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Show PAGE 5 THE ZEPHYRJUNE 1995 owners that will cost them far less than what was previously proposed. Last winter, the city proposed major street repairs and bike and pedestrian paths to deal with the effect of tram traffic at a cost of up to 5600,000. Forty per cent of that cost was to be borne by the owner. Portal owner Emmett Mays was not at all pleased with the plan and the City Council quickly backed away. Now Mays will be required to pay about $12,500 for a turn lane on Kane Creek Rd.; other improvements will be picked up by the city or the county. What now? It appears that if Portal Recreation has the financial backing to proceed, we can expect to see this eyesore on the Portal by next Spring, if not sooner. Voting for the new agreement were Councilpersons McDougald. Voting against were Seibert and Veteto. Where to from here? Some have talked about further improvements on the Sand Flats with a lot of money going for hardened campsites similar to the structured campground at Big Bend. But it's not as if that kind of expense will improve things much up there. The place is hammered. Bigler calls it a "managed, revenue-generatin- g sacrifice area. The Sand Flats is generating a lot of revenue; why not use that money to protect and restore other impacted areas of the county that aren't so far gone...yet? If I had to choose between dispersal of the Mob and leaving them above the dump, I would certainly choose the latter. Warner, Mick, and SCHOOL BOND ELECTION PASSES By a 2 to 1 margin. Grand County approved a plan to build a new $9.7 million high school. The vote was expected to be close, but some have suggested that a last minute campaign by some of Moab's wealthiest residents assured a landslide victory for the opposition. CASTLE VALLEY STAYS INCORPORATED By a 3 to 2 margin, voters in Castle Valley rejected a plan to disincorporate the town. Disincorporation would have abolished certain building rules and regulations that some residents thought were too restrictive. Now that it's all over, this paper wants to see Jeff Whitney and Jack Campbell give each other a big hug. Sand Flats...Aftermath The Spring biking season will soon slow down as summer temperatures begin to set in. The Sand Flats Recreation Area, managed jointly by the BLM and Americorps, has survived another Spring...but barely. Craig Bigler, head of the Americorps, team says the ongoing destruction to the Flats was "unbelievable;" but he thinks it could have been a lot worse if the controls implemented this year were not in place. Bigler has compiled a remarkable set of statistics during the last few months. From March 4 to the end of April, the Sand Flats toll booth counted over 60,000 visitor days and collected almost 550,000. During the month of March the 120 site campground only filled a couple of times. Damage to the environment around the campsites was evident, but damage to vegetation beyond the campsites was negligible. He also observed a vast improvement in the willingness of campers to clean up their trash. Easter Week was another story. The parking lot was full during most of the midweek days of Easter Week and the campsites were completely full on only 3 of the 8 nights. However, the two vehicle per site rule was abandoned during the peak period and it's difficult to say just how many campers would have been refused had the rule been enforced. Most of the campers were of high school age which is no surprise, but here's a shocker according to Bigler's report, the vast majority of campers came without bikes. Fewer than a handful had as many as one bike per person. In addition, the campers did very little but sleep and party at their campsites. Most of them drove endlessly and repeatedly, back and forth to town. It appears that they ate in town, cruised in town, and bought beer in town. Few of us ever thought they came here for the peace and solitude of the desert but it was assumed they came here to bike. They didn't. And an observation of my own. On the Thursday before Easter Weekend, I returned to Moab from Grand Junction via the river road and expected bumper to bumper campers from Dewey Bridge to Moab. Instead, I found the campground empty. There was not a soul there. In fact, camping was relatively light all the way to Big Bend. From there to its junction with US 191, campers were living in Sardine City. But it became apparent most campers wanted to be within striking distance of town. Finally, according to Bigler, the overwhelming majority of the environmental destruction was caused by a wry small percentage of the campers. Efforts to close and restore some of the multiple roads and trails on the Sand Flats haw seen mixed results. i ATTENTION READERS We are now accepting submissions for the first annual SWIMSUIT ISSUE Everyone is eligible... men, women, cats & dogs, barnyard animals, group photos, team submissions. Whatever. We must receive your photograph by July 15. Photos cannot be returned. Color and B & W prints only. No nudes. We are sorry to report that Lynn Winters, the owner and proprietor of the Paradise Cafe' will not be able to participate in this month's ad. ...TOO MANY MINT JULEPS AT THE DERBY. REMEMBER: Were only 529 miles away. It's worth the drive. 1 |