of the public as well. In many parts of the country, there appeared a new type of will the living will. PREPARED BY someone in good health, prior to the onset of serious illness, the living will became a statement by those wanting some control over their final destiny. According to the will, when a patient becomes ierminally ill and cannot be restored to full health by no means, either pharmaceutical or should be used to prolong the patient's life. man-mad- e, LYNN CARRIGER, Lake-vie- w Hospital administrator, says there is only one living will on file in the Bountiful facility. The document, filed with the hospital in Feb., 1977, was written by a local resident whose wishes were that doctors not prolong his life in the event of terminal illness. When the same man entered the hospital four years later, dying of a serious disease, Mr. Carriger said the patient's were living will wishes adhered to by his physician." DO ALL doctors honor the wishes of their patients when it comes to the will? I feel confident, living Mr measures quested are often found receiving the lowest level of care in the hospital, Mr. Carriger explained. The levels home care, nursing home care, normal and intensive hospital care are designated according to (lie pa" tients condition. ; non-hero- ic ' ,rn OTHERS, LIKE the MARK D. MICKELSEN - SALT LAKE CITY A spokesman for the Utah Social Security Administration Tuesday cautioned local communities against withdrawing from the Social Security program, saying alternative medical, disability and retirement plans cannot compare with the benefits provided through the federal system. ACCORDING TO Mike Herrick, assistant district manager of the Salt Lake Social Security office, there has been an unusual upsurge in the number of Utah communities who want to pull out of the system. "Up until January, 1980," he said, the city of Fielding (Utah) was the only one that terminated" its Social Security agreement with the government. In January, representatives of the Salt Lake County Water Conservancy District announced plans to drop out. IN 1981, OREM and Sandy cities followed suit, having organized their ow n private employee benefit plan. Seven Davis County communities, including North Salt Lake, Bountiful, Kaysville, Fruit Heights, Clinton, Lay ton and Sunset, announced what resuscitative means should be taken. MORE PROGRESSIVE members of the staff worked together with the family in making life and death he said. deci--sion- s, resi- dent who wrote his own living will, are allowed to return home to live out the remainder of their life in peace. Mr. Carriger, who served as an assistant hospital administrator in Nashville, Tenn., noted that physicians there were protected from legal re There is no doubt that there is an undefmable line between life and death. Next week, in part two of this series, well look at a doctors opinions about the living will, as well as the question of what constitutes heroic measures" in life and death situations. DEADLINES For: Reflex, Journal, Leader, Bulletin Tuesday Noon CLASSIFIED ADS: Car- riger said, that the doctors feel bound by the will, and that they will act in accordance to it. HE SAID the decision to "terminate life "is left to the physicians discretion. DISPLAY ADS, Thursday 6:00 p.m. Friday Noon PICTURES: Weddings, obituaries, missionaries, etc. Patients who have re Cautions Cities About Withdrawing By course if they had some input from the patients family as to 1981-t- o withdraw from the progtheir intent-durin- g in if ram two years a suitable pension plan is accepted by employees. "Altogether," Mr. Herrick said in a private interview, "we have about 20 requests pending from Utah cities who want to withdraw from Social Security. BY LAW, each city must give at least two years advance notice to the U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare before they withdraw. Governmental entities must have received five years of coverage before requesting termination. Once the agreement is accepted and the two-yewaiting period is up, Social Security benefits to existing employees begin to be cut. Exclusion from Social Security is permanent, Mr. Herrick said. A city can never regain coverage if they decide to drop out. ASKED TO pinpoint some of the reasons behind the sudden mass exodus of Utah communities, Mr. Herrick referred back to a recent nationwide survey. Six out of ten entities dropped out, he said, because PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 3 . that the improvement district assessments have been made. This improvement district was created by East Layton city before annexation. Mr. Baker reported the citizens living along Rainbow Dr. felt they had been misled about the cost figures involved in the project. Some of the property owners are considering legal action against the developer for selling unimproved lots as im- proved lots. it, OTHER PROPERTY owners felt they had some concessions coming to them from the city. These verbal agreements were never put in writing and so the property owners could not hold the city of Layton to them. The people living along Rainbow Drive agree the road improvements are beneficial to them. The city council acted to change the building code ordinance to read that all new or renovated buildings can not be occupied until the building inspector issues a certificate of occupancy. The change was made so the law would be the same for everyone. In the past, different types of structure? had different occupancy requirements. ACTING ON the recommendation of Parks and Re- creation Director Richard Hunt and the parks commission, the city council voted to change the reservation policies for city boweries located in city parks. Reservations can be made beginning the first working day in January. Layton city residents can reserve boweries this far in advance. A $23 deposit must be made when the reservations are made; $10 of the $25 will be retained by the city to help cover the expense of the operating the boweries and the parks. None of the deposit will be returned if the bowery is left dirty. residents can make bowery reservations 60 days in advance of the desired use date. They must pay $50 deposit at the time reservations are made; $25 of the depost will be returned if the bowery is left clean. Non-Layto- n MR. HUNT said weekend bowery reservations were filled early in the year. There are dates avaiusually week-da- y lable well into the summer months. The patrons of E.G. King School are one step closer to getting a second school crossing guard for the school children. The Layton City Police Dept, recently completed a study which showed a second school crossing guard was needed at the school. About 350 students cross the street in front of the school morning and afternoon. THE on the school Money CITY council will act request for a second crossing guard Jan. 7. for this service will be taken from the general fund with the conset of city department heads. There is no money in the public safety budget for this additional crossing guard. The question of off site improvements in the Mt. Air Estates subdivision was again brought before the council. Af ter a lengthy discussion, de- veloper Sam Chelemes agreed to install curb and guttering on four lots of the subdivision as soon as the weather improves in the spring. The city engineer will determine the grade for this curb and guttering and the time when the work can begin. MR. CHELEMES has an extension until October 1982 to improvecomplete the off-sit-e ments in the remaining part of the subdivision. He can ask the council for another extension in Oct. if the economy is still in recession and if the lots are still unsold. By a vote of three to two, the Layton City Council agreed to raise increase of 8 percent for city employees that was given earlier in the year. A 4 percent proposed increase will be put into the capital improvement fund. FINALLY, THE council gave approval to the Land Group, a firm that works with commercial redevelopment, to give the city some preliminary information about downtown in redevelopment Layton. Any other firms involved in the redevelopment business are also invited to approach Layton city with studies and proposals. So They Say Babies are angels whose wings grow shorter as their legs grow longer. -Line, Midway Islands Davis.Leaders Support Resource Recovery Goal By MARK D. MICKELSEN Davis bounty antj ,city,;offi?. FARMINGTON cials will join together iii January to pursue the idea of coverting millions of tons of county garbage into useable energy by 1985. THE COUNTY commission, minus Harry B agreed Tuesday afternoon to support an interlocal agreement between the cities and the county and to work together to build a $40 million resource recovery plant by the middle of the decade. Representatives from the Davis County attorney's office, Resource Recovery Bureau and the Wasatch Front Regional Council met with the commissioners to put the finishing touches on the new Davis County Solid Waste Management program. COUNTY RESOURCE recovery expert Rich Harvey told officials that in signing the interlocal agreement, Davis County agrees to "join with the cities" in pursuing eventual construction of a resource re- i Ger-lac- h, covery plant. Com. Chairman Ernest Eberhard was appointed by the board to serve as the countys representative on the newly-forme- d Davis County Solid Waste Management Committee. Each participating city also has a representative on the committee. DEPUTY COUNTY Attorney Jerry Hess said he looked at legal documents for the interlocal agree- ment and told commissioners they appeared in order. The first meeting of the Davis County Solid Waste Management Committee is scheduled for January, 1982. THE FIRST order of business will be to determine a location site for the plant. Three locations, on or near Hill AFB are being considered. 7 Cities Consider Withdrawing By MARK D. MICKELSEN Employees and administrators from at least seven Davis County communities are looking into the possibility of w ithdraw ing from the federal Social Security program by 1983. THE CITIES North Salt Lake, Bountiful, Fruit Heights, Layton, Sunset, Kaysville and Clinton all sent letters of resolution to the Social Security Administration this year, requesting permission to drop out of the program if. and when, alternate employee benefit plans are found. City officials cite numerous reasons for the mass exodus, including high costs, employee fear over the future of Social Security and easy access to alternate retirement and benefit plans. FEW OF the communities, with the exception of Fruit Heights, admits to having a concrete, alternative benefit plan at this point. Fortunately, the cities have a two-yewaiting period in which they can study alternatives to Social Security. If, after their investigation, they find they want to remain in the federal program, their resolution is invalidated. Cities who choose to withdraw from the prog ram as Orem and Sandy did earlier this year can never be LAYTON CITY Manager Randall Heaps said city officials there believe they can supply employees with a better benefit and retirement plan working with the "private market." While some existing employees are worried about possible cutbacks in Social Security benefits, Mr. Heaps said it was a majority of the workers who pressed the city council to consider dropping out of the system. HE SAID the city council may legally approve withdrawal from Social Security without the employees consent, but said in this case, a vote will be taken by employees before a final decision is made. Employees in Bountiful are concerned "about the future" of Social Security, City Manager Tom Hardy said. Others fear that if a majority of the communities their beneftis will sufTcr. drop out ar THE (FEDERAL)government hasnt had the "political courage" to "take tough steps" to get the PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 3 |