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Show THE Page 2 OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Volume X Issue VII July 15, 2004 The OGDEN Letters to the Editor VALLEY NEws Staff: Shanna Francis Tel: 745-2688 Fax: 745-0062 Cell: 791-4387 E-Mail: slfrancis@att.net Jeannie Wendell Tel: 745-2879 Fax: 745-2879 E-Mail: crwendell@att.net crwendell@msn.com Opinions expressed by advertisers, columnists or letters to the editor are not necessarily the opinions of the owners and staff of The OGDEN VALLEY NEws. Guidelines for Letters to the Editor Letters should be 300 words or less. Letters must be signed and the address of the writer submitted. The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS reserves the right to edit or decline printing of any submissions. Announcements Sought As a community service, The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS will print local birth, wedding, obituary, anniversary and missionary farewell & homecoming and Eagle Scout announcements free of charge. We invite residents to send their announcements to: The OGDEN VALLEY NEws PO BOX 130 EDEN UT 84310 If you would like your submitted items returned, please send a stamped, selfaddressed envelope. The OGDEN VALLEY NEws, while respecting all property received, will take no responsibility for lost or misplaced items. Please remember to keep a copy for yourself. Invitation for Articles The staff of The OGDEN VALLEY NEws welcomes the submission of articles by our readership. We invite you to submit local historical accounts or biographies, articles pertaining to contemporary issues, and/or other material that may be of interest to our readers. We also invite you to submit to the paper, or notify the staff of local events. Awards that have been earned by the reader, family members, neighbors or friends are also sought. While the staff of The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS invites the submittal of information and articles, we reserve the right to select which material will be considered for publication. All material, to be considered, must be submitted with the full name, address and telephone number of the person submitting the material. The OGDEN account of advertising amount of omitted or error. VALLEY NEws’ liability on errors in, or omissions of, shall in no event exceed the charges for the advertising the space occupied by the The OGDEN VALLEY NEws does not endorse, promote or encourage the purchase or sale of any product or service advertised in this newspaper. Advertisements are the sole responsibility of the advertiser. The OGDEN VALLEY NEws hereby disclaims all liability for any damage suffered as the result of any advertisement in this newspaper. The OGDEN VALLEY NEwWs is not responsible for any claims or representations made in advertisements in this newspaper. The OGDEN VALLEY NEws has the sole authority to edit and locate any classified advertisement as deemed appropriate. It also reserves the right to refuse any advertising. Note: The contents of The OGDEN VALLEY NEws are copyrighted. To protect this publication and its contributors from unlawful copying, written permission is required before any individual or company engages in the reproduction or distribution of its contents, by any means, without first obtaining written permission from the owners of this publication. Our Right to Vote In July we pay tribute to a group of statesmen (not politicians) who mutually pledge to each other “Our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor—to throw off the shackles of tyranny and form a more perfect union.” They were truly dedicated to sound principles that we today seem to have forgotten. First, “They were endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.” These rights did not come from state or political parties. Second, not trusting our leaders—bind them down so they will not commit mischief. They recognized it was the nature of all men, when they were The 10 Biggest Misconceptions About Incorporation Number One: The whole Valley was behind the Ogden Valley General Master plan. The truth is, very few Valley members were allowed to even voice their thoughts at some meetings. Some meetings were held at out of town locations with a minority of people involved. Several of the meetings in Eden were held where no input was allowed from the public at all! In the end, at the last meeting, 90% of the public rose and spoke against the General Plan. I was there; I saw it with my own eyes. Number Two: Information was leaked to the newspapers that exaggerated the cost of incorporation, claiming a $500,000 to $800,000 annual deficit when the “leaders” knew the numbers were based on antiquated/inaccurate information. The purpose of the study is to determine the actual cost based on correct information and current boundaries. Number Three: The large landowners who have been so vocal in opposition to the incorporation effort pretended to be in favor of incorporation so they could defeat it. They asked not to be included in the incorporated area and then whined when their wishes were granted. Taking it one step further, they devised a plan to pretend to want to be incorporated so they could sabotage the petition effort and void the rights of the people in the proposed area to exercise their right to vote. Number Four: It will cost between $30,000 to $60,000 to do a feasibility study. Actual cost, approximately $15,000. Number Five: The incorporation effort is supported by only five individuals. In fact, It Could Happen Here We have recently, thanks to Paul Judd, become aware of a disturbing event that may have great impact on those of us who own property in Ogden Valley. I refer to the disbanding of our township by the Weber County Commissioners. It has been replaced by an appointed seven member planning commission, six of whom are from the Valley and one of whom is from the canyon. We have no knowledge about the individuals who comprise the commission and we can only presume that they are good people. We also presume that all seven have the best interests of the Valley in mind; however, what they perceive as “right” for our Valley may not reflect a majority view and we citizens of Ogden Valley have no direct recourse if we disagree with their choices for our Valley as they aren’t elected. One of the mandates of the commission, and I quote Paul Judd who attended the first official meeting of this commission, “. . . is to preserve the scenic views in the Valley.” This would seem to be a noble mission and one that we should all get behind, but what the com- Inspirational Thought Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it every day, and at last we cannot break it. given authority, they would immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion. Third, they recognized that if America was to be great, America must be good. Fourth, they gave grave warnings about getting caught up in the “spirit of political parties” and forget that our first allegiance is to the Constitution and The Bill of Rights. Have we forgotten Valley Forge? It wasn’t the politicians that fought for freedom. They did not even have the foresight to provide adequate food, clothing, or supplies. The freedom fighters were truly dedicated to a government of the people, for the people, and by the people. I think that we should be greatly alarmed hundreds of citizens have signed petitions in support of a feasibility study to determine if it made financial sense to incorporate. This includes local landowners as well as out of area land owners who also pay taxes and have the same property rights. Number Six: It is not important to vote for your local city officials, appointed servants of the county commissioners know best. That is why there is a massive effort underway by our appointed guardians (unelected planning commissioners) to establish scenic corridors/thoroughfares on the valley floor. These scenic corridors will establish 100 foot wide minimum easements on our property to prevent any type of building. This includes residential and commercial areas. The unelected planning commissioners have appointed themselves to determine the width of these easements with approval with the County Commissioners. These easements could be much wider than 100 feet depending on how the unelected planning commissioners feel about the view from your property. Hundreds of pieces of property could be affected, except as they told me, “Sue the county.” If your property is located on the maps that will be created, your property will be affected. Number Seven: The people behind incorporation have an agenda to get economic gain. The people behind the incorporation have an agenda to open government to the people, to let elected officials make decisions and then to have those elected city officials be held accountable to the voters in their town for those decisions. Millions of people have died defending the right to vote. Number Eight: I cannot think of one good reason for incorporation. Currently, planning commission meetings are held in mission deems as “scenic views” and then what they deem as appropriate to preserve those “scenic views” is determined by them and by them only, without our input. As a result of Planning Commission decisions, property owners may find their land “un-buildable” and therefore, worthless. Further, many of us may disagree about what constitutes “a scenic view” worthy of preservation. As we mentioned above, because members of the Ogden Valley Township Planning Commission are not elected officials, no matter what decisions they make, we citizens of the Ogden Valley have little to no recourse. Based on our personal experience in Oregon with an appointed land use commission, there is essentially no recourse unless one is prepared to go bankrupt paying the legal fees that result from fighting a virtually untouchable government commission that has tremendous power over your use of your property, but for the members of which commission, you don’t get to vote. Twenty-eight years ago we bought a 61 acre farm in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, at which time the zoning required a minimum of 20 acres for the sting of a house. About ten years ago the zoning rules were changed by the appointed members of the LCDC and the appointed Clackamas County, Oregon Planning Commission to require 80 acres or the demonstration of $80,000 a year gross income from a DON’T --Horace Mann Deadline for material for out of the way places at incontinent meeting times that are poorly published. The average citizen has little, opportunity to attend or even to be aware of these meetings and when they are held, let alone having a say in what happens in their community. When you vote for a county commissioner, your vote is diluted by all of the Weber County voters. We are probably less than 2% of the Weber County voting base. Ogden is electing our county commissioners. Number Nine: It will cost a fortune to become a city. Our taxes will increase and our services will go down. Did it cost Huntsville a fortune to become a city? If it is so miserable to be a city, why don’t they disband their city? Number Ten: Growth will become rampant and run unchecked and the master plan will be abandoned. Is there unchecked growth in Huntsville? Some of the general master plan needs to be changed because it is of my opinion that it supports large developers and seeks to create an elitist society where rich are welcome and lowincome people are unwanted or unneeded. It creates economic discrimination and undermines the property rights of our citizens. I am in favor of incorporation because it protects our rights to vote for our governing officials, and this protects our American values and our way of life. I want to be open and honest enough to look at real numbers from the incorporation study before I decided. I encourage you to visit me at my office and let us debate the pros and cons. If you have only heard one side of the issue, it is time to get both sides. Paul L. Judd Eden smaller parcel in order to site a house if the land was being used for agriculture. The 20 acre rule still applied to forest land. To this change we had no practical recourse. We recently sold 25 acres of the land, part of which is forest and the rest is now growing Christmas trees (i.e. agricultural), for a third of the value we would have received if a house could have been built on it. To add to that frustration, the optimal site for a house and a yard would not have interfered with the present agricultural use, so that no land would have been removed from production. A potential win-win deal, a beautiful home site with a view and a good return on our investment went down the tubes as a result of decisions made by officials we can’t even vote out of office and to whom appeals fall on deaf ears. If the citizens of Ogden Valley think “it can’t happen here,” you are very wrong. Unless all of us take the time to learn more about this matter and then take the time to voice our displeasure to the Weber County Commissioners, this situation will deteriorate. If you have any questions, Paul Judd has taken the time to attend the meetings of this commission and he has a wealth of knowledge. I am sure he will be happy to educate you as he was to educate us and he deserves our thanks and our support. Craig Merhoff, Eden WAIT! Dear Homeowner, Now is the time to market your home for sale! Interest rates are still low, buyers are looking for more choices in our area, and market values are holding steady! If you are interested in selling your home, dont hesitate to call for a issue is July20. Vonda Odekirk, Huntsville List your home today with local real estate specialist. the August 1 OVN when a large number of loyal, dedicated, registered citizens of this nation were turned away and denied the right to vote for a candidate of their choice for the sole reason they were not affiliated with the donkeys or the elephants. Are we truly a free nation “of the people, for the people, and by the people,” or only an elite group that consider themselves so superior and show no respect or regards for the rights of the individual? The natives of Utah (of all people) should recognize this abusive power of government. FREE MARKET ANALYSIS TODAY! 388-8585 fh S Bonnie Woodard Associate Broker REAL ~ ESTATE PN INVESTMENTS |
