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Show The Ogden Valley News September 1, 2023 Your Community Newspaper USPS MARKETING MAIL POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 11 EDEN UT POSTAL PATRON EDEN-LIBERTY-84310 HUNTSVILLE-84317 OGDEN CANYON- 84401 HCR 843AO Photo by Brian Radmall. Community Invited to Eden Sewer Infrastructure & General Plan Implementation Presentation & Open House The Ogden Valley Planning Commission will hold its regular slated Planning Commission meeting on September 26 at the Weber County Ogden Valley Branch Library located at 131 S. 7400 E. in Huntsville Town. The meeting will start with a pre-meeting at 4:30, and the regular commission meeting will begin at 5:00 p.m. Following the regularly planned Planning Commission meeting, there will be an Eden Area Sewer Infrastructure and General Plan Implementation Presentation and Open House. This meeting will start with a presentation regarding Wolf Creek Sewer infrastructure expansion into the Eden area, and how it relates to implementing Ogden Valley’s general plan. After the presentation, there will be an open house with additional information available, as well as the chance for questions and answers. The public is invited to all meetings. For more information, please contact the Weber County Planning Division office in person at the Weber Center, 2380 Washington Blvd, Suite 240 in Ogden; or call 801-3998374. Cynthia Beck of Eden captured this photo of a dragonfly. OV Incorporation Feasibility Study Moves Forward: State Awards Contract to Independent Financial Advisors In May of 2023, the state of Utah’s Lieutenant Governor’s office certified that sponsors’ petition for a feasibility study regarding the incorporation of Ogden Valley had been successful. Since the May 11 certification of the petition, the state has been working to secure a contract with an independent financial advisory company to undertake the study to analyze the viability of Ogden Valley becoming their own municipal entity independent of unincorporated Weber County. According to Entities Specialist Jordan Schwenke from the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, a purchase agreement with a contractor was awarded and signed July 25, 2023. A draft of the findings from the study is due to be completed by October 23 with the final study to be completed by November 22, 2023. According to Utah state law, the company contracted to do this study will be required to host two public hearings to announce their findings. According to a state-outlined timeframe, the first public hearing can be expected sometime in the first part of February 2024 and the second in the beginning of April 2024. With the study showing the economic viability of an independent Ogden Valley, sponsors of the incorporation effort will then proceed with a second petition, collecting signatures from Valley residents and property owners who are interested in incorporating—becoming an OV INCORPORATION cont. on page 13 Ogden Valley Emergency Communication System Organized The Huntsville Utah Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is holding a weekly “Ogden Valley Emergency Response Communications Net” every Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. on General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) Channel 18. This emergency notification option continues to provide an opportunity for neighborhoods experiencing flooding or other problems to exchange developing concerns and/or request actual assistance short of calling 911 for law enforcement or medical responses. Primary Net Control is rotated on a weekly basis among all five members of the Ogden Valley Emergency Communications Team (OVECT), who are Craig Bradford, Alan Buttars, Shawn Tuttle, Steve Clark, and Pam Mitchell (all are GMRS and CERT qualified). All residents and visitors to Ogden Valley who are properly licensed by the United States Federal Communications Commission to transmit on GMRS radios are encouraged to par- ticipate by “checking into” these Net exercises every week. When the area where you are located is announced, you may transmit your 1) First name, 2) GMRS license number, and 3) any “traffic” you might have. “Traffic” should consist of potential/actual emergency concerns or even a request for immediate emergency assistance. Otherwise, you would state “No Traffic” to conclude your radio conversation. During recognized emergency situations, GMRS Channel 18 will continue to be monitored on a 24-hour basis by a member of the OVECT until normalcy returns to the area of concern. This recently organized means of emergency communication has proved its effectiveness throughout Ogden Valley over the past several months. Please note that this special emergency radio service is also “interfaith” in its application, meaning all properly GMRS-licensed individuals are strongly encouraged to participate. Weber River Partnership Provides Update on OV Watershed Plan Last February, the Weber River Partnership (WRP), in cooperation with the Utah Division of Water Quality and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, hosted a meeting at the library in Huntsville to invite public input on nonpoint source pollution in the Ogden River watershed. The WRP received a grant from the Division of Water Quality to write a watershed plan, which is a pre-requisite to obtaining federal “319” funding to implement specific measures for reducing or eliminating nonpoint source pollution. As a result of the public commentary in February, the WRP generated a list of possible nonpoint source pollution sites in the Valley that are of concern to residents. The WRP also asked any interested residents to participate in the watershed planning advisory committee that would review the watershed plan. Three Ogden Valley residents expressed interest and have participated in the ongoing planning process. To date, the contractor writing the plan, Redfish Environmental LLC (Redfish), has been assembling and analyzing existing water quality data in order to identify what specific management practices and guidelines would most effectively reduce non-point source pollution in the watershed. Next Tuesday, August 29, Redfish will meet with the advisory committee to present its findings and solicit the committee’s suggestions and comments for what strategies and guidelines the watershed plan should contain. Based on the Advisory Committee’s input, Redfish will draft a watershed plan that suggests specific projects to reduce non-point source pollution in the watershed. Next Steps 1. By mid-September, Redfish expects to have a draft of analysis, critical areas, load calculations, and Best Management Practices (BMPs) that could be used to reduce loads, and expected (modeled) load reductions with implementation of BMPs. The draft will also provide criteria that can be used to help prioritize projects. After getting feedback from the advisory group, Redfish will develop an implémentation program and aim to have a complete draft for delivery to the advisory committee by October. Following their review, the WRP will distribute it to the public and will hold a public meeting to discuss the plan in early November. Redfish will address public comments and finalize the plan in early December. 2. The WRP will publish Redfish’s midSeptember draft watershed plan in The Ogden Valley News. At that time, residents will be invited to comment on the plan and the projects it proposes via email. Based on this public input, the WRP hopes to submit a 319 grant request for implementing a preliminary project to reduce or eliminate a specific source of nonpoint source pollution in the watershed. Ogden Valley Blood Drive Slated for October 14 The Community Foundation of Ogden Valley, CFOV, has teamed up with the Red Cross to bring regularly scheduled blood drives to Ogden Valley. The first of these Community Blood Drives is scheduled for Saturday, October 14 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Eden Park community room at the bowery. To schedule an appointment, or for more information, please visit redcrossblood.org or contact community blood drive coordinator Janet Wampler at 305-796-7778 or janet. wampler@gmail.com. Drop-in donors are also welcome. You may start the donation process by completing an online pre-donation health history questionnaire on the day of your appointment by logging in to redcrossblood.org/RapidPass. Your gift could save a life. Over 18,000 Acres Selected by Forest Service for Preservation as Part of Forest Legacy Program The U.S. Forest Service announced 18,648 acres of private forested lands in Utah will be preserved with an investment of $14.4 million as a part of the Forest Legacy Program. Funding for the projects comes from the Inflation Reduction Act, and the investment will ensure these forestlands will continue to benefit the public and surrounding communities. “The funding of these projects is an important step in protecting forest resources for the benefit of the public,” said Natalie Conlin, Forestry Legacy Program Coordinator for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands. “Each project site is in an area considered highly developable, and this investment will keep these private lands as working forests that protect water resources for downstream users and provide critical wildlife habitat.” The Forest Legacy Program identifies important forest lands threatened by conversion to non-forest use and works with private landowners to conserve them as forests forever. “These forests, which were identified by our state, tribal, and nonprofit partners as vital to local communities, are critical to the health of our planet and the livelihoods of millions of Americans,” said Forest Service Chief Randy Moore in a press release from the Forest Service. “As private forest landowners continue to face pressures to convert forests, the Forest Legacy program keeps working forests working, ensuring that the most important forested landscapes continue to provide economic and social benefits to the communities that depend on them for their lives and livelihoods.” The Forest Legacy Program is implemented through grants to states, which work with landowners to conserve strategic working forests through conservation easements or fee-simple acquisitions. The two sites selected for conservation were the Coldwater Project in Box Elder County and the Goring Forest Project in Rich County. The Coldwater Project will preserve 15,623 acres of forested land and receive $10,545,000. This project is a rare opportunity for landscapelevel conservation; it ties together an expanse of national forest system lands, a state wildlife FOREST SERVICE cont. on page 10 An Ogden Canyon accident occurred in the narrows August 18. Photo by Alicia Frenke as posted on the Ogden Valley (Eden, Huntsville, Liberty) Road Conditions’ Facebook page. |