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by George Parsons & Helen Taylor NOCC January 12, 2010
To a packed and emotionally charged City Council Meeting, following the Pledge of Allegiance and opening prayer, Annette Spendlove and Bill Bernard were reappointed to their respective City positions of Recorder and Treasurer. Citizen Dale Swenson expressed his gratitude, and thanked departing Mayor Harrop for his positive comments in the City monthly newsletter and many years of service. Kent Christensen, of Crane Christensen & Ambrose Auditing Firm, summarized the City Financial Reports as “correct” and provided their “best possible opinion” with all City funds ending with a positive balance (except for the RDA fund that rarely does) and noted the City was scheduled to return $52,000 of unused RAMP money to the State. Revenues for the City were 6.3 Million, which was a $300,000, or 4.5% decrease from the previous year. He commented the City was in a “good financial position” due to effective financial management. He recognized Debbie Cardenas, Finance Director, for her outstanding assistance in the review process.
George Comber, the local chapter President of the non-profit Kiwanis Club, presented the City with the funds raised at the 2009 Cherry Days Golf Tournament. These funds are to pay for future projects, and mentioned past ones that included posting nice wooden welcome signs at the entrance to the City, and 1,000 children’s books to the library. Service pins were presented to various staff members: recognizing Brian Galvez, Trent Wilkins and Debbie Cardenas for 5 years, Gary Kerr for 10 years, Bruce Higley for 20 years and Merlin Clark for 30 years of service to North Ogden City.
Departing Mayor Harrop received a plaque and “Proclamation” from the City Staff, in appreciation for his having served two terms as Mayor, and Council Member Jed Musgrave was recognized for his 12 years of service. Mayor Harrop, in his heart-felt response, reminded the citizens of the “power of the ballot box” and commended the Council for their “budget restraints and monumental efforts” during his tenure.
At this point, the new Council Members, Wade Bigler and Brent Taylor, were sworn in along with new Mayor, Richard Harris, to “uphold the Constitution of the United States and the State of Utah.” To date, only new Council Member Bigler has attended the “Constitutional Studies Seminar for Municipal Governments” presented by Doug McGregor, of the Coalition for Constitutional Education, at the nearby Harrisville City Offices. The fee for this seminar was graciously provided for, by an anonymous donor for all the City Council.
Mayor Harris took command and promptly advanced the first ordinance of 2010-01 that reaffirmed the Council meetings will continue on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month. Citizen, LaPreal Hull, in a closing comment, complemented former Mayor Harrop with having the “highest code of professional ethics” in her opinion.
The wives of the new council members were introduced and acknowledged for their future patience and understanding for the many hours of work ahead. Council Member Brent Taylor, seized the moment to comment that on the back of their name plates staring at them at every Council meeting, is the admonition “YOU WORK FOR THEM” to remind the Council that their ‘Boss’ is the Citizen of this Great City of North Ogden, in the Great State of Utah, in the Great Republic of these United States. He stated he loved history and provided a short lesson on Rome, established many hundreds of years ago, as a “Res Publica” where the citizens took turns serving in a government that was “open and public” and commonly referred to now as a “Republic.”
The final item of business was a summary of the City Recycle Program, by Ed Dickie, City Manager, wherein he reported the City has recycled approximately 6,000 tons of material over the past 4 years (2005-09). That equates to 81,000 mature trees, 25 million kilowatt hours of electricity, 18,000 cubic yards of landfill airspace, 2 million gallons of oil, 114,000 gallons of gas and 33 million gallons of water. He emphasized this joint City and Community effort places North Ogden in a top spot for a “Green Rating” for cities of comparable size!
North Ogden City Council adjourned, and a lovely reception ensued for citizens to congratulate new Council Members and express their appreciation to the newly departed. |