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Show Volume XVI Issue XIII The Ogden Valley news Page July 1, 2009 Guest Commentaries Mr.Tommy Lee – A man who goes The Proposed Town of Powder Mountain Rears its Ugly Head . . . Again! beyond the call of duty Last month while working at Valley There are many examples of elements of the Elementary, a little boy I know very well went school that have been added or tweaked to make to the office in tearful embarrassment because he them better for our particular school. One that had accidentally dropped a permission slip in a stands out in particular, is the gym floor in the toilet he had just used—really used! Mr. Lee, our new school. Mr. Lee discovered, researched, preprincipal at Valley Elementary, didn’t blink an sented, and advocated for a superior gym floor to eye, but pulled on rubber gloves and be put in the school. He proposed quickly retrieved the note. When and campaigned for this state-ofI saw the boy thank Mr. Lee as he the-art floor instead of the usual was leaving for the bus, Mr Lee low-grade floor placed in most new just said, “No problem….that’s just buildings. Our community will what friends do for each other!” play ball, have dances, workout, That was just another example of practice plays, and put on hundreds how Mr. Lee is a hands-on princiof events on this floor and we have pal…no pun intended. Mr. Lee to thank for his effort and Mr. Tommy Lee has been our time to make it the best. principal at Valley Elementary for He has just organized the pursix years. Over that time he has chase of 26 “Smartboards” for proven to be a wonderful leader our new school, improved the for our school in our small-town group meeting space in the new community. It really can’t be school by requesting amphitheall that easy to be a leader in a ater-like steps for seating, sugsmall community—everyone has gested covered doorways in areas Tommy Lee an opinion of your job and ideas that weren’t covered, advocated of how it should be run. Under for extra playground equipment, that pressure, I see that Mr. Lee has done a and is overseeing better lighting and sound for remarkable job. He is willing to go the extra our new “platform” stage. Mr. Lee would be mile—he’ll open the school early, jump a dead the first to add that he has worked with many car battery, give animated tours to anyone people who have designed and built the school, interested, and is out almost daily personally but I have been amazed throughout the progress directing the busses as they back out. how much work Mr. Lee has been a part of…. Many of us have seen Mr Lee endure cold, all while he has been doing his usual great job. drizzly weather in the dunking booth, running I am sure that there is probably someone miles with students during Field Day, hamming out there reading this who has been frustrated it up with “Blaze” the mascot at our Road to by a decision Mr. Lee has made, or the way Success Rally, and recently being carried over he has dealt with an issue important to you. Mr Mac’s shoulder in feigned protest before All-in-all, I have seen Mr. Lee put a lot of care getting his head shaved—as a reward to the and consideration into the tough decisions and students for meeting a reading goal. issues he has faced. His dedication and conOf course, Mr. Lee deals with the tradi- cern makes him the perfect man for the job—a tional principal roles. He represents the teach- member of our community who is willing to go ers to the community and the district. He is the the distance and, when necessary, get his hands main spokesperson and representative of our a little dirty. school, and on the frontline in advocacy for our successes and problems. He oversees the Melissa Lewis, budget, personnel, training, curriculum, sched- Eden uling, parent concerns, volunteers, physical plant, assemblies, events, and, most obviously, student support and discipline. In my opinion, if you are a kid with a problem, Mr. Lee is the principal to see. He seems to understand that one mistake does not define a child, and even children who frequent Mr. Lee’s office seem to be valued equally when he “high 5’s” in the hall. Did you know that Mr. Lee has a collection of kids’ books (mostly humorous) in his office for kids to read while waiting there? The intent of the books is to alleviate much of the stress of waiting in the principal’s office, and to help students focus on recovering from their trouble. My kids love Mr. Lee and talk about him as a funny, “cool” principal. This year a new building is being built for Valley Elementary to move into. You would be amazed by the amount of input Mr. Lee has had in configuring and designing the new building. He has spent many weekend hours and lost plenty of sleep trying to assure that all bases are covered. As many of you know, the 120 or so citizens of the proposed Town of Powder Mountain are being forced into a town, without a vote, by a group of non-resident developers. Not only that, but in a few weeks the developers, if they get their way, will be able to choose a mayor and town council without a vote from us, the residents. You might ask, “How can this happen?” Well, two years ago a group of developers, in conjunction with their attorneys and a few Utah legislative leaders, conspired to create a law to allow large landowners to incorporate their own company towns where they could control the zoning. The reason, of course, was to create large tracts of land where they would be free to build anything they wanted with no input from current county planning staff or administrative officials, nearby towns, or even the folks who are forced to live within the boundaries of the newly proposed towns. This is the exact situation we find ourselves in right now. Last year when the developers negotiated with the county for a binding development agreement, they asked for 10,000 housing units for their little town. The county previously approved the developers’ master plan, but cut the number of housing units they were willing to allow based on relevant planning criteria. Many of you may think that the new Powder Mountain Town with its own planning agenda and rules won’t affect you, but it will! The “town” is not only at the top of Powder Mountain, 26 square miles of the town also extend down the mountain and wrap all the way around the foothills from Liberty to the east of Huntsville. Can you imagine how an additional 10,000 homes and condos, and the people who live in them, will impact air and water quality, and traffic patterns in and out of our valley? How about the changes to the overall beauty of the valley when we have Ivory Home-style developments lining the hillsides? Ogden Valley is not another Park City with an interstate highway running through it. The only way to get to this “town” is on our existing roads. Even if no additional homes were ever built in unincorporated Ogden Valley, this proposed town, alone, will triple the amount of traffic traversing through Ogden Canyon and across Valley roads! We the citizens of the little town of Powder Mountain raised more than $20,000 from our neighborhood to wage a court battle with the developers over our constitutional right to vote—to be represented—and lost in a lower court because the judge didn’t care to consider this basic constitutional right. He said he didn’t want to rule because he knew the case would be appealed anyway. So now we are forced to seek justice in the Utah Supreme Court. Of course, this is an expensive proceeding and we are now asking you, the Valley residents, to help us regain our rights as citizens of the state of Utah and the United States of America by financially supporting our cause. The 233rd anniversary of the birth of our country will be celebrated in a couple of days and we ask that you stand by us with your support to fight this very important battle for our freedom. Thank you for your financial support for this legal endeavor that, the final decision of, will impact us all. Please send donations to: CITIZENS RIGHTS DEFENSE FUND PO BOX 231 EDEN UT 84310 For more information, visit <www. powdermountaincitizensrights.com> Powder Mountain Citizen’s Rights Coalition Happy 4th of July INTRODUCING POWDER MTN. cont. from page 1 to do so, but what a legitimate reason is was never specified by Jones; thus, continuing the point of confusion and contention. Weber County deputy attorney Dave Wilson noted that, most likely, these reasons for striking names by the sponsors would have to have a legitimate basis; names shouldn’t be stricken discriminately. For instance, it would need to be shown that the nominees were not qualified or did not meet legal parameters such as residency requirements. Russell Mahan, an attorney for another group of petitioners in the case who also sued the county, claiming that while the Weber County Commissioners were acting under a 2007 law that allowed the town to be incorporated, the law did not govern the appointment of town leaders; thus, an election should be held to guarantee the constitutional rights of the residents. Mahan, who represents this group of petitioners made up of residents from Eden whose properties were annexed into the proposed Powder Mountain town boundaries, stated that without guidance from the court about exactly what the power of approval by the county means, the case will have to come right back to the courts for this guidance. The frustration was generated by Jones’ general response to the case, “It’s not going to matter what my ruling is. It’s probably headed to the Supreme Court or Court of Appeals.” Judge Jones did state that it is Weber County that must appoint or make their selection from a qualified list of candidates approved by the sponsors (Powder Mountain representatives); however, the sponsors cannot compel the commission to adopt the names they want. In addition, the sponsors cannot strike qualified candidates. The sponsors “Don’t have unfettered discretion on who they can bump from the list.” Judge Jones also ruled that the 2007 state statute that the defendants and petitioners are acting under does not deprive citizens of their rights when interim governmental leaders are appointed to their positions. “This is not unconstitutional.” Inspirational Thought You are only as strong as your purpose; therefore let us choose reasons to act that are big, bold, righteous, and eternal. --Barry Munre HEN RESULTS MATTER, Look for a Leader. We’re a new company, but with familiar faces. 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