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Show Volume II , Issue IV Page 5 The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS January 2000 Utah Quality Growth Commission Held Public Meeting for Weber Residents A large crowd filled the Weber County Commission Chambers on January 5, to express their opinion regarding: Growth Management as it relates to Critical Lands, Free Market, Housing, Infrastructure, and Intergovernmental Relations. Many Weber County Legislators and administrators were in attendance, along with a wide range of interested citizens. The Utah Quality Growth Act of 1999 was passed for the purpose of addressing growth issues throughout the state. Rapid population growth, the lack of affordable housing, increased costs of providing statefinanced infrastructure, and the disappearance of farm land and open space, has created the need for the Legislature to take action on these growth related problems. The Governor and the Legislature, building upon discussions and outcomes of the Growth Summit, believe it is time to provide additional statewide direction on defining and implementing quality growth. This legislation creates new opportunities for local governments to define quality growth in their own terms and to implement their definition of quality growth. The Act empowers local governments, through new sources of funding and technical assistance, to address the issues of home ownership, housing availability, efficient development of infrastructure, the efficient use of land, the conservation of open space, intergovernmental cooperation, the protection of private property rights, and the role of the free market in growth management. However, the Act mandates nothing; instead it creates an avenue through which local governments can apply for assistance in addressing local growth issues. The Act established a 13 member Quality Growth Commission that is charged with a number of legislative responsibilities. The Commission is appointed by the Governor and approved by the Senate. Commission members are appointed to four year, non-paid terms, with a limit of two consecutive terms of service. As part of their duties, the Commission is to: · Recommend to the legislature the Principles of Quality Growth. · Recommend to the legislature how to define Quality Growth. · Advise the Legislature on growth management issues. · Recommend to the Legislature how to improve the Quality Growth Act. Membership of the commission consists of: · Two persons at the state government level, one of who must be from the Department of Natural Resources. · Six locally elected officials, three of whom must be nominated by the Utah Association of Counties, and three of whom must be nominated by the Utah League of Cities and Towns. · One person nominated by the Utah Home Builders Association. · One person nominated by the Utah Association of Realtors. · Two persons from the agricultural community, nominated by Utah farm organizations. · One person selected from the private profit or nonprofit sector. The meeting consisted of an introduction of the Quality Growth Commission and their public outreach, or summit efforts. The Commission has organized outreach meetings in each county of the state. As part of their effort, meeting attendees were asked to comment on the four above mentioned topics, and the most critical elements of each. These comments were recorded. At the conclusion of the meeting, participants were able to vote for, what they felt were, the four most critical issues discussed. The responses were recorded and tallied for use by the Commission. Intersections cont. from page 1 uninterrupted, or signal and turn right. Traffic traveling on the highway from Eden would have to stop at a well defined “T” in the road before turning right onto River Drive, or left to proceed further into Liberty or over the North Ogden Divide. Other intersections in the Valley that pose a hazard have not been addressed. Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) Regional Traffic Engineer Dave Kennison stated that he was unaware that there were any problems with Eden’s notorious intersection where State Road 158 and County Road 162 meet at the corners of Valley Market and Maverik Country Store. He had not heard of any complaints by citizen groups, county government officials or law enforcement agencies. The stop signs located on state road 158 are often ran by unobservant motorists on their way toward the Wolf Creek, Powder Mountain area or by those heading back down from the area. Accidents at the intersection occur regularly. UDOT engineer Dave Kennison stated that all accident information eventually makes its way to the Division of Traffic and Safety. Occasionally, statistics from this information are reviewed to see if there are patterns indicating an abnormal rate of accidents in excess of what should occur by chance. From this information, lists are created that highlight the problem areas. Mr. Kennison hadn’t recently seen any intersections in the Valley on the list, which is why he was surprised to hear that there may be a problem at any local intersections. If citizen groups, law enforcement agencies, or county government leaders provide information that indicates there may be a problem, they can send a letter with this information to UDOT Regional Director Dyke M. LeFevre. Once a complaint is submitted, UDOT engineers research accident reports, related to the area, to determine the source of the problem—failure of drivers to notice stop signs, sight distance problems, engineering of the road, etc. Once this is identified, the best possible means of rectifying the problem can be pursued. Serving America’s families since 1972 Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. Legal expense plans Jack & Darlene Robbins Independent Associates 3880 East 4100 North Liberty, UT 84310 PRE-PAID LEGAL SERVICES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES (801 745-0551 Toll Free (888) 489-0111 Fax (801) 745-3661 Picture of the Month Sun setting behind Wolf Creek barn. Photo by Lori Weyna of Eden, 1999 THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS would like to print a “Picture of the Month” in each month’s newspaper edition. At the end of the following year, we would like to print a Valley calendar using the selected pictures. The calendar will be made available for sale. So get your cameras ready and start shooting! Or, if you already have a favorite photo, send it in. Your pictures may be black & white or color, and should depict a Valley theme. Photos may also be historical photos of the Valley. Be sure to include your name, address, telephone number, and the name of the person – if known – who took the picture. Also, we would like to know something about the picture, possibly the approximate date, and the who, what and when about it. Please note, collected pictures will become the property of THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS. Send your pictures to: THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS PO BOX 130 EDEN UTAH 84310 |