Voting and Open Space Committee Update

This year we have a unique opportunity to make a difference through exercising our rights by voting. This year there is likely to be a low turnout because there is not a presidential election. I am encouraging you to get out and vote on November 8th, 2011. You can make a difference! Please take the time to prepare and educate yourself on the best candidate for you. I personally am supporting Tim Irwin, the only Open Space Resident City Council candidate. While I am generally not a political person, having volunteered on several city committees, I know that getting involved makes a difference.

As many of you are aware, the Highland City Open Space Steering Committee has been placed on hold because of the struggles the open space representatives were faced with a lack of action from the city. Scott Smith, a current City Council member had worked quite diligently with this committee and offered some significant support. Many people have voiced their dissatisfaction and concerns about open spaces and as I have participated on this committee and I have brought those concerns to the city. I feel Scott Smith as done an exceptional job, and now more than ever, I feel that we need a City Council representative that understands and is affected by the decisions made related to the open spaces.

The mayor sent out a bulletin in the September utilities bill referring to subsidizing the open spaces. I have been greatly troubled by this response. The majority of our open spaces are also Highland City parks and trails, not unique to the open space development that they are a part of. Many persons from non-open space developments as well as non-Highland City residents have enjoyed these parks and trails, not just open space residents. This is only one of the concerns from open space neighborhoods that has been addressed time and time again. The following letter submitted to the mayor by an open space resident addresses this concern specifically and reiterates the importance of having a City Council representative that understands and is directly affected by the decisions they make:

""Dear Mayor Ritchie,

I read the recent newsletter and am a bit confused by your calculations regarding the pressurized irrigation and open space fees. I will explain my interpretation of these figures and hopefully you can answer my questions.

You say a resident that is on an acre lot pays $30.28 for pressurized irrigation and nothing to the open space fee.

A resident on .25 of an acre pays $16.88 for pressurized irrigation and $20.00 to open space.

You claim that $13.40 of the $20.00 open space fee needs to cover the difference of an acre for pressurized irrigation. This does not make sense to me.

A .25 of an acre resident pays proportionally twice as much as an acre resident for PI.

I understand that you have 4 residents (.25 of an acre each) paying $16.88 each for PI which totals $67.52 for an acre for PI. This is more than double what one resident pays for one acre. I would assume that having 4 houses on one acre would have less space to water and use less pressurized irrigation than one house on an acre with a lot of yard.

I don't see how there can be a shortage given my interpretation of the figures you presented. If $30.28 covers the PI fee for each acre, you are collecting that much and more per acre. If this amount does not cover the PI fees, than that needs to be addressed. The higher density residents pay more per acre in PI fees than the one acre residents and the additional amount that the higher density residents pay in PI fees should cover the PI fees in the open space area, eliminating taking out PI fees from the open space fee.

I do not understand how you feel that all residents subsidize the open space when only some are paying for it. I live in a higher density neighborhood and have yet to see the majority of our open space developed. I believe there is 14 acres undeveloped and you can't tell me that the $20 per month collected from over 150 residents in the neighborhood can't cover the costs of maintaining the open space of natural vegetation and little bit that has been developed.

Sincerely,

Jennifer P.""

While this letter is just a small part of the concerns Open Space residents have, you can see that there is still a lot of work to be done. Please, get out and vote! I would also strongly encourage you to attend the City Council debate this evening at 7:00 p.m. at Highland City Hall. Bring your questions and learn about the candidates positions and how their positions will affect you. If you need more information, please follow this link http://highlandcity.org/index.aspx?NID=267.

Sincerely,

Kristi V.