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Show Cyan Magenta Yellow Black A11 75¢ Snow honors fallen Badger GUNNISON VALLEY EDITION www.sanpetemessenger.com VOL. 84 NUMBER 36 MANTI, UTAH • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2005 River walkway could be reality in a few months WEA THER EATHER Wednesday 73/45 Mostly sunny Thursday - 79/48 Sunny, pleasant Friday - 80/47 Mostly sunny Saturday - 81/48 By Suzanne Dean Mostly sunny Publisher Last Week’s Weather (Courtesy Ted Olson, Snow College) Date Sept. 4 Sept. 5 Sept. 6 Sept. 7 Sept. 8 Sept. 9 Sept.10 HOU CHA RS NGE Max. 79 82 82 85 80 69 74 Min. 50 51 58 55 55 54 46 Prec. .34 .12 .20 - Office hours have changed on Monday for the Sanpete Messenger office, 35 S. Main, Manti. Open 9 am - 2 pm Other days of the week remain 9 am - 6 pm AT A GLANCE Get your season tickets! Tickets for the Casino Star Theatre’s live concert season are now available. Ticket prices are $10 per concert, or $35 for season tickets to four concerts throughout the year. Ticket orders can be made at the theatre’s box office, at Rasmuussen’s Ace Hardware in Gunnison, or by calling Lori Nay at 528-7136 or Diana Spencer at 528-7966. The first concert, internationally acclaimed classical guitarist Loren Pomeroy, will be presented on Thursday, Sept. 29 at 7:30 p.m All proceeds from this and subsequent concerts will help support the restoration of the theatre. SUZANNE DEAN / MESSENGER PHOTO This dirt path will soon be the east end of Gunnison’s proposed River Walkway. You said It! “We want to make this the heart of the town and extend the trail system from there.” —Gunnison City Councilwoman regarding proposal to create Sanpete County’s first landscaped walking trail along Sanpitch River in Gunnison. INSIDE Opinions ........ A4 Lifestyle ......... A5 School ........... A8 Sports ............ A9 Classifieds ... A11 Utah Press Association General Excellence winner 1999 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 PHOTO COURTESY RIVER WALK COMMITTEE A superimposed photo showing how the river walk underneath the bridge could look. GUNNISON—The Gunnison City Council is facing final decisions in the next couple of months regarding the Sanpitch River Walkway, a landscaped walkway and bikeway consisting of a 1.1-mile of trail, three river crossings and an underpass at U.S.89. If the city goes ahead with everything proposed, the walkway and associated road improvements would cost about $632,000, not including about $45,000 in land and in-kind contributions by Gunnison City. Of that, $432,000 would come from a federal grant, the first competitive federal grant the city has ever won, says Councilwoman Lori Nay, who has headed up a planning committee. Another $200,000 would come from a no-interest general obligation bond, which would be purchased by the Utah Community Impact Board (CIB), an arrangement similar to what Manti is using for its outdoor aquatics center. The walkway would begin at 200 East, run along the north side of the Sanpitch River and pass under the U.S. 89 bridge. There would be landscaped entrances to the walkway at U.S. 89 (Main Street) on both the east and west sides of the bridge. West of the bridge, the trail would continue along the river, run through some fields and finally veer north, running along an unpaved section of 200 West. It would cross the river on 200 West and end at 200 South. The walkway includes two culvert bridges to cross the river, one at 200 East that accommodates both cars and pedestrians and a pedestrian-only structure at 200 West. “We want to make this the heart of the town and extend the trail system from there,” says Nay. At its last meeting, the city council set a public hearing on the project for Oct. 5. Once the hearing is held, the council must vote to issue the bond and decide whether to bond for the full $200,000 available. The next step, Nay says, would be a bid opening, which could occur in November. At this point, the city is planning to pay off the bond by paying the CIB $10,000 per year for 20 years. The bond payoff “would cost about $15 per household per year if you billed them outright, but we feel we can do it within our regular finances,” says Nay. At present, no tax or fee increases are planned to cover the payments. In finalizing plans, Nay said her committee had cut costs by deciding to have community volunteers, rather than paid contractors, do the labor of planting trees and shrubs along the walkway. “It’ll help our bottom line and really help community ownership,” Nay said. At the same time, the committee added some elements, including a parking lot near the 200 East trailhead, major improvements to the 200 East river approach and river crossing, and a culvert bridge that could carry motorized traffic. In fact, the biggest question before the city council is whether to leave those additional features in the project and bond for the full $200,000 or to pull some items out and bond for less than $200,000. The $432,000 federal grant requires a 20 percent match. The city can count money it has spent purchasing land for the project, as well as the value of rights of way various owners have donated, for part of the match. But it still must come up with $65,000 in cash to meet the full match requirement. So, Nay says, the city must bond for at least that much for the walkway to go forward. But Nay says that since $200,000 is available, and since contractors will be working in the 200 East area anyway, the city should also address longstanding problems regarding traffic on 200 East. North of the river, the street curves and then dips sharply down to the riverbed. Then the pavement stops. Cars and people go right over the river to where the road resumes on the other side. Most of the year, the river is dry, says Nay. But during spring runoff, cars sometimes get stuck in the high waters. Another problem is visibility. Because of the curve and steep dip, cars traveling in opposite directions along 200 East can’t see each other until they are almost in front of each other. Nay says she hasn’t heard of an accident along the road. “But I’ve heard people say, ‘I’ve slammed on my brakes. I almost (See “Riverwalk” on A4) Gunnison businesses hold grand openings inside restored multi-business complex By Karen Prisbrey Staff writer GUNNISON—A grandopening for the multi-business building located at 98 South Main in Gunnison took place Saturday, Sept. 10. With the help of local radio personality Michael Traina, word was passed around about months of remodeling to the old ZCMI Stacy Willden, owner of Mountain West Diving and Extreme Sports, who, with his wife, Yvonne, bought and restored the building. At Saturday’s grand opening, Willden instructed JoAnne Nay in using a compound bow. building, and a great crowd gathered to see the end result. Several owners of businesses located in the complex were on hand to talk to potential patrons. Stacy Willden of Mountain West Diving and Extreme Sports instructed patrons on the use of Compound Bows at the regulation Archery target lane. Yvonne Willden of Quilts’ N More showed the use of her industrial quilting machine, various quilting materials and sewing machines that are available in her section of the store. Terilee Hammond of Danz Dimensions, Stacy Stafford, and Brent and Valerie Opoulos of Royal West Martial Arts showed their new studio and offices in the upstairs portion of the building. Students of the martial arts school also demonstrated their skills. Kathlene Armstrong of the Patrons enjoy seeing the many changes to the old ZCMI Building at 98 South Main. Goodwill Foundation was also there to answer questions about her housing plans for limitedskilled or disabled individuals in our area. Prize drawings were held throughout the day. Prize winners from Quilts’ N More were: Kristy Tilton, Las Vegas, two yards of fabric; Susan Petersen, Mayfield, two yards of fabric; Elaine Jensen, Gunnison, buy-two-yards get-two-yardsfree; Lorna Bown, Fayette, 20 percent off next quilt job fullsize or larger; Connie (See “Opening” on A3) |