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Show THE ZEPHYR JUNE 1991 PAGE 8 an interview with warner terry city councilman Ken Davey conducted an Interview with Moab City Councilman Terry Warner. The Interview has been edted for clarity and length. Zephyr: When were you first elected to the cltv council? Terry: In 1984. This Is the end of my second term. Zephyr: What was the basic reason vou ran? I Terry: Just community Interest, I guess. I ran 2 years earlier, and I didnt have, I guess, enough experience to know what was going on to do well, and I lost out Then and started attending council meetings, and became Involved more In what was going on, In 1984 I ran again, and was elected. Zephyr: You have been on the council for going on 8 years. What have been the biggest political changes vou have seen In the town? Terry. There have been a lot of people changes In city government There have some been changes on the council and In appointed city positions. Some of the changes have been good, some not so good. As you well know, the mayor and I have not seen eye to eye, probably for the majority of our 8 years together. But all In all, I think the changes have been productive, for the most part Its a good working government On the council, we don't always see eye to eye, but I think thats what causes things to be accomplished, working differences through and coming up with good decisions. I don't necessarily like a council or any type of government body that Is so agreeable with each other that they dont argue or they don't discuss things, but Just do It and move on. I think we have that versatility on the council now, to be able to discuss things thoroughly. When you collectively make a decision, you live with IL And that was hard for me the first couple of years, to give In and accept the decision that was made by the majority of the council. But now I can live with that Zephyr: About the sign ordinance. What Is vour view? Terry: Right now, my general view Is that from the beginning Ive had some concerns about a couple of the Issues. The general Idea, I think, Is good. There are some areas that need to be cleaned up, to try to get some uniformity In signs. But Im not sure the proposed ordinance, or the last draft that Ive seen, Is the way to go. One of the things that has come up Is signs Inside windows of stores, and those being governed as well by the ordinance. I'm not sure that Isn't carrying It a little too far. Also, the situation considering grandfathering versus setting a time limit on replacing the existing signs, to force people to change signs that have a reasonable amount of life In them. Im not sure thats needed, to accomplish the goal. Another Issue that goes along with that Is the proposal that the city will help fund the replacement of signs. That goes Into your or my taxpayer's pocket, to help an Individual or private business promote their business. I dont know If thats a fair thing to Impose on taxpayers. So I think there are a lot of things to be considered. Its one of those situations where It will take some time to resolve. Zephyr: How about the procedure used by the cltv to come up with the ordinance, up setting a subcommittee of the planning commission, meeting for months before coming up with a recommendation? Is that a good wav to arrive at ordinances? Terry: It was a good move. The diversity of people on the committee, not only business people but private citizens who didnt have a business Interest, I think some good things came out of the process. A lot of effort went Into It, and their true Interests In the betterment of the community was evident So I think their recommendation should be given a fair shake. I think they represented the community. I know there has been a petition saying leave things the way they are, but Im not so sure thats the right answer either. You never seem to get Improvement In the community If you dont look for things to change. Zephyr: That raises the question of general cltv planning. Philosophically, how do vou look at the question of planning by elected officials, and the restrictions that outs on Individuals? Terry: One of the things that every elected official has to deal with In recent years Is dealing with the visual Impact Moab presents to outsiders. Were trying to lure people Into town, and one of the Brings that always comes up is cleaning up the community. I havent run Into too many people who disagree with that, and weve seen over the 2 to 3 years some major changes and Improvements In the downtown areas, In terms of homes and yards. And the city has taken on projects of Its own, with sidewalk, curia, and gutter, and cost sharing plans, things that only help to give the entire community a facelift. And the town was In need of that who grew up here and like It the wav It was, Zephyr: Rut what about the people In or the pwnlo who moved here because they dont want to live a world where each house In the yard Is measured bv bureaucrats to see how high It la? looks thesama and the or Are those people going to lose out? as often as they can, and they Terry: We have friends who come down here comment to us they see a general sprucing up, and yet the town still has that sense of Individualism. I dont like the Idea of every house having to look the same, there has to be I like with my property, without worrying Individuality. I would like to be able to do what to But within has be that reason. some bureaucrat of criteria It meets the whether about It Into tear down and automobile old and 40 a my yard I to want year pull certainly wouldnt to to a and next Just half, express my right do year leave the parts out In the yard for the with. deal that Those are the type of things we need to In Moab? Zephyr: Should the cltv government encourage growth Terry: I dont know how to answer that If thafs what the community wants as a whole, to grow and move forward with new businesses, then, yes, the government should take an active role In doing that But there are some In the town who say lets leave Moab as It Is, Moab Is unique, Its the right size. But It does have disadvantages. Most people know that to buy a pair of shoes, you have to go to Grand Junction, because we dont have the type of store to offer those things. And those would come with growth. But Moab Is unique, and we dont want to bring In the smokestack Industries. Some sort of light Industry can be very good for Moab. Ive been here long enough to like Moab the way It Is. I wouldnt want It to become another Saint George. If I wanted to live In a town like that, I would move there. Zephyr: Another 1 .500 hundred people In town, a few big motels get built and we exceed the sewer capacity. And a new sewer plant will be paid tor bv all of us. not lust the new people coming In. Should the cltv think about doing anything to limit that type of growth? Terry: One of the things that weve discussed for a long time Is considering ways to make these tourist businesses pay a type of Impact fee, where they would foot the majority of the bill for the Improvements needed, as well as covering the cost of development It wouldnt be fair to put that cost on the general taxpayers. One of the things that Is good about Moab Is that we have a pretty good tax situation. If you look at other areas, Its fairly reasonable here. Those In government In both the city and county need to keep that In mind and keep those taxes to a minimum. The city has been working toward that end for the last 3 or 4 years and It seems to be a workable situation. So If we look toward development In tourism, some sort of Impact fees will need to be considered. Zephyr: With the Increased cost of housing and the relatively low wages In the tourist Industry, how far are we from the point that average people wont bo able to afford to live here? Terry: I hear that often, and I dont know the answer. I know Ive heard that the rental properties, the ones you can find, have really gone high. But I dont know If Its seasonal, or Is It a passing thing? Its a hard question to answer. Zephyr: Its been more than a year now that the cltv and countv have been discussing shared services. Why have those Questions not been settled? Terry: I wish I knew. Ive brought It up a number of times, trying to resolve that In my mind, the only way we can ever resolve the differences Is to sit down Jointly and try to discuss them. Weve had a couple of meetings where weve attempted to do that but no agreement was reached. We have to do It There are areas where we could save a lot of money. Zephyr: Whose fault Is It that things havent been resolved? Terry: I dont think there Is any one Individual responsible. It seems like there Isnt communication. Zephyr: Are Moab residents being double taxed for county service? Terry: Ive argued that point a number of times, and do believe there are some areas where city taxpayers are assessed twice. They are being taxed for a service the county provides, and then the city government Is being charged by the county again for the same thing. Those are some of the Issues we are trying to discuss. Zophyr: What are the differences between the cltv and countv over the operation of the dump? Terry: The city owns the property, and the county manages It Recently the city has had some concerns about the type of things being allowed to be disposed of. We have an understanding with the county that In the future they would be more aware of those types of things going on, that If It needs to be dscussed with the city, they would attempt to do that Particularly petroleum products that are being disposed of there. There was a concern 1 m.iM drusf-iyiN- qoAyie. about- K Me becoming MAKt$ You voor. WAwr-r- o towo to dNG'RlO, Head - |