“Stench is not the lasting memory that we want people to have in Ogden.”
John Patterson
Standard-Examiner
Sniff squad nosing around
April 9, 2007
Last Monday, Ace Reporter Schwebke reported that Emerald City officials are initiating a crackdown on bad odors in our little town. Producers of malodorous emissions beware:
OGDEN — The Ogden City Council may establish a citizens committee to sniff out objectionable odors coming from local factories.“Stench is not the lasting memory that we want people to have in Ogden,” said Boss Godfrey henchman John Patterson. Yesirree... that's a direct John Patterson quote.
Tuesday night, the council will set a date for a public hearing regarding an ordinance that would set up the committee.
In addition to creating the committee, the ordinance would also require companies to use technologies and operating methods that reduce or eliminate objectionable odors.
The new law would go into effect 90 days after the council adopts the ordinance.
Violation of the ordinance would result in civil penalties: $125 for the first violation, $250 for the second offense and up to $500 for each subsequent infraction.
John Patterson, Ogden’s chief administrative officer, said the city is not singling out a particular company for enforcement. However, the city has received numerous complaints, particularly from out-of-town visitors, about odors emanating from pet food manufacturer American Nutrition Inc., 2813 Wall Ave.
This is one of those "oddball" Emerald City stories which made its way into many other newspapers and websites around the world. We haven't seen an Emerald City story so widely reported since the dazzling days of Vangate.
A television station in Arkansas had particular fun with it. This one definitely put a smile on our face.
For the best "odor ordinance" spin-off to date, however, we need look no farther afield than our own home town. For a humorous and ironic take on the "Emerald City Odor Problem," don't miss this morning's Std-Ex Letter to the Editor, penned by none other than Weber County Forum's own Dorothy Littrell.
Take it away, gentle readers.
Don't let the cat get your tongues.
42 comments:
Speaking of stench, could someone briefly explain for me why it is that Mr. Petersen has not produced a development proposal? I don't follow this as closely as y'all, but I was expecting something from thier team six months ago.
One of the SL channels [I forget which] was having a fun time the other night running pix of the "smell-o-meters" Ogden plans to buy to scientifically monitor odors. They look like short high-tech elephant trunks and fit over your nose, with lots of neat Star-Treky looking dials and readouts. The anchor crew had a fun time, with lots of grins and giggles, describing them.
But chuckling aside, if I lived immediately downwind of the stack and had to deal with industrial stench frequently, I wouldn't consider it a trivial matter, and it's not unreasonable for the city to be trying to do something about it. Interesting to me, though, that Mr. Peterson did not seem much concerned about the stench affecting the largely less affluent neighborhoods just downwind from the plant [some of whose residents were interviewed for the TV spot]. He seemed, at least in the press reports, concerned instead with the tourist reaction.
Granted, that matters if you're trying to market Ogden as a mountain sports destination. But seems to me, the administration's first concern should have been --- should always be --- the welfare of Ogden's present residents. I'd have been more impressed with Mr. Peterson had he said: "Look, many Ogden residents have been dealing with this stench for a long time, and they're tired of it, and we need to do something to help them. In addition to that, we're trying to market Ogden as a healthy outdoor sports destination, and we don't want tourists going home talking about how Ogden smelled." That would have put things in their proper order.
Maybe he did that, and it didn't get into the press reports.
The TV report also said Ogden had some years ago gotten a commitment from the dog food plan management to install scrubbers on the problem causing stacks, and the plant managers had not done it.
Since the plant provides I'm not sure how many jobs [something approaching a hundred overall perhaps? Anybody know?], dealing with the problem of plant odors has to be handled in such a way as to not put those jobs at risk. Granted, making mutt mash does not have the pazzaz and cachet of making snow boards and ski togs, but the company has been an Ogden business for a long time, it provides jobs and tax revenues, and the right tone for the city to take is "hey, we need to work with you to find a way to make this problem go away for our mutual benefit." If the plant managers, however, have reneged on a former agreement as the TV report suggested, that will be difficult.
confused:
Actually, Peterson is now 17 months past his own deadline for presenting "plans" for the Malan's Basin resort.
Short explanation: The project as it has been described so far isn't feasible.
A full explanation would require some speculation, but could include the following elements: waiting for passage of the zoning ordinances currently pending before the CIty Council; waiting until after the November election; trying to figure out how to get the city park lands up front, without committing to build a resort in Malan's Basin; waiting for Snowbasin's position to change (and perhaps for his wife to inherit a substantial interest in Snowbasin); busy twisting arms of WSU trustees (or regents or legislators) to try to get WSU to change its position; and/or waiting for additional economic leverage, like a company that might promise to move to Ogden only if we build the gondola.
Or maybe he's waiting for his house to sell, so he can skip town and be rid of the whole business.
Right on, Ms. Littrell! Brava.
On Mar. 22, 1886, the Ogden Herald printed a florid complaint about the Ogden Street Car Company, whose stables and other environs belched "opium fumes, dirty stench, villainous effluvia, and nasty exudations." Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.
We've said it before; and will say it again:
The acquisition of your Union Square Condo, at the heart of the Emerald City revival...
Was a VERY savvy investment move, wethinks.
Welcome back, Elder McConkie.
We're hoping you make a bundle on your wise real estate investment!
We welcome you back to the Board, BTW.
Where have you been?
Moroni McConkie...
I think that the mayor liked the Idea of the horse stable, because as you might remember that if anyone bought a condo on 2 bit street they could get a free stable for their horse.
btw when ever you flush your toliet, please flush twice, it is along way to the ninth floor. and should you live down town flush 3 times as it is all up hill, because when the mayor does something form up there s#@t allways rolls down hill. just ask the employees. especially the cops.
Somewhere in the vicinity of Long Beach, Ca..there was an expanse of dairy farms. The area was aptly called "Dairy Valley".
Driving through there with the windows down could be a pretty odiferous experience.
My grandma would exhale and exclaim, "ah, I smell money!"
Seems to me that Dorothy pointed out the sweet smells of revenues in her neat little letter today.
I wonder if the Official Sniffers will also be sniffing the patrons of St Anne's and the Rescue Mission?
In the wake of all this smelling stuff, I wonder if the mayor takes BEANO, so there won't be any Gas. otherwise he would have the dogs smelling his on hole.
I love this town.
I was picking up a few things I needed for a recipe at Smith's, and who did I see in the next aisle but Ofc. Ken Hammond.
I told him that I knew that the media glare had subsided, but that many of us had not forgotten him. "You are still my hero," I told him.
He seemed a very down-to-Earth and natural guy.
It was an honor to meet him.
Emerald City will get the stench out of Ogden the next election.
Dan S.:
Thanks for your summary of why we haven't seen any plans or proposal from Petersen. But none of what you've described is going to happen except that Godfrey might get reelected in November and old man Holding might kick the bucket before then. Even then, the other hurdles seem insurmountable.
So I ask you this: By not coming forth with a proposal, isn't Petersen hanging Godfrey out there? With Petersen producing nothing, doesn't Godfrey look worse and worse with every passing day? What in the world are Godfrey's diabolical plans?
Here is some food for thought….Who is going to enforce this new smell ordinance that he is going to put into law….I mean have you seen that new huge billboard that sits on the old godfather’s pizza site on Washington blvd.? It is an advertisement for recruiting people to become police officers. What an embarrassment that we have to use billboards as a tool to find people as to serve and protect.
They are having a hard time finding people who wants to be cops in Ogden, Rumor has it that Ogden Police are down by 17 officers. After all ticket quotas is a real good reason for any person wanting to be a cop in Ogden and also to be well liked!
If the Mayor want to find the source of all the stinky smells that are going on in Ogden there is only one common source throughout Ogden City. It is people that have dogs that refuse to clean their yards of dog crap from their own dogs. I would dare say that least there is on an average of two to three unclean yards of dog waste in each and every city block that spread out or blankets this whole town with stench.
But also like the police the mayor boss hog, has cut animal control as well. So again who is going to enforce this new stinky ordnance? I have it. The mayor will hire a Stench Czar that could be similar like George W. Bush’s War Czar. It is to bad that he doesn’t realizes that this is a health issue because it is dealing with manufacturing of dog food, and that the only real people that are empower to enforce this would be health inspectors which he has no control over, only the county does. Thank God for little favors and not for little men….
After reading the last blog I can see why people have been calling Mayor Godfrey a DUMB-ASS time after time.
Some threads ago, there were some comments [not complimentary] here about the SE's failure to win awards for its news coverage. Well, today's SE has a column by Dave Greiling reporting several awards the SE won from the Utah Press Association for reporting. [Link here].
In listing the awards, Mr. Greiling notes that the awards competition is judged by journalists from outside Utah. I did notice that none of the awards appear to be for political reporting in Ogden [though one story dealing with school boundary fight in Davis was for political reporting].
So, just out of fairness, thought we ought to note the SE awards story since the claim that it had won no awards for reporting appeared on WCF. The one question I'd have, and I wish Mr. Greiling had included this in his column, is how many Utah daily papers competed in the awards competition.
PS Happy to the SE seems to have fixed whatever was malfunctioning and is again sending email links promptly when requested.
Concerned:
I don't see anything wrong with using advertising media to find recruits for Ogden police work. Advertising works. If billboards, radio ads, whatever, increases the applicant pool, fine with me. I've seen [in other cities] TV ads for state police and city police fairly often. If advertising brings in more applicants, seems a wise use of public resources to me.
Curm, Does not WSU offer a degree in police sciences, shouldn't that help recruitment? Maybe their are other factors that make Ogden less desirable for police graduates? Pay, advancement and such.
Bill:
Offers a degree in Criminal Justice, with various specialties within. And I know WSU CJ dept. does a jobs fair with recruiters coming in from lots of police forces in several states, plus FBI, US Marshals Service, etc. I don't know where Ogden PD comes with respect to pay/benefits compared to competing departments and states. I do know police departments in lots of places advertise, so I'm not sure that Ogden doing that indicates much of anything by itself. Even if the ranks were full, it might still be good policy to advertise, to increase the applicant pool... the larger the pool, the more selective the Ogden PD can be about hiring.
Ogden may not be competitive in the market for recruits. I don't know. All I'm saying here is that its advertising doesn't indicate anyting on that point one way or the other.
We mustn't forget Rupert's Ogden police recruiting video, folks!
Cool to be a cop
I just watched Rupie's "Cool Cop" video. Why did he shoot it in the dark? Why is a black rapper on the mike? I loved the part about in L.A. the cops protect and serve, in Ogden cops give you what you deserve...and a cop is hitting the the top of the car window! What's that all about?
What 'perks'? This thing is a reject from MTV. Unless you are an 18 yr old high school drop out with a propensity for being "cool in the Hood" this effort of Rupert's wouldn't attract quality recruits.
Well, I just watched my fave director's video and I'm thrilled to see some more of his excellent work!
I LIKE the rapping. It WAS a wee bit dark, but I think that only added to the seriousness of being a police officer.
I don't like to brag about myself, but I think that I could have been shown in the video. The uniforms are cute and a few shots of ME talking to a little kid on the street, giving directions, and al, would show a softer and friendlier side to being a police officer! Everyone who knows me, tells me that I am pretty and am soooo friendly!
I wish Rupie and I could meet. He would be impressed with my potential. I just KNOW It! I'm destined to be discovered and be a star!
Please, Mr. Hitzig (hope I spelled that right?), just tell me where I can meet with you and show you my voluptuous attributes. You will want to feature me in your next video, I am so sure.
PS..my voice is much more distinctive than that girl you used at the end of the video. I told you that my voice is a lot like the fairy godmother in Cinderella (didn't you just LOVE her?), and people who know me can tell it's ME just by hearing my voice before they even see me!! That is a valuable commodity in a star, I think.
I'm just dying to be a star...and waiting for YOU to discover me!
Hugs and kissess~~~~~
L'il Lola
"Ogden, the City that Never Reeks!"
That's not just some black rapper, thats Thurl Bailey. He became a mormon and has appeared with the tabernacle choir, this seems a bit out of character for him, though he has always enjoyed music. How much did Rupert ding the city for this video? Did Thurl do it as a public service?
Bring me up to speed. Where is this Cop video being shown?
The video is being shown....ta da! Right here on the WCF!!! Just click Rudi's link (above) and you, too, will be up to speed and amazed at Godfrey's Hollywood connections!
bill c.,
If you've watched channel 17 (Gagfrey's personal agenda media) you'll notice that Thurl is on one of those supposedly family valued programing shows that constantly rerun. His singing program has run so mamy times that I can almost list all the songs that he sings and the order in which he sings them. This advertising of Thurl's singing on channel 17 may have been part of his compensation for the work on the police "Cool Cops" video, who knows.
I think he actually even produced a CD that he was tring to sell. One thing for sure though, its a good thing that Thurl made enough money to cover his retirement needs before he started his singing career.
The stench emanating from the dog food plant ranges from a barely agreeable rice, barley, potato blend on some days to what can only be described as rotting roadkill on others. There are times I have gone down there to pay the water bill and nearly puked when I hopped out of the car. It literally brings up images of deathcamps. I wondered how anyone could work in that area.
You're all missing the boat on why Wayne Peterson has yet to produce his "proposal" regarding his "$500 million investment in Ogden," as described by Little Matty Gondola Godfrey: If Wayne is able to steal our 160 acres, he will need a very sizable Squirrel Patrol, and he is busy recruiting volunteers. Nuts! Get 'em!
I wish that people could just see how great I am being the police and then they would all want to work for me.
Oh! how many of them know that I'm a State Senator and how I'm not at work all the time because I'm at the capitol double dipping on my salary.
Please Oh please come work for me.
What person with any self respect would want to serve on a Police Force that had a Chief who calls his officers "Whiners", and treats them as shabily as Greiner does?
What graduate of a police program would want to work for a department that hangs its officers out to dry like Greiner did to Jones?
What competent police candidate would want to work for a city who's mayor lurks around in the night spying on them for exercising their constitutional rights, and then lies to the public and attacks his officers with lies inorder to cover up his own perfidy?
The stink in Ogden comes from the Mayor and the Chief of Police, both of whom are embarassing to the city.
Why would a cop want to work for lower wages than other agencies pay, and then be insulted and degraded to boot?
Greiner:
Now be truthful...you are not double dipping...you are triple dipping...you forgot to tell the good folks of Ogden that you are also collecting your Chief of police pension while still serving as chief of police...I would call that being just a little greedy.
Years ago they had over 100 applications for police officer to one position opening. What happened to those days? Is it because Mayor Matthew wasn’t Mayor in that day? No real officer wants to work for a little dictator. Sorry I mean two little dictators, One that claims there is no ticket quota and the other one that claims they are essential for proper officer evaluations.
Say, Chief Whiner,
Don't you also get a pension from your military career? That would be quadruple dipping, wunnit?
There are technologies and rememdies available for dog food manufacturers and other companies that raise a stink to make their products.
Have any of you lived near a winery? GAG! It may be good poured into your glass, but having to smell the grapes before they 'hit the bottle' is enough to gag a maggot.
Ever drive past a grain silo?
So, the dog food plant stinks...that can be rememdied. We should all appreciate the monies it generates for Ogden.
It ain't 'cool and sexy'...but tell me what really is around here?
Maybe l'il lola?
Let us all start a new game: Where's Wayne? Where is Wayne Peterson, when he's not being shuffled about by orderlies or going on European junkets with his bestest pal, Little Matty Gondola Godfrey, or maybe ordering his Squirrel Patrol to find nuts?! Get 'em! Wayne has to have some balls or be some otherwordly preoccupation to play this kind of game with the people whose land he wishes to steal.
A open inquiry to Chis Peterson; if and when you even come forth with a proposal to usurp our public property and golf course, would you please include any prerequisite qualifications for enrollment in your squirrel patrol. Please include, pay scales, ordnance handling certification requirements,all applicable permit requirements(Division of Wildlife Resourses,Forest Servive wildcrafting/gathering,any BLM permit requirements)etc. Also any acorn handling safety data would be nice, Mr. Ellison may print you up a manual regarding Acorn Handling Safety, to shelter you from various liabilities. I was thinking of training a half dozen bloodhounds to sniff out nut caches, but given the snails pace at which you and Ellison opiate, whops, I mean operate, I'm concerned that the dogs may expire before anyone hears from you. Are you sure we'll still be alive by the time any of this has seen the light of day? Are you cognizant to any local PETA factions that may take umbrage with your intentions regarding these small mammals? Will you offer insurance coverage to all active Squirrel Patrol personel? No wonder you've taken so long, these things can be so complicated.
Stu thinks his main squeeze Matt is cool and sexy! And Matt just loves it when Stu wears those "cool and sexy" black fish net nylons with the seam up the back! But when they rendesvous in the head at Angelo's it gets pretty steamy and disgusting!
Ewwwww, Ozboy....what a dis Gusting thing to say!
I thought Mr. Godfrey was enchanted with ME! Like, you know, who isn't?
boy you guys think that you have me all figured out. I do have 4 pay checks coming in and then there is the money that my wife gets from the old man, mr. slab them. well some of us have it and some of you don't. that is what makes me so hip. and the mayor just loves it when my daddy in law had bought this job for me. ha ha ha and I'm laughing all the way to the bank. who was it that said marry the money and learn to love later. well, I'm just loving it.
Forbes digs Ogden! They forgot to mention the gondola!
An oversight? Or, seeing it right?
Mercy:
Maybe this is the way we ought to look at it: Forbes Magazine ranking Ogden as a good place to do business with a high potential for economic growth despite the threat of a municipal money-pit like the gondola happening is impressive evidence of Forbes believe in the strength of Ogden's economic potential as it is right now.
confused:
Those are good questions--but you can speculate about the answers as well as I can. If I had to guess, I'd say that Peterson and Godfrey don't have a complete strategy at this time. They're doing what they can to chip away at pieces here and there, such as trying to get the 30% slope angle restriction lifted. They're surely hoping for some lucky break, such as I mentioned above, to come along. Godfrey and his local supporters will be putting a huge effort into this fall's election. If that goes well for them, then you can bet that we'll be hearing plenty about the gondola for the next four years. It's Godfrey's absolute number-one priority.
To Dan S,
I disagree with your assessment that there is no plan. I suspect that the plan it ready and waiting on the shelf. Waiting for the City Council to approve the sensitive overlay plan and the MU zoning ordinances.
One has only to look at the wording of those documents to realize that they have been crafted to accommodate the Peterson project.
Also look at how hard the administration is pushing the City Council to immediately adopt these ordinances and look at the concept within the MU ordinance that simultaneously approvals the mixed use zoning, the master plan and the development agreement. All meant to speed up the process.
If the administration gets the ordinance changes that it’s looking for, the mayor will I feel, will immediately introduce the Peterson project (which I think is ready to be introduced as judged by the increased helicopter air traffic over the golf course and malan basin over the last month). He’s never been slow to act in the past and I don’t expect that he will be slow to act this time either, particularly when it involves a project so close to his heart and particularly when the election is so close. An election that may not go his direction.
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