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Show Address Correction Requested P. O. Box 224 Milford UT 84751 nJi L Utah Press Association rrsr tr n Bulk Rate 307 West 300 South, Suite 5005 Salt Lake City UT 84101-121- 2 U. S. Postage Paid Milford UT 84751 Permit No. 15 1 Formerly Dodge City News Western Beaver County Since 1991 Serving I 50 Cents i OCTOBER 20, 1995 VOL. V NO. 41 Size of Beaver County correctional facility is the taxpayer's choice Beaver County officials are doing their homework before presenting options for a correctional facility to the public next month. "We arc going to have to build a facility. It will be up to the people to decide what they want;' County Commissioner Chad Johnson told city, county and state officials Tuesday morning during a meeting in the Beaver City Office. To help taxpayers make that decision, Doug Carriger, County Planner, is gathering data to define the various options and address concerns related to the project. Public information meetings are scheduled for Milford. November 16; Minersville, November 7; Beaver, November 18. Johnson also invites comment before the meetings. "We want lo know what the people are thinking, and if there are specific concerns, bring them to us before the ; meetings,'" he said. 00 viable long-terThe the is use continued not a of present facility option. existing jail is full One prisoner is being housed in Millard County at $35 per day. Although According to county officials, 4 in 8 the section in south and for the with north the current jail is technically listed as a area does for not meet state that many prisoners. section, facility, people space square footage requirements The county also has an obligation to classify prisoners, housing felons together and misdemeanor offenders together. Present conditions do not always allow such separation, raising a question of liability in the event of an incident resulting legal action. The County can choose to: (1) Upgrade the present facility and add a few new beds. (2) Build a new 3 jail for county use only. (3) Build a new public safety center to house state prisoners by contract in addition to county prisoners. Johnson expects data presented in the public meetings will show that the third option, with per diem from 120 state prisoners, will pay for maintenance and operation of the entire facility w ith plenty of income left to retire bonds at no cost to taxpayers. 5 interchange on the road to the Beaver Airport. In addition to the 30,467 sq. ft. jail, the complex would house administration Proponents of the larger facility have chosen a site near the South offices for sheriffs department highway patrol and county attorney plus Justice Court, Juvenile Court and District Court. Cost estimate is in the neighborhood of $8 M. This figure does not include related vehicles, additional or upgraded computer sy stems, environmental work and possible capping of the old landfill near the site, or upgrades for the airport road. The road is paved, and was upgraded about two years ago to meet life flight specifications for the airport. Tim Jones, advising engineer on the project, suggested ty ing the env ironmental work at the old dump in with the actual site survey. Funding options will also be presented at the public meetings. The project is listed on the PCIFB plan with a request to be submitted February, 1996 for a $3M grant or loan. Establishment it of a Building Authority is another financing option. A County Building Authority is a corporation with the elected County Commissioners as the Board of Directors. It can be implemented during a regular commission meeting, and is expected to be listed as an agenda item for the November 6th commission meeting. Once formed, the Building Authority is empowered with the prerogative to sell revenue bonds, generating funds for one or more building projects, which will be leased from the Building Authority to the County. Neither referendum vote nor public hearing is required before the sale of such revenue bonds. Payment for the bonds is then appropriated as lease payments through the county s annual budget. This creates a scenario w here the effected county is obligated for only one year at a time. Upon maturity, when lease payments retire the bonds, ownership is transferred from the Authority to the County. to the event taxpayers express a desire to upgrade the present facility or build a jail for county use only, the county still has the option of applying for a PCIFB loan or grant for a portion of the cost. A General Obligation Bond, requiring a direct vote by the people to authorize a tax increase, is an alternativ e for the remainder of the funds. Increased tax revenue related to growth already experienced, and possible impact fees on current and future growlk may or may not be addressed in the public meetings. Carriger has been assigned the task of preparing feasibility and cost estimates for each of the options before the public meetings. Representatives from Sevier, San Juan, and Juab Counties may also be invited - at least to the Beaver meeting - to share experiences related to impact of correctional facilities in their respective counties. Commissioners will be receptive to public input up to and throughout the public information meeting process, allow ing plenty of time for scrutiny of the issue. Residents arc encouraged to participate in this decision. 1 m 12-b- I- -1 non-prof- a safe deer hunt! Have ' The deer hunt officially begins at sunrise October 21st and ends at sunset on the 29th. Lynn Chamberlain, Division of Wildlife Information and Education Specialist, says all indications point toward a better season this year than hunters have enjoyed for quite some time. "The herd appears to be increasing because of the license cap. Significantly with 22,000 larger bucks in greater numbers have been spotted this year," he said. 97,000 Permits were sold in the southern region. Chamberlain also issued a reminder from UD WR. "We'll be out and about, establishing traffic checkpoints. We will be checking for tagged game and making sure there are no loaded firearms inside vehicles," he said. Statistics are not yet available for the elk hunt. Of 36,000 permits allocated state-- ide, 32,000 were actually e issued. Herds were up in most areas, and a archery record may have been set. state-wid- e, w tit Minersville Elementary tradition celebrates A state-wid- more than Halloween It was Friday the 13th! mm J. imm wih.i ui.mm, ..u ."" j hi u. mmi, W's ?t ol i ' About 10 years ago a Minersville School tradition was set in motion. 2nd Grade students plant pumpkin seeds outside their classroom door in the early spring. Throughout the growing season the students care for the plants, w atcring, weeding and watching over them. As Halloween draws near the students, now 3rd i nv ' V ia ma i i in iia Graders, harvest the crop. One pumpkin is selected for a pumpkin seed Miranda McMullin, a counting contest. It is carved under the direction of 2nd Minersville 3rd Grader, chooses a Grade teacher, Sharon Griffiths. Seeds are counted as a pumpkin. class project. "It fits perfectly with the number and place values the children arc learning right now," she said. Seeds will be counted several times to insure accuracy as well as educational benefit. Ev cry one in the community is invited lo guess the number of seeds extracted from the chosen pumpkin. Mrs. Griffiths gathers up small prizes from local merchants, and those as far away as Wal Mart and K Mart in Cedar City. "Every one in town guesses. Some years we have had 30 to 40 prizes; just little things," she said. This year's pumpkin is a superb specimen, and will be carved the Thursday or Friday before Halloween. The guessing contest is scheduled for Monday, ; October 30. Tt mi 1 it 1 r-- i I;' 'ii I f'tf Spirits were high as the Tiger Volleyball Team boarded the bitsThursday afternoon for the trip to Region XV competition in Kanab. Front row: Ale Cortez, Mitzi Wadsworth, Chalys Lamb, Charie Heath, Lindsay Barnes, Kaylee Dallon. Middle row: Kara Smith, lacy Jtminez, Chrystal Schofteld, Jennifer Netto, Rachel Hardy. Rack: Cindy Netto, Haylee Willden. Charts Carter, Emily Thompson, Kandi Jo Leko. p.. 8fi:i The Milford Tiger Volleyball season came to an end Friday the 13th at the Region XV kourney in Kanab when the Tigers were defeated by Valley and Piute. In the first match the Tigers toot off to a hot start taking a 0 lead forcing Valley to use a time out. After that Valley's offense Igot going and they not only took over the game but the match as well. Going on to win 15-- 5 and 5-- 15-- 0. The loss sent Milford into the consolation bracket having to play Piute to stay alive for a Islate tourney birth. Milford's power attack took a long lime to get going, losing the first game 1 8 IMilford came out hitting the ball very hard and won the second game 1 8 behind the play of the beniors on the team. The third and deciding game was a war! With the Thunderbirds of Ptute ft ix' 5-- 5-- finally making a late rally to win Teams from Region XV qualifying for state: Wayne Badgers 1; Valley Buffaloes 2 Panguitch Bobcats 3, Enterprise Wolves 4; Piute Thunderbirds 05 Coach Hillock said, "I will miss this group of seniors. Our program will miss then leadership land competitive nature. They have done a lot for the Milford Volleyball program." 1 5-- 9. Vumpkim just outsule the 2mi ( h ade clasmxmi aiv canfulW hy the students who planted them. M atched and tended during the growing season |