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Show AS WASATCH COUNTY COURIER i _ JANUARY 3, 2001 TE EOE r 1e _ The Year's Top Stories Disease Infects Midway Hatchery | _ Upwards of 200,000 fish were put re death MACE ition one last summer at the Midway State Fish Hatchery when it was discovered the hatchery was Brief, Controversial Life wrong-doing when ' Wasatch disease. Ln MHL, . fish’s cartilage and spine eventually causing them to swim in circles, — the name. The disease also became a minor issue during last year’s campaign for County | i LUA more to . | ed. Oral and written comments by more than one and a half million _ Americans encouraged Mixed Reaction a the federal department to implement the plan. district, the North Village, which lies ; about three ‘Drought Brings Fires, Low drought — perhaps the ered by builder’s impact fees. The Midway Fire Station, located at tions outside the city, but they, can also spawn development. worst in 20 North, 100 West, is in a building _ donated by Midway. It was remodeled, _ required far less funding than the - 19,961 square foot Jordanelle station — critics have called a “palace,” and Sixteen property owners in the proposed district have filed a petition backing the formation. Legally, if 50 percent of the qualified voters of the _proposed territory filed a written a _ decade — brought a mix of scorched opened Nov. 13. Controversy surrounding protest by Aug. 15 the proposal would wild lands and low reservoir levels - Health adopted a set of groundwater of Heber. as water and fire protection for loca- Heavy snowfall late last year was - almost enough to erase memories of last summer’s record high temperatures and record low rainfall. The of miles north _ have been abandoned, but this did not ~ occur. tie. sta- tion includes questions about why it ‘across the Wasatch Back. Fires were at their worst around the county ordinance for nearly a quarter — _ In response to citizen’s concerns, end of J ae when epiening was of a se Ti The ee adopted the. os cee Commissioner Michael Kohler insist- rules in September that have been a _ mated cost to build the stations, according to a county report is $9.1 million; of which $8.2 million is cov- _ These districts provide services, such _ Water Levels Board ' nomic impact exceeds $100 million. Environmentalists have applauded _ the protection, and forestry officials Fire Protection Fire Stations Ignite | N ew, Old éconaiiwatee Rules Rise Ire | Wasatch request a full-scale review if the eco-— killed the idea. Since 1995, there has been a 66 perThe racecar track was proposed for . _ cent rise from $54 million to more than 80 acres in the commercial district $94 million in direct property sales. along 1200 South. But residents voiced © This growth has ignited officials to concerns over impacts to their quality propose expansion, and some are conof life and property values from noise, cerned the fires could burn out of con| Debate. | traffic and type of crowd such a park . trol—the county’s growth quenching ) Last year, Wasatch County opened _ the city’s. A new special service disthe Midway fire station to support | would attract. The proposal died this fall when the trict only fanned the flames. existing stations in Heber and Wasatch County Commissioners . Wallsburg. The county plans to build | _ park’s promoters fail to reach an __ agreement with the owner of the prop-_ met in an open forum July 31 to disseven more in the next 20 years, Ey the park was slated for. cuss a proposed new special service according to commissioners. The esti- as The Office of Management and Budget can the - gay tourism probably won’t be affect- But fierce public opposition eventually governor. Whirling disease was first - discovered in Utah in 1991 ata private hatchery in Wayne County owned by » Gov. Mike Leavitt's family. Leavitt has _ been criticized for not = prevent the disease. over North Village SSD Gets officials said in May they — - 30,000 people to area and dump million of dollars into the local economy. suspected the disease was brought to — -hatchery had over 800,000 catchablesized fish that did not test positive for the disease. Whirling disease, which is ; widespread throughout the West, attacks a it took _ Hatchery the hatchery by a bird or small mammal. While the kill was sizeable, the. County An economic analysis of the plan’s significance is underway. The Federal current County cleared of any Special Service District. - sports park in Heber City that would have brought an estimated 20,000 to ~ with the parasite that causes whirling ! Motorsports | Plan Lives the was Last summer, two Park City businessmen preposed building a motor- infested ee spot for the county — came when Commission took so long to open, and how damage from a nearby fire in October could _ have been prevented if it were opened _¢ed commercial zones will not be auto-_ earlier. Commissioner — Michael - matically added and*said no zone ~ --Kohler told the Courier some locals “changes shall occur until projects are | have asked him if the delay was due to. to se iene caused. Most of the fires — ~ presented individually. = 7 the board’s unwillingness to hire were relatively small- ranging from“ Heber City’s Planning Director female firefighters, which he denied. | two acres to 200 acres. The largest fire —_, Reservoir : was shelve The RGasdrs forrial | adontion-e of the six rules means they will likely be ‘enforced with more. uniformity. And - Allan Fawcett doesn’t see a need for a Kohler said the board wants to make was the East Vivian Park fire located in : new service district, and said, “It is the Uinta National Forest and strad_ clumsy for counties to act like cities. dling the Utah-Wasatch county line. Areas become under served.” margin making |it difficult Le some to _ That fire burned several thousand © Wasatch County ~ Economic that raised an uproar among some landowners who claimed the rules require an unsafe and unfair safety acres before being put out in mide ee develop their |property. oe . LJ Two of the six rules ekcaid the most controversy. The first requires a Reservoir in Summit County to Deer tom of the absorption field and the _ Creek highest anticipated groundwater level. Reservoir, there were Oo tom of the onsite wastewater system. a. ae ice _ Wetland Violations | Audit Slams Handling of service districts (SSDs) took county Officials to task for a lack of oversight. In particular, the audit criticized former County Attorney. Dan Matthews and LeeRoy Farrell, who acted as a con‘sultant for three SSDs in the county. The audit criticized Farrell for hir- ing Matthews to be the attorney for the SSDs without considering others : for the position. mal springs. An official with the Army The audit also took the county, : Corp called the action a “blatant” viola- | Matthew and Farrell to task for allowtion of federal law. ing the two men to sign their own payProvo developer Mike Anderson and said he believed no laws were bro- ken. Anderson plans to build a 77-acre -complex called Springs at St. Moritz on private - Wasatch Js SCOUTRE. land adjacent Mountain State | to Park the golf | checks without oversight. According — to the audit, the two men paid them- selves at least $900,000 in a five-year period. But since auditors could not find all the checks, the figure could be higher. Matthews was also accused of charging the county an unfair price to _ rent offices he owned. into the North said the effect Pearson | federal permits, including a small ther-. called the action a “misunderstanding” - businesses going Village. “pre.” In April, a rare county-level legislative audit looking into Wasatch County’ S management of its special Developer Slapped with — os for Heber. Valley’ S. available, which would enlarge the is Service Districts _ About three acres were graded in May without receiving the necessary also works said no new firefighters have been hired. Girl Nearly Dies From depends on whether “they are carving up the pie into smaller pieces or providing resources currently not rain and heavy demand for water. _ 60 inches to the elevation of the bot- _ order in June for allegedly bulldozing protected wetlands. record _ low water levels caused by the lack of - State law only requires a two-foot zone. Rule two, which also exceeds state law, requires groundwater monitoring when the table is expected to rise than spa in Midway with a cease-and-desist Fire Chief Robert Morris recently — Development Officer Robyn Pearson, -. who ~% “Half Million Riiadless Game of ‘Pass Out’ Taking her cue from a teenage trend in which bizarre kids deliber- ately choke their friends. to achieve momentary unconsciousness, _ Wasatch Junior High School ninth- . | - grader Lancia Fullmer doing the trick. | nearly died On Tuesday, Sept. 10, Fullmer and a Forest Acres Protected group of junior high school cheerleaders proceeded to try the game known Half of Utah’s national roadless, forested areas have been added to a | as “pass out.” It involves one person federal protection plan. putting the heel of their hands on Four million of Utah’s 8.18 million acres are now covered, including 579,931 in the Wasatch/Cache another person ’s trachea. Within seconds the air and blood supply is cut off _and National Forest. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service’s pre- — the person collapses, uncon-— scious, Others then watch the uncon- scious person twitch until they regain ferred plan halts road building and bans logging, unless it assists resource protection; improves wildlife habitats and controls wildfire risk. - consciousness. | | On Fullmer’s second attempt she YS started to seize and shake uncontrollably as she regained consciousness. _ part of a stewardship and no new road An ambulance rushed her to Heber Valley Hospital for examination. construction, reconstruction or timber ‘sales can occur. Trails may still be Primary Children’s Medical Center Timber sales are restricted unless Later installed. Mirror Lake and the High Uinta roadless areas contain some of the largest Utah forested acreage— the former 122,019 acres and the lat- ter, 103,071. | _ cern regarding sexist hiring practices. _ The drought also eannioeen the aa Chamber of Commerce, said it is area’s reservoirs. From Echo — “tough to measure” the effect of new — _ four-foot separation between the bot- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers slapped the developer of a hot springs 3 deliberate hiring choices. Calls to the Courier have confirmed there is a con- she was transported to where she remained for three days before receiving a clean bill OF. health. - _ » Fullmer said she doesn’ t remember the incident. | | |