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Show THE ZEPHYRMAY 89 A Forming PAGE 29 Special Service District In Grand County Since the Special Service District was established In late November, some citizens have raised questions of ethics regarding the selection of Board members The Board was selected by an essentially "lame duck and paid employees. commission. Two of its three members were defeated for and their terms expired on January 1, 1989. Since the commissioners no longer represented the will of the people, in a sense, and since the Board members of the Special Sendee District are themselves appointed, not elected, who exactly are the Board members accountable to? Since the people of the county did not entrust the Board with these responsibilities, either directly or Indirectly, what recourse do citizens have If they disapprove of the job the Board is doing: Jimmie Walker: "That's always the problem with government by appointment I feel that anyone who has to be responsible to the people should be elected. However, if you do that every member in the hospital board, water conservancy district and so forth should all be elected as welt Unfortunately, things dont always work that way. The way the law is set up, it's the best vehicle we have to work with. Were set "(As for accountability) we are accountable to the people of .Utah. to do a particular job. The Board is accountable to a point, to the Commission, up in that the County Commission appoints board members. However, they cannot overrule us on any decision, because the Special Service District was set up to be indepention dent But what recourse do citizens have if they are dissatisfied with the performance of the Special Service District as represented by its Board? it seems to me that the people According to Walker, "The Courts, I guess. If they can convince the people at level have the of right, any government. always with the decision making authority that what theyre doing is wrong, there's always If there is a feeling that the Board is not accountable, then that avenue maybe that's something that should be reviewed. Documenting Class D roads within Grand County has a different purpose. Commissioner David Knutson said recently that, "In order to Insure that appropriate lands stay open for development, Jimmie needs to upgrade the Class D road system. David Knutson called the Class D Road a "basic tool against wilderness. According to Walker, "In the Wilderness Study Areas, If theres a road there, If there's theres been Intrusion by man. Intrusion, It doesnt qualify as wilderness. In some of these WSA's, there may be some roads and we need to check that out Some conservation groups have argued that if a road exists, but hasnt been used In many years, the area should not be disqualified as a WSA. Many areas were dropped from the BLMs Inventory for that reason; Wayne Owens five million acre wilderness proposal would many of those excluded WSA's. But Jimmie Walker does not agree: "That's their point of view. But If theres a road there, there was a purpose and a need for the road. So if you believe in multiple use, sometime or other, that road will be used again. If I or anyone find any roads In a WSA, all that states is that for some reason, the BLM hasnt done a sufficient job in their inventory. re-ins- tate Conclusions There is a lot of information to assimilate here. Its a complex Issue, as I've I tried to said earlier. play Devils Advocate with Jimmie Walker, raising every .... When the previous commission created the Special Service District, there was some discussion about the Board members who should represent the District Walker states that "through Association of County meetings, there was a lot of feeling that the Commission should b the Board. Thus the concern about autonomy came about Finally, it came out this way: with a five member board, you could have two commissioners, a three member board, one commissioner. Before the election wed already agreed that there should be a county commissioner on there, and so after the election, we determined that Dutch would be the Board member from the Commission, and then if he wasn't going to be there, he would continue not as a commission member, but as a citizen, mainly for the reason of continuing with someone who knew what we were trying to do. In other words, theres a reason why we put Dutch on the I Board thought we needed Dutch because he understood contracting, equipment, and uses, things like that "The reason we picked OlUe is his knowledge and experience of the Book CliffsCisco area, the mineral producing area of our county. Some have criticized the selection of Ollie Knutson, saying his Job in oil field construction (which Includes maintaining well heads in the Book Cliffs) creates a That he would benefit directly If, for Instance, the Special conflict of Interest Service District continues to push for the construction of a Book Cliffs, Cisco to Vernal road. Jimmie Walker does not believe any conflict of interest exists: "If you say that, then how do you get knowledgeable people on the Board? Take the Water Conservancy District everyone on there has a conflict of Interest because they're using the water themselves and it benefits them the most But the knowledge Ollie has of the area Is really valuable. In fact, looking at It the other way, Ollies livelihood In hours spent may not be as good after the road is built, because he might not be stuck in the mud as much, and making as much money. The Book Cliffs Road The construction of a major highway across the Book Cliffs from Cisco to Vernal, and the completion of an inventory of Class B and D roads in Grand County are two major objectives of the Special Service District. The Book Cliffs road, would not only provide a new north-sou- th highway, it would also provide better access for oil companies to reach oil fields and well heads in the Book Cliffs' area. To realign and upgrade the part of the road that is in Grand County would carry a price tag of $6,000,000. The Uintah County section of road carries a similar cost. If this part of the project is completed, the State of Utah would be encouraged to pave the road at an estimated cost of another $12,000.00. Thus the ultimate cost of constructing the entire road approaches $24,000,000. According to Jimmie Walker, the financing will be secured In the following manner: "With this years legislature, a law was passed that allows Special Service Thats where well get the six million. Districts to bond against future revenue. Here's our plan: What we want to do is go to the CIB, and we'll probably do it In the next month or two, asking for a six million dollar, low Interest loan, hopefully that we'll pay back from future revenues in 15 years. There's been a wide range of mineral lease revenues generated over the years. In '83 and '84, it was over three million, in '87 it dropped below a million, and in '88 it was a little over a million. When we go to the 25 formula in three years, well get that percentage of the revenue. 3, However, a $6,000,000. loan at 3 interest, paid back in 15 years and compounded annually, would require the Special Service District make payments of over $623,000 a year. Mineral lease revenues have not generated that kind of return since 1984. In fact, the average return to the county over the last ten years Is $449,570, well below the needed annual payback to CIB. It's therefore difficult to imagine how construction could begin as early as the Spring of 1991. lt Is a roll of Jimmie Walker is still hopeful but admits to having doubts: the dice kind of thing, and it's something that'll have to be determined when we go before the CIB, and why we don't know for sure what alignment we're using up there. If we do come up short (on mineral lease revenues), ifs their hard luck. Because all were saying is these are our protected revenues and if we dont get it, you (CIB) don't get your money. That the burden theyve got to have. Class B and Class D Roads complete inventory of Class B and Class D roads In Grand County will be prepared by the Special Service District as part of its perceived responsibility. Such an Inventory, according to Jimmie Walker could financially benefit Grand County: "There are a lot of Class B roads that are being used in Grand County, but are not listed. Anybody In Utah buying gas pays a tax, and a percentage of that tax goes Into a fond. Monies out of that fond got to the state, counties and cities. Counties get money on their Class B roads on a per mile basis. Grand County has been making a terrible mistake; we have a lot of roads that are not getting consistent use, but we're not getting a penny from the tax money. It might take four or five years to get all the Information together, but I think Grand County can get a half milBon more In road revenues. A the proposed Book Cliffs Road. question that had been passed my way by concerned citizens. Obviously, Jimmie feels strongly about the good the Special Service District can do for Grand County: "Roads are very important, whether it serves a leisure population or a development population. We need to develop a good road program. I think time Is going to prove that this Special Service District, since ifs not putting a burden on the taxpayers, is going to be a great thing for future County Commissions and for the County." Time will tell if the Special Service District's proposals and actions accepted and approved by Grand County citizens. |
