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Show SALEM DAYS COVERAGE INSIDE: B1-B7 A N E D I T I O N O F P R I D E & P Utah Press Association Arinda Guttierez 1521 East 3900 South Suite 100 Salt Lake City, UT 84124 PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID SPANISH FORK, UTAH PERMIT NO. 2 The Soanish ForkJNews Salem s finest J L L O C A L L Y O W N E D A N D O P E R A T E D WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2007 VOL. 2 / NO. 33 50* SPANISH FORK, UTAH North Park hot topic at Council meeting HONOREES: Each year at the Salem Days Pageant awards are given to honor citizens who exemplify service to the community. This year the EMT of the year is Mark Johnson, below left; firefighter of the year is Mike Halladay, below right. Both received their awards from Salem Police Chief Brad James. Salem's employee of the year, honored previously, is Mike Pritchett. The Salem royalty introduced a new award this year, the Spirit of Salem. Right, Steven Crawford receives the first annual Spirit of Salem award from Brooke Christensen and Madison Mitchell. For more Salem Days coverage, see page B1-B7. Heather Campbell STAFF WRITER Namon Bills / Spanish Fork News Six Spanish Fork City Council candidates featured This is the firs! in a threepart series featuring the various candidates running for city council positions in Spanish Fork and Salem. This week's article features six of the JJ Spanish Fork candidates. Interviews by Heather Campbell, Christy Hardman and Steve Hardman, Richard Money Davis Richard Money Davis grew up in Spanish Fork and has lived here all of his life. He graduated from Spanish Fork High School, and attended Utah State University on a track and field scholarship. He has worked construction since 1977, has coached little league, pony league, and Junior Jazz Basketball for 18 years. He was president of the baseball association for a couple of years, and he also belongs to the Kiwanis club through which he has been involved with many community projects throughout the years, including improvements on the cemetery, the new sports park, It' the gun club, snack shack and the restrooms on city park. He has also been at the forefront of the Kiplyn Davis scholarship and has given out three of them. "I owe the community of Spanish Fork so much," Davis said. "I don't know how else to repay everything that has been given to us than to give back to the city in this way." Davis said he loves Spanish Fork, and wants to keep it as beautiful as it is now. "I've lived here my whole life, and this is where I'll be buried," he said. "I want to continue to keep the city beautified as we go, to keep the city clean, and well maintained." Davis said another goal he has if elected is to take care of and help protect the city employees. "I appreciate all they do, and they should be taken care of," he said. "It's important that they are properly trained in their responsibilities so that everything continues to run smoothly." Because of his love for the community, Davis feels strongly that he wants to continue to push people to serve and volunteer. He said that with the unprecedented growth Spanish Fork is experiencing, that the city needs to take a good hard look at the road system. "Roads are so important so people can get to work and back home and not have over-crowding on the streets," he said. He said parks are also essential if the people of Spanish Fork are going to maintain their ability for recreation in the city. "I know bringing new stores in is important for economic growth and to help with the tax base, but it has to be done right," he said. He also wants to make sure that the city has necessary safety features so the "children can walk the streets safely." He said it's important that people are educated on the use of water so that they can continue to have that resource available. Davis said that his message to voters would be to exercise their right to vote. "We live in a clean and beautiful place, and we need to work together to keep it that way. We need to be friendly, and mindful of each other, service-oriented, and put ourselves in others' shoes." Davis said he feels that part of what qualifies him to hold a position on the city council is his life experience. "I've lived here all my life," he said. "I've seen how Spanish Fork has grown. Those forefathers who began the city of "pride and progress" were my mentors as a child. I feel I know the needs and wants of the people, and not only that, I want to pay them back for the good service they've done my family." Davis married a Spanish Fork girl, Tamara Thomas, and has See CANDIDATES • A14 The North Park issue was once again a topic of discussion at city. council this past week where resident Kevin Payne asked the mayor if he would consider attending another town meeting in an effort to answer resident's questions regarding plans for North Park. The mayor, who personally apologized for having had a last minute scheduling conflict, was unable to attend last month's meeting, v Payne, who called the meeting "semi-successful," said that while they appreciated councilman Wadsworth accepting the invitation to come in the mayor's place, residents were disappointed not to have the opportunity to speak with the mayor directly. Payne came to the council meeting to ask the mayor if he would consider attending another one of their meetings. In' response, Mayor Thomas told Payne'that he would be more than happy to meet with residents should another meeting be set up. The mayor also noted that while the North Park Project was moving forward at this point, that he would be happy to discuss any ideas or suggestions as to what resident's would like to see in the new park and would be happy to review any feedback from the previous meeting. ThemayoralsosaidthattheNorth Park Project, "continues to move forward wonderfully," and that the council had urged developers to make an announcement on which stores would be coming into the area. The mayor also noted that the Food 4 Less property was under contract and said he was, "very happy," with what the intentions were for that area. In other news, council thanked all of the participants and volunteers who helped make this year's Fiesta Days a success. Councilman Anderson said he wanted to thank, "everyone involved," and he felt that they had done, "a tremendous job." The mayor said he received lots of positive feedback regarding this year's parade and and he was told that this year's fish rodeo, "was the best ever." Melanie Fillmore also presented a report to the city council regarding the Youth Arts Festival. Fillmore said council would be happy to know that the Arts Festival was both self sustaining, while still very affordable for community members. This year the Program grew from 12 courses to 19 and enrollment went from 150 students to approximately 490 students. Fillmore credited this year's success to their being allowed to register through the Parks and Recreations Program, and said that increased advertising and adding classes targeted at older teens made a big difference. The bids for the 2007 Asphalt overlay were awarded to Geneva Rock for the first schedule and Staker and Parsons for the second. Residents will soon be able to find more information on both which streets are being repaired and when the repair work will occur on the city's website. Councilman Leifson reminded residents of the upcoming election on September 11, 2007. There are 11 candidates running for council with three seats available. |