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Show THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Page 2 “= January 1, 2007 The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Staff: Shanna Francis Tel: 745-2688 : 745-0062 : 791-4387 E-Mail: slfrancis@att.net Letters to the Gold Rush Jeannie Wendell Tel: 745-2879 Fax: 745-2879 erwendell@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. Let- 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, 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 misBased’ items. Please remember to keep a copy for yourself. Invitation for Articles The staff of The OGDEN VALLEY NEws welcomes the Pavone daes of articles by our readership. We invite you to submit local historical coum 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 inyitesmune Eee Wolf Creek needs to really look at hiring someone who can define the letters “PR.” Seems more evident than ever that Wolf Creek is looking to California for a gold rush! They recently stooped to provide ifornia drivers license free skiing at Wolf Mountain. I was shocked to read their press release in the Salt Lake Tribune. Come on WC, you guys can do better than this! At the end of “community” we create for ourselves will be for those who decide to move here. . . Isn’t that us? Wolf Creek, while you are trying to attract people to the area, try not to forget them once they arrive! for Helping (Letters cont. on page 3) I agree with both sides of the debate on property rights in your past issue of the paper. The Valley needs certain sensitive areas and view corridors set aside for the benefit of the rest of the Valley’s citizens. But, I do not think it is fair to “take” such things which reduce property values of those affected without just compensation. If these “soft takings” are for the benefit of all the Valley residents, then let the Valley residents pay for them. That should solve the problem. But from whence would the money come? I wrote a letter which was printed by you on November 15 concerning the overburden of taxes being placed on Valley homeowners County Commission. I suggested that they should either spend more of the money they collect Dave Rasmussen, Eden Thank You Remember Editor Tax Credit a Solution for “Soft Takings” Us I am 80 years old and really enjoyed reading your article about your grandmother. How well I remember her in the store, and she was also my — in Young Women’s several tim She always had kind words for en and being the Postmistress [of Eden], she shed tears with those people who received sad news in the mail. I remember often bringing in an egg and, in turn, was allowed to pick out my favorite penny candy; such a choice. One time, with my parents, we had just finished shopping and the word came that four car loads of gypsies were coming. She asked us to stay around because she was alone. (They sometimes had the reputation of not wanting to pay for what they wanted). She was just as polite to them as she was to any Eden resident. Although the scenery doesn’t look the same, I remember the red brick house and there was always room enough for a party there. Thanks for writing and helping us to remember. I enjoy the newspaper. Thanks again for a great job well re proportional with the money they do spend in the Valley. Either way, taxes and expenditures need to be equally yoked. Maybe a compromise can be reached with the Commissioners by setting aside a portion of the annual taxes collected in the Valley to pay for the “soft takings” made by this new study group on zoning. I don’t disagree with what they are doing, but I strongly disagree with how they are doing If they want to tell people how they can develop out their property and what kinds of building densities will be allowed, that sounds great. That’s straight forward and traditional zoning law. But on these new restrictions for aesthetics, which essentially “take” land through increased setbacks or outright building restrictions, it’s just Inspirational Thought "It's not the things that can be bought that are life’s richest treasures. It's just the little “heart gifts” that money cannot measure. They are the priceless things in life for which no one can pay, and the giver finds rich recompense in giving them away." Donna Burnett McKay, Nampa, Idaho not right. At the very least, such “soft takings,” such as setbacks and sensitive land restrictions, should generate a dollar-fordollar property tax credit for the affected land owner that can be used over some long-term period of time, say 25 years (but not accelerated), to pay or offset property taxes owed by that property owner to Weber County. I would, however, be very careful with how this is done. I would absolutely not make this tax-credit applicable to “resort areas” since I get the sense that Wolf Creek and other resorts are getting quite a bit out of this new “resort” classification as it is. This kind of tax credit program should be for the common folks getting rights stripped from their valuable lands without due compensation by this well-meaning but possibly over-empowered committee. These tax credits should not be used for large developers. Such a program would also bridle this committee as to where and how much hey can restrict private lands. Since the County Commission would not want to have this committee creating unlimited amounts of such tax-credits wherever they think it might be g restriction, the Commission would, no doubt, place ceilings on how much taxpayer money each year could be used to restrict lands in this fashion, which would cap the amount of restriction done each year by the committee. This ceiling level would by definition follow more freemarket principles, and would be set at the long-term practical pocketbook of the Commission. nd, we'd get some kind of equilibrium. Every few years the County Commission would tell the committee their ($) limits and then the committee would show some restraint based on these limits and would think long and hard about prioritizing where and how much land to restrict based on a solid budget of tax credits. And, most importantly, private citizens would get compensated for the “takings.” Overall, the whole Valley would benefit. Huntsville --Helen Steiner Rice the right to select which material will be considered for publication. All material, to be considered, must be submitted with ber of the person submitting the material. The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS’ liability on account of errors in, or omissions of, advertising shall in no event exceed the amount of charges for the advertising omitted or the space occupied by the error. The OGDEN VALLEY NEws does moe promote or g oes Advert sements are the oe responsi of the advertiser. The OGD} VALL x_NEWS hereby disclaims ¢ all labile ity for any d. any advertisement in this newspaper. The OGDEN VALLEY NEws is not responsible for any claims0 tisements 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 lication and its contributors from unlawful co ee written permission is required before an in the yeprodiiciton or ceeuianen at its Soe by any means, pees first obtain: fro this publication. iy Ty he Re:eserve is located in the heart of Beautiful Ogden Lot prices starting at $399,000. Valley golfing, boating, fishing, | kayaking, hiking, bi king and riding. Less just than an minutes hour from from world-class skiing, SLC Airport, championship but Swoild a Shauna jensen BRANCH BROKER Cell: 801.791.2114 Shauna@Buy-Utah.com * www.Buy-Utah.com G Prudential| Utah Real Estate apart |