Cyan Magenta Yellow Black A9 75¢ Undefeated 2A Gunnison ranked #1 GUNNISON VALLEY EDITION www.sanpetemessenger.com VOL. 84 NUMBER 11 MANTI, UTAH • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2005 EGGSTRA SPECIAL TIME ... W EA THER EATHER Easter bunny hops to Gunnison Wednesday 48/29 Rain likely Thursday - 45/28 Rain or snow Friday - 49/26 Chance of rain Saturday - 49/29 Mostly cloudy Citizens support water rate increase Last Week’s Weather By Tery Robertson By C. R. Truitt (Courtesy Ted Olson, Snow College) Staff writer Staff writer Date Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar. Max. Min. Prec. Snow 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 AT 54 51 49 54 53 48 44 A 29 18 24 32 34 trace 29 trace 32 - - GLANCE Messenger closed Friday for Easter holiday The Messenger office will be closed this Friday for Easter holiday. Deadline for all items for publication will be Thursday at 5 p.m. Bank fraud embezzlers to be sentenced Randy McArthur, former officer in the Bank of Ephraim, and his friend, Dean Johnson, are scheduled to be sentenced Friday in federal court in Salt Lake City for defrauding the bank out of more than $4 million. The embezzlement was a major factor in the failure of the Bank of Ephraim last year. See full coverage in next week’s paper. BRUCE VAN DER RIET / MESSENGER PHOTO (Above) Headstart kids decorate Easter eggs for upcoming egg hunt in Gunnison. Gunnison Council grapples with nursing home impact fees By Tery Robertson Staff writer Quote of the Week GUNNISON—The Easter Bunny will be hopping around Gunnison City Park early Saturday morning hiding eggs for the Easter egg hunt. Members of the Gunnison Valley Jaycees, who sponsor the annual event, will assist him. At 10 a.m., children from 0-12 years old will be set loose to find as many eggs as possible and win prizes. Jaycee President Jessie Burrell explained that this year would be special. “Tim Judd, who’s in charge of the hunt has done a great job getting sponsors and great prizes. We’ve gotten really creative and I’m sure all the kids who participate will be very excited when they see what they’ll win.” The hunt will consist of two areas: one area for the small children and one for the older ones. “That way everyone will have a fair chance to find eggs.” Burrell said. When asked about the egg hunt, the Easter Bunny said local chickens had been working overtime laying enough eggs for the 400-500 children who are expected to show up. “It’s a lot of work,” he said, “but everyone will have a great time and will go home happy.” GUNNISON—The Gunnison City Council grappled with how much to charge in impact fees on a proposed $2.3 million nursing home at its meeting last Thursday, March 17. The council ended up tabling the issue pending further analysis. The impact fee estimate discussed at the council was $77,000, about 3.3 percent of total projected costs of the project, which is being proposed by Bill and Cindy Peterson to replace their Mayfield Community Care Center. “Well, I guess I’m kind of in shock,” said Bill Peterson when council member Rodney Taylor gave him the proposed amount. “I thought that when they quoted $37,000 to me last week that was steep— now I like that figure a lot more than this new one. But it’s not a deal breaker. We’re all going to work toward putting in a new nursing home.” “They are going to impact the system,” Mayor Scott Hermansen said of the new facility. “This is the cost of doing business.” Council member Lori Nay contacted several other towns, including Richfield, to compare their impact fees with Gunnison. (See “Gunnison Council” on A2) “The state of Utah has seen what we can do, but that was pre-region. Now it’s a whole new season. We just have to take it one game at a time.” State contract could fund most of new county jail Staff writer excellence” award for racking up the highest score in 22 competition categories. Publishers, editors, advertising directors and other professionals from the MANTI— At their March 15 meeting, county commissioners met with financial consultants and an architect among others to explore the possibilities of financing a new county jail facility. Kristine Parker, who is contracted with the county as a financial advisor, and Brian Baker, both of Zions Bank, explained several bond and possible grant options the county could use to finance a new facility. According to Commissioner Bruce Blackham, the county would like to be able to build a facility in about one and a half years. Blackham said the commission didn’t want to use county funds if possible. Sheriff Kay Larsen told Parker and Baker that the county has a good chance of getting a 120-bed contract from the state, which would fund 80 percent of the jail’s operating costs. He said the state needs the beds as soon as possible. Joseph Linton, the architect doing the feasibility study for the county, estimated the project cost at $10 million to $11 million on the low end, but he said the project could be done in phases. The financial consultants gave sample figures but will get more information from Linton before making a recommendation. Linton said the planned building is designed to have three floors. He said the first two floors would be for the jail and adminis- (See “Messenger” on A8) (See “Jail” on A2) I NSIDE Letters ............... A4 Lifestyle ............. A5 School ................. A8 Sports .................. A9 Classifieds ......... A11 BRUCE VAN DER RIET / MESSENGER PHOTO Messenger staff shows off “general excellence”(fourth year in a row) and other awards garnered at Utah Press Association convention last Saturday. Back row: Sean Hales, John Hales, Kathy Eggleston, Tery Robertson. Front: Happy publisher Suzanne Dean and associate publisher Lloyd Call. Messenger best small paper in Utah General Excellence winner 1999 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 (See “Centerfield” on A2) By C. R. Truitt – Gunnison baseball coach Jared Andeson, regarding top ranked Bulldogs Utah Press Association GUNNISON—Centerfield residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of an $18 water rate increase at a public hearing last week, in hopes that the increase will be the answer to the city’s water woes. At the March 17 meeting, held at Gunnison Elementary, Centerfield Mayor Darwin Jensen told residents that the increase would pay for a much-needed culinary water system upgrade for the city. Jensen said that in conjunction with the city’s master plan, Sunrise Engineering has developed improvements to the city’s water distribution and storage systems. Those improvements, which include a mixing tank, a second storage tank, a powered pump booster, water line additions and improvements, and adding a 12inch pipe from the water tanks into the town, would be funded through a combination of grants and loans to the city. But in order to qualify for the improvements, agencies funding the project required that the city raise rates to pay back the loans. After showing the residents the intended water system changes, John Iverson from Sunrise Engineering presented rate increase options to residents; $18 base rate for up to 4,000 gallons, $21 for up to 7,000 gallons and $24 for up to 10,000. He said the three rates produced the same effect for the city. Residents said that the $18 rate would help the senior citizens who tend to use less water than families. Some residents questioned if the added 12-inch pipe would be sufficient for the city’s needs, including future growth, and wanted to know if the project shouldn’t include a 16-inch or a 20-inch pipe instead. Iverson said the cost for a pipe that size would be too great, and the project’s ST. GEORGE—The Sanpete Messenger was named the best small newspaper in Utah for the fourth consecutive year during the Utah Press Association convention in St. George last weekend. Eleven Utah newspapers entered the association’s Better Newspaper Contest in the small-newspaper category (circulations under 2,500). About 10 other small newspapers in the state did not enter. The Messenger took the “general