Midvale City Newsletter | February 2021

In The Middle of Everything City Hall – 7505 South Holden Street • Midvale, UT 84047

The Heart of the Matter

MIDVALE CITY DIRECTORY City Hall Finance/Utilities Court City Attorney’s Office City Recorder/Human Resources Community Development Public Works Ace Disposal/Recycling Midvale Historical Museum Midvale Senior Center SL County Animal Services Police Dispatch Unified Fire Authority Fire Dispatch Communications

801-567-7200 801-567-7200 801-567-7265 801-567-7250 801-567-7228 801-567-7211 801-567-7235 801-363-9995 801-567-7285 385-468-3350 385-468-7387 801-743-7000 801-743-7200 801-840-4000 801-567-7230

MIDVALE CITY ELECTED OFFICIALS MAYOR Robert Hale Email: Rhale@midvale.com

801-567-7204

CITY COUNCIL District 1 - Quinn Sperry Email: qsperry@midvale.com District 2 - Paul Glover Email: pglover@midvale.com District 3 - Heidi Robinson Email: Hrobinson@midvale.com District 4 - Bryant Brown Email: bbrown@midvale.com District 5 - Dustin Gettel Email: dgettel@midvale.com

WHO TO CALL FOR… Water Bills Ordering A New Trash Can Reserving the Bowery Permits GRAMA requests Court Paying For Traffic School Business Licensing Property Questions Cemetery Water Line Breaks Planning and Zoning Code Enforcement Building inspections Graffiti

801-567-7200 801-567-7202 801-567-7202 801-567-7212 801-567-7207 801-567-7265 801-567-7202 801-567-7213 801-567-7246 801-567-7235 801-256-2575 801-567-7231 801-567-7208 801-567-7228 385-468-9769

EMERGENCY OR DISASTER CONTACT Public Works Fire Dispatch – Unified Fire Authority Midvale Police Precinct or Police Dispatch Unified Police Department EMERGENCY

801-567-7235 801-840-4000 385-468-9350 801-743-7000

Page 12 | February 2021

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FEBRUARY 2021 CITY NEWSLETTER

By Mayor Robert Hale

ENDURANCE, ASPIRATIONS AND HOPE I want to start right off by thanking the Salt Lake County Health Department for dispensing the COVID-19 vaccine so widely to get it working quickly for every vulnerable individual. Phase 1 includes healthcare workers, EMS workers and first responders, school staff, and Utahns 70 and older. We have all witnessed the telling graphs and charts, statistics, and our personal knowledge of the impact of the coronavirus on all age-groups.

I cannot encourage more strongly that everyone in our city – senior adult, middle-aged, young adult – no matter your income, race, religion, social status – should exercise their choice to receive the vaccination. The only holdback will be the availability of vaccine compared to the capacity of the Health Department to perform the inoculation. The higher the percentage of our residents that become immune, the faster we can open our society while we still remember what our lives were like pre-pandemic. We can do this!

The City Council will shortly enter the annual budget process. If ever there were a year that will test the city council, city administration, and our advisors to prepare a vision of the coming 2022 Budget, this will be that year! Our award-winning Finance Director, Kyle Maurer, will then be tasked to convert the vision of the council and administration into a detailed budget for each department. Addressing payroll, benefits, capital purchases, software license renewals, bond payments, tax payments and receipts, payments to Unified Police Department, Salt Lake County, State of Utah, and Uncle Sam is a tremendously complex 365-day

exercise. We appreciate our city manager, and assistant city manager, and the directors of Public Works, Community Development, Finance, city recorder staff, human resources, District Court judge and clerks, and the many capable staff members. Every one of these positions is filled with capable and talented employees.

Unified Fire Authority protects all of us and the homes and businesses we live and work in. We are proud and thankful for their preparedness in our behalf. It will not be long before the new UFA Station 125 will be physically started at the southwest corner of Center and Allen Street.

Unified Police Department has done a profoundly exceptional job protecting all residents and all those who pass through our city. I am thankful for every red-blue flashing light I see along the roadsides. I know it means that there was a vehicle or a driver that was not ready to be on the highway. Our Homeless Shelter has put much responsibility upon UPD to keep all our residents safe. I consider our Road Home Shelter clients as much residents of our City as any and all of our other City residents, and they deserve every protection and benefit as such. UPD is doing an exceptional job providing this protection.

Pray for peace in our Heaven-Blest Country. Let’s all work to preserve our freedoms, and the freedoms of all our fellow residents.

Thanks for your support of your own neighbors, and all organizations that are promoting peace and prosperity. Support our local businesses. Each of these small businesses need the cash flow from residents to keep their doors open. Thank you for visiting any of these good companies!

COVID-19 Vaccine Mayor Robert Hale received the COVID-19 vaccine. He encourages residents to stay up to date on vaccines, COVID-19 information, and health recommendations so everyone can make informed decisions to keep themselves and their family safe and healthy. “We need to do whatever is possible to curb the spread of the virus, and the vaccine is the best protection against this disease,” said Mayor Hale.

COVID-19 Vaccines are available now for many groups of people including healthcare workers, first responders, educators, and Utahns 70 and older. For the latest COVID-19 Vaccine information, including who can be vaccinated and when, visit https://slco.org/ health/COVID-19/vaccine/.

Until our population has been broadly immunized, we continue urging that you protect yourself and others from the virus by taking three critical steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19: wear a face mask, maintain social distancing, and wash your hands. These actions remain essential.

Midvale City Journal

In The Middle of Everything Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day Meals for Seniors Midvale Senior Center will be hosting a Valentine’s Day Special Meal on Thursday, February 11. They will be serving lemon dill salmon, mushroom wild rice, vegetable medley, fresh orange, chocolate cake with chocolate topping and milk. Please call Midvale Senior Center at 385-468-3350 by Monday, February 8, to make a reservation for this meal.

They will also be serving a traditional St. Patrick’s Day Meal on Wednesday, March 17.

On the menu that day will be corned beef with cabbage, roasted potatoes and carrots, roll, fresh pear, Dijon mustard, vanilla cupcake and milk. Please call 385-468-3350 by Thursday, March 11, to reserve this meal.

Both meals are a drive thru lunch for seniors 60 and over. When making your reservation, be prepared to let them know if you would like to pick up your meal between 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM, 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM and 12:30 PM – 1:00 PM. A suggested donation for each meal is $4.00.

WWW . MIDVALECITY . ORG Resolve to be More PreparedEarthquake Preparedness

By Julie Harvey, Municipal Emergency Management Planner How did you react on March 18, 2020 when just after 7 o’clock in the morning you were shaking from an earthquake of 5.7 magnitude? Did you run outside? Did you start filming for social media? There are hundreds of stories to be told about that 10 to 20 seconds of shaking but knowing what to do for future seismic events is more important. The following is taken from the Ready.gov Earthquake page.

Send Love to Seniors this February For most people, Valentine’s Day represents a time to celebrate love with romantic partners, friends and family. But for some – especially older adults – many feel lonely around the holiday, especially during the pandemic. To combat loneliness this Valentine’s Day, Midvale City is asking the community to send handwritten cards to City Hall. We will share the cards with local seniors all month long (“Letter to an Elder Day” is February 26th). Note: The CDC, World Health Organization, and Surgeon General have indicated that there is currently no evidence that COVID-19 is being spread through the mail.

Take a few minutes, sit down, and write a letter to an elder (a stranger). Tell them about yourself, maybe say a joke or a riddle and let them know that they are loved. It might feel difficult at first to be writing to someone you don’t know. Our advice: just pretend like it’s a conversation! What kinds of things would you want to talk about to a stranger?

GUIDELINES: 1. Letters must be legible (large print) and handwritten. No worries if you’re not artistic– make your card as what you’d like to receive.

2. Exclude the date (day, month, and year). Do not reference COVID, isolation, or quarantine– focus your letter on making the recipient feel good.

3. Embrace creativity! Recipients love it when the letters are personal. We encourage you to make your letters colorful and fun– photos, crosswords, and drawings are great!

4. Be kind & thoughtful. This is a one-way letter exchange, so you will not receive a letter back. Receiving nothing in return is part of the beauty of your act of kindness, and recipients aren’t burdened by feeling obligated or unable to respond.

5. Ready to mail? Yay! Send to: Laura Magness Midvale City 7505 S Holden Street Midvale, UT 84065 Thank you for supporting our seniors during this critical effort to fight loneliness. Physical isolation is important for public health right now, but our seniors deserve to feel supported, too.

• The best time to prepare for any disaster is before it happens. Practice “Drop! Cover!

Hold On!” with family and coworkers to make sure everyone understands the words and the actions. Make an emergency actions plan and create a family emergency communications plan that has an out-of-state contact.

• Plan where to meet if you get separated. Make a supply kit that includes enough food and water for several days, a flashlight, a fire extinguisher, home medical supplies, and a whistle. Being prepared allows you to avoid unnecessary excursions and to address minor medical issues at home, alleviating the burden on urgent care centers and hospitals.

• Protect your home by securing heavy items in your home like bookcases, refrigerators, televisions and objects that hang on walls. Store heavy and breakable objects on low shelves.

Consider making improvements to your building to fix structural issues that could cause your building to collapse during an earthquake. Consider obtaining an earthquake insurance policy. A standard homeowner’s insurance policy does not cover earthquake damage.

• Stay safe during an earthquake. If an earthquake happens, protect yourself right away: o If you are in a car, pull over and stop. Set your parking brake. o If you are in bed, turn face down and cover your head and neck with a pillow. o If you are outdoors, stay outdoors away from buildings. o If you are inside, stay and do not run outside and avoid doorways.

• Stay safe after an earthquake! After an earthquake, there can be serious hazards such as damage to the building, leaking gas and water lines, or downed power lines. Leave the structure you are in only if it is unsafe. When you do venture out, be alert for any hazards the earthquake may have created.

The following websites have a lot of very good information. Even if you are prepared and believe you and your family and workplace could resiliently survive, take the time to visit the websites and review your plans with loved ones and work colleagues.

Ready.gov Earthquake: www.ready.gov/earthquakes State of Utah Earthquake Preparedness: www.utah.gov/beready/earthquakePreparedness.html American Red Cross Earthquake Safety: www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-emergencies/ earthquake.html

FEBRUARY 2021 CITY NEWSLETTER WWW . MIDVALECITY . ORG

Protecting Groundwater

We work every day to ensure our customers can turn on a tap or take a shower with no worries about the purity of their water. In keeping with federal, state, and our own agency rules and guidelines, our Water Division team strives to protect our water supplies, our water quality and safety and to deliver this life-giving resource. In order to maintain clean, high quality water, we must all work together to protect the groundwater source. Water that is pumped from wells flows through a groundwater aquifer that is located beneath this area before reaching the well.

Because the soils between the ground surface and the aquifer are porous, any contaminants that are discharged on the ground have the potential to seep into the groundwater aquifer and eventually contaminate the water in the well. This could in turn compromise the health of the people drinking the water.

Fortunately, there is something that we all can do to protect our groundwater.

There are two fundamental categories of groundwater protection: Keeping it safe from contamination and using it wisely by not wasting it. Careful and proper handling and disposal of chemicals, fuels, or other contaminants will prevent the discharge of these contaminants into the ground. For more information, please visit www.ngwa.org.

Do You Have the Write Stuff ?

Midvale Arts Council to host first annual Literary Festival March 26-27

Calling all writers! Midvale would love to showcase your works through a Literary Festival the last weekend in March. For this first festival the Midvale Arts Council is looking for entries in “Poetry” and “Short Story”. There will also be a 24-hour “Flash Fiction” contest for both categories starting on March 19th.

“Our Arts Festival has always been a great way to show the creativity of the Midvale Residents,” said MAC Board Member Bob Bedore. “We felt it was time to show more of this creativity and give our writers a chance to shine.”

The festival is open for submissions and those interested can go to Midvalearts.com for the details. The short stories and poems will be highlighted on both the website and the Arts Council’s Facebook page. Some selections will be presented as readings performed by local actors.

For the “Flash Fiction” competition, writers will be given 24 hours to complete either a story or poem with specific guidelines. The short story contest will see authors work with a location, item, and genre that must go into their 1000 word (or less) story. For the poetry side, writers will be given a theme, object, and word that must all make up their poem. Submissions will be judged by a group of local writers to help achieve 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Honorable Mentions for each category. Those wishing to join can register and will be given their suggestions on March 19th and will have 24 hours to get in their submissions.

“It is hoped that this festival will grow and grow as we strive to make it better each year,” continued Bedore. “We’re looking to make this something everyone is looking forward to each year.”

Again, for more information, please visit the Midvale Arts Council website at midvalearts.com.

It’s Time for Some Virtual Laughs Quick Wits & Midvale Arts Council to host a virtual version of the Wasatch Improv Festival

2021 Pet Resolutions

Salt Lake County Animal Services

Did you get a pet this holiday season? Or did you forget to vaccinate or license your pet in 2020? At Salt Lake County Animal Services, we recommend getting these services done to ensure your pet is healthy and ready to get going for the New Year.

VACCINATE: Make sure they are up to date on vaccinations. Pet illnesses and diseases are preventable if you vaccinate your pet. Veterinary visits are booked out far in advance at this time, so call and make an appointment right away.

MICROCHIP: At Salt Lake County Animal Services, on the 2nd Thursday of the month from 2 PM- 4 PM, there are DRIVE-UP, microchipping and licensing clinics, at 511 W 3900 S. Any pet in Salt Lake County with a current pet license can receive a FREE microchip with proof of license. Microchipping is one of the best ways to get an animal back to their owner as quick as possible. Questions?

Email animal@slco.org.

LICENSE: By Utah state law, pet owners must license a pet by the time they are five months of age or within 30 days of moving into an area or acquiring the pet.

Find out more about licensing on our website. Or call to make an appointment at 385-468-7387. The shelter is open Mon-Sat, 10 AM-6PM. Dispatch is available 24/7 for animal emergencies: 801-840-4000.

With COVID-19 restrictions in place, the fourth annual Wasatch Improv Festival will continue, but now in a virtual, online setting. But rest assured, there will still be plenty of laughs from all over the country – and even a few from around the world now that travel isn’t a factor. The festival will now run February 27th and 28th with online sites to be named soon.

For three years the Wasatch Improv Festival has opened its doors to some of the best comedy improvisors from all corners of the United States. The festival, held in the Midvale Performing Arts Center, has quickly become a favorite for performers and a jewel on the festival circuit.

The home troupe, Quick Wits, has created a very open and inviting space for performers and teachers. Audiences have sold out the festival in each of its first three years.

“We’ve been hoping that things would clear up in time to have our festival run normally,” said Jason Wild, a board member of the Midvale Arts Council and Quick Wits. “But we’re happy that comedy troupes are still interested in trying something a little different and we’ll be able to get something out to the public.”

Using a combination of live shows (with no audience) at the Performing Arts Center, “Zoom” style online live shows, and recorded sets from improvisors, the Virtual Wasatch Improv Festival will now run two nights and audiences will be able to watch from all over the world in the comfort of their homes.

The organizers still hope to have close to two dozen individual acts spread out over the two-day festival with many favorites returning. The inclusion of international acts also promises some big laughs. The festival is for all ages, but some acts might be a little too PG-13 from some viewers. In these cases the acts will appear later at night and a warning will be made before the show begins.

“We’re still working out all the online details,” Jason continued. “But we’ll have it all in place in plenty of time and can’t wait to see what this new format will bring us. We are all about improvisation, so this is nothing new for us.”

Information about viewing the 2021 Virtual Wasatch Improv Festival will be available on their website – wasatchimprov.com. The festival is sponsored in part by Midvale City and the Midvale Arts Council.