Upcoming Open Houses

South Ogden City will be hosting two open houses for departing elected officials.

Mayor George Garwood's open house will be Thursday, December 3rd from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at City Hall in the Community Room. Mayor Garwood was a city council member for 6 years before serving 8 years as the Mayor. All of the public is invited to come and say farewell to George.

Council member Vickie Mattson's open house will be Tuesday, December 1st from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at City Hall in the Community Room. This open house will precede our City Council meeting at 6:00 p.m. that day. Council member Mattson has served the City on the city council for the past 8 years. We would welcome all those that would like to come and bid her farewell.

Lower Speed Limit on Glasmann Way

The speed limit on the southern part of Glasmann Way has been lowered for safety purposes. Initially this portion of the road had a 30 m.p.h. speed limit, but it has been changed to 25 m.p.h.

The portion of the road affected is Glasmann Way from the park to Highway 89.

Complete Count Committee- Census 2010

South Ogden City is gearing up for the 2010 Census. We have been approached by the organizers of the census to form a Complete Count Committee. The purpose of the committee is to ensure that all the residents of South Ogden are counted. The census data helps determine a portion of the sales tax revenue we receive. A complete count will help maximize that revenue.

The volunteers for this committee will NOT be going door-to-door. It will be more of a function of educating and informing citizens about the upcoming census. The City is looking for volunteers to be on this committee. If you are interested you can call Scott Darrington, City Manager at (801) 622-2702 or email him at sdarrington@southogdencity.com.

Bonding Rating Stays the Same

South Ogden City just received notice that our bond rating with Fitch Ratings has stayed at an "A+". The notice also said that the financial outlook for the city is stable.

The reason for this review is to assure that South Ogden municipal bonds continue to be a sound investment. While an "A+" is lower that a "AAA", which is the highest rating, it is very uncommon for a city our size to even reach even a "AA" status.

Overall this is very good news for the City that we continue to be financially stable during these tough economic times.

Splash Pad Survey

I recently had my intern, Josh Jones, spend three days at the splash pad to ask people some survey questions. I was curious to know exactly who and how many people were using the splash pad. I had Josh go at our peak time which is around the noon hour. Each time he went he spent two hours there. Here are the results:

1. On average how many days a month do you come to the Splash Pad?
Once- 60
Twice- 18
Three- 8
Four- 6
Five+- 9

2. What city are you from?
South Ogden- 11
Washington Terrace- 8
Riverdale- 5
Ogden City- 19
North Ogden- 12
Roy- 13
Other Weber County Cities- 17
Davis County- 27
Other- 8

We also had visitors from Arizona, California, Illinois, and Alaska.

3. How many people are in your group today?
One- 0
Two- 8
Three- 11
Four- 14
Five- 13
Six- 10
Seven- 14
Eight- 6
Nine- 3
Ten+- 18

4. How did you hear about the Splash Pad?
Word of Mouth- 80
City Newsletter- 4
City Website- 0
Newspaper- 5
Saw it- 10

Tuesday, August 4th
Average Attendance- 139

Wednesday, August 5th
Average Attendance- 172

Thursday, August 6th
Average Attendance- 143

Analysis

The thing that I was most curious about was where people were coming from. I found it very interesting that we didn't have more South Ogden residents at the Splash Pad. The fact that we had more from North Ogden and Roy is kind of amazing. Also the use out of Davis County is curious too.

We've had phone calls from people in Salt Lake County asking where the Splash Pad is. I think we must be getting some sort of notoriety throughout the Wasatch Front even though that was never our intent. Maybe the South Ogden residents know not to go during lunch time because of the heavy use. I don't know, that's just a guess.

My guess is that in the future other cities will see the success of our Splash Pad and they will eventually build their own. The reason ours is so successful is because it is well maintained, but more importantly it is free of charge. We don't mind all the people coming to use the Splash Pad. It's sure better than nobody using it.

The daily average attendance was about what I expected. In fact I thought those numbers were a little low. I know at this time frame that the temperature was in the mid-80's. I think if we would have surveyed on a 95+ degree day we would have had more people there. Last year I counted on a hot day and I counted over 200 people.

It doesn't surprise me that word of mouth was the main source for the Splash Pad. We had a few people comment that they heard about it from a friend who is a resident of South Ogden. We did promote it heavily last year, but we've found that most people know we have a splash pad.

We are now Tweeting

South Ogden City has recently started a Twitter account. It will most likely be used to get out short bursts of information or give links for the latest news at South Ogden City. You can join us for updates at:

https://twitter.com/SouthOgdenCity

I know that blog posts have been few and far between. I'm hoping that through Twitter I can be a little more active in getting information out. The blog will still be used as an effort to diversify and expand our outreach to the citizens, but I wouldn't anticipate a lot of posts.

Splash Pad Closed

The Splash Pad at the Nature Park will be closed on Thursday, July 23rd for maintenance. We're sorry for the late notice, but we have been working with the contractor to come and finish the railing around the pad.

The Splash Pad will be re-opened on Friday, July 24th with the normal 10:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. hours.

South Ogden City Night with the Ogden Raptors

The Ogden Raptors will be hosting a special South Ogden City night on Monday, July 13th. The game is at 7:00 p.m. at Lindquist Field (23rd and Lincoln in Ogden). You will be receiving two free tickets in your utility bills in July. If you need extra tickets you can come to City Hall to pick them up.

All tickets are FREE of charge and are for General Admission seating. If you would like to upgrade to a reserved box seat you can do that for only $5. The Raptors opponent for the day is the Billings Mustangs.

If you haven't had an opportunity to go to a Raptors game it is a fun time to relax, enjoy the weather, and to catch a ball game. It's also a very family friendly event.

We hope to see you there!

Edgewood Drive

One of our summer projects is a project that has been in the works for a long time. South Ogden City will connect Edgewood Drive to Burch Creek Drive/Adams Avenue later this summer. This road has been on the city's master plan for years. It is a critical east-west corridor for our citizens to get through South Ogden. It should help with traffic flow within the city.

The cost of the project is still in the estimate phase, but it should be out for bid shortly so we will have a solid price to work with. Projects of this nature have been bid lower than usual due to the shortage of projects of there. The project will be paid for with traffic impact fee funds that the city has collected.

Latest at South Ogden

Sorry to make the blog kind of stale. I'll try to do better. I've always wanted to use this as an alternate way to get information to the public, but it's not very effective if I never use it. So here goes.

Joint Gym Facility

Weber School District had their ground breaking for the new South Ogden Junior High this past Wednesday. The school is started and they hope to be done by August 2010. South Ogden City is doing a joint venture with them that will allow us to be part owner of the gym space in the school. This is a project we've been working on for about a year and a half to help create sufficient gym space for our recreation programs as well as having the ability to offer new programs.

The school is handling all the construction and we'll be paying our portion of the cost through a bond. The school got a great bid price so our price was reduced. Because of the reduction in price and the decrease in interest rates (they fell about 35 basis points 10 days before we sold our bonds) we were able to secure a 15 year loan instead of a 20 year loan.

The city will be raising property taxes slightly this summer in order to pay the debt service on the bond. Because we secured a 15 year loan we were able to save over $300,000 in interest costs. Overall we hit the market at a good time and we secured financing at a very reasonable cost.

Splash Pad

It's almost that time of year to get the splash pad fired back up. The splash pad will open on Monday, May 25th at 10:00 a.m. which is Memorial Day. From then on it will be open 7 days a week from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. until Labor Day.

You'll notice a new look as we've added a railing and additional drainage. We're trying to create a little bit of a safer area and we're trying to handle the water better. Hopefully these changes will make the whole splash pad area better.

Pleasant Valley Library

The new Pleasant Valley Library isn't in South Ogden nor is it a city project. But it is worth mentioning that it is now open and it's wonderful. The library is located on Adams Avenue across the street from Ogden Regional Medical Center. It has some cool features (lots of neat stuff for kids) and it has a "new library smell". Go check it out. No pun intended.

Eagle Scout Project

South Ogden City has recently opened its own animal shelter. The new shelter is located at the public works facility. The address is 5590 S. 600E. The animal shelter focuses on pet adoption so we have a need for things that will accommodate while we find someone to adopt them.

A local South Ogden youth, Connor Bradley, is collecting items for the shelter for his Eagle Scout project. The shelter is in need of treats, toys, biscuits, pet blankets, towels or anything that is pet friendly for both cats and dogs. They will also be accepting a cash contribution. Checks will be accepted at South Ogden City, 3950 Adams Avenue, South Ogden, UT, 84403. Please mark "animal shelter" in the memo line or attach a letter.

Donation boxes will be available at the South Ogden Police Department- 3950 Adams Avenue, the Public Works Department- 5590 S. 600 E., and at Idle Wire Pet Care- 5583 Harrison Blvd.

The donation boxes will be available until Saturday, January 24th so please act soon.

We appreciate your help in making South Ogden a better place.

Central Weber Sewer District Rate Increase

First of all a little background about what happens to your sewer when it leaves your house:

South Ogden City has/owns the infrastructure within our city limits to take sewer from individual homes and businesses to the place where it is treated. The place where it is treated is Central Weber Sewer District in Marriott-Slaterville. Once the sewer is treated it is released back into the natural habitat.

When a resident pays their utility bill a portion of that is for sewer (amongst water, storm drain, and garbage). The sewer portion of your bill is calculated in two ways. The first is a base fee in which no matter how much usage you have that portion of the fee remains the same. The second is based on your water usage. Almost all water usage indoors ends up in the sewer. Therefore the more water you use the more effluent you put into the sewer system. Therefore the more sewage put into the system causes your sewer bill to he higher.

When you pay your sewer bill most of it goes to South Ogden City to pay for sewer personnel, maintenance, depriciation, etc. A portion of your sewer bill is sent to Central Weber Sewer District for the treatment of the sewage. South Ogden City collects the fee, but we in turn send it to Central Weber Sewer.

This all leads us to our current situation. Central Weber Sewer District is increasing their treatment fees by 100%. The purpose behind this is to upgrade and expand their facility. Some of it is growth related and some of it is new regulations sent down from the Federal Government (EPA). The cost of their project is estimated at $140 million.

They are using three revenue streams to pay for the bonding on the $140 million. 1) Increased property taxes within their authority 2) Impact fees and 3) Treatment fees. The treatment fees are billed through the cities that use Central Weber Sewer. Therefore if they raise our rates we, in turn, have to raise our city rates to pay the treatment fees.

This coming council meeting on Tuesday, January 20th at 6:00 p.m. we will be having a public hearing to raise our sewer rates to meet the needs of the increase in treatment fees. While the city is still debating on the formula (base vs. usage or a combination of both) the impact could be from $5-$13 per month for most residential users. The whole increase will be sent to Central Weber Sewer to pay for the additional treatment fees. Central Weber Sewer District will have representatives on hand to answer any questions the public may have.

While South Ogden City would rather not raise our sewer rates we are forced to do this in order to make sure proper sewer service stays intact. We would welcome public comment during our public hearing next council meeting.

Road Closed

Due to a collapse in the road on Adams Avenue, South Ogden City will have Adams Avenue blocked off from 4400 South to Kiwana Drive. Signs have been posted and detours are available to get around the area where we are working.

We estimate that the road could be closed up to 4 weeks.

Joint Press Release

South Ogden City is planning on a joint facility with Weber School District for some additional gym space for our recreational programs. I sent a press release to the newspaper last week, but they haven't put it in the paper yet. So I'll post a copy of the press release here on the blog.

Weber School District and South Ogden City
Joint Press Release

Weber School District and South Ogden City will join together in helping create more recreation opportunities for their constituents and maximizing taxpayer dollars as the new South Ogden Junior High is constructed in South Ogden. The joint venture will create more gym space that will be utilized by the school district during the day and by South Ogden City in the evening for their recreation programs.

“We feel this is a great use of taxpayer money to serve the needs of two government entities by building one facility instead of two” said George Garwood, South Ogden Mayor. “This facility is needed to handle the growth of our youth and adult recreation programs. We see it as a once in a lifetime opportunity”.

Weber School District anticipates completion of the new junior high by August 2010 and an interlocal agreement will be made that outlines the time that each entity will use the facility. This is a joint use model that Davis School District has used with cities such as Layton and Clearfield.

“This partnership is a win-win situation to all involved.” said Jerry
DeGroot, Weber School Board President. “The result will be a facility
that provides expanded educational and recreational opportunities at a
cost savings to taxpayers.”

Weber School District has already secured the funding for the new junior high. South Ogden City will implement a slight property tax increase in order to fund their portion of the project.

The new junior high is located south of H. Guy Child Elementary School and will be annexed into South Ogden City.

Employee of the Year

Sorry for such a long gap between posts. The blog tends to be pushed aside as more pressing needs are considered. Now that I have my excuses out of the way, let's move on to the important stuff.

Sgt. Dave Labbe of the South Ogden Police Department has been named the 2008 South Ogden City Employee of the Year. Sgt. Labbe has been with the city for 15 years and has served in numerous capacities and has helped the department in various ways.

Some examples of this are: Developed a Sex Offender Tracking Program, instrumental in training of new officers, leads the Honor Guard, and is well liked and respected amongst his fellow officers and other employees of the city.

Sgt. Labbe was one of four nominees for the award. A nomination must be received from a fellow employee for consideration.

The other three nominees were:

Jaime Butters- Administration
Jason Brennan- Public Works
John McQuade- Building Inspection and Maintenance

Congratulations to our Employee of the Year and the fellow nominees.