Show G S USPS 0 CO G& ir Serving Utah’s Great Pahvant Valley Dalta Utah $1800 In out ot months $1000 (In Advance) Senior Citizens (65 and older) $1500 Copy 50 in county $1800 out of County Vol 78 No 2 July 16 1987 Future of IPP facilities outlined ' ' ’" Craig Denton's photograph of Wheeler Peak in the new Great of the exhibit coming July 23 through August 18 Basin National Park is part Photography exhibit will be in Delta The Delta Chamber of Commerce and the Delta City Library are sponsoring “West Desert: Photographs of Lake Bountiful” an exhibit of Craig Denton’s thoughtful photographs The exhibit will be on display in the library and the City Building hallway from July 23 through August 18 Denton an associate professor of communication at the University of Utah where he heads the photography curriculum in the Communications has created an exhibit of Department of the west photographs desert region The exhibit concentrates primarily on the area that was once in and around Lake Bonneville which developed toward the end of the Pleistocene ice age nearly 15000 years ago A monograph of Denton’s observations and a map showing former shorelines of Lake Bonneville will ac- - company the exhibit The color and photos were shot in 4x5 inch format over a one year period Denton said “I want to help create a face for the area: an understanding you don’t get by just driving to Wendover People need to see the variety of life various types of desert to how they are affected by the change of seasons” A clipping file on the large projects being done or proposed for the area and the political and environmental questions they raise has been kept by Denton Topics include: —An underground proton accelerator (Supercollider) 52 miles in circumference for study of the structure of the atom (This is being sought by several states) planned power plant (in addition to the IPP near Delta) -- Nerve gas storage and disposal facilities --Creation of the Great Basia National Park --Various proposed wilderness areas --The state of Utah project to lower the water level of the Great Salt Lake with large pumps (In progress) -- Discovery of fish moving back to the Great Salt Lake as salinity drops —The apparently defunct plan to build a huge network of MX missiles “In making the decisions that relate to these matters people cannot afford to think of the basin as a wasteland” Denton says “If they cannot go there themselves I hope these photographs will help give them an understanding of the nature of the area” Sharon Sant trial On Wednesday July 8 1987 a hearing pertaining to the Sharon Sant trial was held in Fillmore At that time a 4th District judge took under advisement a motion by the attorney for Robert Bott a jailed witness in the murder case asking that Bott be released or granted immunity for his involvement in the crime For nearly a year and a half Bott has been held in the Millard County jail as a material witness in the murder case against George Wesley Hamilton who is accused of kidnapping sexually assaulting and murdering Sharon Sant in August of 1985 In April of this year the state’s ability to prosecute Hamilton for murder and Bott's credibility as a witness became questionable when Bott changed his story admitting to being present when Sharon Sant was killed and that he helped Hamilton dismember and hide her body parts He apparently also admitted to investigators that he sexually assaulted Ms Sant before the murder However the statements cannot be held against Bott because he believed that he had been granted immunity Apparently Deputy Millard County Attorney Dexter Anderson had discussed immunity with Bott’s attorney Milton Harman before Bott made Utah laws say that only the elected county attorney or Attorney General can grant immunity Although anticipating serious problems in attempting to use any of Bott’s confessions given after the immunity the prosecution continued to consider Bott a crucial witness in the case and believed that he should continue to be held in jail on a $100000 material witness bond Warren Peterson Millard County attorney told Judge George Ballif at the hearing on Wednesday that he had not authorized his deputy to grant Bott immunity He did acknowledge that he had at one time drafted an immunity grant and had it flown to St George to be considered by Bott’s attorney Peterson stated that he was when he was informed “dismayed” that Bott had already been taken from his jail cell without Peterson’s permission by sheriff’s deputies Milton Harman Bott’s detense attorney said that the immunity grant must be upheld or his client will invoke the 5th Amendment privilege which and that he prohibits will not testify at Hamilton’s trial on August 10 Assistant Attorney General John Soltis aiding the prosecution said that Bott remains a material witness since his testimony until he deviated from a statement made earlier has remained consistent He further said that Bott has maintained in all of his statements that he did not kill or aid in killing ' Sharon Sant On Monday July 13 1987 Judge George Ballif made the following ruling: “The court concludes that Bott is still a material witness and is available to testify although matters pertaining to events between approximately the 1st and 4th of April may not be used against him in any subsequent prosecution However if other evidence can be developed against him on these offenses prosecutors can proceed on the strength of that to the exclusion of the April I through 4 evidence” All parties have apparently agreed to change venue in the case from Millard County to Provo fearing they could not empanel an impartial jury in Fillmore The trial is set for Aug 10 With the completion of unit two of the Intermountain Power Project there is discussion and contemplation of what will happen to Rancho Mobile Homes White Sage Apartments and the Construction Workers’ Housing and the recreational facilities Decisions about housing have been made and actions will be carried out in the near future However the future of the recreational building and equipment mains undecided According to Rod Clark project manager IPP made a prior commitment with Delta City This commitment stipulated that IPP upon completion of unit two would remove and return the housing units if there was an abundance of housing Since the property was annexed to the city Delta could tell IPP to leave the buildings in the event a housing shortage was perienced There is of course no shortage Therefore Clark concluded “it is our responsibility to close down” He added that they will not make the regarding the dispensation of trailers Community Development Director Al Pitzer is charged with selling the The White Sage complex apanments includes 240 one bedroom ''0 two bedroom and 60 three bedroom The agreement with Delta City according to Pitzer was that the apartments would be removed eighteen months after the completion of unit two The completion date was May 1987 which means that all removal is to be completed by December 1988 Therefore Pitzer acknowledged that he is going forward with the plan The official closing date of the White Sage Apartments was June 30 1987 While making other living ara few tenants were given rangements until July 17 which is the absolute clos ing date Pitzer says that the plan is to advertise and receive bids in the fall award contracts in the winter then dismantle and move the modular units in the spring What happens in the interim? “I hope they don’t become an eyesore for the community” Rod Clark commented The grounds have been maintained and Al Pitzer said that there has been expressed interest by the community in the sod on White Sage grounds The intent is to advertise and then sell the sod at cost After the sale the apartment complex to will be fenced in an attempt discourage vandalism Pitzer does want the public to know that Bristlecone Road will be left open No final decision has been made 250 motel units of regarding the Construction Workers’ Housing They too are modular and can be removed According to Pitzer Clark and assistant project manager Vance Bishop if another unit is ever built some of the units will be needed Therefore some may be sold and some may remain There is a conditional use permit with the county and the county has indicated that it will allow buildings to remain for an undetermined length of time Center is yet The Community another matter The Burtco contract terminates at the end of July at which time everything will close Clark and Bishop acknowledged that it is unclear just what will happen with the equipment and Pitzer stated that it would be unwise to move the economically building Many ideas regarding use of the facilities are circulating and being considered and Al Pitzer has talked with the County about the center being used for recreational purposes He stated that it will probably be the end of the fall before any concrete decisions are made The recreation building and the ball park are the property of Delta City Rod Clark said that the construction of both were reand supplying quirements IPA had to meet at the beginning of the project He believes that the project now should stay out of decision making but he personally feels that placing the parks in the recreation district is a good idea With the discontinuance of IPP funds Delta City is now experiencing a budget crunch positions have been eliminated and belt tightening appears Rod Clark to be needed However pointed out that everyone in the area clearly knew that IPP money would terminate It was clear from the beginning he maintains that the town knew when and at what point funding would end Civic projects were both encouraged and financially supported by the InDirect Power Project termountain grants were given to communities that did not have the authority to tax the project A water system was supplied for Leamington and increased water supplies were provided for Delta Hinckley and Oasis through an IPP acquired well The police force was enlarged as the population grew and a city manager was “clearly encouragIn lieu of taxes money was ed” poured into the county school district in the amount of between eight and nine million dollars Millard County continues to have the right to tax IPP Delta City does not It is therefore the city not the counis in economic ty that is hurting-th- at Is it wise to maintain the difficulty same tax rate and save extra money? Should taxes be raised? Should cuts be made as the belt is tightened? The questions are not yet answered Budget cuts affect Delta City Police Department IPP funds have been discontinued and the Delta City Police Department is feeling the crunch Chief Roger Young began preparing the new budget in January looking at last year’s penditures and attempting to project for the future Anticipating fewer arrests and less crime he worked over the ensuing months preparing the package that would be presented to the City Council The budget that was finally approved was several thousand dollars less than Chief Young had requested A further reduction in force was possible However if Chief Young could maintain an office of five on the reduced funds he was sanctioned to do so The latter is what he opted to do Roger Young was hired as Chief of Police in 1985 at $400 per month less than his predecessor had made At that time he had to hire three officers to maintain the expected protection The agreement with IPP was that one new officer would be hired for every crease in population of five hundred people At the peak of the population boom if the formula had been strictly adhered to thirteen officers would have been employed according to Chief Young However the force never exceeded ten Since IPP funded half of the police budget Chief Young had been advised that there would be layoffs “down the line” As he lost men he didn’t fill vacancies yet realizing the need for continued protection he and the other policemen remained hopeful that the City would be able to maintain the enlarged staff Cost of living continues to rise However this is the third year in a row that Delta City employees including the police have gone without a raise Correction The bell on the Leamington Monument did not come from the Battleship as reported in the July 9 Leamington issue cf the Chronicle Progress Former Leamington Mayor Clint Nielson formed the reporter that the bell had been in the church steeple It was the plaque on the new monument that came from the Battleship Leamington And with the reduced budget there have now been minor cuts in benefits Deductibles that did not exist last year are now part of insurance packages Other areas of police work affected by the budget cuts are animal control overtime and education The first listed is drastically cut which means the police are not actively out picking up stray animals Chief Young stated that funds for the police department come from sales tax revenue and property assessments Approximately $4000 is received from the state from alcohol funds This money however is specifically earmarked for alcohol related education The department does generate some of its own revenue through fines and bails although says Young "We prefer talking to offenders first rather than always fining” To be hired as a policeman in the state of Utah one must be years of age preferably have a high school (GED’s are condiploma have no felony arrests or sidered) record and have completed a twelve week course of study at the Police A thorough background Academy check with past employers and friends is also conducted on police potentials After being hired a policeman must obtain forty educational hours annually in order to maintain his credentials (Since the forty hours are mandatory the City pays However hours accumulated beyond the forty are at the officer’s expense) According to Chief Young Delta is not the sleepy little town it was ten years ago He stated that during the transitional period of growth crimes were brought out that previously had been overlooked and people expect the police to follow up on reports No the offenses have not been totally the result of new people in the area In fact according to Young they have divided 5050 between old and new residents more incidents However of bad checks spouse abuse family fights child abuse and burglaries have been reported In an attempt to provide the necessary coverage Chief Young is absolutely committed to 24 hour police protection With the cutbacks he and his officers are putting in more and more of their own time as well as overtime They can’t simply go home at the end of an eight hour shift for situations must be handled and reports must be completed and handed in before leaving Then there are the hours spent in court usually eight or nine at a time frequently on an officer’s day off Limiting manpower is the biggest concern in providing 24 hour coverage The citizens Young believes are now use to this yet if the force is reduced more he is worried about continuing the protection As is the police are barely able to handle the responsibilities now with only five men If someone is sick or away overtime funds which are limited are drawn from July said Chief Young is one of the biggest months for overtime with parades and holidays Approximately of the overtime budget will be consumed during this period Roger Young Delta City Chief of Police says that he has a qualified staff that tries to be as fair as possible “I try to maintain an open door policy I welcome complaints But everything must be put into writing if one wants the police to follow up on the complaints” His question to Deltans is: “How safe do you want to be?” |