With the elections for North Ogden City Council is coming fast Lynn Satterthwaite had a few questions for the candidates. The Candidates responded with some great answers, with answers on hand the thought was maybe others wanted to know what the candidates’ thoughts were. Thanks for sharing Lynn Satterthwaite!
The first question is please discuss the value you attach to the following places and events in North Ogden: North Shore Aquatic Center, City Parks, Cherry Days, Caulk Art Festival, AYSO, N.O. Limits Half Marathon, and Sr. Citizens Center.
Blake Cevering
· North Shore: While I do not use the aquatic center myself, my children have benefited because of their employment at the pool. Two of my sons received their lifeguard certification and worked at the pool, in fact, one son is currently employed there as an assistant manager. Many youth have learned life-saving skills, discipline, financial skills, management skills and social skills as employees of North Shore that will benefit them for a life-time. While the pool may not be profitable in financial terms, it has been an incredible venue to develop working habits of the youth and promoting stronger family relationships. I do not think that the "bottom line" is the only way to evaluate the success of a venue.
· City parks/AYSO/Amphitheater: I believe that the city parks provide an opportunity for strengthening the family and developing our youth. Anyone who has ever played/coached on a little league athletic team knows the benefit each young person has to develop discipline, character, athletic skills and team building skills. The amphitheater will continue to allow youth and adults to develop singing and acting skills. I believe that the parks/AYSO teams are foundational for the growth of youth... especially helping them develop confidence.
• Cherry days is an awesome tradition that dates back to the earlier days of North Ogden. I have many fond
memories of the parade and activities at North Ogden Park. This event, like the marathon and chalk art festival
are venues to strengthen community relations. The only thing that concerns me about Cherry Days is it has
become very commercial.
• Senior citizen center: I believe that we owe the "older generation" of North Ogden the right to have a center
that provides social and recreational opportunities. These individuals have sacrificed for their families, local
schools, their religion, the community ... they deserve our highest respect and a place to call their "own."
Julie Anderson
· City Parks - Parks and green space are an integral part of this city. We need places where we can come as families and groups to enjoy the beauty of this city. I feel we need to be placing a greater value on our parks
· Cherry Days, this is a treasured part of our city. However, I do not feel that we are really making this the event it could be. The parade has become more about the candy than those who are participating and it would be nice to see something in addition to the commercial floats. There are so many things we could do to expand it.
· Sr. Citizens Center. This is a great place and something that is a great asset to our community and the seniors who use it on a daily basis.
· Chalk Art Festival, this was my first year attending and I thought it was great. I think this should continue to be a part of our city. I also think this could be expanded beyond what we are currently doing.
· N.O. Limits Half Marathon, while I am not a runner. I believe that promoting all aspects of what people like to do within the city is great and we should continue providing these kind of activities.
· AYSO -This is a great program. However sometimes it overshadows and displaces other sports. I think the use of our parks should be done with deference to all sports. Even those that are not as large as this program.
· North Shore Aquatic Center This facility is just fine as it is. I don’t feel that we need to spend anything more than we do now
Sarah Fawson
· North Shore Aquatic Center: North Shore Aquatic Center is a fun facility that North Ogden Residents and residents from surrounding communities enjoy. My goal for the North Shore Aquatic Center would be that at some point it would become a financial asset instead of a liability. My understanding is that community pools are rarely cost effective uses of tax payers money as the cost to build and maintain the pool are rarely compensated by revenue. As the pool is a "nice to have" and not a "must have" I think the city should make efforts to make it as productive as possible. I would love to explore options to improve the profitability or even potential for the pool to break even. I also feel that the initiation of any city funded project should be heavily weighted with input from the community. If there were a plan to build a similar project in the community today with tax payer money or a bond I would really have difficulty moving it forward without a lot of community input and would not favor bonding for any recreational use. In my personal life I would not borrow money to put a pool in my back yard, and I wouldn't recommend similar action from the city.
· City Parks: Parks are community gathering places that promote good health, family bonding, spaces for recreation and connection with family and community. They are an important part of our city and should continue to be planned into future developments. We should encourage green space and parks to be a part of development plans in the city in a similar manner that new developers are responsible to incorporate other community services, like curb and gutter and road development as they develop an area. The city should continue keeping the parks well maintained and preserving the community spaces that we have stewardship over. If there are groups that have special interests in contributing to development or improvement of a park, pool or other city asset private/public partnerships may provide great solutions.
· Cherry Days: I love Cherry Days and love the sense of community that is developed through the different events. I also love the volunteerism that makes Cherry Days happen. I love the sunrise flag ceremony, the Kiwanis sponsored breakfast, the parade and I have loved the opportunities that our family has had to honor and support military members and veterans. I love being able to share an experience with my children that is a celebration of our freedom and a recognition of the good life that we have in a wonderful place. On the city council, I would encourage continuing the long standing tradition of the Cherry Days events. I think it is important that the budget for Cherry Days is well thought out for this event, and sponsorships and support and contributions from local businesses and revenue from hosting the event is balanced with the actual expenses. I do love that the city has sought out creative options to decrease the cost of fireworks by using city owned property instead of paying for an outside facility and offsetting the cost with donations.
· Chalk Art Festival: The chalk art festival and color run are engaging and relatively new community events. I know that participating in exercise, and doing it in a fun or creative way promotes happiness - for individuals and communities. I loved that the chalk art festival incorporated local food trucks and vendors and has potential to grow as a venue. I think it is awesome to provide community events that engage different people with different interests. When we attended the chalk art festival last year I really enjoyed the opportunity to visit with neighbors, friends and meet and talk to the participating chalk artists. I think this one is a win/win. I love that it promotes creativity, gives recognition for excellent work, promotes positive community engagement, and promotes local businesses. All good from my perspective, though I may be naive to the actual ins and outs of putting this on as I just showed up for the fun.
· AYSO: This is a great opportunity for any youth to participate in a community soccer league with minimal cost. I love that AYSO runs on volunteerism. I think use of our city parks by organized sports groups is a great use of our community resources. I would encourage that any group that uses city property continue to respect the resources, using them within the regulations provided by the city and to leave them clean.
· N.O. Limits Half Marathon: This is a personal love/hate for me. I do love participating in half marathons and I was excited to participate in one here in my own community. Somehow this race that circled the city of North Ogden managed to be up-hill all of the way around! I would love for this to have more community support and volunteers. I ended up adding two miles to this race as no one was staffed at the turns when I participated two years ago. I am interested to see the progress that has been made with the N.O. Limits Half Marathon and would love to help this grow to be a bigger event.
· Sr. Citizens Center: I think this is a great resource in the community. I am afraid I am not as familiar with the history and operation of the Sr. Citizens Center as I am with some of the other city assets/activities. I do like that this provides a community meeting space and events for Sr. Citizens. I would hope to include cost sharing of this resource to residents of nearby cities who participate in events.
Ryan Barker: As a lifelong resident of North Ogden I see and consider each of these places and events vital to the community of North Ogden.
· North Shore: I am AN Advocate for this facility. It is my understanding that each year this facility loses money, however I see a larger benefit to the City than monetary. With me being employed by North View Fire District I am able to witness the amount of kids and families that come to this facility daily. It appears to me that the facility always has a large number of kids waiting to use the diving boards, water slides and other amenities at this facility. My family comes to swim in the pool multiple times each year and there is something for all my kids to enjoy starting with my youngest all the way up to my teenage children.
· City Parks: I respect the job that Tiffani and the Parks Department do in maintaining and operating all the City Parks. My family participates in North Ogden Recreation Sports so my children play multiple games at the parks each year. I feel our city parks are some of the finest in the county. I think it is important to maintain these parks and all the amenities they have.
· Cherry Days: This is a huge event for our City. I know some residents look forward to all the festivities each year. I respect the job the City Council has done in preparing and running this event each year. I look forward to helping any way that I am able.
· AYSO: I personally have not had any children that have played soccer. I do realize this is an important part of the community with more and more children playing soccer. I place the same level of importance on AYSO as I do for the rest of the sports under North Ogden Recreation.
· Sr. Citizen Center: I feel this is facility is vital for the city. Many events take place in this facility each year. A few members of the Fire Department volunteer each year to help serve the Seniors dinner and speak with them. This is an avenue that the Seniors in our community can use to meet together and also be able to get useful information needed during each of the events held throughout the year.
· Chalk Art Festival: This is a new event in our city but one I want to support. I know the family that organized the event and the circumstances surrounding them. I am grateful that our City allows this event to happen again this year and look forward to doing my part to perpetuate this event in the upcoming years.
· N.O. Marathon: I am not a runner and have not had any desire to participate in this event but do feel that it benefits the city. I know that we have many residents that enjoy running in this marathon each year and am looking forward to helping with this event in the future.
Question #2 is: The North Ogden Plaza (Kings and Kirt’s Family Drive Inn) has the potential for growth which would benefit the city economically. Are you in favor of promoting more/better businesses? If you are, how would you promote the growth?
Julie Anderson
This is a great place to promote and bring in business. As far as promoting it, we need to incentivize the owners to spend money on upgrading the face and bringing in the businesses that would thrive there. This would be a great place for smaller businesses. I would need to evaluate each potential business before making a suggestion.
Sarah Fawson
I am for business growth of the North Ogden Plaza. I think that there are many things the city can do to promote growth and encourage new businesses and services to come into North Ogden. I am pleased to see new businesses like Pizza Pie Cafe, Hug Hes and Smith's Marketplace thriving. These are great examples of business success, and I know the city council worked with these businesses to encourage development. I believe that it is reasonable for the city to make some accommodation to encourage new businesses that are estimated to create sales tax revenue for the city.
Ryan Barker
I am definitely in favor of promoting more business for this area. As a child I remember fondly visiting the old King's and Macy's and then going over to Kirt's. This area of our city used to be economically important and I would like to see it get back to its potential. I am not sure what or how I could promote this area to better attract businesses. I feel that the Mayor and staff are already doing a great job in bringing in additional businesses. I would be willing to do whatever is asked of me to help promote this area.
Blake Cevering
I am very much in favor of promoting more business in North Ogden. The revenue for the city is vital. New businesses
also provide additional employment opportunities, however, I think we need to attract the right kind of businesses that will complement the demographics of North Ogden. A company by the name of “Mindecology.com" specializes in helping cities attract business. They suggest a simple three point process:
1) Develop a profile of your city or town;
2) identify businesses that complement the needs of the demographics;
3) Solicit these companies for location to North Ogden. I would suggest that this kind of “targeting” will produce positive results. North Ogden is a small community. Our population can only sustain a limited amount of commercial establishments. We need the RIGHT businesses in North Ogden.
Question #3 is: The city purchased Barker Park many years ago. A large part of the park remains undeveloped. What would you do with the undeveloped land? If there is a cost involved to implement your plan, how would you pay for it?
Sarah Fawson
I would honor the request of the previous owners to have a long-term plan to develop it as community green space or a park. Funding for a new park may be enhanced by individuals, groups or businesses who have special interest in said development. If there are future considerations of development of nearby by business they may help sponsor and develop the park as part of their community buy in.
Ryan Barker
This question is possibly the easiest for me to answer. Being part of the family that sold this land to the City I feel I have a small understanding of what this land should be used for. It is my understanding that there is an agreement in place between North Ogden City and the Ray Barker Family that the undeveloped land will remain available to be farmed by the family until it is ready to be developed. I personally would like to see this land be developed for a park so the rest of the city may enjoy its beauty. I also understand that there is a committee made up of City Counsel and Barker Family Members to design the new park. As for financing I would suggest the city continue asking for and using RAMP funds to help pay for the park. I realize that the city must still come up with a matching portion but if the City is willing to match and contribute to redesign and rebuild the existing Amphitheater then the City should strive to fulfill its promises made to the Barker Family concerning the rest of the undeveloped land.
Blake Cevering
The American Planning Association (planning.org) suggests five benefits for parks:
1) Property values are positively affected
2) Municipal revenues are increased;
3) Affluent citizens are attracted and retained;
4) "Knowledge workers" men/women who are employed to sell their knowledge as opposed to labor, are 33º/o more apt to buy homes in areas that have more recreational opportunities;
5) Homebuyers want open space (in a 2001 survey by the National Association of Realtors, 57º/o of voters would choose to buy homes close to parks and open space). Investing in parks by cities is vital to property tax revenue. Cities cannot afford NOT to create parks. So how do we pay for it? I believe a partnership between municipalities and private businesses is one viable option. We have an excellent example of this in Wadman Park. I think we might be surprised how many private companies would be willing to assist in the creation of local parks.
Julie Anderson
I believe the original idea of it being a park with trails and bowery’s and picnic areas would still be a great thing to put into this park. However, it would be a great place for the community gardens, weber state and Utah state agricultural programs could also use it as small research fields. We should also have the developers help pay for the rest of the development of the park. Developers are providing very little green space as they build their subdivisions. They are getting rich off the city, so requiring them to donate money toward the development of Barker Park in addition to the fees they already pay. We would need to set up an account that is dedicated for that purpose only. As we approach fully built out, green space opportunities are disappearing rapidly.
