Secondary Water Meter - Weber Basin - City Council Meeting 2-15-2011

During the last city council meeting Jon Andersen, public works director, explained Weber Basin Water has recently received a grant to install water meters on all of it's lines for secondary water.  This grant was given to them to help them monitor and conserve secondary water.

However, I think we can all read between the lines on this one and see what the real purpose is.  Once the meters are in place, they will quickly be able to determine how much they could charge the individual user and make bigger profit than they are now.  Currently we pay for secondary water through our taxes, but we could be moving to a consumption based system very soon.

Realize not everyone one is on Weber Basin Water.  I personally am on Pine View Water.  But I promise Pine View will not be far behind when they realize what is happening.

So the real question is this, how do you want to pay for your water?  Do you want a consumption tax or a flat fee?  Consumption is coming...just watch.  I am sure we will be discussing this again.

Comments always welcome.

Wasatch Constables are coming to South Ogden - City Council Meeting 2-15-2011

Last night's city council meeting was one of the fastest meetings I have attended in a long time.  At the same time it was full of interesting nuggets.  I have decided to break last nights meeting into a few posts.  This first one will be regarding a new contract signed by South Ogden City with Wasatch Constables.

When South Ogden City Police issues a citation in our city and you fail to pay it, no one comes to your door asking for the money.  Often this money goes down as potentially lost revenue to the city.  In 2010 alone the city has missed out on potentially $500,000 in warrants that have gone unpaid.  This is where Wasatch Constables comes in.

Wasatch Constables is a fully empowered peace officer who has been given "Special Functions" as an officer.  They are not tasked with everyday police work but instead provides services such as process serving, bailiff duties, transport prisoners, seize property, enforce writs and effects service of arrest warrants.  South Ogden has entered into a contract with them to help enforce these warrants and help collect the more than $500,000 in uncollected revenue.  They will either collect the money or take the offender to jail.

Tony Alarid, Chief Deputy for Wasatch Constables, spoke with me about the services they provide and what this meant for the city.

"The numbers are there, this will be a success for South Ogden,"  Mr. Alarid said, "We serve Riverdale and Ogden and have seen lots of success.  Most people thought we weren't serious when we started.  They didn't think we would really knock on doors.  But once we started, people started coming in voluntarily to pay their fines.  People's parents even started coming for them to pay.  They didn't want their kids to get arrested. You are going to see these same results in South Ogden."

As you can see this is a WIN-WIN for South Ogden.  Wasatch Constables only gets paid when they collect a fine or make an arrest.  Their goal is to prioritize our list of offenders and go after of them, hitting repeat offenders first.  They can take payment on the spot or take you to jail.  Heck they can even take credit cards.  If you can't be found they can even do Skip Traces for those who have tried to hide.

Since these constables go through all the same training and certifications as the police, and fully insured and bonded, I don't see how we can lose with this.

All I can say is beware to criminals and those who have an unpaid warrants.  Wasatch Constables are coming for you.

City Council Meeting February 1st 2011 - Rezoning, Strategies and No Plan.

Last night's city council meeting had a number of items of interest.  However before we begin, we must note nearly half the council was absent from the meeting.  Council-members Orr, Smith and Mayor Minster were all out for personal reasons.  That left us Council-members Bradley, Benard and Porter. Which is all you need for a quorum.

Map Courtesy of Google Maps

The only real item on the agenda was the rezoning of 3760 Riverdale and 3790 Riverdale to a C-3 from a C-2.  Well to be specific we are moving them to the newly created C-3zc(A).  The C-3zc(A) is code for a C-3 Zone with certain restrictions, for example: they can't have a bar or a sex shop in that location.  The reason for all the fuss is because 3790's landlord wants to rent to a pawn shop.  A pawn shop needs a C-3 zoned area and so the landlord pushed to make this happen.  This could be good for South Ogden in the direction of redevelopment, attracting different types of business now to the area.  But for now we are stuck with a pawn shop.

The second half of the meeting was spent discussing strategic goals, mission statements, values and SWOT for the city of South Ogden.  The discussion is incredibly interesting.  Also it is very interesting to see the council members different point of views.  It is obvious Council-member Benard has a very fresh and realistic view of the city and it is issues.  Where Council-member Bradley seems a little more reserved and set in his views based on his years of experience.  Both are good views to have, if we can meet in the middle.  The problem I have with these discussions is for the past two council meetings we have been discussing the future of South Ogden and how we are going to get there.  They have brought in a consultant to facilitate the discussion, but in both meetings the Mayor and some of the council-members have been absent.   How is this affective?  I really feel the Mayor should be more involved with these discussions.  Yet he isn't.  Will this have an adverse affect when he actually sees what the council has been planning?

One other thought.  The discussion of economic development keeps coming up in these meetings.  A number of council-members have stressed concern that our fair city has no plan (I mean NO PLAN) to bring new businesses to South Ogden.  Council-member Bradley said at the last meeting, "In the past we have felt people should want to come to South Ogden just because we are great place to be."  If that has been our strategy, no wonder we have a sales tax revenue shortage.  The problem is, how will we get this done?

I see two strategies:

1. Hire someone to recruit businesses to come to South Ogden, either to build or to rent.  The biggest issue here will be cost.  This person will not be cheap.

2. Use the Mayor!  This is part of the reason we elected him.  He needs to get out there and start talking to franchise owners, business owners and politicos to get things moving.

My recommended solution is the Mayor and his City Manager.  Together they need to come up with a serious plan.  Target 20 potential properties for economic development and 50 potential companies and go after them.  Sell it to them!  We need an economic incentive package that makes South Ogden stand out.   Developers will bend over backwards to help us make these connections because this is way better than just putting a sign on the road saying, "Wanted - Big Restaurant Franchise."

Take aways from the meeting:

• New Pawn Shop.
• The Mayor has been left out of most of the strategic planning heading into their yearly retreat (He did have surgery, but we could have rescheduled).
• South Ogden has NO economic development plan.

Comments always welcome.

South Ogden turning around budget woes with $82,000 reduction | Standard-Examiner

As many of you know I am a debt-free geek.  I hate seeing even local government in debt.  So when I hear the city is looking to pay down it's own debt, I get very happy.  Last weeks city council meeting, Steve Liebersbach explained to the council how South Ogden has been able to reduce their budget by $82,000 and they are still pushing for more.  The shortfall is now looking at 2.2 percent and hopefully things will get better.  Gentry Reinhart, Standard Reporter, has a nice synopsis of the meeting in today's Standard Examiner (See Here). This is great news! However the one item I wanted to bring up was the infamous Gym Facility.  Apparently we came in under budget on the construction, so a little money is left over.

Regarding the agreement the city entered into for the gymnasium at the new South Ogden Junior High, Liebersbach informed officials that payments to the school district were complete with $80,000 to $100,000 remaining in the construction fund the city set aside for the new facility.

The city plans to apply those funds toward debt service on the initial bonds issued for the project, which in turn reduces the amount that would be transferred from the general fund to the debt service fund.

"This will also help out the city in regards to moving forward for this year and for next year," Liebersbach said.

What Mr. Reinhart failed to mention in his article, is the city isn't planning to really pay down the debt.  They are paying down so they can skip or make lower payments than originally scheduled.  Meaning we are actually robbing Peter to pay Paul.  We are taking left over cash, paying down a debt so we can skip a payment.  That is like taking one credit card and paying off another to avoid making that months payment.  In the end you still have to make the payments in full.  So we are really no where closer to paying of this revenue sucking gym facility aka basketball court.

Nice. Gotta Love Debt.

South Ogden City Council Meeting 1-4-2011

Last nights city council meeting was filled with a few interesting points worth mentioning. Skipping over the Class A Beer License for the Mt. Ogden Grill, there were a few resolutions that brought a number of new faces to the meeting.

First was resolution 11-01.  There was a lot of tow truck drivers at the meeting for the Towing Services Agreement for South Ogden.  A new system is being put into place to allow South Ogden to choose who is used for towing in the city.  The current system puts all the eligible towing companies into a rotation system with all of Weber County.  This new system would allow South Ogden to set its on criteria and run its own rotation.  In addition this would allow South Ogden to decide who not to use for towing services.  Councilperson Porter asked if preferential treatment would be given to local towing companies. Which is a valid question. Chief Shupe responded by saying no preferential treatment would be given and all are encouraged to bid.  Hopefully this new system will open it up for more people.

The second resolution of note is the changes to traffic school.  Under the old system if you got a ticket and had not had one in the past six months you could go to traffic school.  Now South Ogden will change the month requirement to two months.  Chief Shupe explained this opens up more opportunities for people who have had moving violations.  At the same time, I think this opens up the door for more money.  I am glad to see the change but also realize this is now a potential revenue generator.  Not a bad idea.

A lot of discussion on where to put our focus for potential RAMP funds in 2011.  Jon Andersen laid out a number of projects South Ogden is in need of or is working on.  There was much debate on which should come first.  It came down to continued work on the nature park, new light posts at Club Heights Elementary and a new bathroom for the new gym facility and ball fields.  Unfortunately I felt South Ogden City Council was backed into a corner and not able to full research the problem.  Instead they were presented with the issues and asked to make a decision quickly on the spot.  I wished they could have taken some more time to make this decision.  In the end the nature park takes priority due to time and already allocated funds.  Sorry Club Heights.

Last but not least, I was appointed to the Urban Forestry Commission.  I am excited to participate more in the process and I hope to do some good with the commission and the city.

South Ogden City Council Meeting 12-7-2010 - "Recession is Over???"

Tonight's meeting covered the major issues surround the 2010-2011 budget and brought to light even more issues of concern.  What we have learned is South Ogden has been planning this years budget under the assumption the recession and its ill effects are behind us.  In doing so they planned for a 2% sales tax revenue increase for this years budget.  However the exact opposite has occurred causing our city to plunge into a distressed situation.

Most of the issues regarding the $700,000 deficit were cleared up and I have posted Matt Dixon's response in the download section or it can be found here.  He shows we are not as bad as we have been hearing; yet being in debt is still not great.  Mr. Dixon's explanation and proposed cuts help us to see South Ogden really is doing a lot to balance its budget.  Interestingly some of the proposed cuts are to things like $12,500 in 401k matches, changes to insurance benefits, and reduction in staff.  Also of interest is the fact that if we didn't have a $23,000 bill for the gym facility, we could have saved some of those items.  Sorry employee benefits...the gym has priority. Big cuts are coming to our fleet services as well, which I think will hurt is in the long term; but a quick solution for now.

However the question remains, why are we so off?  I asked the city council and Steve Liebersbach, the city Finance Director, how South Ogden calculates its sales tax projections to help get a better understanding of how we became so off this year.  Steve went on to explain he uses historical data from the past five to seven years, he also takes into consideration trend analysis, monthly reports from the state tax commission, and of course he also looks at the local, state and national economic situations. So what has the past years data shown us and what did we estimate? Here is the answer:

The 2008-2009 budgeted sales tax revenues were down 4%. The 2009-2010 revenues were down 5.7%.  Based on this information, how would you budget? Would you project sales tax revenues to be up or down. Well Steve suggested because reports showed the recession had ended in 2009, South Ogden should project a 2% increase in sales tax revenue. Yes, you heard me right, South Ogden City projected for a 2% sales tax increase while during a recession (or in the aftermath of one).

Since we had a delay in the effects from the recession, it would only be safe to say we would have a delay in the recovery, don't you think? But we didn't plan that way, we decided to defy all expectations and expect increased revenue. 

The Result?

The following cuts and then some:

1. Early retirement offers in early 2010
2. Reductions in force
3. Replacing one full-time position with a part-time position
4. Elimination of the employee 401k match program
5. Moving to a HDHP/HSA medical insurance plan
6. Delaying certain capital equipment purchases
7. Cuts in training and travel
8. Reduction in overtime allocations
9. Amending building cleaning contracts to 2 days and 3 days instead of 5 days per week
10. Scaling back community and employee special events - no more Timbermine :(

My last question was how South Ogden would survive with revenues going down every year and not being able to cover expenditures. Remember revenue has gone done $360,000 in the past two years and expenditures have gone down only $160,000 in the same time frame.  I used the analogy, if my household failed to bring in enough revenue to cover expenditures I would lose my home.  Steve replied, 

"We can't make the comparison between a household budget and city budget.  A city has savings it can utilize to cover it's losses. The city doesn't operate like a household checkbook, and that is a good thing. Like all of the funds that come in and out of the city there are multiple checkbooks and it doesn't work like a house." 

Well I am sorry he sees it that way, but I disagree. The profit function is the same for everyone, Profit = Revenue - Cost. Tonights cuts are only a band-aid if sales tax revenue continues in a free fall.  But no worries...South Ogden has savings.

City Council Meeting 4-21-2009 / Standard Examiner and Illegal Skateboarding

Yesterday was our usual city council meeting here in South Ogden.  Before the meeting began a number of council members mentioned to me there was a larger than usual crowd for such a small agenda.  I was positive all of these kids were not there just for vote on the sale of the bond for the new gym facilities. I suspected they were hear to talk about skateboarding.  

 The majority of the days agenda was filled with the regular topics of ordinances and resolutions.  The sale of the bond for just under $2.1 million dollars at 3.9% rate was interesting but not nearly as interesting as the discussion at the beginning of the meeting.  When the time came for pubic comment a number of kids stood up to complain about the ridiculous law on skateboarding.  

See these posts:

• Which is worse in South Ogden, Skateboarding or....?
• City Council Meeting where law was enacted.

Adam Peek, the owner of Decade Snow and Skate stood up to make some great arguments for removal of the ban.  For example, there are more kids moving towards skateboarding these days than are playing little league baseball.  As you can see from this August LA Times article, the World Series of Little League Baseball has seen a huge decline in baseball play to sports like skateboarding. Now kids are forced to skateboard only on sidewalks in our fair city. Because of the cracks in the sidewalk, skateboarding is now more dangerous for the bumps and cracks can cause the board to catch and tip over.

Super reporter Jamie Lampros, from the Standard Examiner, paid us a visit and spent some time with the skateboarders during and after the meeting.  Her top notch article can be found on the front page of today's Standard-X.  She is doing a great job shedding light on this topic and how silly this law is.  She reports a number of people are using their boards to get to school and work.  But because of the ban this is no longer a choice.

 “If I miss the bus, my only way to school is on my skateboard or longboard,” said South Ogden Junior High School student Slone Jensen-Vail.

   “I live in lower Uintah, and on my board, I can get to school in 30 minutes. If I have to walk, it’s going to take me two hours.”

The mayor has mentioned in previous meetings his motives for such a ban came from two sources.  First he was once flagged down on Glasman Way by a longboarder who wanted to grab on to his bumper.  Second a number of concerned citizens came to him and said they frustrated with skateboarders.  I wonder if it was the one concerned citizen from a previous city council meeting on August 26th 2008 (See Here). Well he has had nearly four visits from concern citizens regarding lifting this ban, he has showed no signs of change.  In the end, the mayor has mentioned before this is just a fad and it will all go away.  However this is not just a fad; skateboarding has been around for years and will continue to grow.  

Why can we not require skateboarders follow regular traffic laws like bicyclers and if they violate these laws cite them for reckless endangerment, etc.  But a complete ban on skateboarding is wrong and should be overturned.  Anyone and everyone who skateboards needs to come to every city council meeting and voice their concern.  Email all our council members here: Email City Council

Help to overturn this silly law!

South Ogden City Council - Working Session

It has been nearly 20 days since I last posted to the blog. We have had a number of crazy things happen with our family, but I am glad to be back and post a little. Tuesday night was the South Ogden City Council Working Session. Olive Garden was offered to all in attendance. Since I was the only one there besides the council, I enjoyed some Alfredo Pasta in the back.

As for the meeting, the discussion of topic was the 2009-2010 fiscal budget. A number of interesting things came out of the preparation of the budget. First of all South Ogden has finally caught up with the recession. Sale Tax Revenue is down 2.8 percent, since a major portion of our budget is Sales Tax, that makes things very hard. Scott Darrington, city manager, commented we are now in uncharted territory. Therefore a number of cuts will need to be made. Here are some of the potential cuts for South Ogden:

• Already South Ogden has cut their budget by 5 percent, but now we are looking at an additional 7 percent cut. Total will be a 12 percent cut to the cities budget starting in July. The goal is not cut personal or services.
• A soft hiring freeze is now in affect, positions that open up will be evaluated and decided if they are needed.
• The average salary increase will probably only be 1 percent this year. But a lengthy discussion took place on whether this should even be paid at all. Instead the idea presented by some would be to forgo any pay increases and instead cut some of the cost to health benefits for city employees. We will see how this goes.
  

Overall we are looking at $444,000 deficit headed into the next fiscal year. When I first heard this I was shocked. Mr. Darrington was then quick to point out our city has a rainy day fund of 18 percent of our budget. In fact we have had too much money in the fund in the past and have been cited by the state auditors. This fund has us nearly $1.6 million to help us in tough times. South Ogden should be just fine for awhile. The one thought I have is if the state legislature didn't dare use their rainy day fund because of a potential fall in the economy. Why are we so quick to use ours?

Finally the Rec Center. Apparently costs are coming in lower than expected. South Ogden Jr. High will now be about $5 Million under budget for a monster amount of $17 Million. Therefore our bond will now only need to be $2.1 Million. The only other good news was the idea of doing a 15 year bond instead of a 20 year bond. The cost would be the same, but we will now pay off the bond faster saving us all $190,000 a year. The cost to the average family will be $36 a year in property taxes. Still way too high of an increase in my mind.

Election year is upon us...who will run?

$2.5 Million For a Basketball Court

South Ogden City Council held a public hearing for the proposed rec. center gym space basketball court to be built in connection with the Weber County School District and the New South Ogden Jr. High. As expected the majority of the comments were directed against the proposal. Though a few people did speak out in favor, the general consensus from the comments was we do not want a tax increase and if we must then let's make it worth it.  Finally we learned this gym space will be no more than a glorified basketball court for the bargain price of $2.5 million.

    Mr. Darrington presented an outline of how the facilities would be run, explaining it would closely match the Central Davis Junior High/Layton City Gym Facility. You can see a diagram of the facility here (See Gym Facility). (I have also added the Gym Facility to our download section.) However as the night continued we found out, it will not be as close to this facility as we may have been lead to believe. For instance there will be no pool, no fitness equipment, and no walking track. Once citizens heard no walking track, the whispers in the room quickly turn to the realization this [the gym space] is a $2.5 Million basketball court, nothing more. Granted our kids do have to drive all over Weber County to play basketball, but is this really a smart move with taxes?

Mr. Darrington presented a cost breakdown by property taxes to help us understand how much we would be paying, he used an old salesman approach in explaining the cost:

• If your house assessed for $100,000, you pay $2.19 a month.
  
• If your house assessed for $175,000, you pay $3.83 a month.
  
• If your house assessed for $250,000, you pay $5.47 a month.
  

Most of the attendees saw right through this math and pointed out we don't pay property taxes monthly, we pay them annually. So in reality it should look more like this:

• If your house assessed for $100,000, you pay $26.28 annually.
  
• If your house assessed for $175,000, you pay $45.96 annually.
  
• If your house assessed for $250,000, you pay $65.64 annually.
  

The cities financial planner for the bond answered an interesting question from one of the concerned citizens. This citizen pointed out it would be cheaper to pay a general obligation bond than it is to pay a sales tax bond. The financial planner corrected him by saying thought this is true a sales tax bond allows you to avoid the cost of an election. 

Is the city council looking to avoid an election because they know the citizens of South Ogden would not pay for $2.5 million basketball court? Is that why they are rushing into this bond? This kind of decision should go to the general public.

A few people spoke for it. One in particular was Mike Junk, Ogden City Attorney (and he taught my business law class at Weber); was for the proposal and gave a good lawyerly argument in the gym/rec basketball courts defense. Interestingly most of those who spoke for it also said they thought we should expand this. The resonating theme: Why just build a basketball court for Jr. Jazz and Volleyball? If we are going to spend the money let's do it right.

Conclusion: Though this idea has merit and will be of use, only a small percentage of South Ogden citizens will use this. It is extremely limited in what it can be used for and is a waste of money. If people are going to raise their taxes, then let's do this right. Mayor Garwood himself said he would never use the facility. So why are we raising taxes for everyone if no one is going to use it? In the end as one citizen said, "This is in the bag," and he is probably right; the council has made up its mind regardless of what the majority of those who attended had to say.

On a darker note, right after the council was done explaining how this was the smart thing to do and could afford this, they went ahead and made an announcement they are cuting the city budget by 5%. Ironic, don't you think. If the city can't afford its own budget, how are we going to afford this basketball court?

 

South Ogden City Council Will Not Be Canceled

The Standard Examiner reported yesterday our City Council meeting was canceled.  I thought this was incredibly odd since this Tuesday's meeting is a crucial meeting in South Ogden raising our property taxes.  Fortunately it was retracted today.  (See Here) Council Meeting is still on! I 

As many of us prepare to attend the meeting, feel free to review the multiple posts I have had regarding the rec enter gym space:

• South Ogden Survey Results (Reporting that people do not want a tax increase).
• City Council Meeting 9/2/2008 (Rec Center discussed and fee increase proposed).
• City Council Meeting 12/16/2008 (Mayor Garwood changes it to a gym facility).
• Utility Bill going up on top of a property tax increase.

Do not miss this meeting! If you are not happy about a property tax increase during a recession (which is economically counter-productive) then come to this meeting.  I understand the benefits of this gym space, but am against a tax increase.  Also, are they still considering adding $500,000 for a new building at the City Works offices?  Come find out at the City Council Meeting tomorrow at 6 pm.

City Council Meeting 1-20-2009 Rates to stay high!

At our city council meeting last Tuesday we were enlightened with a visit from the Weber Sewer District about the proposed rate hike. The representative chosen to come before the gauntlet of questions and concerns did his best to put us at ease. The District's reasoning for a new plant seems to make sense but there could be a flaw that will insure your rates go up and stay up forever.

As the financial director of the Central Weber Sewer District spoke with regards to the methodology of the need of a new plant; he explained that the current plant, which has lasted 50 years, is no longer capable in meeting the EPA requirements for the water it treats and puts back into the Weber River. Over the years they have expanded and improved the plant with current technology to keep it up to standards; however they have reached the end. Though it is still useable and new plant will need to be built to accommodate more water and meet the EPA standards. This will cost a hefty sum totaling $140 Million. To pay for this bond, the cost will fall on the individual cities that use the Weber Sewer District, which is everyone. They [the city] in turn will collect the money from the individual citizen or water user. Though it seems the District has done its homework contracting multiple engineering firms to review and re-review the material in a two year study, it is interesting to note that this new plant has a life expectance of only 25 years. On that same note, the bond will take 25 years to be paid off. If you have already done the math in your head, you will see what I am seeing. As soon as we pay for it, it will be time for a new one. if we are going to raise our rates for a new plant, seems like we should build one that will last 50 years like our current one, instead of 25 years.

There were plenty more goodies from Tuesday's city council meeting; especially since it was over two hours long (a six month record). A heated discussion, which I participated in, came forward about capital drained Alliance Credit Union putting a mobile branch (aka trailer) in South Ogden to build a customer base. In addition the skate park came up a number of times. The mayor promised to bring it up in their next planning session and start working on a new skate park. We will see how that goes.

South Ogden Audit Report Presentation

From a previous city council meeting on 12-16-2008 (See Here) a presentation was given by the city auditors.  On the way out I asked if the presentation would be made available for the public to review.  They told me they would do their best to have the presentation posted to the city website. I was pleasantly surprised to see it posted online for all to see and download.  The final documents have not been posted yet.  However you can review the PowerPoint used in the presentation. (See Here) - Also I have added a new downloads section to the blog.  You can download important documents as they come available.

Interesting note: unlike other cities, South Ogden gets a huge chunk of change from property taxes.  Nearly 23 percent of revenue comes from property taxes alone.  But sales taxes are still the big winner for the cash.  31 percent of all revenue comes from sales taxes.  If we continue to see sales tax revenue drop in 2009 this could hit us hard.  There won't be room to take this out of property taxes; especially if South Ogden raises our property taxes to pay for a rec center gym facility.

On the last slide you can compare South Ogden with other cities like Riverdale, Clearfield, West Point and Washington Terrace. (See example below)

Conclusion: as of June 30th, 2008 the city is in good shape and doing well.  It will be interesting to see how we are doing in the coming months.

Councilwoman Sallee Orr sticks to her guns! City Council Meeting – 1/6/2009

South Ogden City Council meeting wasn't as eventful as some of our past ones. Besides the large amounts of Boy Scouts that attended the meeting and Mayor Garwood jokingly calling Councilwoman Vicki Mattson "the biggest cheater on the council,"(because she always gives the scouts the answers to Garwood's trivia questions), most of the focus was centered around vacating of an easement on Fashion Point Dr. for some signage. Councilwoman Sallee Orr had a lot of good questions. She questioned why so many signs were needed, the purpose of the signs and how the signs looked. In the end she expressed her concerns of having so many signs. I was proud to see her stick to her guns and vote no on the ordinance; especially since everyone else voted yes before here. Final vote 4 to 1 in favor.

The condescending looks that Councilwoman Vicki Mattson gave when Sallee Orr asked questions during the meeting amazed me. I thought she [Vicki] was going to start laughing at one point, but instead she just rolled her eyes. This is not the first time I have seen her do this. It appeared most of the council was puzzled as to why Ms. Orr would be questioning the ordinance. It also seems the council becomes annoyed when Ms. Orr questions the issues brought up at many of the council meetings. I can't stress enough how I am impressed I am with Sallee Orr and her questions. She seems to really be taking her job serious and studying the issues at hand. On more than one occasion Sallee Orr has caught spelling errors, problems, and incorrect information in the city ordinances and paperwork. She seems to always be looking for ways to improve the community. We are lucky to have her on the council.

As for future meetings, January 20^th is a public hearing on our sewer rate jump. Be prepared to hear why your rate is going nearly 120+ percent. On February 3^rd will be our public hearing for the rec center gym facility. Scott Darrington is of the opinion that not everyone will care about the tax increase. He said, "When you talk to people about the tax increase some people might not like the idea, but some people might not have a problem with it". However why do we need to ask for public for comments when people have already responded in the 2007 survey the council commissioned. (See Here). 64 percent of South Ogden residents do not want to see a tax increase for a rec center gym facility.

"Don't Call it a Rec Center, it's a Gym Facility!" City Council Meeting 12-16-2008

At the beginning of every city council meeting there is a chance for public comment on any concerns about South Ogden City.  I took this opportunity to mention my concern about the upcoming potential for a property tax increase for a new rec. center in connection with the new South Ogden Junior High. If you don't remember you can see the following posts:

South Ogden City Council Meeting 9-2-2008

City Council Meeting Minutes (It was called a recreation facility)

Then I began mentioning a survey done by South Ogden City Council where 65 percent of residents have said they would not like to see a tax increase for a rec. center.  For more info, see my post on November 15, 2007 (See Here). 

As we continued with our reasonable discussion about the tax increase, Mayor Garwood interrupted me to say the following:

"We are not building a rec. center, it's a gym facility. Why are people calling me about a rec. center. We were never building a rec. center.  This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to build a gym facility for your kids. Your kids won't be around for 60 more years to see such a great opportunity."

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of a nice recreation center gym facility with a pool and other features.  But I am not for a rec. center gym facility that has very limited use, is not open until after 5 pm and is raising property taxes during a recession. (Have we not heard of counter cyclical economic policy - lowering taxes in a recession).

A few minutes later the financial advisor for the city council came forward to speak about the bond for the new rec center gym facility.  He said, "We will need to change the wording in the documents to not say rec. center."  

Throughout the night this was the case, any time someone said rec. center, they were told to change it to gym facility.  Finally councilman Wayne Smith made a motion to set a public hearing for the proposed rec center gym facility.  He too called it a rec. center (while shaking his head in confusion) and was politely told to change it to gym facility.

What is the difference between a gym facility and rec. center?  According to Mayor Garwood--gym equipment.  Since there is no gym equipment this is not a rec. center.  

Come on people!  I have been in all the same meetings as you Mr. Mayor!  The city council has been calling this a rec. center for months! See the minutes from September 2, (See Here), it was called a recreation facility.  You all called it a rec. center at least a dozen times in your conversations.  Now people are questioning the rec. center; so we are now calling it a gym facility. Does this seem right?  

We all took the same survey and said we didn't want a tax increase for a rec. center. But we are fine with a tax increase for a gym facility?

Personally I am disappointed in how this is playing out.  I did not appreciate the response from the Mayor and it was VERY OBVIOUS the council, the lawyers, the financial advisers, and EVERYONE else was calling it a rec. center.  Also did I mention tax payers will being paying on a $3 Million bond for a rec center gym facility with limited use.  

For even more information about the rec. center gym facility, check out the press release on Scott Darrington's blog, (See Here)

City Council Meeting 12/2/2008 -- Ogden Metro SWAT vs Weber County SWAT

Our local city council had a short and sweet meeting tonight. I would tell you more about the agenda but they forgot to put out the agendas, minutes, etc.

In the short 30 minutes we had for this weeks meeting, a couple of interesting topics arose. I will leave the audit committee, rec center, and skateboarding for another post and head right into the topic of choice. The Ogden City SWAT vs. Weber County SWAT.

Police Chief Val Shupe spoke on a resolution for South Ogden City to enter into an aggreement to work only with the Ogden Metro SWAT. With some disdain he explained how Weber County has formed it's own SWAT, originally to work with the jail, and has expanded into the rest of the county. "I don't know why they have [expanded]," Chief Shupe added. Apparently South Ogden would prefer to work with Ogden Metro SWAT since they have committed men (a total of two) to the eight member team; in addition they know how the Ogden Metro works and their procedures.

Here is my question, why do we have two SWAT teams? Do we need two? Are tax payers in South Ogden, Ogden, and everyone else in Weber County paying for two SWAT teams? Ogden Metro SWAT doesn't even use the Weber County SWAT as a backup, instead they have an agreement to use Layton City SWAT.

Needless to say the city council voted unanimously to enter into the agreement with Ogden Metro SWAT.

The comments after the meeting all revolved around how frustrating it was that Weber County has a SWAT and took members from the Ogden Metro SWAT. Both Chief Shupe and Councilman Wayne Smith talked for a few minutes after about the SWAT predicament and clearly showed their frustration.

Sounds like South Ogden is drawing a line in the sand on who they will work with. It also sounds like everyone in Weber County is paying twice for a SWAT team. From where I sit this doesn't sound right.

What do you all think?

City Council - 11/18/2008 - Are we in money trouble?

Our local city council meeting this week was very interesting. There was a larger than normal crowd and lots of great topics discussed. My post will center around the budget amendments; however I will mention a little about the number of young kids that attend the meeting.

The unusual amount of young kids at the meeting puzzled me. I quickly realized they were there to hear the city council's discussion on a proposed ordinance to eliminate skateboarders from the city streets. The ordinance would make it a Class C Misdemeanor to skate on a city road. This could be a maximum fine of $750 and 90 days in jail (similar to those who point a laser pointer at cops - See Here). Kids will now be limited to skating only on sidewalks. Councilwoman Sallee Orr spoke up stating we should find something or somewhere for the kids to skate. The mayor agreed and mentioned he has looked into skate parks (During his Orlando Trip/Conference). Interestingly enough, as soon as the kids left he said, "This is just a fad," almost to suggest there was no real intention to help the kids who want to skateboard. -- Interesting.

The second issue of note was the discussion of the 2008-2009 budget. Most of the amendments were simple and easy to understand. But as the evening went on, we came to understand the city is nearly $300,000 in the negative for the fiscal year. City Manager, Scott Darrington made sure we all knew sales tax revenue was doing fine, this is not why we are in the negative. Yet it was because of other revenue problems and the slow economy.

Mr. Darrington said, "Expenditures are right on and we are not over spending. If sales tax revenue went down, things would be much worse. But if I had a crystal ball, I would say the city will be ok."

Then why are we in the negative!?! He even said all new projects are on hold because of the economy. Is it comforting to know each year about this time we a little behind or even, but this year we are $300,000 behind--NO!

Don't worry, there is light at the end of the tunnel; we have roll over funds from the Capital Funds project accounts. We have a total of $230,000 to be exact. Thank goodness! We are saved, we found some money to help out in this economy.

So what should we do with the money? Balance the budget, pay off the debts we owe? No, instead we are going to spend the money on the next phase of the nature park (so we can enjoy it this winter), a cement walkway between Friendship Park and the new library (so we can walk on it during the winter) and AC units (to cool us down in the winter).

Now don't get me wrong, I know these things are important, but sales tax revenue has a high probability of dropping lower than expected this next quarter; so why isn't this money instead spent to prepare for a potential shortfall. Did I mention we are $300,000 in the negative? We have $230,000 that could help! In addition, why did Mayor Garwood and Councilwoman Vicki Mattson go to Orlando for a conference if our city budget is in the negative? Should we not slow our spending when the economy starts slowing?

Are we reading the news? Do we know there is economic crisis?
Is South Ogden exempt from all the problems every surrounding city is experiencing?

I am worried about our city budget. Maybe I don't need to be, but I tend to think if we are in the negative or in debt, we should slow down the spending, conferences and retreats (Oh, the council is going on a retreat in January). We should start using our money wisely!

January is our next budget meeting; this will also tell us how our revenues are doing.

On a lighter note, I was very impressed with Sallee Orr's attention to detail. She caught nearly five inconsistencies or grammar errors in the ordinances, amendments or contracts. She was really on top of things.

Also Jon Andersen was great to follow up on my sprinklers and we are working things out.

Budget Hearing - South Ogden City Council 11/18/2008

November 18th is our next City Council meeting here in South Ogden.  This is a special meeting as we will discuss the budget for the upcoming year. I welcome all to attend this meeting to learn more about where your tax payer money is going.  However I will be blogging the meeting.

They have canceled a few meetings as of late so for those who do not frequent the South Ogden City Website there have been some updates to when is the next city council meeting:

South Ogden City Council Meeting Changes

The South Ogden City Council Meetings for October 21, November 4, December 16, 2008 have been cancelled. The next City Council Meeting will be November 18, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers located at 3950 Adams Ave., South Ogden, Utah

City Council Meeting Canceled

I should probably check the South Ogden City website more often to avoid such situations. There was a Public Notice posted on the city building announcing tonight's meeting was canceled.

Since the meeting is canceled, what will happen to the discussion of a bond for a new rec center? The way they talked at the last meeting, this was an urgent matter and things need to happen right away.  Are they just going to move forward now with out notifiying the public of what is happening? For more information see my post from the last city council meeting (See Here)

Random Thought:

As for the public notice, the word "canceled" caught my eye.  One might think the word is spelled wrong.  Though both are technically correct (See Websters Dictionary Here), it is always interesting to see the word canceled spelled with the letter "L" twice.  

South Ogden City Council Meeting - 9/2/2008

Tonight I had the great pleasure of attending our city council meeting. I haven't been able to attend a meeting for sometime do to my school schedule. However, now my Tuesday's are free; so I will be attending as many as I can. I thought it would be helpful to blog about what I observed in tonight's meeting.

Two things stood out tonight as very interesting:

1. Through Weber County, the city now has a service called City Watch Notification System. (See Link) This system, if you follow the website you will learn, is an emergency notification system; however they city may use it for other professional needs like last minute meetings, notifications, etc. When an alert is triggered via a recording that a city official calls in; An automated phone call is sent to thousands of people through out the city to warn us or give us instruction. This was purchased through a grant given by Home Land Security and is a very exciting project. I think it can be great for the city. Interesting enough, they had asked all of the city council to go through an emergency training from an online website. Mayor Garwood commented, "No one has emailed me the link." It was quickly pointed out that it had been emailed out, he had just deleted it. He promised if it was re-emailed he would get it done.

2. The South Ogden/Weber County Schools Recreation Center. This one drove me crazy. For sometime now there has been talk about a recreation center for the city of South Ogden. It was in our survey (see link) we filled out last year. South Ogden City has been working with the Weber County Schools to use part of South Ogden Junior High as a facility for recreational services. Part of the complex would be remodeled and developed to accommodate this project. The cost would roughly be $2 Million. The building is primarily designed for basketball, but could be used for other purposes. With the option of having a walking track around it. However, the building will only be open from 5 pm to 10 pm. Scott Darrington, city manager, recommended that we bond out the project (aka - DEBT). He also recommended we "Pork Barrel" (see link) an additional $500,000 for a new building and a conference room at the city works department.

The most interesting part of the project is the talk of bonding and the pork barrel spending. I work in the financial industry. If someone came to me and asked for a loan for a tennis court or a gym, then they told me they were positive that the revenue generated would not be enough to cover the debt; we would not do the loan. This is exactly why we are in a housing crisis. People got loans they could not afford. Scott Darrington specifically said, "This will not be a revenue generator, this will not generate near the revenue to pay the cost of the debt." My jaw dropped to floor at this statement. Is the City Council really going to ask the tax payer to put the city into debt $2.5 Million with no hope of making the payments with out raising taxes. In addition, the rec center can only be used for five hours a day. Does this make any business sense? If I ran my business this way, I would be out of business. Why would we go into debt for something that makes no money! Why don't we find a better solution?

P.S. RAYMOND UPDATE:

Lastly, I emailed the entire city council my post on the Raymond Avenue project. Councilman Wayne Smith and Mayor Garwood both responded. But nothing was said at the city council meeting. Jon Andersen was there and I did talk to him. He said that they have called the company, he also said the cement and landscaping will be fixed; so not to worry. I will keep you all updated.