Orem Citizen

Orem Roundabout

2006-07-31T15:04:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not someone has taken the time to create a website about roundabouts and Orem is on the list.

There is a roundabout on the north side of 800 North street (arround 450 West) that may be worthy of inclusion. I'm not sure if that roundabout is owned by Pinecrest or the City of Orem.

I've taken a few photos to send to the above-mentioned site.

This roundabout has a few traffic problems. Often the patrons of the nearby bank decided to cut the wrong way around the roundabout (they turn left on the roundabout to exit onto 800 North). Also, when traffic is busy, vehicles waiting to turn on to 800 North get backed up into the roundabout which means vehicles at other points of the circle are stopped as well. This roundabout might work better if it were placed another 150 feet to the North.

Japanese Beetle Traps

2006-08-21T05:38:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple of weeks I've noticed several bug traps placed around the Geneva Heights neighborhood. They look like an extra-wide lawn dart with yellow fins and a dark green shaft. Recently I discovered that these traps are collecting Japanese Beetles (Daily Herald article, Deseret News article). Each trap contains a pherimone sample for Japanese beetles which attracts the insect. The chemical mixture also sterilizes the beetle to prevent further outbreak. It sounds like more than 500 beetles have been collected over the last couple of weeks using these traps. The outbreak seems to be localized in Orem around Orem Community hospital. The State of Utah has already placed plants imported from several other states on quarantine to prevent an outbreak in Utah.

For more information on this hungry insect visit the Wikipedia entry on the Japanese beetle.

Update: Also came across an article in the Salt Lake Tribune: http://www.sltrib.com/ci_4223249.

Sharon Community Educational and Recreational Association

2006-07-29T22:25:00.000-07:00

Quoting from a short history written by Kenneth L. Cannon II.

SCERA was created in 1933 under the guidance of Arthur V. Watkins, then president of the LDS Sharon Stake and later a United States Senator from Utah, as a substantial community effort at "planned and organized recreation." SCERA has fulfilled much of its anticipated role in the city since its birth in the depths of the Great Depression.

Recently I took my wife on a date to the SCERA Summer Matinee to see a movie. We had an enjoyable experience. Although I have been to many SCERA plays and movies before, I was more conscious this time of how much work it must take to keep such an organization operational. I felt grateful to have such a wonderful resource available in our community. I was also impressed with those who were volunteering their time to support this organization and to improve themselves as individuals. It seemed to me to be a great family atmosphere from the polite young man who filled our popcorn (couldn't have been more than 10 years old) to the "cry-rooms" we noticed for parents with a fussy baby.

So my thanks goes out to those who organize, maintain and support in so many ways this valuable piece of our community.

http://www.scera.org/

Voting On Transportation Tax

2006-08-04T15:40:00.000-07:00

Now it's official. Utah county will be voting on a quarter-cent transportation tax this November. "87 percent of the increased revenues [will go] to commuter rail, 8 percent to roads and 5 percent to other transit".

Library Advisory Commission Report

2006-07-27T04:03:00.000-07:00

While attending a city council meeting recently I had the opportunity to hear the Library Advisory Commission give a report to the city council. They did an excellent job and I was impressed with their passionate support of this impressive public resource.

They discussed the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival which, if I recall, focused more on a report of some of their mid-season events. However, this reminded me that I have not yet purchased tickets for this year. Due to various reasons I have not yet had the opportunity to attend this event. From what I hear I am missing out on an excellent experience. I'm hoping to make it this year. If so, I'm sure you'll hear about it in a future post.

Other topics covered were the library's art collection, storytelling at the library and some talk of a possible botanical garden (I'll have to get more info on this).

There was a great presentation on NetLibrary which provides access to "5700 e-books and 1,600 audiobooks". Wow! You can get all that with your library card. All you have to do is go in to the library or call and they will setup an account for you. I'll probably do that tomorrow.

Orem Library has been selected to be in a book about libraries published by Berkshire Publishing Group. See an upcoming post with more details about this book.

Orem Public Library Selected for Book

2006-07-28T07:33:00.000-07:00

Berkshire Publishing Group will be publishing a book titled "Heart of the Community: The Libraries We Love". Orem Public Library has been selected as one of eighty-four libraries to be honored in the book.

Tax Increase to Fund Transportation Projects

2006-07-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

Another issue to study up on for this fall:

Tax Increase to fund Commuter-rail and Other Transportation Projects

Orem, Utah in Top 100 Best Places to Live 2006

2006-07-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

Money Magazine ranked Orem, Utah #38 in their Best Places to Live 2006. I'm not at all surprised!

Looks like the Orem website will have to be updated.

Here is the info for Utah cities that made the list.

KUTV reported that "All three cities in Utah had a higher percentage of married people and a lower median age than the average for all the cities on the list".

Last year American Fork, Centerville and Riverton were on the list. Orem was a contender.

Easy on the Volunteers

2006-07-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

Take a look at this article about the CitizenResource.org group (CR). It seems that Jessica Connors, representing CR, is attempting to motivate others to get out and vote. In fact she goes beyond this by saying, "Make it a priority to be educated and get to the polls." We really do need more voter education. However, the title given to the article focuses solely on electronic voting. I think this title is what drew the attention of Bev Harris at BlackBoxVoting.org (BBV). Bev responded to the above article with this post: "Who the heck is this Utah group really?". She continues with, "When have you ever heard of a legitimate citizens group set up to tout the benefits of touch-screen voting?". If you know a little about BBV you will understand why Bev and other may have been a bit irritated by this. The remaining comments to the post seem to affirm this irritation.

However, based on what I've read about CR I don't think the group was "setup to tout the benefits of touch-screen voting". Information about the organization says nothing about it's conception having anything to do with voting machines. I did find a page where Jessica Connors quotes Sandy Hoffmann, Utah County Elections Coordinator, who is explaining how electronic voting machines could help "a person who is visually or hearing impaired to vote independently and privately". Other benefits were discussed in this press release as well. Other than that, the website seems to contain little information regarding electronic voting machines. It really does seem that the true intent of CR is to educate voters and get them out to vote. I'm sure Jessica Connors was excited about technology and other changes that could facilitate more people voting.

As CR continues to educate voters I think they would seriously consider providing information regarding Utah citizens concerned about the security of the new machines. One example is Bruce Funk, Emery County Clerk. You can find more information about Mr. Funk in this article printed in the Emery County Progress on March 28th, 2006. Information such as this could prove valuable in helping voters make informed decisions.

Next time, perhaps we could benefit from giving CR and others a little bit of slack before jumping to conclusions.

Taking Initiative

2006-07-20T23:26:00.000-07:00

Recently I came across a website called CitizensResource.org. This is a great example of how we could take the initiative and be involved in your community. I quote from their About page:

"Citizens' Resource is a fledgling organization, established by two neighboring
families. Like you, we want to be involved in our community, to be informed, and
contribute to the future by doing our civic duty."

Great work CR!

Orem citizens could use resources such as this to make informed decisions about national and local elections. Voting is more than the drive to the polling station. Take some time to study out the issues. Consider becoming involved yourself by contributing information, volunteer time, donations, etc. We help our community by helping each other.

2006 General Elections

2006-06-28T19:25:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of candidates for the upcoming 2006 General Election in Utah. Not all of the candidates listed here pertain to you. To narrow down the information you will need your voting district.

Your voting district can be found on your voter registration card. If you do not have one of these you can register and receive one or you can use an interactive map on the county website that will show you your voting district. Update: orem.org has a much better map for finding your voting district.

When you have your voting district you can check here to find out the other districts you are living in (Congressional, School District, etc).

Introduction

2006-05-31T17:56:00.000-07:00

One definition of the word citizen is "a resident of a city or town, especially one entitled to vote and enjoy other privileges there".

These rights, entitlements and privileges require effort and maintenance. As citizens we can contribute to this maintenance.

How can we become more dutiful citizens in the places we live today?

This blog is a small part of my attempts to contribute to the city I live in.

Good Neighbor, Good Citizen

2006-07-14T07:39:00.000-07:00

This morning I came across an excellent article about being a good citizen written by a Father James Keller.

Note the subsection entitled "For Your Consideration".

I also liked the section Our Calling as Citizens.

http://www.christophers.org/nn436.html

Neighborhood Meeting

2006-06-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I attended a local neighborhood meeting. The mayor and several other city officials were in attendance. This was a great opportunity to learn and discuss issues in our neighborhood. We talked with Wade Raab who is in charge of the Neighborhood Preservation Unit. We had the opportunity to ask the mayor questions. The meeting also presented the chance to meet neighbors that I had not met before.

Here is a sample of some of the topics discussed:

beautification of a local street
tennis courts located at two of the schools in our area
a neighborhood service project planned for July
a crosswalk on a busy road
traffic lights
round-abouts
re-paving roads

Thanks to Wayne and Chris Tobler, the Neighborhood co-chairs, Joyce Johnson, Mayor Washburn and others who made this meeting possible and so successful. I hope to have more of these in the future.

History of Orem

2006-07-10T22:43:00.000-07:00

There is great value in knowing the history of the places that you live. So often people move to a city and never take the time to find out who it was named after or when it was founded. Our research of and reverence for these histories helps us become better citizens wherever we live. Understanding the past often helps us understand the present better. We can also be benefitted by understanding the great sacrifices that were often made in the early days of a community.

Have you ever noticed a surname sculpted into the architecture of an old building. Who was the building named after? Who owned the building? Who built it? There is a wealth of information waiting for you out there. Learning the history of your community will help you feel more connected to it.

Have you ever thought about the person that built the house that you live in now? Have you considered what buildings stood there prior? Perhaps it was at one time a farm. Who owned it? What did they grow?

The Orem Public Library houses numerous resources about the history of Orem. Here are a few examples:

It happened in Orem : a bicentennial history of Orem, Utah by Orem Bicentennial History Committee

Sagebrush to steel : an Orem centennial history, 1861-1961 by Clyde E. Weeks

Early Orem homesteader's profiles, 1870-1900 by Reba Bowen

Tour of historic sites in the City of Orem (pamphlet)

This last resource moved me to search for an online tour. I found this Historical Sites Tour on the orem.org website. Great! I'm planning my tour already. I'll take my camera and post pictures but it would be much more valuable to take your kids and go visit a site or two yourselves each month.

Here are a few other resources I've found online:

By the way, Orem was incorporated in 1919 and named after Walter C. Orem.

Tomorrow our neighborhood will be holding a servic...

2006-07-07T08:35:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow our neighborhood will be holding a service project.

Here are the details:

The Geneva Neighborhood is having a Neighborhood Cleanup & Picnic
Dumpsters will be available in the Orem Jr. High School Park Lot
Saturday, July 8th
8:00 am - 11:30 am
Many cleanup projects are being planned in the various Neighborhood Districts and at the school. Please meet at the school for assignments and to get yard tools.
Lunch will follow the clean-up activity at 11:30 at the school pavillion. The Mayor and Council members will be on hand to cook (burn) the hotdogs!
There will be visits from a fire truck (kids bring a towel if you want to get squirted by the fire hose), police car and ambulance. Officers will be on hand to talk with the kids about what they do and how they do it!
City of Orem
Neighborhoods in Action

I'll be there!

Geneva Neighborhood Cleanup & Picnic The clean-up...

2006-07-08T12:02:00.000-07:00

Geneva Neighborhood Cleanup & Picnic

The clean-up projects seemed to be a big success. There were so many projects spread across so many locations that it was difficult to get an idea of how many people showed up. I liked the fact that they had sign up sheets for each of the projects. Next time it may be valuable to have a captain at each site with a two-way radio to communicate status and other needs for tools, manpower, etc.

As advertised, the dumpsters were there and we filled them full. It seemed like there were quite a few private trucks and trailers that also made trips.

Here are a few examples of the types of projects being carried out:

Removed sod from around the base of several dozen young trees. Apparently the weed eaters were not being very kind to the bark.
Cleaned up the backyard of an elderly woman in the neighborhood.
Removed trees and suckers from overgrown area of the road. This overgrowth was making it difficult for drivers to see oncoming traffic.

Afterward, there was a picnic in the park. They had plenty of hotdogs and they were not burnt! :) Thanks to many of the city officials who participated in this activity and were represented there at the lunch. Chris Tobler was there (of course) who earlier ran the sign-in booth and managed the checkin/out of tools. Karen McCandless was there cooking hotdogs. Joyce Johnson was there as well along with many others. The hotdogs, chips, pops and cookies were great.

One of the highlights of the day, especially for kids, had to be the fire truck. I've seen this previously and it is so much fun to watch. Basically they pull a big fire truck out into the middle of the park and turn on the hose. Water shoots up into the air (I think they had it coming out of the extended ladder). Then kids come running from all directions to enjoy the experience. It was a sight to see.