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Show OURTOWNS Lehi mayor: Interviews needed before appointments DailySHerald |B SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2006 METRO EDITOR | Joe Pyrah + 344-2586 -jpyrah@heraldextra.com PROVO: BLOCK 70 Redevelopment Revival Private property owners plot, band together to make Block70 one project Cathy Allred NORTH COUNTY STAFF ment:“Ifit ain't broke, don't fix it.” “I think the track record we've seen fromour current city administration employees proves what a vital source they are to our comSea! said JohnnyRevill, counove many ofthose in Lehi city departmentpositions feeltheir positions are tenuous at the moment,the situation is on par with prior years,said city Attorney Ken Rashae Ophus Johnson DAILY HERALD ‘When Mary Kawakami purchased downtownProvo property 45 years agoto open her namesake beauty school, the block already was deteriorating. She hoped something beautiful could reverse the descent. “It was a good location, accessible,but the building looked likeit was going to fall down,” she said. She invested a fortune renovating the structure at 336 W. Center St. and eventually purchased 13 lots on Block 70, north of Center Street between 300 and 400 West. Neighboring property owners welcomed Kawakami's venture with similar visions ofrevitalization, and soon new businesses began reviving the block. Butit didn’t last. Vacantbuildings becamedilapidated, and business owners frequently called police to chase off vagrants for panJEREMY HARMON/Daily Herald handling andurinating in public. “Anotherbusiness might have Community opportuni ity: Tony Thomas, ownerof Modern Shoe Repair, and otherprivate property ownersalong Provo's Block 70 are banding together to redevelopthe block. beenfine, but our business was beauty andit was too sensitive,” said Kawakami, whoclosed the beauty schoolin 2002. “Then we 100 North couldn't sell it. No one was interested in buyingin that decrepit location.” Block 70 needs revival. This timethe eight private property ownersareplotting together to redevelop the entire block as one project. To jump-start this collaborative effort, the Provo Redevelopment Agency sponsored the Block 70 Charrette. A charrette is an urban planning techniqueintended to promote joint ownershipofthe solution among all stakeholders. “The idea is a wide open process wherein relatively short period oftime, wetakeinto accountall the different perspectives and Paul Glauser [AARON TAYLOR / Davy Heras Source: CityofProve Redevelopment Agencydirector. See REVIVAL, B6 > “Theidea is a wide open process wherein arelatively short period of time, we take into accountall the different 400 WEST Lehistaff are unsureofthe futureof their jobs. Mayor HowardJohnson has not reappointed 15 city administrators, professionals andstaff since taking office Jan. 2. Every four years, when a mayor is elected, employees appointed by the previous mayorareeither eepeosies or replaced, By state code this must be done rithe first Mondayin Feb However if a mayor fails to act on the reappointment, they continue toservein their positions. That means the mayor could choose to appointothersin those positions, but he would need to havethe approval of the council. Eachofthe 15 whoarein limbo, including Police Chief Chad Smth, City Attorney Ken Rushton,C.ty Treasurer Sue Holmstead,Fire Chief Dale Ekins, Finance Director RonFoggin and City Manager Ed Collins, received letter on Feb. 9 letting them know whythere had been a delay in their appointments. “J just wantto talk to them,” Johnsonsaid.“I asked Ken todraft a letter. The essence of it was I would like to interview them before I renew the Hehadyet to interview anyone because he was still trying to wrap up selling his business and hadn't had the perspectives and come up with a design concept.” See APPOINTMENT, B6 vate ee: itch blankets Volunteers stite ets forfor LinusLinus Project Projec Voluntee in the annual National Project Caleb Warnock DAILY HERALD Linus , make-ablanket way at the Provo City Library on Saturday. In January 2000,then 5-year-old Alex Jensen wasadmitted to the hospital because he was repeatedly passing out and having trouble breathing. “Has anyoneevertold you he has severe asthma?” his mother, Andrea Jensen of Orem, recalled a doctor asking her. Thatwas the first of ten hospital stays for Alex andhis youngersister, Abby. “It is so traumatic being in the hospital,” Andrea Jensen said. “You don't’ ROBB COSTELLO Daily Herald Le know whatis going on and every doctor _andthey will never meet me, and they has a differentopinion. The kids are pan- will never know whatan impact it had icking and screaming andas a parent onour lives when wewerethere.” you haveto holdit togetherfor the kids. You can’t show howafraid youare.” Amid the chaos of onehospital visit, the family found a momentof comfort. “The play therapist told us about Project Linus and brought usa blanket and a poem, and I broke down andstarted crying,” she said. “It was like a ray of sunshine to think that someone went throughall of the effort and time and expense to makethatblanket.I’ll never meet the people who madeourblanket Jensen was oneof 40 volunteers who spent all or part of Saturday quilting in the Provo Public Library as part of ‘a Project Linus, a nationwide group which makes and donates blanketsto children _in hospitals and othercarefacilities. Volunteers in Provo on Saturday had completed 36 blankets by 3 p.m. and another 30 had been dropped off already completed, said Judy Cox, Utah County See BLANKETS, B6 WWW.HERALDEXTRA.COM — CALL 375-5103 TO SUBSC rer] FEBRUARY All winter inventory has WRC OLimrrn crn Family Food store in the Plum Tree Shopping Center on University Parkway rivear pb \ Dickies Carhartt Blanket ehaa "$39 Cinch Down Vests Carhartt Ranch Coats ...And so much more! Don’t miss these incredible bargains! Sale starts Thursday at 10 a.m. SHARP |