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Nibley leads valley in growth rate By
Julie Sulunga Nibley is the fastest-growing city in Cache Valley, according to City Councilman Scott Wells. Around 1996 or 1997, Nibley just started growing, building 30 homes a year on an average. Even the population estimate by Utah is understated, says City Recorder Larry Andher. The state said that Nibley will have a total of 1,700 people by the year 2000. In the year 2000, Nibley had 2,045. "There are mixed feelings concerning growth. Some understand it, some don't," Andher said. "There is this 'I am here; shut the door' kind of attitude that some people have especially with those that have moved in the last decade." There are 528 owner-occupied housing units that house 93.3 percent of Nibley's population. There are only 38 renter-occupied housing units, making up a mere 6.7 percent of the city's population. The age group 5 and under makes up 12.3 percent of the population, with the next highest age groups being 25-35 and 35-44, together making up 28.4 percent. Each group seperately each makes up 14.2 percent of the population, according to the Census Bureau's website. Nibley went from 420 water connections in 1997 to 600 connections in the year 2000, Andher said. The biggest factor in why Utah, not just Nibley has so much growth is because of natural increase, Andher says. Natural increase makes up for 80 to 95 percent of the growth in Utah. Nibley has the land to make this growth possible as Logan has run out of land. Due to this fact, the growth is spreading out to outlying areas like Nibley. The reason for this growth in Nibley is because the lots are larger. People can have more room to build their homes. There is also that rural atmosphere in the town that people tend to enjoy, said Nibley city treasurer and clerk, Pat Blau. There are no suburbs in Logan, but, places like Nibley, Hyrum, Smithfield, North Logan are becoming suburbs of Logan because there's land, and there isn't in Logan anymore, Andher said. Nibley has enough water to provide for these people with the well, natural springs and reservoir. The sewer that the city is installing right now will also be able to accommodate more people. "Growth requires additional services, it demands improvements to facilitate new growth such as water, roads, parks and basically just all general services", said Nibley Mayor H. Jay Nelson. Nibley has been able to meet these the complications by working with the developers. This has not demanded a lot of increase because of the developments have mostly been done in phases. Some developments have taken up to five years to accomplish and this gradual growth has been more appealing to the residents. The sewer has been something that the council has considered for the past five years with the reason being that the city needed to provide proper services for increased growth, Nelson said. The council has been very cooperative in making necessary changes. It has implemented some taxing capability through used taxes and impact fees. These fees have been established to cover costs of improvements to prevent existing residents from having to pay for additional fees as result of growth and maintaining the same taxing authority for property taxes. The council made another accomplishment by implementing the installation of sidewalks in subdivisions. They have also established the sidewalk fund for city improvements. This has been very beneficial for the road going to school. Now children can walk on a side walk going to school and safer. "We (the council) continue to support and control growth, providing a desirable place for children to build homes and to support the employment of some of Cache Valley residents including Nibley," Nelson said Though Nibley has made considerable growth, this is not over. It is almost inevitable that Nibley will experience more. If this is the case, Nelson said, it will need to develop a couple more things in the community. They will need to have more parks so children will have a place to play, improve the quality of their roads, and obtain additional water rights. The installation of the sewer system and better water capabilities will hopefully bring in more commercial business and commercial growth on Highway 165. It is also a matter of time and good planning that will bring the development of the Nibley City proposed business park. The park was brought to the city over 20 years ago, Nelson said. The proposed plans for the business park will have businesses and homes together so people can just walk to work from their homes. The kind of work that one can obtain there would be light industrial work. They do not need to worry about driving anywhere. "What growth really means is that our children will be able to stay in the valley and find jobs without having to go elsewhere," Andher said. "People that are anti-growth don't realize that their children will have to leave the valley to find jobs. They want their children to stay here but, are opposed to having subdivisions. "Look at places like Malad City, Idaho; Park Valley, Delta and Snowville. All their children are leaving the communities because there are no jobs or opportunities for the young. If there is no growth, than the younger generation does not stay. Growth is not a bad thing and planning that growth is not a bad thing."
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