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Show WASATCH COUNTY COURIER. If You See Their Lips Moving... keep the judge from having a chance Commission passed a_ resolution imposing service charges on the resi- was being paid from the County’s General Fund (that is money you and I and the rest of the county residents paid in property taxes.) Do you. remember back in July of 1999 the County Commissioners, LaRen, Mike and especially Ralph saying that they would come up with a solution in which the Jordanelle Landowners would end up paying the entire cost of receiving this far superior facility and service? They guaranteed that the rest of us poor folks down in the valley, APTER THE EMBARRASSING US. SPY PLANE DEBACLE, DESPERATE MEASURES ARE TAKEN To INSURE CHINA GETS THE OLYMPICS IN 2008 aT oe the taxpayers of the county, as a gen- eral obligation bond. And while they mentioned that the Jordanelle Area Landowners would also be obligated to cover ongoing costs such as maintenance or salaries, they never did explain how they were going to accomplish this feat. They even conned the Legislative Auditors into believing they had iso- lated the costs of the Fire Palace to_ the Jordanelle residents. The audi- tors: pointed Commissioners out had that — the created a Municipal Building Authority, which would own the fire station (which begs the question how can you own a - building that is built on leased land?) _ The station would then be leased to. Wasatch County, which would sub-let ‘it to the Wasatch County Fire Protection Special Service District _ (the Fire Board.) On September 13, 1999 the Wasatch County Pepe : - PTs ted Cee ee habthedMeiettntataiintictinth pam I ~ : NS “4 (22x.o} era ah 2 CO This these funds from the CFP. would. Speeeesetderenenen ge =—aperaanennenee otal pte tedckittcitetrrre ron = — understate the true improvements A 4 0 AS cost of the needed to accommo- date new development. Also, doing so would unfairly isolate additional costs ie COURIER permit. funds do not reduce the actual cost of the planned system of public safety buildings. Removing the amount of ¥| -IBSEC Count} for a building ‘loan’ must be paid back through a partial credit of the public safety impact fee at the time individual build- ing permits issue for each contribut- _ ing new development activity in the /p residential unit) per year for 10 years to repay the loan. The bonds, to be repaid for by Jordanelle area landowners, however, were guaranteed by all J Jordanelle erty owners who will later make appli-_ i ‘only, each coughing up somewhere in the area of $154 per ERU (equivalent a MABE Landowners to pay the full cost of the | Fire Palace construction. They announced that they had borrowed (bonded) for $2.5 million to pay for the construction costs of the Fire Palace. They claimed that the bond would be repaid by the Jordanelle Landowners BE EM - Wows funds, Jordanelle basin. For purposes of the impact fee analysis, these advanced pCa hsney, f In September 1999, the Commissioners announced they had figured out a way for the Jordanelle a 4 | | AL | : i } { | - integrated system. By the cation unteer firemen, wouldn’t end up footing the bill for the Jordanelle Fire Palace. or of the advancing landowners secured immediate con-_ struction of one of the planned fire stations. The advanced funds constitute a pre-payment for individual prop- SEND WELCH AND JOHNSON: OVER RIGHT AWAY! with our antiquated stations and vol- LU of the Mayflower station, and did not ~ reduce the actual cost of that station PENS upon a select group of landowners.” question and quite possibly refund all the impact fees it lected, that it scheduled a meeting for Friday, February have to had colspecial 16 this - $0, once you. work your way through the legalese, you discover that in fact the Jordanelle Landowners © -south end of Jordanelle as well as the current Fire Palace at Jordanelle. Of the $1,891,794 collected in impact fees since 1996 (which also includes some are not paying 100 percent of the cost of the Fire Palace, but in fact the cost. | year, at which the only agenda item fees for Parks and Roads) $61,506 was was the repeal of all impact fees in the spend on the Heber Baseball county. Impact fees, even if illegally _ Diamonds (a project which was bondassessed are not refundable in Utah . ed for, so why the use of impact fees in unless you make a written protest at addition?) Additionally, a whopping the time you pay them or if a judge, in. $24,498 was spent to build the Midway will be subsidized (the so called “loan”, repaid) by the collection of impact fees from all areas of the coun- ty. Of course, the level of service in Jordanelle will still far exceed the level of service in the rest of the county, so, a legal proceeding, orders a refund. My guess is that they thought that by. repealing the impact fees, the issue would become moot, and since the Fire Station. Gee, that is less than one in effect, the rest of us pay more and hundredth what the Commissioners spent on the Jordanelle Fire Palace. And Id conservatively guess that get less, far less, in the way of service. And isn’t it disingenuous at best to say that the Jordanelle Landowners were judge wouldn’t get a chance to rule on the impact fees, the county would be allowed to keep everything it had collected up to that point. However, for Midway given the chance to “secure the imme- has well over one hundred © times the population and well over 100 times the structural value diate construction” of the Fire Palace of all of by securing a “loan” when at the time Jordanelle. Oh yeah, this year, they of the bond decision the construction some strange reason the meeting was spend an additional $19,000 for a “tele- cancelled at the last minute, with the explanation that the issue would be com of the station was well underway? Seems you would broach the bond shelter” at the Jordanelle Fire Palace, almost as much as they spent brought up at the regularly scheduled on the entire Midway Fire Station. — County Commission meeting the next So this week the Courier received Monday, three days away. However it — a copy of a Motion filed by the county was never on the agenda nor disin the Canyon Meadows case in which cussed at that regular meeting. My guess is that someone did the math and figured that in the long run it --would be cheaper to settle with Canyon Meadows, which would still question with the landowners: before construction started, not. halfway through construction. And why haven’t the Commissioners asked Midway, Heber, Wallsburg or Timber the County Attorney revels the truth: Lakes residents if they would like the that the county has only made a pretense of making the Jordanelle Landowners pay for the entire cost of chance to get a “loan” from the county for new state of the art facilities like Jordanelle in their areas? If you see _ their lips moving... _ the Fire Palace. In the end folks, it’s + The Courier is looking for guest commentators. If there’s something that fires you up, send it to us and we might print it. Wasatch County Courier 2 10 Speak out. Let Wasatch County know how your feel. sia rs tO Provost signing the building contract — on behalf of the Fire Board when he had previously been forced to resign? Do you remember the public outcry over the fact that the money to pay for this Fire Palace to protect a handful of rich peoples’ homes with the only full time staffed Fire Station in the valley Diesen LEON Board and took over the power themselves? Do you remember LaRen : Fire Board and before they canned the iil eget ea R OT build the Jordanelle Fire Palace, without the concurrence of the | East Main street, Midway, UT 84049, (435) 654-2531 fax or email: editor@wasatchcountycourier.com 7 ee emember when the County ‘Commissioners decided to you and I, all the other residents of . to rule on the legality of the impact. the county living outside of Jordanelle dents and property owners of the fees while allowing the county to conthat will foot the bill. To quote the Jordanelle area for, “the costs associtinue to collect what appears to me to motion, “The imposition of a fee upon ated with providing fire protection — be patently illegal impact fees. _Jordanelle basin landowners applied. service within the Jordanelle Area.” The impact fees for fire protection in part to fund the costs of the Well, fine and good if all was as. are based on a preposterous plan in Mayflower fire station (the Fire portrayed by the County which the county plans to build a total Palace) does not mean that the cost of Commissioners. But we forgot to _ of eight full time staffed fire stations, at the station should be eliminated from notice that once again their lips were — a total cost of over $9 million, throughthe public safety CFP (the impact moving. Enter the Canyon Meadows out the county over the next 20 years. fees.) The Public Safety CFP identilawsuit against the county. Canyon The plan calls for upgraded fire stafies the costs attributable to new Meadows is questioning the legality tions in Heber and Midway as well as development activity for integrated of the county’s impact fees. additional stations in Wallsburg, system of eight public safety facilities. Apparently the county was so worried - Timber Lakes, Strawberry, Bonanza Funds advanced by landowners in the it was going to lose the impact fee Flats and an additional station on the © Jordanelle Basin constitute a pre-payment or ‘loan’ to support construction Dn BY DAN STEPHENS |