The Box Elder County Commission postponed a decision Wednesday on whether to refund property taxes to a nonprofit that says it mistakenly paid a commercial-rate property tax bill on its new building. James Catlin, president of the Pregnancy Care Society, told the commission the organization bought its first permanent facility this year after two decades of renting space. He said the group filed the required exemption paperwork in March but still received a property tax bill at the full commercial rate. About two weeks before the payment deadline, the amount was reduced by half, leaving the organization uncertain about why...

Article Link

Officials with the state’s Division of Motor Vehicles are warning that Utahns are be- ing targeted by fraudulent text messages threatening legal action over unpaid toll road fees. Anyone who receives such a text message should not click on any links or call any numbers in the text and should verify the authenticity of any notice regarding a traffic ticket or other DMV-related matter. To contact the Utah DMV, call 801-297-7780. Utah does not have a large number of toll roads like other states. Not including Utah’s Express Lanes on I-15 and entry fees into certain areas of national parks,...

Article Link

In another busy week, the Box Elder High School boys basketball team started their week with losses to Payson and East on Tuesday and Wednesday before topping Kearns on Friday. The Bees had a tough time finding an offensive groove against Payson’s collapsing defense Lions that forced jump shots from the perimeter. Box Elder struggled connecting on those chances and found themselves down 14 points heading into the fourth quarter. The Bees made a small run in the fourth but couldn’t complete the comeback as the Lions took the win, 55-43. To make matters worse, the Bees lost a key...

Article Link

The Box Elder High School girls basketball team started their week with a convincing 45-8 win over Ben Lomond on Tuesday before coming up on the wrong end against Olympus on Wednesday, 68-49, and Spanish Fork, 43-21 on Friday. The Bees met almost no resistance from the Scots on Tuesday as Ben Lomond struggled to generate any offense. The home team went 1-for-9 from behind the arc 1-for-17 inside it. Three free throws rounded out their offensive output for the game as the Bees cruised to their easiest victory of the season. Things got significantly more difficult for the Bees...

Article Link

The Perry City Council approved an amendment to the Olson Orchards development agreement Dec. 11 after the Utah Department of Transportation prohibited a previously planned access point to U.S. Highway 89. Olson Orchards is a previously approved, master planned residential subdivision west of U.S. Highway 89 near the Perry–Willard boundary. Under the revised site plan, the development is laid out for 133 single-family homes and 75 townhomes. Perry City Administrator Robert Barnhill told the council the amendment was necessary after UDOT re- versed course during final permitting, rejecting a highway access plan that had earlier received positive feedback. “Everything we...

Article Link

The Perry City Council sent a proposed zone change and development agreement for the Brookside Field subdivision back to the planning commission, citing unresolved concerns over emergency access, long-term infrastructure standards and water-related issues. The proposed 28-acre residential development is located north of Davis Drive (2250 S.), between about 1400 and 1500 West, and consists of three adjacent agricultural parcels. As presented, the project would allow construction of 84 single-family homes and eight townhomes under an R1-3 zoning designation with a development overlay. Perry City Administrator Robert Barnhill explained that the planning commission had voted to recommend denying the request....

Article Link

Brigham City officials held a work session Thursday to review progress on a full rewrite of the city’s municipal code, a project the mayor said has been underway for several months. Mayor DJ Bott said the effort is intended to reorganize, rewrite, renumber, and update the decades-old code “so that we’re ready to go for the next couple years…decades, maybe.” City Attorney Nicole Cottle said a complete code review is uncommon, but needed. She told the council that Brigham City’s code has been built piece by piece over many years and now requires cleanup and restructuring. State-mandated changes have added...

Article Link

The Box Elder High School girls basketball team went 2-1 in three games at the Desert Hills Classic tour­nament in St. George last weekend. The Bees took down Green Valley from Hen­derson, Nevada, 65-32, last Thursday, and scored a 51- 48 overtime win over Soda Springs, Idaho, on Friday. The team finished with a 65- 35 loss to Springville on Sat­urday morning. The Bees opened their tournament Thursday with their highest-scoring game of the season while also giving up the fewest points they have in a game all year. Box Elder junior McKen­zee Jeffries was the catalyst for the Bees...

Article Link

The Box Elder County Commission held a public hearing Wednesday on a re­quired update to the county’s General Plan that would tie fu­ture development decisions directly to the limits of local water systems. Community Development Director Scott Lyons said the amendment is needed to com­ply with recent state laws that require cities and counties to base growth decisions on ac­tual water availability. He said two Senate bills passed over the last two years mandate that long-range plans include a water element and policies that coordinate water supply with land-use planning. Lyons said the county has spent the past two years...

Article Link

The Box Elder High School boys basketball team came back from the Thanksgiving break to a busy schedule with three games last week. The Bees sandwiched a 59-45 win on the road over Skyline between losses to Sky View, 48-43, and Olympus, 59- 38, both at home. The Bees and Bobcats both pride themselves in be­ing hard-nosed defensive teams, which was on dis­play Tuesday when baskets came at a premium. The Bees were held to just 15 points in the first half as the Bobcats ground their way to an eight- point halftime advantage. The Bees slowly cut into the...

Article Link