Speaking Personally

Snow

2009-12-04T14:14:00.000-07:00

"Snow is falling, snow on snow . . ."
(Christina Rosetti)

Today's Daily Herald announced a welcome piece of news, very welcome in light of the week's snow forecast: American Fork has new snow removal equipment. Quoting from the article:

"We bought more snowplow blades for one- and two-ton trucks," said Director of Public Works Howard Denney. "Some are for the parks, several more for the streets department. We will have those available to work on cul-de-sacs and other areas."

Mayor Thompson explained further:

"We've decided to use some of our existing equipment that we use for regular public works projects, like backhoes and front end loaders," he said. "They are not designed particularly for snow removal, but are still very capable for areas that we can't get in with big trucks. I think that's an example of how we're making the best use of our current resources."

This is good news, an appropriate response in a tight budget year to the challenges of 2008, when snowfalls came so hard and fast that City crews working continuously could keep only the major arteries open, when one of the City's snow plows went out of commission, and when too many residential streets and cul-de-sacs froze before they could be plowed.

As 2009 descends to its wintry close, here are a few facts to keep in mind about the City's snow removal policy.

It is NOT City policy to plow every street. Streets are plowed in order of precedence: Arterials first, then collectors, then as many residential streets and cul-de-sacs as can be done before the snow freezes.
It is a violation of City ordinance to park any vehicle on any street or cul-de-sac from November 1 to March 31 between the hours of 12:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. and ANY TIME THERE IS SNOW IN THE STREET.
The City's insurance company generally does not pay for damage incurred to vehicles due to icy roads or piled snow. Let the driver beware.

If you think we have it bad in American Fork, be glad we don't live farther north. Quoting from the April 2008 edition of Better Roads:

Large cities such as Montreal or Ottawa spend huge snow-removal budgets. Montreal, for instance, gets nearly 100 inches of snow in an average year and spends more than $128-million Canadian dollars to take care of it.

Toronto's budget exceeds $5 million a year.

The whole of Canada spends more than a billion dollars a year on snow removal.

Individual storms rack up big bills. Ottawa spent $3 million in one day last December to remove almost 15 inches of snow that fell overnight.

Montreal spent $20 million cleaning up a 14-inch snow that covered the island. The city had about 44 inches of snow by the end of December 2007, with more on the way. . .

In cities with so much snow there is no place to put it, a snow-melting vehicle may be used. This scoops snow into a melting pot in a tank at the rear of the plow. A smaller tank of boiling water melts the snow, which is discharged into storm drains.

Other cities haul off the excess snow, dumping if ino an ocean or lake, if one is nearby.

I'm not sure which makes me grumpier, the snow itself (I'm too old and too cold to see the magic any more), or the cost of its removal. But after reading about Canada, I've decided to start counting blessings instead of snowflakes.

Residents may now read American Fork's parking and snow removal policy for themselves by following this link. (Kudos to City staff for making the municipal code the newest addition to the City Web site!)

Thought for the Day

2009-11-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

Freedom is not only a gift, but also a summons to personal responsibility. Americans know this from experience -- almost every town in this country has its monuments honoring those who sacrificed their lives in defense of freedom, both at home and abroad. The preservation of freedom calls for the cultivation of virtue, self-discipline, sacrifice for the common good, and a sense of responsibility towards the less fortunate. It also demands the courage to engage in civic life and to bring one's deepest beliefs and values to reasoned public debate.

In a word, freedom is ever new.

-- Pope Benedict XVI. Remarks made on the White House Lawn, April 15, 2008.

Qtd. in Liberty: A Magazine of Religious Freedom, a publication of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, September/October 2008 edition.

Water Rates Explained

2009-11-13T14:57:00.001-07:00

There have been notices, newspaper articles, newsletter blurbs, and public open houses, but the thing we've seen most of, with respect to the new water rates, is confusion. To the many explanations that have been given I add my own, hoping that adding another viewpoint will help to increase understanding.

Disclaimer: Views expressed here at the blog are my personal views and do not represent the official position of the City. Though I try my best to be accurate, you should not act on any information you read here without first confirming it through the PI hotline at 801-763-5281.

If your house is the typical American Fork household, sitting on a quarter-acre lot, your water bill should increase to about $30 per month. You are already paying this increase if pressurized irrigation (PI) has already come to your house. If not, you will begin to pay the increase starting NEXT MONTH with your December 2009 water bill.

If your house is not the typical American Fork household, but you live on a large lot or you are a business owner or an agricultural user, yours is a special case and I will explain your rates separately.

What is the breakdown of the increase? Users who connect to the PI system will now be subject to two rate schedules. Culinary (aka indoor, potable) water will be billed at $14 for the first 6,000 gallons. This is the base rate. After the first 6,000 gallons, the charge will be $2 per thousand gallons up to 8,000 gallons, $2.50 per thousand up to 10,000, $3 per thousand up to 12,000 gallons, and $3.31 per thousand for all amounts above 12,000 gallons. This is a sliding scale that encourages conservation of culinary water and discourages its use out of doors.

That's the first $14.

Irrigation water (aka outdoor, pressurized, PI, or secondary), is optional. However, culinary overage charges will encourage most users to opt for a PI connection so they can afford to water their lawns. PI will be billed not according to usage but lot size. The PI rate is $14 per month (the base rate) for lots up to 9,000 square feet (about .20 acres) with an additional charge of $0.001750 per square foot per month for any area over 9,000.

That's another $14, for a total of $28.

Add an extra $2 for culinary overages or a larger lot size, and the typical monthly water bill adds up to $30. This is a significant increase, very significant, but it is offset, at least in part, by the fact that if you connect to PI you will no longer pay overage rates for your summertime outdoor water.

This still leaves a few questions.

Why is this increase taking effect for my household when PI water is not yet available to me? Most households are already paying the increase, but a few are still waiting for construction to pass their house this month. If this is your household, you will not begin paying the $14 PI rate until you connect to the PI system. However, you will begin paying the new culinary rate on your December water bill. The new culinary rate took effect city-wide on November 1, with the first payment coming due on December 1. This is in accordance with City ordinance, which was structured this way (1) because November coincides with the completion date for construction, and (2) so that the City can begin making payments on the bonds without assessing higher property tax rates.

If you are considering delaying your connection to the PI system so that you can delay paying PI rates until spring, please keep in mind that you must connect within six months of your eligibility. After six months, you will be charged a hook-up fee of $250.

Why must I pay PI rates year-round when the system is only operational from April 15 to October 15? This is the City's version of an equal-pay plan. For most residents, it is more affordable to pay a lower rate year-round than a higher rate for six months of the year.

What is the water rate refund credit? Many residents were switched over to the new culinary rates last summer, but did not understand the impact and continued to water their yards with culinary water. Others attempted to connect to PI but were stalled because of weather or because contractors were unavailable. Whatever the reason, many residents accumulated punishing overage charges of hundreds of dollars before they realized the problem. The City Council voted to refund these overages, reasoning that (1) culinary overages were not built into the revenue model, and that (2) the revenue model is based on an 85 percent connection rate to PI city-wide. In essence, this refund was planned as an incentive to encourage more residents to connect to PI.

The refund was carefully structured so that residents would be credited as though they had been paying PI rates all along, and thus would have no advantage over those who did connect in a timely manner. It is available only to those households who connect to PI by December 1, 2009. If you did not pay punishing culinary overage rates over the summer, the refund would not apply to your household.

What are rates for large lot sizes? If your lot is larger than one acre, you may request and pay for the purchase and installation of a water meter. Then your PI water will be billed at the rate of $14 for usage up to 8,000 gallons, with a progressively increasing scale for usage above that threshhold. Your culinary water rates will be the same as those for the rest of the city.

What are rates for business owners? Actually, rates for business are the very same as for residents. However, because most businesses use water on behalf of many hundreds of consumers, they are certain to exceed the 6,000 gallon base rate. Hence their increase is far greater than $30 per month. This inequity was not foreseen when the original rate structure was passed. When its impact first began to be felt, the city council voted to flatten the culinary rate structure for usage above 12,000 gallons. This provided some relief to businesses; I only hope the measure will prove sufficient to keep them open and well supplied with water.

What are rates for agricultural users? Agricultural users who own at least one irrigation share per acre of land and who qualify under three other provisions of the ordinance will be assessed $1 per share per month for PI water. (This fee is in addition to assessments made by the irrigation company.) Culinary rates will be the same as those for the rest of the city.

Why do we have to pay such high rates for water in American Fork? It's not pretty, it's not fair, and it's not cheap. There's nothing I can say to make you or me feel better about the situation. But the sad fact is, if the City had installed pressurized irrigation in 1994, when the need was first predicted, it would have cost only $9 million. That's $40 million in savings , which would have translated to an eighty percent savings over the new water rates.

The lesson? Deferring major infrastructure expenses does not pay. It's a lesson we do well to heed as we consider more of our City's pressing needs including road maintenance and public safety.

Four More Years

2009-11-03T22:55:00.000-07:00

My heartfelt thanks to all who voted and volunteered! Tonight I am announcing victory with results as follows:

Mayor

James Hadfield 2194
Heber Thompson 1380

City Council

Marc Ellison 1776
Jess Green 924
Dale Gunther 2000
Heidi Rodeback 2295

I am looking forward to four more years of dialogue and cooperation with you as we work together for the kind of city we all want to live in.

My Stump Speech

2009-10-30T17:01:00.000-06:00

Now that the last of the meet-the-candidate events is over, I'm posting my stump speech here for those who weren't able to attend. Like a basic black suit, this is a mix-and-match piece which was excerpted as necessary to fit the various time limits at the various venues.

= = = = = = = = = =

Four years ago, I ran for city council saying I wanted to see American Fork provide a neighborly experience for our children and families, with all that entails—parks, ballfields, safe routes to school, a mix of cultural and recreational offerings, and the preservation of our beautiful neighborhoods . Underpinning this vision, I said, was the need for strong leadership and careful attention to finance, planning, management, and economic growth.

These last four years, I have been hard at work on this vision, and I believe the need for strong leadership and planning has never been more important than it is now.

Road maintenance has been deferred far too long. Public safety continues to be priority one, and the City must commit to paying for top quality police, fire, and ambulance protection. These are costly but essential priorities. With careful planning, the City can provide for these needs without overwhelming the taxpayer's wallet and still have a little money left over for quality of life.

If there's one theme of my campaign I want you to understand, it is the great importance I place on long-range planning. Long-range planning would have seen pressurized irrigation completed in 1994, when it was first considered, for a total price tag of $9 million dollars. That's $40 million cheaper than the $48.95 of the 2006 pressurized irrigation bond, which translates to an 80 percent savings over today's water rates. Long-range planning in the coming years is the only way we can prevent this from happening again. It's the only way American Fork can get out of debt and provide for road maintenance without overburdening the tax payer.

There isn't time at an event like this for me to tell you everything that's in my heart. Please, I hope you will visit my Web site at http://www.heidiforcouncil.com/ to learn more about my platform. Let’s talk more tonight before you go home. And you already know you can call or email me at any time. I am always happy to listen.

For tonight, let me make you a fistful of promises.

1. I promise, for the next four years, to prioritize our city’s most pressing needs, which in my opinion are road maintenance, public safety, and long-range planning.
2. I promise to remember that I must pay the same taxes I ask you to pay. When this is a hardship on you, it is a hardship on me.
3. I promise to listen to both sides of any issue, to keep an open mind while I listen, and to analyze the numbers and their consequences carefully.
4. I promise to be available to you. You already know that you can call me on the phone, write me a letter, email me, or stop me at the library or the grocery store, and I will respond. I love hearing from you, and I always follow through.
5. Finally, I promise to continue my advocacy of the quality of life issues that make this the kind of city we all want to live in.

You can trust me when I make these promises because this is what I have been doing for the past four years. It's what I did for years before that when I was volunteering for the City, and it's what I will continue to do for the next four years.

It has been a great privilege to work side by side with the residents and families, citizens and neighbors who make American Fork the kind of city we all want to live in. I would be so pleased to continue this collaboration for four more years.

Why Musicians Make the Best Politicians

2009-10-27T14:58:00.000-06:00

Zoltan Kodaly, the Hungarian composer, musician, and educator -- one of my greatest heroes -- taught that the characteristics of a good musician are these:

1. A well-trained ear
2. A well-trained intelligence
3. A well-trained heart
4. A well-trained hand.

I believe these are also the characteristics of a good politician. My reasoning:

1. A well-trained ear. Representing the people requires the ability to listen, truly listen, to constituents with concerns. A representative must be able to listen to both sides of a given issue and to keep an open mind while he listens. Representatives must also be able to listen to the pulse of the public and discern the values of the community. Truly, a politician must have a well-trained ear.

2. A well-trained intelligence. I hardly need elaborate on this one. All the gifts of education -- the ability to communicate, to reason, to do math, and the capacity to learn -- these must be the politician's gifts.

3. A well-trained heart. A politician must be grounded by solid ethical values which can only originate in the heart. A politician must also be fired by passion for the issues or he will not survive the rigors of office. Are we talking about a local politician? Then she must care, and care deeply, that her community is healthy and that her neighbors are well served.

4. A well-trained hand. Where the musician must be practiced in technique, the politician must be grounded in hands-on experience. Experience with a daunting labyrinth of local, state and federal law is essential to the politician who wishes to apply these laws for the benefit of his community. Experience with people, systems, and organizations is a must. Experience can come in many forms -- through volunteerism, relevant experience in industry, or through prior office -- and is the best indicator of future performance.

A pianist in private life, I have often observed another comparison to be made to politics. The musical accompanist must be at once follower and leader. The pianist follows the soloist, but also gives strong support. The organist follows the conductor, but leads the congregation. The same circular reasoning also holds true for the representative. Following the will of the people, he leads them where they want to go. As the bumper sticker says, "If the people will lead, then the leaders will follow."

One final comparison. I believe that what Kodaly said about art is equally true about government -- that it is "one of the most powerful forces in the rise of mankind, and he who renders it accessible to as many people as possible is a benefactor of humanity." Empowering you to be part of your government and involving you in your community is what this blog and I are all about.

Thus I find myself, as both a musician and a politician, asking you to measure me by Kodaly's standard, and see if you can't trust me with your vote next Tuesday.

If you can't trust me with your vote next Tuesday, then I hope you'll be willing to trust me with your piano students next January. I'll have a lot of spare time on my hands.

Love Your Library

2009-10-19T21:02:00.001-06:00

I marvel at American Fork's hard-working library staff. Its people are cheerful and service oriented and they take obvious pride in their work, seemingly oblivious to the library's constant funding challenges. Our library has long operated with only half the collection budget enjoyed by our neighboring libraries, and current budgetary cutbacks have brought about a reduction in the library's operating hours, as well you know.

If you love your library as I do, please consider making a donation to its collections. You might have books at home that you're finished with. You might do as I do and search the shelves at DI for books to donate. The library will gladly accept almost any up-to-date book in good condition. If for some reason the library cannot add a donation to its collections, the Friends of the Library will sell the book and the proceeds will benefit the library.

If you'd like to donate a new title, please consult the library's wish list which has been posted physically at the stacks and electronically at the library's Web site. Donating one of these books will provide for the library's greatest needs. This is what the industrious students of Caleb Warnock's writing class did last month. I quote from the minutes of the meeting in which these books were presented:

When Mr. Warnock heard that the Library had compiled a list of titles of books that they wished to have he felt it was something that the literary program could support. He and his wife went to the students and said for every brand new book that was on the Library’s list they donated, he and his wife would match that donation. Today they were presenting 20 brand new books as a way to thank the City for hosting this class for the past 20-months and for allowing them to have the conference and the upcoming conference in April and for everything that American Fork provided for them.

These twenty books delivered a much-needed shot in the arm to the library's collections, and I wish here to express my personal gratitude to the class (an Arts Council offering) for its initiative.

If you've been to the library recently, you've seen a creative poster which was written by our imaginative library staff and based on Laura Numeroff's classic If You Give A Mouse a Cookie. I'm going to reproduce it here as best I can. Please take a minute to consider its wisdom and ask yourself whether there's a way you can include the library and its many patrons on your giving list this year.

If you give a library a book . . .

Someone will want to read it.

When they are finished reading it, they will want to read another . . . and another.

Others will want to read it, then another . . . and another and bring their families to the library to get good books to read.

While looking for books, they will find DVDs and books on CD to check out.

After watching the DVD, Mom and Dad may discover that a school report is due in a few days.

They will come to the library and research the report topic on the Internet access computers.

When the Internet research is complete, they will want books on the same topic to finish the report.

When the report earns and "A," the student will tell of the great information that is available at the library.

More people will come to the library to find the information they need.

While looking for information, they will find novels, picture books, DVDs, books on CD . . . and more.

They will want to read one . . . then another . . . and another.

Will it ever end?

See what happens when you give a library a book! Think about donating books, DVDs, or books on CD to the American Fork Library. They will be gratefully accepted. If they can't be added to our collection, they will be placed in the Friends of the Library Store and the money earned will be used to purchase more books.

Consider -- if you give a library a book . . .

Top Ten Reasons To Use Your Library Card

2009-10-19T20:20:00.000-06:00

. . . as posted by American Fork librarian LaRee Parkinson in the American Fork City employee newsletter.

1. Hours of free cheap entertainment.

2. Read the book before you watch the movie.

3. You always have something to do on a rainy day.

4. Improve your mind as you delve into our non-fiction section.

5. Learn a new skill through reading about that subject.

6. Feel important because your wallet is full of cards.

7. Turn over a new leaf (again) with our self help books.

8. Ready to get away? Escape to your dream vacation with our travel books.

9. Need Internet? It's free at your American Fork Library.

10. Don't have time to sit and read? No problem! Check out a book on CD and work or travel while you listen.

These are only a few of the great reasons to use your library card. Come use your card and discover your own top reasons for using your card.

BYU Marching Band Invitational

2009-10-13T14:52:00.000-06:00

Ordinarily on a second Tuesday I would encourage you to attend the evening's City Council meeting. But tonight I'd like to see American Fork drop everything and go support our marching band at the BYU Marching Band Invitational.

Yes, I said OUR marching band. It may be the high school's program, but the marching band is at least half of who we are as a community. We have supported its fundraisers, marveled at its breathtaking performances, and felt ourselves inspired and ennobled by the band's constant striving for excellence.

Tonight will be the band's first performance since Saturday's tragic accident, and our turnout will help us support the band, honor a fallen hero, and salve the pain we are all carrying inside.

Performances run at LaVell Edwards Stadium from 3:55 p.m. through about 10 p.m., with American Fork scheduled to compete at 9:25. Tickets are $5 per person and are available at the door.

I salute the fighting spirit that empowered the band's decision to go through with tonight's competition. Let's rally the troops and show our support.

Trails

2009-10-07T10:56:00.000-06:00

Question: Is the City spending my local tax dollars to complete trails I voted against last November?!?

Answer: No, the City is not spending your local tax dollars on these projects, but yes, the City is completing the trails using federal grant money. As you have seen on your drives about town, not one but four trails are under construction at this very minute.

Question: Is our City government just a little bit loopy to undertake construction of trails and pressurized irrigation at the very same time?

Answer: Well, if we weren't loopy when we started, we certainly are by now. Throw in 50 South, and this construction is enough to drive anybody mad. But there is method to our madness. We accelerated the construction period on pressurized irrigation (PI) as a hedge against inflation. Originally scheduled for completion in three years, we are completing the project in two. Also -- sad but true -- recessions are a strategic time to install infrastructure as governments can benefit from a competitive bidding environment. If current projections hold, we'll complete PI one year ahead of schedule and one million dollars under budget.

Question: But did you have to throw trails in on top of this? I mean, we told you in that bond election that now is not the right time!

Answer: Last January, Mountainland Association of Governments (MAG -- the agency that distributes federal funds) delivered an ultimatum. Either spend this federal grant money already -- some of it was awarded as much as a decade ago -- or reimburse the feds for costs already paid on engineering and design.

Question: You had federal money sitting around and you didn't spend it?

Answer: The trick was coming up with the match. These grants paid 93.33 percent of total project costs, leaving the City to pay just 6.77 percent. This is a bargain, to be sure, but with project costs like $900,000 and $750,000, the City's match would still have been in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. As you already know from reading my post about road maintenance, we local taxpayers do not have that kind of money sitting around.

Question: So where did you get the money? You better not have bonded when I told you not to!

Answer: Well, I wasn't strictly accurate when I said we're not using local tax dollars. But it would be fair to say that we're not using very many local tax dollars. Faced with the choice between paying back $97,500 in engineering costs on the Art Dye trail or paying the match of $89,000, we chose to pay the match. (Hmm: $97,500 for no trail or $89,000 for a nice trail?) This amount is far less than the $2.3 million of the bond that was rejected.

Question: That's the Art Dye trail. What about the others I'm seeing under construction?

Answer: Right. Fortunately, MAG has graciously allowed us to move federal grant money from project to project. When we got stimulus funds for 50 South, we were able to move some of the earlier grant money for this over to trails. When we cancelled the expansion of the Main Street Park and Ride (FrontRunner's announcement of its American Fork station pre-empted the need for this expansion), we were able to move those funds over to trails. So the total City outlay for completion of four trails will have been just the $89,000 of the Art Dye Trail match. This is what I call value-engineering.

Question: Where did you get the $89,000?

Answer: The City Council had a knock-down drag-out fight over whether to take this from road and sidewalk funds or from the general fund balance. We'll probably settle the question at the end of the fiscal year when we adjust the budget. If you need to take your Scouts or Young Women to a meeting, this will be a fun one to watch.

Question: Did you say FOUR trails? What are the four trails?

Answer:

(1) The Art Dye trail, which leads from the heart of Art Dye park to the Highland border, where it connects with Highland's trail system. I've been told that users can proceed from there all the way to the mouth of the canyon.
(2) The American Fork River Trail, which begins at approximately 325 East 300 North, follows the west bank of the river, skips onto 500 East for a bit, then connects to the Art Dye Trail.
(3) The 300 North connector. This is just three-and-a-half blocks of trail along 300 North that will connect the Center Street Trail to the aforementioned River Trail.
(4) The Center Street Trail, which leads from the Greenwood Skate Park to Chipman/Bicentennial Park and on up Center Street past the Fitness Center to the cemetery.

Question: I've seen some of these trails completed already. Why on earth would you rip out sidewalk to install a trail? Why not keep the sidewalk and mark it as trail?

Answer: My friends who jog tell me that asphalt is a much better surface. But the real reason for this decision is the federal design standard. Nobody gets to argue with the feds.

Question: So I shouldn't vote you out of office?

Answer: That's entirely up to you, and remember, you get your chance on November 3. But when I judge these trails, I see that American Fork has finally become a place where a person can take a walk. I see four fantastic opportunities purchased at the bargain basement price of $89,000. This sum divided among 7,000 households works out to $13 each, made payable in a one-time sum with no interest payments to be made ever. That's a pretty fair price for the ability to reconnect with nature, work on your heart health, or take a walk with the kids.

Question: That's $13 plus all that money I pay on my federal tax bill.

Answer: That's an issue for our federal representatives, and they don't seem to listen to me these days. But as a local representative, I feel that if the feds are going to collect all this money from us, the least we can do is let them spend some of it in our own community.

For more background on American Fork's trails, read Trixie Walker's article in last Friday's Daily Herald.

Road Maintenance

2009-09-23T10:39:00.000-06:00

Road maintenance is a long-standing concern of the city council, and it is emerging as one of the central issues of the current election debate. Today I blog to explain the nature of the problem and talk a little bit about solutions.

THE PROBLEM

The problem was clearly stated by Public Works Director Howard Denney at the June 18, 2009 city council work session. I quote from the minutes of that meeting:

Mr. Denney continued that the City did their first inventory of roads in 2001 and it showed that 80 percent of the roads had a service life of 4 to 15 years. It was projected back then that if they did not increase funding for roads, that in 2011, 50 percent would be in failure mode. Now with the PI [pressurized irrigation] installation, five years were removed from that service life. After PI, the remaining life of most of the roads in American Fork was four years. To bring [all] roads to the condition of a new road, it would take $117 million. The annual funding level that the Council wanted to put toward the roads could be entered into a program and they could then look at scenarios that would get the City where it wanted to be. Generally, the worse roads would be dealt with first. There were a number of strategies to look at.
Mayor Thompson asked Streets Superintendent TJ Warnick if other Councils have had this kind of analysis and costs placed before them.
TJ Warnick answered that to his knowledge they had not. Up until 10 years ago they were doing a combination overlay and reconstruction on a yearly basis. That was part of the reason the City was paying the price now.
Councilmember Rodeback asked what happened in 1999 that the practice was stopped.
Mr. Warnick responded that prices increased.

It should also be noted that the City discontinued all road maintenance when the PI bond passed, in anticipation of the trenching that would take place. Many have asked why the City did not consider the need for road resurfacing in the PI bond. The answer is that resurfacing was in fact considered, but would have doubled the size of a bond which, at $47.95 million, was already much too large.

So the problem today can be viewed in three different ways. It can be viewed as either of two different lump sums: the $117 million needed to resurface all roads, or the $23 million needed to resurface just the collectors and arterials. Or it can be viewed in terms of twenty-year cycles. Resurfacing one-twentieth, or five percent, of the City's 110 center-lane miles each year would cost about $5 million per year.

At present, the City's road maintenance budget -- by which I mean actual maintenance, without including wages or overhead -- is $1 million per year.

That's the problem.

THE SOLUTIONS

Solution number one is to throw $4 million more at roads each year. This is more easily said than done. All of last year's painful, 17.14 percent property tax increase went to road maintenance, and this raised only $500,000.

The City has hopes of retiring the Meadows infrastructure bonds in 2012, freeing up additional revenue for this purpose. But even if all budget dollars so obtained were pledged to road maintenance -- a big IF, given the City's equally pressing need to maintain public safety wages at a competitive level -- this would add only an additional $700,000 to the pot.

Cuts? The City could cut all spending on the cemetery, the Fitness Center, parks and recreation, the Arts Council and the library -- eliminate these budgets entirely -- and still not raise $4 million.

Bonds? A small bond for a few key projects -- not for the entirety -- might be an option, but not in the present economy, and not until more of the City's existing bonds (library, Meadows) have been retired.

Growth? Nearly impossible to put a figure to this, until the economy picks up.

Still, I think it's conceivable that, with discipline and without raising taxes, the City could increase its spending on roads by an additional $1 million per year at some point in the next five years. Add this to the present million, and the total would equal $2 million, or forty percent of the $5 million annual need.

Clearly, money can only be part of the solution. The urgent need, in this scenario, is for strategy. Which brings us to --

Solution number two. Long-range planning. This is the same need I have rated as number one on my re-election platform. I take this occasion to remind my readers that I have pledged not to vote for any tax increase until long-range planning has been completed. Laying out the need in five-, ten- and twenty-year cycles is the first part of the solution. To this end, my colleague, Council Member Dale Gunther, called for the road inventory that was presented to the council on June 18 (see minutes quoted above). Pair this with a similar forecast of revenues for the next five, ten and twenty years, and future councils will have all the data they need to resist allocating scarce budget dollars to lower priorities.

Solution number three is to scour the road and pavement industry for money-saving technologies and best practices. To this end, I invited Dr. Spencer Guthrie, chair of BYU's pavement management program, to visit with the City's public works department last month. This was an illuminating meeting. I learned many things. For example:

The worst-first strategy is the worst possible strategy. Preventive maintenance is the best strategy. This may seem counter-intuitive, but the City actually gets more bang for its buck by maintaining the best roads in good condition. The worst roads won't get much worse, and they can be picked off one at a time, as funding permits.

American Fork is not alone in its troubles. Most of the nation's roads were built in the 1960s. Fifty years later, these roads are challenged both by increased loads and increased volumes. Meanwhile, their governments are slowly waking up to the fact that what at installation might have seemed like a one-time expenditure is actually an ongoing need.

While it is possible to assess a road's needs visually, by surveying patterns of cracks and buckles, the best analysis is done by sending core samples to a lab.

Fortunately, trenching now underway for installation of the PI system is enabling a thorough inventory and analysis of existing conditions.

The Asphalt Zipper is a fascinating, recent invention which grinds, recycles and repaves asphalt all in one pass. Where applicable, this technology can reduce costs by sixty percent or more. It was invented right here in nearby Pleasant Grove, and American Fork has been making use of this technology.

THE CONCLUSION

The easiest conclusion to draw is that there are no easy conclusions. A good, solid, preventive pavement management program must be a top priority, or road maintenance will overwhelm the budget. And there is no single way to get there from here. Solutions will be found, but they will of necessity involve many different strategies -- and a goodly measure of patience.

A Vision for Main Street

2009-09-14T20:39:00.000-06:00

On Friday last, an eager group of downtown merchants, residents, elected officials, and City staff crowded into the east wing of the library to see the preliminary results of MAG's Main Street Vision Study.

And such a vision it was. Poring over the engineering diagrams, the artist's conceptions, and the numerous pictorial examples from other western Main Streets, I felt as though I were actually gazing upon the American Fork Main Street I have always envisioned.

It was like driving down 89 wearing rose-colored glasses.

This, for me, was the truth-revealing paradox of the evening, to think that the traffic-snarled corridor which is widely seen as the greatest deterrent to a healthy downtown could actually point the way to its revitalization. Consider the following morsels of insight gleaned from Friday's presentation:

If American Fork does nothing, today's 20,000 daily vehicle trips on Main Street will escalate to more than 50,000 in thirty years. Pacific Drive's counts will number in the 20,000s. This translates to seven lanes of traffic on Main, five on Pacific.
Sustainable traffic planning means including more mass transit options and better accommodations for pedestrians and bicyclists. This will not only ease the high traffic counts but will also bring life-giving pedestrian traffic to downtown merchants. ("Cars don't shop," we learned. "People shop.")
Creative solutions, such as the creation of one-way traffic couplets along Main and Pacific, can reduce lanes to three or four on each street. This would allow the City to preserve the existing parking on each side, add a bicycle lane, and create better conditions for pedestrians.
It turns out that bicycle racks are a bigger motivator for cyclists than dedicated bike lanes.
It is possible to house a 21st century parking garage in a 19th century facade.
Street trees and harmonious landscaping do more than create a happy facade; they play a large part in generating economic prosperity by attracting customers and reducing crime.

Friday's open house, while preliminary in nature, nevertheless represents three months' hard work by a dedicated team of the state's best urban planners. In just three months, team members met with all existing stakeholders and gathered oral input. They surveyed every Main Street resident and business. They analyzed American Fork's business license trends, tax records and leakage reports; they gathered data from North Utah County's tourism destinations. They met with UDOT and UTA and surveyed the City's existing ordinances and budget constraints.

This underlying research will make a compelling case when the City begins to work toward next steps. This is good, because next steps will be difficult. If the City is to launch a new vision for Main Street, it will need to enact a new set of ordinances, the likes of which have never been seen in American Fork -- ordinances for TOD (transit-oriented development) and form-based ordinances.

City leaders will need to lobby vigorously for American Fork's interests with the likes of UDOT and UTA. Leaders must also be willing to sit down with potential developers and help them see a vision for themselves on Main Street.

These will be difficult battles. But if we are to overcome the blight that is overtaking our downtown, this is the fight we must fight.

Please watch for more of the Main Street Vision as it takes shape. I'm told drawings will soon be posted at the City's Web site.

And please, consider the urgent nature of this issue as you follow election debates this season. The full Main Street vision will take thirty years to realize. But the time to make decisions is now.

An Apology

2009-08-24T11:28:00.000-06:00

The cemetery debate has inflamed into major proportions, so today I am writing to post an apology.

In last Saturday's post I stated, forcefully, that I and the other city council members want to begin using interest from the perpetual care fund to offset the cemetery subsidy. I recounted my memory of a discussion in which staff -- and all the rest of the room -- misunderstood this position to mean that the council wanted to begin using the principal from this fund.

It appears that it was I, and not the room, who was guilty of the misunderstanding.

I have been advised this morning, by staff, that other council members did request, in other settings, information about using the perpetual care fund principal to offset the cemetery subsidy, and that this was in fact the thrust of Thursday's discussion.

This leaves me wondering whether I have become the octogenarian driver who called his wife on his cell phone to complain that everybody else on the freeway was driving the wrong direction.

But this also puts me in a position of anxiety. While I am deeply concerned for the cemetery, for its long-term maintenance, and for the city's need to find property for expansion, I am equally concerned about a potential breach of promise. I cannot justify raiding the principal of the perpetual care fund. Those who have paid into the perpetual care fund hold certificates guaranteeing that the money will be used as promised, and the City cannot go back on that promise.

But enough of that. This is an apology.

The second reason for the apology is for the life Saturday's post gave to a deeper concern. Readers who follow my husband's blog noted the second-hand analysis of the debate he posted over the weekend, in which he asked, "Is there a serious problem with the staff?"

I hope City staff will take me at my word when I say that I did not intend any personal criticism of their work when I gave a narration of a miscommunication. I did that to give the public a glimpse into the workings of meetings that very few attend.

I stand by what I said in Saturday's post, that we must chalk the miscommunication up to human nature, and move on.

I am not the mayor, and I am not trying to be the mayor. I do not make personnel decisions, but I do work with the personnel he appoints. I have observed many times that our City's growth calls for a much larger staff than our budget supports, and that this puts many of our staff in impossible positions. I would like to solve the problem, but I cannot bring myself to criticize them for their hard work.

Another cemetery correction

2009-08-22T19:27:00.000-06:00

$5500 for a cemetery plot? NOT!

ABC News erroneously reported that "plot prices may spike to as much as $5,500," and that "the city council will vote on the issue during a public meeting Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m."

Yes, the city council will vote Tuesday night. The price under consideration is $1,000.

Cemetery Funding

2009-08-21T22:25:00.001-06:00

This is a matter of principal.

More precisely, it's a matter of interest.

Caleb Warnock, who writes with more style than any two other journalists, missed a key point in today's Herald when he covered yesterday's council debate about cemetery funding. But he's not to be blamed -- so did almost everybody else in the room.

The article discusses various challenges to cemetery funding, including the rising cost of land for expansion and the $500,000 subsidy the City makes for maintenance and operations. Council discussion focused on the impossibility of covering both maintenance and land replacement through burial fees alone.

There was considerable debate about the perpetual care fund. This fund, as its name suggests, was established to provide maintenance for the cemetery in perpetuity. Its revenue source is a $200 fee paid as part of the purchase price of a burial plot. The fund, which by now has grown to nearly $500,000, yields $400 per month in interest which may be used for cemetery maintenance.

The concept behind any such trust is that one invests the principal and spends the interest. But here's where the misunderstanding begins.

"So desperate is the City," says the Herald, "that they are debating dismantling the cemetery's perpetual care fund. . . . [Mayor Thompson] and others agreed the city should consider changing its ordinance so the city can get its hands on the principal."

Not so, not so!

We council members stated, repeatedly, that the City should begin applying the interest -- the interest -- toward maintenance, as was originally intended. Armed with copies of the ordinance which we held in our hands, we insisted that the ordinance allowed spending the interest -- the interest -- for this very purpose.

Sadly, staff misunderstood our repeated pleas, and could not be dissuaded from their frustratingly irrelevant position that the principal -- the principal -- could not be expended except in case of dire emergency.

It was to this stubborn insistence that Mayor Thompson said, as was reported, that this "seems like a useless fund to me." Useless indeed, if the interest is not to be used as intended. But it is only as wise as wisdom itself -- and as obvious, even to a room full of politicians -- for the City to continue to grow the principal.

The Daily Herald is not to be blamed for this mistake. We'll chalk this one up to human nature -- as a mother of teens, I'm good at this -- and move on.

If only the interest -- $400 per month, $4800 per year -- could make a bigger dent in the $500,000 subsidy.

Recycling Letter

2009-08-10T07:48:00.000-06:00

I walked with myself,
talked with myself,
and myself said to me . . .

I read last weekend Barbara Christiansen's article in the Daily Herald about American Fork's opt-out recycling program. It reported, among other things, that while 2,746 households have opted out, the City's take rate (the number of households recycling) has nevertheless jumped to above 50 percent. It also said that, while the City can expect to save $73,263 in tipping fees, it nevertheless raised recycling fees from $4.50 to $5.40.

I also received my August utility bill in the mail last weekend and noted the 90 cent increase. I was not surprised, therefore, when the following angry letter appeared in my inbox.

Dear Councilmember Rodeback:

I am appalled and outraged that the City has increased my recycling bill by twenty percent with its fancy new "opt-out" recycling program. Did anybody with a brain vote for this? I thought we were Cavemen in this city, not Neanderthals. If the newspaper is to be believed, then the City will raise close to $40,000 annually in revenues to help with "billing expenses" on top of the $73,263 the City saves in tipping fees. That's a very generous full-time salary for somebody. I know business executives who don't make that much money. And whatever happened to economies of scale? Shouldn't the recyclers be able to make more money at lower cost now that they have more customers on their routes? And couldn't you at least find a company that recycles glass, if you're going to extract this kind of money off the backs of us impoverished taxpayers? It's governments like you that are the problem with this country. I'll thank you to stop raiding my pocketbook for ill-thought-out measures like this one.

Sincerely,

Heidi Rodeback

Nasty letters are a fact of life for elected officials, so I was able to take this one in stride. I sent out a gentle, reasoned reply which I now share.

Dear Heidi:

Thank you for your letter regarding the opt-out recycling program. I want you to know that I feel your pain in this and all other matters, seeing as I have the distinct honor of being your self. I empathize with your concerns about economies of scale and about the new, hidden, unjustified revenues -- truly, a mid-year tax increase -- which will flow into City coffers because of this program. I can only validate your point of view.

In fact, it was for these very reasons that I voted against this measure last February. Please read more about this vote at my blog entry dated February 9, 2009.

As for your other question, yes, all four of my colleagues have brains. While I disagree with them over the mechanics of this measure, I nevertheless respect their intelligence and their concern for sustainability. I might point out their further concern for the price of land, and their thought for the difficulty of finding new landfill space when today's landfills are full. Anything that postpones that day will pay dividends in the long term.

I don't say this to most of my correspondents, but I think you are one who will appreciate my advice when I say to count 10 next time before sending such a strongly worded letter. Remember that your elected officials are, and are supposed to be, lay leaders elected from among the people. They give generously of their time and must do their best according to their lights. Who knows, maybe next time around it'll be YOU sitting in this seat.

Thanks again for your inquiry.

Sincerely yours,

Heidi Rodeback
American Fork City Council

Call for Volunteers

2009-07-31T09:30:00.000-06:00

Looking for a good way to use your talents in service of your community? You might consider volunteering for the Visual Arts Board.

The American Fork Visual Arts Board states, "It is our mission to inspire, enliven, and enhance our community through exposure to the visual arts." Organized in 1948 by a small group of local artists dedicated to this cause, the Visual Arts Board became an umbrella group of the American Fork Arts Council in 1991. Through the dedication of past and present board members, the Visual Arts Board continues the tradition of sponsoring both the Steel Days Art Show and the Edna Birk Memorial Scholarship, a scholarship of $500 given annually to an outstanding student of the visual arts. Grant money from the Utah Arts Council and funding from American Fork City also enable the Board to sponsor classes for children, teens, and adults in various art media.

The Visual Arts Board is now -- and always -- seeking volunteers. Volunteers can serve in a variety of ways, filling one-time or on-going slots such as show director or co-director, reception coordinator, host or hostess, publicity director, data entry specialist, or board member.

To learn more, please call the Arts Council at 801-763-3081.

A Beautiful Reservoir

2009-07-22T16:00:00.000-06:00

Speaking at the grand opening of the new reservoir last Friday, lead engineer Eric Franson explained about his penchant for finding beauty. He runs cross-country races, he said, and every so often he has to stop and say, "Wow. That is beautiful." His fellow runners usually scratch their heads, seeing no beauty. So he points out a dam or a reservoir and says, "That makes me happy."

Completion of this reservoir was an event of symbolic significance, marking the construction of an entire utility including 100 miles of pipeline, 13 million gallons of storage in two reservoirs, and three filter stations -- construction which, when it is completed in the spring of 2010, will have taken place in just two years.

Thanks are due to the many who worked to make this possible, including the City staff, the American Fork Irrigation Company, the shareholders, two engineering firms, the contractors, and the American Fork voters.

So many of these voters have now become the rate payers who are feeling the pain of sacrifice necessary to bring this about. "We knew there would be an increase," they say. "We just didn't know it would be this big." Or, to put that in the words of a merchant I spoke with, immoral. A three hundred percent increase is just plain immoral, he said. But then he conceded that not supplying water would be equally immoral.

The reservoir is standing evidence of what Mr. Franson said was "the City's thought for its long-term future, for residents to come, and for our children and grandchildren who will benefit."

"That's a decision that needs to be applauded," he said, "and it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

Three Bumper Stickers

2009-07-22T13:15:00.001-06:00

Driving in Salt Lake yesterday, I saw three bumper stickers that merit thought.

If the people will lead, the leaders will follow. Profound thought. In the 2005 mayoral/city council elections, for example, the people made such a voluble outcry for action that the elected officials had no choice but to deliver on pressurized irrigation.

Jesus was a liberal. If so, then Jehovah was a conservative.

Never underestimate the power of a redhead. Amen.

Please Take the Main Street Survey

2009-07-17T14:24:00.001-06:00

At Saturday's Steel Days parade, did you focus on the floats, the free candy, or the failing infrastructure?

Personally, I find it increasingly difficult to ignore the crumbling sidewalks, the treacherous pedestrian crossings, the waist-high weeds, and the mangy trees in our downtown. That's to say nothing of the high traffic volumes on 89, or the near impossibility of finding parking near one's favorite downtown merchants.

These things are bad enough for those of us who live here and worry about falling property values and vacant properties. But an ailing Main Street hurts everybody in American Fork. It invites crime. It projects a run-down, unkempt image onto our city as a whole, deterring strong businesses from locating in town. And it carries a high opportunity cost, considering what is possible at this location.

Positioned at the center of a region boasting so many of the state's highest incomes, an effectively revitalized Main Street could attract a pretty penny or two to the City's sales tax coffers.

Fortunately, there are remedies to be had. Enter the Main Street Vision Study, sponsored by Mountainland Association of Governments (MAG). This is a thorough and official effort to "analyze and recommend economic opportunities, possible design themes, future land use types, densities and transportation opportunities that American Fork City could use to encourage future development while retaining the streets’ unique historic character."

MAG is the metropolitan planning organization for Utah County, and its studies are taken seriously by all the major decision makers, including UDOT and the State of Utah. MAG itself is taking this study very seriously, as it has engaged some of the state's top designers, architects, and economic analysts to complete the job.

The study will be kicked off with a survey of Main Street residents and business owners. Today I am inviting YOU to take this survey also. I am especially interested in feedback from my several hundred neighbors who live in the blocks adjacent to the Main Street corridor, but I am also interested in feedback from American Fork's farther-flung residents who have given the issue serious thought.

Please follow this link to read the mayor's letter and print the survey today. You'll need to deliver it yourself to Debby Lauret at the City administration building by about August 1, or mail it to this address:

Debby J. Lauret
PO Box 162, 51 East Main
American Fork, UT 84003

I'm sorry that this is inconvenient -- but if, like me, you are anxious for change and want a voice, then I know you'll appreciate this opportunity for input.

If you ask me, this study has come not one minute too soon.

The Steel Days Are Here!

2009-07-14T11:29:00.001-06:00

It's a week-long par-tay in American Fork.

For the official calendar, go dig your utility bill out of the recycling, or check here at AFCity.org.

For more details on a prolific profusion of events including parade, carnival, baby contest, art show, car show and cruise, craft, quilt and doll shows, golf and horseshoe tournaments, steak fry, 5K, or to find out which movie will be showing after Friday's picnic in the park, check out today's Daily Herald article, "American Fork Steel Days Full of Events."

Also in the Herald, look for a fitting and well-deserved tribute to this year's Grand Marshalls Dan and Karen Adams. Read about last Saturday's Tour de Donut (this is public health?) and about the old root beer bottles that inspired last night's tour of the DUP Museum in Robinson Park. (I went, and was inspired.)

Additional events include the American Fork Symphony (tonight!) and, in place of the traditional Big Show, Reality Nite featuring American Fork Idol. Contestants are listed in the Herald article, but the best talent of the night may well be the Master of Ceremonies, Sam Beeson.

Last of all come the fireworks, so the Saturday show will end with its traditional bang.

A few don'ts: Don't forget to buy discount carnival tickets from participating downtown merchants before noon tomorrow (Wednesday). Don't neglect to support the peerless American Fork Marching Band at breakfast Saturday morning in the Albertsons parking lot. And don't forget to thank the amazing Steel Days volunteers who put all this fun in American Fork!

Sewer Rate Increase

2009-07-11T10:00:00.000-06:00

With water bills tripling this year, residents are justifiably concerned to note an increase in sewer rates also taking effect this month. Here's a tiny bit of background.

As the TSSD (Timpanogos Special Service District, one of the best euphemisms ever) raised its rates this month, it became necessary for the City in turn to pass the increase on to the users. The TSSD increase was about 26 percent.

As a city council, we analyzed several variations on the rate structure looking for one that would spread the increase equitably without penalizing residences more than businesses or vice versa. We looked at what our sister cities charge. We examined low base rates and high base rates, low and high per gallon charges, and so on. What our analysis showed, based on usage patterns we have on record, was that raising the base to $24.50 and lowering the per gallon overage threshold to 3000 would result in roughly a 25 percent increase for both residents and businesses.

This was an important value to us because businesses such as car washes and laundromats within the city are already struggling epically with the water rate increases. Raising their sewer rates disproportionately could have put several out of business, with a negative effect on the local economy.

Where the City previously charged $22.50 for the first 6,000 gallons with an overage charge for any usage beyond 6,000 gallons, it now charges $24.50 for the first 3,000 gallons and $1.10 per thousand gallons over that threshold. So for 6,000 gallons the charge is $24.50 plus (3 x 1.1) which equals $27.80 -- about a 22 percent increase. City records show that most residences use water within this range, so residents are not likely to see increases much higher than this.

Like you, I still prefer the zero percent increase. But 25 percent, under the circumstances, is pretty manageable for residents, and will not put anybody out of business.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that the TSSD plans to increase rates yet again, by the same amount, next year.

Now Seeking Four More Years

2009-07-01T16:47:00.000-06:00

I did it. I filed for re-election this morning.

This is not a decision to take lightly. Campaigning ranks on my list of fun somewhere below visiting the dentist and going through labor. But it is obviously the most important and necessary step for anybody interested in public office. I view the campaign itself as an act of service. It has more power to engage the public than any other discussion, and enables people and government jointly to sift through current issues and determine priorities.

I'm seeking a second term not because I think one good term deserves another, but because there's more I want to do. On this subject, read more at my campaign Web page. It is up and running today, though it is not complete. Tune back in over the coming month as I hope to nail in the planks of my platform soon.

A few housekeeping items are in order. I am no longer using my City email signature to promote my blog, as I am now a candidate and will avoid even the appearance of using City resources to further the campaign. Any campaign-related emails should be addressed to my personal account, HRodeback@att.net.

To those who follow this blog: My plan is to continue my present habit of providing detail on current council pursuits. I cannot cover every issue (never could) but will continue to post on whatever topics seem most relevant and most accessible in the occasional hours that pop up between council projects.

I signed a pledge this morning when I filed for office, a "pledge of fair campaign practices." It deals more with unethical practices than negative campaigning, but it appeals to me because I am by nature a positive campaigner. It makes no sense to catalog a colleague's demerits and leave voters without any sense of my own strengths. You can expect me to focus on my own record and views, leaving others to tell their own stories.

All other candidates will sign the pledge. You can read it below, then help keep us honest.

Pledge of Fair Campaign Practices

2009-07-01T16:17:00.000-06:00

There are basic principles of decency, honesty, and fair play which every candidate for public office in the State of Utah has a moral obligation to observe and uphold, in order that, after vigorously contested but fairly conducted campaigns, our citizens may exercise their right to a free election, and that the will of the people may be fully and clearly expressed on the issues.

THEREFORE:

I SHALL conduct my campaign openly and publicly, discussing the issues as I see them, presenting my record and policies with sincerity and frankness, and criticizing, without fear or favor, the record and policies of my opponents that I believe merit criticism.

I SHALL NOT use, nor shall I permit the use of, scurrilous attacks on any candidate or the candidate's immediate family. I shall not participate in, nor shall I permit the use of, any other criticism of any candidate or the candidate's immediate family that I do not believe to be truthful, provable, and relevant to my campaign.

I SHALL NOT use, nor shall I permit the use of, any practice that tends to corrupt or undermine our American system of free elections, or that hinders or prevents the free expression of the will of the voters, including practices intended to hinder or prevent any eligible person from registering to vote or voting.

I SHALL NOT coerce election help or campaign contributions for myself or for any other candidate from my employees or volunteers.

I SHALL immediately and publicly repudiate support deriving from any individual or group which resorts, on behalf of my candidacy or in opposition to that of an opponent, to methods in violation of the letter or spirit of this pledge. I shall accept responsibility to take firm action against any subordinate who violates any provision of this pledge or the laws governing elections.

I SHALL defend and uphold the right of every qualified American voter to full and equal participation in the electoral process.

I, the undersigned, candidate for election to public office in the State of Utah, hereby voluntarily endorse, subscribe to, and solemnly pledge myself to conduct my campaign in accordance with the above principles and practices.

Signed:

Heidi Rodeback
July 1, 2009

Let the Sunshine In

2009-06-16T14:48:00.000-06:00

A reader recently posted this question here at the blog:

I have always been diligent about watching American Fork's issues as they used to be published in the Thurdsay American Fork Citizen's "public notices" section. Because that paper is no longer published, I feel like I have lost my connection to the issues coming before the city. Could you tell me where/when these public notices are published now? Also, would it be possible to simultaneously publish these notices on American Fork's website? It would be nice to provide a no-subscription-required access to these important notices anyway.

Public notice is not just a good idea; it's the law. Utah's Open and Public Meetings Act states that the government exists to conduct the people's business and must therefore both take action openly and conduct its deliberations openly.

The act accomplishes this by requiring all public bodies to provide not less than 24 hours public notice of each meeting including the agenda, date, time, and place. In addition, each public body must publish its annual meeting schedule at least once each year.

"Public body" is defined as "any administrative, advisory, executive, or legislative body . . . [which] expends, disburses, or is supported in whole or in part by tax revenue; and is vested with the authority to make decisions regarding the public's business." This includes not only the city council, but also the finance committee, the planning commission, and all of the City's various volunteer boards and commissions such as the Arts Council, the Beautification Committee, or the Library Board.

This means that whether you have a general interest in how your tax dollars are spent, a local interest in how the vacant lot on the corner will be developed, or even a personal interest in, say, library collections, you are entitled to notice of any and all relevant meetings. What's more, you are welcomed and encouraged to attend.

This is heady stuff, people. This is what empowers our American vision of democracy. This is what it means to have a voice and a right to participate in government.

So, how to follow public notices now that there is no more American Fork Citizen? Three ways:

1. At the Utah Public Meeting Notice Web site. Go to this site, type in "American Fork" under "entity" at the search box, then click on "see results." You'll see several pages of results showing notices for each of the City's public bodies dating back to May 2008. Click on the name of any of these public bodies, and you'll be given an option to subscribe either via RSS feed or email.

As of 2008, this is the only form of public notice required under Utah State code. However, American Fork City is committed to the principle of public notice and goes above and beyond the requirements of the law. Hence, notices may also be accessed --

2. Physically, on the bulletin board in the vestibule of the City administration building at 51 East Main.
3. Electronically at the City's Web site, though notices are harder to find here than at the Utah Public Meeting Notice site. For council meeting agendas, choose the quick link entitled "Minutes and Agendas," which is located on the left-hand side of the home page. For the planning commission, choose "Planning Commission" under the government tab, then look for the minutes and agendas link. Other City boards and commissions post their agendas on their own pages (access them through "Boards and Commissions"), but these are hit-and-miss.

Additionally, council meeting agendas only (because of expense) are published in the Daily Herald. The Open and Public Meetings Act states that public bodies must notify "at least one newspaper of general circulation within the geographic jurisdiction of the public body." American Fork now submits its notices to the Daily Herald, but as the law does not require the Herald to publish them, it generally does not do so unless the City pays for the service as a legal ad.

Legals can be expensive. I saw a recent city council notice which cost $239 to publish. One could question whether the expense is justified in a tight City budget, but the mayor has rightly decided that the City must value the seasoned judgment of seniors and others who continue to follow the print edition of the Herald.

I hope this information empowers more of my gentle readers to follow and attend City meetings. Remember what John Adams said: "The government ought to be what the people make it."

Stay-cationing in American Fork

2009-06-06T16:48:00.000-06:00

Looking for your summer fun? Consider the many benefits of a stay-cation in American Fork. You'll save on gas, lodging and travel time, and you'll get to know your own home town.

Here are a few stay-cation opportunities sponsored by the City:

1. Fun at the Fitness Center. Take advantage of the summer pass sale for three months' unlimited access to all facilities. These include the track, racketball courts, swimming pool, and much more. Purchase before June 19 for a great rate.

2. Be Creative @ Your Library. This is the library's theme for its many summer activities. Story time with the kids followed by a picnic at Robinson Park and a book under a tree -- life doesn't get any better than this. Patrons can also support their library by donating books or flats of annuals. Learn more at the library's Web site.

3. Go to the park. In American Fork's 27 parks, no two playgrounds are alike. Establish a Friday night tradition and plan a picnic at a new park each week. Don't forget to bring bubbles and a frisbee!

4. Go to the state park. Through an innovative partnership with Utah State Parks, the American Fork Public Library is able to check out an annual pass to patrons for a week at a time, free of charge. The pass grants free admission to all state parks but two and entitles the bearer to discounted camping. Use it to "revitalize and inspire children's interest in nature and encourage creative outdoor play." Full details at the library's Web site.

5. Children of Eden. See your friends and neighbors perform Stephen Schwartz's popular musical under the very talented direction of Neal Johnson. Performances are scheduled for June 25, 26, 27, and 29 at American Fork High School.

6. Steel Days, July 11-18. This year's many fun events include the Tour de Donut bike race, free swimming, the quilt, doll, and art shows, the parade and carnival, and much more -- but no Big Show. (No comment.) Full calendar at this link.

7. Concerts in the Park. Cold Creek, Debra Fotheringham, Sam Payne, and the AFHS Marching Band are just a few of the many popular acts presenting this summer at the amphitheater. This free family concert series runs Monday nights through September 14, starting at 7:00 p.m. each night. Full line-up at this link.

American Fork's many arts and water lovers may also be interested in the free Friday night concert series at the Central Utah Water Conservancy District's display gardens, located just above Krispy Kreme in Orem. Concerts begin June 12 with Fiddlesticks. Whether or not you take in the series, be sure to visit the gardens, which are dedicated to showing the incredible beauty that is possible in a Utah landscape through use of native plants and limited watering. Garden hours are 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and admission is always free. You'll be surprised at how much you enjoy your visit, but be warned: If you're not careful, you'll end up learning something.

Thought for the Day

2009-06-06T16:45:00.000-06:00

Who is wise? He that learns from everyone.
Who is powerful? He that governs his passions.
Who is rich? He that is content.
Who is that? Nobody.

-- Benjamin Franklin

On Preliminary Budgets

2009-05-29T21:16:00.001-06:00

The Cedar Hills city council recently passed a resolution that "mocks the state legislature for forcing the city to pass a preliminary budget and challenges legislators to spend more time attending city meetings so they can better understand how they force municipal government to function." The editorial staff of the Daily Herald endorsed the council's point of view by issuing a buffalo chip to the state legislature for requiring "pointless preliminary budgets." (See Caleb Warnock's article here and the Herald's editorial here.)

Council members based their complaint on the fact that the tentative budget must be adopted by the first council meeting in May, a good four weeks before June 8, when the county is required to issue the certified tax rate. This, they say, leaves cities guessing at what their revenue will be for the coming year. Plus it feels to them like micromanagement.

I disagree with this point of view for two reasons.

First, it is the legislature's right and duty to regulate the basic functions of city government. A city government's authority derives from the enabling acts of the state legislature. Given that the budget is the city's single most influential document -- it authorizes all spending and taxation -- the legislature is wise to prescribe how it will be drafted. The legislature's "micromanagement" protects the people from the inexperience of citizen council members like myself. In the best democratic spirit, city council members are lay leaders elected more for their ability to interpret the public will than for their financial, legal, or managerial acumen. Municipal councils rely on the state's guidance in much the same way as the local PTA relies on the state and national PTA for operation and policy manuals. They rightly submit to processes established by better and more experienced planners.

Second, with or without the certified tax rate, preparing a preliminary budget is good planning. There's nothing magical about that certified tax rate -- it doesn't guarantee the coming year's revenue. But a good financial officer can ballpark a good estimate, and this estimate is enough to give a fairly final form to the budget. Doing this in May gives council members meaningful time to grapple with the tactical realities of the budget and make any necessary adjustments before final adoption. It also gives department heads time to plan for the coming year.

Here's how the budget time line works under Utah state law:

First council meeting in May. By this date, the chief financial officer of the city must present a balanced budget to the City Council together with a memo detailing the highlights of the budget. The city council adopts this tentative budget on this same date.
June 8. The county must provide the coming year's certified tax rate to the city. (This is a provision of Utah's Truth in Taxation law, about which see here.)
June 22. By this date, the final budget and the certified tax rate must be adopted by the city council unless there is to be a tax increase. If a tax increase is proposed, the deadline for adoption shifts to August 17. This gives the city council time to complete the extensive process of public notice required by Truth in Taxation.
July 1. The fiscal year begins. (If a tax increase is proposed, the tentative budget governs between July 1 and August 17.)

A realistic draft. Time to consider, haggle, and proof-read. Advance notice to department heads. This is just plain good planning.

I confess to scratching my head a little more when Cedar Hills said their process begins in April. Perhaps this works in a small town with few services. In American Fork, on the other hand, the process begins in January. In January, council members begin meeting with department heads and advisory committees to look at needs and priorities. In March, the mayor schedules an all-day retreat where department heads present formal budget requests to the city council, both orally and in writing. Between March and May, at least a couple more retreats are held, and council members visit individually with department heads and the chief financial officer.

Essentially, we use the first half of the fiscal year, from July to January, to evaluate the current budget, and the second half, from January to July, to plan for the coming budget. This is a thorough process that enables careful stewardship of public dollars.

Cedar Hills set out to mock the legislature. Mockery is intended to provoke laughter. I hope the legislature will see the resolution in this spirit and laugh it off.

In accordance with statute, the American Fork city council heard the financial officer's budget memo and adopted the preliminary budget on May 7. I share the text of the memo below.

Preliminary Budget 2010

2009-05-29T21:16:00.000-06:00

AMERICAN FORK CITY
BUDGET DISCUSSION ITEMS
WORK SESSION
MAY 7, 2009

The following adjustments have been made in the operating budget for the 2009-10 operating budget for the City:

Attrition. Current employee positions have not been eliminated. However, if a position is vacated, that position has not been replaced; cost reduction has been obtained through attrition.

Overtime. Most overtime throughout the City has been eliminated. However some overtime has been added back to allow for safety issues. Specifically, some overtime has been added back to police, streets (winter), and water (secondary irrigation). For the coming budget year, the City would like to emphasize compensation time and management intervention to manage employee schedules.

Social events. Social events such as Christmas parties, Halloween contribution, secretaries’ day, etc. have been eliminated. This is not to say the City does not want to recognize the hard work of the City employees, boards etc., but in these economic times the City would like to encourage recognition and camaraderie through pot luck activities, creative planning and recognition, etc.

Training/education. While the City recognizes the terrific contribution that training gives to the employees, during these times, the City is only going to pay for training or education for those individuals that need continuing professional education to stay in compliance with licenses or certifications.

Regularly scheduled pay period. A regularly scheduled pay period for employees of American Fork City has been set at 80 hours. This includes schedules for public safety and ambulance personnel.

Pay rates. No pay increases have been included in the budget. There has been an accrual for the year end pay period that crosses fiscal years, for which we need to recognize 10 out of 14 pay days in the budget. This has the affect of making the payroll line-items appear higher than the current fiscal year.

Operations. Most departmental budgets closely mirror the adjusted 08-09 operational budgets. With few exceptions, departments have been given what they have requested in their operational budgets.
Public Relations. The public relations contract has been eliminated.

Video arraignments. The City is still seeking approval from the Administrative Courts to use video arraignments. It is anticipated this will reduce police overtime in transportation of prisoners to and from court.

Traffic School. The City is looking into the possibility of doing a trial run of on-line traffic school, concurrently with the in-class traffic school, to see if citizens would be more likely to pay a premium rate to attend on-line traffic school, and perhaps reduce City overhead in the administration of that program. This on-line program is operating successfully in surrounding Cities.

Water. An adjustment in the water department budget has been made to allow for the anticipated $20,000 fee for the Highland aquifer study.

Sewer. It is anticipated that the base rate for sewer will be raised 4% to reflect the increased charges for the Timpanogos Sewer Special Service District fees. This resolution will be brought forward to the Council.
Dispatch Fees. We are anticipating increased charges in dispatch fees for police, fire and ambulance.

Revenues. For the most part, we are anticipating revenues similar to what we have received in the current 08-09 fiscal year. One exception is a small adjustment to sales tax, because we anticipate increased competition for our Wal- Mart tax dollars due to the opening of two new Wal-Marts in surrounding communities.

Celebration. The Celebration committee has scaled down the Steel Days celebration.

Building Authority. A Building authority fund has been added with a minimal transfer from the general fund to pay for publications etc. for administration of that fund.

Capital Improvements and equipment. Capital equipment purchases have been limited to current lease obligations, bond obligations and previously agreed contractual obligations. Library computer purchases are contingent upon the City receiving a library grant from the State.

Building-related revenues. The City does not anticipate any increases in building-related revenues including impact fees.

Broadband. Broadband has a very tight operational budget. The City is in hopes that we can come to some resolution of the broadband deficit. Currently, the general fund is covering the major portion of the broadband bond.

Fund balance. Fund balance is being used to balance the general fund operational budget. If revenues come in higher than anticipated, this will reduce the need to rely on fund balance.

Possible events that could affect the budget, not currently recognized

Equipment failure. Police vehicles, ambulance etc.
Significant emergencies.
Unexpected requests. Tri-City operational support, safety issues.

Is it American Fork or American Fark?

2009-05-29T17:54:00.001-06:00

It's American Fork, people.

A Call to Civility and Community

2009-05-22T08:05:00.000-06:00

Last Fall, Mayor Thompson attended an event sponsored by the Utah Coalition for Civic, Character and Service Training. There he was given a document which so positively impressed him that he asked the City Council to adopt it as part of the City code for conducting public meetings. The City Council so acted at its November 18 meeting. In May, Mayor Thompson distributed the document to City employees asking them to "please make these principles part of your daily relationships with the public."

For your interest, I reproduce the document herebelow.

===============

Ground Rules for Respectful Public Discourse and Behavior

"Freqent recurrence to fundamental principles is essential to the security of individual rights and perpetuity of free government." Constitution of Utah, Article I Section 27

Being concerned about growing incivility in our civic and public settings we call upon the people of Utah to return to fundamental principles that will lead to greater civility and a new spirit of community. Among our "inherent and inalienable" Constitutional rights is the fundamental right "to communicate freely about our thoughts and opinions", and yet we are also "responsible for the abuse of that right" (Constitution of Utah, Article I Section 1.) In that context we believe that there must be a renewal of respectful discourse and behavior in civic and public settings in Utah.

This is not an appeal for us all simply to get along. We recognize that there are profound differences among us and that spirited debate is a vital part of American democracy. Participation in American civic and public life does not require us to sacrifice our deepest convictions; rather we best protect our own rights by protecting the rights of others and adhering to high ethical standards.

With that in mind we propose the following ground rules of civic and public engagement that recognize the important place of the rights, responsibilities and respect inherent in our civic and constitutional compact.

1. Remember the Importance of Rights and the Dignity of Each Individual. Our society is founded upon the proposition that all people are born free and equal in dignity and rights, and that freedom of conscience and expression are at the foundation of our rights.
2. Responsibly Exercise your Rights While Protecting the Rights of Others. Each of us should be responsible both in the exercise of our rights and in protecting the rights of others. Especially on matters of personal faith, claims of conscience, and human rights, public policy should seek solutions that are fair to all.
3. Respect Others. All people -- especially our leaders and the media -- should demonstrate a commitment to be respectful in discourse and behavior, particularly in civic and public forums. Respect should also be shown by being honest and as inclusive as possible, by mindfully listening to and attempting to understand the concerns of others, by valuing their opinions even when there is disagreement, and by addressing their concerns when possible.
4. Refrain from Incivility. Public discourse can be passionate while maintaining mutual respect that reaches beyond differing opinions. Intimidation, ridicule, personal attacks, mean spiritedness, reprisals against those who disagree, and other disrespectful or unethical behaviors destroy the fabric of our society and can no longer be tolerated. Those who engage in such behavior should be brought to light, held accountable and should no longer enjoy the public's trust.
5. Rekindle Building Community. Our social compact "of the people" and "by the people" is "for the people." Each one of us has a responsibility to build community. On divisive issues, areas of common ground should first be explored. Effort should be given to building broad-based agreement, giving due regard to the concerns of minority points of view.

We invite all Utahns to join us in affirming these ground rules and putting them into action.

The time has come for us to work together.

Adopted by the American Fork City Council this 18 day of November 2008.

Questions about Pressurized Irrigation

2009-05-13T10:58:00.000-06:00

Now I am fashionable. My street has a gravel stripe down the middle just like everybody else's.

With pressurized irrigation coming to my block, I have been fielding many questions from my neighbors.

Q. Would it really have been cost prohibitive to build a water treatment plant instead?

A. Yes. The treatment plant itself would have equalled the cost of the pressurized system. However, the delivery system (the underground pipes) was not sized to serve the City's growing population, and would still have needed an upgrade. So we could have built a treatment plant, but we'd still be digging up streets and installing new pipes. This would have doubled the price of the current project, which uses a new pressurized system to deliver untreated water.

Q. Why wasn't the delivery system originally sized for growth?

A. Originally, American Fork built itself a culinary system for indoor water use, but relied on irrigation ditches for outdoor needs. Over the course of the 20th century, families pulled away from their agricultural roots and developers built subdivisions without irrigation ditches. Over time, the majority of American Fork's households shifted to the use of culinary water via hose hook-ups for outdoor irrigation. But the culinary system was never designed for this, and never anticipated the day when it would need to support 7,000 suburban yards.

Q. Why not dig more ditches?

A. Engineers estimate that 30 percent of the water delivered in ditches is lost due to evaporation and seepage. The pressurized system of underground pipes makes more efficient use of a scarce resource.

Q. If American Fork continues to develop at the rates of the last two decades, how long will it take for the City to outgrow the new system?

A. One reason the present system is so costly is that the City sized it for growth. In hearing after hearing, the City's longest and most knowledgable water users begged us to create something bigger than a band-aid for the problem. We listened and directed engineers to propose a project that would last for fifty years. They accomplished this through two means: First, by designing a structural backbone that will support the City's needs to build-out. Second, by calculating the costs of depreciation and maintenance and incorporating these into the rate structure. If present and future City Councils will hold to the rate structure that was approved, they will accrue the necessary funds to upgrade the system when the time comes. Hopefully, American Fork will never again see a 2006, when the City was out of water and had no money to solve the problem.

Q. Does this mean that today's residents are subsidizing tomorrow's developers?

A. No. Fortunately, Utah law allows a City to oversize an amenity to accommodate future growth, then to be reimbursed by future developers through impact fees. This is called "equity buy-in." (We treated our parks the same way when we passed the parks bond, which will be retired through present and future impact fees.) So the present irrigation bonds are building an oversized backbone which future developers will buy into. At that time, developers will themselves bear the expense of extending the system from the backbone to their individual properties.

Thought for the Day

2009-05-13T10:43:00.000-06:00

Click on image to enlarge.
From the book, Powers and Duties: A Handbook for Utah's Municipal Officials, Utah League of Cities and Towns.

The New AFCity.org

2009-04-11T10:17:00.000-06:00

Some time last November, the City launched a "soft" opening of its new Web site, AFCity.org. On February 10, the Web site was formally presented to the City Council. I reproduce here remarks made on that date by Rachel Parrish of ThinkBox Design Marketing, the firm which created the Web site.

American Fork is a city dedicated to providing friendly quality service, big city opportunities and small town goodness. Reflective of the depth of American Fork quality, in November the city unveiled the re-designed American Fork city Web site. The Web site has been designed by ThinkBox Design Marketing with consultation from the city and an executive committee of city officials, department heads and administration. This dynamic Web site was designed to communicate effectively with the target audience of current and prospective businesses, residents, developers, and visitors.

The Web site is fully functional and user friendly. It provides online functions that reduce the amount of time city staff spend on mundane tasks such as making phone calls, transcribing information, processing forms, updating the site, and so on. The Web site provides a variety of online services to current and prospective residents, businesses, and visitors. The site utilizes extensive content management tools and a database related architecture to provide a consistent user-friendly interface. All this takes place through a secure environment.

The branding of the Web site was based on the American Fork logo design and layout of the Economic Development press kit. The design of the Web site will allow visitors to easily and quickly navigate the site to find desired information. Top and side navigation bars have been utilized, including a list of quick links for the most frequently asked topics. Due to the varied thought processes of visitors to the site, there are numerous ways to find a particular page or piece of information. For example, one can find the Library from the For Residents link, a quick link, or through departments. Careful planning has strategically placed similar information in numerous areas of the site. Information on the numerous facets of life in American Fork can now be found in one place. Questions ranging from housing permits, recycling, and a search for an American Fork ancestor can all be answered.

The core of the American Fork City Web site is built with ASP.NET technology and a combination of Java script, Ajax and flash. The content management system is driven by a MSSQL database with 244 tables with a size of 0.5 GB and growing. The file system contains 817 Folders and 7209 Files for a total of 1.6 GB and growing.

The website now includes:

Home Page

An About the City page which includes the history and the benefits of living and doing business in American Fork

Contact Us with easy access to a map and department information

An interactive Calendar of Events including color-coded events from all departments. This calendar can be updated in real time by department heads and is an excellent avenue for informing residents of upcoming events.

Department News/Minutes and Agendas. Each department is able to update their own web pages through the Content Management System.

Numerous Business Visitors can find answers to questions on Building Permits, Economic Development, Planning, and American Fork Chamber of Commerce opportunities.

Residents can find information on Fitness and Recreation, the Arts Council, Yard Sales and fun events within the city for the whole family.

Visitors to American Fork can find highlights of the Points of Interest within the city and includes photos of historic areas and scenic parks.

The site includes a search feature allowing visitors to enter a topic and receive a list of related links on the site.

The site allows for a variety of forms to be available which can be filled out and submitted online. Potential forms include: utility services sign up, business license renewal, records request, fence permit, building permit, etc.

The site continues to offer online utility bill payments and account information.

Parks can now be reserved from the Web site.

A visitor to the Web site can sign up for the city newsletter. This enables visitors to be informed of city announcements and events.

A Weather link has been added to the site showing the current temperature and link to the extended forecast for American Fork City.
Since its launch the site has received over 86,482 visitors. Currently the site receives around 12,000 visitors a month, up to 2,800 visitors a day, 50% of which are new visitors every month. Visitors ranging from as far away as Germany and Russia have visited the site.

My thanks to Rachel and her colleagues at ThinkBox for their artful and arduous work.

Personally, I'm willing to concede that the site lacks the glitz and functionality of, say, Amazon.com or WhiteHouse.gov, but it also lacks their generous budgets, funded as it is on a local taxpayer's shoestring. On the whole, therefore, I'm pleased to recommend the new Web site to you. It is the latest in the City's efforts to improve communication with residents -- a goal which has been a personal focus for me during my term of service.

Thought for the Day

2009-04-08T13:55:00.000-06:00

WHAT THE ALA WANTS PRESIDENT OBAMA
TO KNOW ABOUT LIBRARIES

Excerpted from a letter dated March 18, 2009

Dear Mr. President:

The American Library Association held a Membership Town Hall Meeting on January 24, 2009 during its Midwinter Meeting in Denver, Colorado. The purpose of the meeting was to articulate and discuss important issues the ALA membership wanted to share with your new Administration.

A thread expressed by many was the need to clearly establish the fundamentally good work done by libraries in assisting the public. Over and over again, comments reinforced the need to be sure that your administration has a solid understanding of the role which libraries, as essential institutions of life-long learning, play in serving and assisting virtually every segment of the population.

Libraries are perfectly positioned to disseminate information relevant to the issues and challenges that face us as a nation, the same key issues which your Administration is seeking to address. Libraries disseminate healthcare and government information. They offer literacy programs, assistance for non-English speakers, as well as access to computers, the Internet and the wealth of library resources. Libraries serve and support all diverse populations.

Public libraries are an obvious resource to support early childhood education programs and to support and augment all areas of school curricula. They work in partnership with government and business, offering Internet support for online employment applications, filing for unemployment benefits, supplying tax forms and providing assistance to those seeking government assistance. Libraries serve as a primary conduit for information for the public, and have the ability to support any national initiative.

The increased usage libraries are experiencing testifies to their value. That recent increase, well established through statistics, has resulted in dramatic increases in circulation, in-library materials usage, and attendance at programs by individuals of all ages. Urban libraries should hold a prominent spot on the urban agenda.

Dramatically increased library usage points to the need for increased library funding. A one-time infusion of dollars flowing into libraries would provide badly-needed additional resources at a time when libraries are seeing a tremendous increase in usage. . . .

A core value of the profession, “equal access for all,” provided another strong thread for discussion. The need for an educated public was stressed, with libraries playing a central role in providing equal access to information to all persons, while remembering the poor, the disabled and the undocumented. Adequate access must also include metadata and cataloging, preservation and the availability of trained librarians, skilled in finding the information that is most relevant and useful. In rural areas without broadband, access is of vital concern. . . .

Government must understand that access is more than simply putting information on a website. In thousands of communities across the country, librarians play an essential role in providing access to e-government and in empowering all.

Respectfully,
Jim Rettig
President

For more information about the ALA's federal lobbying efforts,
follow this link to the ALA's legislative action page.

Pam Hunsaker Drive

2009-04-03T11:30:00.000-06:00

On March 24 the City Council adopted this resolution:

Whereas, the Hunsaker family has distinguished themselves in the community of American Fork, and

Whereas, the late Pamela D. Hunsaker was employed by American Fork City for 34 years and devoted much time volunteering with numerous City committees and organizations, and

Whereas, American Fork City desires to acknowledge the contribution made by Pamela D. Hunsaker and her family to American Fork City, which City she dearly loved, during the 34 years she was employed.

Now, therefore, the City Council of American Fork resolves to add the designation of Pam Hunsaker Drive to 630 East from 300 North to 400 North and orders that signs be acquired to so present.

Council members actually fought for the privilege of making and seconding the motion.

I add my voice to those who have honored Pam for her long years of service to the City, including 24 years as City treasurer and benefits administrator. We truly mourn the passing of her lively spirit, her peaceable support, and her contagious laugh.

Pamela Durrant Hunsaker

Water Rates

2009-04-03T10:50:00.000-06:00

This last Tuesday evening, March 31, the Pressurized Irrigation team held an open house at Legacy Elementary. Residents who came to this thorough presentation found displays, handouts, demonstrations, and live bodies to answer their every question. How do I connect to the system? How much will my rates increase? What is the latest construction schedule? And of course, that perennial favorite, What the devil is the City Council thinking?

Given the quality of the information available, I was disappointed not to see more people there. By my informal count, the ratio of attendance was only 2:1, or two members of the public for every member of the team.

Noting this, you will perhaps understand the frustration I feel when folks who have just absorbed the shock of the increase come to me and say, "You never told us." A classic example came to my inbox last night:

Last year, you in city government, talked about the new irrigation system as if it would save money for the average AF resident. Actually, according to your newly posted examples, it will cost most people about 300% of their prior year cost. I feel you have been deceptive in your communication and practices. We need new and honest leadership.

In point of fact, we did tell you. I quote from the voter information pamphlet which was mailed to every home in October of 2006, and which was included as an insert to both the Daily Herald and the American Fork Citizen (may it rest in peace) in the weeks prior to the November 2006 election:

What will this bond cost me, the rate payer?
If the secondary system is approved, households will become subject to two separate rate schedules. In addition to the $5 assessment for CUP water, utility bills will show separate charges for culinary water and for secondary water.

Culinary water will be billed at $13.85 for the first 6,000 gallons of water used each month. (6,000 gallons was chosen because it is the figure for average monthly household indoor use.) Usage above this volume will incur additional charges based on a sliding scale of $2 per 1,000 for the next 2,000 gallons; $2.50 per 1,000 for the next 2,000 gallons after that, and so on.

Secondary rates will be charged year-round according to lot size. Lots up to 9,000 square feet will be charged the base fee of $14 per month. Rates increase at $17.50 per 10,000 square feet thereafter.

Connection to the secondary system is not mandatory, and connection fees will not be charged during the construction period.

Does this mean my monthly rates will go up?
Most homes will see a significant increase in their monthly water bill.
For the majority of American Fork homes, which sit on quarter-acre lots, the estimated monthly bill, under the current proposal, would be:
CUP water $5.00
Culinary water $13.85
Secondary water $17.31
TOTAL MONTHLY WATER BILL $36.16

This is in contrast to the present average household water bill of $21. (This average is derived from annual consumption which includes both indoor and outdoor usage, and is calculated at $10 for the first 8,000 gallons and 75 cents per thousand gallons thereafter.)

When will the new rates take effect?
Rates will take effect at different times in different sections of the City, as the system is installed. Individual users will not be charged secondary rates until the system is available for connection. The additional charge for CUP water will take effect in February 2007 regardless of whether the bond passes or not.

This is what we told the voters, who approved the bond by a 54-45 vote. This is what we have been telling the residents ever since, at hearings, in the newspaper, through special mailers, and at the project Web site. And this is what I'm telling you now.

So call the rates expensive and I'm with you. Call me deceptive and we part company.

For a more detailed discussion of rates, please see the article "Culinary and Pressurized Irrigation Costs" at the project Web site by following this link.

Congress to Fund 50 South

2009-03-31T10:53:00.000-06:00

On February 13, Congress passed the bill. On March 2, funds were apportioned. On March 24, the American Fork City Council approved the federal aid agreement. Soon it will be official: President Obama's American Recovery and Re-Investment Act will fund completion of American Fork's 50 South.

Those who voted in American Fork's November ballot proposition remember the City's unsuccessful attempt to fund this project through a general obligation bond. (Those who did not can read more at my October write-up.)

Now this shovel-ready project has become the perfect candidate for funds meant to "modernize roads, bridges, transit and waterways," fifty percent of which must be awarded within 120 days of March 2.

A few hurdles remain, however, before the City can claim the $2,799,000 it has applied for. By May 1, the City must have entered into right-of-way agreements with the adjacent property owners. As of this writing, fourteen parcels remain. By June 30, the project must have gone out to bid. And the City must still provide the $71,000 match of the original grant agreement (see here). Fortunately, this is a manageable sum even for the current fiscal year's budget.

Assuming the project clears these hurdles, it will see construction in the fall of 2009 and will easily meet its ultimate completion deadline of September 30, 2012. Along the way, the City will post the required reports on job creation and economic benefit so that President Obama can make good on his stated goals of accountability and transparency.

Completed, 50 South in American Fork will show the same cross-section it takes on when it crosses the city boundary and becomes Pleasant Grove's 1100 North. This means three lanes including a turn-lane, and also curb, gutter, and sidewalks.

Yes, sidewalks!

This is welcome news to us locals who use the road, be we pedestrians or drivers. Now, whether the federal taxpayer will benefit equally . . . this remains to be seen.

Thought for the Day

2009-03-26T21:55:00.000-06:00

“A house without books is like a room without windows. No man has a right to bring up his children without surrounding them with books, if he has the means to buy them.”
Horace Mann
US educator, the first great American advocate of public education
1796-1859

"A city without a library is like a house without books. No civil society can be maintained without good libraries. "
Heidi Rodeback
Book junkie
1968 -

Hyacinths to Feed the Soul

2009-03-10T10:15:00.001-06:00

There may be snow on the ground today, but the finance committee has already approved funding for the City's spring flowers.

How can a good, conservative finance committee approve funding for a frill such as this in a tight budget year?

Our reasoning:

The $2172 approved represents only 38 percent of the $5754 spent last year on flowers.
The cut-back means no annuals will be planted this year at the library, the boat harbor, Veterans' Hall, the pocket park, or the 500 East/Main Street island.
Instead, the winter pansies will be nursed well into the warm season, and greater use will be made of perennials.

I can't say what was on the minds of the others, but as I voted to approve, I couldn't help remembering lines my mother taught me:

If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft
And but two loaves to thee are left,
Sell one, and with the dole
Buy hyacinths to feed the soul.

Library Lover Laments Lost Hours

2009-02-28T11:25:00.000-07:00

On February 9, the American Fork library reduced its hours of operation. Formerly open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, it is now open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and from noon to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Nobody is happy about this, least of all myself. During a recession, the local library becomes more important than ever. It's your first stop if you have to develop new career skills or learn how to bake bread. It's where you go if you have to disconnect your home Internet service. It's your family's cheapest recreation option.

This is not just conjecture on my part. The library's monthly circulation figures for 2008 show increases ranging from 20 to 33 percent over the same months in the two prior years, beginning in July 2008. (Remember last July, when gas prices hit $4.13 per gallon?)

The library is one of the most important services the City offers. It grieves me to see its operations cut during its time of highest demand. But such is the reality of the City budget.

Sales and property tax revenues, which fund the library and the rest of the general fund, are down approximately ten percent this year. Given a general fund of approximatley $15 million, this means the City has had to trim approximately $1.5 million from the budget. Accordingly, all departments have cut 10 to 15 percent from their budgets.

Reducing library hours yields an annual savings of $100,400. Other departments with significant cuts include the engineering department ($124,000), streets ($328,000), building inspection ($65,600), police ($75,900), and capital equipment ($214,200).

While it is true that "an investment in knowledge pays the best interest" (Benjamin Franklin), it is equally true that "if you know how to spend less than you get, you have the philosopher's stone" (Benjamin Franklin).

So I'm supporting the reduced hours -- at least for now -- and rejoicing that we don't have to close the library all together, as is happening elsewhere around the country.

If you love the library as much as I do, please join me in reminding the City Council how much you value those extended hours. If all goes well, we'll see the lost hours restored when the economy rebounds.

Opt-Out Recycling

2009-02-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

Once again, I voted against the recycling ordinance, even though I firmly believe recycling is right. I objected not to the idea of recycling, but to the ordinance itself. I don't like ordinances that cost our residents unnecessary money.

During the February 10 City Council meeting, I raised two objections to the ordinance. One was explained to my satisfaction. The other was not.

First, I objected to the $50 fee a resident incurs if, after the 60-day opt-out period, he wishes to return his container and stop recycling. I learned that $50 is the actual cost of the blue container used in our city for curb-side recycling, and that Allied Waste, our contracted service provider, will incur losses when it must retrieve unwanted containers. Without the $50 fee, the company would have to eat not only the pick-up expense, but also the cost of the container.

If I were to go to Target or Wal-Mart to purchase a container of similar size and durability, I would pay at least $50. I'm willing to concede that this is a fair fee.

My second objection is not so easily overcome, at least not in my mind. I object to the fact that the ordinance raises the monthly pick-up fee from $4.50 to $5.40.

Bear in mind that this fee covers the cost of pick-up only, and is not needed to offset the cost of sorting or marketing recyclables. According to my cocktail-napkin calculations, if the same trucks must cover the same routes, but may now divide their costs among 5,000 more households, then the cost per household should go down, not up.

At present, only 1,000 out of 7,000 American Fork households recycle. Adding 5,000 more households (an arbitrary assumption, but reasonable enough) would raise revenues six-fold, meaning Allied Waste could multiply by six the number of trucks it sends and still not need a higher fee.

I have been told that Orem, when it went city-wide with its recycling program, lowered its per-household fee to $3. But American Fork will not see a lower fee, because the City is under contract to Allied Waste to pay $4.47 per month for each container it empties. So, I asked, thinking about renegotiation, when does the contract expire? Nobody could tell me -- nobody from the City, and nobody from Allied Waste.

The increased fee, it turns out, goes to cover administrative costs on the City side. Which administrative costs those will be is not specified.

Turning my napkin to the other side, I did some more figuring. 6,000 households (my assumed take rate) multiplied by 90 extra cents per household, then by twelve months per year, equals $64,800 -- at least a full-time salary.

Whatever those unspecified administrative costs are, I'm certain they don't require an additional full-time hire. To my eye, this fee is a hidden, mid-year tax increase. This is not something I can vote for, not in uncertain economic times, and not without knowing what the money will be used for.

So I voted nay, but the ordinance passed without me. I hear that some residents have already begun responding to the notice on the Web site by opting out. I believe in recycling and would like to see the program succeed, but I can't fault those who disagree, or who wish to continue recycling through other means without paying $5.40 per month.

For further information on the program, visit the American Fork City Web site. For further explanation of my views on recycling, check out two of my earlier entries here at the blog:

Should American Fork Recycle?

Rethinking Recycling

Personal

2009-02-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

Except as they shed light on my positions, I try to keep my personal affairs out of this blog. Its purpose is to account for my work in the City. Today, however, I make exception to this policy so that I may account for my whereabouts during the two months since my last entry.

On January 16, for reasons more selfish than altruistic, I donated a kidney. I donated it to my daughter. It was a win-win situation for both of us. She needed my kidney, and I needed my daughter.

Because said daughter has no wish to become a public figure, I will not describe here the details leading up to this event. Instead, I wish to share a few insights from the experience which, though they have little bearing on city politics, have informed my views on the national health care debate.

Insight No. 1: The free market is at the foundation of nearly every medical advance.

I do not believe my daughter would be alive today without the free market. It has made (at least) four vital contributions to our medical economy which government planning could never replicate. They are:

Specialization and exchange. I marvel to consider the breadth of specialties we drew upon and the depth of each specialization. To list just a few: nephrologists, nurse practitioners, surgeons, nurses, dieticians, social workers, technicians, teachers, writers, researchers, lab personnel, office managers, administrators, financial counselors, pharmacists, transplant pharmacists. There are also pediatric variants of many of these. At Primary Children's Hospital, there's a team who does nothing but install IVs all day.

Risk management (insurance). Insurance is one of the most ingenious and indispensable innovations of the modern age. It enables us to pool our money to take care of society's most urgent and unpredictable needs. My daughter's condition came as a complete shock to us. There was no family history of it and no apparent cause for it. It set in almost overnight; we were less than a year from diagnosis to total kidney failure and transplant. In that year, we amassed bills in excess of $400,000 which our insurance company cheerfully paid. I am keeping these bills to show my children when they come of age. The lesson: Never, never go without medical insurance.

Appropriate compensation. Consider the case of the surgeon. He has completed and paid for at least twelve years of higher education to be able to do what he does. During these twelve years, he received no compensation, and must now with his income not only repay his educational debts, but also provide for an expensive lifestyle. Now he must deal with blood and gore on a daily basis. Worse than this, he faces the daily risk that a patient will die in his hands, and when this happens, the surgeon must pick up and go on tomorrow. Facing constant emotional trauma, he and his family need to be able to retreat to a comfortable home and recreate on a frequent basis. I need to know that my surgeon is handsomely compensated so that he can sustain his difficult lifestyle. Without generous compensation, few others would choose his career path, with the result that succeeding generations would languish on long waiting lists for surgery.

Competition. Competition means that each provider must give peak performance or lose patients to his competitor. I like what this means for me, the consumer. A case in point is the case of Medicare vs. the private insurance company. Kidney failure, thanks to the 1972 Congress, results in automatic Medicare coverage, which works in coordination with my family's private medical insurance. When I called Medicare to ask about my daughter's benefits, I was told that Medicare does not explain benefits and does not answer questions. My private insurance company, by contrast, has dedicated a caseworker to my family. She calls me frequently for updates; she answers my every question; we are on a first-name basis. Excellent, individualized service is what competition means in the medical arena.

Insight No. 2: Free market notwithstanding, government still has a role to play in the arena of public health.

I believe there is a place for Medicare and Medicaid, but these should play supporting roles to the market's starring role. Apart from this, government can and should exercise its stewardship under the heading of public health. Three f'rinstances:

Regulations and standards. I appreciate the FDA's role in screening legitimate from spurious medical claims. I also believe our nation needs to move to electronic medical records, but this cannot happen unless the government creates uniform standards.

Advocacy and awareness. When I think how many of our costliest medical conditions are caused by obesity -- in many cases, a preventable condition -- I applaud the impulse for advocacy and awareness campaigns. Problems like this impose costs not only on individual patients, but on society at large. Clearly a compelling public interest is at stake. Air pollution in Utah is another prime example. Much of it can be reduced by changing behavior. Those of us who idle our cars in the drive-up lane at the school or the bank can learn to turn off the ignition -- but we will probaby not do so unless the state undertakes an an aggressive public education campaign.

Infrastructure. Electronic medical records, cited above, are an example of infrastructure. Another is walking routes. I firmly believe American Fork needs to create more safe and convenient walking routes. These have a direct bearing on public health.

Insight No. 3: There is widespread need for organ donation.

A few simple facts:

In the United States, almost 100,000 men, women and children currently need organ transplants.

In the year 2005, a typical year, there were 7,593 deceased organ donors and 6,895 living organ donors resulting in 28,108 organ transplants.

This means that approximately 72,000 souls each year are left waiting for organ donation. Of these, 6,000 die every year -- 18 every day and one every 90 minutes.

A deceased donor can save as many as 15 lives, potentially providing one heart or two heart valves, two lungs, two kidneys, one liver, one pancreas, two hip joints, two corneas, bones, connective tissues, skin, and blood vessels.

Ninety percent of Americans and every major religion support organ donation, yet fewer than thirty percent of us actually become donors at death. The largest reason for this is that grieving families are reluctant to give their consent. If you wish to become an organ donor on your death, don't just mark your driver's license; inform your family. Donor families incur no expense for donation, and most donor families say donation helps their grieving.

Living kidney donation is considered major surgery, but thanks to modern medical miracles (i.e. laparascopy) recovery time is brief, two to six weeks. Now at four weeks post-op, I am still banned from physical exertion, but insofar as the doctors have not restricted mental exertion, I am back to meetings.

My colleagues in the City have been more than generous in their support, accommodating my absence by scheduling meetings and agendas around the surgery. Thanks to this, I only missed one Council meeting and one work session, so I feel I am still pulling my weight.

(Just don't tell my doctors. I'm not supposed to lift anything over ten pounds.)

Water Rates

2009-02-12T18:44:00.000-07:00

I drafted this entry before Christmas, but chose to sit on it as emotions were running high at the time. I post it now so that the record will be complete.

While I was out in January, the Council voted -- wisely, in my opinion -- to flatten the culinary water fee structure and reduce the impact to the highest users. It did this by removing $375,000 of annual depreciation from the cost-recovery model, but leaving $425,000 for the same. (The original depreciation budget was $800,000.) This leaves the City vulnerable, insasmuch as additional revenues will need to be generated to maintain the culinary system as it wears out -- but if this keeps our business climate healthy, we will probably come out ahead.

==========

Tahitian Noni. McDonalds. Wendy's. Durfey's Dry Cleaning. Parkers.

Many of our city's largest, best beloved, or longest established businesses are also among our 40 largest water users. This is not to suggest that they consume water wastefully, but they do supply water-intensive services to thousands of customers each month and so rack up a large bill.

The new water rates took effect in November, but will not be felt until the first meter reading in March. Most of these top 40 users will see increases as large as 600 percent. (I note parenthetically that American Fork issues 900 commercial business licenses annually; of these, only forty will see increases of this magnitude.)

Why did the City enact such punishing rates? Do the rates hurt businesses disproprotionately? Should more of the cost be shifted to residents (who already face a 300 percent increase in their household water bills)? Should the City consider a flat rate instead of the current structure which increases with usage? Does the present City Council just have it in for business?

No, it doesn't. But I can't comment further without first discussing the background.

When voters approved the pressurized irrigation bond in 2006, they also voted to triple their water bills. This increase came from two components: the addition of the pressurized system with its associated construction and delivery costs, and a simultaneous increase to culinary water rates. The new rates were made public in the voter information piece which was mailed to all households. This piece was also placed on the City Web site and published as an insert in the American Fork Citizen.

But for a minor tweak (fifteen cents per household per month), the rate schedule as it appeared in the voter information is the same as the structure now taking effect. It is a tiered schedule which charges a base rate of $14 for the first 6,000 gallons, then charges overage rates. Overage rates start at $2 per thousand gallons from 6,000 up to 8,000 gallons; tiers climb from there until the rate hits $6 per thousand gallons for usage above 200,000 gallons per month.

The purpose of the tiered structure is to promote conservation of culinary water, a commodity which has fallen short of need in American Fork since 2006.

In other words, the shortage is the reason for the rate increase. Because of the shortage, water became expensive in American Fork in 2006. By then, the City's water supply was maxxed out; it could no longer supply the city's needs without additional infrastructure and supply. The creation of the pressurized irrigation system meant that culinary water would be available once again in plentiful supply. Households and businesses could then continue to consume according to their customary patterns.

Absent the pressurized irrigation system, the City would have had to start denying building permits and many of the businesses named above may well have had to leave the community -- either for lack of water or for lack of rooftops and customer base.

The need had been discussed and debated since the 1980s. In 1988, the system was estimated to cost the City $4.6 million. That figure would have created the initial system for a much smaller community; expansion for growth would have been entirely paid by new development. By 1994, that initial cost had risen to $9 million. 2002 costs were estimated in the $20 millions. The City Council actually approved a backbone system in 2002, but never implemented it.

I did not join the Council until 2006, so I cannot comment on this or on any other forces which led the City to procrastinate until costs ran to the $48.95 million of the 2006 bond.

Nevertheless, these two facts together account for the high water rates taking effect this year: First, that American Fork procrastinated the decision for nearly two decades, and second, that voters approved the current system and rates in 2006.

Still, it came as a shock when the City warned the commercial water users what they could expect in their April bills. Their protests, and the backlash of public opinion that has followed the media coverage, suggest that many have forgotten what it felt like to be out of water in 2006. We seem to have forgotten how voters first clamored for action in the 2005 mayoral and city council elections, then, the next year, approved this very large and very bitter pill.

Background aside, American Fork's businesses do make a number of convincing arguments. They point out that we rely on their sales tax revenue. Touche. They point to the poor economy, and decry American Fork's woeful sense of timing. They won't be able to compete with their counterparts in neighboring cities, they say -- touche again.

Then there's Lillian Parker. She makes sure I remember how much we all like her burgers and shakes. And the head of the local restaurant association points out how many college educations our restaurants pay for, how they employ our teenagers and give them their work ethic. Another very good argument.

Overall, I find myself sympathetic to their pleas. I find myself in agreement with Mayor Thompson when he points out that our community cannot thrive if our businesses do not thrive. I do not know whether there is any remedy to be had. But if a way can be found to provide relief to businesses without further punishing the residents or reneging on what the voters approved, I will gladly support it.

Catch-Up

2009-02-12T18:30:00.000-07:00

Though my blog took the last two months off, I myself was able to work off and on via email and telephone. Mayor Thompson was gracious enough to collect written statements from me on two separate hot-button items and to make sure my views were represented in the discussions.

They are artless, but I'm posting them here for the sake of the record.

Water Rates.

1. The City's first obligation is to the taxpayers and voters who approved the bonds together with the fee structure that would both retire the bonds and provide revenue for the next capital upgrades which would be required in 30 to 50 years. Providing relief to businesses who are hurt by the new fee structure is also a reasonable goal, consistent with our desires to be friendly to businesses and to increase our tax base, but this goal has to be secondary to the primary goals of providing water and protecting the residents, voters, and taxpayers.

2. The tiered rate structure, which climbs up to $6 per 1,000 gallons, is inherently unfair. My read of the businesses that use water in this quantity is that they do not use water to excess, but that they use it on behalf of large numbers of consumers. The purpose of the tiered structure was to discourage homeowners from wasting culinary water out of doors. In this goal, the rates overshoot the mark. I have been told that residential usage typically stays in the 12,000 gallon range. Charging excessively for usage above 200,000 gallons will not effect homeowners, but it will punish businesses who use culinary water for legitimate culinary needs.

3. Synthesizing points 1 and 2, above, the conclusion I reach is that it would be fair to hold residences harmless by keeping the same base rate and overage rate up to 12,000 gallons (or so), then to enact a flat fee for usage above that figure. In order to provide some measure of relief to businesses, I would be amenable to removing $250,000 of annual depreciation from the cost model. This would still ensure residents that revenues would be available for repair and upgrades when necessary, so that we would never again see the crisis of 2006. I could also vote to remove $500,000 from the cost model if that were the only way to move forward, but would rather not.

4. We cannot provide water below cost. (This should go without saying.)

Road Impact Fees

The present City Council has created revenue streams for growth-related infrastructure by adopting impact fees for roads, water, sewer, public safety and parks. In accordance with state law, these impact fees are justified by their place in a capital facilities plan which shows the city's plans for infrastructure and calculates the percentage of infrastructure needs which may be attributed to new growth. Because American Fork is one of the first communities to undertake this level of planning, our impact fees are higher than those of our surrounding communities. Understandably, this fact has drawn protest from developers. My notes (below) date from when the controversy was ripe. On February 5, the Council acknowledged an omission in the capital facilities plan and directed staff to create a new category, "strip mall," which will reduce fees for such developments, but will not compromise the future of a much-needed revenue stream. The February 5 vote sets in motion a 120-day public notice process for this action.

1. I support revisiting and updating the capital facilities plan on which these are based, if it is true that recent UDOT announcements render the plans obsolete.

2. I would support any petition submitted by a prospective business showing that their patronage is less than our projections show -- if the planning commission is willing to endorse the numbers.

3. I would support the creation of a new "strip mall" category, which usage places lower demand on roads and may therefore be assessed a lower fee -- so long as the planning commission accepts the numbers.

4. As to revenue models, the City needs to recover through its impact fees 100 percent of capital facilities needs attributable to growth. We have not got another revenue stream to cover these costs; I have not got the political will to raise property taxes to do so; we cannot continue to defer maintenance and construction. I cannot support any figure less than 100 percent.

Parsimony

2008-12-11T10:36:00.000-07:00

Parsimony is defined as the quality of being careful, frugal, even stingy with money. Always a virtue, the principle of parsimony has become essential to the City's salvation in the present, troubled economy.

Like most other governmental entities, American Fork is struggling this year with slow revenues. Sales taxes have slowed; building permits and impact fees are at a virtual standstill. Department heads have been instructed to delay capital expenditures either temporarily or indefinitely and to submit requisitions only for those items necessary to the continued operation of their programs.

Large measures such as these are key to keeping the City in the black, but equally important are the small, parsimonious economies because, as Benjamin Franklin so aptly observed, even a small leak will sink a great ship.

So instead of buying a dead Christmas tree for the annual downtown Santa Claus event this year, the Beautification committee spent the same money to plant a live fir. Those dollars will be recouped over several years' worth of budgets, and the tree will beautify Robinson Park year-round.

The Beautification committee went one step further and held its annual appreciation dinner in a member's home. Members each contributed a dish, thus saving a large restaurant check -- money which they hope will remain available to them for future projects.

For its part, the City Council approved an agreement Tuesday night with Enterprise Rent-A-Car which will save money on travel to trainings and workshops. Reimbursing for mileage at the IRS rate was costing the City 58 cents per mile; renting from Enterprise will cost 27 cents per mile. On a round trip to St. George, that's a savings of close to $200.

These are just a few examples of cost-cutting measures being taken City-wide. Other measures under investigation include reevaluating the City's cell phone policy, thinning the number of annuals planted at City properties this summer, keeping tighter reins on the thermostats, and moving to the 4-10 work week.

The current recession is no picnic, but if there is a silver lining to this cloud, it is that it forces the City to find and practice greater economies -- economies that will continue to save the taxpayer money when the recession ends.

Thought for Thanksgiving Day

2008-11-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

On December 22, 1820 Daniel Webster delivered a speech before the Pilgrim Society at Plymouth, Massachusetts. These excerpts demonstrate not only the statesman's skill at oration, but also his solid devotion to both religious and public liberty -- principles which resound equally today as they did one, two, three, and four centuries ago.

===============

We have come to this rock to record here our homage for our Pilgrim Fathers; our sympathy in their sufferings; our gratitude for their labors; our admiration of their virtues; our veneration for their piety; and our attachment to those principles of civil and religious liberty which they encountered the dangers of the ocean, the storms of heaven, the violence of savages, disease, exile, and famine, to enjoy and to establish.

And we would leave here, also, for the generations which are rising up rapidly to fill our places, some proof that we have endeavored to transmit the great inheritance unimpaired; that in our estimate of public principles, and private virtue; in our veneration of religion and piety; in our devotion to civil and religious liberty; in our regard to whatever advances human knowledge, or improves human happiness, we are not altogether unworthy of our origin.

The love of religious liberty is a stronger sentiment, when fully excited, than an attachment to civil or political freedom. That freedom which the conscience demands, and which men feel bound by their hopes of salvation to contend for, can hardly fail to be attained. Conscience in the cause of religion, and the worship of the Deity, prepares the mind to act, and to suffer beyond almost all other causes. History instructs us that this love of religious liberty, a compound sentiment in the breast of man, made up of the clearest sense of right, and the highest conviction of duty, is able to look the sternest despotism in the face, and, with means apparently most inadequate, to shake principalities and powers.

Thanks be to God, that this spot was honored as the asylum of religious liberty. May its standard, reared here, remain forever! May it rise up high as heaven, till its banner shall fan the air of both continents, and wave as a glorious ensign of peace and security to the nations!

We are bound to maintain public liberty, and by the example of our own systems, to convince the world that order and law, religion and morality, the rights of conscience, the rights of persons, and the rights of property, may all be preserved and secured, in the most perfect manner, by a government entirely and purely elective. If we fail in this, our disaster will be signal, and will furnish an argument, stronger than has yet been found, in support of those opinions which maintain that government can rest safely on nothing but power and coercion.

As far as experience may show errors in our establishments, we are bound to correct them, and if any practices exist contrary to the principles of justice and humanity, within the reach of our laws or our influence, we are inexcusable if we do not exert ourselves to retrain and abolish them.

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Qtd. in Liberty: A Magazine of Religious Freedom, a publication of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, September/October 2008 edition.

Transportation Update

2008-11-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

Investment in Transportation and Transit Will Bring Rewards

Today's informative update is reproduced with permission of the author, Mary Street, Commerce CRG. It was published in The Salt Lake Enterprise, October 20, 2008 edition.

Utah County is about to become the recipient of major transit and transportation projects that will likely provide a significant boost to employment, the commercial real estate industry and the overall local economy.

Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) and Utah Transit Authority (UTA) projects under way, or on the drawing board, in Utah County have a total price tag of more than $4 Billion. Andrew Jackson, Director of Planning at Mountainland Association of Governments states "these projects are an immediate shot in the arm. The life-blood of our economy is access. The effect of improving our transportation systems, building our infrastructure, and putting people to work will cause ripples throughout our entire local economy."

UDOT has two major Utah County initiatives underway. Access Utah County, an $800 million project which will begin construction late in 2008 consisting of four significant road projects designed to alleviate congestion and provide alternate routes throughout the county, and I-15 CORE, which is the total reconstruction of I-15 from American Fork to Highway 6 in Spanish Fork.

Access Utah County includes construction of two new transportation corridors. The first, Pioneer Crossing, is a new east-west connector from the American Fork Main Street I-15 interchange to Redwood Road in Saratoga Springs and will include the complete reconstruction of the American Fork Main Street I-15 interchange. Beginning construction in late 2008, this four-lane road will improve connectivity and reduce congestion along Lehi’s Main Street. This project will cause the need for relocation of several businesses adjacent to the interchange and along the new connector.

Simultaneous to the Pioneer Crossing construction, UDOT will begin construction of The Vineyard Connector, a new four-lane, limited access road west of I-15 connecting Pioneer Crossing in American Fork with 800 North in Orem. The Vineyard Connector, slated for completion in 2010, will be a crucial new alternate route for north Utah County commuters.

I-15 CORE, a $2.6 Billion project funded by Utah lawmakers during the 2008 legislative session, is the largest federal highway project funded and moving forward in the country. The project includes rebuilding 11 I-15 interchanges and 15 bridges. This project is currently in the project development stage with construction slated to begin in 2010 and reach completion in 2014.

In addition to the UDOT projects, UTA has announced Frontlines South, an extension of their successful commuter rail project. This project will provide another alternative for Utah County commuters, helping to alleviate congestion on I-15. Frontlines South will extend the Frontrunner commuter rail service from downtown Salt Lake City to Provo. Frontrunner is a high-speed diesel passenger train that will run every 30 minutes during weekday business hours traveling at speeds approaching 80 miles per hour. Initial plans call for eight stations on the line, with the possible addition of two more stations in the future. UTA will finalize station locations and lay-outs during the course of construction and hopes to begin service as early as 2013. By the time Frontlines South is completed the project value may reach $1.0 billion.

These UDOT and UTA projects could soon give a "shot in the arm" to the local economy and to the commercial real estate market in Utah County as well. These projects will require land acquisition for road construction and landowners selling land for these projects would do well to reinvest in real estate. In addition, these projects will require a number of area businesses to relocate.

With commercial real estate sales and leasing softening during the past 9 months, business relocation and land sales could create a new spark in the industry. Acquisitions and relocations are just beginning in North Utah County and will continue for several years as these projects proceed. During the past month, independent UDOT contractors have been arriving in Utah County from around the country, seeking office space and ramping up staff for the massive right-of-way acquisition process.

The forward thinking and planning of such transportation projects is having a positive impact on the local economy. Provo, for example, just landed a major new employer, Duncan Aviation, projected to bring 650 new jobs to the area. The company plans to build a $58 million, 320,000 square-foot facility near the Provo Municipal airport starting spring 2009. Citing transportation needs and access to western markets as a major factor in the site selection, company officials also noted that land use planning in Provo played an important role in their choice of cities.

Investment in our state’s transportation infrastructure and quality growth planning are bringing economic dividends to the state in a time when uncertainty abounds.

Mary Street is a land and investment specialist with Commerce CRG working in the Provo/Orem office. Mary is currently the vice chair of the Orem City Planning Commission.

Beyond the Bonds

2008-11-08T20:39:00.000-07:00

Many have asked whether, in light of the bonds' defeat, the City plans to pursue these items in future. Here's my take on that question.

Bonds 1, 2, and 3
The roads, the cemetery, and Art Dye park do represent legitimate community needs. These bonds were not a referendum as to whether the City would provide for them, but when and with what financing. The public's vote has indicated that this is the wrong time to undertake heavy capital expenditures. The City is well advised to defer these projects until better economic times.

Bond 4
Trails and open space do add to American Fork's quality of life, and the City will continue to plan for them. But without a funding source, the City is not likely to pursue these aggressively in the near future.

Bond 5
560 West is a neighborhood issue. I want to see how the local precincts voted before I call it dead. However, given that the railroad crossing bears a price tag far greater than its value, I do not think it likely that the City will pursue this any farther. I do hope, however, that possible improvements to 400 West will be studied.

Thought for the Day

2008-11-08T20:30:00.000-07:00

Mere parsimony is not economy. Expense, and great expense may be an essential part in true economy.

-- Edmund Burke

Bond Election Results

2008-11-05T00:41:00.000-07:00

Bond 1: Roads
For: 2195
Against: 4477

Bond 2: Art Dye
For: 2258
Against: 4393

Bond 3: Cemetery
For: 2827
Against: 3781

Bond 4: Trails and Open Space
For: 1910
Against: 4689

Bond 5: 560 West
For: 1671
Against: 4907

Introduction to the November Bonds

2008-10-20T23:00:00.000-06:00

Disclaimer: Articles posted at my blog are personal opinion. In posting this series on the bonds, I do not claim to speak for the City or the City Council. This blog does not represent any official position of American Fork City, and no City resources have ever been used to finance this blog.

Note: I have provided this series in advance to the mayor and the other City Council members, and have encouraged them to post comments where they differ. As always, I will honor my policy of posting comments in their entirety, regardless of my agreement or disagreement.

Utah Code does not prohibit a public official from speaking, campaigning, or otherwise exercising his First Amendment rights for political purposes, but it does prohibit a public entity from spending public funds to influence a ballot proposition. This is with good reason. The purpose of a ballot is not for the government to tell the people what to do, but for the people to tell the government what to do.

In other words, it's not my position that counts in this vote; it's yours.

Still, when the City Council votes to place an item on the ballot, that vote is presumed to be a strong recommendation in favor of the proposition. But the Council's vote to place five bonds on November's ballot was not that kind of vote.

Budget discussions last summer centered around a tax increase originally proposed north of 50 percent. Knowing this number to be untenable, the Council voted to excise several items from the budget, placing them instead on the ballot. The logic of that decision went something like this: "We know the public can't afford all of these items, so we'll put a list on the ballot and let the voters pick which items they want most."

One could say -- as I did -- that this amounts to failure to prioritize. But my arguments fell on rocky soil, so, when time came to place these items on the ballot, my vote represented nothing more than a desire to kick the matter up to a higher court -- yours.

The purpose of this article, therefore, and of the six that follow, is not to persuade but to inform. I believe you need straight talk from your elected officials if you are to cast an informed vote. Since a public hearing gives little opportunity for this -- the public likes to be heard in hearings, not talked at -- and since the City may not expend public funds to present anything beyond the bare facts -- this blog is the best venue I have available to me for thorough discussion.

As you read these articles, you will note that I have several concerns. For the most part, these concerns relate to timing and process. For example, there are two cases, 560 West and the Trail and Open Space bond, where study is not complete. In other instances -- most notably 560 West and 1120 North -- it will seem that the Council did not do enough to court public opinion or forge consensus. A strong, recurring theme will be the need to raise matching funds for grants. The nagging, unanswered question is, why did the City seek grants for which matching funds were not available?

In voicing these concerns, I do not raise objections to the items themselves. Each of these bonds represents a desire on the part of the Council either to respond to public clamor, or to act now to prevent greater expense later.

Nor do I disrespect my colleagues' motives or intentions. I have watched and participated as this Council has worked tirelessly, usually overtime, to meet in the most fiscally prudent manner possible the public's desires for public safety, infrastructure, and quality of life.

But ultimately, it's not the Council's voice that matters any more. It's yours. If you have questions as you read, please feel free to contact me or any of my colleagues. On this point I can speak for all: We're happy to help.

Bond Q & A

2008-10-20T22:55:00.000-06:00

In addition to the merits and demerits of each of the bonds -- these will be discussed next -- there are certain overarching economic questions voters will be asking as they go to the polls.

Q. Will the City spend the money as promised?

A. Yes. You can trust the City on this point, because law forbids anything else. Funds obtained through general obligation bonds may not be put to any use other than those which are stated in the ballot language.

Q. Is this a good time for the City to borrow?

A. Yes, assuming commercial credit is available. Interest rates are low, making this an excellent time to borrow. Moreover, general obligation bonds (GO bonds) are eligible for lower interest rates than other bonds -- because GO bonds, by requirement, are those which have been put to a vote of the people. Lending institutions know they can count on repayment when the bond is backed by the will of the people.

Q. But isn't the City near its credit limit?

A. No. In fact, the City still enjoys its AA rating from Standard & Poor's. This is the best credit rating available to a City of American Fork's size, and it reflects the City's debt limit as well as its record of money management.

Q. Still, isn't it wiser to save money through accrual accounts--you know, pay-as-you-go?

B. Not necessarily. The rationale for bonds is that they allow a local government to put in tomorrow's improvements at today's prices. As we saw with the cost of the pressurized irrigation project -- which escalated from $9 million when it was first proposed to $48.95 million when it was finally approved -- it is often cheapest to bond and improve now rather than to wait and pay cash later.

Q. You already raised my property taxes this year, and tripled my water bill. Is this really the right time to ask for more money?

A. Not in my opinion, no. But remember, we're not asking me. We're asking you.

Q. We all want City services, especially essential services like roads and public safety. The majority of us want quality of life services like the library, arts, parks and recreation. But wouldn't it be wiser to wait for better times to ask for more money?

A. Yes, in my opinion. Gas prices may be down, but grocery prices are sticky, and the unemployment rate is climbing, even in Utah.

Q. These are all one-time needs. Is it right to raise property taxes (on-going funds) for one-time needs?

A. This is another question you will have to decide. Remember the truth in the old saying, that there's no such thing as a temporary tax. Twenty years from now, when these bonds are retired, other needs will have presented themselves -- but presumably, this revenue would then be in place to serve those needs. Combine this much revenue with a good long-range plan, and prudent City officials ought never again to need a tax increase beyond the regular inflationary adjustments necessary to keep up with Truth in Taxation.

But I haven't seen a long-range plan, so I can't promise that there will be no more tax increases in the next twenty years, and you wouldn't believe me if I did.

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Disclaimer: Articles posted at my blog are personal opinion. In posting this series on the bonds, I do not claim to speak for the City or the City Council. This blog does not represent any official position of American Fork City, and no City resources have ever been used to finance this blog.

Bond 1: Roads

2008-10-20T22:50:00.000-06:00

The purpose of Bond 1 is to widen or complete roads in order to relieve congestion and improve pedestrian safety. In particular, it addresses three spots which have long been shown in the transportation element of the general plan, but which have languished for want of funds.

Here follow my explanation and comment.

50 South

50 South from 700 East to 1100 East is presently a two-lane road with gravel shoulders.

I first became acquainted with the issues here when I met a Barratt PTA president who drove his children to school -- a distance of maybe two blocks -- because they could not safely walk along 50 South.

While I cannot say that improvements to 50 South will relieve the hornet's nest of school traffic at Barratt, I can say that pedestrians will have safe passage here if the road is completed. Finished, the road will have the same cross section it shows when it crosses the Pleasant Grove boundary and becomes 1100 North. There will be three lanes including a center turn lane, sidewalks, curb and gutter.

As to cost, this project has been estimated at $4 million in 2009 dollars. This estimate includes everything from replacing mailboxes and utilities to laying asphalt.

Of that $4 million, $1.06 million is already available through federal funds distributed by the Mountainland Association of Governments (MAG). At the time this award was made, the City's portion of the cost (the match) was to be 6.33 percent, or about $72,000.

I do not know the year of the award, and cannot comment on what financial predicaments led American Fork to procrastinate until inflation had driven costs up by an additional $3 million. I can say that American Fork has gone back to MAG to ask for additional funding, and the answer, unofficially given, was that MAG would consider the City's request if the City would raise an additional $1 million.

Hence, $1 million of Bond 1 will go toward the widening of 50 South in hopes that MAG will then award the additional $2 million necessary for completion.

If voters approve the million but MAG does not come through with the $2 million, I cannot say what will happen. As a City Council, we have not discussed this possibility. Presumably, the City would either have to abandon the project or else opt for partial completion, as it cannot legally put the bond funds to any use other than what appears in the language of the ballot.

Additional note: The intersection at 50 South and 1100 East is presently a four-way stop and this bond will not change that. Utah County expects to take over jurisdiction of 1100 East and has acknowledged the need for a signal there. As an American Fork Council member, I'm more than happy to let the County foot the bill for the signal.

900 West

900 West is familiar to most as the access road east of Costco. It runs from State Street to the congested intersection at 700 North, and from there continues on to Highland. At present, the road has several turn lanes at the State Street intersection, but quickly narrows to two lanes.

The presence of Costco makes 900 West a road of regional significance, which is why MAG has studied it. According to MAG's technical review, 900 West should ideally show five lanes up to 700 North and three lanes between 700 North and 1120 North. The 700 North intersection warrants a signal light.

When the Carson property develops, the City will be able to require the developer to provide the necessary widths along his property. This bond treats the portion of 900 West that begins where the Carson property ends, one lot shy of 700 North.

The intent of the bond is to acquire the piece of property at the northeast corner of 900 West and 700 North -- welcome news for those offended by the parcel's "for sale possible commercial" sign -- then to construct turn lanes. With this right-of-way, the City will be able to add a west-bound right-turn lane to 700 North and a north-bound right-turn lane to 900 East.

While this will certainly help the intersection, it is only a band-aid when seen in light of MAG's recommendations. The obvious question is, why not bond for the entire package -- signal light and three lanes through to 1120 North?

The short answer is that the Council saw 1.87 million reasons not to go all the way, and voted instead for this cheaper, $400,000 option. In a year with a tax increase and several million dollars in bond propositions, this was one place where the Council felt it could cut corners, so to speak.

If approved, Bond 1 will not preclude future installation of signal and turn lanes, but will bring the City $400,000 closer to this goal.

1120 North

1120 North is best known as the location of American Fork Junior High. The road begins at 200 East, crosses through a signal at 100 East, and comes to a four-way stop at 150 West. From there, it continues past a church and several lovely homes, then stops just west of Hunter Park. Completed, it will continue to 900 West and stop there.

Since the junior high was built in the 1970s, 1120 North has been shown as a major collector on the transportation element of the general plan. Necessary to accommodate a student body of 1500, a major collector shows a width of 82 feet. These 82 feet include a center turn lane and curb, gutter, and sidewalks.

The intent of the bond is to finish the road by extending it across the hollow to 900 West. This would be a distance of some two and a half blocks. The majority of the expense lies in the bridge, which, because it traverses a wetland, must be built in accordance with permits given by the Army Corps of Engineers. The silver lining to this expense is that the bridge would open up access to future trails through Hunter Park.

Regular readers will remember my post from last October, in which I advocated the completion of 1120 North. I support the design standards, which are pedestrian friendly, and I support the general plan, which was in place when homeowners purchased their properties.

I have been an outspoken advocate for pedestrian safety, and this is the biggest reason why I support the completion of 1120 North. 1120 North is needed to shoulder its burden as a collector and siphon traffic off of 700 North, where conditions for pedestrians are nightmarish. Completing 1120 North means more sidewalks, more trails, and better safety throughout the northwest neighborhoods.

However, I am not convinced that Bond 1 is the best way to do it. I fear it would be disastrous to complete 1120 North without first completing 900 West up to 1120 North. Between 700 North and 1120 North, 900 West is a narrow, two-lane road without shoulders. If we assume that the 4,000 daily vehicle trips which now take place in front of the junior high would now continue through to 900 West, then we ought first to construct 900 West to accommodate those trips.

If approved, however, the bond will not preclude future improvements along 900 West, but will bring the City that much closer to compliance with its general plan.

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Bond 1, if passed, would raise $4.32 million for the projects described in the ballot. The bond would be repaid through a corresponding increase in property taxes. The increase to a $240,000 home would be approximately $37 per year. The increase to a $240,000 business would be approximately $68 per year.

Disclaimer: Articles posted at my blog are personal opinion. In posting this series on the bonds, I do not claim to speak for the City or the City Council. This blog does not represent any official position of American Fork City, and no City resources have ever been used to finance this blog.

Bond 2: Art Dye Park

2008-10-20T22:45:00.000-06:00

The purpose of Bond 2 is to fund improvements at Art Dye Park. Improvements fall into three categories. First would be more of the traditional recreational amenities that we associate with parks. Second would be completion of a trail that was partially funded by a federal grant. Third would be the widening of the Beehive Park road that is at present the only access into Art Dye Park.

American Fork's residents are well aware of my advocacy for parks and the children and families they serve. I can attest that the ball fields, tennis courts, scorekeeping facility, restrooms, and lighting provided by this bond would be put to good use. I can further attest that research into pricing is recent, and should hold firm through 2009 -- meaning we shouldn't run out of funds a third of the way through our list (as we did with the 2003 parks bond).

But parks amenities are just the milk of this bond. The meat is in the road and trail issues.

The Beehive Road has become a "clear and present" threat to public safety. Usage of the park is so heavy during ball season that cars must park along the Beehive Road. The City has restricted parking to the east side of the road so that public safety vehicles may pass when necessary, but passage is still iffy and the road is not safe for pedestrians. Widening the narrow road will require a few tricks of engineering to get over the MacArthur ditch, hence the $275,000 price tag for the widening.

The asphalt trail, with its comfortable ten-foot cross section, is planned to start in the heart of the park and proceed from there north to Highland, where users can connect to the Highland trail system and continue on to the American Fork canyon. This will be a widely-used recreational amenity, but this is not the chief reason for the bond.

The real problem is that the City has been unable to match a $400,000 CM/AQ grant for the trail. (CM/AQ is a federal program; the letters stand for Congestion Management and Air Quality.) If the City does not fund its match this year, it will have to give up the grant and also repay some $90,000 of engineering costs which were already expended. The long-term effect of this would be to stain the City's "credit rating" with the feds.

Were it not for this problem, I think the Council could have postponed this bond for another year, a year with a rosier economy.

From a financial standpoint, the Art Dye bond fits neatly into a viable long-term plan for parks funding. Prior to the year 2000, park dollars in American Fork went mostly into property purchases. In the late 1990s, the City began to assess park impact fees on new development. This created a dedicated revenue stream for capital improvements to parks. In 2003, the City passed the aforementioned parks bond and funded playgrounds, benches, irrigation, trees, picnic tables and paving at 27 parks. This bond obligated all park impact fees until the year 2012, but, as noted above, did not provide all amenities necessary to finish all parks.

Absent this bond, the City would have no funds to continue park improvements until 2012. With the bond, the City could finish Art Dye Park and make better use of a great regional attraction over the next four years.

As a private citizen, I would gladly pay my extra $33 in property taxes to accomplish this goal -- most years. This year, however, the uncertain economy has me thinking twice. Are parks amenities wants or needs? How badly does American Fork need federal grants? Would it be better to hold off until the economy rebounds?

Personally, I'll be watching the economy closely over the next three weeks while I decide how to vote on this one.

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If passed, Bond 2 would raise $3.86 million for Art Dye Park. The bond would be repaid through a corresponding increase in property taxes. The increase to a $240,000 home would be approximately $33 per year. The increase to a $240,000 business would be approximately $60 per year.

Disclaimer: Articles posted at my blog are personal opinion. In posting this series on the bonds, I do not claim to speak for the City or the City Council. This blog does not represent any official position of American Fork City, and no City resources have ever been used to finance this blog.

Bond 3: Cemetery

2008-10-20T22:40:00.000-06:00

The purpose of Bond 3 is to seek voter approval for the purchase of 6.5 acres of property in the immediate vicinity of the existing cemetery. Bond funds would cover both the purchase and the improvement of the property in order to supply an additional 6,500 burial spaces. At current projections, this would meet community needs for the next twenty years.

For the last sixteen years, cemetery sexton Ray Garrett has warned the City Council about the growth rate of the city and the limited land available at the cemetery. Even with the moratorium now in place on cemetery plots, the remaining land is expected to last less than three years. Cemetery staff has indicated their embarrassment when they show families the plots that remain, because most are in undesirable locations. There is particular concern for the City's veterans who wish to be buried here in their hometown. The Veterans Memorial section has only a few plots left, and these are in highly undesirable locations.

For various reasons, the City has been previously unsuccessful in acquiring new cemetery grounds. For the most part, residents and landowners of the small tracts of land adjacent to the cemetery are unwilling to sell. The City attempted to convert the neighboring Filly and Pony park to cemetery use, but was deterred by vocal public outcry. The large tracts of land that exist south of I-15 are unsuitable because of the high water table there. The City made a petition to the governor and the legislature to purchase lands north of the Developmental Center, but the request fell on deaf ears.

When I first took office, I rated this problem as a "want" rather than a "need," but only because I have lived in places where cemeteries are provided by the private sector. In the intervening years, I have not only come to appreciate the desperate situation of the cemetery, but have also observed that Utah, for whatever reasons, relies on its local governments to provide cemeteries.

I am rating this bond, therefore, as a "need" instead of a "want," and I'm predicting that the voters will see it the same way.

Two contingencies: The land purchase will be contingent on a City-accepted appraisal of the property. Please note that ballot language says "up to 3.12 million." What this means is that the City will not pay more than this for the property purchase. If the property appraises low, the City can and will bond for less than that amount.

The land purchase is also contingent on the results of an engineering study. The purpose of the engineering study is to establish that the water table is low enough for cemetery use in light of a nearby spring. Results are expected to be favorable; however, I have been advised by City staff that the bond does include sufficient funds to remedy the situation if the water table is high. Again, the key words are "up to." If those funds are not needed, the City will not bond for them.

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If approved, Bond 3 would raise $3.12 million for the purposes described above. The bond would be repaid through a corresponding increase in property taxes. The increase to a $240,000 home would be approximately $27 per year. The increase to a $240,000 business would be approximately $49 per year.

Disclaimer: Articles posted at my blog are personal opinion. In posting this series on the bonds, I do not claim to speak for the City or the City Council. This blog does not represent any official position of American Fork City, and no City resources have ever been used to finance this blog.

Bond 4: Trails and Open Space

2008-10-20T22:35:00.000-06:00

The purpose of Bond 4 is to fund trails and open space, two quality of life interests which presently are without dedicated revenue streams.

I cannot explain the trails any better than the City's information piece did, so I quote it here. Bond 4 is --

to enable the construction of two trails, the American Fork River Trail, and American Fork’s portion of the Southern Rail Trail.

Part of a comprehensive trail plan, these trails will connect to a third trail, the Center Street Trail, to form a system which will extend from the American Fork Greenwood Skate Park at 500 South through to the northern border of the City. From there, users will be able to connect to the Highland Trail system and continue on to the American Fork Canyon.

The Center Street Trail has been funded and is currently under design. The remaining two trails have been partially funded through federal grants. This bond will provide the funding necessary to match the federal grants and construct the two trails.

Proceeds from the bond will fund land purchase, right-of-way acquisition, design, and construction costs. Trail cross-sections will vary as the trail passes through different parts of the City. At times, there will be stand-alone asphalt trail; elsewhere, the trail will be striped at the shoulder of the road or will follow existing sidewalks.

As for the open space, the parcel in question is located across 600 North from the Star Mill, between 100 East and 200 East and just east of the stream. (The parcel itself does not access the stream.)

This is a beautiful location, one I seek out whenever I have a chance. I prize it for its natural beauty as well as for its ability to evoke images of American Fork's past. I would very much like to see it preserved. But I must here acknowledge many unresolved issues regarding this property acquisition. First and foremost is the problem of the purchase price, which is unknown. Second is the problem of the LeRay McAllister grant, which was supposed to supply half of the purchase price, but which, according to latest report, was not awarded. Finally is the question of purpose -- it has not yet been determined what purpose this property will serve. Will it become a trail head, with parking stalls and picnic tables? Or will it be seeded in natural grasses and left open?

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Approved, Bond 4 will raise $2.29 million for trails and open space as described above. As discussed, it may not succeed in providing all that is described. However, voters may be assured that the City cannot and will not put funds from Bond 4 to any other purposes. The bond would be repaid through a corresponding increase in property taxes. The increase to a $240,000 home would be approximately $19.50 per year. The increase to a $240,000 business would be approximately $34 per year.

Disclaimer: Articles posted at my blog are personal opinion. In posting this series on the bonds, I do not claim to speak for the City or the City Council. This blog does not represent any official position of American Fork City, and no City resources have ever been used to finance this blog.

Bond 5: 560 West

2008-10-20T22:30:00.000-06:00

The purpose of Bond 5 is to extend 560 West southward over the railroad tracks, opening it to Pacific Drive. This would have the effect of relieving peak-hour back-ups at 400 West and dividing an estimated 3,000 daily road trips traffic along two minor collectors.

The neighborhoods surrounding Hindley Park have been clamoring for this for more than a decade. My first encounter was in November 2002, the night I was appointed as chair of Neighbors in Action. A well-organized group presented its plea to the City Council that same night, saying things had gone on long enough and it was time for the City to act.

When I took office in 2006, one outspoken neighbor took me by the shoulders and said, "If you don't do anything else during your term, see that 560 West goes over the railroad tracks!"

But this is not to suggest consensus throughout the neighborhood. I can name several residents who vehemently oppose opening the road. The mixed messages we continually receive from the neighborhood are one reason the mayor recommended this item for the ballot. The other reason, of course, is the need for additional funding.

Here is my understanding of the issues.

560 West is designated a minor collector. As such, it already has the sidewalks necessary for pedestrian safety and the width necessary to accommodate the vehicle trips it would siphon off of 400 West. Those trips, as stated above, are estimated to number about 3,000 each day. Half of that number, or 1500, is what we might reasonably expect to see at 560 West if it were open today. This is about the same number of daily vehicle trips we see along 900 East, which runs in front of Barratt Elementary.

2030 projections show that number at 6,000. This is the large number I attempted, unsuccessfully, to pull out of the air at September's hearing on the subject. (I have had occasional delusions of adequacy in this position, but none of them came that evening.)

Barratt Elementary brings up a useful comparison. Where 900 East has Barratt Elementary, 560 West has Hindley Park. Both attract large numbers of children. Both have ball fields. Both are situated along uninterrupted stretches of roadway -- a prime condition for a local speedway.

Where Barratt Elementary mitigates these conditions with ball field fencing and speed bumps (at least, we may hope the Barratt neighbors will be successful with their petition for speed bumps), Hindley Park will need the same.

However, neither mitigation is included in this bond.

The $5.03 million of this bond will pay for the cost of crossing the railroad tracks and for the cost of closing two other railroad crossings. This is in accordance with UTA policy, which governs these tracks and aims to make driving conditions safer in the towns it affects.

Information recently mailed to residents states that "the City has studied various railroad crossings that could be closed, but negotiations have not been completed for any specific crossings. "

This statement is true on its face; however, there is better information available.

After the neighbors spoke out in 2002, the late Council Member Jimmie Cates was able to negotiate two crossings for closure. While it is true that negotiations were not finalized -- the City lacked the millions necessary to continue -- it is also true that we can expect UTA to honor the same closings today.

The first of these has already been closed; this is at 50 South and Elm Street. The second involves reworking Pacific Drive between 100 West and 200 West so as to eliminate the crossing at the S-curve. Devilishly clever, the rework would convert Pacific Drive into two one-way streets for the length of this block, with the tracks running between. Existing crossings at 100 West and 200 West would be retained, but the S-curve would be eliminated.

Cost of this re-work plus the crossing at 560 West: $5.03 million.

So pros and cons fall into place on both sides of this issue. The 560 West crossing has long been shown in the general plan. But the bond has no mitigations to protect Hindley Park. The expense involved in the crossings and closures may be out of proportion to the benefit. It might be cheaper and more practical to widen 400 West, but this option has not been studied.

Given the public clamor both for and against, it makes sense to take the issue to the voters. However, a City-wide ballot is not the most efficient way to frame the question. A City-wide ballot is destined for defeat, as it must include votes cast in the eastern half of the City, whose residents seldom access this neighborhood and have never experienced the near-impossibility of turning left onto Pacific Drive from 400 West.

On the upside, the City will be able to analyze results by precinct, and this analysis ought to provide a clear direction from the local neighborhoods as to whether the City should pursue the crossing again, in later years, or whether it should remove it from the general plan.

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If passed, Bond 5 will raise $5.03 million for the railroad crossing at 560 West, with associated costs. It would be repaid through a corresponding increase in property taxes. The increase to a $240,000 home would be approximately $43 per year. The increase to a $240,000 business would be approximately $79 per year.

Disclaimer: Articles posted at my blog are personal opinion. In posting this series on the bonds, I do not claim to speak for the City or the City Council. This blog does not represent any official position of American Fork City, and no City resources have ever been used to finance this blog.

October 22

2008-10-18T12:54:00.000-06:00

Please reserve time for two very important meetings this coming Wednesday:

Transportation and Community Planning Open House
hosted by Mountainland Association of Governments

American Fork Senior Center
(54 East Main Street)

4:30 - 6:30 p.m.

Join the Mountainland metropolitan planning organization, UDOT, UTA, and community representatives from around the county to discuss roads, highways, air quality, buses, trains, trails, and community development. Voice your opinion. Learn about the future vision for Utah County.

American Fork Town Meeting

American Fork City Hall
(31 North Church Street)

7:00 p.m.

Ask questions, listen, learn, and speak out about the five bonds on the November ballot.

900 West

2008-10-07T14:06:00.000-06:00

Note: Apologies to my readers for my month-long absence from the blog, an absence rooted in a personal matter which I may choose to explain at a later date. Suffice it to say that I have begun to wonder whether "blog" is short for "back log," and that I am pleased finally for this opportunity to account for a controversial vote I cast in August.

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Those who so vigilantly fought the rezoning of the Carson property in 2006 surely read with interest the Herald's report of the August 26 City Council vote to rezone. Solomon-style, the vote split the baby into three pieces, placing one each into the professional office, design commercial, and low density residential zones.

Background

The controversial Carson property sits across the street from Costco on 900 West. Pristine rural land until the Meadows opened in 2004, the property has now become a highly desirable commercial opportunity. To the east of the Carson property, however, sits the Spring Hollow neighborhood, one of American Fork's quieter single-family neighborhoods, a neighborhood with a park, an LDS chapel, a walking route to Shelley Elementary School, and many, many school children.

Understanding the property's location between American Fork's hottest commercial district and one of the City's most beatific neighborhoods, readers will not need me to explain the tensions that played out when the Carson family applied to have the property rezoned from the low density residential to the commercial designation.

Position

When I campaigned for office in 2006, I fielded many questions about this parcel. I articulated a two-fold position: First, that whatever happened, the safety and serenity of the neighborhood must be protected. Second, I said I would listen to the residents who live in the area and represent their point of view.

Three proposals for the zone change

Fall 2006. Debate surrounding this proposal was easily the most heated I have ever seen. Residents packed the Council room, voicing arguments both for and against the zone change. The plan itself had many flaws which would have devastated the Spring Hollow neighborhood. It showed big-box commercial development occupying most of the property, with very little to buffer the neighborhood from commercial light and noise. Worst of all, it threatened to open 500 North onto 900 West, a situation which would have sent large volumes of Costco traffic to Shelley Elementary. The Council, acting largely out of concern for the neighborhood, voted 4-0 to deny the zone change (with one abstention).

June 2008. The 2008 plan was more favorable to the neighborhood. Plans showed a retail component to the south, with proposed office buildings to the north serving to buffer the development from homes along 700 North. The east side showed 500 North connecting in a horseshoe to 600 North, with a row of new homes built east of the new portion of road. This guaranteed that 500 West would remain closed to 900 West, and that commercial traffic would not have direct access to the neighborhood. The new homes served to buffer the existing homes from the commercial property, while residents of the new homes would purchase knowing what they were getting into.

This plan had almost everything I needed to see -- a smaller retail component, buffering to the north and east with either professional office or new homes put up against existing homes, and 500 North forever closed to 900 West.

However, two conditions prevented me from voting for this plan. First was the developer's request for the design commercial zone. This zone allows for professional offices as well as for commercial retail; however, it cannot require offices but only permits them. Under this zone, the developer could change his mind at any time and put retail right up against the homes on 700 North. I wanted the professional office zone along the north so that I could guarantee the neighbors that offices would be built there. Offices are not only good neighbors, but they are also a strong deterrent to future commercial applications above 700 North.

The second problem was my concern for the traffic on 900 West -- a corridor which has proven woefully inadequate since Costco opened. Giving 900 West additional width (in accordance with the recommendations of the Hales traffic study performed earlier this year) was the second condition for my vote. I voted with the 3-1 majority against this proposal.

August 2008. In August, the plans came back looking the same as they did in June, but this time the two problems had been fixed. The developer had granted additional width for 900 West, and a line had been drawn from east to west through the commercial portion of the project, showing the professional office zone to the north and the design commercial zone to the south.

I now felt satisfied that the neighborhood would be protected, and found myself able to vote for the zone change. The Council voted 2-2, with the mayor breaking the tie by voting in favor.

Looking back

I would strongly have preferred for this parcel to remain in the low-density residential zone. Homes built here could have been accessed through the Spring Hollow neighborhood, not from 900 West, and an attractively stamped and landscaped eight-foot concrete wall along 900 West would have adequately buffered them against commercial traffic.

Unfortunately, while this vision was shared by many of the neighbors, it was not caught by the developers. Ivory Homes dropped its contract on the land, and no other residential offers were forthcoming. As I walked the area in the early mornings, I could see why. There's an old zoning truism which states that development on one side of the street will mirror development on the other side of the street. On the Lehi side, developments surrounding Costco are primarily commercial, professional office, and high-density residential. There is no single-family residential south of AF's 700 North.

In short, commercial pressure made the property highly unstable. I came to realize that if the City Council held out for residential, the Carsons would hold out for a new council. The only way to protect the neighborhood was through compromise, and this compromise, I still feel, was the best way to protect the neighborhood from traffic, from noise and light pollution, and from the problem of commercial creep.

Thoughts for the Day

2008-08-30T22:46:00.000-06:00

Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion.

= = = = =

To follow, not to force the public inclination; to give a direction, a form, a technical dress, and a specific sanction, to the general sense of community, is the true end of legislature.

Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797),
political theorist,
observing two contradictory
yet equally valid aspects
of representative government

Rethinking Recycling

2008-08-25T11:10:00.000-06:00

In June, I wrote to explain my vote against mandatory recycling in American Fork. (See post here.) Among other things, I wrote that residents would have until August 31 to opt out of the recycling program. This much has proven false -- tomorrow night's agenda, that of the last Council meeting before August 31, makes no mention of a recycling ordinance. I deduce hereby that the program is on hold until further notice.

Last Friday I accepted an invitation to tour the material recovery facility (recycling center) of Waste Management, a national provider with a strong presence in Utah, and was impressed by what I saw. I toured with members of the North Pointe Solid Waste Special Service District (SWSSD) board, led by the highly estimable Rodger Harper, district manager.

I learned that I have been asking the wrong questions about recycling.

Here's what I learned:

Landfills are, well, filling up, which is why the North Pointe board has commissioned a thirty-year study. The study, to be concluded in November 2008, will point to next steps for the north county's waste management programs.

While the study has yet to be completed, this much is known: The North Pointe transfer station handles 220,000 tons of refuse per year, including construction and demolition dumping. This figure translates to 4 pounds per person per day, a figure which is equivalent to the national average.

From the transfer station in Lindon, waste is hauled to landfills where the district pays $4.5 million annually in tipping fees. As Mr. Harper points out, the highly attainable goal of 30 percent household recycling could reduce that sum by at least $1 million per year, and would delay and reduce the need to open new landfills.

This creates a clear financial incentive to local governments such as ours to promote recycling.

Recycling centers relieve stress on landfills, but they are also key producers in a commodities market which, though it fluctuates from year to year, is becoming consistently profitable.

When I moved to Utah (ten years ago this month), I was told that recycling was not cost-effective here because of the distance between our desert communities and secondary markets. Mr. Harper says the situation has changed in the last ten years, due to a number of factors. Better sorting technology has reduced processing costs, and Utah's population has grown to the point where significant economies of scale are emerging. Meanwhile, the market demand for recycled commodities is increasing as new technologies are developed and as more foreign players enter the market. China and India, in particular, are clamoring for recycled goods to feed their manufacturing industries, to the point that prices for recycled cardboard have doubled over the last four years.

Waste Management, whose facility we toured, reports that twenty percent of its sales go overseas.

At this facility, commodities are sorted and bundled, then sold to manufacturers. Sale prices are usually sufficient to cover the cost of hauling, sorting, and handling recyclables. The only cost left to be paid is curbside pick-up.

The free market will not sustain recycling centers if they operate at a loss, so the cost of curbside pick-up must be passed along somewhere. Local governments, increasingly, are finding they have a compelling financial interest in recycling -- as does ours, when we consider the financial and public health costs of opening new landfills. So the tab for curbside collection is picked up by local governments, and is generally passed on to residents in the form of pick-up fees.

American Fork, which has a fourteen percent take-rate, must charge $4.50 per month for collection. Orem and Lehi, who have universal recycling, are able to spread the cost among more residents and reduce the monthly fee to $3.00.

My question -- Does it cost more to landfill recyclables or to haul them to distant markets? -- was the wrong question. Local governments do not assume the hauling cost; that cost is borne by the purchaser.

In terms of the big picture, I still believe it pays to ask whether hauling with fossil fuels is the best thing for our environment -- but so long as our nation remains dependent on its highway transportation system, our City Council isn't going to make a meaningful difference by landfilling in order to keep a few trucks off the road.

If City staff does come back with that ordinance, I still want to see more complete information. Among other things, I want to know whether American Fork is paying reasonable rates for its collection service, or whether the City could save money by using the North Pointe SWSSD transer station. (Allied Waste, the City's provider, has its own transfer station and landfill.)

Still, my eyes were opened by this tour, and I can highly recommend the tour to you. Waste Management of West Jordan welcomes Boy Scout and other tour groups by appointment (call 801-280-8200 for further information).

Here's what you'll see:

Some 60 tons of mixed plastics, metals, and paper are dumped on the plant floor each day, where a large loader lifts the tonnage onto a conveyer belt leading to a V screen. The V screen uses a magnet to send ferrous materials in one direction, and uses air to blow the lighter-weight materials (newsprint, grocery bags, aluminum cans) to a new conveyor belt.
I saw two separate conveyor belts whose contents were sorted by hand. One belt handled milk jugs and similar heavy-weight materials; the belt of this picture handles the light-weight materials. About five different containers were arranged ergonomically around each worker, so that he or she could sort quickly and comfortably. The plant is run by forty employees.
Mountains of bailed pop bottles are now ready for market. This facility sends just twelve percent of its input to landfills. Of this, seven percent is too small for the machinery to sort; the other five percent is rubbish which consumers mistakenly discard with their recyclables. The remaining eighty-eight percent goes to market.

Pressurized Irrigation Updates

2008-08-19T14:29:00.001-06:00

This is the most glorious time in American Fork's existence, if you happen to be a three-year-old boy.

No matter where you go, there are diggers to see.

That's not to mention loaders, tractors, and road rollers.

Moms in search of the best viewing for their young 'uns can find the latest information on road closures and detours by following the AFPI link at AFCity.org. Jessica Wilson, Horrocks Engineers' public information coordinator, tells me this site has had more hits than that of any other project managed by Horrocks -- including UDOT projects.

While you're there, check out the site's other informative features including FAQs, connection how-to, user rate schedules, and details on the next open house (September 30 at Greenwood Elementary).

Just be sure to keep a safe distance from any actual construction.

Council Approves 17.14 Percent Tax Increase

2008-08-13T10:25:00.000-06:00

I voted against it.

More details at my husband's blog:

LocalCommentary.com

Tuesday's Truth in Taxation Hearing

2008-08-12T00:29:00.000-06:00

In accordance with the provisions of the Truth in Taxation act, American Fork conducted a public hearing on the proposed tax rate last Tuesday. About fifty souls appeared to protest the increase.

The City Council's job in this hearing is to listen, so I spoke very little. The only time I opened my mouth was to correct a misunderstanding about Truth in Taxation. I immediately regretted doing so, because the resident in question was not interested in understanding.

It grieves me that so many voters make so little effort to understand the law. The ultimate consequence of ignorance is unfortunate decisions at the polls, so at the risk of angering still more voters, I will take pains to clarify this point again.

It is true that property taxes go up as property values increase, but this is not a rate increase. This is appreciation. Truth in Taxation is the name of a law whose intent is to hold property owners harmless against appreciation. It does so by holding the City's revenue constant from year to year. If property values rise, Truth in Taxation reduces the rate which is multiplied against the property value, so that the City receives no increase.

Truth in Taxation succeeds insofar as it holds the City's revenue constant from year to year. But it fails the property owner whose property value increases. The reason is that the law works in the aggregate. Some property values go up, and the property owners there pay more. But other property values go down, and those property owners pay less. In the aggregate, the City's revenue is constant.

The outcome of Truth in Taxation is that it removes the automatic inflation factor from the property tax. So while the City's costs rise with inflation, its revenues do not. The only way out of this is for the City to increase the property tax rate by three to six percent each year (depending on the rate of inflation), or to increase it by larger amounts every few years.

That's my understanding of Truth in Taxation, and it is correct. So said Senator Howard Stephenson, who also came to Tuesday's hearing. Because he gave such a lucid explanation, I requested the tape so that I could transcribe his words verbatim. Here's what he said:

Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council: I'm Howard Stephenson, with Utah Taxpayers Association. I'm also a state senator representing Alpine, Highland and Lehi, and southern Salt Lake County. I appreciate being here. I appreciate your budget director providing the information for us to examine beforehand, and the openness that your City has shown in providing information, and that's very much appreciated.

I have often said that the City Council is the most difficult and challenging elective office in America because you're where the rubber hits the road, and you're darned if you do and you're darned if you don't, especially when it comes to taking taxes. As the taxpayer advocate for thirty years with the Taxpayers Association, I've seen a lot of tax hike proposals. I want to express appreciation for you looking more closely at this increase and cutting it back to less than a third of what was originally proposed. I think we need to recognize that that shows significant effort on your part.

Okay, that was beside the point, but I liked sharing it.

Continuing . . .

I want to let you and the public know that with Utah's Truth in Taxation law, which the Utah Taxpayers Association helped to get passed in 1986, we set forth a plan for requiring that when a taxing entity chooses to increase taxes above the current level plus whatever you get from new growth, you have to go through this process.

What that means is that there is no inflationary adjustment built into property taxes. Cities do get inflationary adjustments from other sources, the most significant of which is the sales tax. The utility franchise tax also goes up automatically with rates charged by the utilities. So you get inflation from those, but we will acknowledge that you don't get inflation from the property tax.

In fact, when people get reappraised, and their values are brought current, the rates have to be brought downward so that there is no windfall whatsoever to the City budget. We have examined that and we have found that has been the case.

Now some people may say, well, when I got reappraised, my taxes did go up even though there were no Truth in Taxation hearings, and the reason for that is that somebody else's taxes went down because it was just an average of the whole City or the whole County, depending on where the levy was established.

Clarity from a lawmaker is a wonderful thing.

Fourteen Percent Tax Increase?

2008-08-01T22:13:00.000-06:00

If you read the newspaper, or if you just got your property tax notice in the mail, or if you are one of the many protesters with whom I dialogued during the Steel Days parade, then you already know that the City Council is considering a tax increase in order to balance the 2009 budget.

(It can be difficult to dialogue while traversing a parade route; one hopes in these situations that a simple thumbs down is enough to convey meaning.)

Last Friday, Mayor Thompson's annual letter to taxpayers made my neighbor wrinkle his nose -- "sugar-coating," he called it. (Read the text of the letter below.) Myself, I feel the letter painted an honest and open picture of the budget and its challenges. Among other things, Mayor Thompson explained that the current proposal is for a 14 percent increase, not the 50 percent of earlier reports, and that the chief causes are slow revenues and rising oil prices.

Paring down the increase meant deferring many significant needs, including an enforcement officer and additional office space at the public works building. The current proposal will raise taxes on the average home (valued at $240,000) by $41.44 per year or $3.45 per month, and feels like bare bones, even by my tight-fisted standards.

Still, I'm not voting for it.

I could have voted for an increase of three or four percent. Regular, small increases are necessary if American Fork is to keep pace with inflation. (Click here for Local Commentary's discussion of how Truth in Taxation undermines the property tax's built-in inflationary factor.) I might even have gone as far as eight percent, given that there was no such increase in last year's budget.

But 14 percent is too rich for my blood.

We residents already voted for a significant increase to the 2009 budget when we approved the water bond back in 2006. 2009 is the year our water bills will double. We don't need to swallow two increases in the same year, not when gas and grocery prices have cinched household budgets tighter than Aunt Tillie's corset.

In time of need, doing without is the first and most basic financial tool. If we can't trust our City to muster this basic skill at this time, how can we trust it later to employ the higher financial skills?

Dates of Budget Hearings and Vote

2008-08-01T20:18:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, August 5
6:00 p.m.
Truth in Taxation hearing

Tuesday, August 12
7:00 p.m.
Budget hearing

7:30 p.m.
Adoption of the certified tax rate and
Budget adoption

Location
American Fork City Hall
31 North Church Street

Text of Mayor Thompson's Budget Letter

2008-08-01T17:56:00.000-06:00

Here follows this year's version of Mayor Thompson's annual budget letter. It was mailed to all residences last Friday. Say what you will about the budget increase -- but let it be said that Mayor Thompson always communicates openly and honestly about the City's intentions, doing far more than the law requires.

July 25, 2008

Dear Residents:

During the month of August, the City Council will hold hearings to receive public comment on the City budget for fiscal year 2008-09. This budget will authorize City services for another year, and will continue this administration’s emphasis on public safety, infrastructure, and financial accountability.

Budgeting in the current economy brings many challenges. On the one hand, revenues from the sales tax, the gasoline tax, and building permits are down. On the other hand, many of the City’s operational costs have increased due to inflation and the rising prices of oil and petroleum products. The City’s residents face many of these same challenges, of course, and residents will also begin paying for the pressurized irrigation system this year through increased water fees.

Because of these added pressures, the City Council has employed several strategies to keep the City budget and its associated tax burden as light as possible. The Council has set a goal for the City’s arts and fitness programs to become self-sustaining. The City has begun charging impact fees to new construction so that many of the costs attributable to growth will now be paid for by that growth. In the short term, several new hires and capital equipment purchases have been deferred. Looking at the long term, the Council successfully completed the sale of the in-city broadband network, and will begin marketing its fiber assets in order to offset the cost of the bond.

All of this results in a proposed budget of $76.83 million, which includes a tax increase of 14 percent over last year’s certified tax rate. On a home valued at $240,000, this increase will translate to $41.44 per year or $3.45 per month. Combined tax revenues and new growth will raise approximately $757,610 in additional revenue for a total budgeted property tax revenue increase of 27 percent. (The newspaper made preliminary reports of a 46 percent increase to the tax rate and 62.76 percent increase in revenue. These figures were ared down in subsequent work sessions during which Council members took a hard look at City needs and chose to fund only the most pressing.)

Out of further concern for the taxpayer’s burden, the Council has opted to place several key items on the November ballot. This vote will allow residents to choose for themselves, by majority vote, which initiatives are most urgent and most affordable. These items include the purchase of land for cemetery expansion, several road and transportation issues, and the finishing of Art Dye Park. Further information on the bond elections will be mailed to homes in the fall. Please note that the bonds will not be treated in the August budget hearings.

Further information on the City budget and associated tax increase will be presented at the hearings listed in the box at the left. [See above.] Residents may also learn more by calling the City offices at 763-3000.

Sincerely yours,
Mayor Heber M. Thompson

AMERICAN FORK BUDGET PRIORITIES

To staff critical positions. Because of slow revenues, the Council has opted to defer several new hires and will add only those positions necessary to maintain the current level of service in an environment of growth. New positions include two full-time positions—a public works inspector and a utility operator; and two part-time positions—a grant writer and a risk manager. Additionally, three part-time positions will be upgraded to full-time—in the police department, a victim advocate and a records clerk, and in the library, a network technician. The City recognizes that human capital is its most important asset and strives to retain quality employees and offer superior service, providing the greatest value to the taxpayer.

To provide needed maintenance for roads and sidewalks. Since 2006, the City has contributed $110,000 per year to sidewalk funding. City sidewalk funding will be matched this year by a federal grant to provide safe routes to school in the Shelley Elementary School area. The budget for road repairs will be increased by $250,000, as the City has been warned that funding projections for road repairs associated with the pressurized irrigation system will not be sufficient, due to rising petroleum and asphalt prices.

To protect the City’s financial standing. This budget provides for the hire of a part-time grant-writer (to boost revenues) and a part-time risk manager (to reduce liability). It also provides $348,000 in matching funds for a trail system connecting Art Dye park to the golf course and to Highland. Failure to match this federal trail grant would require the City to return $87,000 in engineering costs and forego $500,000 toward construction costs. More importantly, failure to complete the project will jeopardize the City’s standing for future transportation grants.

To provide for public safety. This budget will provide four new full-time emergency medical technician (EMT)/firefighter positions, fifteen to eighteen part-time paramedics, and one new ambulance. This means that the paramedic program, which has been planned since 2006, can now be activated. The budget also covers significant increases in emergency dispatch fees, a situation voters will want to keep in mind as the County considers the creation of an independent dispatch district.

North County Library Cooperative

2008-07-02T08:34:00.000-06:00

As of yesterday, July 1, all four libraries in the north county are open to American Fork residents.

The cities of American Fork, Pleasant Grove, Lehi and Eagle Mountain have agreed to participate in a reciprocal borrowing system that will allow library card holders at any of the cooperating libraries to check out materials from all four libraries.

This is good news -- especially for busy moms. My mother used to schedule my weekly library visit for the same trip as my violin lesson, which was in the neighboring town. My daughter's violin teacher lives in Lehi, so now I'm thrilled to have a library option there, as well.

This is also good news for readers and information seekers. It is true that interlibrary loan has always been available to those willing to pay postage, but borrowers now have the convenience of access to four catalogs right here in Utah County.

This is not a county library system, however. Items checked out in Lehi, for example, must be returned to Lehi. And there is no one online catalog linking borrowers to materials at all four libraries -- each library has its own catalog. Library borrowers are encouraged to search for needed materials at their home libraries before searching the other libraries' online catalogs. All patrons must have a valid library card from their home libraries and must be in good standing in order to borrow from a different library.

Each library will continue to set its own policies in terms of budget, administration, non-resident card fees, and so on.

This is not a county library system, but it is a first step. My hope is that this reciprocal borrowing agreement will generate interest county-wide. We raise far too many children in this valley to leave libraries to the few local governments who can afford them. I look forward to the day when every parent and child in the county will have ready access to the holdings of a well-funded library system.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

. . . this library afforded me the means of improvement by constant study for which I set apart an hour or two each day, and thus repair'd in some degree the loss of the learned education my father once intended for me. . .

Books were very expensive and therefore not everyone was able to afford them. Some fellow printers and I, known as the Leather Apron Club (because most of us wore leather aprons) discussed ways we could help the community. Through my suggestion, we started a lending library that was open to everyone. We would pool our money and buy books, which people could borrow.

So, in 1731, the first lending library in America opened. Soon, other towns began to imitate the library, until reading became fashionable even among the less educated.

-- Benjamin Franklin

Should American Fork Recycle?

2008-06-23T17:49:00.001-06:00

I recycle. I started recycling 15 years ago in upstate New York. I recycle now, even though American Fork charges me $4.50 per month for the privilege.

I do more than recycle—I also reduce and re-use. (Reduce, re-use, and recycle, as any good environmentalist knows, are the three Rs of recycling.) For example, I never buy plastic bags. These just end up in the garbage. It makes more environmental sense to re-use grocery bags and bread bags.

I recycle in part because I am descended from practical Mormon pioneers whose legacy restrains me from throwing out any useful item. But I also recycle because I feel a growing concern for the toll that landfills and incinerators take on our communities. Here in the Intermountain West, it's easy to place a landfill out of sight and out of mind. But on the crowded coasts, where cities are built one on top of another, communities are hard-pressed to find places for waste disposal. Many ship their garbage to states like ours.

It's only a matter of time before the population grows to similar proportions in Utah. Forward-thinking community planning, therefore, must include methods of reducing waste.

Why then, did I vote against a plan for universal recycling in American Fork? My reasons were not moral, but procedural. Consider the following:

Recycling markets in the west are few and far between, and Utah often ships its recyclables to markets as distant as California. This not only boosts costs, but burns extra fossil fuels and discharges pollutants into the air. This may not seem like such a problem on a sunny June day, but it gave me pause last winter. Which is the lesser evil—landfilling or trucking?
Equally concerning to me was the fact that nobody making the proposal was prepared to answer this question. I asked twice at different work sessions and once at the Council meeting when the vote was scheduled, and nobody could produce figures showing that recycling conserves resources in Utah.
This led me to ask why, if not because of a studied concern for the environment, the City's service provider proposed the program? Was it in order to provide better for business? Should that be a concern of the City Council? I would have been much more receptive to the program if it had had its origins in the requests of our residents—but it did not.

It's one thing for me to spend $4.50 of my own money to fund something I value. It's quite a different thing for me to compel American Fork's 7,000 residences to make the same choice. Without figures to justify the case for the public good, I couldn't justify the vote.

This, in fact, is why the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) advises communities to consider the decision carefully:

Recycling is a local issue—the success and viability of recycling depends on a community's resources and structure. A community must consider the costs of a recycling program, as well as the availability of markets for its recovered materials. In some areas, not enough resources exist to make recycling an economically feasible option. . . .
Recycling does cost money, but so does waste disposal. Communities must pay to collect trash and manage a landfill or incinerator and so also should expect to pay for recycling. Assessing how recycling will impact your community requires a full appraisal of the environmental and economic benefits and costs of recycling, as compared to the one-way consumption of resources from disposing of used products and packaging in landfills and incinerators. Analyzing all of these factors together will help you determine if recycling is more cost effective in your community.

Absent such an analysis, I could not justify spending your money.

I also feel there are better ways to encourage waste reduction. I could have whole-heartedly endorsed a pay-as-you-throw program, for example. In Ithaca, New York, where I first began recycling, the system was based on trash tags. These tags were sold at grocery stores like postage stamps, and were coded according to the volume of the bag. Residents tagged their garbage bags, left them on the curb, and the City hauled them away. Untagged bags were left behind. For recyclables, however, residents were given a convenient container—I kept mine under my kitchen sink—and the City emptied these at no charge to the residents. This created a clear incentive to recycle—and to compost.

Combined with an aggressive public education campaign—a campaign which included partnerships with the County Extension, the EPA, and others, and which featured radio ads, literature, and demonstrations at every community gathering—this program led to significant reduction in landfill waste. Residents who recycle and compost can easily reduce their garbage output by half to three-quarters.

But the real beauty of this program is that it allows the elderly, pensioned widow to pay only for the trash she generates. Under American Fork's system, the lonely pensioner has to pay the same amount for her modest garbage output as does my family of six—and now she will have to pay additional for her recycling container.

I did a poor job of selling the rest of the Council on my views, however, and the outcome of the June 10 vote is that residents who do not opt out of the program by August 31 will receive a large blue container and will start paying $4.50 each month to recycle. Families who are now paying $6.25 extra for a second trash container are well advised to return the second container and save money by utilizing the recycling bins.

Watch the water bills for further information.

P.S. There was also some debate about using savings generated by recycling to fund other City programs. This will not happen, inasmuch as water, sewer and garbage fees are fees for service (enterprise funds) and appropriations of these monies for purposes other than supplying the service are illegal.

Thought for the Day

2008-06-13T20:52:00.000-06:00

Trees in an urban landscape can help reduce crime.

It's true. A scientific study by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has demonstrated that contact with nature may actually help reduce the incidence of aggression and violence in inner-city neighborhoods. According to the study, levels of aggression were significantly lower among people who had some kind of nature outside of their apartments versus those who didn't.

The impact of the physical environment on human aggression has been well-established -- crowding, high temperatures, and noise have all been linked to violent behavior. Some scientists believe that it's because people living under these conditions suffer from something called chronic mental fatigue, which can make them inattentive, irritable, and impulsive -- all of which have been linked to aggressive behavior. Exposure to green spaces, it has been shown, can mitigate the harmful effects of chronic mental fatigue, reducing aggressive behavior in the process.

For all of their social beneifts, it's extremely important that urban planners recognize the value of green spaces in cultivating healthier communities. We must all work together toward building, protecting, and maintaining natural settings in our urban areas so we can improve the quality of life for the many people who live there.

Quoted in "Seeing Green Prevents People From Being Mean,"
a publication of the Landscape and Human Health Laboratory,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Best of State

2008-06-06T13:36:00.000-06:00

Congratulations to two American Fork businesses who were named medal winners in the 2008 Utah Best of State awards.

The Music School, already known to readers of my blog for its internationally acclaimed Crescent Super Band, offers individual and group instruction, master classes, recitals, recording, and performing and touring opportunities in classical, rock, jazz, and world music styles. For its insistence on excellence in both music education and business leadership, The Music School was also named top in the arts and entertainment category, receiving the coveted BOSS (Best of State Statue).

Shade Clothing, headquartered at 50 North Center Street (in the building formerly occupied by the Music School), is a leading innovator of hip, modest layered clothing -- clothing which, according to its mission statement, helps women "feel comfortable and happy." Launched from a basement in September 2004, Shade has expanded its retail operations to include an active home party business and four retail locations throughout the state, and was ranked as one of the Emerging Elite companies by Utah Business Magazine (December 2007).

The Best of State awards were created to recognize outstanding individuals, organizations and businesses in Utah who excel in their endeavors, use innovative approaches or methods, and contribute to a better quality of life in Utah.

Governor Huntsman said of this program, "Many prominent national and international organizations and outstanding people renowned for their ingenuity, innovation and aptitude are located right here within the borders of Utah. . . . Best of State recognizes those who are excelling and surpassing all else and who are the best of the best in their respective fields. . . .We are proud of the many accomplishments of our fellow Utahns."

My thanks to these two fine businesses for linking American Fork with the concept of excellence.

Sale of Broadband

2008-06-02T12:51:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday last, by unanimous vote of the City Council, American Fork sold its in-city broadband network to Surpha, Inc.

This is big news, and good news for those who want to see the network thrive. Surpha has the necessary capital to upgrade the system from copper to fiber, increasing its capability and dependability. Eventually, Surpha plans to add telephone and television to the service. I sat in on many hours of negotiations with this Orem-based firm and have full confidence in its financial and technical acumen.

For further details including purchase price and bond balance, I'm highly recommending Caleb Warnock's and Barbara Christiansen's write-up in Friday's Daily Herald.

Top Ten Ways Government Has Changed Our Mom

2008-05-30T09:27:00.000-06:00

Submitted by the Rodeback children

10. Chooses dinner menus by motion, second and vote.

9. Requires posting of notice before using the car.

8. Talks about incentivizing a clean bathroom.

7. Insists on taking minutes of Family Home Evening.

6. Requires children to submit purchase requisitions before giving allowance.

5. Conducts randomized public opinion sampling on Dad's shirts and ties.

4. Won't hold Family Council unless a quorum is present.

3. Says, "I'll just have a tax" instead of "I'll just have a taste."

2. Justifies grocery budgets in terms of "compelling interest."

1. Buys chocolate for the same reason.

Bond Financing Highlights

2008-05-24T18:10:00.000-06:00

On May 13, in order to proceed with construction of the secondary irrigation system, the City Council adopted a resolution authorizing the issuance and sale of approximately $37 ,690,000, aggregate principal amount, of its general obligation bonds.

Kudos to Dale Gunther of the City Council, John Schiess of Horrocks Engineering, Dustin Matsumori of George K. Baum & Company, and to Andy Spencer and the pressurized irrigation team for keeping the project on schedule and on budget. This hasn't been easy, and careful financing strategies have been key to the overall success of the project.

For those interested in fiduciary accountability, I reprint below the bond financing highlights as they were reported to the City Council prior to its vote.

Enjoy.

For years, the City and its finance team have worked to make a secondary water / pressurized irrigation system a reality for the citizens of American Fork. While the majority of people will determine the success of the system based upon project construction and ultimate delivery of services, there are many significant and noteworthy accomplishments that were achieved throughout the financing process that contribute to the overall "success" of the project.

Turning Market Opportunities into Interest Rate Savings

In November 2007, based on the recommendation of the finance team, the City sold the first series of bonds as "bank qualified" securities. By doing so, the City's bonds were priced at lower interest rates (4.42%) than comparably structured "non-bank-qualified" bonds (4.67%). Any interest rate savings on the bonds translate into direct savings for the City's citizens.
Notwithstanding historic market volatility in late 2007 and continued volatility in 2008, fueled by the sub-prime mortgage crisis and concerns over inflation, the finance team's negotiated sales delivered a combined true interest cost for the Series 2007 and Series 2008 bonds of 4.61%.

Generating Additional Construction Proceeds

Prior to the election in 2006, project engineers estimated the cost of the system to be $40.6 million. Due to sharp increases in the cost of materials, this figure escalated to approximately $43.2 million after the election. The finance team carefully structured the City's two series of bonds to generate additional bond proceeds (i.e. premium), totalling $1,037,115. The flexibility of a negotiated bond sale maximized the additional premium. These additional funds will help to off-set increases in construction costs.

Maintaining the City's Underlying Credit Rating

The combined bond issuance for the project increased the City's currently outstanding general obligation debt by nearly 300%. Such significant changes in a municipality's debt profile frequently trigger a ratings downgrade. However, due to the finance team's preparation in educating the ratings analysts about the City's diligence in building up and maintaining general fund reserves, and recent adjustments to the water system's rate structure, the City maintained its "A2" underlying rating with Moody's Investors Service. This strong underlying rating assisted in successfully marketing the City's bonds.

Responding Quickly to Changing Needs

In the Spring of 2008, the City directed the finance team to expedite the bonding process in order to accelerate construction on the project. Despite longer required response times from both the ratings agencies and bond insurers, the finance team successfully sold the bonds in time to meet the City's construction needs.

Thought for the Day

2008-05-24T18:02:00.000-06:00

"The decision to do one thing requires a simultaneous decision not to do twelve other things."

-- Georgia O'Keefe

My dad kept this quote on the piano when (at age sixty-something) he decided to learn to play. He kept at it until he could play several hymns.

I'm thinking of this quote today as I ponder the upcoming budget year. I'm counting all the reforms our constituents have requested and weighing them against the reality of a finite budget.

Thoughts On the Good Life

2008-05-02T13:33:00.000-06:00

Can't resist sharing this thought-provoking message that was written for the April edition of the City's employee newsletter by Derric Reikert, Recreation and Fitness Center Director.

I recently attended the funeral of a friend and long-time patron of the American Fork Fitness Center. For 15 years, 5 days a week, Ferrin Olson attended the fitness center for 45 minutes of weight lifting and 30 minutes of swimming. Beginning in 1998 Ferrin began volunteering as a marshall at the fitness center and did so up until the time of his passing. Ferrin also spent many hours each day and week training horses and roping with friends and family members.

As I looked through the rows of people attending the funeral, many of those friends were there. Ferrin spent his life with family and friends, engaged in good works and enjoying life.

As we go through each day working, planning, shopping, and doing the many other things we do to fill up each day, are we spending time with friends and family, doing things we enjoy? We live and work in a wonderful area that is surrounded by many leisure opportunities. Below is a list of just a few of the many, many different activities you can do:

Go the library and read a book
Walk and ponder at the amphitheater
Watch a baseball or basketball game
Play in a game yourself
Go horse riding
Learn to knit or sew
Fly a kite at the park
Play disc golf at Art Dye
Attend a play
Cook your favorite meal or dessert
Ride a bike
Visit a friend
Join a club
Play a round of golf
Go to a museum
Take a drive up A.F. Canyon
Go fishing
Write a story or book
Do Family History research
Volunteer -- anywhere
Paint a picture
Go dancing
Read to a child
Learn a new language
Do woodworking
Plant a garden

"Throughout the whole life, from childhood to old age, there should be opportunities for the practice of those forms of recreation which renew life, and which make for the joy of living." --President Theodore Roosevelt

May we look at each day and make time to engage in activities that bring joy in life. When the day comes to reflect on each of our lives, it will be said that we spent our life with family and friends, engaged in good works and we enjoyed life.

Green Infrastructure

2008-04-18T15:02:00.000-06:00

Last month, Mayor Thompson received this letter announcing American Fork's recognition as a Tree City USA. My heartfelt thanks to all who have worked to make this a reality, including the members of the Beautification and Shade Tree Committee, the hard-working staff of the Parks department, and the City administration.

Dear Mayor Thompson:

Congratulations on achieving Tree City USA status within your City. Your support of the Tree City USA program demonstrates a desire to continually improve the quality of life within American Fork. I would like to personally thank you for your participation in this program.

The National Arbor Day Foundation has recognized American Fork as a Tree City USA for the 1st time. Citizens can take pride in this designation and know that efforts are being made to grow a healthy tree resource in their community which will benefit generations to come. The influence of a healthy community forest to the environment and citizens of your community is significant.

By achieving this goal, your City has developed the base level for an urban forestry program. The Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands would like to help you continue building your programs and become an even better steward of your city trees. Please contact [us] for more information on grant opportunities and ideas for future projects.

This year the State is celebrating 50 Tree City USA communities! For a listing of all Utah Tree Cities visit our website at ffsl.utah.gov and go to the Urban & Community Forestry link. Thank you for your commitment to urban and community forestry in American Fork and congratulations on your success.

Sincerely,

Richard J. Buehler
State Forester

Building in American Fork

2008-04-15T14:14:00.000-06:00

American Fork has come under fire for its allegedly cumbersome permitting processes.

In February, the Utah Valley Home Builders Association released a (nonscientific, by their admission) report which placed American Fork near the bottom of the list for plat and project approval, permit approval and inspections. (See Caleb Warnock's article here.)

In March, the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties released results from a (scientific, by their assertion) report which awarded American Fork an 'F' for industrial development and a 'D' for office development. (See Jasen Lee's article here.)

Technically, this is not my department -- administration falls under the mayor's purview -- but I do keep tabs on the situation. Frustratingly, I have not been able to form a conclusion.

On the one hand, I hear a lot of complaints. I even heard of a developer who will not develop in American Fork unless his clients pony up an extra $5K.

On the other hand, I've been told by some developers that AF is no better and no worse than any other city. I've been told by others that American Fork does a superlative job, and by still others that AF has made a positive turn-around in recent years.

For their part, staff insists that delays only happen when developers fail to submit complete information. They're doing their job, they say, to protect the City's residents from poor development.

Given the situation, you can imagine my anxiety when I was invited last week to the first annual Utah Valley Economic Summit, presented by the Utah Valley Home Builders Association.

I sat down to lunch wearing a name tag which, I felt sure, must have been emblazoned with a Scarlet AF.

"Where are you from?" my table mates asked.

"I can't say," I said. When pressed, however, I let it all spill. "I'm Heidi from American Fork where we have planning and approving dysfunction and we're at the bottom of your list.

"Home builders are friends, not food," I added.

"That's okay," said the home builder across the table, consolingly. "You're not at the bottom of our list any more," he said. "You're below the bottom."

But then he felt compelled to say one more thing.

"I'll say this for American Fork," he said. "When your building inspectors have signed off on one my homes, I never lose a minute's sleep over it.

"I know without question," he said, "that building is sound."

With that I leave you, gentle reader, to draw your own conclusions.

Welcoming Lone Peak Dialysis

2008-04-15T12:33:00.000-06:00

I attended the grand opening earlier this month of DaVita Lone Peak Dialysis, located in the new Central Utah Clinic at 1175 East 50 South. On a personal level -- kidney disease touches my family -- I was pleased to see such a quality program open in American Fork. But it was pleasing on an official level as well. Two reasons:

1. Two patients told me about their relief at having dialysis available in American Fork. Residents of Eagle Mountain and Pleasant Grove, they had been making thrice-weekly trips to Provo for treatment, braving a commute which can easily cost an hour each way. Lone Peak Dialysis just gave them back six hours of their week. I'm pleased to watch the local economy step up to meet the demands of a rapidly growing population.

2. Darren Stutz, facility administrator, gave me some shocking news about American Fork. "We had a great experience with your City," he said. The planners, the licensers, the permitters, the Planning Commission, the water department (these folks process upwards of 120,000 gallons each month) -- just everybody, he said, was helpful, timely, reasonable and easy to work with. Having developed in Orem, Payson, and Provo, he said, he felt qualified to say American Fork was the best around.

All right, let's tell that to the homebuilders.

Nuisance Abatement

2008-03-31T13:48:00.000-06:00

Author Cheryl Mendelson tells of a chair in her home that sits next to the front door. Ordinarily, the chair sits empty. But one hurried morning, the story goes, she threw her bathrobe on the chair as she headed out the door. Returning home that evening, she found on the chair not only her bathrobe, but also the morning newspaper, a toothbrush, a back pack, two dog-eared books, and three Hot Rod cars.

Once you allow a piece of junk on a surface in your home, she says, it's only a matter of time before that piece of junk attracts more junk.

The same principle applies to home exteriors. Police call this the "broken window theory." A broken window left unfixed sends a message to vandals. It says, "Nobody cares." Soon other rocks are thrown through other windows and graffiti are painted on the siding. If one house on the block is left in this state, others are sure to follow. Left in this condition, homes and neighborhoods soon become breeding grounds for crime.

One definition of a nuisance would be a property left in an advanced state of disrepair. Any effort to fight crime in American Fork has to include effective nuisance control.

A nuisance can also be something which poses a hazard to children. This is the doctrine of attractive nuisances. As explained at wikipedia.org,

a landowner may be held liable for injuries to children trespassing on the land if the injury is caused by a hazardous object or condition on the land that is likely to attract children, who are unable to appreciate the risk posed by the object or condition. The doctrine has been applied to hold landowners liable for injuries caused by abandoned cars, piles of lumber or sand, trampolines, and swimming pools. However, it can be applied to virtually anything on the property of the landowner.

If a nuisance renders others insecure in life or in the use of property, or affects the rights of an entire community or neighborhood, then municipal governments have compelling grounds to intervene.

Concerned with the number of nuisance properties impacting our neighborhood, my husband and many of my neighbors began to advocate the City government for more effective nuisance control. This led to the formation of a nuisance abatement committee in 2003. Under the tenacious leadership of Doug Bethers and supported by Council Member Rick Storrs, this committee has made significant inroads. It has arranged for the donation of numerous abandoned vehicles to the National Kidney Foundation. It has successfully advocated for the removal of nuisance enforcement from the City administrator's desk to the police chief's, with the result that many extreme cases have been prosecuted and cleaned up.

The work that remains is for the City Council to enact legislation addressing some of the more difficult problems. Some weeks ago, we began this effort by approving a yard sale ordinance. This ordinance is intended to prevent the perpetual yard sales run by those who would circumvent the City's business licensing and zoning requirements. (It still allows for the typical household yard sale.) Other ordinances, in accordance with my stated goals for 2008, will be coming down the pipeline later this year.

Some cities, with the full blessing of the United States Constitution, go so far as to legislate the c0lor you can paint your house or the kind of table linens restaurants may use for outdoor dining. Our intent in American Fork is nothing so extreme. True to our western sensibilities, our purposes will be limited to the protection of children and property values, and to the restriction of criminal habitat.

I campaigned on the slogan, "What Kind of City Do You Want to Live In?" A cleaner, safer city, with secure and appealing neighborhoods -- this is one of my top answers to that question.

Recession?

2008-03-21T22:11:00.000-06:00

I'm no economist, but I can't help asking the question: Are we headed for recession?

They say that if you laid all the economists in the world end to end, they still wouldn't reach a conclusion. I can't reach a conclusion either, but I do find it interesting to play around with the various tidbits that cross my desk.

On the one hand --

Food prices nationally are climbing faster than inflation, with flour, milk, and eggs each up 25 percent over this time last year. Whole wheat bread and cheddar cheese, according to the San Jose Mercury News, are up 15 percent.
Building permits in Utah State are down 18.5 percent over last year, said economist Daryl Delano in February's Better Roads magazine.

On the other hand --

Commerce CRG, a commercial real estate firm with a strong presence in Utah County, has released an encouraging market report. Among its findings:

The Utah County Industrial market remains tight throughout all geographical sectors. The economy continues to grow as does the number of companies looking for industrial space in the area. Manufacturing is a major industry driving growth to the state, and Utah County is benefiting as companies look for good, centrally located places to house their operations. The county is also benefiting from the overflow from Salt Lake City as companies and industries recognize opportunities in Utah County.
The tremendous population growth that hit Utah County in 2006 and 2007 has translated to a very dynamic retail market in 2007. This impressive growth has taken place county-wide. New projects continue to spring up throughout the county and large national tenants are looking at the Provo/Orem area as an expansion market. This is not limited to retail outlets; national restaurants are also taking advantage of the growing population.
Several new office projects have been announced for delivery in 2008 reflecting the optimism in the Utah County market.
North Utah County continues to be very tight and is benefitting from the presence of large manufacturers and retailers.
American Fork and Lehi continue to be the hotbed of activity in the retail segment.

Harry Truman used to complain that he could never find a one-handed economist. He would pitch questions to economists, but their responses invariably began, "Well, Mr. President, on the one hand ... And then again, on the other hand ..."

So maybe I'm an economist, after all.

Did You Know?

2008-03-21T15:34:00.000-06:00

Today's information comes from Mark Coddington, storm drain specialist, via the March edition of the American Fork City Employee newsletter.

What Is Storm Water?

Storm water is water from rain, snow, sleet, or hail that flows across the ground and pavement or when snow and ice melt. The water seeps into the ground or drains into what we call the storm drain system. These are the drains you see at street corners, catch basins, detention/retention basins, irrigation canals, creeks, and the American Fork River. Collectively, the draining water is called storm water runoff and is a concern in all areas of American Fork including residential, commercial, industrial and roadway areas of unincorporated portions of our City.

Why Is This Program Necessary?

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 40 percent of our nation's waterways remain polluted and storm water runoff is a leading source. Storm water pollution can occur when it rains, or as oil, salt, litter, soil, fertilizer and pesticides are washed into nearby street drains. Most of these drains empty directly into the streams an drivers that we use for fishing, swimming and boating, and result in unusable and polluted waterways.

Do Your Part!

Clean up after your pet.
Clean up spills immediately.
Fertilize only your yard, not your driveway or sidewalk.
Wash your car on the lawn or at a commercial car wash.
Sweep your driveway and sidewalk; don't hose them down.
Dispose of old paint, pesticides, solvents, and batteries appropriately.
Compost yard waste such as grass clippings, tree trimmings and leaves.

Economic Developments

2008-03-05T13:01:00.001-07:00

Contrary to popular opinion, lawmakers do not enjoy raising taxes. That's why it's welcome news when the tax base thrives.

Where xy represents the formula for multiplying x (the tax base) by y (the tax rate), the product can be increased by upping either x or y.

(I love algebra.)

Whether x (the tax base) is increased through growth in commercial and residential properties or through strong sales, it works the same way. It's nicer for everybody when we can increase x and leave y (the tax rate) alone.

This is the argument for economic development, and the reason why local governments sometimes attempt to influence the market for the better.

This is also the reason why I was thrilled to see some of our local businesses named Best of Utah County in the Daily Herald's 2007 Readers' Choice awards. Congratulations to these fine American Fork businesses:

JCW's: Best hamburgers, best fast food, best french fries, best fry sauce, best root beer float, best shakes, best onion rings
American Fork Cinemark: Best movie theater, best movie theater popcorn
Red Balloon: Best toy store
Jack & Jill Bowling Lanes: Best bowling alley
American Fork Hospital: Best hospital/medical clinic
Doug Smith: Best auto dealer (new), best auto dealer (used)
Best Vinyl: Best fencing company
Bank of American Fork: Best bank
La Vigna: Best Italian, best romantic restaurant, best new restaurant, best kept secret

La Vigna (formerly Ottavio's, near Cinemark) treated the City Council to a memorable appreciation dinner in January, and the restaurant was everything the Daily Herald says it is. The food and the service were excellent, but the atmosphere is what will keep me coming back. It's like escaping to Tuscany.

Also of interest: Provo College was named best college and best technical institution. According to this morning's Deseret News, Provo College will be opening an American Fork campus at North Pointe business park this October.

Good news for economic development in American Fork.

Thought for the Day

2008-03-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

An ounce of algebra is worth a pound of argument.

Mr. Dorwin
Eighth grade algebra teacher par excellence
Totem Junior High School
Kent, Washington

Heidi's Goals for 2008

2008-02-23T19:45:00.000-07:00

1. Sponsor a nuisance abatement ordinance with teeth in it.

2. Ditto for a rental licensing ordinance.

3. Create a targeted housing program similar to the Neighborhood Housing Services of Provo. (We have to start small, but we have to start!)

4. Put the poor downtown trees out of their misery. Replace them with healthy trees in such a manner as not to interfere with the merchants' signage. While we're at it, amend the City sign ordinance to allow blade signs and sandwich boards in the downtown area (aka the central commercial district).

[Goals one through four are about cleaning up the downtown neighborhoods. I campaigned strongly on these points, and it's time to get busy.]

5. Redesign the City Website. Even now, the City is in contract negotiations with a design firm. I'll be pushing for a great product -- something user-friendly that projects a positive image.

6. Create a user-friendly interface for the annual budget document. Two years ago, Mayor Thompson created a user-friendly format for Council meeting agendas. It's time to do the same for the budget document.

7. Establish a systematic program for connecting volunteers with volunteer projects and for honoring those who give extraordinary service.

[Goals five, six and seven are communications goals, an important thing for American Fork.]

8. Finish paving the gol-darn parks! Not having paving has made Art Dye, Hunter, Miller, Hindley, and Val Vista parks nuisances, not assets, to their neighborhoods. We encountered red tape with the funding which was earmarked for these projects, but the issue is nearly resolved, and I have good reason to hope parking lots will be finished in 2008.

9. Honor the Council's promise to give part-time employees a long-overdue wage increase.

10. Create landscape standards to be added to the City's development code for subdivisions and large-scale developments. This is about trees. When the City Council adopted the tree ordinance last November, we were advised to create standards to preserve trees in the path of development and to ensure that trees planted are right for their conditions. That's this year's project.

[Goals eight through ten are about follow-through, another good thing for American Fork.]

====================

Many of my gentle readers are asking themselves, "Why did Heidi wait until February to set goals, giving herself a two-month handicap?" Others are asking, "Where is the promised goal having to do with library funding?"

The answer to both questions is the same. I have been pondering the impact that a significant budget increase will have on the taxpayer. The City raised taxes significantly two years ago. Some residents will see their water bills go up this year when the pressurized irrigation system comes to their neighborhoods. Some say signs point to a troubled economy.

My conclusion is that now is the wrong time to impose a significant tax increase on residents. Accordingly, not wanting to set goals I can't accomplish, I have devised a list that does not depend on a significant budget increase. (Where goals do depend on budget, funds already exist.)

This doesn't mean I'm giving up on the library. A modest property tax increase of fifteen to thirty dollars per year on the average house would provide amply for library books, and this is what I want to try for. My gut tells me residents are willing to pay this much for library books. If I'm wrong, however, the public will be sure to clamor -- and I'll be sure to listen.

Thought for the Day

2008-02-16T14:30:00.000-07:00

When you start talking about government as "we" instead of "they," you have been in office too long.

Ronald Reagan

City Council Retreat

2008-02-16T14:23:00.000-07:00

On a Monday evening in January, the City Council held a short evening retreat to flesh out goals for the coming year.

At the retreat, we created a list of the City's most pressing needs as we see them. We then assigned dollar values to each item -- dollar values informed by recent studies.

The exercise was informative to us, and I felt it would be to you as well. Here's the list:

Install and repair sidewalks throughout town ($2K per year or $2 million over 10 years)
Complete upgrades to 1120 North, 900 West, and 700 North ($5 million)
Open up the railroad crossing at 560 West ($500,000)
Install traffic signal at 1100 East 50 South ($125,000)
Install traffic calming devices in streets that serve elementary schools ($200,000)
Increase City library fund to raise much-needed funds for books, computers ($200,000)
Purchase land for expansion of cemetery ($3.5 million)
Purchase land for expansion of public works operations -- and put an end to dumping of street debris at Art Dye Park (!) ($500,000)
Complete parks and trails, including widening the access to Art Dye and installing parking lots, picnic pavillions, restrooms, and swingsets throughout the City ($6K per year or $6 million over 10 years)

[A few additional items made the list, but we lacked sufficient information to assign price tags. They were: Transition to a full-time fire department, hiring of a grant-writer, and purchase and refurbishment of the Harrington School building for City use.]

Taken together, these fairly basic priorities add up to more than $18 million over and above the existing budget. For a City whose annual budget figures around $40 million, that's a lot of money.

Revenue off the Meadows -- revenue not already committed to infrastructure bonds -- increases at approximately $500,000 per year. Not much relief from that quarter. And if, as we hope, subsequent development at the Meadows accelerates sales tax receipts, those revenues will be needed to offset the City's operating costs, which accelerate with growth.

The property tax increase of two years ago -- the increase that so pained the public -- raised $1 million per year. Conceivably, we could raise taxes again and then complete these projects over the next several years. However, that's a little rich for my blood. Residents can't afford another large tax increase -- especially not during time of economic recession.

The challenge we face is this: How to provide for basic needs with a small tax base and an income that (because of Truth in Taxation) declines steadily in proportion to costs?

Truly, the situation is not so different from what most of us face at home with our household budgets. It's a challenge faced by lawmakers and homemakers everywhere. So if you have any suggestions for me, I'm all ears.

Thought for the Day

2008-01-25T16:04:00.000-07:00

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

Margaret Mead

Youth Council Vision

2008-01-25T15:05:00.000-07:00

January is marching on, but I'm still not ready to articulate goals for 2008. I share instead the vision of the various members of the American Fork City Youth Council.

At the urging of now-Youth Council Mayor Evan Nuttall, the City has refreshed the group's charter and appointed a dynamic set of youth to serve. The youth will form a shadow government whose goals include service to the community, youth leadership development, local government experience and increased communication between youth and adults in the American Fork community. (Read all about it in the January 17 Daily Herald.)

These kids, Council Member LeBaron says, are a "highly energetic group of high school students wanting to make a difference in their community." I can attest to that. Already, one of their number has served the City on a selection committee to pick the designers of the City's new Web site. But the kids' goals -- the goals they listed in their applications -- these goals really speak about their intelligence and insight into leadership.

It's not just that they understand the community, but that they get it about making a difference as youth. As you read these goals, see how well-matched they are to both the energies and the limitations of youth.

Clean up skate park and help maintain it.
Utilize City parks more. Hold activities, sports, and games in parks. Involve youth in clean-up and beautification projects.

Finish sidewalks by schools and and on streets around schools. Hold fundraiser to build new sidewalks in areas that have none.

Increase community and teen awareness of City events and activities to increase participation.

Teach youth how to be involved in their current and future communities. Provide opportunities for community involvement and service.
Hold a book drive.

Hold a community talent show, with student performers, to raise money for charity.

Raise political awareness of teens. Teach voter registration and other concepts.

Learn about City planning, water shares, etc.

Partner with the National Honor Society on service projects. The National Honor Society has more members than service opportunities.

Create opportunities for youth to serve at the Senior Center.

Figure out how to do something with the old abandoned school [the Harrington] and save some of our history.

I'm interested to see which projects they choose and eager to watch their success. One thing's certain: If our future is in the hands of leaders like these, then we're in good shape.

Reporting on 2007

2008-01-19T17:52:00.001-07:00

It's January, and time to state goals for the coming year. This I shall do---later. First, however, I need to account for last year's goals.

I articulated my 2007 goals last January, then reported progress in June. Here's where they stand today:

1. Support the Mayor's outlined objectives: Secondary irrigation is well underway and the sensitive lands ordinance was adopted. Transportation initiatives, downtown revitalization, and broadband transitioning are still in progress.

2. Become a Tree City, USA. The requirements were met and the application submitted. See my blog entries here, here, and here.

3. Upgrade the Arts Council by-laws. New by-laws were adopted in August and a governing board was appointed in November. More here, here, and here.

4. Establish a partnership with The Music School to stabilize Concerts in the Park. This was a successful partnership. May the 2008 series be equally successful.

5. Inventory the library's holdings. Here I did not succeed. The Library's Collection Development Policy, adopted in 2007, contains this statement:

As the American Fork community grows rapidly, the ability to assess and meet the informational and recreational reading needs of the community is critical to providing the quality library services and collections that are expected by our citizens.

I had envisioned an assessment tool to allow us to list, for each decade of the Dewey decimal system, the strengths and weaknesses of our collection. The librarians, however, have persuaded me that library science does not include such precise measurement techniques. How exactly do we establish what the core collection should be for, say, Dewey decimal number 730, plastic arts?

When at first you don't succeed, reevaluate. With or without an assessment tool, two essential facts remain: Our collection is significantly outdated, and our collection budget figures at one-third to one-half that of comparable libraries. Needless to say, a new goal for addressing the problem will appear on my list for 2008.

6. Establish strong public communications policies and procedures. January's water bill included a redesign of the newsletter that I can live with. Next up: the City Web site.

7. Create a mission statement for Economic Development. Done. See post here.

8. Install and repair sidewalks in the Shelley School Area. See post, here. This is still under design. The wheels of government, especially federal government, turn much too slowly for my liking.

9. Finally finish the parks bond by installing curb and gutter at Art Dye. This is still not finished, and I'm fit to be tied. Why such delays, you ask? The short answer is: Red tape. This one goes back on the list for 2008.

10. Do all the above with no tax increases. Yes, we made it through 2007 with no tax increases. I dislike paying my taxes as much as anybody -- but we're not likely to make more progress on arts, parks, or the library without raising dedicated revenues for these causes. This is why the Council is considering asking the voters in 2008 for a RAP tax or a library tax. Or some combination of both. For further information, read Caleb Warnock's article in Friday's Daily Herald.

Thought for the Day

2008-01-10T23:57:00.000-07:00

If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all.

Pearl S. Buck

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.

Stacia Tauscher

Letter to a Constituent

2008-01-10T23:24:00.000-07:00

I wrote this letter today at the request of a consituent who will be lunching with some of Utah's high-profile leaders tomorrow. Their object: to stop the spread of pornography. I hope the topic will also be of interest to readers here at the blog.

Dear Anonymous:

You asked whether American Fork has any programs in place to combat the spread of pornography. Let me answer by explaining the City's two lines of defense against this ill. The first is direct; the second is indirect.

Directly, the current City Council has done three things to limit the spread of pornography. First, working in conjunction with a non-profit group called Cities for Familes, we passed a resolution last September promoting child-appropriate standards within the City. This resolution is crafted to protect the City against first amendment challenges by encouraging, but not requiring, businesses to adopt child-appropriate standards for media on display. We felt this an appropriate step to take in a community where thirty-five percent of the population is under the age of thirty-five. Second, we passed an ordinance regulating sexually oriented businesses. First amendment rights do not allow us to prohibit sexually oriented businesses, but the regulations provided by this ordinance are so stringent as to deter such businesses from locating in our community. The third action is still in process. We have directed the Planning Commission to create a zone for the placement of sexually oriented businesses. When the zone is in place, sexually oriented businesses will not be able to locate anywhere in our community except within this zone. The Planning Commission is searching for a location that will be remote from schools, churches, and family-centered commercial activity. In most communities, the creation of this zone creates a powerful deterrent to sexually oriented businesses.

The second approach the City takes to address this problem is less direct, but more proactive. Our community values hold the family in great esteem as the primary defense against social ills. American Fork offers many programs that support the family by providing wholesome recreational, educational and cultural opportunities. These include everything from parks and recreation to arts, library and literacy programs. Youth are welcomed and encouraged to participate in our community choirs and art shows, our sports and recreation programs, our speech and essay contests, our library's "Teen Thing," and in our Youth Council. Taken as a whole, these programs raise the quality of life in American Fork and promote a sense of community and stability. My personal observation has been that, as these programs have grown in vitality, families have been willing to stay longer and provide more leadership in our community, rather than move away to other cities.

I hope this answers your question. Thank you for your concern about pornography and your willingness to DO something to combat it.

Sincerely yours,

Heidi Rodeback

Thought for Christmas Day

2007-12-22T23:18:00.000-07:00

I said: “Let me walk in the fields.”
He said: “No, walk in the town.”
I said: “There are no flowers there.”
He said: “No flowers, but a crown.”

I said: “But the skies are black;
There is nothing but noise and din.”
And He wept as He sent me back –
“There is more,” He said; “there is sin.”

I said: “But the air is thick,
And fogs are veiling the sun.”
He answered: “Yet souls are sick,
And souls in the dark undone!”

I said: “I shall miss the light,
And friends will miss me, they say.”
He answered: “Choose tonight
If I am to miss you or they.”

I pleaded for time to be given.
He said: “Is it hard to decide?
It will not seem so hard in heaven
To have followed the steps of your Guide.”

I cast one look at the fields,
Then set my face to the town;
He said, “My child, do you yield?
Will you leave the flowers for the crown?”

Then into His hand went mine;
And into my heart came He;
And I walk in a light divine,
The path I had feared to see.

George MacDonald
1824-1905

Did You Know?

2007-12-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

Today's post appears courtesy of City Planner Rod Despain and is taken from the December edition of the American Fork City employee newsletter.

===============

The City frequently receives requests for the current population of American Fork. At present, the City's population is about 28,000 persons. Since the last census count in 2000, American Fork has grown by about 6,000 persons, an annual increase of about 900 new residents and 190 new dwellings each year. With each new dwelling:

1. The City's population is increased by an average of 3.7 persons.

2. Approximately 24,000 square feet of land is converted from agriculture to urban use.

3. Twelve additional vehicle trips per day are added to the City's street system.

4. The water system must be able to deliver an additional 325,000 gallons of water per year, have a well pumping capacity of an additional 1.5 gallons per minute, and a water tank storage capacity of about 800 additional gallons.

5. The sewage collection and treatment facilities must be able to accommodate about 400 more gallons per day.

6. An additional 1000 square feet of public park land is needed to maintain the current level of service.

With each new building permit that is issued, the City takes on additional responsibility for providing many of the services and facilities that are required to maintain a quality of life. While the impact from a single dwelling is not great, when combined with the approximately 190 other new residentces constructed during the year -- and the same number during preceding years -- the impacts become significant and require a good deal of advance planning and construction in anticipation of actual need.

To assist in meeting the future needs, the City has prepared the American Fork General Plan which provides recommendations for meeting the future needs. The current plan contains the following six primary elements, each addressing a separate area of responsibility.

1. The Land Use Element

2. The Major Street and Transportation Element

3. The Public Facilities Element (culinary water, secondary water and sewage collection system

4. An Affordable Housing Element

5. Parks and Open Space Element

6. A Storm Water Drainage Element.

These plans collectively provide the basis for the various development policies and regulations enforced by the City (zoning, subdivision, utility extension policies, etc.), for the assessment of impact fees upon new development, and for most of the capital facilities expenditures made by the City.

===============

Note: The General Plan is posted online under the Planning Department at. You can also access it by clicking here.

Putting American Fork on the Map

2007-12-09T00:20:00.000-07:00

The jacket to the Crescent Super Band's CD, East Coast Envy, describes American Fork as "the last place on earth one would expect to find good jazz."

Not for long, my friends.

If you enjoyed watching the American Fork Marching Band in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, then you'll be interested to learn about the stir another American Fork high school group has made in Manhattan. Recently named by Down Beat Magazine as the best high school jazz band in the world, the Crescent Super Band has brought national and international recognition to American Fork's Music School.

And you thought The Music School was just a place to get a free guitar with music lessons.

I'm excerpting below John Clayton's write-up at the New Hampshire-based UnionLeader.com. Follow the link at the bottom to read the rest of the article.

Thanks to the unflagging leadership of Super Band director Caleb Chapman and AF Marching Band director John Miller, American Fork is taking its place on the musical map.

===============

YOU CAN ARGUE with me if you wish, but I will state without equivocation that, throughout history, the most oxymoronic nickname in professional sports has been that of the Utah Jazz.

Until now, that is.

All of a sudden, the notion of linking improvisational, polyrhythmic, free-flowing jazz with a buttoned-down, tragically un-hip state like Utah -- I am not making this up; the official state snack food is Jell-O -- is not as incongruous as it used to be.

For that, we can thank Caleb Chapman.

Caleb is a 34-year-old Pinkerton Academy alumnus. Eight years ago -- even as he was completing his undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University -- he took out a loan for $6,000 and set about pursuing his dream.

That dream is called "The Music School."

Since it opened its doors in 1999, enrollment at The Music School (located in American Fork, Utah) has grown to more than 1,200 students, but 21 students in particular caught my ear.

Those 21 students comprise the musical troupe known as the Crescent Super Band, which was just named the best high school-aged jazz band in the world. That honor came from no less an authority than "Down Beat" magazine, which modestly bills itself as "the monthly 'bible' of jazz, blues, and roots music."

Utah Jazz, indeed.

. . .

The Music School encompasses every aspect of the art form. In addition to offering instruction on virtually every instrument -- including guitar, strings, woodwinds, brass, drums, percussion and voice -- there is a division devoted to classical ensembles, there is the Crescent Jazz Institute (that spawned the aforementioned Crescent Super Band) and then there is the Rock Academy.

"We probably have 20 different rock bands operating out of the school," Caleb explained, "everything from bluegrass, speed metal and Caribbean steel drums, from funk to reggae to punk. We have a recording studio and a performance venue and there are jam sessions every week, and what the kids get a kick out of is who they get to jam with."

Guest instructors are a vital part of life at The Music School.

"We have 70 faculty members of our own," he said, "but this year, we'll have more than 70 visiting artists -- Grammy winners from just about every style -- and they don't just lecture. The kids get to perform and record with them.

. . .

In two years, they maxed out the building with 400 students, so Caleb secured $3 million in venture capital and two years ago, The Music School had a brand new home and 1,200 kids.

And, as with the Crescent Super Band, they're kids of the highest caliber.

"All of these kids are being heavily recruited by the top music schools in the country -- in fact, we're the only community music school that's an affiliate of the Juilliard -- but when you ask how many are planning to major in music, it's only about half of them.

"Almost all of them have 4.0 grade averages. They range from the captain of the football team to student body president -- well-rounded kids -- and while they may not look at music as a viable career, they see it as a vital part of their lives, and will for the rest of their lives.

Follow this link to read the article in its entirety.

Thought for the Day

2007-12-08T23:45:00.001-07:00

"All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

November 2007

2007-12-08T23:29:00.000-07:00

November was a banner month for me, if not for my blog.

Here are November's accomplishments:

>>The City Council, responding to a strong recommendation from the Beautification and Shade Tree committee, passed a tree ordinance.

>>Tree ordinance in hand, I submitted AF's application to become a Tree City USA. Since we have met all the requirements, I have every reason to hope that the application will be accepted.
>>The City broke ground on pressurized irrigation and hosted the first open house for the project. Said open house was a well planned event whose many attendees were richly rewarded with useful information.

>>Working closely with Mayor Thompson and Council Member Dale Gunther, I succeeded in recruiting an A-Plus All-Star line-up to serve as the first ever American Fork Arts Council Governing Board. I will not reveal names at this time; curious art lovers may attend the December 11 City Council meeting to witness the appointments.

>>The City Council approved the concept plan for the new lifestyle center to be called the Village at the Meadows.

Now, how to top this in December?

AF Daily Photo

2007-11-20T13:46:00.000-07:00

It has been some time since my last post. It's not that I lack for material to report; it's just that it's been hard to make time.

I don't anticipate the workload letting up before the end of November. So if you can't wait until December to get your fix of life in American Fork, let me direct you to afdailyphoto.blogspot.com.

This delightful blog is maintained by an American Fork resident who describes herself as a "just a mom with a cheap camera," but also as one who loves this city and likes the idea of showing it off.

I can relate to that, and I hope you can, too.

Thought for the Day

2007-11-09T14:27:00.001-07:00

Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed, there are many rewards. If you disgrace yourself, you can always write a book.

Ronald Reagan