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Show Comment Itevicw - Wednesday, November 1, 1989 - Page 2 Area voters should say yes' to UTA proposition The Utah Transit Authority has developed a mass transit package for North Utah County that meets the area's needs and more. When local voters stand in the voting booth next Tuesday, they should vote for the transit proposition. The evolution of the mass transit proposal has been fascinat-ing -- - and offers a lesson for other government agencies in how to involve the public in decisions that are important to them. At each of four workshops, all comers were invited to provide their own proposed bus route. Those attending offered sugges-tions as to important stops. Mayor David Holdaway of Pleasant Grove offered a two-rout- e proposal which was eventually adopted by the UTA planners. All comments were welcome. All suggestions were important. And while the public watches, the proposed bus routes took shape before their eyes drawn on an overhead transparency with a felt tip pen. Everyone was given a chance to speak - and most had something to say. And they were heard. For proof, just look at the brochure UTA will mail to you in the next few days. The brochures were prepared before the workshops, when the UTA planners had to come up with proposals to meet publishing deadlines. Hut the proposed Pleasant Grove-America- n Fork loop shown in the brochure is quite different from what will be offered - with the changes based on local preferences. The UTA proposal as it now stands favors frequency over coverage - with more buses in mornings and evenings, when traffic is busy, and fewer during the middle of the day - because that's what we asked for. It provides residential service for Pleasant Grove which was not originally considered by the planners. The route also passes by most of the important areas named by those attending the workshops. The routes aren't set in concrete, and can be changed if needed. And final timetables have yet to be set. But from last week's public hearing, it is obvious that UTA is offering north Utah County more bus service that we could have hoped for our one-quart- of one percent sales tax increase. Also, the price of bus service is right. Local service is 50 cents - with transfers. Express service will cost $1.25. Passes are available for both. For senior citizens or the handicapped, all service is 25 cents. The service can be offered that low because sales tax will increase one quarter of one percent to pay for UTA service. The tax we pay will remain in the area - since the amount f we are getting has been determined by the anticipated generated by the sales tax increase. revenue The tax increase amounts to 25 cents for every $100 But adequate mass transit is worth the price The IIT' offering a service that expands our options. It will n is final link in UTA service along the Wasatch Front S?e service available from Ogden to Provo. ' Us It will particularly be a boon for the elderly and the h capped, as well as teens who don't have access to a car It's not free -- - and the sales tax increase and federal sub 'H' will pay for about 80 percent of the cost of our bus sy stein But mass transit has always been viewed as a lerit' service provided by government and funded by the pubH simply because it improves the quality of life for the many wh don't have access to private transportation. 0 UTA's planners have made a tremendous effort to meet needs of north Utah County, as those needs have been defined b' north Utah County residents. And to a large degree thedann have succeeded. A "Yes" vote on the Transit Proposition in next Tuesday' election will be a step forward for our area and the UTA. Resident lists reasons for opposing UTA proposition By JEFF WEST I like Pleasant Grove, I really do. Both my wife and I have roots here that go back a long way. We bought the house my grandfather built and decided to raise our chil-dren here because we like this small, quiet, peaceful community. We can walk to the park or to the high school and play some ball, or to the junior high school to watch the kids play soccer. I can plant a garden if I want or just sit on the porch and talk with my wife and neighbors. It is a nice place to live. I believe the proposed busses would change this community and I don't think it would be for the better. Just the idea of a mass transit system conjures up images of the crowed urban sprawl (kind of akin to Orem). Even the words "mass transit" seems to leave you without an identity or the personableness that is Pleasant Grove. I have listed a few of my con-cerns here and think they are basic to the quality of life we enjoy. 1. Congestion, noise, pollution-Bringin- g buses to Pleasant Grove will add to our traffic and conges-tion problems. One route proposed by the UTA brings the busses through the most congested inter-sections in Pleasant Grove, 200 South and 100 East and 200 South and 300 East. The high school is on 200 South and most all the residential traffic coming in out of Pleasant Grove uses these two intersections on 200 South. Particularly in the morn-ings and in the afternoons thecars, trucks and school buses are backed up for block or more at these inters-ections. Bus routes should be chosen that will ease the traffic problems in our communities not make them worse. Not only will the buses add to the congestion at these intersec-tions but the buses are large, noisy and unsightly. They do not blend in well into the community. The large buses should not be driven through the residential areas of our com-munity. It would change our quiet peaceful community. A better choice in our small communities would be to use smaller buses or vans that could service the needs of the community without disrupting the life style we all en-joy. The existing buses have two stroke diesel engines. The sooty diesel engine exhaust is one of the contributors to our valley's air pol- - : lution problem. The small smoky particles in the exhaust contrib utes to health problems in three ways, (1) respiratory diseases be-cause of the damage to lung tissue, (2) the bodies immune system is weakened which makes it harder to fight off diseases like viral infec-tions (colds and flu) and bacterial infections (strep and pneumonia), and (3) increased risk of cancer. The UTA is presently investi-gating the possibilities of using natural gas to fuel their buses. Natural gas burns a lot cleaner than diesel or gasoline without adding to our valley's air pollution problem. We should require that any new bus systems that are es-tablished in our valley use natural gas engines that would not add to our valley's pollution problems. 2. Increased taxes. (75 percent of costs for bus service is financed by taxes) The measure requires a quarter of 1 percent sales tax increase. The proposal also requires both Ameri-can Fork and Pleasant Grove ap-prove the measure. The UTA will not provide service to Lindon and Lehi ifPleasant Grove or American Frk vote against the measure even, if Lindon or Lehi approve the measure. The estimated revenues from the Lindon, Pleasant Grove, American Fork and Lehi area are about $410,000. This is money we will be paying whether we use the buses or not. Since we will be the one's paying for the bus service we should be the one's to decide how they will best serve our community. As it is now, we are only voting for bus service and the tax increase. The routing of the buses will be determined afterwards by the UTA, not the citizens. The cost of riding the bus is also quite high. The average cost per rider, according to UTA figures, is about $2. So, for a 50 cent fare, the taxpayer is chip-ping in another $1.50. 3. UTA is unresponsive to citi-zens needs and inputs- - The UTA makes the decisions about routes and the level of serv-ice and are not responsible to the communities they serve. At the Pleasant Grove public meeting, citizen inputs were to keep the buses of 200 South, particularly away from the intersections of 200 South and 300 East, and 200 South and 100 East,, they are just to congested and dangerous. Even Mayor David Holdaway's proposed routes avoided these inter-sections and avoided traveling too much along 200 South, When the UTA presented their proposed routes they ignored the citizens inputs and routed the buses right up 200 South. The voting public will not decide the routes or even be allowed to approve or disapprove routes. Routes and times are to be decided after the election by the UTA. Since we are payingfor the service we should be the ones deciding what routes and what level of service we want. 4. The buses are too big-- The big buses are just too big and intrusive into our quiet com-munity. The UTA has smaller buses, in fact they brought one to the public meeting in Pleasant Grove. A smaller bus would serve our smaller communities and especially the residential areas much better. They would provide the needed service without intruding into our life style. But when asked if the UTA would use the smaller buses in the residential area, the UTA said they 'could not commit to something like that, that's a deci-sion that would have to be made by the board of directors after the election.' The large buses are alright on the major highways like State Street but in our quiet residential com-munities we need the smaller buses. And we need to know what we are going to get before we vote and not just get what they give us, which will probably be the from the Provo-Ore- system. Our communities cannot stand to have the large buses driving through our residential area. The smaller buses are critical and we must have the commitment from UTA before the election not just hop the UTA will do the right thins after. 5. Children's safety- - The proposed UTA bus route in Pleasant Grove makes a loop around Central Elementary School. Ce-ntral Elementary School is a wal-king school. The children would be walking or riding their bikes to and from school, crossing the proposed bus route in the mornings and in the afternoons when the proposed UTA buses were most frequent. My children walk to Central Elementary School, crossing 200 South and 300 East. I worry about them and the traffic everyday. To have the buses loop around the elementary school frequently, ev-eryday, would add an unnecessary risk to them. I don't feel we should sacrifice the safety of our children for the perceived convenience of a bus system. I like the quiet, peaceful, life style that is Pleasant Grove, to bring buses to the area would change it. Please, let's keep the Tleasant' in Pleasant Grove. Vote no to the proposed UTA bus system. Here's looking ahead to winning teams p.g. blab Whatever the case, maybe we could blame it on the Hawaiian sunshine, the Hawaiian fans, the Hawaiian time zone, the Hawaiian beaches, the Hawaiian winds, the Hawaiian weather. Or perhaps the best choice is to blame it on the Hawaiian football team who really came out to play ball and you got to admit that eve-rything good went their way. I liked the comment of the Hawaii coach after the game when he said that, They (BYU) aren't really that bad and we aren't really that good." He is right but that is little consolation at 2 a.m. when you kept thinking all night that any time BYU was going to catch hold and really blast them. Actually, the only consolation I had was that, thanks to the change from Daylight Savings Time, it was not really as late as the clock said and we could sleep an hour later in the morning. Since the Cubs, Giants and Vikings did not go all the way this fall, lets hope that the Cougars do finish the season with a flair and get to go to the Holiday Bowl. Here's to winning! By MARCELLA WALKER OK, I am going to throw in the towel, I guess. First of all, I cheered for the Chicago Cubs to win their league pennant. They didn't. Then I cheered for the Giants. They lost the first two games and then the earthquake struck. When the World Series resumed, the Giants promptly lost both games. It was over in four. Good old Pleasant Grove High School, who so gallantly went into the battles of the 4-- ranks, ended up not getting to go to the state playoffs for the first time in a long time. They would probably have gone to state if they had been left in 3-- So then to top it off, my Cougars from BYU rolled over and played dead in Hawaii last Saturday night. I know I shouldn't moan about all this because it isn't but just a game. That's true, football is just a game. Someone told me that once. Coach Edwards said they would put it behind them and go on and win the wars and forget about it. Utah has not forgotten that they beat us last year in an upset and you can bet your life that Hawaii is not going to forget their shellack-ing of the Cougars in 1989. As I was talking to K.A. Driggs the other day, he is a fellow Cougar game was over and the players were questioned by the reporters, that they all took the blame for losing the game individually? It seems strange that they all came out flat. You could expect maybe one or two players to be flat but for the whole team to be is weird. Someone said it is like a virus that spreads like wildfire from one player to another. Maybe so. Pleasant Grove High School had a good excuse. I noticed at the PG-Ore- m game that their players were about twice the size of ours. Orem has been a 4-- team for several years now. They are a very big school, close to twice as big as PG, enrollment-wise- . I'm not sure whether the Giants had a good excuse. Oakland suf-fered the same trauma of the earth-quake that San Francisco did. Oakland had better pitching, obvi-ously, and a lot better hitting. I haven't figured out BYU's ex-cuse for a poor showing. I can understand the confusion of the offense and the forma-tions that really strung the Cou-gars out, but I know they have good coaches and the coaches would soon have figured out the remedy for these problems. Perhaps, the team just couldn't execute the changes for some reason. fan who takes losses even harder than I do, he said that the only high spot of the BYU-Hawa- ii game was the halftime where they talked to the BYU basketball team about their upcoming season. He is probably right. Ofcourse, BYU has a good chance, because they really are a good foot-ball team they just forgot to come to play ball last Saturday night, of taking the conference champion-ship and going to the Holiday Bowl. I really hope they do. We had been discussing a trip to San Diego for this game if BYU makes it. Did you notice that after the Valley Center Playhouse Continued from front page ter owners would have liked more because they already invite the adult handicapped in for dress rehearsal performances which total eight a year. They also give special per-formances for groups when asked. However, they agreed to abide by the Planning Commission's rec-ommendation. The city felt that for the conven-ience of neighbors, the exterior lights should be out at the theater at a decent time. Mr. Renstrom said that they have been turning the lights out by 10: 15 p.m. but starting in January they will begin the plays at 7:30 p.m. instead of 8 p.m. and this will help them to be able to get the lights out earlier. Liability insurance was dis-cussed. The Renstroms said that they have $100,000 per incident insurance. Randy Childs, Planning Commission Chairman, said that he would suggest a minimum of $500,000. The Renstroms said that they had talked with the immediate neighbors to the theater and they were supportive of the theater and the owners. One neighbor had been concerned about the lights beingon late, and he had been assured that they would turn the lights off early. The owners were told that Li-ndon City contracts with the Plea-sant Grove Police and Fire Depa-rtments and any matters relating to public safety must be handled through them. It was stipulated that the con-ditional use permit for the theater, like all conditional use permit will come up for review annualty but as long as it complies with city codes it should not pose a problem. The theater has 45 days in whicn to complete any of the requirements for the permit, the Planning Co-mmission said. Much of the discussion was handled by Lindon City Attorney David H. Shawcroft and the.W Strom's representative Craig Mc- Allister. Cedar Hills mayor, councilmen unopposed ! November 7th Municipal Election ?oo ttorih i 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. I POLLING PLACE j i District 1 Grovecrest Elementary I District 2 Grovecrest Elementarj J District3 Grovecrest Elementary l District 4 Community Center D'rstrict5 Community Center m' District 6 Community Center District8 Community Center i Where to vote in PG x" ) &Z J Pleasant Grove, Ut I noo worth J Community Center T 1 ioo East 200 Son I Pleasant Grove, U J L , 0 i 0 t'" 200 North ' !Jf S 100 North J" C'""' u i J V y f i Pleasant Grove 0 j sr 0 Paul Fox is the sole announced candidate for mayor in Cedar Hills and the two candidates for town council, Jean Peasley and Paul Snively, are both running unop-posed. Outgoing mayor, Greg Harris and council members Bill Bule and Wayne Robison have decided not to run for reelection. The holdover council members, are Marcus Memmott and Richard Stevenson. Paul Fox, who retired from General Electric Co. as an Inven-tory Control Specialist after 30 years, has lived in Cedar Hills since 1986. He was born, reared and edu-cated in Virginia. He studied ac-counting in high school and at LaSalle University. He served eight years in the military. Paul served one year in the Vir-ginia State Police before deciding not to pursue this as a career. He has held many positions in the LDS Church including bishop, stake mission president, stake high councilman, and counselor in the district presidency. Paul said he is running for mayor because he has a dream... .a dream of a beautiful, well kept little town. "A Garden of Eden in the moun-tains of Utah. We have the view, the location, and above all, thekind of people to bring this about," Paul noted. He said he can see sidewalks and gutters and streets without weeds. He can see vacant lois with-out trash and weeds in them. He added that he can see a Town Hall where the citizens can gather to discuss town business. "I see a beautiful park that is useful to all age groups with trees and picnic areas," he explained. "I see level ground where the lagoons now stand. I see grass, flowers and trees at the east entrance. I see well kept lawns and houses. I see a lighted town where anyone can walk unafraid," he concluded. He hopes these same goals be-long to all of the residents of Cedar Hills. Jean, her husband, George, and their six children have lived in Cedar Hills since 1984. She is the daugh-ter of Marvin and Ruby Hurd of Pleasant Grove. She graduated from Granite High School in Salt Lake City. She said that basically she is not politically minded, but she feels that maybe she can help Cedar Hills become more unified as en-tire town and not just within the Cedar Hills Ward church bounda-ries. Jean has worked on the Cedar Hills Town Celebration the past three years. She has attended, fre-quently, the town council meetings every since she moved here, espe-cially in the past three years. See Cedar Hills Page 3 |