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Show THE ZEPHYRAPRIL 89 And so her responsibilities stayed the same or increased, while her salary went down. As for the staff increase, Im not sure what kind of a work load (the former County Attorney, Bill Benge) had. But Ive depended on Elaine tremendously. She was always doing something for the previous commission. I could go down there at eight or nine at night and catch her there. As for her workload, I feel personally it has been increasing. Shes done an awful good job for the County. Were going to continue to see Increases (in staff and salaries.) As new people come in, theyre simply not willing to do the job that people were doing for years and years. Take Arnel Holyoak, the animal control officer. Hes doing it for little of nothing. When Arnel goes, well be mandated to get a new animal control officer and well get a guy who says, if you think Im doing it for what he was doing it, which Is basically depression era wages, youre crazy. And there goes the budget going up. You cant do business at the same amount of money that you did before, so I call it coming up to speed. And I think the County Attorney has served the County well. I know a lot of people dont agree with that; I have a few things we dont agree on, but generally I think shes served the county well. Note: A review of city and state cases filed with Circuit Court reveals that the number has actually decreased In the last two years: 1985 . . .440, 1986 . . . 441, 1987 . . . 397, 1988 . . . 381. In addition, before 1987, multiple defendants In an offense were filed as one case; since then, each defendant has been filed as a separate case. Zephyr: Both the Countv Attorney and her Deputy have private practices. The County pays the rent for their offices. What percentage of the rent do they refund to the County for private use of the office? Merv: I have no answer. Feme: I dont know. I do know that Mrs. Coates is a part-tiperson, and has every right to her private practice. of this time fan arbitrary Zephyr: Right, but if for example 40 In Is number) private practice, do they have to reimburse the spent Countv 40 of the rent? me i Feme: I believe thats something we should investigate. Dave: Im not sure, but I dont know that they refund any. The best way to find out is to ask the Clerk. Zephyr: The Special Road District currently has three members: It can be Increased bv law to seven. Do you think that would be a good idea? still feel that expanding it will be a good idea, but I have to take advice from people up North in the Association of Counties and Association of Governments and they have advised me not to do ft at Merv: I this stage. I dont want to say anymore about that as to the whys and wherefores. I do not believe that with the three there, they cannot act In a satisfactory manner. Im not paranoid about this; I believe we can make this work. I believe we can work with the Special Service District and get a good program going where they look after their share and we look after ours. Dave: No. If youve ever sat on boards, if you want to get something done, the fewer there are to argue about it, the better off you are. If youre interested In making sure all sides are heard, the more you have, the better, but you generally end up not getting too much done. They law said we could set it up with three people, and I think three people can sit down and decide where they want to go and what they want to do with it. Although this road district Is another bureaucratic level, they could do anything they want with that money, I suppose. I dont see them doing that. Zephyr: Do vou feel there were anv ethics violations when the Road District was established? Feme: Yes. I dont like the way it was established. I think I would like to see more people on the board, but I dont think its good for the County to have this controversy. Merv: Yes, I believe there was one, but of academic interest And that was Dutch Zimmerman going on the Special Service District when he was a County Commissioner, but all he had to do was resign to on the aspect of nepotism, the relationship between make it legal Ollie and Dave, I did ask people upstate who were far more conversant .... THE CANYON COUNTRY ZEPHYR P.O. BOX 327 MOAB, UTAH 84332 SUBSCRIBE NOW until May 1, an annual subscription is $10.00 name. address. with the law than me, and they said PAGE was In order. went for advice, received advice, and I went along with that Dave: You mean with putting my dad on? I dont because I checked with our County Attorney before that happened. She said the only problem was the hurt that would be placed on me, because people would talk about it I said I could handle that because in my opinion hes still the best qualified. Zephyr: On the asbestos Issue, have anv of vou read the E.P.A. guideline on asbestos which Is available at health Inspector Jim Adamsons office? Feme: I havent read them. Merv: I havent read what hes got (As for the asbestos dumping) its something that a few years ago, no one thought about But now the Issue has come up, and there Is a danger and you must take certain precautions to protect yourself. And this Is whats being done. I have no problem with the environmental situation or mechanical situation of handling the asbestos. The philosophical question of how far away do we accept asbestos, was the concern I had. Between the three of us we decided it was alright to accept this material. But I will always have a bit of hesitance In accepting it from far away. I did make this arrangement, and if anyone wants to blame someone, they can blame me. Dave: No, this asbestos thing, I didnt ever know it was going In the dump at all. In fact, Tim Pogue mentioned it to me and said there would probably be something about it, but said it had been going on for years. In the past, it may have been mentioned in the minutes, but I wasnt conscious of it, lets put it that way. But when they said there was stuff coming out of Denver, this was never brought up at a public meeting, I had no idea what was going on about it. I had to laugh at the Commission meeting the other day, because the same things Merv was saying, the reasons we had to accept asbestos, were the same things I was saying about a hazardous waste incinerator - - we have a moral obligation, we all contribute to it, as long as its legal, as long as its safe, it brings money to the County . . . isnt that exactly what we were saying about the incinerator? Zephyr: Rudv Higgins has requested that the City and County widen and improve 4th North and Apple Lane respectively, to provide commercial access to an RV campground he wants to build. How do vou think this issue will be resolved? Feme: As far as Im concerned, its resolved. Dave: I dont think its over yet. If there was a decision made at the last Commission meeting, it was to not make a decision. Not doing it is shortsighted, because once you put something into motion, I think theres an obligation to carry through on that. What weve had is a transition of the Commission, and I dont think its a smart thing to not carry through. Zephyr: Do vou think its a good Idea to proceed on Apple Lane before the City agrees to improve 4th North? Dave: I do, because quite frankly, I have a hard time getting along with the City. Its nice to be able to get along, but this town would be a lot better off if everybody minded its own business. That goes for me, and you, and everybody. The County should do what the County can do, and let the City worry about what their problem is. Merv: This one is hurting me. Ive got a head and a heart and theres a fight going on within me over the whole thing. From the practical aspect, I cannot see widening Apple Lane to the trailer park, when you cannot reach it in a satisfactory manner. And that is the City's section - 4th North. It is not up to standard, and what youre doing is putting in a little island of widened road. If the City were to widen that section, I think my objections would fall away. I also have a heart objection, and that is the people down in that area in Apple Lane and River Sands. I sympathize with their objection, but we cannot contain our little city to a certain size, by not allowing anything to happen on the outskirts. We must allow expansion around the perimeters. I cannot sympathize with people who say, there will be all this traffic running up and down this road. Its not going to be that great But I dont want to build a bridge over a river with no road leading to the bridge. But if the City does widen 4th North, then I think we should go with it. Another problem I have is, how much should the County put Into a road to a private enterprise? If you do that to one person, will the County pay for the infrastructure for other enterprises? We must do our best, however, to encourage private enterprise to come In. If that road goes In as a Class B Road, it wont cost the County; the monies will come in from the State to pay for that So in a way it is not the County putting that road in, it is the State. We want to support private enterprise. So what do you, the people, want us to do? I heard very loudly (at the Commission meeting) yesterday, the statement about hanging a sign on the Colorado River bridge - Dont cross the bridge; theres no room for you there. That hurt That hurt me. Now, what do you want? What do you people want? Do you want to see private enterprise coming In? Do you want to see a certain amount of growth? Or do you want to lock this place up. What do you, the people, want? Guide me.- Help me. Please. It I I - after May 1, subscriptions are $12.00 5 Zephyr: Thank vou. |