Here's something special which our WCF readers might want to consider adding to their Friday calenders. The Standard-Examiner provides the story; and here's the lede:
Read the full Scott Schwebke story here:OGDEN -- The city is sponsoring a dedication ceremony Friday commemorating completion of the first phase of a $6.3 million effort to clean up a polluted downtown section of the Ogden River.
The aim of the daylong celebration is to highlight the transformation taking place along a 1.1-mile stretch of the river between Washington Boulevard and Gibson Avenue.
The public is invited throughout the day to wander along paths, visit exhibit booths and participate in kayaking and fishing demonstrations on the river.
Volunteers will work on various service projects along the waterway, and Mayor Matthew Godfrey will conduct a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2 p.m. on the river's banks at Childs Avenue.
City Engineer Justin Anderson aptly describes the Ogden River Restoration Project as having "... gone from a nuisance and eyesore to a treasure right in the middle of town;" and Boss Godfrey (in a rare instance of non-hyperbolic understatement) sez that Friday's ceremony will mark "a significant accomplishment." It's in this connection that we'll speculate, of course, that the Ogden River restoration could very well prove in time to be the most significant achievement of Godfrey's entire 12-year
So if you have a little free time in your afternoon calenders, why not get on down to the ribbon cutting ceremony and give the Little Lame Duck Lord a nice pat on the back?
Update 10/7/11 7:42 a.m. (per Dan S.): The Trib also has a nice writeup, complete with a tally of how the project was funded and some historic, archival photos of Robert Kennedy and Gadi Leshem, four years ago. Check out the captions on the Leshem photos!
Update 10/8/11 8:00 a.m.: The Standard carries this Scott Schwebke post-event story this morning, which describes yesterday's deliriously joyful ribbon cutting event:
Check out the happy campers, folks:
12 comments:
The Trib also has a nice writeup, complete with a tally of how the project was funded and some historic, archival photos of Robert Kennedy and Gadi Leshem, four years ago. Check out the captions on the Leshem photos!
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52677101-78/river-ogden-restoration-downtown.html.csp
it would be more like a pat on the top of the little bald head
js
BB
Yeah. I toyed with that idea... but I'm making a conscientious effort these days to be extra nice.
It seems the more time that passes, the more Mayor Godfrey resembles Barney Fife. It's too bad he never shared Barney's values.
And yes, taxpayers cleaned up the river so a private developer can turn the shoreline into Ogden's most densely populated pisshole.
Government doesn't fix problems, it just moves them. A dirty river was cleaned so the land can be even more fouled than the river was.
Now, now, Danny. Object all you want to the $7 million price tag, and to the broken promise that Leshem would cover part of the bill. But the cleaned-up river is a good thing that all Ogden citizens can now go and enjoy. And the new apartments and other developments, if and when they materialize, will bring more people to live downtown where they can enjoy the river and all the rest.
speaking of $7M price tags ... that is the asking price for the Fred Meyer Subdivision Parcel that has been sitting empty on 12th street for how many years?
bit of trivia of note ...
js
BB
Comments
1. I want to learn more about Poisson's distribution. I still think you are wrong, but I could be wrong, as I have been at times in the past. But you introduced me to something new and I thank you.
2. So let me get this straight: I complain about converting the river into a high density pisshole (note the key adjective "high density") and your retort is that it will bring "more people" in. Huh? Isn't that what "high density" means? So there will be more people crowding the parkway, the streets, the parks and everything else. More people fouling the air, and the land, and overfilling the fetid sewer plant while draining the pristine lakes. How is that good thing? You have drunk the Cool Aid. Oh wait, maybe the crowds will insure good donuts. I forgot that one.
Danny, I think we simply disagree over whether high-density development in the central city is a good thing. I don't expect you to agree with me, but here's my main rationale: If we don't encourage more people to live in central Ogden, they'll probably end up living on the suburban fringe. That's bad for the environment in so many ways, and it's bad for people because they end up spending so much of their time commuting and caught in traffic.
While I had nothing against the single-family homes that once occupied about half of the River Project area, those are now gone and it's nothing but vacant land and weeds. What do you think Ogden should do with that land?
Auction it. Let the people decide what to do with it, instead of a handful of city bureaucrats like Johnny Ballard, who simply sees the whole thing as a 10 year meal ticket for himself to manage for his pay.
Better yet, seed and sprinkle it, and make a river park out of it. Natural space is always more attractive than asphalt and stucco. Layoff some bureaucrats to pay for it.
But the city council will never take these obvious steps, because they are in thrall to those same bureaucrats who dominate their time. Even Susie VanHooser, when asked, said we should listen to city employees to see what we should do. I felt like I'd been hit in the face.
Danny, I'd have nothing against auctioning the city-owned lands in the River Project area (not including the strips along the river itself). Keep in mind, though, that the city doesn't own all that much; a lot is still owned by Leshem and, farther west, by others.
I'm all for urban parks, but I don't think we need a 60-acre park in that location. The city is already creating a park out of part of it, and the whole river corridor is effectively a park.
Careful, Danny! You're inadvertantly advocating that we ditch these "Economic Development Department" right wing socialist "Pros," and actually allow entrepreneurs to invest their own private money, without the influence of the defective "Iron Hand" of the centrally planned Centrally Planned "marketplace."
I carefully examined the picture, and here are my questions:
Where's Waldo? Where's Curt Geiger?
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