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Show Salt Lake City UT 84124-1550 T H E O N E T H A T ' S R E ^ ^ Hie Spanish Fork J L L VOL. 4 / NO. 17 O C A L L Y O W N E D A N D O P E R A T E D WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2009 50tf SPANISH FORK, UTAH NEW JeL Namon Bills / Spanish Fork News MAKING A CASE: Eldon Neves addresses the county commissioners at the meeting on April 22. CRU meets with County Namon Bills / Spanish Fork News GROUND-BREAKING: Pictured, left to right, at the site of the new North Park are Mayor Joe Thomas and City Councilmen Wayne Andersen, Jens Nielsen, Steve Leifson, Richard Davis and Rod Dart. City begins construction on new ps Namon Bills EDITOR On Friday, April 24, Spanish Fork City held a press conference on the former — and future — site of North Park. The city announced that construction will begin this week on the new North Park. Originally, Westfield Developers, who will handle development of the adjacent commercial area, were planning to oversee construction of the park as well, but the city has assumed responsibility for the park, with Ryan Baum as construction manager. "It worked better for the city to take over the park phase of the project," said City Engineer Richard Heap. Heap said he was involved in the construction of the original North Park about 30 years ago, and is excited to help with the new North Park. "This new park will be a great asset to Spanish Fork City," he said. Heap explained that six phases of construction have been identified and will be put up for bid. SunRoc has already won the bid for the initial phase. Heap said a timeline show- NORTH PARK RELOCATION Courtesy graphic FUTURE PLANS: This rendering shows plans for the future North Park. ing the various aspects of the project, when they will be bid and when they will be completed, will be available at the city offices. The projected completion date for the park is April Director of Parks and Recreation Dale Robinson gave some statistics on the park and spoke about some See PARK • A6 2010. Arbor Day 2009 Namon Bills EDITOR Over 100 citizens from Palmyra, Benjamin and Lake Shore crowded into the County Commission Chambers in Provo on April 22 to present their case against the proposed relocation of the solid waste transfer station from Springville to Palmyra. Dozens more filled the lobby outside the room as a show of support to Citizens for Rural Utah (CRU), which was organized to "preserve [their] farmland and [their] lifestyles," according to their website, www.citizens4ruralutah.org. Eldon Neves, who heads CRU, presented the argument for the reversal of the decision made Dec. 9, 2008 which rezoned the area in question from RA-5 (rural/ agricultural) to PF (public facilities). Neves said he and other Palmyra residents received no notice of the meeting in which the decision was made, and therefore were not represented that evening. He said CRU has grown to represent a large constituency both within and outside of Utah County. "CRU started with a handful of neighbors in a living room. We now represent hundreds of people throughout Utah," Neves said. Over the course of the two-hour meeting, several presenters offered arguments against the PF zoning and plans to move the transfer station from its current location. Attorney Rod Rivers presented some potential legal issues regarding the rezoning of the land, which had been in an Agricultural Protection Area (APA). He said it appeared that because the land was part of an APA, written permission needed to be obtained both from the property owner and those indirectly impacted within the APA before the rezoning could occur. "The rezone was invalid because it was done contrary to statute," he said. Hayden Dain, Shirl Stewart and Laura Carter all addressed the ever-present issue of economics. According to Dain's calculations, the county would incur "$263,000 in additional costs per year just to move [the transfer station] 2.5 miles west." Stewart questioned the viability of putting the transfer station on Highway 77, which he called "a glorified dike" because of the high water table near Utah Lake. He also cited the bicyclists who use the road and See CRU • A6 Rural residents oppose rezone Jeril Bills STAFF W R I T E R Namon Bills / Spanish Fork News CELEBRATING 10 YEARS: Spanish Fork City held their Arbor Day celebration Friday, April 24 at the Spanish Fork Cemetery. Bill Bushman announced that this is the 10th consecutive year that Spanish Fork has been named a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation. Seven classes from Park Elementary, representing second, fourth and sixth grades, presented a program of poetry and songs. Rod Dart and Richard Davis of the Spanish Fork City Council shared some remarks, and then everyone participated in planting 12 maple trees at the cemetery. Pictured, above left, Bill Bushman presents a certificate to Erin Cook, first place winner in the poetry contest. Pictured above right, Park student Kiarra Placnceai helps plant one of the trees. } Paul Southam and Cole Cannon want to build a town in the Lake Shore/ Benjamin area, and a lot of the residents there aren't happy about it. "We don't want this in our neighborhood. If somebody wants to live in a city, let them go live in a city," said Denine Jensen. "This is not what we bought out here for." Southam *s proposal to re-zone 75 acres in the area from agricultural to residential was brought before the Utah County Planning Commission on Tuesday, April 21,2009. He wants to develop the land in between 75 acres recently approved for re-zoning for developer Cole Cannon and an existing subdivision on the other side. Cannon and Southam plan to eventually create a small town from the project. A handful of residents showed up to voice opposition to the proposal, though they claim the county failed to notify them about the meeting. They found out about the meeting from Helena Thomas, who lives in the community and has been keeping a close watch on development issues in the county. She learned about the meeting by contacting the county directly. Despite the residents' claims, however, Utah County Community Development Director Jeff See RURAL • A6 |