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Show Cyan Magenta Yellow Black 75¢ Manti so close to the title ... A8 GUNNISON VALLEY EDITION VOL. 84 NUMBER 8 MANTI, UTAH • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2005 W EA THER EATHER Gunnison Lions honor couple Wednesday 50/28 Cloudy Thursday - 48/24 Change of rain Friday - 49/26 Cloudy Saturday - 53/28 Cloudy Last Week’s Weather Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Max. Min. Prec. Snow 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 AT 47 49 48 50 55 52 50 A 32 29 31 30 28 24 26 By Sean Hales By Kathy Lin Eggleston Associate editor Staff writer (Courtesy Ted Olson, Snow College) Date Humanitarian award goes to Roger and Bonnie Jensen Councilman walks out after vote on lot size .01 .34 .02 2.5” - GLANCE Last weekend for Snow Geese festival DELTA—This is the final weekend of the Snow Geese festival at Gunnison Bend Reservoir near Delta. Admission for the event is free. Personnel from the Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) will be on hand to answer questions about the geese. Participants are encouraged to use spotting scopes, which will be provided by the DWR, or binoculars to get a close-up of the birds. “People who get too close to the geese will probably scare them away, and that will spoil the viewing for everyone,” said Bob Walters, watchable wildlife coordinator for the DWR. Areas where people may see geese vary according to the time of day, and DWR personnel will direct visitors to the proper locations to view the birds. Quote of the Week “Somebody went and got donuts and Mountain Dew, and we just sat there for three hours until the thing burned to the ground.” – Frustrated firefighter forced to watch a structure burn down in Northern Sanpete I NSIDE Opinion................ A4 Lifestyle ............... A5 Sports .................. A8 Business ........... A10 Classifieds ......... A11 Utah Press Association General Excellence winner 1999 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 GUNNISON—The Gunnison Lions Club honored Roger Jensen and his wife Bonnie Jensen last Wednesday evening as examples of what humanitarians really are. The club presented Roger Jensen with a plaque as the recipient of its 2004 Humanitarian Award at the Gunnison Valley Lions Recognition Banquet. He will represent the Lions for the coming year at several events, including the Gunnison Fourth of July parade. Jensen has participated as a Lion for more than 20 years and has served in every committee and in many leadership positions, including president twice. He has helped coordinate the arrival of Santa and handled the tickets and money for the Fourth of July for many years. “Many of the projects he has enjoyed most over the years have involved a hammer and nails, lumber and cement,” his daughter, Janice Bown of Fayette, said, “especially when working with to attract business from outside the county, but it appears the best results will come from “focusing on what we can do internally.” But whether the county brings in jobs or current businesses expand, “we need to develop a workforce that is well prepared and forward looking.” While the projections show Sanpete growing more slowly than I-15 counties, they show faster growth in Sanpete than SPRING CITY—After a heated debate and a vote that turned out to be invalid, Spring City council member Neldon Jensen left the council chamber with parting words, “I resign.” Jensen walked out after a vote to retain a requirement in the zoning ordinance that lots can be no smaller than 1.06 acres was seemingly quashed. The meeting, last Wednesday Feb. 23, was the second special meeting where the city council reviewed and prepared to adopt zoning ordinances after a ballot referendum in November repealed the ordinances. The central issue during the referendum was a section in the zoning ordinance that permitted historic 1.06-acre lots to be divided in half. During the referendum campaign, supporters told voters that if they wanted to retain 1.06-acre lots, they should vote in favor of repealing the ordinance. Voters did vote “yes” by nearly a 70 percent margin. But at the meeting last week, council member Boyd Mickel said that the referendum didn’t target the lot size issue. “You didn’t vote for 1.06 acres,” Mickel said. “You voted for or against the ordinance. You turned the whole thing down.” Which, Spring City Mayor John Thomas said, is technically true. Thomas explained in an interview Monday, that the city adopted the zoning ordinance as a single law. He went on to explain that Utah law does not allow specific portions of a law to be targeted by referendum, so the entire law has to be repealed. But Jensen said at the meeting that it was clear what the referendum was about. Jensen also said that he remembered that council member Thomas Allred had indicated that he would abide by the results of the referendum. “There was a referendum and the voters voted about 70 percent to retain the 1.06 acres,” Jensen said in an interview, “You’d think they’d at least honor the citizen’s intentions.” However, Mickel andAllred both said that the referendum that was on the ballot was not clearly worded and that there was some confusion. They said that as a result, the vote did not correctly represent the citizen’s wishes. Mickel also suggested that the idea to require 1.06-acre lot sizes is not native to Spring City. “I’m surprised, knowing what you know, that you’re going against the people’s wishes,” Parnell said to Mickel. I’m not,” replied Mickel, “I’m going (“See “Population” on A7) (“See “Spring City” on A7) KATHY LIN EGGLESTON / MESSENGER PHOTO Gunnison Lion’s Club members Marshal Sorenson (left), with Bonnie and Roger Jensen, who received the club’s Humanitarian Award last Wednesday. friends on a community.” Jensen has helped with the cement and landscaping at the community swimming pool and the concession stand at the ballpark, the new roof on the old Lions’ pavilion and the new Lions’ pavilion at the park. He has also worked with the Lions to provide eyeglasses to elementary stu- dents and helped his grandson collect eyeglasses for delivery to third-world countries through the Lions for his Eagle Scout project. He takes his grandchildren with him to help clean the highway, or help out as Santa’s elves. “It must be said that Roger and Bonnie come as a package deal,” Bown (“See “Lions” on A2) Sanpete at 25,000, going to 33,000 by 2020, but lagging I-15 counties By Suzanne Dean Estimated population growth of Sanpete County Publisher SALT LAKE CITY—Sanpete County’s population is projected to pass 25,000 this year and to approach 28,000 by 2010, based on the latest estimates from the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget (GOPB). The projections show county population reaching just under 33,000 by 2020, hitting 35,000 by 2030, and surpassing 38,000 by 2050. Those numbers represent average annual growth of 1 percent per year. However, the estimates, developed by the Demographic and Economic Analysis Section of GOPD, show the county growing more slowly than the state as a whole and more slowly than rural counties along I-15. In contrast to Sanpete’s projected average growth of 1 percent per year, Juab is projected to experience average annual growth of 1.5 percent; P O P U L A T I O N 32,902 38,492 35,181 36,866 27,904 22,846* YEAR 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 Source: 2005 Baseline Projections, Governor's Office of Planning and Budget *The 2000 figure is the actual U.S. Census count. The other figures are projections. Millard, 1.7 percent; and Beaver, 2.1 percent. Sanpete County Commission chairman Bruce Blackham said the projections point to some things the county needs to face. “If we’re not prepared in terms of infrastructure, attitude and education, we will continue to grow, but our per capita income will remain flat or decrease.” Blackham said the county has tried Fire fighters helpless as homes burn North county subdivisions too far away, no water available By Suzanne Dean Publisher HIDEAWAY VALLEY— Three houses in the north part of Sanpete County have been destroyed by fire in the past two years, and the Fairview Fire Department, the closest organized fire agency, has been helpless to save them. The most recent fire, about one month ago, destroyed a modular home in Hideaway Valley, about 13 miles northeast of Fairview. Earlier fires burned a two-story stucco structure in Oquirrh Hills, about 13 miles northwest of Fairview, and a two-story log home, also in Hideaway Valley. Because of driving distance and the absence of fire hydrants in the sparsely developed, unincorporated subdivisions, “saving a house out there is practically impossible,” says Fairview Fire Chief Jeff Cox. The closest water source to Hideaway Valley is a hydrant about a mile north of Fairview—12 miles from Hideaway Valley homes. When someone calls 911 to report a fire, the call is answered at the courthouse in Manti. The dispatcher pages Cox. He dashes to the Fairview Fire Station and blows the siren. Volunteer fire fighters report to the station, and trucks take off. “If everything goes perfectly, it takes 20 minutes” from an initial report until trucks reach places such as Hideaway Valley, says Cox. Typically by then, a house is engulfed in flames and the structure is damaged, so it’s not safe to send fire fighters inside. The Oquirrh Hills fire started when a fireplace fire got out of control, said Cox. The nearest water source is 4-5 miles away. “In winter, it’s 15 miles,” says Cox. Generally, the only water fire fighters have is what they can carry on their trucks, about 750 gallons per truck. Yet in a typical house blaze in a municipality, fire fighters can consume 25,000 to 50,000 gallons, said Sanpete County fire warden Fred Johnson. The county fire district has one 5,000-gallon tank truck based in Mt. Pleasant. But it’s a relatively slow-moving vehicle, Johnson said. The truck was taken to the PHOTO COURTESY OF KEITH HANSEN Fairview and Mt. Pleasant fire fighters watch Hideaway Valley home burn to ground. By the time fire fighters reached the location, the fire was too far advanced to fight and the only available water was what they had brought in on their trucks. Oquirrh Hills fire. But, says Johson, by the time the truck got there, the fire had progressed too far and even the 5,000 gallons had little impact, he said. The first of the two Hideaway Valley fires, the one at the log home, started when hot coals got out of the fireplace, says Cox. Since the fire, the home has been rebuilt. The most recent Hideaway (“See “Fires” on A2) |