Tuesday, September 25, 2007

In this Hotline:

• Planning Commission Meeting Thursday
• Church Bells Ringing once again
• For Sale - Can't Afford the Taxes Signs and a visit from the Deseret News

The regularly scheduled Town Planning Commission Meeting is Thursday, September 27, 2007 at 7:00 pm at the Huntsville Town Hall.  The agenda will be posted soon at www.HuntsvilleTown.com

Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend.

Church Bells Ringing

Since the early 70's (after the church fire), hourly Church bells have been a part of Huntsville.  In recent years, the system has been broke and we would like to thank Ruston McKay, Lane Hoyt and others who helped revive the bells.  Today, as I drove by my alma mater, Westminster College, their bells were ringing and caused me to reflect on the uniqueness we share in Huntsville.

Commentary From Richard Sorensen, Huntsville Resident:

IT IS SHOWTIME!

The Deseret News will be visiting Huntsville Wednesday to see our homes for "sale."  Be sure to pick up your sign(s) at my home and post prominently:

335 S 7700 E

Huntsville (2 blocks east of the park)

There is a box full near the mail box and a donation of $1 per sign would be appreciated to offset costs.

Be Unified for Statewide Tax Reform!

You may have noticed some "For Sale - Can’t Afford The Taxes" signs popping up around the Valley and an explanation is probably in order. While our efforts began several weeks ago as a way to get the taxes reassessed, it has grown much larger - STATEWIDE TAX REFORM. Our plan is constantly "adapting," but Long term and REAL reform is possible with your support - we need to be unified.

In turn, we need to reach other areas Statewide to garner their support. This is no longer an issue of Huntsville and the Weber County Assessor, but a UTAH issue. The assessors say they are following state law, and the lawmakers say the County’s need to fix the problem - an endless circle!

While I fully support the efforts of many legislators who seem to be listening (our own Gage Froerer for one), there are very strong lobbyists who oppose the necessary reform. They want to patch the problem with masking tape, when Gorilla Glue is necessary to fix the broken system.

The media is listening and our efforts are getting Statewide attention. Guaranteed, the Governor and legislators have heard of our plight and will continue to hear even more.

Together we can make a change.

If you would like a sign and cannot pick it up, please reply to this email with your address and we will place one for you.

Lastly, several web sites have been created, but one seems to have links to most of the others - http://ov-tax.blogspot.com/

From there you can link to a Gage Froerer and D-Bell site, among others. I urge you to get informed and get involved.

Disclaimer: The "For Sale" campaign is an action spearheaded by me after receiving the suggestion from a very prominent couple in town. In fact, he holds a high position in both the Government and his church. Others have embraced and joined the "For Sale" campaign.

With that in mind, it is important to state that, to date, our effort has neither the endorsement nor the support of the Huntsville Town council. It is a grassroots effort on my part as a resident (along with other prominent residents), as I cannot speak for the other council members. This is the same disclaimer I have used when speaking with the press many times over the past few weeks.

That’s all for now, have a great week.