Signed the contract.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
The Tree Meeting
Public Notice Posted on the South Ogden Website
Tonight the City Council held a special meeting for the residents of Raymond Avenue. We discussed everything that was going to take place on Raymond with regards to the road, sidewalks, water, sewer, and our trees. In reality, the majority of the residents that attended could have cared less what was talked about. They came to talk about the trees.
Our street has always seemed so enclosed and beautiful because of the trees. It will be sad to see them go. Unfortunately this wasn't a meeting to stop the trees from going, that time has long since passed. But we did find out how to keep our tree and that we would each get two trees to replace our old ones, when the time is ready. We can keep our tree if we sign a contract agreeing to take care of the tree if it falls or damages the sidewalks and road.
The tree argument is an interesting one. I am not sure what to think of it all. All I can say is we are way too late to be arguing about this. I have been told there was a meeting a year ago on the tree issue--a few people went. That would have been the time to start organizing petitions and calling council people. Today is too late, all we can do now is either sign the contract or accept our fate.
They did let us know the project would be done by August 15th, if there are no delays for rain. We are all putting money on September. They also told us that we would have to pay to have the water connection from our house updated and a bleed valve to prevent overflow of secondary water and other such things.
I applaud council woman Vicki Mattson, she accepted my invitation to attend the meeting. Most of the city council nor the mayor attended. But I was glad Vicki did. She has also been good to return my phone calls when ever I have had questions about the project.
Tonight the City Council held a special meeting for the residents of Raymond Avenue. We discussed everything that was going to take place on Raymond with regards to the road, sidewalks, water, sewer, and our trees. In reality, the majority of the residents that attended could have cared less what was talked about. They came to talk about the trees.
Our street has always seemed so enclosed and beautiful because of the trees. It will be sad to see them go. Unfortunately this wasn't a meeting to stop the trees from going, that time has long since passed. But we did find out how to keep our tree and that we would each get two trees to replace our old ones, when the time is ready. We can keep our tree if we sign a contract agreeing to take care of the tree if it falls or damages the sidewalks and road.
The tree argument is an interesting one. I am not sure what to think of it all. All I can say is we are way too late to be arguing about this. I have been told there was a meeting a year ago on the tree issue--a few people went. That would have been the time to start organizing petitions and calling council people. Today is too late, all we can do now is either sign the contract or accept our fate.
They did let us know the project would be done by August 15th, if there are no delays for rain. We are all putting money on September. They also told us that we would have to pay to have the water connection from our house updated and a bleed valve to prevent overflow of secondary water and other such things.
I applaud council woman Vicki Mattson, she accepted my invitation to attend the meeting. Most of the city council nor the mayor attended. But I was glad Vicki did. She has also been good to return my phone calls when ever I have had questions about the project.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
South Ogden City Council Meeting 5/8/2007
Isn't it amazing how our government works. We elect people to represent us and make educated decisions for us each day in how will live our lives. John Kessel, one of the great writers of our time, said in his short story--A Clean Escape, "with decisions of so many, in the hands of so few; we can not escape accountability." With such power--don't you feel we owe it to our officials to give them educated information. Well that is just what the folks of Raymond Avenue tried to do tonight. A group of concerned citizens all went down to the city building to shared their views about the construction project that is about to begin. It was a heated debate but we were way to late to be making an argument about saving trees or changing the cities mind. I wish I had lived here a year before. I could have gone to the original meeting. (I wonder how many went?) The city has a good argument, and the improvements will be nice.
The biggest argument was that the value of the homes would go down. The citizens had research that compared, Nordin and Evelyn when their trees were removed. They explained that the values would drop. Vicki Mattson, city council women, came prepared (after a call from me) with values saying that they would not. She said she had never heard of trees bringing down values of homes and that we shouldn't have moved here just for the trees. Vicki explained she talked to people in the housing industry and her figures showed they wouldn't come down.
The whole tree debate on our street is getting pretty old...and fast. I understand everyone's concerns. I do! But why didn't we start talking about this six months ago or even a year ago. Now all of the sudden it is a big deal when we are two weeks away.
Well I am not going to belabor this, but the meeting was interesting and most of our info was passed on. I mean, we have never come to a city council meeting and then one day we show up and expect to be heard. Who where we kidding?
In the end, I invited all of the city council to attend our next meeting on the Raymond Avenue Issue and I hope they do attend. We will see.
The biggest argument was that the value of the homes would go down. The citizens had research that compared, Nordin and Evelyn when their trees were removed. They explained that the values would drop. Vicki Mattson, city council women, came prepared (after a call from me) with values saying that they would not. She said she had never heard of trees bringing down values of homes and that we shouldn't have moved here just for the trees. Vicki explained she talked to people in the housing industry and her figures showed they wouldn't come down.
The whole tree debate on our street is getting pretty old...and fast. I understand everyone's concerns. I do! But why didn't we start talking about this six months ago or even a year ago. Now all of the sudden it is a big deal when we are two weeks away.
Well I am not going to belabor this, but the meeting was interesting and most of our info was passed on. I mean, we have never come to a city council meeting and then one day we show up and expect to be heard. Who where we kidding?
In the end, I invited all of the city council to attend our next meeting on the Raymond Avenue Issue and I hope they do attend. We will see.
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