Our small community is not immune to crimes. In September Deputy Curt Ricks, Weber County Sheriff detective, told the city council that the Sheriff's Department has been working on two cases in the community where stolen property has been recovered, and the individuals involved arrested. While this may represent a serious problem within our boundaries, Community Resource Officer Ricks could relate many instances ranging from minor to major crimes that occur each year within our boundaries. As part of the November council meeting, a public hearing on the application filed by Diane Miller for an agriculture protection area at 530 South 2050 was held. The goal of such an area is to protect agricultural activities from complaints from adjoining development. No public comment was offered either for or against the application. Upon closing of the public hearing, the application was approved. If only we could accurately foresee the future. In the November council meeting, Ned Hacker, Jori Johner, and Scott Festin from the Wasatch Front Regional Council presented a slide show to the council regarding projected growth and objectives to reduce infrastructure and improve transportation. Council members made insightful comments. Kim Slater remarked that he really could not see how you can tell people where to live. Rob Smout asked how they plan for open space, and received the answer that it will be "eventually developed or preserved." President Dennis Ilium said that the city's general plan essentially follows the growth principles of the WFRC, and that adjoining cities need to work toward coordination of transportation and growth principles. WFRC asked if it was all right to proceed with their proposed principles. The council informally agreed, but would like to see something more specific. And then there are roads (and all the problems entailed). The city has had great concern about the deterioration of 1200 West due to heavy truck traffic. This problem was confirmed in January by a study by J-U-B Engineers. They recommend a weight limit of 10 tons be placed on the road which would eliminate larger trucks damaging it. Of course, many industrial entities who use the road would not be happy with the limit. Alternate state roads and possibly 400 North could be used. Eventually the 1200 West road will need to be reconstructed, but the city does not have sufficient funds to do that, and it must be preserved as much as possible. The decision for the posting of weight limits was made. As expected, the new weight limits ruffled some feathers of those affected. Mayor Keith Butler spoke with the county commissioners about the weight limit signs for 1200 West, and received permission to post them on Weber County property. Mayor Jimmie Papageorge of Farr West City was not in agreement with the posting, and did not allow the signs placed in his city. The signs were made and placed, and the sheriffs office was advised of the new weight limits. Mr. Blake Wahlen from the Boyer Company asked that the Mayor change his mind about the limit, so trucks could access BDO. President Illum informed him that 2nd Street could be used instead. Then the Weber County Commission expressed concern. The city received a letter from George Binford, Public Services Director for Ogden City, regarding 1200 West Street. Ogden proposed to help pay some costs of an overlay of this road in exchange for our city lifting the weight limit. City administration is considering a long-range plan to reconstruct the entire road and is pursuing state and federal funds for that purpose. An overlay will not fix the sub-grade base of the road which cannot support heavy trucks. Councilman Delbert Hodson was concerned that widening 1200 West would create more traffic problems, but the city only proposed a center turn lane with two traffic lanes as at present. A letter was drafted by Administrator Bill Morris to Ogden City informing them that our city was not interested in their offer, as requested by the council. President Ilium hopes a long-term resolution of the problem can be reached. Pot Hole Alert! As this problem seems to always be with us, President Ilium requested residents to call the city office and report pot holes on any of our roads. Repairs were carried out, especially on 1200 West. On the state level, we were warned of an outbreak of orange cones in our future. At the City Council meeting held on June 16, 2005, Brent DeYoung, UDOT, reported on the planned reconstruction of I-15,