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Show Volume III, Issue I THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Page 19 November 1, 2000 Two Incumbents Running for Huntsville Township Planning Commission This year two positions on the East Huntsville Township Planning Commission are open. Vacancies will be filled by vote on the November ballot. Only two members of the community filed to run for the positions— Norman Montgomery and Lorna Rich. Both are already currently serving on the commission. Duties of the commission include hearing, commenting and voting on planning issues that come before the Township Planning Commission, previous to the issues moving on before the Weber County Commission. Commission members serve four-year terms. Candidate Norman Montgomery was born in North Ogden in 1928. He moved to Huntsville in 1930 where he has continued to live with his family since that time. Norm has been a rancher all of his life. He worked for the Weber County School District as a bus driver for 21 years and in other capacities for five years—a job he could do while running his 110 acre ranch and leased land. Norman was been a board member of the Weber County Farm Bureau Federation, and served three terms as the President. He served on the A.S.C.S. Committee for eight years. ACTIVE REPRESENTATION IS......... Grant Protzman Working for specific plans to— Make Education a Higher Priority: —Prepare Template Blue Prints (Like Wal-Mart or Home Depot stores prepare for new buildings) that Local School Districts can access free to save Original Design Fees and Change Order costs for the 143 new schools projected in the next 10 years. —Create a state wide Education Cost Containment Committee of educators, parents and business leaders, commissioned to focus on maximizing our tax dollars’ impact on education. (Similar to the Weber Schools approach a few years ago) Then follow their recommendations. —Develop a ten-year Education plan which includes financial commitments and dedicated revenue sources. —Implement a Technology Initiative in partnership with Private Industry, as part of the ten year plan (with funding outlined) to help make Utah Schools the Best in the World. —Create a Base Plus approach to distributing funds for mandated programs so every school district has enough critical mass budget to implement a real program without robbing other areas. End Closed Door Decision Making: —Sponsor legislation to end the Closed Meetings and Secret Deals they generate (such as HB 320 which makes it easier for Big Utilities to raise your bills.) Restore Fairness and Consumer Input to Utility Rate Hikes: —Vote to repeal HB 320 and fight any alternative that reduces citizen and consumer input into Utility Rate Hikes. Protect Quality of Life – Transportation – Open Space: —Reductions on inheritance tax and sales tax as part of a package to encourage open space preservation. — State matching funds with Local Government Contributions and Private Investments to compensate property owners for their development options to maintain open space. — Use Federal Funds to pay over 80% of the cost to put effective and efficient mass transit in place before radical and expensive new highway systems. — Purchase right of ways now for New Approaches to designing expressway construction. It will never be less expensive. GRANT PROTZMAN — HE’LL REPRESENT THE WASATCH BACK AS WELL AS THE WASATCH FRONT. He is currently President of the Mountain Canal Irrigation Company, and also President of the Board of the Trustees of the Weber B a s i n Conservancy Board. Norman, as a life long resident of the Valley, has a good concept of what is needed for its Lorna Rich future. He would like to continue serving on the Planning Commission. He has served in many civic and church capacities, and would like to continue serving. Lorna Rich has previously chaired the East Huntsville Planning Commission. She states, “I’m interested in the Valley, and want to see reasonable development. From experience, I’ve seen our discussions with developers be productive in reaching good compromises.” Rich also comments that the current commission has a lot of diversity, with commission members coming from varied backgrounds, which is beneficial. R i c h mentions safety concerns as one of the areas she would like to see addressed in E a s t Huntsville. She is specifically concerned with Norman Montgomery the intersection on the highway at the Chevron station, where there are no turn lanes. She also would like to see a sensitive lands ordinance passed by the County. She concludes, “What we do now will affect Ogden Valley for years to come. I want it to remain a beautiful place where people can enjoy its ambience.” HB320 cont, from page 18 Committee, but the Committee is restored in name only. The new draft has any number of unacceptable features in its 62 pages, but we are most concerned about representation for small consumers through the Committee of Consumer Services. Some of the problems we see are: The Committee of Consumer Services would be prevented from being an effective advocate for residential and small business consumers because it would be required to balance the interests of the utility with those of the consumers. This would prevent the Committee from being a strong advocate for consumers, because no one can be an advocate for both the utility and consumers. The Committee would no longer be responsible for representing residential and small commercial customers, as is now the case. In the future, it would be responsible for representing all customers. Residential and small business consumers would have no agency as HB320 cont. on page 21 |