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Show Page 12 The Ogden Valley news Volume XXIV Issue X June 1, 2017 VALLEY PARKS cont. from page 1 park services. There are about 1,313 residences outside of Huntsville Town proper, or one of the park districts, and these residences pay $0 a year. What does all of this mean? ● Unless we change the park system, our parks will continue to endure the impact of tremendous growth without adequate funding for maintenance and improvements. ● Unless we change, the inequities we pay in park fees will increase. ● Unless we change, we will never be able to significantly expand our parks. In 2008, the County adopted the Recreation Element of the General Plan, which included population and development projections for the Valley, along with a recommendation to create a Valleywide Park District with a financial basis that could expand parks and facilities to keep up with growth and tourism. It was noted then that our parks were not expanding to keep pace with growth. The 2016 update of the Ogden Valley General Plan includes the same recommendation. We have made some modest progress since 2008. In the last eight years Weber County reached an agreement with Snowbasin to set aside 7 acres for a public park near the Trapper’s Loop Junction. Huntsville purchased the old Valley Elementary property, expanded the Park into part of it, and added a soccer field and trails hub/kiosk as grants allowed. And recently, the Liberty Park Board solicited donations to purchase two parcels of property adjacent to Liberty Park in order to protect and expand the park. This is good news, but none of the park entities have sufficient funds to continue expansion or improvements. All three parks receive around $30,000 per year, but need around $50,000 to operate. The difference between costs and revenues is having the negative effect of burning out our volunteer park boards (and Huntsville Town Council) members. Much of their energy goes into annual fundraising to make up the difference. This also means we have no way to finance expansion of the parks as the Valley grows. The County General Plan reveals these important aspects of growth projections for the Valley: (a) housing units are expected to double by 2030 and double again by 2050, (b) we will soon hit the point where the number of Valley resident homes will be outnumbered by second homes and vacation properties, and (c) the overall taxable value of Valley property is increasing at a fast pace. Park leaders want to turn Our Heritage into Our Legacy! Friends of the parks, the Eden Park District Board, Liberty Park Board, and members of the Huntsville Town Council are concerned about these trends, and have been meeting for well over a year to come up with a feasible solution. Here is a summary of their proposal: ● Let’s create a single valley-wide park service area to help generate funding for maintaining and improving our parks in the most equitable way. ● Let’s call this the Ogden Valley Parks Service Area, which will ensure equal representation from all areas in the Valley. ● Let’s retain local control of each park by keeping individual Park Committees. ● Let’s base the park service fee on assessed property value. ● Let’s get ahead of growth in the valley, so we can provide adequate park facilities for use by our children for years to come. Our Valley forefathers were community-minded, and left us a beautiful heritage. The proposed Ogden Valley Parks District gives us a chance to fund and manage our parks in a fair way… and to continue the legacy they PUBLIC INFO MEETINGS Monday, June 12 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. Ogden Valley Library ***** Monday, June 19 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. Eden Park Bowery events. began. What would a single valley-wide park 5. Responsibilities of Local Park Committees: a. Fundraising and other local events to service area look like? maintain community traditions. 1. What would be included in the Ogden Valley b. Propose and submit budgets, improvement plans, and plans for growth to OVPs board. Parks Service Area? 6. Ogden Valley Parks Service Fee a. All properties in Weber County from the Cache, Rich, and Morgan county lines to the a. An Ogden Valley Parks Service Fee would be structured as Liberty Park’s currently is, bottom of Ogden Canyon. and at 0.00015 of assessed property value 2. Who would be on the OVPs board? (after discounts are applied for green belt and primary residence). b. For example, a primary residence with an assessed value of $400,000 would have a fee of about $30 per year. c. By making this one change, funding for the parks would increase from $87,866 to about $160,903 per year. 7. Steps needed to accomplish this: a. Liberty and Eden Parks form inter-local agreement to join together. b. Combined name would be changed to Ogden Valley Parks Service Area (OVP). c. OVP board and Local Park Committees a. 9 members: likely 2 from Liberty Park, 2 would be formed. from Eden Park, 2 from Huntsville Park, d. OVP would annex in all properties not 2 from annexed areas, and one that is not currently in a park district. affiliated with a park. e. Huntsville Town would make a resolution for 3. Responsibilities of OVPs board: the park to join OVP. a. Be vested and committed to running the Ogden Valley Parks Service area as a single Where do we go from here? The procedure valley-wide entity. for moving forward is well understood. Two b. Hold legal, financial and civil responsibility valley-wide public information meetings are for all three current parks and additions. scheduled to present this information, answer c. Manage all park assets. questions, and gather input. We are very interd. Establish and oversee the Park Service ested in total transparency, and really want to fee and distribute funding to Local Park know how the residents of the valley feel about Committees. this process. Here is how you can take action: e. Grant authority to the Local Park Committees. ● Attend one of the public information meetings 4. Who would be on the Local Park Monday June 12 or June 19 from 7:00 – 8:30 Committees? p.m. a. Committee members who are vested and ● Voice your input at either meeting or email it committed to their local park. to info@ogdenvalleyparks.com b. Current board members who are not on the ● Visit OgdenValleyParks.com for more OVPs board. information c. Additional members as needed to run local Huntsville 1st Ward scouts sanding and painting cemetery crosses for Memorial Day ceremonies. JUNE 19-22 High Altitude Kids Summer Tumbling June 5th – August 18th Summer Tumbling Classes, Beginning to Advanced Monday thru Friday, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM Sign up today…space is limited! For more information visit www. hakutah.com for class days and times. SIXTH ANNUAL AMERICAN SPIRIT ESSAY CONTEST THEME: “How does being connected as a community benefit individuals and the community?” AGE GROUPS (3): Age 12 thru 21; age 22 thru 45; age 46 & over. AWARDS: 1st place (3) $200 ea. - Runner-up (3) - $50 ea. ESSAY REQUIREMENTS: 200 to 300 words - do your best work, write about the theme, include your name, age, address, e-mail and phone number. To enter – mail you essay to John W. Reynolds, 28 White Barn Dr. Pleasant View, Utah 84414; or e-mail to wbarn28@aol.com by August 15, 2017. WINNERS WILL BE NOTIFIED – Judging will be completed by September 5, winners notified by September 10. QUESTIONS? Call John Reynolds @ 801-782-8077 or e-mail <WBARN28@aol.com> |
