Council Corner (Scott Ericson)

August 2008

MAYOR’S MESSAGE

(Picture of Mayor)

COUNCIL CORNER (SCOTT ERICSON)

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CHECK OUT THE ACTIVITIES BEING HELD AT THE LIBRARY

This fall the library is starting a new reading & discussion group called Neighbors. The series kicks off with a poetry reading by Jacqueline Osherow on 18 September 2008 at 7:00 p.m. The first book discussion, on A Journey to the End of the Millennium by A.B. Yehoshua, will be held on 2 October 2008 at 7:00 p.m. For more information on Neighbors, please contact Sue at 723-5850.

The library’s writing group continues this fall with a meeting on 17 September at 7:00 p.m. and on 30 September the group will discuss the book Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly by Gail Carson Levine. For details on the writing group or for future meeting dates please call Elizabeth, 723-5850, or check the writing group’s webpage: bcpl.lib.ut.us/writinggroup.html.

The library also hosts an ongoing book group for parents and kids; this provides an opportunity for one or both parents to spend quality time with their child or children who are in the fifth through ninth grades. We meet on the second Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. and the discussion time usually lasts 45 minutes. Refreshments are served at each book group. Kids can read and come with a friend or alone, but adults must be accompanied by a kid. For more information contact Connie Edwards at 723-5850 or come into the library, sign the attendance sheet and pick up your book.

Sign-ups for the fall sessions of Story Time will start on 16 September at 10:00 a.m. Story Time classes will run from 23 September – 29 October. Registration for the fall session of Mommy & Me starts on 4 November and classes will run from 18 November – 10 December. Reading time begins on 3 September and will be held each Wednesday and Thursday at 12:30 p.m. For more information on Story Time or Reading Time please contact Michele at 723-5850.

And don’t miss our monthly knitting group that meets on the third Thursday of each month. Just bring your handwork (it doesn’t have to be knitting) and visit with others from around the community who share similar interests.

SENIORCENTER PLANS EVENTS

Annual Health Fair is scheduled for October 22 with a wide variety of health screenings and flu shots. This annual event is held from 8:30-12:30. Some services require a small fee or proof of insurance.
AARP Safe Driving class is August 23 from 8-4:30 at the SeniorCenter. There is a $10 per person fee for the class. Most insurance companies give a discount on their premiums for completion of this course. Contact the SeniorCenter at 723-3303 for more information.
Monthly Brunch and Learn is held on the first Tuesday of each month at 10:00 a.m. There is no charge for the brunch. A timely informative topic is presented each time. Check with the Center for the list of topics

GOING GREEN!

BRIGHAM CITY’S WESTFOREST GREENWASTE/COMPOST FACILITY

Brigham City’s greenwaste/compost site located at 1650 W. Forest Street is a busy place! You may have noticed backhoes pushing compost, loading bark into the back of a truck or people dropping off greenwaste. Under the direction of Raymond Poulson, Wastewater Treatment Manager, crews are busy grinding, composting, screening top soil, leaf mulch, dairy and biosolids compost.

At the site you can purchase sand, river rock both small and large, steel mill slag both small and large, chips fine and course, light and dark. Also available for purchase are screened and unscreened top soil, top soil and compost mix, and 1” minus gravel.

WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE AT THE GREENWASTE SITE?

Trees, tree limbs, cleaned tree stumps, grass clippings, garden greenwaste, shrubs, and untreated wood (free of laminating, staining or paint). What are not acceptable are rocks or concrete.

Brigham City also has recycle bins located at the greenwaste site. These bins under the direction of Robert Neville, Street Supervisor, can accommodate any scrap steel, aluminum or cardboard. What are not accepted at the recycle bins are refrigerators, dishwashers, computers, styrofoam, glass or household garbage.

The community may bring greenwaste 24 hours a day. For the publics added protection cameras are located at the site. Please be aware of what you are leaving as fines for illegal dumping begin at $1000.

Brigham City staff is on site Wednesday through Saturday 8:30 am-5pm. Questions regarding greenwaste can be directed to the Wastewater Treatment Division at 435-723-3146 or if you have questions regarding the recycle bins you may contact our Street Division by calling 435-723-5273 and of course you may always check us out on the web at

It’s that time of year! Back to school! End of summer trips! Cool evenings! So much to do! We all want to get out to the park, lakes, sporting events or wherever our end of summer plans may take us. The Utah Highway Safety Office is asking for your help - as individuals, as well as a community. Aggressive and inattentive driving problems - which contribute to crashes - have made their way into communities all across Utah. If we can all make an extra effort to drive with care and courtesy, the number of driver error and aggressive related crashes will be reduced. The following are some tips for a more courteous and friendly driving experience:

Maintain a safe distance from vehicle in front of you.
Use your signal to turn, change lanes or merge.
Make sure you can change lanes without cutting off another driver.
If another driver wants to pass, let them.
Maintain an even pace while driving - don’t be a jack rabbit.
Driving is not a game. Leave your competitive instincts in the game.
Use your horn sparingly.
Respect pedestrians’ right of way.
Adjust your attitude; let other drivers’ actions go.
Be patient while driving.
Plan your trips ahead to avoid congestion.
Avoid multi-tasking. For example texting, cell phone use, shaving, putting on makeup, reading etc.
Avoid using threatening or obscene hand gestures.

Treat other drivers the way you would like to be treated. The Utah Highway Safety Office wishes you a happy and safe back-to-school season. Drive Friendly…Pass It On!!

NUTECH EVENT

Technology can be an intimidating thing for businesses or for the average person. On October 10, Brigham City in partnership with UtahStateUniversity, BridgerlandAppliedTechnologyCollege, Box Elder School District, TremontonCity, and BoxElderCounty, will present “NuTech.” NuTech means “Northern Utah Technology Education Communications and Help.” The event will run from 12:00 noon to 8:00 p.m. with prize drawings at 8:15 p.m. It will be held at the BoxElderEducationCenter at 1100 S. and Main Street. NuTech is intended to help northern Utah businesses and residents understand the potential of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for improving economic vitality and quality of life. NuTech will provide a forum for sharing information, educating the public and businesses, about the latest information on ICT. Keynote speakers include Lou Cramer, Director of the UtahWorldTradeCenter, Alan Hall, MarketStar founder and entrepreneur, and Scot Lemon, President of Skull Candy. Educational sessions will include a variety of topics including the digital TV transition, web based marketing, online bill paying, teleconferencing, online services for students and parents, and much more. Plan on attending this informative and fun event and learn how technology can make your life better.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UPDATE

Brigham City continues to promote economic development as a City priority. Many of the City’s initiatives, including commuter rail, Utopia, the Academy project, and others have direct economic development impacts, and progress has been made on all of these fronts. In addition, Brigham City continues to respond to requests for proposals for industrial and other economic development projects. Additional retail and commercial development is in the pipeline for development in Brigham City. These projects take a lot of time to come to fruition as many issues need to be worked out. Nucor Building Systems, which was recruited by Brigham City, recently began shipping product and continues to settle into its new plant. Procter and Gamble, which was recruited by Box Elder County with support from Brigham City, began construction recently and will be in operation by January 2010. Although national economic conditions affect our local condition, we are confident that the City’s economic development efforts will help in minimizing the impact of national trends on our local economy.

HERITAGE ARTS FESTIVAL

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The 2008 Brigham City Heritage Arts Festival was a tremendous success. The festival’s theme was “A Patchwork of Cultures” with quilting as a metaphor for the diverse cultures that have made Brigham City what it is. The weather was perfect, and the entertainment, artisans, car show, and activities were excellent. Featured performer Thurl Bailey sang a number of original compositions and well known songs. Preparations are under way for the 2009 Heritage Arts Festival, which will be held on June 13, 2009. The theme for the 2009 Festival will be railroads with the 140th anniversary of the driving of the Golden Spike.

VISION 2012 GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Economic Development

The Brigham City Economic Development Board recently reviewed accomplishments in the area of economic development over the last few years. Although many of these accomplishments aren’t highly visible, they have moved Brigham City in a very positive direction. A summary of these accomplishments include:

Airport

$Completed the Airport EDA

$Completion of the Airport expansion project

$Completion of the access road

$Ribbon cutting event in September

Commuter Rail

$.25% sales tax increase approved with 68% to 32% by the voters

$Working with UTA and School District on the station area and park and ride lot

Marketing

$Completed a community marketing magazine in partnership with the Brigham City Chamber of Commerce

$Completed web site and we are in the process of updating and improving it

Tourism-Recreation

$Currently working with developers to bring new hotels to town. We have a number of solid prospects.

$Heritage Arts Festival is established and doing well

$Bird Refuge is doing well and the access road is slated for improvements starting this summer

$Academy project is continuing to work toward fund raising goals. 501c3 non-profit foundation established. Beginning marketing efforts.

$Completed a conceptual plan for regional recreation complex and currently studying how to fund and build it

$Continuing to monitor Shoshone Trail related issues particularly Rocky Dugway status.

New Business Development

$Respond regularly to EDCU proposals. Currently have 3 outstanding proposals and waiting for response.

$Site visit with Fortune 500 call center on June 12. We were on short list of five communities nationwide. Narrowed down from a 3,600 community review. Currently awaiting a decision.

$Successfully completed P&G recruitment in partnership with Box Elder County, Economic Development Corporation of Utah, and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. Brigham City water availability was the deciding factor in P&G=s decision.

$Nucor Building Systems now shipping products and doing very well.

$1100 South projects on track for development in 2009/2010. Working on 10th west access permit. Includes mixture of retail, office, entertainment, dining, lodging and housing.

Business Expansion/Retention

$Facilitated GEM Buildings expansion.

$Continuing to work with local businesses on expansion plans.

$Ongoing business visit program.

West Forest Street

$Completed conceptual plan.

$Created West Forest EDA and West Forest RDA.

$Identified developer, currently working on securing tenants.

InnovationCenter

$Working with Grow Utah Ventures on SEED Box Elder project

$Exploring possible lease arrangements in KmartBuilding

$Exploring smaller incubator at USU

$Continue to seek funding for InnovationCenter

Responsive Government

The responsive government committee was given the following goals for Vision 2012:

1. To improve the process for development and businesses to locate in Brigham City. To date the committee has met together with staff and reviewed the current policies and procedures for zoning, business licenses, and permits. The committee is currently working on streamlining the process by creating a flow chart for each area that a customer could follow to find their way through the process. When the flow charts are completed as well as other recommendations to improve customer service, then those recommendations will be made to the City Council.

2. Create a 20 year master plan for the cities electrical system and utility. - The 20 year master plan has been reviewed and was passed on to the City Council. The City Council approved the master plan this past spring. The plan is now moving forward and will be in full swing when we reach 2012.

3. Create a critical infrastructure plan that will identify critical infrastructure in the City and its maintenance and replacement. The committee has gone through a series of informational training meetings with staff dealing with water, wastewater, streets, storm drain, airport, parks. The committee is now tasked to work with staff to put together the critical infrastructure lists and then prioritize them. The water system will be the first. When completed, the plan will be presented to the City Council for approval.

4. Create a transportation plan that will maintain intermodal transportation infrastructure. This plan will deal with the maintenance of such infrastructure as the airport, bus stops, park and ride parking lots, and commuter rail stops.

As the committee completes each of these goals it will bring its recommendations in front of the City Council for approval.

Public Safety

Over the past 12 months, many projects have been accomplished. The groups that make up the Public Safety Vision 2012 group are the following:

Neighborhood Pride Council

Community Emergency Response Team

Volunteers in Police Service

Neighborhood Watch

Medical Reserve Corps

Amateur Radio Group

These groups function under the direction of the Citizen Corps Council and their mission is to better prepare Brigham City residents for disaster that might occur.

The following is a list of projects that have been completed by the various groups.

Community Emergency Response Teams have completed new and updated training for residents of Brigham City. They are working on identifying and organizing teams to function during a disaster.
Volunteer in Police Service continue to provide support to the police department. Countless hours have been volunteered in support of city sponsored events.
Medical Reserve Corps has completed the organizational structure, recruited members and provided an orientation for those members.
Neighborhood Watch continues to train and provide a “watchful” eye on neighborhoods.
The Neighborhood Pride Council completed another very successful clean up Brigham City project. Each year more trash is hauled away from the city. They have been actively involved in updating several of the City Codes and working very closely with the Community Development Department of the city.
The Amateur Radio group continues to provide support radio services to the community. They have just recently received a grant that will allow them to purchase radios to be placed throughout the community. These radios will not only provide support during an emergency, but also provide a critical link, should the public safety/public works radios be in operational.
The Citizen Corps Council provides over site and coordination activities for each one of these critical volunteer organizations. They sponsored a very successful preparedness fair to educate residents on how to become prepared. They are working with the Inter Faith Council to develop a rapid home/resident assessment following a disaster. All of these groups have actively supported the various disaster exercises that the city has sponsored.

These groups have several projects on the burner for next year.

Continuation of the neighborhood clean up, yard of the month, assist in rewriting of ordinances.
Support of the various city cultural activities and provide support to the police department.
Continuing sponsoring of a disaster fair and community outreach programs.
Development of supply/equipment storage locations for use following a disaster.
Continuing recruitment and training for the various groups.
Support of the city in its training and exercise program.
Development of a rapid assessment program following a disaster.

Overall goal of these groups is making Brigham City a better place to live and work. If you are interested in becoming involved in one of these groups, please call the Emergency Services Department at 723-4071.