Standard-Examiner: Scar From Water Pipeline On Mountain Above Ogden Temporary, Officials Say

"Not to worry," sez Ogden City Engineer Justin Anderson

As a followup to Dan Schroeder's highly informative and timely 9/4/12 WCF post, the Standard gets the word out to its print edition readership concerning the ugly "scar recently seen on the mountainside behind Weber State University":

• Scar from water pipeline on mountain above Ogden temporary, officials say

"Not to worry," sez Ogden City Engineer Justin Anderson. Thanks to the planned re-seeding efforts of Ogden City and the U.S. Forest Service, the mangled vegetation will ultimately grow back.

We'll see, won't we.

Standard-Examiner: Ogden Plans for 5 Million-gallon Water Tank

Preparations for the construction of Boss Godfrey's controversial 5 million-gallon 36th Street concrete water tank will start next month

Just to kickstart this morning's discussion, we'll zero in on this eye-opening story in the Standard-Examiner, wherein Scott Schwebke reports that the administration is moving full steam ahead toward construction of Boss Godfrey's coveted 36th street water tank, which many Ogden residents believe will be the next key step toward the launch of an ambitious administration plan to bulldoze and redevelop Ogden's heretofore pristine east bench:

OGDEN -- Preparations for the construction of a controversial 5 million-gallon concrete water tank at the top of 36th Street will start next month.The first step in the $2.8 million project will include clearing of brush and additional site preparation, City Engineer Justin Anderson said Tuesday.Work on the tank will be completed in summer 2011.

In a mind-bending display of administration alternate reality, City Engineer Justin Anderson says, with an apparent completely straight face, that he is "unaware of any planned development along the foothill."

Anderson obviously doesn't get out much, we guess; and unlike those of us who've been following this boondoggle over the years, he evidently reads neither the Standard-Examiner nor Weber County Forum. Hard to believe that this Boss Godfrey boondoggle somehow slipped by our otherwise sharp-eyed City Engineer.

Although the administration boasts it's saving $700,000 on this project, we'll never really know how many taxpayer dollars (bonded taxpayer dollars) could have been spared, if only the council and administration had looked at other less costly alternatives or asked for a second engineering opinion.

Alas, that's not how it works here in Emerald City, where our conflict-averse City Council remains mostly asleep at the wheel, and Boss Godfrey ultimately gets dang near whatever he wants.

Standard-Examiner: 36th Street Tank Closer to Reality

Yesterday's news today

By Dan Schroeder

For archival completeness I'll note that the Standard-Examiner finally reported on the council's water tank decision on the eighth day after the meeting, Thursday, February 11. The article is on the front page but isn't available through free portion of the S-E web site. Here's a link to the Digital Edition version:

• 36th Street tank closer to reality

Here are some excerpts from the article:

By SCOTT SCHWEBKE
Standard-Examiner staff sschwebke@standard.net
OGDEN — Construction of a controversial 5 million-gallon water tank at the top of 36th Street is scheduled to begin in April.
After several months of study, the city council last week amended its Capital Improvement Plan to allow the installation of the tank, which will cost about $3.5 million....
The tank will replace two existing steel tanks, also on 36th Street, that are about 80 years old and can store 2.2 million gallons.
The old tanks will be removed and the site will be landscaped, said [City Engineer Justin] Anderson.
The Capital Improvement Plan amendment also allocates $100,000 for a design and engineering study for the installation of a 1.2 million-gallon tank that could be built at a location yet to be determined on the East Bench.
In addition, the amendment also earmarks $300,000 for a study involving transmission lines and potential property easement purchases to connect the new 36th Street tank to another tank on 46th Street.

Reader comments are invited, as always, even at this late date.

Consolidated City Council Meeting Reports

Mssrs. Schroeder and Schwebke report the full range of business conducted during last night's two council sessions

As a supplement to the excellent material provided by Dan S. through last night's council meeting live blogging (see Dan's comment #3 et. seq.), Scott Schwebke provides his own Standard-Examiner story this morning, reporting on the Mt. Ogden Golf Course discussion which occurred during last night's work meeting:

• Mt. Ogden Golf Course / Ogden council greenlights goals to fix design, financial difficulties (Live! Edition) 
• Mt. Ogden Golf Course / Ogden council greenlights goals to fix design, financial difficulties (Digital Edition)

According to Mr. Schwebke, the council has thus wisely given council staff the "green light" to cherry pick elements from the earlier council presentations by Kris Abegglen and Jon Garner, and to cobble together "hybrid" "goal statements" which would incorporate the best ideas from each, rather than to adopt either the Abegglen or Garner proposals in their entirety. A few of these "elements" are enumerated within Mr. Schwebke's morning story; but here's one which particularly caught our eye:

City Council Chairwoman Caitlin K. Gochnour said she would like to see Mt. Ogden Golf Course at least break even financially and described financial subsidy from the municipality for the course as a worthy investment.

If we're interpreting this language accurately, we believe Councilwoman Gochnour is on the right track. Yes, we believe it would be great if the Mt. Ogden Golf Course could at some point be operated at at least a "break even." And we should certainly strive for that. Realistically however, it also seems to us that the prospect of further "municipal subsidies" ought not be ruled out. The Mount Ogden Golf Course is an important and highly unique Ogden City recreational amenity; and we believe it's no more reasonable to expect the MOGC to fully carry its own "financial water" than to expect the same for any other Ogden City park or other recreational amenity. We'd be interested, however, in hearing our WCF readers' opinions on this aspect.

In closing, we'll offer our thanks to Mr. Schroeder and Mr. Schwebke for their excellent and detailed reporting. Due to the efforts of these two reporters, we're confident that Emerald City residents have the complete picture this morning of the full range of business which was conducted during last night's two council sessions.

Who will be the first to comment?

Heads-up on Tonight's Emerald City Political Events - UPDATED

Two competing Emerald City political events for this night
UPDATE: Live blogging from the City Council chambers

Just to keep our readers up to date, here are two competing Emerald City political events for this night, which ought to be on your citizen activist calenders:

First, don't forget about tonight's Weber County Womens Legislative Council event, where the topic of pending citizens' initiate legislation will be the primary topic of discussion.

Secondly, tonight's city council agenda reveals that the 36th/46th Street Water Tanks and Transmission Line issue has once again returned to the council for further discussion, along with an agenda item calling for a possible up/down vote:

8. Administration Reports:
...b. 36th/46th Street Water Tanks and Transmission Line. Consideration of proposed Ordinance 2009-72. An ordinance modifying the FY 2008 through 2012 Capital Improvement plan by making adjustments to project WU095 and adding projects WU100 and WU101 as detailed in the attached project briefs. (Adopt / not adopt ordinance – roll call vote).

The Council appears ready to gullibly gobble up the mayor's 5-million gallon 36th Street water tank plan, hook line and sinker, and to blithely forgive Boss Godfrey for his original unlawful diversion of $5+ million in Water Horizon bond funds from 46th to 36th Street.

WCF readers who attend either of these events are cordially invited to get back with us with their reports, comments and clever jibes.

Don't let the cat get your tongues, O Gentle Ones.

Update 2/2/10 5:17 p.m.: We just heard via email from Dan S.: "I plan to attend and live-blog as appropriate." Stay tuned, people! W hen Dan S. gets around to live blogging, nobody -- I mean NOBODY does it better. Keep your eyes peeled for new Dan S. posts in the lower comments section. Dan didn't reveal which of the two above-linked venues he'll be attending tonight, btw; but with the ever-resourceful Dan S. "on the case," frankly... who cares? Either way, it's bound to be danged good!

Update 2/2/10 6:09 p.m.: Dan has now checked in from the city council chambers, and launches his live blogging session within the lower comments section.

Heads-up on Tomorrow Night's Council Work Session - UPDATED

Introducing a revolutionary new concept: Don't buy stuff you cannot afford!
UPDATE: Check out the supplementary council packet docs below

Just for the sake of caution, we'll highlight a couple of important items which are apparently coming up on tomorrow's (Tuesday, 1/19/10) City Council Work Session calender. Although the Council's online agenda doesn't show it, we spotted these items on the Standard-Examiner's "Council Agendas" section on Sunday; and we therefore believe we need to bring these prospective matters to everyone's attention:

Ogden City Council
5:30 p.m. study session, 2549 Washington Boulevard.
6 p.m., regular meeting
Amend zoning map to reclassify zones at 3701 Harrision Blvd.
Adjourn to work session to discuss Mount Ogden Golf Course,
36th/46th Street water and transmission line CIP amendment,
and council business [Emphasis added.]

We unsuccessfully attempted this morning to obtain an electronic copy of the council packet for the tomorrow's meeting; but unfortunately we've far come up dry, since today is the Martin Luther King Holiday; and both the Council and Recorder's offices are evidently closed for the day. We'll keep trying of course. Maybe we'll have greater luck obtaining these documents tomorrow. If we do succeed in this in advance of the meetings, we'll post the documents here as an update, of course.

In the meantime we'll suggest that interested readers circle tomorrow's council sessions on their calenders, in the hope that we'll have at least a few lumpencitizen eyes and ears at the work session.

And to our new council, which hasn't yet met as a body to endure what we expect to be another classic Boss Godfrey "Blue Sky" sales pitch, we'll offer this bit of free advice: Don't buy stuff you cannot afford!

For those Council Members who may be unclear about this concept, we're also delighted to present the following highly-instructive video:

Readers who attend tomorrow night's work session are strongly encouraged, of course, to report back here with their comments and observations. We'll leave the lights on, for sure. Pre-meeting comments are also invited, of course. Knock yourselves out, O Gentle Ones. Update 1/19/10 12:00 p.m.: For the benefit of those readers who are planning to attend tonight's council work session, we're pleased to provide these supplementary council packet documents, which frame the issues which will be discussed at tonight's work meeting:

• Continued Discussion of Council and Mayor Regarding the Mount Ogden Golf Course • CIP Amendment for 5-Million Gallon Water Tank

Once again, we'll keep the lower comments section open for any possible post-meeting discussion.

Boss Godfrey's Proposed 36th Street Water Tank Agenda Item Is Dropped From Tonight's Council Calender

We'll post notice here at WCF when the matter is put back on calender

On Sunday, we posted an article providing a heads-up about this evening's (12/22/09) City Council meeting, wherein an item concerning approval of Boss Godfrey's proposed 36th Street water tanks appeared on the original Council agenda.

Please note that this item has now been pulled from tonight's Council calender. The amended agenda is linked below:

• AMENDED AGENDA

Sorry about the false alarm, folks. The Council has apparently decided (quite rightly, we believe) that it will need to have further discussion regarding this item.

We'll keep our eyes peeled, however, and post notice here on WCF when the matter is put back on the Council calender.

Important Council Meeting Coming Up On Tuesday

Boss Godfrey's proposed 5-million gallon 36th Street water tank is on the agenda (item #1 on the list of top Emerald City open space threats)

We'd like to provide our readers with a quick heads up about an item appearing on the agenda for this coming Tuesday's (12/9/09) Ogden City Council Meeting. Over past months we've devoted a fair amount of electronic ink to the subject of the Godfrey administration's proposed top of 36th street waters tanks; and this subject now returns to the calender for the council's consideration and deliberation:

7. Administrative Reports.
a. CIP Amendment – 36th/46th Street water tanks and transmission line. Consideration of proposed Ordinance 2009-72; an ordinance modifying the FY 2008 through 2012 Capital Improvement Plan by making adjustments to project WU095 and adding projects WU100 and WU101 as detailed in the project briefs. (Receive public input; adopt/not adopt ordinance – roll call vote)

In connection with this, we also link the council's 12/22/09 council packet, which consists of a brief summary of the Administration's proposal, an analysis of project obstacles and proposed solutions, fiscal notes, a necessarily-lengthy chronology of events, a proposed municipal ordinance amending the city Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), three exhibits and several other associated documents, etc..

In a nutshell, the Administration is proposing that the council go ahead with the 5 million-gallon 36th street tank (whose cost seems to have increased), and that the council allocate the remaining $800,000 to engineering studies and land acquisition--but not construction--for the 1.25 million gallon tank and associated transmission lines.

Reading between the lines, it's also apparent from the series of documents enclosed in the packet that council leadership and staff have devoted a fairly substantial amount of effort over the past few months, in cooperation with the city's administration and engineering staff, to work out the "kinks" in the project. Moreover, and much to our alarm, it seems pretty clear that council leadership has probably committed itself to approving the Administration's proposal, even though the matter has never been deliberated by the full council, nor fully addressed by the public.

Adding insult to injury, information in the packet reveals that council leadership may be growing wary of a provision in the underlying Water Horizon bonding documents, which purportedly requires that 85% of bond proceeds be spent by June 11, 2010. As to this latter wrinkle, we'll speculate that Boss Godfrey is once again up to his old tricks, and has again painted the council into a corner with his usual calculated strategy whereby Godfrey gives the council nothing but yes/no choices, where "no" is unacceptable (i.e., don't spend the bond money at all) so they have to say "yes."

As we editorialized back in May of this year, we at WCF are also wary too... wary of at least three items in Boss Godfrey's bag of tricks which threaten our east bench open space. The 36th Street water tanks are of course at the top of the list.

Emerald City lumpencitizens urged the city council at least four months ago to hire their own independent independent engineer. Since then the council has however apparently been sitting on it's collective thumb. We're therefore going to go out on a limb and predict that the council's approval of Boss Godfrey's 5 million gallon 36th Street water tank is probably a fait accompli.

Nevertheless, we'll encourage our more optimistic readers to attend Tuesday's council session, and to contact the council with their own viewpoints through our WCF council contact link in the interim.

In a worst case scenario, meeting attendees can report back to WCF about the big smile which will be on Boss Godfrey's face when he receives his early Christmas present. And who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky. Maybe the council will rethink the whole half-baked situation and we'll experience a holiday miracle.

More Grist For the 36th/46th Street Water Tank Discussion Mill

Reprise of a great Std-Ex letter; and an alternate plan to save the lumpencizens over $5 million in taxpayer bucks

We're delighted to note that David Smith's August 18, 2009 letter to the editor, which we previewed on Weber County Forum last week, has made the Standard-Examiner editor's cut, and landed on the Std-Ex editorial page this morning. It's a danged good letter, so we'll give it a well-deserved reprise here:

• Godfrey uses one outrage to pay for another

The Std-Ex's comment section is a mite light on comments so far however, so we'll encourage our readers to visit the Std-Ex site, to throw in your own 2¢.

And David's letter, which pulls no punches in condemning Boss Godfrey's outrageous attempt to hijack the City Council's Water Horizons plan, provides the ideal leadup to what we have to offer next:

Added bonus: So while we're now once again back on the subject of the 36th/46th street water tanks, and David Smith has properly set the mood, we have an added bonus for our readers this morning. Ogden resident Rob Garner has sent us a copy of his alternatative S.E. bench water system proposal, the same proposal he unavailingly presented to the planning commission earlier in the summer. Needless to say, Godfrey's in-house engineers gave this proposal a cool reception, in that it provided a relatively cost effective method to achieve the goals of the City Council's Water Horizons plan, without the "necessity" of expending millions of extra dollars for the installation of Boss Godfrey's latest pet project... the 36th street water tank boondoggle.

Here's how Mr. Garner sums it up in the conclusion to his most excellent article:

The alternative system that I proposed above will not only meet all of the original project objectives but will also save the city at least $5 million dollars in construction costs. Additionally it will give the city’s water system more flexibility and an opportunity to actually offset some of its cost through the sale of city surplus water.
This proposed amendment which you are being asked to approve is a deviation from the original proposed CIP budgeted project. In fact it actually fails to accomplish the intentions of the approved Water Horizon project by not addressing the immediate needs within the southeastern part of the city and then some time in the future when these needs are addressed it will be at additional costs over the original proposal. Please do not find this amendment to be in compliance with the general plan.

For those who'd like to read on, we'll just say that it's with great pleasure that we invite our readers to check out Mr. Garner's full text article:

• Alternative S.E. Bench Water System Proposal

Looks like a great plan to us. Needless to say, we especially liked the part about saving five million bucks.

Hopefully the council will hire their own independent engineer to evaluate the various proposals which are on the table, Mr. Garner's included, and be loaded for bear when they again meet to discuss the issue on September 22d.

With a little extra effort on the council's part, we believe Godfrey's effort to hijack the Water Horizons plan can be thwarted, and Ogden City can save millions of dollars in the process.

Amazing what can happen when the talents of interested and well-informed lumpencitizens are tapped, innit? Boss Godfrey should write that down so he doesn't forget it... but sadly... we know that he won't.

Take it away, O' Gentle Ones.

Important Ogden City Council Work Session Tonight

A heads-up on an ideal opportunity for the lumpencitizens to help nip another hare-brained multi-million dollar Godfrey scheme in the bud

Here's a quick reminder of tonight's council work session, wherein the council will discuss a proposed amendment to the City’s Capital Improvement Plan regarding water tanks proposed on the Southeast Bench around the 36th Street area. For more information, please refer to our August 15, 2009 article, where we examine the matter in more detail. Additional information is also available within the council's August 15, 2009 press release. Here are tonight's time/location coordinates:

Date: Tonight, August 20, 2009
Time: 5:30 p.m.
Location: Ogden City Council Chambers

In a morning comment under an earlier article, Dan S. admonishes that the ultimate outcome regarding the water tank installation will likely have broad implications, including possible increased impact on our open space. Dan's not just whistling Dixie here, by the way. It's not just our trails system which is in jeopardy here. What's clear at this point is that Mayor Godfrey's proposed 36th street tank installation is geared toward providing the foundational infrastructure for his harebrained $146 million top of 36th street Mount Ogden Golf Course Redevelopment Proposal, which would include condos, hotels, a possible gondola station, along with numerous other high impact bells and whistles.

The city council is bending over backwards to obtain robust citizen input on this issue. Citizens have been invited to express their ideas and views with comments being limited to five minutes. Comment cards will also be available at the meeting and any comments may also be e-mailed to citycouncil@ogdencity.com.

Hopefully tonight's meeting will generate a robust turnout by Ogden City residents who'll be willing to offer their uninhibited input. A 36th street water tank installation would constitute an irreversible step toward another multimillion dollar taxpayer-borne Godfrey boondoggle; and tonight's council work session presents an ideal opportunity for the lumpencitizens to nip this hare-brained Godfrey scheme in the bud.

We'll now open this topic for immediate discussion. Later reports from those WCF readers who attend tonight's meeting are also warmly invited, of course.

Take it away O Gentle Ones.

Update 8/20/09 1:13 p.m. MT: We just got this seemingly good news in our email about tonight's work session from somebody who posts under the psuedonym "Film At Eleven":

This just in in. Standard-Ex will be tweeting tonight live from city city council work session:

Poor ole Scott Schwebke. For some reason he can't bring hmself to post with his own name on Weber County Forum. How sad it is that even now he refuses to come off his "high horse," and to directly relate to the the Emerald City Lumpencitizens.

Sad, very sad indeed!

Update 8/20/09 5:21 p.m. MT: For what it's worth, it's our understanding that Scott Schwebke will be tweeting live from tonight's work meeting. Here's the Std-Ex Twitter link:

• Ace Reporter Schwebke's live Twitter tweets

What the hell, we'll take whatever we can get.

Hello, Mr. Schwebke. are you there? Over!

Update 8/20/09 5:38 p.m. MT: We now learn that Dan S. is also inside the council chambers, and will be doing his own live blogging tonight, on behalf of Weber County Forum:

I'm here at the council work session, ready to live-blog what I can! All council members are present except Mr. Johnson. Mr. Franke is giving the council an overview of the process, -Dan S.

Check out Dan's live posts, by opening, viewing and periodically refreshing our lower comments page.

Update 8/21/09 7:53 a.m. MT: The Std-Ex provides a post-work session writeup on its Live! website this morning. Read Scott Schwebke's online story here:

• Ogden residents don’t want water tank atop 36th

Spotlight On Two More Upcoming Council Agenda Items

The 36th/46th street water tanks land in the council's lap; $32 million in mysterious new bonding pops up out of nowhere

There are two more council agendas we'd like to highlight this morning. Noteworthy council agenda items seem to be falling out of the woodwork this week.

First, we'd like to alert our readers to a matter which is being taken up in a council work session next Thursday, 8/20/09. The topic? The 36th/46th street water tanks. Read the city council's press release here:

• WORK SESSION: INFORMATION REGARDING THE 36th/46th STREET WATER TANK TO BE DISCUSSED

As our readers will recall, as part of the City Council's Water Horizons project, our city council last year approved the construction of a water tank at the top of 46th St, and pumping stations along the east bench. Early in the spring however, the council learned that Boss Godfrey had abandoned the 46th street project, and had been quietly working on a $6 million tank installation at the top of 36th street instead. Ultimately the matter was sent back to the planning commission, which last week issued a recommendation to the council to approve an amendment to the City’s Capital Improvement Plan, to substitute the 36th street tank installation.

This matter has taken a long and winding road, but now finds itself squarely back in the council's lap. For those who've been following Weber County Forum's numerous numerous articles regarding this topic, Thursday's council session should prove to be quite enlightening. Moreover, the council is making an exception to the general rule that lumpencitizens have no voice at council work sessions. On Thursday night, anyone who wants to speak up has five minutes.

Next, we'll highlight an agenda item which has popped up on both the council and RDA calenders for this coming Tuesday, 8/18/09. Frankly we have absolutely no idea what this is all about, but this RDA Agenda notation definitely caught our attention:

9. Reports from the Administration:
a. Tax Increment Revenue Refunding Bond. Proposed Resolution 2009-4 authorizing the issuance and sale of not more than $32,000,000 aggregate principal amount of its taxable revenue refunding bonds; and related matters. (Adopt/not adopt resolution – roll call vote)

Read the full RDA and Council agendas here:

• 8/18/09 RDA Agenda
• 8/18/09 Council Agenda

Reliable sources inform us that the Bank of New York, which issued the original letter of credit guaranteeing bonding for the Junction, has suddenly revoked that letter of credit. Perhaps it has something to do with that. Maybe it has something to do with With Boss Godfrey's proposed tax increment funding bailout. It's fuzzy, to say the least.

While we confess we have no idea what's behind this new $32 million council/RDA agenda item, we have absolute confidence we'll soon find out. At the very least, we hope someone within our WCF readership will attend Tuesday's council session and then report back. Better yet, perhaps some of our better informed readers can fill in the blanks in our lower comments section, in the interval between now and Tuesday's RDA/Council meetings.

That's it for now, folks.

Who will be the first to comment?

Water Tank Update: Supplementary Documents For Those Planning To Attend Tonight's Planning Commission Session

Three items which should prove useful for monitoring and evaluating tonight's Planning Commission performance

For the benefit of those readers who are planning to attend tonight's Planning Commission session, Dan S. has transmitted to us three items which should prove useful for monitoring and evaluating tonight's Commission performance:

1) This is the Planning Commission's Staff Report, which sets forth the administration's argument in support of approval of the requested conditional use permit:

• Water Tank Staff Report - June 3, 2009

2) This is the memorandum which Dan has transmitted to the Planning Commission, incorporating his argument in opposition to the approval of the administration's requested conditional use permit:

• Comments on proposed southeast bench water tanks

3) Here are the objective criteria that the Planning Commission must consider in deciding whether to approve a conditional use permit for the 36th street water tank(s) :

• Ogden City Code section 15-7-4: Basis For Issuance of Conditional Use Permit

Unfortunately, we're operating within an extremely short timeline, so it therefore appears that we won't have any of the relatively voluminous engineering reports scanned and available for display prior to tonight's meeting. We'll take, however, whatever the heck we can get. And in truth, we believe the information Dan has provided at this juncture is exceptionally straightforward and digestible.

We accordingly award a well deserved Weber County Forum Tip O' The Hat to Dan Schroeder this morning, for his tireless and highly proficient efforts in re this matter.

Comments, anyone?

Important Planning Commission Meeting Set For Tomorrow (Wednesday) Night

The Planning Commission is called upon to deal with Water Horizons Project mission creep
Updated with newly submitted documents

This morning we'll provide our readers what we hope will be a timely heads-up on a couple of items set for tomorrow's Ogden Planning Commission agenda:

• 5:30 p.m. 3. Request to Amend Capital Improvement Plan, to allow construction of water tanks at 36th Street. (Attachment B) (Recommendation to:) City Council
• 6:00 p.m. 4. Conditional Use Permit/SA Review, for construction of a five-million gallon water tank at approximately 1800 E. 36th Street. (Recommendation to:) Final Action

As our regular readers are aware, as part of the City Council's Water Horizons project, our city council had originally approved the construction of a water tank at the top of 46th St, and pumping stations along the east bench. Early in the spring however, the council learned that its carefully crafted plan had suffered some characteristic Godfrey mission creep, and that Boss Godfrey was busily (and quietly) engaged in preparing to install $5-6 million water tanks at the top of 36th street instead. After some council-administration wrangling, (and a referral to city attorney Gary Williams), Mr. Williams advised that there was enough difference in what the Council had planned and approved, and what Godfrey was doing, that the matter needed to go to the Planning Commission for the issuance of a new conditional use permit (and a subsequent Council amendment of the city's Capital Improvement Plan.) Thus this matter is once again set for tomorrow's Commission agenda for "final action," after being continued from an earlier 6/17/09 commission hearing.

Early in the course of the development of this story, Boss Godfrey offered the excuse that there had merely been some unfortunate clerical confusion, and that the Council's approval of the tank at the top of 46th street had resulted from a typographical error, in a circumstance where the 46th street designation had been inadvertently substituted for an intended reference to 36th Street. Godfrey asserts that he didn't intend to misinform the Council, in other words.

Whether that's true we do not know. However, thanks to The Standard-Examiner, we do have some interesting new information. According to Ace Reporter's Schwebke's 6/29/09 (yesterday) story, the construction of the tanks at 36th street are "justified" by new engineering reports, and other circumstantial factors which would make a top of 36th street location a more favorable choice. That's what Godfrey's mouthpieces are telling us, at least.

As for the content of those new reports, we all remain in limbo. During our most recent discussion of this matter, there were at least three reports sitting on Gary Williams's desk, awaiting his review, in connection with Dan Schroeder's pending GRAMA request.

Whether Dan is now in receipt of these documents we do not know. Hopefully he'll be able to provide electronic copies for display here on WCF however, in advance of the Commission's Wednesday evening hearing.

Of course we already know the real reason Boss Godfrey prefers the 36th Street location.

That's it for now, gentle readers. We hope at least a few of you will put tomorrow's Commission session on your calenders, even though we lumpencitizens (yeah, the ones who pay all Godfrey's bills) will walk into tomorrows meeting (hopefully with steely eyes and torches/pitchforks in hand,) essentially blind to the necessary and relevant"report" information.

The Ogden City Run-Around

One citizen’s efforts to become informed by reading reports that he paid for

by Dan Schroeder

I sometimes get the feeling that there are two different Ogden City Administrations. Most of the administrative staff are great people who will go out of their way to help when you have a question. But as soon as news of your inquiry reaches a sufficiently high level, the door slams shut and they do everything they can to stonewall.

Case in point: I’m currently trying to learn more about the proposed water tanks on Ogden’s southeast bench, so I can provide informed comments to the Planning Commission and perhaps help others do the same. Until this month, I’ve had no trouble getting relevant information on this issue from city staff--especially from Craig Frisbee, the head of the Water Department.

Now the situation has changed completely, as you’ll see from this chronology of my experiences...

Wednesday, June 3: At its evening meeting, the Planning Commission tables a motion to grant a conditional use permit for the proposed 5 million gallon water tank at the top of 36th Street. (I was unable to attend this meeting and didn’t learn until that morning that this item would be on the agenda.)

Thursday, June 4: I call the Planning Department and request a copy of the staff report on the water tank proposal; they email it to me immediately.

Friday, June 5: Blogmeister Rudi does a little research and discovers that there was a 2005 report on the city’s water system prepared by Sunrise Engineering. This report would undoubtedly shed light on the purpose and need for any new water tanks on the east bench.

Tuesday, June 9 (approximately): I call Craig Frisbee and leave a message asking to see the Sunrise Engineering report. He returns my call promptly, and says he’ll have to look for the report and will get back to me in a day or two.

Tuesday, June 16: After hearing nothing for about a week I call Craig Frisbee again, and leave a message asking about the Sunrise report.

Wednesday, June 17: The Planning Commission holds a work session to discuss the water tank proposal. A copy of the executive summary of the Sunrise Engineering report is included in their agenda packets, and I obtain a copy from the Planning staff. At the meeting, City Engineer Justin Anderson attempts to answer questions about the 5 million gallon tank and the smaller, higher tank that is also proposed.

Thursday, June 18: Craig Frisbee finally calls me back, saying he doesn’t have the Sunrise report and that I’ll have to talk to Justin Anderson.

Friday, June 19: I reach Justin Anderson by phone and ask to see the Sunrise Engineering report and any other consultants’ reports that will shed light on some the things he said at the work session. He describes another engineering report (by Bowen and Collins) that I would probably want to see, but explains that he is not permitted to show me either of these reports unless I first file a formal GRAMA request with the city. I immediately draft the GRAMA request and file it with the City Recorder’s office that afternoon, leaving a copy in Anderson’s mailbox.

Monday, June 23: In response to my GRAMA request, Anderson provides the City Recorder’s office with copies of the Sunrise report, the Bowen and Collins report, and a third report that may also be relevant.

Friday, June 26: City Recorder Cindi Mansell informs me that the three reports are under review by the City Attorney’s office, and that the soonest I might get to see them would be Monday, June 29.

So here it is, the weekend before the Planning Commission will decide this matter, and I still don’t have the information I need to write my comments.

Of course, this example pales in comparison to the Sierra Club’s attempts to obtain city records related to the gondola proposal. We’re now two years into that process, and still a long way from settling the matter. In a few days, though, I hope to have a bit more news to report.

Ogden's Open Space Still Threatened By the Little Dork From Harrisville

More brilliant insight into Boss Godfrey's "secret" top of 36th Street scam

Gentle reader Dan Schroeder has just sent us a link to a newly posted article on the Ogden Sierra Club web site:

• Ogden's open space still threatened

In this masterpiece of amateur journalism, Schroeder skillfully juxtaposes three recent developments that threaten the open space on Ogden's east bench:

1. Three proposed water tanks that will provide water service to currently undeveloped areas.
2. The recent golf course/condominium proposal for the top of 36th Street.
3. Last fall's mysterious clearcutting on the Malan's Basin property.

While the forces behind these developments undoubtedly would like us to think they're unrelated, Schroeder's map vividly shows what a curious coincidence that would be. We'll leave it for our gentle readers to draw their own conclusions.

Don't let the cat get your tongues, O gentle ones.

Southeast Bench Water System Improvements Preliminary Design Report

A straightforward proposal to save Emerald City water customers $1.6 million

By Dan Schroeder

Here's an electronic copy of the year-old engineering study on the southeast bench water tanks:

• SOUTHEAST BENCH - WATER SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS - Preliminary Design Report

This report was presented to the City Council at its work session two weeks ago. I attended that work session and got a hard copy of the report, but soon realized that it needs to be distributed more widely. I'm grateful to Mr. Frisbee for going to some effort to obtain an electronic copy for this purpose.

The most important page from my viewpoint is page 11 (13 in the pdf numbering), which shows that the two existing tanks that serve zones 1-3 have more than enough capacity for existing customers, including emergency storage and fire flow. Therefore the proposed 1.25 million gallon tank is entirely for the purpose of facilitating future development.

In my mind the City Council should amend the Capital Improvement Plan to remove authorization and funding for the 1.25 million gallon tank. This would save water customers $1.6 million. If future development, either by WSU or elsewhere, makes such a tank necessary, let the developer pay for it.

The proposed site for the 1.25 million gallon tank may be obsolete, based on what we heard at the work session. Instead they're now talking about putting it farther south, on WSU land, to be accessed from the top of Beus Drive. However, nothing is final so the location could easily change again.

And what say our gentle readers about all this?