Caleb Warnock - DAILY HERALD | Posted: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 11:00 pm
Fielding questions from Cedar Hills Council members on Tuesday night, Utah House Rep. Craig Frank, R-Pleasant Grove, said Alpine School District has grown disconnected from the people it serves.
Frank met with city officials to answer any questions they may have. He began by saying the Legislature will work this session to find funding to widen State Road-92.
"We are going to hit S.R. 92 really hard," he said. "I hate to think I have special interests here. I have purchased a lot here and my (home) plans are with the HOA. My wife and I are planning to move our family here."
Frank arrived late because of Interstate 15 traffic, and council members were allowed to ask one question apiece because of time constraints.
"I feel Alpine School District is too large and not in touch with people," said councilman Joel Wright.
Because existing legislation gives cities the vote on splitting from the school district, "what if Orem, Lindon, Pleasant Grove and American Fork say they want to secede, leaving us with a remainder that has a much less viable tax base to support it," Wright said. "People need to realize that they pay three times as much property tax to Alpine School District as they do to Cedar Hills. So what do you recommend we do to get ready for thatfi"
"I firmly believe that is not going to happen," Frank said, noting he and other legislators have a monthly meeting with the school district board "and we discuss the potential of that kind of thing happening. A lot of the problem is that these districts have grown so rapidly and the structure and mentality of the board has not grown as quickly as the population, so there is a slight disconnect as far as not having a solid connection with the future of what we are going to do here... I think we are going to solve that problem in a different direction."
Councilman Charelle Bowman said that Cedar Hills is working to build a recreation center on land south of Lone Peak High School using money collected in impact fees, and because of various laws, is running out of time to begin construction. The city is having trouble even identifying the owner of the land they need, she said. The Legislature may need to act in order to assist the city in securing the land in the timeline required. She asked Frank to fast-track a study of what needs to be done for Cedar Hills to secure the land, adding she is nervous that the 2008 legislative session is so close and nothing has been done to help Cedar Hills.
"Right now we are running out of time and we need that land," she said.
Frank said the state owns at least part of the land. "Unfortunately, someone else wants it too," he said.
American Fork has submitted a letter to him saying they need the land for a cemetery, he said.
Mayor Mike McGee said that the parcel is 300 acres and Cedar Hills needs "maybe 20 acres of that." Council members agreed they would work with American Fork, Frank, and the state to figure out a way for both cities to get what they need in a timely manner.
Councilman Gary Maxwell pressed Frank repeatedly to say when the reconstruction of I-15 in Utah County will begin. Frank demurred, saying he did not want to pin down a date, before finally saying UDOT officials had recently told him the $1.5 billion project may not start until 2020.
"That would be the farthest horizon, because in my opinion I think we need it now," he said. "...Unfortunately, it is a $1.5 billion project. Five to seven years is my window. ...I am being optimistic in five to seven years."
Councilman Jim Perry told Frank that the Legislature must avoid making blanket laws that tie the hands of individual cities making decisions for their own residents.
"As an elected official of a municipality, it seems like the state wants to reach in, almost like they know better than we do what is best for our community," Perry said. He cited the recent example of a bill that did not make it out of a legislative subcommittee that would have limited cities' ability to join UTOPIA.
"I am a local government person," Frank said, "and I do think you know best what your residents want. There have been some unusual hiccups in some of the legislation in recent years and that had unintended consequences. I'm sure that never happens here (in Cedar Hills)."