Winter Weather

Over the weekend we were hit with a slow moving wet snowstorm that covered West Valley City. Damage from fallen trees and broken tree limbs caused power outages sporadically around the City. In the eastern end of West Valley crews worked into Monday to restore power to some 128. To help with the continued clean up West Valley City will provide dumpsters for tree debris. The official release provides the following information:

West Valley City – West Valley City will provide two dumpsters for residents to dispose of fallen tree limbs caused by overnight storms. Starting this afternoon, a dumpster will be placed at City Park (4500 W. 3500 S.) and another dumpster will be placed at West View Park (6100 W. 4100 S.). The dumpsters will be provided through Friday, November 26, 2010. Residents are welcome to bring fallen tree limbs to place in the dumpsters, but no other trash is allowed in the dumpsters.
Residents can also use the City’s Bulky Waste removal service. More information on how to prepare waste to use this service can be found on the West Valley City’s Sanitation Division website located at www.wvc-ut.gov/sanitation.
City crews will assist in clearing sidewalks, streets and other public right-of-ways, but they cannot help clear debris on private property. Also, City crews cannot remove fallen utility poles or street lights. Residents are advised to contact the proper utility company to assist in removing fallen poles and street lights.
If residents wish to request a dumpster, they may contact Ace Disposal at 801-363-9995. To report a storm debris problem to West Valley City, please call 801-955-3720 during regular business hours (Monday-Thursday 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.) and 801-986-0280 after hours.

Additionally City Hall will be closed today at 3:00 in anticipation of the imminent snow storm. City Council meetings scheduled for this evening have also been cancelled. We also encourage everyone to avoid travel if possible:

West Valley City – The West Valley City Council Study and Regular meetings scheduled for today, at 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., respectively, have been canceled due to the impending winter storm expected later today. Scheduled agenda items will be rescheduled at a later date. The City Manager decided that it would be better to cancel the meetings rather than encourage residents to venture out during the storm to attend the Council meetings. All residents are encouraged to avoid unnecessary travel during the storm.
City Hall will also close at 3 p.m. today to allow employees to travel home before the worst of the storm is expected to affect the area. Emergency services and snowplow crews are prepared and ready to fulfill their responsibilities.
The emergency operations center for the City has been setup and is ready to be activated in worse case scenarios.

Holidays at the Harman Home

Last night after City Council meeting I was approached by a resident who asked me if there was any programs or activities for seniors during the holiday season. My response to him was that there are always a wide variety of activities and events year round (one of the many advantages to living in Utah's second most populous city). I briefly told him about a few Citywide highlights, but his attention quickly turned to my mention of the Harman Senior Center. I rounded up the calander for him and thought it would be worth mentioning here. The center is a great place to visit year-round. Below is some of the programs and events scheduled for the rest of November:

November
17 New Balance Class #4, 9:30 a.m.
18 Ice Cream (by Beehive Homes),10:30 a.m.
18 Granger High Bingo, 11 a.m.
19 Thanksgiving Dinner,(prior registration required)
22 Zumba Gold, 10:45 a.m.
24 New Balance Class #5
25 CLOSED THANKSGIVING DAY
26 CLOSED THANKSGIVING
HOLIDAY
29 Zumba Gold, 10:45 a.m.
30 Skip Bo Tournament, 11 a.m.


Scrapbooking Class – Mondays, 1 p.m.
Chess Club – Wednesdays, 12:30 p.m.
Line Dancing – Mondays, 12:30 p.m.
Ceramics – Thursdays, 10 a.m.
Railroad Club – Tuesdays & Thursdays, 10 a.m.
Tai Chi – Tuesdays, 1:30 p.m., FREE
Bingo – Fridays, 10:15 a.m.
Choir – Tuesdays and Wednesdays,10 a.m.
Drama Class – Wednesdays, 1 p.m.
Billiards and Cards – Daily

UCCC Kicks Off Holidays

The popular Trees of Diversity exhibit will back at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center.  There will be an opening reception on Thursday, November 18, 2010 from 6-8 pm.  The exhibition of over 25 holiday trees and scenes that are created by various community members and ethnic groups.  There will also be over 100 Dolls from Around the World on display as well.  The exhibition runs through the Holidays until December 30th.  The opening reception will feature live music, artists, and food.

 

Title:
Trees of Diversity Exhibit

Start Date:
November 18, 2010

End Date:
December 30, 2010

Address:
1355 West 3100 South
West Valley City, UT 84119

Hours:
Gallery Hours Mon-Thurs 9 am - 6 pm and by arrangement

Contact:
801-965-5100

Cost:
Free

Community Garden Training

 

Last year at the annual City Council strategic plan meeting members of the City Council discussed possibilities of introducing Community Garden plots on vacant city owned plots.  We have identified a few areas and the limited role that the City would play in fostering such programs.  The pivotal piece in bringing community gardens to West Valley is identifying and training interested participants.  Wasatch Community Gardens has successfully introduced several community gardens across the valley.  They will be holding a training course that any interested groups or individuals should attend.  Below is a portion of the invitation:

 

Who : Community gardeners AND people who want to become community gardeners.
What : A workshop on community organizing techniques. All participants will also leave with free access to a community organizing guidebook designed specifically for community gardeners.
When : Saturday, 20 November, 1:30 - 3:30pm
Where : Day-Riverside Library, 1575 West 1000 North, Salt Lake City, Utah
Why: Because it takes more than a green thumb to create and sustain a successful community garden. Everyone can be a community organizer! Come find out how.
Cost: Free!
How to Register: For this workshop, Pre-registration is required by Thursday, November 11! Please visit www.wasatchgardens.orgto register online, or call Susan at 801-359-2658 x16.
About Wasatch Community Gardens: Wasatch Community Gardens (WCG) is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit that has served the Salt Lake County community for 20 years. Since our founding in 1989, we have provided opportunities for individuals to grow their own food in urban gardens. Our mission is to empower people of all ages and incomes to grow and eat healthy, organic, local food. To this end, we offer several highly successful programs and services, including community gardening space, our youth gardening program, and educational workshops and community events.

Providing UTA feedback.

 

With all of the new transit options coming to West Valley City, the Utah Transit Authority is starting to think about service options and changes.  I myself have wondered which routes and methods would be the quickest and easiest routes in getting around the valley.  There will be a number of open-house style meetings where public input is welcomed.  This is an important step because sometimes regular people get lost in the computer generated mathematical routes and schedules that are produced.  Below is the UTA press release including dates and times:

 

UTA Seeks Public Input on Transit System Changes in Salt Lake County

11/15/2010

The Utah Transit Authority invites the public to provide input to help develop changes to the transit system in Salt Lake County that will occur next summer. UTA has planned a series of public open houses for this purpose, and input may also be provided though an online survey and feedback form available at www.rideuta.com.

UTA will open the West Valley and Mid-Jordan TRAX light rail lines on Aug. 7, 2011. These lines represent a notable increase to transit service in Salt Lake County, and will expand frequent, high speed, reliable passenger rail service to communities on the west side of Salt Lake County. Opening the Mid-Jordan and West Valley TRAX lines will also bring significant changes to the existing bus and rail system. UTA is starting the process now and requests public input on creating an integrated and efficient system.

"Our goal is to create the best transit system we can within our established budget," said Michael Allegra, UTA general manager. "That is why we are asking the public to help us as we prepare to make changes next year."

Through early December, UTA is conducting a process known as 'scoping' - gathering information through focus groups, online and phone surveys, the UTA website, social media, and a series of public open houses. Through this effort, the agency seeks to better understand public preferences related to frequency, coverage, peak travel, weekend and evening service, fares, customer amenities and supporting services.

"This information will provide critical guidance as we develop planning scenarios," Allegra said. "No decisions have been made at this point. We want hear from the public on what their priorities are before we start putting lines on a map."

After the scoping phase, UTA will develop proposed service plan scenarios based on the public input as well as additional data and analysis. UTA will then go back to the public for additional input, presenting the proposed service plans for comment and refinement.

"We want to involve the public through the entire process-from scoping to scenario selection-to ensure the final decisions are the right decisions," Allegra said.

The following public open houses have been scheduled to provide an opportunity for the public to participate in the scoping process:

Nov. 16 - Daybreak
Daybreak Community Center, Room A
4544 Harvest Moon Dr.
6 - 8 p.m.

Nov. 17 - Riverton City
Riverton City Hall, Music Room
12830 South Redwood Rd.
6 - 8 p.m.

Nov. 18 - West Valley City
West Valley Library
2880 West 3650
6 - 8 p.m.

Nov. 30 - University of Utah
Marriott Library, Gould Auditorium
295 South 1500 East
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Nov. 30 - West Jordan City
Bingham Creek Library
4834 West 9000 South
6 - 8 p.m.

Dec. 1 - South Jordan City
South Jordan City Hall, Main Lobby
1600 West Towne Center Dr.
6 - 8 p.m.

Dec. 2 - Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City Main Library, Conference Room B
210 East 400 South
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Dec. 2 - Murray City
Heritage Center
10 East 6150 South
6 - 8 p.m.

Homeowner Assistance

Awhile back I reported to the City Council my concern towards the community costs of mounting foreclosures within our City. Foreclosed homes become a burden on the remaining community and drain resources of several City agencies. As a result the Council asked West Valley City senior staff to draft a letter and statement to the various governing agencies explaining the housing situation that we are experiencing. The assembled letter was sent to various agencies with regulatory oversight. In a related response The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a loan program to assist families faced with foreclosure. While I am generally against 'bailout' type programs this attempt is well structured, as it offers another financing option to the already tight and suffering credit markets. The funds must be paid back in a relatively short amount of time, so they are only meant as a temporary assistance to those who qualify. ABC4 covered the announcement and the text of that report follows:


WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (ABC4 News) - Struggling homeowners in Utah now have access to $16.5 million dollars in federal emergency loan funds that will help thousands of people who are facing foreclosure.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development will announce the billion dollar Emergency Homeowner Loan on Wednesday in Washington D.C. but they announced the money will come here to Utah a day early.

The money will help people like Doug Delquardo, one of thousands of Utah homeowners who couldn’t keep up on his payments. "I feel really empty, jeez what matters now, where do I go,” Delquardo said.

After months of non payment foreclosure finally forced Delquadro out of his home. “I don't know where I am going, my credit is shot."

But on Tuesday the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a program that could have helped Delquadro and can help thousands of other Utah families in need. "These are people who are, that are on the edge and this is going to be a great resource for these families,” said H.U.D Regional Director Rick Garcia. Garcia announced the billion dollar emergency loan program at the Utah Housing Matters Conference in West Valley City.

Garcia said those who qualify can get up to $50,000 in emergency loans to pay their mortgages. "How quickly, because we have home owners in such urgent need right now,” said Utah Housing Coalition Director Kim Datwyler. Datwyler works with Utah families struggling to keep a step ahead of bank repossession and thinks the help can not come soon enough. She said the $16; 5-million in federal loans will help turn the tide of growing foreclosures in Utah, and prevent more situations like the exodus at the Delquadro home.” For most of them it is job loss or a partial loss of income and we do need to help them because it impacts the entire community,” Datwyler said.

To qualify for the loans the borrower must be at least 3 months behind in their payments and have suffered at least a 15 percent reduction in income but must have a reasonable likelihood of resuming their mortgage payments within the next two years.

Times a Changing

West Valley City's 30th anniversary has been well documented and well celebrated throughout the year. The relative adolencence of our City is reflected in many of our ordinances and plans as they were designed to forge a new independent city true to its identity and fix many of growth and planning problems that arose before incorporation. The maturation of our City shows when we adopt ordinaces that seek to harness the potential of the future as opposed to correcting things of the past. One such example took place last night as the City Council unanimously approved guidelines pertaining to alternative energy systems. Becoming a more sustainable community is a goal that we all share and now those who wish to dwelve into wind or solar energy systems for their home or business now have the blessing and community standards of West Valley City.

The City issued press release concerning this ordinance can be read below:

West Valley City Council Adopts Alternative Energy Ordinance
West Valley City – On Tuesday, October 5, 2010, the West Valley City Council unanimously adopted an Alternative Energy Systems Ordinance, drawn in part from a model ordinance provided by the Utah State Energy Program. The ordinance, which is the first of it’s kind to be adopted by a municipality along the Wasatch Front, establishes standards for small wind and solar energy collection systems in West Valley City and sets permit requirements for installation of such systems.
The full text of West Valley City Code Title 7 Chapter 31 (7-31) may be viewed online at www.wvc-ut.gov/code; highlights include:

 Definition of Alternative Energy Systems: Alternative Energy Systems include small
wind energy systems and solar energy collection systems. A small wind energy system is typically a wind turbine system, with a capacity of 100 kilowatts (kW) or less. Solar Energy Collection systems include, but are not limited to, solar collectors, solar panels, solar hot water heaters, storage batteries, transformers, heat exchangers, and distribution components.
 Establishment of Alternative Energy Systems Standards: This ordinance establishes
standards for small wind energy systems and solar collection systems for all zones in West Valley City. Previously, installations of small wind and solar systems have been unregulated in West Valley City. The purpose of this ordinance is to provide a regulatory framework to encourage quality, safety, and aesthetics in the installation of these systems.
 Standards for Small Wind Energy Systems: Small wind energy systems can be no taller
than 80 feet, or 120 feet in Agricultural or Manufacturing zones. In all zones, these systems must be set back from overhead utility lines, property lines, and public roads at a distance equal to or greater than their height. Wind systems can be attached to existing structures.
 Standards for Solar Collection Systems: The ordinance establishes parameters for solar collection systems as well. Roof mounted systems shall comply with the maximum height requirements in the applicable zoning district. Ground mounted systems shall not exceed 14 feet in height.
 Building Permit Requirements: The ordinance requires that a building permit be issued for the installation of alternative energy systems.
“Residents and businesses are currently eligible for federal, state, and utility tax credits and rebates of up to 30 percent of the installation cost for small wind and solar energy systems,” says Frank Lilly, West Valley City Long Range Planner. “Given the considerable uncertainty with the future cost of energy in America, we anticipate that more residents and businesses will consider installing alternative energy systems.”
West Valley City’s General Plan includes a goal to “encourage programs that reduce the energy needs of buildings, including incorporating sustainable building design where feasible.”
The Alternative Energy Systems Ordinance moves West Valley City toward that goal by
providing residents and businesses with a set of clearly-defined and achievable standards to ensure quality and safe construction.
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