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Show Volume XV Issue V The Ogden Valley news Page 17 February 15, 2008 Letters to the Editor LETTERS cont. from page 2 did, something that I remember being very important to me as a child. I saw her at my school being active in programs and planning the carnivals, talent shows, spaghetti dinners, and all the fun “going ons” at school. I was proud that the other kids knew who my mom was, and that she knew what was going on at my school. We are looking for someone who is interested in filling this role. I would be happy to talk about the nuts and bolts of the position if you would like to call me at 745- 3039. Many of the people on our Executive and General Board next year will still be around to be a part of the PTA the following year, which will be a big help. We will be filling our positions on the General Board in March and April, so if you are interested in helping in other ways, please call me or talk to a current board member. Please, consider a position with the PTA—we need your help! Melissa Lewis, PTA President, Valley Elementary Eden Resident Gives Suggestions on Measuring Snow Weight on Roof I thought with all of the snow this year, area residents might want to know how to measure the weight of the snow on their roof. To do this you need several five gallon buckets and a bathroom scale. Find a place of undisturbed snow and force the bucket down, open end first, into the snow. Then dig around the bucket until you find the open end and remove it without letting the snow slide out. If the bucket did not reach the ground, you will need another bucket to repeat this exactly where the first was removed, and so on. Now take the bucket’s and measure the weight (subtracted from the weight of the empty buckets) and this number times 1.44 will tell you the weight of snow-per-square foot (lbs/sqft). I did this at my home in Eden and got 48 lbs/sqft of snow. I know that my home was built to withstand 40 lbs/sqft, so I have been shoveling. There are other factors that apply like snow drifts, and the slope of a roof, but this should give a decent estimate. Alan Wheelwright, Eden What is the Ogden Valley Translator? The recent “Tax Revolt” has caused almost all of us in the Ogden Valley to closely scrutinize our yearly Weber County Tax statements. At the bottom for $12 is the Ogden Valley Translator. My “City” wife agreed to move up here in 2003 with three conditions: update the furnace/air conditioner; update the kitchen appliances; and make sure we get good TV for those long winter evenings. The costs to upgrade the furnace/AC, hot water heater, and the kitchen appliances will easily pay for themselves by increasing their energy efficiency from below 60% to up over 90%. However, when we checked into TV, all our neighbors said you had to get cable or satellite service since the mountains blocked the broadcast signal. So we got satellite TV through a “free” promotional that over its long term commitment is anything but “free.” Their advertised $29.95/month special with local channels and all the taxes/fees is really $50/month! With one premium movie channel our bill is $72/month . . . or $864/year! Our heating propane is $1250/year, and our electricity is only $600/year. Upon realizing TV was costing as much as our “necessity” utilities, it was time to check into “free” network TV again. We were only able to find one of our friends that could pick up network TV on some obscure UHF channels, even though we noticed that quite a few of the older houses in the Valley had old style TV antennas. Next, we called the electronics stores in Ogden. Most of the younger sales people did not even know what a rooftop TV antennae was, let alone be able to give me advice or sell me one (cable/satellite have done their marketing well). Finally, I found an antenna at Radio Shack for about $100, but the salesman would not guarantee Closed due to owners illness. FOR SALE 307-382-5706 Garden & Landscape Design Project Management www.theardentgardener.net reception. In fact, the salesman admitted to poor results up in the Valley, and thought I would be wasting my money. Therefore, this begs the question, “What is the Ogden Valley Translator?” Ideally, we would like to have cable/satellite TV for the six winter/spring months, then turn it off and only watch network news at dinner time during summer/fall. I doubt cable/satellite will only sell us six month increments at a reasonable fee. However, a combination of “free” network TV supplemented with one of the mail movie rental companies in the winter would be acceptable and about $50/month cheaper! This could be a $500/year savings that would help offset a portion of the huge property tax increases! Thus, I began checking into this Ogden Valley Translator issue. I was able to contact John Howell of the Translator Board, and get my questions answered. I thought others would also like to know what I learned. 1. The Ogden Valley Translator is designed to pickup the signal of the seven “free” network channels available in Salt Lake, then redirect and amplify the signal so we can pick it up in the Valley with a standard roof antenna. The translator is located near Wolf Creek, the highest point that still has public utility electricity. 2. Seven SLC channels go through the translator. Channel 10 = SLC channel 4ABC; 32=5NBC; 35=7KUED; 39=11KBYU; 45=14KJAZZ; 47=13FOX; and 51=2CBS. There are also 3 High Definition channels HD17=NBC; HD23=PBS; and HD25=KJAZZ. More HD channels are LETTERS cont. on page 21 Please Help Save Ogden Valley! We have a serious problem facing those of us who live in, or love, Ogden Valley. Developers who now own Powder Mountain have found a way to bypass any oversight or accountability in responsibly developing the mountain. If they have their way, the Ogden Valley and surrounding area will be ruined forever. Please, please take a minute to look at the Ogden Valley Forum blog so that you can know what is happening. Please visit <http:// ogden-valley.blogspot.com/> Following are some items you can do to help. 1. Contact your state legislator (Froerer) and senator (Christensen) and encourage them to immediately support the bill Gage Froerer is working on to reverse the negative effects of HB 466. You can find their addresses at <www.le.state.ut.us> 2. Write to the Weber County Commissioners by e-mail or mail, or call them (contact info below). They have the Powder Mountain Incorporation petition sitting in the County building now. They need to scrutinize the petition carefully. These developers are trying to get away with pillaging with disastrous consequences. 3. Contact everyone you know who has a connection to this Valley. Tell them to write, call, contact the media, or write letters to the editors in support of are efforts to stop Powder Mountain’s efforts. 4. Come to the state capitol in support of urgent change to House Bill 466. The date for this will be announced soon. You can find out when by checking the Ogden Valley blog or subscribe to Ogden Valley Forum’s feed to get automatic updates. It’s free and you won’t receive any spam, or more than one email a day. To sign up, go to the Ogden Valley Forum home page and enter your email address under “For email updates, subscribe below” on the right side of the page. Weber County Commission 2380 Washington Blvd. Ogden, UT 84401 (801) 399-8406 Phone (801) 399-8305 Fax Ken A. Bischoff, Chair <kbischof@co.weber.ut.us> Craig L. Dearden, Commissioner <cdearden@co.weber.ut.us> Jan M. Zogmaister, Commissioner <jzogmaister@co.weber.ut.us> Thank you so much! We cannot let the developers’ greed run unchecked at the expense of the citizens and the environment. Please do something to speak out against this! Deja Mitchell, Eden Real Property Tax Reform Needed—Not just band aids Following are some of the major ideas brought up regarding tax reform, and whether they should be supported or not based on their strengths or weaknesses. Circuit Breaker “safeguards”: YES, raise them to reasonable levels but tie to inflation. Five year rolling averages: NO, “We reran the taxes on an 18,000 residence sample to determine winners and losers. Winners were homes valued from $500,000 to $700,000 (i.e. the outside money coming into the state is bidding up the prices on that home price range). Half the tax shift was to $150,000 homes (i.e. out of state home buyers don’t want an inexpensive home so prices on those homes are pretty flat.) The other half of the tax shift went to commercial property. I have decided that a 5 year rolling average is not the answer. “I now believe the answer can be acquisition value plus cost of living increase annually. I will support that concept. It will take a constitutional amendment but I think it is doable. What we have now is very unfair.” Senator Stowell. Computer mass reassessments: NO, requires Davis County to use computers. Weber, Utah, and Salt Lake have done it for years. This does not cure the “disease” (fair market value reassessments) and perpetuates inequities and magnified errors in their data bases. “There are others”: YES, acquisition value (AV) or “baseline” Property 13 type law. At least half the United States agree with it, having ditched “Truth in Taxation” with all its flaws. Find a homeowner who lived under AV who does not think it fair and wants it for Utah. I can not. Please support a credible study effort designed to recommend the most fair property taxation program, and enact it during the next legislative session. “D-Bell” Huntsville NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING TO VACATE STREET Public notice is hereby given to all concerned parties that Donald W. & Glenda K. Bell have filed a petition requesting that Huntsville Town vacate a portion of 300 South lying West of 7200 East (approx. 99 feet-north to south, by 252 feet-east to west), in Huntsville, Utah. The original Huntsville Townsite planned street on which the Bell’s driveway, garage, and utility sheds, built in the 1930s, now sit. Notice is hereby given by the Huntsville Town Council that a public hearing on the petition to vacate 300 South Street lying West of 7200 East (approx. 99 feet-north to south, by 252 feet-east to west) in Huntsville, Utah will be held on February 21, 2008, at 7:00 p.m. in the Huntsville Town Hall, located at 7309 E. and 200 S., Huntsville, Utah, 84317. The purpose of the hearing is to receive comments of concerned parties as to the petition to vacate the subject street. Gail Ahlstrom Huntsville Town Clerk/Recorder |