OCR Text |
Show Page 2 The Ogden Valley news Volume XIX Issue XXI December 1, 2011 The Ogden Valley news Staff: Shanna Francis Tel: 801-745-2688 Fax: 801-745-0062 Cell: 801-791-4387 E-Mail: slfrancis@digis.net Jeannie Wendell Tel: 801-745-2879 Fax: 801-745-2879 E-Mail: crwendell@digis.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 V alley n ews 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 OgdenValley 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 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 news 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. The deadline for the OVN December 15 issue is December 1. Letters to the Editor Reader Points Out Editing Error Here in rainy Oregon, we look forward to and enjoy your newspaper, especially your November 15 edition. The beautiful picture of all the turkey hens on the first page was a thrill to see. These hens were “LAYING LOW” but I don’t see any eggs on the ground. Possibly you meant “LYING LOW.” LeRoy Johnson McMinnville, Oregon Memorial Committee Thanks Community— Requests final donation Huntsville Town would like to thank all of the people who donated to the Veteran’s Memorial Statue for our cemetery. We raised over $21,000 through the generous donations of many citizens in Huntsville and the rest of the Valley, and from those associated with the Valley. Thank you, thank you, thank you! We are still in need of funds to make a final payment, create a plaque with the donors’ names, and to beautify the area around the statute. We would gratefully accept any donation that would help us complete the final stage of this worthwhile project. Those who would like to help us complete our goal may contact Huntsville Town at 7453420 or Suzanne Ellison Ferre at 745-3098, or send funds to: HUNTSVILLE TOWN VETERANS MEMORIAL STATUE FUND PO BOX 246 HUNTSVILLE UT 84317 Again, thank you to all who have so generously given! Huntsville Town Veterans Memorial Statue Committee, Huntsville Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution a Cop-Out! So many of us are concerned about the nation’s budget being out of control. For some reason, many believe a Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA) will help resolve it—even our esteemed Senators Hatch and Lee. Many of our Republican congressmen (even some Democrats) have been championing Balanced Budget Amendments as the answer to our nation’s out-of-control spending. H.J. Res 2 has at least 242 cosponsors in the House, including many representatives widely regarded as the most conservative. I strongly object to the BBA proposals. They are deceptive and dangerous. Senators Hatch and Lee are both co-sponsoring BBA legislation. Come on, guys; it’s a cop-out. A difficult two-thirds vote of both houses is required to send a proposed BBA to the states for ratification. The states then typically have seven or more years to ratify. Meanwhile, does Congress allow our fiscal problems to escalate? By contrast, the Constitution enables a simple majority in either House to refuse to accept excessive spending anytime it has the will to do so. The Constitution is not at fault here—Congress is! And Congress lacks responsibility, because the voters are not adequately informed regarding the real limits of the Constitution and the Washington Insider conspiracy. What America needs is for Congress to eliminate, or phase out, all unconstitutional spending, and to cease authorizing new unconstitutional programs. If Congress can’t be made to adhere to the Constitution now, why should we expect it to honor a BBA. That’s B.S. It’s all a scare tactic. Contact them and tell them to just vote the Constitution. Harold “JR”Johansen, Huntsville OVPC Votes on Heliport Issues: Final resolution should be near On Tuesday, November 22, 2011, the Ogden Valley Planning Commission (OVPC) met and voted unanimously on a number of changes in the Weber County zoning ordinances. These changes will have a dramatic, positive effect in helping to maintain the life style that we enjoy in Ogden Valley while, at the same time, providing for the proper siting of commercial heliports in the Valley. The OVPC voted unanimously to: 1. Remove “heliport” from the CV-2 zoning areas. All CV-2 areas are on the Valley floor. 2. Place “heliport” in the zoning ordinances in F-40 (40 acre “forest” areas) and DRR-1 (ski resort) zones. 3. Stipulate that in F-40 and DRR zones, all heliports must be located above 6,200 feet in elevation. 4. Establish setback and building conditions to help mitigate the noise and dust problems, and to improve safety issues when Conditional Use Permits (CUP) are granted for commercial heliports in the F-40 and DRR-1 zones. These changes will remove all commercial heliports from the Ogden Valley floor, place them in the most appropriate places (forest or resort areas), and do what is reasonably possible to mitigate the negative effects of their use on the surrounding areas. The processes for these zoning changes began over 18 months ago. There were, at first, contentious, emotional, and even angry public comments and debates. These were followed by many months of hard work on the part of our OVPC; Mr. Sean Wilkinson, Planner in the Weber County Planning Office; and Ogden Valley residents. This work resulted in a number of well-thought-out compromises and policies. Ogden Valley residents owe our OVPC (Commissioner Kevin Parson, Chair; Commissioners Laura Warburton, John Howell, Penton Hollist, Dennis Montgomery, Ann Miller, and Greg Graves—all of whom serve voluntarily; and Mr. Sean Wilkinson of the Planning Office our sincere thanks and appreciation for tackling and solving this very complicated issue. In the near future, the Weber County Commissioners will need to consider, hopefully accept, and then vote these changes into the zoning laws. When they do, it will complete a process that will allow the legitimate use of commercial heliports while balancing that use with the good of the community. Lee Schussman, Eden |