Cottonwood Heights Journal | April 2024

(LAW)SUITS, SIDEWALKS AND SENIORS—A RECAP OF ANNUAL CITY COUNCIL RETREAT

By Cassie Goff | c.goff@mycityjournals.com

During the six-hour-long Cottonwood Heights City Council retreat on Feb. 24, the mayor, councilmembers, city manager, department chairs, and city staff members met to discuss the city’s priorities for 2024, updates to ongoing projects, five-year financial projections, and the city’s strategic initiatives. Here are some of the highlights:

The council would like to explore the possibility of implementing more older adult programs throughout the city and/or finding a location for a senior center.

“Doing something for our seniors is really worthwhile,” said Mayor Mike Weichers.

The council brainstormed potential ideas such as setting aside time one day per week for older adults to use the community room in City Hall for various activity and events, working with the Cottonwood Heights Recreation Center to offer more programs geared for older adult activities, setting up places for older adults to get healthy low-cost meals while being on fixed income, and offering some pilot services and events to see if older adults would actually attend.

“The building right next to the Rec Center is being used by UFA as a search and rescue, but they are moving up the canyon so they might give that building to the city,” said Cottonwood Heights Police Chief Robby Russo.

A significant change in the Cottonwood Heights Police Department (CHPD) is expected this upcoming year with the retirement of Assistant Chief of Police Paul Brenneman. As he is the primary contact of the Emergency Management team, city leaders will have a tough decision

Sidewalk construction and maintenance is at the top of the Cottonwood Heights City Council’s minds for this upcoming fiscal year. (Cassie Goff/City Journals)

Councilmember Shawn Newell would love to see a sidewalk developed in front of the local post office, even if it will cost tens of thousands of dollars. (Cassie Goff/City Journals)

Some Cottonwood Heights residents finally get fiber infrastructure

By Cassie Goff | c.goff@mycityjournals.com

S elect Cottonwood Heights residents can now expect fiber to be coming available for their home usage. SenaWave’s Chief Revenue Officer Ladd Marshall spoke to the Cottonwood Heights City Council on March 19 about their current infrastructure development for fiber along with their future development and service plans.

This may come as either a welcome surprise or an abrupt shock for residents within the city, when considering the previous council conversations with fiber optic infrastructure. For over two years, the Cottonwood Heights City Council has been in open conversations with various fiber companies to try and determine which fiber company would be best suited for the city.

Part of the reason fiber has not yet been available throughout the city is because of the requirements and mandates set within current city code and ordinances. Hearing from UTOPIA, Google Fiber, Century Link, and Comcast in 2022, these companies would require alterations to the city’s ordinances to be able to develop infrastructure throughout the city.

City staff members, city leaders, and elected officials were in process of evaluating these various fiber companies to determine which would ultimately be best for the city and win a contract to develop infrastructure under specific conditions, when SenaWave came onto the scene.

SenaWave was able to meet all the requirements set out in the current city’s code and ordinances so they were able to move forward with their permitting through the city offices without getting explicit approval from all five of the city councilmembers.

“They are already within the ordinances within the city so there won’t be any need to update the documents,” said Mayor Mike Weichers.

The ordinance the mayor is referencing here dates back to March 2022 when Ordinance 376: Granting a Telecommunications System Franchise to Vaix Inc. DBA SenaWave Communications was unanimously approved by the previous city council.

Fiber infrastructure has begun to be developed toward the east boundary of the city along Wasatch Boulevard, near the mouth of the canyons. SenaWave is currently laying conduit and pulling fiber lines.

“All fiber optic is in the ground,” said Marshall. “We try to match where the other utilities are in the public easement of the road. There is a hole that has to be dug so we can drill or launch with a bore….We can lay the grass back down. When it’s done properly, stuff grows back.”

When considering providing fiber to apartment complexes within the city, Marshall reaffirmed his understanding that every apartment complex is different and agreements with property owners need to be negotiated.

“We pride ourselves on being real easy to work with,” Marshall said. “We care about our customers and the neighborhoods.”

Marshall reported that SenaWave offers fiber and internet residential services from $55 up to $200 monthly, depending on desired internet speed and download/upload capacity.

“We like to be a breath of fresh air for pricing,” Marshall said.

Marshall also mentioned that SenaWave has 24/7 tech support and can often have techs within the Cottonwood Heights area within 24-48 hours, if not the same day.

To contact SenaWave directly: call 801-217-9000 or email info@senawave.com.

SenaWave plans to have fiber in front of 500 residents’ doors by the time of this publication run. Their target is to have fiber throughout the city within two years. Cottonwood Heights residents who wish to learn more about SenaWave and/or pre-sign-up for fiber can visit their website at: www.senawave.com/cottonwoodheights.

To view recaps of the previous presentations from UTOPIA, Google Fiber, Century Link, and Comcast, search for “fiber” on the Cottonwood Heights City Journals website at: www.cottonwoodheightsjournal.com.

The Cottonwood Heights City Council wanted to iterate to residents that even though SenaWave is currently developing their fiber infrastructure, that doesn’t mean they were the preferred company for fiber throughout the city by all current members of the city council, as the conversation deliberating on which fiber company would be best for the city are ongoing. Councilmember Suzanne Hyland plans to write more in her feature in the May edition of the Cottonwood Heights City Newsletter. l

SenaWave announces that they will now be offering TV everywhere with AT&T TV. (Photo courtesy of SenaWave)

Area students top DECA’s state finals; international competition will be in April

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

Morethan 22,000 high school students, teachers, advisers, alumni and business professionals will gather at the DECA international career development conference this month.

Many of the 10,000 DECA members will demonstrate their knowledge by participating in the competitive events program, which will be held April 27-30 in Anaheim, California. They had to qualify at their state competitions.

In Utah, hundreds of high school students dressed in their finest packed the Davis County Conference Center for the statewide business or DECA competition in late February.

DECA’s mission to prepare emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges worldwide. There are more than 255,000 DECA members who are students, teachers, advisers, alumni and professionals.

At the statewide competition, next year’s student officers were announced, including Corner Canyon’s Maddie Bloom, who will serve as the central region vice president.

Alta High was one of several Salt Lake Valley teams that competed. Its DECA club has 85 members and 30 competed at state.

“I’m so proud of these kids, watching how far the seniors on stage have come and seeing the progress already made for our younger students,” said Alta’s adviser Shaley Louder. “These students have a bright future.”

Corner Canyon was recognized as one of five chapters of the year.

Top finishers from Alta, Bingham, Brighton, Corner Canyon, Cottonwood, Jordan, Hillcrest and Murray high schools include:

Business Administration Exam

Thomas Hansen, Brighton; McKenna Fuller, Bingham; Surya Kapu, Corner Canyon; Stephanie Ball, Corner Canyon

Business Management and Administration Exam — Russ Storm, Bingham

Entrepreneurship Exam — Nathan Laker, Corner Canyon; Kimball Shill, Brighton; Zachary Naylor, Corner Canyon

Hospitality and Tourism Exam — Allen Liang, Hillcrest; Sophia Lin, Hillcrest; Maximilian Schneider, Jordan; Nathan Williamson, Corner Canyon; Grace Norton, Corner Canyon; Sang Chun, Hillcrest; Teagan Kay, Hillcrest; Daniel Whalen, Murray

Marketing Exam — Kiara Collins, Brighton; Vishnith Ashok, Hillcrest; Dovan Lapin, Corner Canyon; Kayla Nguyen, Corner Canyon; Savanna Barlow, Alta; Max White, Cottonwood; Mia Palmer, Corner Canyon; Gwen Holt, Cottonwood; Sathwik Boya, Hillcrest; Draven Hodges, Jordan; Vincent Liang, Hillcrest; Colton Woodley, Alta; Jonathan Arulanandam, Hillcrest

Automotive Services — Dima Kurdi, Alta

Business Finance — Veeranshu Danech, Hillcrest

Business Growth Plan team — Corner Canyon

Business Law and Ethics team — Bingham

Business Services Marketing — Aditi

Vandanapu, Corner Canyon

Business Services Operations Research team — Brighton; Hillcrest

Business Solutions Project Management team — Corner Canyon

Buying and Merchandising Operations Research team – Hillcrest

Buying and Merchandising team — Hillcrest

Career Development Project Management team — two teams from Corner Canyon

Community Awareness Project Management team — two teams from Corner Canyon

Community Giving Project Management team — Alta

Entrepreneurship — Kalash Rimal, Bingham; Thomas Pepper, Cottonwood

Financial Literacy Project Management team — Hillcrest

Financial Services team — Alta

Food Marketing — Allie Hammond, Corner Canyon

Franchise Business Plan team — Corner Canyon

Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research — two teams from Hillcrest

Hospitality Services team — three teams from Corner Canyon

Hotel and Lodging Management — Grace Norton, Corner Canyon; Amy Baer, Corner Canyon

Human Resources Management — Haley Neff, Corner Canyon; Maria Salazar, Murray

Independent Business Plan team — Alta; Hillcrest; Corner Canyon

Personal Finance Literacy — Ava Lindman, Corner Canyon

Principles of Business Management & Administration — Jake Catten, Cottonwood

Principles of Finance — Gabriel Quebodeaux, Corner Canyon; Thomas Hansen, Brighton

Principles of Hospitality and Tourism — Alexandra Franklin, Bingham

Principles of Marketing — Stephanie Ball, Corner Canyon; Jet Piper, Corner Canyon; Jessica Cederlof, Bingham

Professional Selling — Dovan Lapin, Corner Canyon

Quick Serve Restaurant Management — Daniel Whalen, Murray; Teagan Kay, Hillcrest; Sienna Yang, Hillcrest

Restaurant & Food Service Management — Sang Chun, Hillcrest

Retail Merchandising — Colton Woodley, Alta

School Business Enterprise Event team — Alta; Brighton; Jordan; Corner Canyon

Sports & Entertainment Marketing team two teams from Hillcrest; Cottonwood

Start-up Business Plan team — Hillcrest; Corner Canyon l

Alta High students show their medals earned at the state DECA contest this spring. (Photo courtesy of Shaley Louder/Alta High)

Celebrating a lifelong commitment: Tributes to Canyons School Board VP

Five years ago this month, Canyons Board of Education member Mont Millerberg jumped onto an excavator.

He was wearing a gray suit and tie and dress shoes that slid a bit in the muddy ground on what had recently been a grassy field at Midvalley Elementary.

Music was blaring as the announcer asked, “Are we ready for a countdown to move some dirt on this brand new home of the Junior Huskies?”

Before the countdown expired, Millerberg had already figured out how to move the scoop to grab dirt for the first ceremonial dig of the new Midvalley Elementary. When the countdown quickened, he pivoted the steel arm to the right. Then, after the crowd finished 3, 2, 1, he swung it back to drop the dirt in the same spot. He got a second scoop and received applause from one of the largest crowds in recent history to watch a groundbreaking.

“Right before the groundbreaking started, he leaned over and showed me the keys and said, ‘I’ve arranged for you to be able to use the excavator to dig dirt; it’s going to be so much fun,’” former Midvalley Principal Tamra Baker said. “I told him, ‘There’s no way for me to do that without having tried.’ He had a twinkle in his eye, and I could see the 10-year-old boy awaken in him. He hopped right up there, didn’t give it a second thought that he hadn’t done it before, and shoveled some dirt. The kids thought it was great. I laughed the whole time. I admired him very much. He was fun; always quick with a joke. He was a faithful public servant who knew what needed to be done and was willing to sacrifice a tremendous amount of time to make it happen.”

Millerberg died unexpectedly Feb. 23 following complications from a stroke. He was the Canyons Board of Education vice president, having been elected to the inaugural Canyons School Board in 2008, then re-elected in 2016 and 2020. He served District 1, which included most Midvale schools and Union Middle in Sandy.

He grew up and lived most of his life in that community and was influential in forming Canyons, the first new school district in 100 years.

“He was a committed community leader and fierce advocate” even winning over and forming an ally in former Midvale Mayor JoAnn Seghini, who had worked as a teacher and an assistant superintendent over curriculum in Jordan School District, with a promise to rebuild Midvale Elementary that had a coal-burning boiler, said Susan Edwards, Canyons’ public engagement and legislative liaison. “He fought for the students and to update those schools in the Midvale community. That was huge. He had so much pride in his community.”

Baker said he had a built-in resource

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

a

that helped him guide his decisions on what was best for children.

“I remember him telling me once, “I am not an educator, but I sleep with one,’” Millerberg had told her with a smile, referring to his wife, Kris, who had taught at Union Middle. “Mont really listened and valued what you said and continually worked with students and teachers, and systems and schools to make things better.”

As a youngster, Millerberg visited his grandparents and great-grandparents in a neighborhood south from Midvalley Elementary, where on school grounds, he would fly his model airplane early in the morning, much to the chagrin of the neighbors who “would call the police because the motors are very loud,” he said.

Millerberg said he grabbed his stuff and headed out the school’s back gate not to get caught and thought he got away with it—until a sign showed up prohibiting flying model airplanes on school grounds.

As kids, Paul Glover lived three houses away from Millerberg on State Street and went through school—Midvale Elementary, Midvale Middle and Hillcrest High—together. As kids, they often jumped on Millerberg’s trampoline and were in the same Boy Scout troop.

“We camped; made trouble; did flips on the trampoline, just did things that kids do,” Glover said. “He was always on top of his schoolwork. He ended up being an accountant, a CPA.”

Millerberg worked in several accounting firms before opening his own practice, Millerberg & Myers. He had studied accounting at Weber State University.

What the community noted most was

his dedication to Hillcrest, his high school alma mater, where he had played football, sang in the choir and played drums in a band with friends.

“I have always felt that he has a special place in his heart for our school,” said Stacey Timmerman, Hillcrest school community council chair. “He had a special loyalty to Hillcrest. He was a great listener and would come to the SCC meetings and want to know our perspective, our needs on Hillcrest. He was a huge advocate for Hillcrest, and I’d

always see him at Hillcrest events—a lot of sporting events and almost every theater performance.”

Hillcrest High Principal Greg Leavitt agrees.

“Mont was a cheerleader of Hillcrest in the education process and making sure Midvale got its fair share,” he said. “He was integral in making sure the bonds (2010 and 2017) were passed.”

During Millerberg’s time on the board, Canyons invested $270 million, or roughly

Without

second thought, Canyons Board of Education member Mont Millerberg jumped into the excavator to “move some dirt” at the groundbreaking of Midvalley Elementary in April 2019. (Julie Slama/ City Journals)

Hillcrest High Principal Greg Leavitt pins a flower on Canyons Board of Education Vice President Mont Millerberg before he confers seniors to be graduates; Millerberg is a 1968 Hillcrest alum. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

Canyons Board of Education member Mont Millerberg, who served on the first school board for the district, helps cut the 10-year anniversary cake along with other board members. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

35%, of its bond money on improvements for Midvale-area schools.

“He was passionate about making sure the schools in the community were rebuilt. He came to every planning meeting for this school and was gracious asking our opinion and making sure the teachers got what they wanted. It was important to him to make sure we had a say in what we’d like and need and made sure the District knew,” Hillcrest High Principal Greg Leavitt said.

Leavitt said Millerberg also made it a point to highlight students whether it was taking part in a mock interview in a hallway or helping to arrange for a memorable escort to the school for the state-winning theater program last spring.

The two worked closely “spending hours talking about what’s best for Hillcrest, the kids, the teachers” and also, when the time came to tear down the former school where Millerberg attended, to help decide artifacts to save and be incorporated in the new design.

Hillcrest High Alumni Association

President Craig Conder credits Millerberg for getting the former school building’s bricks and sections of the basketball floor for the alumni to sell as a fundraiser and to install in the athletics hallway.

“I remember Greg (Leavitt) telling me that the district said they wouldn’t do that, but I knew people would want them,” he said. “Turned out Mont pulled strings because his class, 1968, was the year Hillcrest took state in basketball. Next thing I knew, Greg tells me, ‘We’ve got some pieces here in our woodshop you can come get.’ Part of the deal was giving Mont 50 feet of it. I don’t know what he ended up doing with it, but I’m grateful we got it.”

Millerberg was instrumental in establishing the Canyons Education Foundation.

“We wouldn’t have Canyons Education Foundation without his enthusiasm,” said former Canyons Board member Paul McCarty. “He was dedicated to the children and personally went to different businesses and got commitments. He was a fantastic CPA who gave us guidance in the early beginnings of the district before we hired a chief financial officer. He was always on top of it asking, ‘Where is the money coming from?’”

Each year, a golf tournament is held to help fundraise for the foundation, and in his true fashion, Millerberg would show up in his trademark shorts and sandals to Wasatch Mountain State Park, even when it was below freezing.

It was one of his favorite events; Millerberg started it.

“He always found a way to use the things that brought him joy, to build relationships with people that he worked with so that he understood them and got to know them better. I was with him at the state foundation conference, and he insisted we go shooting at the skeet range. He did a lot of head shaking, but it is one of my fondest memories and a bonding moment for us,” Edwards said,

adding that he also went pheasant hunting with board members.

Millerberg was known to be a straight talker.

Jordan Board of Education President Tracy Miller, who served on the Utah School Boards Association Board of Directors with him, said, “Mont was a fierce advocate for kids and our public schools. In tough discussions, he wasn’t afraid to speak up and say what needed to be said.”

Edwards remembers Millerberg getting his point across at a Canyons board meeting.

“We were discussing something at a board meeting and he knew it was going to be tense and he knew that he was maybe not going to be on the majority on this,” she said. “He was dressed in his normal suit, but partway through the meeting, he unbuttoned that shirt and had a T-shirt on under it that said, I am getting ‘pisseder’ and ‘pisseder.’ That remained our mantra for Mont. He would call us out, ‘I’m feeling like you’re telling me what I want to hear. I’m asking for the facts. Tell it to me straight.’ He’d do that so he could make the best decisions for the schools, the teachers, the staff and the students of Canyons.”

McCarty said Millerberg’s sense of humor could often ease stressful times.

“There were times when the discussion was getting quite intense, which was often in the early birth pains of the school district, and Mont would crack a joke,” he said. “It was always an appropriate opine on what we were discussing. It would just crack us up and ease the tension in the room. He had a wonderful way of canceling out all those other feelings with humor and get us to refocus.”

Millerberg was the person to ask if someone wanted something done.

When RSL goalkeeper Zac MacMath

limelight, McCarty said.

“He’s a very humble individual who worked his heart out. He had a huge heart and was generous with his time and his own funds,” McCarty said. “He had the institutional knowledge and was a true leader.”

Millerberg served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Zurich, Switzerland. He and his wife also served a mission in an intercity Salt Lake City ward, where he met and befriended Sam McCall.

“Mont is just fun and he’s funny, just a neat guy; I got a kick out of him, and we’d go out golfing,” he said. “Every time I stopped by his house, he’d welcome me in, and we were always laughing. It was always a threehour conversation with Mont that just flew by.”

Miller said Millerberg “was generous, personable and fun to be around. His impact was felt large and wide.”

visited Midvale Elementary and learned many students couldn’t afford tickets to a soccer game, he arranged for tickets to be donated. When Millerberg learned this, he was instrumental in arranging free transportation to the stadium for the Midvale families.

It was the community that was at the heart of his work. Many years, he would wave to his neighbors along the Midvale Harvest Days parade, never missing the opportunity to listen to someone or share about what was happening in schools.

Millerberg was often in the schools. His reach was far. He’d volunteer to help Union eighth graders learn to balance their checkbooks as part of Reality Town, a simulation of real life, then be seen at a Family Learning Center recognition. When Jordan Valley got a new chameleon mascot in 2021, Millerberg took a paper cut-out of him and sent the students photos of their mascot biking the Virgin River Trail in St. George.

At last year’s Midvale Elementary literacy night, he rotated to the different stations along with the students.

“I love to see what’s going on inside our schools, to see what the kids are learning, what’s being taught,” he had said.

Canyons Board of Education Vice President Amanda Oaks said he had a deep commitment to the Midvale community.

“With all his skills and talents, he could have done anything in his retirement,” she said. “He chose to spend his time fully engaged in public service and worked especially hard for the populations of his community who needed a person of his strength and caliber to represent their interests. It’s humbling and inspiring to think of all of children whose lives have been positively impacted by his work on the board of education.”

Millerberg wasn’t one who wanted the

Friends and neighbors remember him for sharing his homemade sourdough bread, which his six children remember never being able to eat the bread fast enough. It was often a staple for Sunday family dinners along with homemade ice cream and meat he smoked as Millerberg often quipped, “I have a smoking problem.”

The former National Guard serviceman could also be found with “my best friends,” what Millerberg called his 16 grandchildren as they went boating, skiing, biking and played Hearts. He had had no qualms playing to win cards. He often was remembered saying, “I play for fun; what’s not fun about winning?”

Millerberg served as a Boy Scout master for 12 years, in which he helped his sons perfect their pinewood derby cars. They recall spending hours making their cars ready to race. What he didn’t account for was his 8 year old dripping his hot dog’s mustard and ketchup into the axles and wheels to spoil the anticipated victory.

Millerberg was known to be able to pack the family Suburban to perfection, tease his daughter’s first date by sitting on the porch with his shotgun and ensure each of his children and grandchildren set goals and did their homework.

He spoke to Hillcrest Class of 2023 at their graduation, even quipping they were most excited for him since he was the last speaker.

He bid them simple, but meaningful advice: “Whatever you choose to do, do it well. Be good at what you do. Work hard, work smart and be diligent in what you do. Seek adventure, go do something fun, laugh. Keep moving, figure out where you are, where you want to be and where you want to go next.”

Canyons District is required to fill Millerberg’s vacancy within 45 days of his death according to state law. Applicants could apply for his seat by March 18. A new board member, who will serve the remainder of Millerberg’s term ending in December 2024, will be appointed by April 8. l

Mont Millerberg, Canyons board of education member, was a fixture at Midvale’s Harvest Days parade. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

High-quality, innovative health care with a heavy dose of compassion

With a focus on health care excellence, community service and faith – the doctors, nurses and care teams at Holy Cross Hospital – Salt Lake are committed to compassionate and highquality care for their neighbors.

It has been nearly a year since CommonSpirit Health took over five Wasatch Front hospitals that now bear the name Holy Cross, a reference to the Sisters of the Holy Cross, who brought Catholic, faith-based health care to the people of Utah nearly 150 years ago.

Today, the hospitals are reinvigorating the Sisters’ vision while caring for all with open arms, including at the original hospital they opened in 1875 that cares for patients 24/7 on S. Temple Street.

“We have returned to our roots in the way we care for the people of the Salt Lake Valley, and we are so excited to re-emphasize community-focused, faithbased health care for the people of Utah,” said Kevin Jenkins, Market CEO for the Holy Cross hospitals. “Our care is truly focused on neighbors helping neighbors.”

Besides innovative health care in services that include orthopedics, bariatrics, neurosurgery, heart care, and robotic-assisted technology, the hospital’s teams are actively involved in helping to make their communities better outside the walls of the hospital. These efforts range from food pantry donations and first aid sponsorships with local arts festivals to partnering with the American Heart Association to educate our communities about heart health.

Through its Hello Humankindness program, CommonSpirit is actively promoting the health benefits

of kindness and recognizing employees who go above and beyond the call of their jobs to help those in need.

“We believe that simple acts of kindness have a profound impact on the lives of our patients and communities, in addition to the medical expertise that our doctors and nurses provide,” Jenkins said.

The Holy Cross hospitals have also re-started volunteer and chaplaincy programs, which had not been a priority for the previous owner.

“We have a Director of Mission and Ministry who leads our chaplaincy program to provide prayer and other support for our patients – regardless of who they are or faith tradition - and is making sure our healing mission is carried out in our hospitals,” Jenkins added.

CommonSpirit’s mission includes advancing social justice for all, and last fall, it bestowed eight grants from its Health Equity & Advancement Fund to local nonprofits that are working every day to improve lives in ways that include health screenings for Spanishspeaking neighbors and mental health treatment for children and families.

With a long legacy of service and healing, CommonSpirit is just getting started in extending health care excellence for all Utahns at the Holy Cross hospitals.

“Our vision is a healthier future for all – inspired by faith, driven by innovation, and powered by our humanity,” Jenkins said.

Learn more about the services, care providers and mission-driven work of the Holy Cross hospitals and CommonSpirit Health at www.holycrossutah.org.

Cardiac Team available 24/7

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Heart Surgery

$69 heart screening - Call (801) 350-4451 to set up your heart screening

Kevin Jenkins, Market CEO

Life Skills Academy offers training for students with special needs seeking independence

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

New student orientation will be April 23 through April 25 at Canyons School District’s newest school, Life Skills Academy.

Life Skills Academy, formerly known as Canyons Transitional Academy, provides instruction and support to students with special needs who have aged out of traditional high school and would benefit from additional training in the classroom and community and with job training.

The doors opened in January at the students’ new school, in the former Crescent View Middle School, 11150 S. 300 East, in Sandy. LSA offers many of the facilities as a traditional school with a cafeteria and gym, but also some vocational and home life classrooms so students learn those skills, said Linda Hall, who is in her second year as the principal.

“Our numbers have grown from 38 students to 55, and we’re projecting next year, we will be over 60 students,” she said. “This school is amazing for our students because now every teacher has a classroom where before we shared open spaces. We have a kitchen lab where they practice their skills. We turned one classroom into a studio apartment, so they’re able to practice their skills there. We have a partnership with the state’s vocational rehabilitation office so our students are learning skills and are connected to job placements. We have students who are in paid internships. The LSA staff is trained as job coaches; we are teaching our students independence so they will be job ready as possible.”

LSA is for students between ages 18 to 22, who have completed their senior year in high school and have an individualized education plan team determine that pre-employment services are needed. Many students are working to complete graduation requirements or are achieving a certificate of completion.

“At age 14, the IEP team at each school begins discussions about transitions—graduation, skills, training, goals, interests—with the student and family so we know the best way to help students,” Hall said.

Once a student ages out of LSA, she said the staff helps to connect families to Social Security Disability and Utah Parent Center.

“We have Medicaid right here on site that families can access,” Hall said, adding that the school partners with the state’s workforce services to offer additional student support.

Grayson Argyle likes being a LSA student.

“I come to Life Skills Academy to

learn life skills and learn how to become an adult, do some math and money management,” he said.

Hall said that students often make purchases with replica dollar bills at the school store so they can learn the value of money and purchase school supplies.

Argyle travels on TRAX to his job placement at Cal Ranch.

“I organize things on the shelves. It’s great. I make sure everything is in place,” he said.

He isn’t the only one. Many LSA students learn to ride TRAX and use other public transportation to get around the community to get to their job training or internships “because a lot of our students will never drive,” Hall said.

LSA has partnerships with about 15 area businesses, such as Scheels, Treehouse Athletic Center, Sam’s Club and Draper’s branch of the Salt Lake County Library.

“We’re always looking for more opportunities for students to have work experience,” she said, adding that many positions within Canyons School District are filled by her students. “Students pick jobs based on their interests, and can learn about jobs in-house, like the district cafe. At school, we have the cooking facility so they learn about recipes and cooking and then, will be familiar with that. We have a flower shop here on our campus where the kids are learning about flower arrangements and that may be an area of interest, we can help them find an interest in the

community.”

Argyle said that in class, he has learned how to prepare menus and then, cook the meals.

“We’ve made pizza, soup and rolls and even, sushi sandwiches,” he said.

Also offered in the summer is a workbased learning program that pairs students with special needs with employers so students gain hands-on experience in the work setting. Students work with job coaches who guide students to meet the employer’s needs for four to eight weeks.

“It provides a meaningful experience for our students as well as the businesses,” Hall said.

To prepare students, LSA has weekly community access days, where what students learn in the classroom translates to the community. For example, they may look at a recipe, create a grocery list and then on their community access day, go shopping and learn about pricing and purchasing needed items.

“One class recently was learning about security disability and how do I access that or apply for that? The students then went out to a disability Social Security office and did a tour of it and learned all about it. Another time, our students learned about cosmetology and then visited a beauty salon and learned to how to become a cosmetologist and own or work in a community business,” she said, adding that another class tied in what they were learning to touring the state capitol.

Students attend classes Monday

through Thursday and pick their own classes from those the LSA staff designs to help students learn skills.

“Every semester is a different set of classes based on the students’ interests. As a team we meet to offer classes based on the needs of students’ IEPs, which then they, with the help of their guardians, can sign up for,” Hall said.

For example, students’ IEP goals may be improving written language. So the course may be about finding a job, that will include writing resumes and letters of interests. Another course may focus about internet safety, and they will learn how to safely email someone and search safe websites. They also have a leadership class which enrolls about 10 students. Students learn planning skills as they organize activities for the school and learn how to design and make fliers to promote the events.

“We teach those skills they’ll need to be independent in the community, and then, we’ll have centers every morning that may tie into the classes, such as mock interviews for verbal and social interaction or counting coins to learn budgeting or other skills based on students’ IEP goals,” she said, adding that others may include learning about route planning, stranger danger, AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) devices, multistep directions and more.

Argyle realizes he will need to be able to communicate at his job placement and in his dream of becoming a voice actor. He was planning to perform his aptitude at the school’s upcoming talent show.

Graduation this year, the first in their new school, will be special, Hall said.

Eight students will be given their certificates of completion by Canyons Board of Education members Nancy Tingey and Karen Pedersen at commencement, 12:30 p.m., May 14 at the school. Their graduation theme, “No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else,” is by P.T. Barnum.

The PTSA has arranged to get North Face backpacks from Scheels, which they’ll pack with useful items, from first aid kits to umbrellas, the students will need post-graduation. They will be given at the graduation lunch.

“We wanted to do something special for our students because we are the end of public schools when they reach 22, so we try to help them be as independent as possible, and reach whatever goal that they have,” she said. “We take that very seriously. My staff is incredible. They love their students, and they want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to support those students.” l

Flower arranging is one of the job skills students can learn at Life Skills Academy, which has made its home at former Crescent View Middle School. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

Donations needed: Help make a dream prom come true for students with special needs

April 18 will be a day to celebrate in Canyons School District.

That’s the prom date for students with special needs that is being planned by their peers in the high schools.

Specifically, high school students with the Essential Elements Curriculum (grade-level alternate core standards for students with significant cognitive disability) are invited to attend the prom that will be more sensory friendly and less overstimulating than a typical high school prom, said Kelsie Wilson, Corner Canyon High School special education teacher.

The dance, which will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., is being organized by Corner Canyon High School’s Peer Leadership Team, peer mentors and other students who have extended the invitation to the other four Canyons comprehensive high school students to join in the planning.

“I’m very fortunate to have some mind-blowing PLT and peer tutors who want to make it so our EEC kids can do whatever they do and have as many of those high school experiences,” Wilson said.

Already the high school students have secured Lone Peak Park pavilion for the dance, partially paid for with the help of a private

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

donor, and food, with the contribution from Chick-fil-A.

However, as students are working on decorations, music, flowers, photos and more, they could use help.

“We would love if there were any other donors out in the community to contact us if they’re willing to donate anything to help put this prom on,” said Linda Hall, Canyons School District’s special education administrator. “We’re always looking for community partners. For example, if there was someone with a flower shop that would like to donate flowers or if somebody who owns a drink shop would like to do drinks or if someone has some way to help, we’d appreciate making this special for these students.”

Wilson said those wishing to make donations can contact her at Kelsie.Wilson@canyonsdistrict.org for more information.

Wilson’s PLT and peer mentors are partnering up with EEC students as dates to the dance, which has the theme, “Once Upon a Time.”

“My peer tutors and PLT members have talked about meeting to curl the girls’ hair and help the boys with their ties. We want this to be very special for these kids and by doing it at a

neutral location it makes it a bit more of a bigger deal, and have it be a special occasion like a typical high school prom,” she said.

Wilson has hopes for the students beyond the dance.

“At our school, EEC students have known each other most of their lives. They’re in a special class and they go to whatever elective classes they can go to. But really, all my students have known each other since elementary, and they just grew up together and they’re all best friends. After high school, they may go to Life Skills Academy (formerly Canyons Transitional Academy) together, along with Hillcrest, Brighton, Jordan and Alta students. Then, the kids will be divided by their abilities and intermixed. My thought is this prom can get them together so they can do something fun and meet and interact with each other before they go to Life Skills Academy,” she said.

Additionally, it provides an optional social opportunity for her students.

“My students, love, love, love dancing, and they love going to school dances, but they can only go for the first half an hour when nobody else is there. A typical high school dance can be a little rowdy. There always seems to be a mosh pit. The music is always crazy loud. The lights are always strobing,” Wilson said about dances where 2,500 students in a high school could attend. “This dance would be a good opportunity to provide more of a sensory friendly prom where wearing headphones is totally acceptable and there won’t be any crazy strobe lights or fog that’s getting pushed into the dance. It gives them a chance to interact and hang out with each other.”

Staff members will be there to chaperone the event, and parents also are welcome to attend.

Last year, Corner Canyon High’s PLT held a districtwide field day for EEC students that had carnival games, face painting, bounce house and a visit from the fire department. l

Lone Peak Park pavilion will be the site of Canyons School District’s unified prom this month. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

Fifth-grader Justin La was coding Intelino trains for the first time at Bella Vista’s after-school makerspace.

“It sounded fun to be able to do so many STEM activities,” he said. “I figured out how to make the trains run.”

Classmate Callie Parkin also worked with the trains.

“I thought coding sounded like a good hobby,” she said. “I like the challenges here and getting the chance to do it on my own.”

It was the first day that the Bella Vista makerspace advisers, Dan Sampson and Wendie Nielson, had brought out the coding trains for the group that meets almost weekly. Students had figured out the train track’s set up and commands on their own.

“I wanted to be able to help the kids explore, create and learn how to use different programming tools,” Sampson said. “They can create in a safe learning environment after school and have the freedom to choose what they want to do.”

In its simplest terms, makerspaces are known as places where people, or “makers,” create, or “make,” projects using a variety of hands-on and digital tools.

The advisers have many items to offer students, such as trying a Code & Go Robot Mouse, LEGOs, Blue-Bots, Wonder Workshop, littleBits, Micro:bits, Strawbees and more. They also realize the possibilities are endless; art mediums and filmmaking are two that could easily be incorporated.

Many of the tools were purchased with grants that both Canyons School District and Bella Vista received. The school PTA also received a national PTA grant for the STEM + Families Propelling Our World program grant sponsored by Huntington Ingalls Industries.

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

“Every week, we will pull out different things to give them more challenges and slowly integrate and build on what they’re discovering and learning,” Nielson said.

Students meet for an hour in two different groups; kindergarten through second graders on one day per month and thirdthrough fifth-grade students on the other three days per month so the tools pulled out are age appropriate. The makerspace groups are capped at 28 students and are offered for 30 weeks.

“I like that it’s their own exploration, so that they discover how these things work. It’s fun for the kids to have an opportunity to experiment because in class, we don’t have a lot of time for this,” Nielson said. “They’re also getting a chance to interact with some others who might not be in their classroom

while they learn how to problem-solve and put to use critical thinking skills.”

Sampson said they are using other skills during makerspace they may not realize.

“They’re in control when they code. They’re learning collaboration by working together to figure something out. They’re learning to cooperate. They’re learning to think through challenges and if it doesn’t work, to try again,” he said.

Principal Angi Holden said that last year, the Bella Vista community met and decided to incorporate more STEAM in their school and wanted to become a state STEM-designated school. In addition to the makerspace, faculty and staff added STEAM Fridays, where students rotate every five weeks through hands-on lessons around themes created by the teachers as well as regularly scheduled schoolwide STEAM nights. The school even slated a STEAM spirit week in mid-March.

This way, all students will gain more exposure and a solid STEAM foundation, Holden said.

“Our goal is focusing on STEAM so we can develop our students to be 21st-century digital learners and be prepared for the workforce beyond academics,” she said.

Fifth-grader Anna Armstrong likes programming.

“I’m able to decide how fast the train can go, if it should stop and turn around, what it should do,” she said. “I like seeing all the things you can do with it.”

She learned some coding on code.com in third grade. Since then, she’s challenged herself with many mazes and puzzles.

“I like figuring things out,” Anna said. “I want to be an astronaut, and I know I’ll be faced with a lot of challenges so makerspace is preparing me to think.” l

From classroom to career: RSL president encourages students to land dream jobs

High school is a time to learn, make connections and identify passions, Real Salt Lake President John Kimball recently told more than 100 Brighton High students at a Meet the Pro talk.

“It’s OK not to know what you want to do as a career; you have time yet to decide,” he said. “But start thinking about what makes you excited. What are you passionate about? Those are things that you should be focusing on. I never thought in a million years that I would have a career in something that I loved. Had I known that, I would have probably worked a little harder on some of the skills that I need in my job now.”

Kimball, who grew up playing soccer, rugby, football, baseball as well as taking to the water and snow with surfing and skiing, said, “I would have focused and taken courses in finance because in my role, I deal a lot with numbers and accounting, and how the club’s doing with ticketing and sponsorship. Not that I needed A’s, but so I would understand more, and be more proficient on what you can do in Excel and PowerPoint. I didn’t even have a computer in my first (professional) job.”

Kimball worked at KSL NewsRadio and TV, where he was introduced into working in the sports world during the 2002 Winter Olympics. He continued to work in sports as general manager of ESPN 700 as well as at Brigham Young University, Utah State University, University of Utah, Tour of Utah multi-day road bicycling race, Utah Jazz and the Salt Lake Bees. He was president of Vivint Arena, vice president of Larry H. Miller Sports & Entertainment corporate sponsorships, and RSL’s chief marketing officer and senior vice president.

“My whole career unintentionally has been sports; I’ve done 10 different jobs, working with all the different sports teams we have in Utah. Before being president of RSL for the past three years, I was running the Delta Center and working for the Utah Jazz. That was a phenomenal opportunity, not only with sports, but with all the music concerts,” he said. “So, if you’re into music, there’s a whole career there in music and concerts and all the cool stuff that is provided through entertainment.”

Within the sports world, Kimball asked students to name some careers; they responded with managers, referees, trainers, players, photographers, commentators, journalists, advertising and marketing. He named other career fields: food, accounting, finance, legal work, sponsorship representatives, merchandise, grounds crew, building operations, community relations, ticketing—and more.

“In sports, there’s literally every aspect of the business world or sales,” he

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

said. “What I’m telling you is there are internships, so you can come and learn and see what people do and get a taste of what you might find is your passion. It’s an amazing opportunity to have a career in something that you’re very passionate about. Be focused on the thing that you might be good at. You might be good at writing code. We have a whole analytics department that focuses on writing code to analyze our players. On their funky tank tops there is a little GPS system built right in the middle of their shoulders. That tracks everything they do on the field. So, after the game, we can sit down and we can see all of the distance they covered during the game and all the data to help them improve.”

Kimball, who had three kids attend Brighton High, said that although “I’d love to see you get straight A’s, more importantly, I just want you to understand what it is that you’re doing here and educate yourself and the other big part of high school is just relationships and friends and building good relationships with good kids and good friends. That’s going to be a huge factor for the rest of your life.”

Relationships helped him land his job today. Not only was it through the Larry H. Miller Sports & Entertainment group, but also through the Utah Jazz ownership with Ryan Smith and David Blitzer, the senior executive at the private equity firm Blackstone that owns and manages several professional sports teams worldwide.

Understanding people and relationships also are important within the RSL organization as he manages different de-

brand new pairs of tennis shoes on little kids’ feet, and a lot of these kids hadn’t had a new pair of shoes for their whole life. There was a desperate need for shoes in the middle of winter. It’s an honor and privilege to be a part of a soccer team knowing we are giving back and can make a difference in our community,” he said.

The 150-member organization is expanding to 170 this year as the Utah Royals return to the organization.

“We have a lot of excitement around the women’s team that’s coming back. The Royals team’s focus is empowering women so primarily all the Royals employees, not just the players, are women and that’s an exciting opportunity,” he said.

Kimball encouraged students to go after their passions.

partments. For example, he said, “Ticketing and sponsorship are really loud when they close deals, they ring a bell so they’re a pretty rowdy group of people; they hype each other to go out and sell big deals. The finance department is the exact opposite. We put the finance department in a quieter place because they’re working on their computers, doing all the budgets. That’s another thing that’s cool about working in sports, for every type of person, there’s a place for you.”

Kimball appreciates the benefits from working in the sports world.

“One thing I love about my job is that I’m not doing the same thing every single day. I don’t know that I could go to an office and sit at a computer; I don’t have the attention span to be able to do that,” he said. “Three weeks ago, I was in Portugal with our team for preseason training. The coolest thing about my job is I’ve got this team that I’m super stoked about and get very passionate watching. Every week, I have a game or two that I get to go to. I was able to travel to Miami and watch the greatest athlete of the sport (Leo Messi). I had the opportunity to meet him, but I… just waved. For a lot of people, it’s like meeting Taylor Swift. Even our athletes were a little shell shocked for the first half, but then we settled down and started playing a little bit better.”

Another big aspect Kimball likes about his job is being part of the community and working with others to better it.

“We just did a partnership program with America First Credit Union and Adidas, over Christmas. We put about 400

“Start thinking now about the things that you love to do and find some type of business angle or job that’s involved in it. If it’s music, if it’s makeup, if it’s clothing, if it’s food, whatever it is, if there’s things that you’re excited about, do those things that you’re excited about. My first job was in a graveyard. I was 12 years old, and I had to mow and trim around the headstones. I had watched the creepiest movie I ever saw in my life a month earlier so every day I’d think that there would be dead bodies chasing me. I was terrified and had nightmares so if you’re not into cemeteries, don’t get a job at a cemetery. Do find things that you’re passionate about and then start to figure out what jobs you could possibly do in that industry. Enjoy what you’re learning, make friends, meet people, develop skills that you’re going to need. You’ll be entering the job force so develop skills and find opportunities that will make you happy. If anybody told me that I’d be working in sports when I was high in high school, I would have been very stoked so I’m here to tell you that you can find that career in what you love most.”

Kimball is one of four speakers in the Meet the Pro series at Brighton High. Earlier this year, students heard from Brandon Caller, medical examiner assistant for the state, and Adam Barker, a professional photographer and entrepreneur. On April 17, Databento CEO Christina Qi will speak to students.

Canyons School District Career and Technical Education Director Janet Goble said the Meet the Pro series is designed to give students a chance to widen their perspectives about professions.

“Students are able to ask questions to industry professionals to deepen their understanding of the careers,” she said. l

After inspiring more than 100 Brighton High students to follow a career in their passion, RSL president John Kimball meets with students. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

Canyon View Science Day aims to empower students’ own learning

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

Canyon View third-grader Cora Jones used plastic sticks and toothpicks held together by marshmallows to build a tower.

“We tried to build the tallest one,” she said.

Her classmate, Burke Neese, said he put ingredients, including vanilla, sugar, half and half and salt in a baggie, then teamed up with a buddy to throw it back and forth.

“We shook it too; it made really good ice cream, although it was a bit salty,” he said.

Another student, Caleb Sawyer, said his bag popped.

“We ate it anyway; it was good,” he said.

These and many other activities were part of Canyon View Elementary’s science day.

Breaking away from their traditional night, the event was moved to a school day afternoon so every student had the opportunity to attend, said Principal Kierstin Draper.

“In the past, we’ve done science night, but when you do science night, some kids can’t make it and they don’t get to have that experience because maybe the parents work or can’t get them here,” she said. “This year, the PTA decided to do it during the school day and parents still could come volunteer.”

Volunteers oversaw activities targeted for each grade. Many of the activities were created by Canyons School District with supplies put together in a kit available for checkout.

The activities ranged from creating marble run sets with pool noodles to creating circuits. Some took magnifying glasses to identify insects as they played insect bingo. They also learned about the habitat of earthworms before creating their own worm in dirt using a gummy worm and grounded up Oreos.

“The activities were developmentally appropriate for the age. So, with the marble run, they’d work together as teams to figure out the dynamics and they had competing marble runs to see which ones could go fast and how it was impacted with different sizes of

loops. Or they may learn the cycles of the moon, making those out of Oreos. Some learned how to do coding and program a robot and then, test their code,” Draper said. “It was just fun activities to get kids excited about learning science.”

In fact, when students turned in a paper explaining three things they learned on science day, they received Smarties candy.

“They were so proud about what they tried and learned,” she said. “I love seeing the kids excited and engaged in discovering and working together to solve problems. It helps them learn these life skills and watching them put their knowledge into practice. They’re understanding that learning is fun.”

Third-grader Frankie Cottrell liked investigating cereal with magnets.

“We learned by pouring water on the cereal, black dots would appear, and meaning there was iron in it,” she said. “We tested it with the magnets.”

Annica Draper, another third-grade student, said that she knows “our body needs iron, but it was fun smashing the Fruity Pebbles to find the iron in it. I usually don’t eat that kind of cereal.”

Fourth-grader Zachary Ence’s favorite rotation was making snap circuits.

“The coolest part of the challenge was to make this motor spin; to do that, we had to figure out how to make a positive rotation all the way through,” he said.

Zachary also learned about engineering by building a structure and programming when he coded a robotic mouse.

“I like problem-solving like that; we don’t normally get to do that in class,” he said. “This was hands-on and figuring out how to fix the problems ourselves. I liked the challenge.”

In addition to science day, Canyon View holds opportunities for students with a makerspace every Thursday morning before school and a STEAM Squad every Friday morning. l

During Canyon View Elementary’s science day, students investigated different bugs to complete their bug bingo cards. (Photo courtesy of Canyon View Elementary)

Springtime fun at Cottonwood Heights Rec Center: Ducky Drop success and future plans

By Megan McKellar | m.mckellar@mycityjournals.com

On March 23, children eagerly gathered at the splash zone of the Cottonwood Heights Recreation Center for the annual spring Ducky Drop event. This was the center's second year holding the event.

“I think the community is looking for fun events and as a rec center, it is our responsibility to offer events to the public,” said Audrey Durfee, the recreation center’s aquatics manager.

The event idea originated from a desire to create a unique springtime activity, different from an Easter egg hunt. After last year's event, changes were made to the schedule based on feedback to ensure a better experience for everyone attending. Once registration for this year’s event opened, the younger age groups filled up within the week.

At the beginning of each age group’s 10-minute time slot, rubber ducks were released into the splash zone. While one group was busy collecting ducks, children of other age groups could enjoy activities in a different part of the pool, preventing overcrowding. Children collected as many ducks as they could using only their arms, not buckets or baskets. After 10 minutes, children who had gathered the winning rubber ducks received a special prize. Ev-

ery participant received a gift bag containing a rubber ducky and some treats.

“It's really just a chance for the community to come do a spring-centered event,” Durfee said.

The recreation center continues to plan changes and events to better meet the needs of the community. “We've added some early hours a couple of days a week that are geared towards the kids that aren't

quite in school,” Durfee explained. The pool’s splash zone is now open on Tuesdays and Thursdays 9-11:30 a.m.

In addition, on May 8, the recreation center will host “Water Safety Wednesday” in honor of National Water Safety Month. “At the outdoor pool before we open for the summer, we're going to have some safety stops where we talk about life jackets, parents being water watchers and what to do if somebody's in the water and you can't swim,” Durfee said.

The recreation center will also hold a “Read to Swim” program with the Whitmore Library. “Kids can go to the library and get a reader, and they fill in the reader—for every 20 minutes they read they color a fish scale, and they can bring the reader back to the pool and get a free pass for the day, to come back with a parent or an adult to swim for free,” Durfee said. The readers will be available May 1.

While this year's Ducky Drop event has concluded, residents can look forward to future events hosted by the Cottonwood Heights Recreation Center aimed at promoting health, safety and community engagement. l

Utah State University asks residents to take well-being survey

The Utah Wellbeing Project has put out an open call for Utah residents to take part in this year’s survey. Run by Professor of Environment and Society Courtney Flint at Utah State University, the Utah Wellbeing Project survey aims to conduct a public well-being survey.

The Utah Wellbeing Project is an ongoing project. The intent is to interpret timely information about residents’ well-being and attitudes about community issues. Over the past few years, they have been working to bridge relationships between the Utah Cancer Institute, Get Healthy Utah, UTA and UDOT as well.

Forty-seven municipalities like Cottonwood Heights have partnered with Flint to encourage all residents 18 and older to take the Wellbeing Project survey. When the results are in, local leaders can use the data to promote sound planning and decision-making to support overall quality of life in Utah.

In 2022, over 10,000 Utah residents were surveyed across 35 Utah cities. Out of those 10,000, only 227 Cottonwood Heights residents responded to the survey.

“The goal of this survey is to better understand the life conditions of people in Utah cities and towns and how different aspects of well-being vary from person to person and place to place,” wrote Flint in the survey overview.

Previous questions included in the Utah Wellbeing Project survey included asking residents to rate their well-being in 10 different areas including physical health, mental health, connection with nature, living standards, educational opportunities, family life, leisure time, social connections, transportation, and safety and security.

By Cassie Goff | c.goff@mycityjournals.com

The 2024 survey will ask a variety of ranking, reporting, and open-ended questions. Some questions will ask participants to report various community activities and transportation modes they’ve engaged with during the last 12 months. Some questions may ask participants to think about what they are most concerned with in their community for the future. Participants may also provide suggestions for how their city leaders can help to improve well-being within their communities.

The Utah Wellbeing Survey contains approximately 30 questions, depending on the city residents reside in. It is estimated to take roughly 10 minutes to complete. These

questions will not collect any identifiable information and participants can opt to decline answering any question, if necessary.

The Utah Wellbeing Project is sponsored by Utah State University, Utah League of Cities and Towns, Move Utah, Travel Wise, Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, Wasatch Front Regional Council, Cedar Hills, Draper, Nephi, North Salt Lake, Orem, Pleasant Grove, Providence, Springdale, Tremonton, West Bountiful and West Valley City.

The current research team includes members Flint, Data Analyst Nicolas Holden, Madison Fjeldsted Thompson, Julie Estes, Sarah Wilson and Bekah Richey.

To view previous results of Cottonwood Heights residents, visit the Cottonwood Heights City Journals website and search for the article titled “Mountains important for personal well-being say residents in survey.”

The Utah State University Institutional Review Board has approved this research study (Protocol 11624). The Institutional Review Board Office can be contacted by calling 435-797-0567 or through email at irb@usu.edu.

For more information on the Utah Wellbeing Project, residents may contact Flint at 435-797-8635 or courtney. flint@usu.edu.

To learn more about the Utah Wellbeing Project, visit: www.usu.edu/utah-wellbeing-project.

To take the survey, visit www.usu.edu/utah-wellbeing-project/2024-survey-information and click on the city in which you reside. Disponible en Español. l

On March 23, children eagerly gathered at the splash zone of the Cottonwood Heights Recreation Center for the annual spring Ducky Drop event. (Megan McKellar/City Journals)

Map of all participating cities from 2019-24. (Utah Wellbeing Project/Utah State University)

Multisport athletes bring talent to Brighton track and field

By Annie Selander

The Brighton Bengals officially began their preparation and hard work for the 2024 track and field season the first week of January with a preseason training camp. However, many track and field athletes have been preparing all year as numerous multisport athletes including members of football, girls’ soccer, cross country and basketball teams bring their talents together to compete in one of the 18 events in high school track and field.

“Track and field is the perfect place for multisport athletes. Their hard work in football, basketball, soccer and more will pay off in any number of events in track and field,” head coach Kirk Merhish said. “Many of our athletes will be continuing athletic careers in college.”

Senior Analena Jacob is currently signed to play soccer next fall for Flagler College in Saint Augustine, Florida. She returns to the track to make her mark in the middle-distance events of the 400m and 800m.

Senior Hope Edmunds has battled her way back from an injury that sidelined her last season to secure a spot on the cross country and track team at Anderson University in South Carolina.

“Hope has shown what hard work, perseverance and a winning attitude can accomplish. We are thrilled to watch her continue to develop and race in college. The sky is the limit for her,” distance coach Tara Summers said.

After throwing his way into a Division 1 scholarship on the gridiron as Brighton’s quarterback, senior Jack Johnson has his sights set on a Region 6 title in the javelin. In his first season with Bengals track and field, he is showing potential to be the top thrower in the region and be in the mix for a medal at the state championships in May. Johnson will be joining the football team at Georgetown University this fall. “I wanted to try something new before I leave for college,” Johnson said, “and to help prepare myself physically for college football. I also just love being a part of a team, and I love to see growth in myself and my teammates.”

Seniors Vance Langston and Carter

Summers are leading the boys' distance team. Langston qualified for state in the first meet of the season in both the 3200m and the 1600m with times of 9:18 and 4:17, respectively. Then he crushed his own time just two weeks later at the Pineview Invitational in St. George with a time of 9:06 in the 3200m. Summers will be racing the clock this weekend seeking qualifying times in the 1600 and 3200.

Both runners are actively talking with college coaches in hopes of continuing their running careers at the collegiate level.

Summers has had the unique experience of being coached by his mother, Tara Summers.

“It has been so rewarding coaching Carter the past four years!” coach Summers said about her son. “He brings such a fun spirit to practice, yet leads by example of hard work and dedication. Carter will be missed.”

Notables to watch include senior Griffin Seal as a contender for region and state in the 110m high hurdles as well as senior Johanna Mapson. Mapson is a 2023 state qualifier in the 100m hurdles, the 4x100m relay and the 4x200m relay. She has been captain of the girls’ volleyball team and is ready to take on her senior track season with equal leadership.

“Johanna is one of those athletes that is a privilege to coach. She is an all-around asset to our team; her positive attitude is infectious, and she sets an example for younger athletes as the hurdle team captain,” hurdle coach Jenni Hancey-Larson said.

Senior Kate Garrett is a 2023 Region 6 champ in the javelin and state qualifier in javelin and discus. She is poised to outperform last year’s accomplishments and be in the mix for a state medal.

Bengals juniors represent hard work in the examples of Beau LeFleur, Mason Haertel and Jake Farnsworth.

LeFleur and Haertel of the Bengals football team running backs duo, rushed their team into the quarterfinals last season. Haertel is leading the boys’ sprints team as captain.

LeFleur is a favorite to win the 110m hur-

dles in the Region 6 championship and be a top contender at the state championship. He is already running a state qualifying time in the 110m high hurdles of 14.7. He also qualified in the 300m hurdles with a time of 39.11, 2.21 seconds faster than the state qualifying standard of 41.32, landing him as the No. 1 seed in 5A.

“We have a depth to our team that few high schools in the region have,” head coach Merhish said. “Our distance runners have been

out-working and out-performing the competition. We have strong athletes in the hurdles, sprinters, throwers and jumpers. Our program is representative of the broader talent present at Brighton High School in all sports programs.”

Editor’s note: Annie Selander is a sprint coach with the Brighton track and field team. l

JOBS

Brighton girls track team. (Photo All Star Photography)

Brighton boys track team. (Photo All Star Photography)

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Brighton produces four more student-athlete Academic All-State honorees

By Jerry Christensen | j.christensen@mycityjournals.com

The Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA) estimates that 85,000 Utah students are active in high school sports or arts. According to Canyons High School Director Tom Sherwood, "participation in UHSAA activities is over 60% of the student body population at Brighton."

Some 1,350 Brighton students take advantage of these education-enhancing opportunities. For the last 35 years, UHSAA honors the top student-athletes who not only compete at a varsity level, but maintain the highest grades. Typically, only 10 student-athletes from each sport across the state are designated Academic All-State honorees.

Over the decades, Brighton has produced more than its fair share of Academic

All-State winners. The winter 2023-24 sports season produced four more student-athlete scholars: Daisy Dastrup from the girls wrestling team; Audrey Bradley from the girls swim team; Ellie Evensen from the girls swim team; and Aeddan Winter from the boys swim team.

Garrett Wilson, Brighton’s athletic director said, "Excelling at sports and in the classroom speaks to the student-athlete's dedication."

"These athletes represent the team well on and off the field at Brighton,” Wilson said. “They are great teammates and good examples to all the players in the program." l

Academic All-State honoree Daisy Dastrup. (Photo Brighton High)

Academic All-State honoree Audrey Bradley. (Photo Brighton High)

Academic All-State honoree Ellie Evensen. (Photo Brighton High) Academic All-State honoree Aeddan Winter. (Photo Brighton High)

Brighton boys lacrosse begins season at a record pace

Brighton High’s boy lacrosse is back at the top of the highly competitive Utah lacrosse world. The No. 1 ranked Bengal boys lacrosse team is guided by head coach Chris O'Donnell whose lacrosse path includes playing for Radford University in Virginia. Following his college years, O’Donnell transitioned into coaching, starting his career at Freedom South Riding in Chantilly, Virginia. In 2018, he made the move to Utah and served as an assistant coach at Brighton for two years before being promoted to head coach in 2020.

The Bengal varsity team is senior heavy—14 seniors, one of which (Grayson Harris) has been a varsity starter since he was a freshman. Most seniors have played together since fourth grade. They won the youth state championship title together in sixth grade (2016). All told, 75 boys are rostered in the burgeoning Brighton lacrosse program filling three teams: varsity, JV-A and JV-B.

Five of these seniors (Harris, Mason Fray, Donnie Wismer, JT Anderson, Ethan Salmon) are listed on the prestigious Pre-Season All-American watch list. One promising junior, Austin Taylor, is also on the All-American watch list. Taylor currently leads all Utah players in assists.

Three sets of brothers are on the varsity team this year. The last time brothers played

By Jerry Christensen | j.christensen@mycityjournals.com

together on the Bengal team was back in 2021 when Walker Harris, a senior, and Grayson Harris, a freshman, were on the team together. The brother duos are JT and Zach Anderson; Tate and Nash Hales; and Murray and Cole Mitchell.

The team traveled preseason to Huntington Beach for the Surf City Winter Classic tournament. “The team came out strong and played into the finals,” said Natalie Harris,

who has been a Brighton lacrosse team booster for 10 years.

The Utah lacrosse season started March 8 with two games in Logan against 6A teams Ridgeline and Sky View. Often these early games required the teams to shovel snow off the field to be able to play. The competition became more fierce with two more 6A foes at Box Elder and Northridge. Having proven themselves against all rivals, the big test came

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at No. 4 ranked Fremont where Brighton battled out a 7-5 win on March 19.

Coach O’Donnell designated sophomore attacker Gabe Carrera as the MVP in the Brighton versus Box Elder game March 12. “Carrera had an outstanding performance, scoring seven goals and providing the team with two assists,” O’Donnell said. In the Brighton versus Northridge game on March 14, Mason Fray stood out as the MVP, showcasing remarkable goalkeeping skills with 13 saves and preventing Northridge's comeback attempts.

In the Fremont showdown, junior Mason Sauer was the standout player of the game, showcasing exceptional skills with four ground balls. Following this, Brighton hosted Bountiful on their home turf on March 22, securing a decisive win with a score of 14-3.

The season is still young with more opportunities to prove their No. 1 ranking against longtime lacrosse powerhouses Corner Canyon and Park City. The Region 6 rival Olympus will also have something to prove against Brighton as well.

For now, Brighton boys lacrosse is enjoying the view from the top of the Utah lacrosse ladder. l

Brighton boys lacrosse varsity in 2024. (Photo All Star Photography)

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Continued from front page

to make in order to fill his absence.

“Brenneman spends hours and hours doing the Shake-Outs, CERT trainings, and reaching out and getting into the community,” Russo said. “It takes a lot of time to build and maintain relationships.”

Russo explained to the council that the city could opt to be a part of the regional emergency management operation or start training an FTE officer to replace this position. He will come back to the council with a more detailed financial analysis of those different options.

Developing and maintaining safe sidewalks throughout the entire city is a strong focus of city council’s this year. The city council has asked the Public Works Department to search for, locate, and allocate potential funds for sidewalk construction along 2300 East to Fort Union Boulevard around the perimeter of Hillside Plaza (2378 Fort Union Blvd.), and sections of the Cottonwood Heights’ side of Creek Road (into some of the neighborhoods on the way to Crestwood Park).

Even though Creek Road is not considered a regionally significant area, Public Works Director Matt Shipp believes his team will be able to chase down some county, regional, and maybe even federal, grants for a few of the other sidewalk and transportation projects.

“I see kids walking in the gutter and it’s just unbelievably unsafe,” said Councilmember Matthew Holton.

In addition, Councilmember Shawn Newell really wants a sidewalk constructed on 2300 East by the United States Postal Service Office (6890 South) while Councilmember Ellen Birrell wants to see a sidewalk along Green Hills Drive.

Further considering Public Works, the council would like to explore having conversations about the potential of constructing roundabouts in select areas of the city. Shipp did remind the city council that roundabouts do take quite a lot of land to construct.

Brainstorming, the councilmembers identified a few areas where roundabouts could be beneficial within the city. Holton would like to think about using preservation funds for a roundabout on the corner of the Hillside Plaza development. Weichers would like to talk about adding some roundabouts along Fort Union Boulevard, along with the misaligned intersection from Oak Creek onto Creek Road. The locally-known Brighton Bump was also mentioned as an area that might benefit from a roundabout.

Plans for a gondola up Little Cottonwood Canyon are still moving forward, even with multiple lawsuits against

UDOT pending from various municipalities around the area including Sandy City.

“The UDOT Region 2 Director (Robert Steward) was really positive about our Wasatch Boulevard Master Plan,” Birrell said.

She would like the council to revisit the Wasatch Boulevard Master Plan to place more emphasis on public transit options and restate that the boulevard is not a highway.

Mayor Weichers is curious about exploring more possibilities for projects funded through tax increment financing (TIF) and wants to explore the potential benefits and costs of creating community development areas.

One of the current community redevelopment areas within the city is the Canyon Center. TIF is in process for that project as it needs to go back through all of the different taxing entities involved. Another community area within the city will be the Hillside Plaza as redevelopment will be encouraged throughout the plaza.

“City staff put together some numbers that would include paying off our Hillside Bond and opportunities at every corner to go to a referendum bond request,” Weichers said.

As a new bill (H.B. 330) has passed by the State Legislature, unincorporated islands will be required to annex into a bordering municipality. A few neighboring islands will be fought over by Sandy, Millcreek and Cottonwood Heights. Hyland would like to see some of these neighborhoods annexed into the city.

Mayor Weichers is excited about the ongoing conversations with the Historic Committee for construction of a Veterans Memorial at City Hall (2277 Bengal Blvd.).

Holton would like the city council to look into the possibility of finding a sister city in South Korea, especially since the Korean Chamber of Commerce was started in Cottonwood Heights.

City leaders and councilmembers also discussed: preserving Crestwood Park; updating road maintenance along Siesta Drive; ballot issue timelines; future plans for the East Canal Jordan Trail; UFA plans; ongoing and potential traffic studies; considering adding a Grant Writing position to city staff; partnering with ULCT and the County’s Health Department; VECC upping their feeds by $8,000; Bonneville Shoreline Trail connectivity; modernizing the parking code, and keeping carpet within the community rooms at City Hall.

“We are all very passionate about carpet,” laughed Holton. l

‘May the Fourth Be with You Fun Run’ to support unified sports in local schools

By Julie Slama | j.slama@mycityjournals.com

“Iget to make basketball hoops.”

“I’ve made friends on my team.”

“I’m part of my school now.”

“I’m so thankful my daughter is given the chance to play alongside her peers.”

“It brings out the best of these kids (partners).”

“It makes my heart happy.”

These, and more comments, were made by student-athletes, parents and school administrators at a recent Canyons School District unified middle school basketball tournament.

Unified sports are where Special Olympians are teamed up with peers or partners to compete together on the court, field, track and pool.

Canyons Education Foundation is hosting a family-friendly fun run, walk and roll to raise funds for costs involved in unified sports uniforms and tournaments, said Denise Haycock, Foundation development officer.

“It fosters inclusion and mentoring opportunities in our schools,” she said. “We are

hoping to have unified sports across all grade levels.”

The “May the Fourth Be with You Fun Run” will be held at 8 a.m., Saturday, May 4. The race begins on the track at Jordan High School, 95 E. Beetdigger Lane, Sandy. There will be a 1-mile option, which will remain on the track, or a 5K, which will run along the nearby trail. Registration is $25 and participants can register at: www.fundraise. givesmart.com/f/4ole/n?vid=14gzqm

“It is definitely a fun run and not a timed run; 100% of funds raised from the fun run will go toward supporting and expanding unified sports teams at our schools,” Hay cock said.

Each participant will receive a themed fanny pack at the event, said Linda Hall, Canyons School District’s special education administrator.

“It will be a really fun event for all the families and a great fundraiser to hold every year to support our unified sports teams,” she said. “This builds mentorship, leadership and lifelong friendships.” l

City’s planning commission considers lot consolidation near Deaf Smith Canyon

Asubdivision amendment request to consolidate three half-acre lots into one 1.68-acre lot along Golden Hills Canyon Road sparked residents to show up in droves to the Cottonwood Heights Planning Commission meeting on March 6.

Property owners Kade and Kalli Huntsman issued the request as their desire is to construct one single-family home on the consolidated lot (currently estimated to be about 5,000 square feet). The three lots in question are part of an existing eight-lot subdivision which borders access to Deaf Smith Canyon.

“We’ve been hiking that since 1983 as Boy Scouts pretty much consistently,” said Commissioner Dan Poulson.

With numerous similar recounts from residents accessing trails in Deaf Smith Canyon through the Golden Hills neighborhood, residents are concerned about the possibility of being cut off from access to that open space.

“According to the City Attorney, an individual who has been utilizing a trail over private property could make a claim for a perspective easement, but it would need to be an individual doing that on their own,” said Senior Planner Samantha DeSeelhorst.

However, there is currently no public access to Deaf Smith Canyon. Trail access to Deaf Smith Canyon through the Golden Hills neighborhood is technically along private property.

“With Deaf Smith Canyon, you have very very illegal access,” said Commissioner Sean Steinman.

The original plat designations for the eight-lot subdivision can be traced back to being recorded in 1970. With those plat designations, the three distinct lots do have entitlements to be developed.

“There is potential here for development of three homes, if these lots are not consolidated,” said Community and Economic Development Director Mike Johnson.

As open space, trail connectivity, and access to the canyons are of concern to many, residents have continually voiced their concerns over the possibility of overdevelopment in the current open space and limiting access into the bordering canyons and trails if the lots were to be consolidated.

“I do not want to cut off access for anybody,” said property owner Kade Huntsman. “This a very sacred piece of property and we’re trying not to destroy it.”

Johnson mentioned that debris flow, landslide, slope stability, rock fall, and riparian site-scoping had been previously ongoing since 2022, before the property owners had a full plan for how they wanted to use the property.

“There have been some pretty extensive studies and land disturbances up there,

By Cassie Goff | c.goff@mycityjournals.com

some clearing of vegetation in order to dig test pits…so we can identify the impact of these hazards to mitigate and safety develop around them,” Johnson said.

As part of the application process, Kade and Kalli Huntsman proposed dedicating the northern portion of lot 8 to the city for the purpose of future trail alignment running through the parcel and trail connections out from the parcel. They have also offered to pay to continue the trail that connects Deaf Smith Canyon to Willow Creek Canyon with a bridge over the water way. -

velopment or no development. It’s approval of three lots into one… or denial, which results in no public trail easement and the potential to see three lots built,” Johnson said.

During the public hearing for Project SUB-24-001, the Planning Commission heard from residents about their concerns for over an hour.

“We encourage the staff to work with the Forest Service on the alignment with the Bonneville Shoreline Trail,” said Parks, Trails, and Open Space Committee Member Melissa Fields, mentioning that the easement should be conserved in perpetuity as well.

Attorney Anaya Gayle, representing resident Christine Mikell, strongly disagreed with city staff’s summary of the area’s history. “We request that the Planning Commission do the reasonable thing and table this matter to discuss the right of access to the canyon for residents and neighbors to make a formal claim for perspective claims.”

“The surveying that has already happened is preposterous as they have damaged the area with those efforts,” said neighbor Shannon Cogrun.

Brenna Wygal, an eighth-grade resident, commented, “When we…kids...persevere and fulfill our need for recreation and find a trail to hike, there are adults that prohibit access to open space and trial areas, and we find ourselves barred from nature, exercise, new experiences and a form of autonomy that we cannot find in our day to day lives. I will add my voice to the crowd and ask for access to Deaf Smith Trailhead to be provided for all the kids.”

“We don’t usually clap, but we will clap for everyone under 16 who comes to the microphone,” responded Planning Commission Chair Dan Mills.

After hearing from the public, the Planning Commission regrouped to consider the applicant request.

“Getting three homes built there is a

bigger worry to me,” Steinman said.

“Our goal is lot consolidation. I think we want to keep that in mind,” said Planning Commission Vice Chair Lucy Anderson.

“We are a property rights state,” Mills said. “Consolation is a separate issue than the trail issue.”

“Our burden is meeting the legal requirement. There’s nothing per law that allows us to take away the rights,” said Commissioner Mike Shelton.

After 70 minutes of discussion with various conflicting amended motions on the table, the Planning Commission returned back to the main motion with Commissioner Smith moving to “approve project SUB-24-001 based on the findings and recommendations listed in the staff report on March 6, 2024.”

Commissioner Dan Poulson seconded the motion. The motion ultimately passed with only Commissioner Jonathan Ebbeler voting no.

In order to continue moving forward for the potential of getting approval for construction on the lot, the applicants will need to get approval from the surrounding entities. Those include the irrigation companies that have easements running through the area, the U.S. Forest Service (as they own the land bordering the lot), Salt Lake County Flood Control, the State of Utah, and the Fire Service (which has granted preliminary approval with two conditions).

Johnson estimates that this process could take months with so many regulatory agencies outside of the city involved.

“Assuming all technical items get addressed, then the applicants can move to finalize the plat where three county parcels become one,” Johnson said. “Final site construction plans are the very last step.” l

The yellow parcel of 0.60 acres, orange parcel of 0.51 acres, and blue parcel of 0.57 acres will be combined into one 1.68-acre lot. (Mike Johnson/Cottonwood Heights)

“Any natural slope of 30% or greater is considered unbuildable, except for a public trail,” said Community and Economic Development Director Mike Johnson. (Cassie Goff/City Journals)

The neighborhoods surrounding the Deaf Smith Canyon, Willow Creek Canyon, and Bonneville Shoreline Trail access points are typically zoned F-1-21 Foothill Residential within the city of Cottonwood Heights. (Cassie Goff/City Journals)

Cottonwood Heights needs to adapt to new bills passed by state legislature

By Cassie Goff | c.goff@mycityjournals.com

Utah residents can take a breath as another General Legislative Session comes to a close. As of March 21, Gov. Spencer Cox has worked through all of the bills that had passed through the legislative body by March 1 to either sign or veto. There were approximately 600 bills for him to read through (with over 2,000 bill files opened this year).

“He had bills presented to him as late as March 12,” said principal lobbyist Brian Allen.

On March 19, Allen, Executive Assistant Chantel Nate, and lobbyist Greg Curtis reported the final details of those tracked bills and their impact to the City of Cottonwood Heights. As reported previously, the Cottonwood Heights City Council had been closely following the proceedings of many of those bills that had the potential to impact the residents within the city and city authority.

H.B. 488: Transportation Funding Modifications, sponsored by Rep. Robert Spendlove and Sen. Kirk Cullimore, amends provisions related to transportation funding and distributes money from the County of the First Class Highway Projects Fund.

“Most of the funding was wrapped up in H.B. 488 and passed on the second to last day,” said Curtis.

For Cottonwood Heights, this bill will be beneficial in the long run as $1,500,000 will be appropriated for improvements to

visions relating to unincorporated areas.

This bill will require unincorporated islands to be annexed into an adjoining municipality. If unincorporated islands don’t annex into a municipality of their choosing with a specified date, they will be automatically annexed into the largest neighboring municipality.

“Granite and White City were up in arms because they would need to be annexed,” said Allen. “They have until 2027 to

tion Amendments sponsored by Sen. Evan Vickers and Rep. Calvin Musselman focuses

Cities are required to provide a list of -

spector out within three days, the developer can choose their inspector from that city’s list of inspectors, but it’s still paid and vetted

wood Heights City Council wondering if

“We are next day,” said Community and Economic Development Director Mike

Johnson. “We have never been more than one business day for an inspection.”

S.B. 91: Local Government Officers Compensation Amendments sponsored by Sen. Chris Wilson and Rep. Paul Cutler modifies provisions relating to compensation of certain county and municipal officers.

Municipal bodies must hold separate meetings to discuss any raises for the City Manager.

“It’s a transparency thing,” said Allen.

“It originally started with every city employee. We whittled it down to elected officials and we ultimately got it down to the city manager.”

H.B. 298: Homelessness Services

Amendments sponsored by Rep. Tyler Clancy and Sen. Cullimore modifies provisions related to the provision of homeless services.

H.B. 421: Homelessness and Vulnerable Populations Amendments sponsored by Rep. Steve Eliason and Sen. Cullimore modifies provisions related to the oversight and provision of services for individuals experiencing homelessness and other vulnerable populations.

Allen and Nate mentioned that the main intention for these bills is to continue studying and analyzing the situation. In order to do so, they will be asking to have more representation on the Homeless Advisory Council.

H.B. 297: Utah Bee Inspection Act Amendments sponsored by Rep. Rex Shipp and Sen. Ronald Winterton modifies the Utah Bee Inspection Act.

Allen mentioned that this bill would have taken all control away from cities if it had not been modified. The first substitute was signed by the governor on March 12 as Not Adopted.

For more information, residents can view current bills by visiting the Utah Legislature website at: www.le.utah.gov l

Community celebrates rainy Easter weekend at Cottonwood Heights Egg unt

On Saturday, March 30, crowds of people with rain jackets and Easter baskets gathered at Butler Park to celebrate a rainy Easter weekend with the community at the annual Cottonwood Heights Easter Egg Hunt.

Over 40,000 items, including 16,000 eggs filled with candy or stickers, loose candy, and toys were spread on the field, divided up into areas marked with flags and tapes for six different age groups. A local food truck was also on site, and children could wait in line for a chance to meet the Easter bunny. At 10 a.m., a fire truck horn kicked off the egg hunt and within minutes, all the eggs and prizes were collected.

“It's a fun activity. It's fun to come out with the family,” Ann Eatchel, Cottonwood Heights’ culture manager, said the day prior to the event. “It takes some time to prepare it and get the field ready and the different age groups. They're all marked out with a flag and tape, but it's over in just a few minutes.”

With the event taking place outdoors, weather plays a significant role in the format of the egg hunt. In anticipation of varying conditions, organizers remain flexible to ensure the event's success while prioritizing participants' safety and enjoyment.

“Last year it actually snowed on us,” Eatchel said. “It was actually kind of fun and we made it work. This year, if the rain is just too harsh, we'll do a drive thru where we just prepackaged some eggs and candy… We'll just have the people stay in the car and wave to the bunny and we'll have a team of people just handing out a bag per kid in the car.

By Megan McKellar | m.mckellar@mycityjournals.com

We will still do something this year, we're just not sure what we're going to end up doing. … I'm willing to stand out there in the rain.”

From weather-related challenges to logistical arrangements, the Cottonwood Heights Easter Egg Hunt relies on the collective efforts of various community organizations to ensure the event's success and uphold the community tradition each year.

“I couldn't do it without (Cottonwood Heights) Public Works helping out, the Cottonwood Heights Rec Center,” Eatchel said. “My favorite is the youth city council. Without them, I couldn't do it. They come out early. We're out there at 8:00 a.m. setting things up, and the youth city council spreads all that candy out on the field.”

The Easter egg hunt serves as an opportunity for community members to come together and provides a chance for neighbors to reconnect.

“It's just a great event for the community to come out,” Eatchel explained. “It's kind of a kick off of the spring and summer… it's just a great event for people to come out and actually get to see the rest of the community.” l

People camping on the block of 500 West pack up their belongings before the Rapid Intervention Team moves in to scoop it into the dumpster on Feb. 2, 2023. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune)

Children ages 3-4 collect eggs and candy during the Cottonwood Heights Easter egg hunt. (Megan McKellar/City Journals)

I ’m not sure what Utah legislators think happens in women’s restrooms, based on the ridiculous bathroom bill that was recently passed. Do they imagine we walk into a restroom, disrobe, dance around drinking martinis and chat like teenagers in a TV sitcom?

Otherwise, I can’t imagine why our “leaders” thought banning trans women from public bathrooms would protect my privacy. If there was a creepy man dressed as Mrs. Doubtfire, accosting women in the restroom, yes, that would be terrible. And it’s already illegal.

But I’m letting the legislators in on a little secret. Here’s what happens in a public restroom. I walk to the bathroom and wait in line (because there’s always a line). I make no eye contact with the women around me. When a stall is available, I scurry into it, do my business as quietly as possible and rush to wash my hands. I glance in the mirror to make sure there’s no popcorn stuck to my face, and I leave.

I wouldn’t know if there was a trans woman in the bathroom with me because (and hear me out) trans women are women. Legislators, you continue to create fear and disconnection. Stop it.

This unenforceable law could mean

we must carry a small copy of our birth certificate, next to the mini-Bible and a pocket-sized copy of the Constitution we’re already toting around. But… scanning my scriptures…I see one that reads, “Love thy neighbor.” Interesting. I don’t see an asterisk that explains *Unless your neighbor has a lifestyle of which you don’t approve.

Speaking of protecting privacy, as the legislative session wrapped up last month, our “leaders” passed a law that blocks access to the daily calendar of elected officials. (I think they confuse “privacy” with “secrecy.”)

Imagine you hire an employee and tell them you’ll be tracking their work, checking their calendars and watching their emails. You want to see how they spend their time, who they hang with and if they’re misbehaving.

Then imagine that employee said

you had no right to do any of that. That it’s none of your damn business. Well, you’d fire that employee in a heartbeat. Elected officials work for the people and we deserve to know what they do.

The Freedom of Information Act grants access to government records so the media and the public can see how the sausage is made. But Utah legislators continue to pass bills making government less transparent. It’s like painting over a window, one thin coat at a time.

In 2011, Utah’s governor and legislators were presented with the Black Hole Award by the national chapter of

the Society of Professional Journalists because of a bill they passed (HB477) limiting access to government records. Five years later, Attorney General Sean Reyes received the same award from the Utah chapter.

Sensing a theme?

Overall, the legislators passed nearly 600 bills this year, including one that eliminates Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs at universities and some government entities. That’s nice. As if Utah wasn’t white, wealthy, male and straight enough already.

And through a law signed by Gov. Spencer Cox, teachers are now encouraged to bring guns to school because how do we address a gun control problem in this country? More guns!

For a state that declares it’s against big government control, a lot of bills passed this year seem glaringly hypocritical.

As the year goes along, I’m sure we’ll hear more from our “leaders” about book bans, school vouchers, revised history curriculum, church-protected abusers and the benefits of coal. Legislators seem just as clueless about those things as they are about women’s bathrooms.