OCR Text |
Show Page 2 The Ogden Valley News Volume XXVII Issue IX August 15, 2022 The Ogden Valley News Staff: Shanna Francis Tel: 801-745-2688 Fax: 801-745-2688 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 Valley News 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 522 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 September 1 issue is August 15. Letters to the Editor Support, Volunteer, and Give! My name is Nanci Lifer and I moved to Ogden Valley in 2005 from Minnesota and absolutely fell in love with the mountains and the people. Everyone is so nice! Shortly after moving, I worked with OVBA—Ogden Valley Business Association— and assisted in producing the phonebook and map that used to be so popular and well used before the internet became the standard for finding information. This position gave me a connection to many of the local business owners and an understanding of what they were passionate about. Our community could not be what it is today without the business owners and nonprofits that serve the Valley. As a proud volunteer and past board member of Community Foundation of Ogden Valley, I encourage residents, both fulltime and parttime, to get involved, support, and volunteer. Or, if able, give a donation through CFOV.net. When you give a donation through CFOV’s website, it matches up to $5,000 a year of what area nonprofits have raised, potentially doubling the funds for the year that they’ve generated through their individual fundraising efforts. The Nanci Lifer Team of Nanci Lifer, Britt McCarthy and Nancy Watkins, ERA Brokers Consolidated Realtors are proud to be members of the Ogden Valley community and enjoy the trails, mountains, and music. I love to work and play where I live, and beginning in August of 2022, my team and I are donating 3% of all real estate commissions to CFOV. These funds will be part of the match fund! Thank you for being such a giving, supportive community of neighbors and business owners. Nanci Lifer, Eden Rising Tax Rates Are Unsustainable for Those on Fixed Incomes The taxable value of our home has increased 57% over our 2021 values. This has resulted in a $2,000 increase in our taxes over last year. The county has a circuit breaker program for those of us over 66 years of age… if your total household income is under $35,807. Unfortunately, in light of rising inflation, this limit has not been raised. Gasoline is up 35.54 percent; food, between 10.04 and 14.21 percent, both of which are also gobbling up a retiree’s income. For a retiree to move here from Seattle or just about anywhere in California, you have plenty of proceeds from your last sale to buy a home in Ogden Valley. And you must reinvest those proceeds into your next real estate venture or the uninvested proceeds can be treated as income. Ouch! However, when you are retired without any measurable increase in cash flow, increasing taxes and ridiculous monetary policy can wreck a retiree’s future. In California, they freeze your property tax burden after you reach retirement so that they don’t force you out of your home through taxation. In Utah, the circuit breaker limits are set by our state legislators. High property tax increases, in tandem with the current level of overall inflation, is an egregious oversight by our elected representatives. Send them an email and voice your concerns. Steve Oliver, Eden Utah Property Tax Law Needs to Be Revised Soooo, John Doe and his wife bought a little brick house on 5 acres 40 years ago for $65,000. They have raised their family there and want to live there ‘till the Good Lord takes them home, but the county now says their house is worth $600,000 and they want their tax money now or else. John Doe can’t even afford to live in his own house that has been paid in full for years. What does John Doe do? Well, he can sell his house to a developer that will build a bigger house and then Jim Doe next door will have his property taxes go up even farther. In the meantime, John Doe will probably have to move to a retirement home along with Jim Doe his next- door neighbor who is not happy with John Doe and the cycle continues. Property taxes and rents are so high that only the very wealthy can afford to live here in the Valley. Just a little food for thought: Who will be working in our little grocery stores, gas stations, and such? It won’t be the very wealthy. In the meantime, John Doe and Jim Doe have taken their money and moved to a little back-woods town in Po Dunk, Oklahoma and built mansions there. Now it has raised the property taxes in Po Dunk (so the county says) and folds can’t afford to live there anymore. Is this really what we call progress? Is this what we want for our children? Why can’t the county levy taxes when a property is sold? And, by the way, who says the $65,000, 40-year-old property is now worth $600,000? Think about it. Oh, but if you are over 65, and make less than $35,000 per year, you get a property tax break. Yippy do! If you make less than $35,000 per year and you have, say, a family of two, you can’t even buy groceries! I don’t think this is political, it is just common sense. Darryl LaRoque, Huntsville Music and the Mountain Valley Community I moved here 15 years ago, as the mountains have always defined a feeling of home. OV promotes those emotions, feelings, and reciprocal relationships where everyone says “Hi” with a smile, and genuinely cares about how you are when they ask. Music promotes this positive social character trait of our community. As a musician myself, it is a wonderful place to experience others’ talents and outlooks on life. A letter to The Ogden Valley News blames the owners of the Saddlebag Saloon for being insensitive to their calls and messages regarding a five-year burden of hearing amplified music, stating that this local business is not deserving of support of the Valley. Not very neighborly. What are the sound levels that are being experienced over a quarter mile away in the opposite direction (and upwind) of the sound? Without this unbiased reference, this is a very subjective and emotional grievance. Is the Eden Center breaking any ordinances? No. Truth be told, the Eden Center, which is zoned as CV-2, Commercial Valley, per the OV General Plan, is the venue and is the nucleus of the community that, naturally, has an elevated level of use. They promote this positive mountain experience by being open to our community and regularly supporting family-friendly crowds that support them with their patronage to their businesses while listening to some local musical talent. Approximately 90% of the entertainment is acoustic. As a drummer, I play a cajon and sing background vocals. Yes, the acoustic instruments and vocals go through a mixer, but the sound is meted to those that sit in direct line of the performers. And, in compliance with the 10:00 p.m. ordinance, the music ends to the chagrin of the appreciative crowd. Mountains and music. Bringing humans together for centuries! Don Smyrl, Liberty County Commissioners Legally Required to Disclose Property Interests If They Pose a Conflict of Interest with Their Official Duties Many of Gage Froerer’s constituents living in Nordic Valley believe that Commissioner Froerer should recuse himself from the Weber County Commission’s consideration of the “Nordic Village” development proposal on conflict-of-interest grounds. They are concerned Froerer’s ownership directly or indirectly (through family trusts/LLCs) of Nordic Valley property gives rise to a potential or actual conflict of interest with his public duties. In this regard, a Standard Examiner article published June 14, 2018 reported that among other investments Froerer then was a partner in Nordic Valley Land Associates, which owned 50.5 acres of land east of the Nordic Valley resort. In fairness to his constituents, Froerer should disclose publicly whether he still owns this or other Nordic Valley property. Disclosure also is required by law. The County Commissioners are subject to the County Officials and Employees Disclosure Act (the “Act”), which requires “these persons to disclose conflicts of interest between their public duties and their personal interests” (Utah Code §17-16a-2). Of particular relevance here is Utah Code §17-16a-8, which requires disclosure of “any personal interest or investment by an elected or appointed official of a county which creates a potential or actual conflict between the official’s personal interests and his public duties[.]” When Froerer took office in January 2019, he executed the Weber County Ethics Pledge and expressly agreed to comply with the Act. In response to a recent government records request, however, Weber County advised that no specific disclosures have been made by Froerer since becoming a County Commissioner in 2019. The Act is very specific about the disclosure required under Utah Code §17-16a-8: Froerer must disclose (1) by sworn statement (2) describing the property and the “precise nature and value of the officer’s interest” (3) made at an open meeting of the Board of County Commissioners. If Froerer still owns Nordic Valley land through Nordic Valley Land Associates or otherwise, he must comply with the disclosure rules in accordance with Utah Code §17-16a-8. Failure to properly disclose pursuant to the Act may give rise to a misdemeanor and the official’s removal from office. Legal consequences aside, Froerer should be transparent with his constituents, because they are entitled to an objective consideration of the Nordic Village proposal by the County Commission, free of any potential or actual conflict of interest. If Froerer owns no property in the Nordic Valley area, he should set their minds at rest. If he owns such property, he must comply with the disclosure law. James M. O’Brien, Eden |