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Renting an Apartment in Eagle Mountain
What You Should Know
Eagle Mountain is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States. The city is a
new development located to the west of the Lake Mountains, which are west of
Utah Lake. It was incorporated on December 3, 1996 and has been rapidly growing
ever since. The population was 2,157 at the 2000 census. By 2005 the estimated
population had reached 10,343.
History
John Walden and Eagle Mountain Properties purchased land in a bankruptcy sale.
Initially purchasing the land for the water rights, Walden later decided to form
a city.
Eagle Mountain was a planned city built around a concept of new urbanism, and
incorporated in December 1996 with a population of approximately 250 residents.
Pony Express Elementary, Eagle Mountain's first school, opened over capacity. A
new elementary school, Eagle Valley Elementary, opened in time for the 2004-2005
school year, also opening over capacity. The Ranches Academy, a public charter
school, opened for the 2004-2005 school year opened at its set enrollment
capacity.
Government and politics
Eagle Mountain has had several mayors in its short history. Debbie Hooge was
appointed the first mayor by the Utah County Commission upon incorporation in
December of 1996. At the next regular election in October of 1997, Hooge
reluctantly placed her name on the ballot because there were no other
candidates. She was then elected as the city's mayor but immediately began to
prepare one of the city councilman to replace her. By October of 1998 Hooge
resigned in favor of Councilman Rob Bateman, a former mayor pro-tem of Alpine,
Utah. Bateman fulfilled his commiment and at the next regular election, Paul
Bond was elected mayor and served his full two-year term. Kelvin Bailey then ran
against Greg Kehl, a city councillor, and won by about 70 votes. Bailey resigned
on June 30, 2005, citing financial problems and a need to have time to develop
his inventions. Vincent Liddiard, the Mayor Pro Tem, took the lead until David
Lifferth was appointed by 5-0 vote of the council on August 2, 2005. Lifferth
resigned his position as mayor at the end of the final council meeting for 2005.
Brian Olsen, the mayor pro tem and mayor-elect filled the seat for the final
days of 2005. Brian Olsen was the sixth mayor to serve in the office since 2005
until he resigned on October 20, 2006. Councillor Linn Strouse was appointed to
fill the mayor seat on October 21. The vote was 3-2, with council members
Liddiard and Jackson dissenting.[2]
In the general election in January 2006, Brian Olsen was seated as mayor
(defeating Brigham Morgan) and David Lifferth and Heather Jackson as council
members (defeating Alicia Hill and Donna Burnham).
Immediately prior to resigning as mayor, Lifferth's last official act was to
officially name the Utilities Administration Building (the City Hall) in honor
of former mayor Kelvin Bailey. The sign would have read, "Eagle Mountain's Mayor
Kelvin Bailey City Administration Building". While David Lifferth felt he had
the power to make this change as Mayor, the council disagreed. After Brian Olsen
was sworn in, the proposal fizzled out and was finally killed.
Currently, Heather Jackson, David "Dave" Blackburn, David Lifferth, Linda "Linn"
Strouse, and Vincent Liddiard hold seats on the city council.
Bailey and Eagle Mountain gained some national attention in March 2003 when
Bailey reportedly claimed to have been kidnapped and forced to drive to Barstow,
California. FBI personnel were briefly involved in the case. Bailey reportedly
confessed that he had invented the kidnapping story due to his "struggling with
the stresses of his responsibilities as mayor and with his job as a construction
consultant. He admitted making up the story to appease his wife until he could
return home and explain his disappearance." [3] Bailey initially pled not guilty
to misdemeanor charges of filing false police reports, but finally accepted a
plea deal in 2005.
Interestingly, to-date Brigham Morgan and Greg Kehl are the only two city
councillors to finish four-year elected terms. No Eagle Mountain mayor has
finished a four-year term. The city council determined that part of the problem
lay in the fact that the mayor received a monthly stipend of $1,000. In July
2005, the council approved a salary for the mayor of about $70,000 per year,
including benefits. The money was procured from sewer funds, which were already
lagging far behind demand. The city must expand its sewage treatment facility
for the "South Service Area" or will likely have a building moratorium when the
plant reaches capacity. The cost for this is estimated to be $5 million, with
only $500,000 raised so far from a federal grant.
Not long after taking office officially in 2006, Brian Olsen was caught up in
controversy surrounding his claims that he held a Masters of Public
Administration degree from Brigham Young University. It was found that he indeed
did not have an MPA as his campaign candidacy declarations and campaign
literature stated in both the 2003 and 2005 elections. He refused to step down,
despite the lies.[5] To compound the issue, his employer, the Utah Highway
Patrol, opened an internal investigation in light of Brian Olsen having reported
to the UHP that he held the MPA and received a decoration for holding the
degree. Olsen, on a leave of absence to be Mayor in Eagle Mountain, resigned
from the Utah Highway Patrol before the investigation was completed, causing the
matter to be closed within the UHP.[6]
On October 20, 2006, Brian Olsen became the latest mayor to resign from office.
The reason cited was "family and personal considerations".[7] Interestingly,
this resignation was posted at around 3:00 p.m. on the same day an emergency
meeting of the city council was called to discuss a pending criminal
investigation involving a city employee. In light of this resignation, the
council met in emergency session on October 21, 2006 and selected Linn Strouse
to serve as interim mayor for a 30 day period. The vote was 3-2, with council
members Liddiard and Jackson dissenting.[8]
On October 23, it was announced that Olsen had been charged with seven felony
accounts of misusing public funds by the Utah County Attorney's office. Several
city council members reported being aware of the ongoing investigation and were
advised by the County Attorney to not speak about it until the charges were
filed.
Utilities
The utilities are owned by the city. While the Telecom department has been sold
to Direct Communications, the city owns its own natural gas, electric, water,
and sewer services.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 108.0
square kilometres (41.7 square miles).
Eagle Mountain sits at the western base of the Lake Mountains in the flat Cedar
Valley northeast of the city of Cedar Fort. An area known as The Ranches is also
being developed just north of the Lake Mountains on Utah State Route 73 (west of
Lehi), within the city limits of Eagle Mountain.
Highway 73 and Eagle Mountain Boulevard provide access to the city from Utah
Valley and Salt Lake Valley, although the city center sits at least 15 miles
from the two valleys' main transportation corridor along Interstate 15. The Utah
Department of Transportation is in the process of planning a western freeway for
the Salt Lake valley which would connect to Highway 73 only a few miles from The
Ranches Parkway and Eagle Mountain Boulevard and provide more direct access to
Provo and Salt Lake City. [10]
Demographics
As of the 2000 census, there were 2,157 people, 532 households, and 502 families
residing in the town. The population density was 20.0/km˛ (51.7/mi˛). There were
598 housing units at an average density of 5.5/km˛ (14.3/mi˛). The racial makeup
of the town was 96.57% White, 0.32% African American, 0.37% Native American,
0.32% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.88% from other races, and 1.48% from two
or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.11% of the population.
There were 532 households of which 74.4% had children under the age of 18 living
with them, 89.1% were married couples living together, 3.6% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 5.6% were non-families. 3.9% of all
households were made up of individuals and 0.4% had someone living alone who was
65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.05 and the average
family size was 4.18.
In the town the population was spread out with 47.4% under the age of 18, 11.9%
from 18 to 24, 33.2% from 25 to 44, 6.3% from 45 to 64, and 1.3% who were 65
years of age or older. The median age was 21 years. For every 100 females there
were 100.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.8 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $52,102, and the median income
for a family was $52,434. Males had a median income of $40,777 versus $25,313
for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,340. About 2.0% of
families and 2.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.1%
of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.
Since the 2000 census there has been massive growth in Eagle Mountain and
surrounding cities. City officials now estimate the total population to be
closer to 13,500.
Some Things to Consider When Looking for an Apartment...
When searching for a new apartment make sure to take your time to think
through what are the most important things to you in an apartment and plan your
search based on those priorities. Here are some things to consider when planning
your move:
1. Consider the areas where you would like to live
* What is the crime rate?
* If you have children - what rating does the local school system have?
* Is there area convenient shopping, health and recreation services in the area?
2. Make a list of your housing priorities
* Do you have pets?
* Do you need parking?
* Do you need to be on the ground floor?
* What amenities are important to you - swimming pool, fitness room, in unit
laundry?
3. Evaluate the building
* What is the condition of the unit and building?
* Are the grounds maintained?
* Are windows, steps, and railings in good condition?
* View the property at night. Is it safe and well lit?
4. The security of the property
* Are there security service? When is the guard on duty?
* Does the building have controlled access?
* Does each unit have secure door and window locks?
5. Talk to the neighbors
* Ask other residents whether they are satisfied with the building.
6. Amenities
* Who is allowed to use the amenities?
* When are they open?
* Are the fees charged to use those facilities included in rent?
7. Ask about Utilities
* Does the owner or tenant pay the utility bills?
* Are any utilities included with monthly rent?
* Do units have separate thermostats to control heat and air conditioning?
8. Review the lease
* How much notice must you give before moving out?
* Can the rent be increased? If so, by how much and how often?
* Are pets allowed?
* What is the security deposit and cleaning costs upon move out?
* What is the responsibility of tenants for damage to property?
* Is there a penalty for breaking a lease?
9. Information too bring to a lease signing
* Credit Report
* Pay stubs/tax returns
* Reference
* Application
More Apartment Information
An apartment (or flat in Britain and most other Commonwealth countries) is a
self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building. Apartments
may be owned (by an owner-occupier) or rented (by tenants).
Some apartment-dwellers own their apartments, either as co-ops, in which the
residents own shares of a corporation that owns the building or development; or
in condominiums, whose residents own their apartments and share ownership of the
public spaces. Most apartments are in buildings designed for the purpose, but
large older houses are sometimes divided into apartments. The word apartment
connotes a residential unit or section in a building. Apartment building owners,
lessors, or managers often use the more general word units to refer to
apartments. Units can be used to refer to rental business suites as well as
residential apartments. When there is no tenant occupying an apartment, the
lessor is said to have a vacancy. For apartment lessors, each vacancy represents
a loss of income from rent-paying tenants for the time the apartment is vacant
(i.e., unoccupied). Lessors' objectives are often to minimize the vacancy rate
for their units. The owner of the apartment typically transfers possession to
the occupant by giving him/her the key to the apartment entrance door and any
other keys need to live there, such as a common key to the building or any other
common areas, and an individual unit mailbox key. When the occupant move out,
these keys should typically be returned to the owner.
Apartments can be classified into several types. Studio, efficiency, bed-sit, or
bachelor apartments tend to be the smallest apartments with the cheapest rents
in a given area. These kinds of apartment usually consist mainly of a large room
which is the living, dining, and bedroom combined. There are usually kitchen
facilities as part of this central room, but the bathroom is its own smaller
separate room. Moving up from the efficiencies are one-bedroom apartments where
one bedroom is a separate room from the rest of the apartment. Then there are
two-bedroom, three-bedroom, etc. apartments. Small apartments often have only
one entrance/exit. Large apartments often have two entrances/exits, perhaps a
door in the front and another in the back. Depending on the building design, the
entrance/exit doors may be directly to the outside or to a common area inside,
such as a hallway. Depending on location, apartments may be available for rent
furnished with furniture or unfurnished into which a tenant usually moves in
with his/her own furniture. Permanent carpeting is often included in an
apartment.
Laundry facilities are usually kept in a separate area accessible to all the
tenants in the building. Depending on when the building was built and the design
of the building, utilities such as water, heating, and electric may be common
for all the apartments in the building or separate for each apartment and billed
separately to each tenant (however, many areas in the US have ruled it illegal
to split a water bill among all the tenants, especially if a pool is on the
premises). Outlets for connection to telephones are typically included in
apartments. Telephone service is optional and is practically always billed
separately from the rent payments. Cable television and similar amenities are
extra also. Parking space, air conditioner, and extra storage space may or may
not be included with an apartment. Rental leases often limit the maximum number
of people who can reside in each apartment. On or around the ground floor of the
apartment building, a series of mailboxes are typically kept in a location
accessible to the public and, thus, to the letter-carrier too. Every unit
typically gets its own mailbox with individual keys to it. Some very large
apartment buildings with a full-time staff may take mail from the mailman and
provide mail-sorting service. Near the mailboxes or some other location
accessible by outsiders, there may be a buzzer (equivalent to a doorbell) for
each individual unit. In smaller apartment buildings such as two- or
three-flats, or even four-flats, garbage is often disposed of in trash
containers similar to those used at houses. In larger buildings, garbage is
often collected in a common trash bin or dumpster. For cleanliness or minimizing
noise, many lessors will place restrictions on tenants regarding keeping pets in
an apartment.
In some parts of the world, the word apartment is used generally to refer to a
new purpose-built self-contained residential unit in a building, whereas the
word flat means a converted self-contained unit in an older building. An
industrial, warehouse, or commercial space converted to an apartment is commonly
called a loft.
When part of a house is converted for the ostensible use of a landlord's family
member, the unit may be known as an in-law apartment or granny flat, though
these (sometimes illegally) created units are often occupied by ordinary renters
rather than family members. In Canada these suites are commonly located in the
basements of houses and are therefore normally called basement suites.
Staying in privately owned apartments rather than in a hotel is quickly becoming
popular with travelers.