Show Serving Utah’s Great Pahvant Valley Delta Utah S28JM in COuntvS2500 out of rountv 6 months S13D0 fin Advance Conv soc Senior Citizens 165 and older S1800 viewed the contract County Commissioner Frank Baker however aid one of the two deputy county attorneys could help expedite the matter Commissioner Mike Styler said he did not know when the commission would discuss the contract “We’re just waiting far the attorneys to finish whatever their arguments are and let us have a look at it’ he said Under the contract law enforcement will cost the city $1 6670280 per year with payments of $4167570 made quarterly beginning Jan The city’s four police officers will be hired as county deputies The city police secretary has been guaranteed a minimum of 20 hours a week with the county City police equipment has been sold to the county sheriff s department to help defray costs Council members voiced concerns about whether the contract had provisions to ensure that the county performs up to the city's expectations “We don’t want to send somebody to Oak City or Leamington on our bill" Hansen said “I think we should put some sort of Wes penalty in there" Councilman Bloomfield said “I’m going to recommend strongly that your remedy be specific performance" Waddingham said “Otherwise if they breach the contract we don’t have any remedy" Councilman David Church said Sheriff Ed Phillips would supervise his department but “this body will be supervising Delta City and if we don't like it we can change it" Phillips has promised a monthly countability meeting with the city council rejects hazardous waste Master Plan change P&Z The Millard County Planning and Zoning Commission has rejected a amendment to the county Master Plan that would have prohibited hazardous waste disposal facilities in the county The rejection came at the regular commission meeting in Delta Monday on the Dec 4 Commissioners split Chairman issue with one abstention Leon Smith cast the deciding vote against Millard County Attorney Warren Peterson propxiscd earlier this year that voters should decide the issue of whether or not hazardous waste facilities should be allowed to locate in the county The plan was endorsed by a local Pressure from that group was largely respxmsible for forcing Rollins Environmental Services to abandon plans to locate a hazard ous waste incinerator at Lynndyl Rollins has since abandoned plans to build at Black Rock The final measure that appeared on the November municipal election ballot was in the form of a recommendation to the Planning and Zoning Commission The question was whether the county Master Plan should be amended to either piermit or prohibit hazardous waste disposal facilities as a conditional use The “prohibit” option won by a vole of 2626 to 685 ' " While the vote was legally County Commissioner Mike Styler said it was politically binding As he had promised he took the voters wishes before the P&Z commission and asked for the Master Plan change Styler said he was surprised when the commission voted to reject the plan “It just blew my mind” he said debate” There was "considerable Styler said "I can understand the unhappiness of some of the Planning and Zoning members in their complaints that we had gone over their head We hadn’t gone through the normal planning and zoning process on this” Amendments to the Master Plan are normally made by the P&Z commissioners not voters Styler said the commissioners understood the piolitical need for involvement of voters "They understood it”he said "but they didn’t like it” Styler said he isn’t sure what action to take next “I know the county commission can on our own override zoning issues over planning and zoning” he said “and we can go ahead and change the heavy industrial zone to preclude hazardous waste” by Ken Rand USPS 249'52Q county S2000 out of county IPP tax Delta okays county police contract Della will become the last of Millard County’ 11 municipalities to turn over law enforcement service to the county if a contract approved by the city is adopted The city council voted for the change at its regular meeting Monday Dec 4 during which the contract was reviewed and revised Council members split evenly on the The deciding vote was cast by issue Mayor Ruth Hansen in favor of the contract County commissioners must now the revised contract before it can approve be implemented The council had hoped for final apJan but City Attorney Richproval by ard Waddingham said that deadline might be optimistic because County Attorney Warren Peterson is tied up with a homicide trial in Provo and has not yet re In YOL BQ NQa22 DSQQfPbff 14 1222 protest case to be heard The Property Tax Division of the State Tax Commission will convene a hearing on Dec 19 on the tax protest filed by the Intermountain Power Agency 1PA which runs the Intermountain Power Project in Millard County paid $26 million in property taxes last year but protested 44 piercent of those taxes The protested pxiriion was put into an escrow account The party that prevails in the protest will claim the account Six issues were disputed by 1PA in originally filing the protest Lengthy negoUations between IPA and local and state officials have resolved some of them The issues are complex One reason is that technically 1PA doesn’t pay taxes like an ordinary property owner but rather it pays a fee in lieu of ad valorem property taxes It amounts to about the same thing according to Millard County Attorney Warren Peterson "It acts like a lax it’s assessed like a tax it’s levied like a tax but it’s not a tax” he said “But there are " important distinctions The issues were briefly outlined in a Stipulation document filed with the Tax Commission July 18 1989 20 Percent Issue "Whether IPA’s tangible real and personal property should be entitled to the same 20 reduction from its fair market percent value required for locally assessed property by Utah Code” IPA property is centrally assessed (by the suite) because it straddles 4 county boundaries Locally assessed property is Cenassessed by the county assessor trally assessed property is assessed at 00 jiercent of value Locally assessed property is assessed at 80 piercent of value The Commission has stayed a decision on the 20 piercent issue for IPA the outcome of a similar case pxmding being considered for Amax Magnesium Corp IPA and the Commission have also resolution of another case that Rgreed before Third District Court piending volving Northwest Pipielme could serve tiie same purpose of resolving the issue Decisions in both cases are still pending and state and local government off dais all hope the Tax Commission hearing this month will clear the air about IPA’s future tax level IPA -- The Municipal Exemption Issue " Whether IPA ’s Taxable V alue should be further reduced by 93 jiercent to reflect the percentage of capacity or service sold to Utah municipalities exempt from ad valorem taxation pursuant to the Utah Cons' itution” There are 26 Utah cities on the IPP system including Oak City Fillmore and IPP cont on Pg 3 Murder trial continues in Provo courtroom (Editor’s note: Ken Rand is following the trial from the courtroom in Provo This report was written the weekend of Dec 9 The next report will be written the following weekend) Opiening statements were made by attorneys Monday Dec 4 in 4th District murder Court in Provo in the trial of Michael Anthony Archuleta Archuleta is charged with killing Gordon Ray Church on Nov 22 1988 Lance Conway Wood also charged with killing Church will be tried in Provo in February The trials were moved to Provo from Millard County on a change of venue A panel of seven women and eight men three of whom are alternates are Jury selection took a hearing the case full week from Monday Nov 27 to Friday Dec Judge George E Ballif is presiding In his opiening statement Millard County Attorney Warren Peterson said the defendant was a party to “the cruel of Gordon and atrocious murder Church" and that he and Wood acted together He told the jury that the crime was committed under certain circumstances including kidnapiping and intent to commit certain sexual acts He called the crime particularly heinous because the victim was tortured Peterson said prosecutors believe the victim a Southern Utah State College student was first assaulted by Archuleta and Wood at Cedar Canyon near Cedar City stuffed into the trunk of his 1978 and kidnapipied Ford He told jurors Church was beaten to death with a Ure jack leg and buried m an area called Dog Valley near Cove Fort He said the defendant and Wood then drove the victim's car to West Valley City abandoned it and made their way back to Cedar City “Nothing that Mr Peterson has said to you is evidence" public defender Mike Esplin told the jury “We request you reserve your judgement until you see evidence and hear witnesses “We aren’t going to have any dramatic presentation for you" he said “There’s no doubt that Gordon Ray he added Church was murdered" “There’s no question that the defendant wis there at the time Gordon Ray Church died" But Esplm admonished the jury to o Judge George E Warren Peterson Ballif Michael Esplin and Prosecuting Attorney remember the burden of proof on the the piresumption of innoprosecution cence of the defendant and their own burden of fairness and impartiality in telling them that they must answer the question “does it (the evidence) show he did what they claim he did?” Esplin contcnos that Wood killed Church “You're going to have to consider Lance Conway Wood’s part in this case” he said The first witnesses called to the stand were the victims' father and mother David and Nancy Church David Church identified items found in die trunk of his son’s car which cluded a tire iron battery jumpier cables pliers and hand tools tire chains bungee cords and a tackle box Nancy Church helpied prosecutors identify the victim's clothing “I cleaned his room out after his death” she said That look place on Nov 29 when a memorial for Church was held at SUSC Church was living with his grandmother while studying for a degree in theater arts His pxxsthumous bachelor's degree was presented to his father and mother Mrs Church also testified that her son was frightened by confinement m closed spaces “He didn't like elevators" she said “He’d use stairs He didn't like to be in a room without windows in it He didr 't like to have anvthmg held over his head” Prosecutors believe the victim was ( locked in the trunk of his own car for a of time before he was murdered James Loader a theater arts major at SUSC and a friend of Church’s items that belonged to him that were stored in the trunk of the victim’s car The items included a portable stereo tapie recorder a box fan and two desk pieriod lamps The items were used in a Halloween alley the SUSC theater students Loader put on for local children said he last saw Church on Nov 21 at about 930 pm when they discussed whether or not to leave the items in the trunk Brenda Stapley Wood’s girlfriend from Boise Idaho testified she left Cedar City on the morning of Nov 21 to go to Phoenix to “think things out” con ceming her relationship vnth Wood Stapley lived with Wood at the lime in the same apartment also shared by Archuleta and his girlfriend Paula Jones Esplm asked her about her testimony about a kitchen knife found at Cedar Canyon Prosecutors believe it was used by Wood to cut Church on the neck During the jjreliminary hearing earlier this year Stapley had identified the knife as hers “I’d bet my life on it” she said But under cross examination Mon day she told Esplin “it could be but I could not positively identify it as such ” Angela Robbins 21 of Cedar City testified she and a friend were cruising Mam Street in Cedar City on the evening spxxik ofNov21 when they met Church and two men in Church's car on the street and parked to talk Wood tried to pick her up Archuleta talked to her partner Anna Mane Luce through the passenger side window Robbins said the conversation ended A half hour later about 1030 pm Robbins recalled seeing Archuleta standat 200 S Mam ing in front of the She also saw Chruch’s car nearby When Luce was asked to describe how Archuleta was dressed she mention he had a knife strapped to his side Esplm immediately objected and a discussion When ensued in the judge’s chamber attorneys emerged the line ol questioning was droppied and the session soon ended for the day TUESDAY The jury was sent home at 930 am after Judge Ballif told them he had legal quesUons to resolve He asked them to return at 1:30 pm but again sent them home saying the questions had not yet been resolved "It’s strictly a legal question I have to decide” he stud “It’s my problem It needs to be dealt with by me Y ou will be the first to know when we gel it resolved” WEDNESDAY Special prosecutor Carvel Hansard began by presenting “a motion to strike dial portion of testunony by Aima Luce when she tesufied she observed a knife” He said die information on Archuleta should not be admissible because it was not revealed to defense counsel during die discovery process Church was found with cuts on his diroat Prosecutors believe diose cuts were made bv Wood at Cedar Canyon Harward said Archuleta did not cut Church “nor did die defendant cause any a injury to Gordon Ray Church by use of knife " The moUon was granted apparently resolved the legal problem that halted proceeding die day before and the trial continued Christie Worsfold a Salt Lake City resident tesufied Wood and Archuleta visited her apartment on die morning of Nov 221988 She said she knew Wood d trough her boyfriend but had met Archuleta for die first lime dial morning She said Archuleta “had blood all over his pants ” The two men “looked tired and sweaty" she said “They had mud all said over dieir shoes " She they smelled of alcohol and blood Worsfold described Archuleta’s rolled were “That up pants: morning diey and diey had a lot of blood on them " There were bloodstains on the back of the thighs “It looked as if he had wiped his hands on it" she said Worsfold said she ow nod a cat and a dog “As Mike and Lance alked in" she said “the cat and dog went to his (Archuleta's) leg and almost attacked his ” legs I had to lock them in my bedroom She said Archuleta told her they had been rabbit hunting She quoted him as saying “I know we look pretty rough We slopped at one place and the lady said ” we looked like we’d killed somebody Murder cont on Pg 2 |