Normally, there is little fanfare when new folks move into Midvale.
The neighbors might stop by with some brownies, maybe help unload the couch and dining room set, but otherwise there isn't much of a fuss.But when 13,499 residents consider moving into the city all at once, Midvale pulls out all the stops.
Dozens of residents from the unincorporated Union area were given the royal treatment Wednesday night at City Hall. The first of two open houses - the second is tonight - introduced the city, its elected officials, staff and services to the people who will decide whether Midvale balloons from its current population of 10,994 to 24,493.
And speaking of balloons, there were plenty Tuesday night - and filled with helium, too. There was punch to drink and more cookies than anyone could eat. A videotape played recent news broadcasts about the annexation drive. City employees wore clothes they've probably had in storage since their job interviews. Politicians were smiling - always a tip-off that something's up - and the mood was as festive as a year-end clearance sale at a Larry H. Miller dealership.
"I'm very impressed with all this. The city has done a good job," said Ken Crockett, still unsure whether his home on 455 East should become a Midvale address. "I like the idea of a smaller place where we have more representation, more say about what goes on than we've had in the past."
Impressing Union residents was the whole idea. Many of those who attended said they have yet to sign or mail in their copy of the petition stating their willingness to be annexed into Midvale.
Mark McGrath, the city planner heading the effort, said 700 signed petitions have been received since last week when Midvale launched a mass mailing to both Union and current city residents, informing them of the expansion plans. That was encouraging, McGrath said, but the city still needs another 2,100 signatures - 2,300 more to play it safe - before the huge annexation can be considered by the City Council.
Perhaps the most popular of the information stations clustered along the walls of the City Hall auditorium was the one presented by the city's finance department. There, the visitors - many of them senior citizens - studied a chart comparing the cost of living in Union with the cost of living in Midvale.
The city figures that while the new residents would pay the city's franchise tax, they would pay less for garbage collection, water and property taxes. The end result? A savings, for the average household, of $12.91 per year.
That won't permit retirees Edward and Dorothy Shearer to buy a new Chevy, or even a really old one, but it might be enough to get them to sign the petition.
"We're going to be annexed someplace and I'd rather it be Midvale than be incorporated into Union City," Edward said.
Cheryl Pellegrino and her mother, Norma, voted in favor of the failed Union City incorporation. Now they're warming up to the idea of living in Midvale.
"It would be nice to belong to an area," Cheryl said. "The county's too big. It seems like the county commissioners don't listen to any of our concerns because they're so busy with everybody else."
Midvale officials were busy answering questions and trying to squelch rumors, like the one about how the city of Sandy, which owns the water delivery system in the Union area, might turn off the taps if the annexation goes through. Judy Bell, Sandy's director of public utilities, confirmed Thursday that her city could not legally - and would not want - to do that.
There was another effort to crash the party. Employees of the Salt Lake County sheriff's and fire departments and a group called Citizens for Responsible Local Government stood at the end of the City Hall sidewalk, greeting all comers with information of their own - like how they could remove their names from the annexation petition once they've signed it.
"We just want them to know they have other choices," said sheriff's deputy Glenn Poret, whose job could be eliminated if Midvale annexes Union.
The geographic area the city wants to annex is nearly as large as existing Midvale. It stretches from I-215 south to 7800 South and west from 1300 East to the Midvale city line.
Tonight's open house begins at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 80 E. Center.