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Show The Ogden Valley News August 1, 2021 Your Community Newspaper USPS MARKETING MAIL POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 11 EDEN UT POSTAL PATRON EDEN-LIBERTY-84310 HUNTSVILLE-84317 OGDEN CANYON- 84401 HCR 843AO Full moon at dusk by Alexis Wendell. Weber County Sheriff’s Office Announces Blood Drive August 3 The Weber County Sheriff’s Office and American Red Cross are teaming up to hold a blood drive event August 3, 2021 at the Sheriff’s Office located at 1400 Depot Drive in Ogden. Donors may give between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Right now the American Red Cross is facing an emergency blood shortage. All donors are needed. Every blood type is necessary to help avoid delays in lifesaving medical care for patients this summer. Important Facts • Right now, blood donations are being distributed to hospitals faster than donations are coming in. • Patients are at risk for delayed surgeries or treatment. • Please help by donating blood as soon as possible. You just might provide one of the #MissingTypes a critical patient needs. • Right now, patients need your help. Due in part to summer vacations, fewer blood drives take place and fewer donors come in to give blood during the summer. • There aren’t enough people donating blood to help people in need. Do you know someone who has never donated before? Please encourage them to make an appointment with you. For more information, please visit https:// www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/donationtime (zip code 84404), where you may also make an appointment. Remember, blood donations save lives! Blue Heron family nest. Photo courtesy of Ron Gleason of Huntsville. Huntsville Town Prepares for Construction of New Community Center In January of this year, 2021, Huntsville Town applied for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). This grant required the town to conduct a confidential income survey, which 39% of full-time residents participated in. The survey was administered by town CERT teams and approximately 20 additional residents. Thanks to all for your assistance in this effort! Huntsville Town was recently notified that the community satisfied the grant’s requirements and was awarded over $400,000 for a multi-year grant. In years past, CDBG funds has been instrumental in an upgrade of the town’s waterlines, the digging of the new town well that provides a great source of water for residents, and the new town shed. Huntsville Town Council Representatives stated, “They [CDBG representatives] have been great partners with us in maintaining our infrastructure without raising taxes. With this new money, we decided one of our greatest needs was to construct a larger town hall with a community center and history department. Because of COVID-19, we found our building to be woefully inadequate. Our staff was no longer able to work together because of the small office space. They all had to adjust, trading off days so they could work, as only one staff member could be in the office at a time because of the small space. We could not spread out enough to hold town council meetings and we needed a much larger room for public hearings when the space became so crowded that town residents had to stand outside with an open door to be able to listen to and participate in meetings. “The town hall is a gathering place for many town and Valley committees. We crowd them in! As town leaders, we would also like to see a space for many community groups that cannot meet at other spaces that require payment or other ties to use area facilities. Many groups have been displaced by such requirements. The new community center will be a place to gather as a community for holidays and events. We will also be able to open during the winter for recreating groups wishing to escape the cold and ice. It will provide an opportunity to build unity in our town by having a central place to gather.” The new structure will have individual offices for the staff the sheriff; a conference room; ample storage for the Huntsville Marathon and 4th of July celebration; space for files in the HUNTSVILLE TOWN cont. on page 10 Attention Ogden Valley Residents: GEM Committee Meetings Resuming Sept. 1 By Jan Fullmer Given that the COVID situation has subsided, hopefully, past participants would like to start holding GEM Committee meetings once again. If you are new to Ogden Valley or just hearing about the Ogden Valley GEM Committee, we welcome your attendance at our upcoming start-up meeting planned for Wednesday, September 1, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. at the Ogden Valley Library Branch in Huntsville. GEM (Growth with an Excellence Mandate) focuses on many issues that are relevant to the community, especially those that may have an adverse impact on our valley. The committee also tries to ensure that development throughout the valley complies with the Ogden Valley General Plan, which was developed by Logan Simpson Consultants with broad public participation and support and approved by the Weber County Commissioners. Please note that there has been some misinformation disseminated about GEM, specifically that GEM is trying to stop all development in Ogden Valley. The GEM Committee in no way is trying to stop development in Ogden Valley. The Committee tries to ensure that there is smart, sustainable development in Ogden Valley while trying to preserve as much open space as possible without impacting property owners’ development rights. For those who have attended the GEM Committee meetings in the past, and for those residents who may be new to GEM, please try to make our start-up meeting on September 1 at the Ogden Valley Library. If you have not been fully vaccinated for the COVID virus, wearing a mask will show consideration for other meeting attendees. HB 346: Recommendations to Improve Coordination HB 346, which passed during Utah’s 2021 General Session, tasks the Governor’s Office of Planning & Budget (GOPB) to make recommendations regarding possible restructuring to improve coordination between the Department of Natural Resources and the following entities: • Department of Environmental Quality • Division of Public Utilities • Office of Consumer Services • Center for Rural Development Members of the public are invited to provide input and feedback throughout the process. To assist in this effort, a survey has been designed with the aim of gathering input from a wide range of voices. Please note that the survey will close August 14 at 11:59 p.m. To take the survey, visit <https://utahgopb.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cBg42DgHbP30Zgy> For more general information, visit <https:// gopb.utah.gov/hb346/> Sixteen-year-old is Latest Drown Victim at Pineview Reservoir By Shanna Francis On Sunday, July 18, Weber County Search and Rescue was, once again, called to Middle Inlet Beach at Pineview Reservoir after a report came in of a 16-year-old male drowning. Dispatch received a 911 call at about 5:45 p.m. According to the Weber C o u n t y Teams search for a missing S h e r i f f ’ s sixteen-year-old at Pineview F a c e b o o k Reservoir. page, four friends had attempted to swim from shore to shore and quickly realized they wouldn’t make it. They turned back, but one of the male teens was unable to make it to shore before going under. After long hours of searching, crews were able to recover the body at about 2:30 p.m. the next day. In an effort to locate the drowning victim, sonar, divers, kayaks, a drone, and cadaver canines were utilized. David Reed, Deputy Chief at Weber Fire District, said that during the past four years, there had been no drownings at Pineview. But this year, only about midway through July, there have already been four. An idea has been circulating amongst community leaders to set up some type of loaner system for life preservers for anyone who would like to use one, since most drownings could be avoided if the victims would have had been using some type of floater device. In regard to the most recent drowning, a Weber County Sheriff post stated, “We would like to thank DPS Dive Team, and Utah Search Dogs for your assistance in this search. Our deepest condolences and thoughts go out to DROWNING cont. on page 11 Snowbasin Announces Cancelation of Upcoming Blues, Brews & BBQ Concert Series Davy Ratchford, Snowbasin General Manager Due to staffing shortages impacting the operations of Snowbasin’s Food & Beverage outlets, five Blues, Brews & BBQ concert series events have been canceled. The first event on August 1 featuring Kris Lager and Andy Frasco will still take place as scheduled. However, remaining events scheduled August 8 thru September 5 have been canceled. Snowbasin will continue to offer weekend gondola service for biking, hiking, and sightseeing; mountaintop brunch; and minigolf and dining through October 3. T h e Snowbasin team has worked tirelessly to provide a great guest experience. Despite numerous adjustments, increased recruiting efforts, and great perks, we have experienced a severe staff shortage in our Food & Beverage operations. This is an issue nationwide and locally with many foodservice businesses needing to adjust operational hours and services. If the staffing situation improves, we plan to host our SnowWiesn Oktoberfest on Sundays starting September 12. An announcement regarding SnowWiesn Oktoberfest will take place at a later date. The Snowbasin team would like to thank the bands, sponsors, and our guests for their understanding as we maneuver through difficult circumstances. We recognize the Food & Beverage industry is going through a challenging time; we encourage everyone to support this vital component of the economy and our community. Photos courtesy of Weber County Sheriff’s Office. |