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Show -NEWS- Spanish Fork A8 • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2008 Covering what matters most Salem to get first stop light Mallory Byrnes STAFF WRITER Jen Allen / Spanish Fork News EXTRA MILE: Salem officer Roger Lowe and David, age nine, are all smiles SF employees honored Jen Allen STAFF WRITER In City Council this past week there were two employees praised for their hard work and dedication. Bill Bushman was named Employee of the Quarter and given sincere thanks from the entire council. Councilman Andersen talked about the many projects Bushman has worked tirelessly on and how loyal he has been to the city. Bushman had a hand in the new Justice Court building as well as in many other various projects around town. Bushman wasn't the only one being recognized however. In the past few weeks Spanish Fork lost their assistant attorney to the Fourth District Court as a judge and has now lost Richard Nielsen to the county. Nielsen started with Spanish Fork as an intern just over 10 years ago. The council congratulated him on his hard work and dedication and made it clear that he will be greatly missed by all staff at the city. During the Public Hearing portion of the meeting, Councilman Andersen excused City Planner Dave Anderson for a family emergency saying, "There are some things we have control over. Mother nature is not one of them," and then continued to wish congratulations to Andersen and his wife on their new arrival. The cities budget revision is up for the public view at http://www.Spanishfork.org. Kent Clark, the cities Financial Department Head gave a brief overview of what makes up the budget, where the money is spent and where it is generated from. Citizens interested in the details can look to the website for more information. Later on in the evening Clark went over the audit for the last year and presented the council with the findings citing that only one major problem had been found and has been remedied. One of the highlights came as a presentation was introduced by the Parks and Recreation Department. The proposal is one that may have a lot more citizens using the facilities up at the city's reservoir. The idea of putting in a zip line first attracted the Parks and Rec Department because of the success of one up at Park City. The company proposing the idea has scouted the area and found a prime location that would take riders on a 240 foot drop. The council was enthusiastic about the idea and gave permission to the Parks and Rec Department for further investigation. It was announced during Salem City Council Meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 19, that work has begun and will be completed in two weeks on a stoplight at 400 North and SR198 in Salem. "That will help the traffic at the high school and also pedestrians trying to get across the road," said Mayor Lane Henderson, Police Chief Brad James reports that the traffic situation at the high school is doing alright. Salem will also be getting a T-Mobile cell phone tower near a shed at Foothills Elementary. It is a 100 foot monopole that will be surrounded by an eight foot fence which will be constructed from clip-on slats. As such, it will not be as much of a view obstruction and will not present health concerns from R4 exposure. The proximity to the Mt. Loafer Recreation Complex and it's tall vision obstructions make the tower less of a nuisance. The tower also has the ability to add on equipment from other cell phone companies if they choose to use it. "It's the best spot to meet our coverage objective and be within the laws of the city," said a T-Mobile representa- tive. Foothills Elementary was chosen because of zoning exemptions and deals the company frequently makes with school districts. T-Mobile has about 50 towers on school grounds across the nation. The compensation will go the the Nebo School District who will then distribute it. Henderson said he wished that they had known sooner of TMobile's intentions so that the tower could be built on a ball-park with the money going to the park, but said, "They're within their right to build it... Legally, we're still bound." An ordinance amending bonding requirements for subdivisions was passed. This will change the 25 percent the developer has to give to the city in any bond to now be 15 percent paid only in cash. Camilla Simonsen, speaking as both a developer and citizen, discussed the city's higher cost for development both residentially and commercially. "The numbers make more sense to go to a neighboring community," Simonsen said, bringing up that fees are almost double that than of other cities. She has agreed to talk more with the council on how to improve the situation and make Salem more attractive to development. "I understand the need, I ^ " { ' understand the problem," said Henderson. Tom Heers request was approved. South Haven Estates subdivision is located at approximately 650 East 820 South. The ten acres will be split into three lots, with an existing home on one and two new driveways. Monty Griffiths request was also approved for a preliminary commercial subdivision at 724 WestSR-198. Russell Hillman, former mayor of Pay son, spoke to the city about signing a letter that will be sent to the Central Utah Water Conservancy District about furthering work on a hydropower plant up Diamond Fork. "Right now there's nothing going on with it and we'd like to get that going," said Hillman. The plant will be similar to the new Jordanelle plant, which was built and run by CUP that powers Heber. The plants put out five megawatts of green power. "There's just unlimited potential we could be capitalizing on," said Henderson. The letter has been signed by all other cities and Salem was the last to sign. Council member Todd Gordon was appointed a member of the Utah Valley Dispatch Special Service District, and will attend all meetings regarding that as a representative of the city. •••' brought to you by N E W S . • * ",•&•' -S .-r..".V* FORGET THE EDITOR— IT'S TIME TO WRITE LETTERS TO S A N T A C l A U S ! HE WILL BE READING AND ANSWERING LETTERS THAT KIDS SEND IN. JUST MAKE SURE YOUR LETTER IS IN BY FRIDAY DEC 5, 2008 BY NOON, YOU CAN EITHER MAIL IT TO 42 EAST 300 NORTH, SPANISH FORK, UTAH 84660 OR EMAIL IT TO SANTA@SPFORKNEWS.COM. SANTA'S ANSWERS WILL BE PUBLISHED IN THE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL SECTION ON DEC. 17, 2008 IN THE SPANISH FORK NEWS. |