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Show Sentinel Guardian of Your Community News WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2010 • A7 SF city council takes Woodland Heights still electrical tour of city controversial in WH Hilarie Orman Lindsay B. Wolsey Some of the existing power lines around town need to STAFF WRITER be upgraded to be capable Put members of the of handling higher power Spanish Fork City Council amounts. into a van and drive them The Maple Mountain around town and you'll dis- substation will go on-line cover that amidst the joking at the end of February. It is around important informa- a pre-fabricated substation tion was being shared. This which was built in a factowas the case on Tuesday, ry, which cost a lot less than Feb. 9, 2010 when Kelly building it on site. Peterson and Dave Oyler "It took four months to took the council on a tour get a permit to cross the of Spanish Fork's electrical train tracks with the 46,000 facilities. volt line," said Peterson. The Electrical Depart- "We had to put 80-foot ment is currently working poles in." on the budget for the next Peterson would like to year, and decided that tak- see another substation put ing the council to see the in the Leland area within current state of the city's the next few years to proelectrical facilities was vide for future growth. a good way to illustrate "The Canyon Road where the money needs to transformer blew a few years ago," Peterson said. goSeveral of the city's elec- "Luckily, Springville had trical substations are in need one they weren't using and of remodeling or upgrades. we were able to buy it. We got it on-line before June when our power usage picks up." The Canyon Road station's switch racks need to be replaced. The switches do not open like they should. This repair is currently in the budget, but may be put off due to more pressing needs. "In a nutshell, what kind of shape are we in?" asked Councilman Rod Dart. "We're OK, but we need to start looking down the road at projects three to four years down the road, and how we're going to fund them," Peterson said. "You need to review impact fees to make sure they are accurate," Oyler added. Budget sessions will start in March. The Electrical Department plans to start prioritizing its needs prior to those meetings. STAFF WRITER Whither the Woodland Heights Development in Woodland Hills? The result of the city council meeting in Feb. 10 was to approve the amended plat plan that removes a few lots and changes the road slightly. The thread by which the agreement survives remains in place for another four and half months by virtue of an extension given by the Planning Commission in December. Council member Bob Fisher expressed incredulity at the fact that the Planning Commission had the authority to grant extensions to the developer agreement. He noted that the Planning Commission is not a party to the agreement and wondered how they had the authority to change its deadlines. City attorney Harold Mitchell said that he too found it astonishing. Mitchell has been involved in interpreting that section of the city's subdi- vision ordinance for more than a year. He told the planning commission in April that they could grant more than one extension. Information about the extension was communicated to the city council via email to the city recorder, but it was not explicitly forwarded to the city council because the city had made an administrative decision to avoid email that might lead to discussion. The council resolved to change the city ordinances so that any further requests for extension would have to receive city council approval. Public hearings will be scheduled as soon as possible. The Woodland Heights developers told the planning commission in 2007 that they would need to charge $250K per lot in order to recoup expenses. Mayor Steve Lauritzen said that their expectations were now considerably less. There was no explanation of how this would affect their ability to comply with improvements and payments to the city, should the development ever proceed. Steve Carter requested that the city look into possible ordinance violations concerning several acres on the city's east side, where an extensive deer fence surrounds cleared property. Lauritzen said he would report to the council at its next meeting. Council member Byron Adams was present for the first time this year, having returned from his annual nematode research jaunt in Antartica. He joined council member Jerry Johnson and council member Wendy Pray in a 3-2 vote approving Keith Crandall as a planning commission member. Council member Steve Carter and Bob Fisher objected to the appointment because Crandall is a direct supervisor to Johnson and Adams at BYU's biology department. Sheryl DeHart will be the city's new planning commission secretary and deputy recorder. Scouts at The Sentinel Lindsay B. Wolsey / Tlie Sentinel THE CITY ELECTRIC: Spanish Fork city council members took a guided tour of the city's electrical infrastructure. Health Exchange: From HEALTH • A l employees whose employers are a part of the exchange can join those fund and have $900 to put toward health insurance. "It a great opportunity and a has great potential for options," said Seth Perrins, assistant city manager. "It's a cool concept that's not mandated or public option. It's a new way to think about health insurance." The city was approached because in the past they have been very progressive with health insurance options. Several years ago, when Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) came out, Spanish Fork was the first government entity to select that option, which turned out to be a huge win for both the city and its employees. While there was some hesitancy at first, employees quickly saw the benefits of the plan. And the hope is that this new exchange will only broaden those options. The best part of the invitaion to join in the health exchange is that there is no immediate need to participate. Within the next few months, the program will collect some of the history necessary to compile rates for the city. Then, around October, employees will be able to look at the rates and the city will decide if this is something they want to participate in. Last August, when the first test round with small business went through, not many employers used the exchange because they found that rates were too high. With that feedback from the companies, the exchange went forward working on being a more affordable option. Now, with large companies in the mix, the exchange will yet again get to see if employers are wanting to utilize their program. The city will be able to jump into the program as soon as January 2011, but they could wait until June 2011 if they elected to. Whether the city does or doesn't actually participate is yet to be seen, but it is certain that the exchange will go on with better feedback and input should the city go forward or step away. Citizens interested in seeing how the Utah Health Exchange works can log onto exchange.utah.gov and also shop around. Namon Bills / The Sentinel NEWSIES: Cub Scouts from the Red Pines Ward, Pack 1526, visited The Sentinel Wednseday, Feb. 10. Pictured, front row, left to right, are Tristan Davis, Matt Muhlestein, Aaron Silva and Zachary Brown; back row, Sam Christmas, Stephen Adams, Brandon Wilson, Duncan Rowbury and Tyler Brown. Salem Library American Legion: Richard and his wife, Margie, have been married 62 years and have seven was wounded and captured children, 36 grandchildren by the Germans. He spent 95 and 80 great-grandchildren, days as a prisoner of war. He with two on the way. Also during the meeting, was liberated by the Allies and was in Paris on V-E Day the American Legion heard to celebrate winning the war a report from Joe Ashton, one of five high school sein Europe. From BANKS • A l niors who attended Boys State last summer. Ashton expressed gratitude for the veterans, both for their service and for their sponsorship of Boys State. He said Boys State was a good opportunity for him to meet new people and to leam about government. Kayla Neves / Tlie Sejitinel OLYMPIC: Salem Library held a "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" party to celebrate the opening of the movie on Friday, Feb. 12. There were prizes for best costumes, and for the winners of the trivia games. Visitors also enjoyed "nectar and ambrosia" as they anticipated the start of the movie. Pictured above is Cade Richardson as Achilles. |