Bountiful
The City Council may approve a 15 percent to 17 percent increase in power costs for the 2001 summer season at a meeting Tuesday night.
"It's just a bad market right now, and there are a lot of casualties. We don't want our city or our residents to be casualties," City Manager Tom Hardy said.
The city wants to lock in a higher power rate now rather than hope prices go down and take a risk, Hardy said, and if approved, the increase would go into effect July 1 and help the city to break even instead of lose money. A 10 percent power cost increase went into effect Jan. 1.
The council will also consider the sale of up to $8 million in lease revenue bonds and $3 million in taxable lease revenue bonds. The bonds are part of the public financing side of the Five Points Mall replacement project.
Tuesday night's meeting begins at 7 in the council chambers of the City Hall, 790 S. 100 East.
Salt Lake City
Polynesian entertainment, snacks, skate-park building plans and new water mains are on the agenda for the District 2 town meeting Tuesday. The public meeting will also include presentations on upcoming activities at the Raging Waters park and Sorenson Multi-Cultural Center, and remarks by Mayor Rocky Anderson and District 2 Council Van Turner. The meeting will run from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Sorenson Multi-Cultural Center, 855 W. California Ave. (1330 South).
This town meeting is devoted to issues affecting District 2, which stretches roughly from I-80 to 800 West and from the Jordan River to Redwood Road. For information call the City Council office at 535-7600.
Salt Lake County
Salt Lake-area artists — performing, visual or both — are urged to attend an Olympic planning meeting Monday at the City-County Building. Budget and policy analyst Susi Kontgis hopes to bring local creative people together to find and fund venues for performances and exhibitions during the 2002 Winter Games. The open meeting will run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday in Room 335 of the City-County Building, 400 S. State.
West Jordan
Planning on buying a new, more efficient toilet? You may want to wait until this fall.
The Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District plans to implement a demonstration program this fall whereby residents will be able to trade in their old, wasteful toilets for brand new, low-flush models. It is being patterned after a program that has worked well in several municipalities throughout Southern California, said Tage Flint, the district's assistant general manager.
In 1992 a plumbing code was established nationally that required toilets to operate at 1.6 gallons per flush. Many old toilets use about 5 gallons per flush. Cities throughout the West, where water is scarce, are trying out toilet-replacement programs, Flint said.
Flint estimates more than 100,000 toilets should be replaced in the Salt Lake Valley. For the first year, the district plans to use $50,000 from its budget, which could buy about 800 toilets at $60 each. Those toilets, which normally use culinary water, could reduce household usage by about 44 gallons per day, Flint said.
If the program is successful, federal funds will be sought to involve more municipalities served by the district. The district is a wholesale supplier of water to cities and towns — retailers — who then sell water to their customers, the residents. Nearly 800,000 people use district water supplies.