Show The Commissioners' Chronicle In 1 r 52 4 IV to or ovarvwa ncr be conducted Yxarnaxagedtoo$rJ tha” SS624 srUfj p it Cozty govannant th ? w peopt butri wfw yo devwoprg to ad if tha conduct oou--n rd in WW to rtom tha pJSK n accordance :ne rsert cl the a that iJon d at' £J( escTions opary Arertod cxcie hotelier's you teeVeuid be covered roncredepfiP'ae&ei'aho the Chronicle Pregr P 0 Bai243Deda k April 6th 1992: Commissioners Baler Brinkerhoff and Moon were present County Attorney LeRay Jackson County Clerk Marlene Whicker Several citizens were present including Nancy Talbot of Hinckley Service - When Chron Id reporter Kate Hellcnbrand walked into the room Baker said: “You won’t be wearing that smile by the end of the day” “What?" said Hellenbrand handing Baker back the photo he had given to her for use in the paper "The Chronicle has turned into piece of crap since you started working there did you know that?" asked Baker tearing up the photograph “just like you" Hellenbrand did not respond - “Well is every tdy happy today?" asked Brinkerhoff “LeRay you’re first" Jackson: “Well after getting back from my trip to Mexico I had a couple of questions about video cameras and I’ve done some research and talked with the Salt Lake County Attorney General's office and unless you want a video camera in here in the future you do not have to allow it It wasn’t intended that a video camera be a recording device under the 1977 Utah Open Meeting law if the Commission deterSecondly mines it to be disruptive they can not allow the camera in and thirdly the Commissioners under Title Utah Code are authorized to conduct their meetings as they see fit So it’s strictly up to you" Jackson continued: “There was another item about comments from the public The Commissioner who is the Chairman conducts the meeting as the Commissioners deem fit to promote an also orderly meeting under title of the Code and Salt Lake County puts an item cm the agenda called ‘Public and that's the where public is Input’ entitled to make their comments Othcr-ise the public and the people sitting in the crowd are not allowed to make comments unless Jer'E calls on them unless you make a rule otherwise" Brinkerhoff staled: “From now on we're going tohave a 1045 Public Input on every agenda Okay?" Brinkerhoff: “Lana it's your turn" Moon brought up a issue regarding delinquent taxes on a piece of property owned by Petersen in Salt Lake City She also mentioned thanks to the Comfrom the West Millard missioners Search and Rescue for help w ith the and Gary Stay had expressed thanks to the Commissioners for their was James Beckstrand association appointed head of the West Millard Extended Care Center Moon also mentioned at several boys were playing at an abandoned mill south of Delta One boy cut his finger off while playing there the finger has been replaced and it might be saved “The problem is it is a dangerous place" said Moon Jackson said that Jerry Reagan had told him the mill might be opening again "but apparently there’s a real history to it over the past six ten years" Moon: "I talked with the Sheriff and he would appreciate it if we could get something going on it” Jackson: “It's an attractive nuisance it really is" - Baker: “Alan Burr astern contacted me and he wonders if they have enough land around the Posse building "Land is still recorded in IPA’s name It was agreed that Robyn would look into the matter Treasurer Mary Day cautioned the Commissioners that they had given some individuals who were delinquent in taxes a year to pay and the people had not yet paid She expressed concern that these people would approach the Commission again and would be granted another year's time She agreed to make up a list of those who have already been granted a year's grace Auditor Hansen asked: "Would there be any opposition in having them put their agreement in writing? It would be nice to be able to get through the year and then say ’Look this is what you said'" Hansen said that theTax Sale will be held May 27th 1992 the last Wednesday B aker said he had just been handed a letter from Lee Roper asking that the truck County advertise for a driver and a temporary truck driver The Commission approved the advertisetruck driver at startment for a ing w age of S210270 and a temporary truck laborer for the road department Baker said he would contact Job Service The Commission awarded the old Cadillac ambulance to How ard Western for a bid of S500 Moon asked that the Commission go into a closed session for five minutes to discuss “personnel" matters Treasurer Day discussed some property owned by Gwen Warner in Holden and problems — Several interested parties appeared along with Fillmore Mayor Keith Gillins Recorder Marlene Cummings elected officials John Hansen Mary Day Linda Carter Jim T albot to discuss the Jesse Nichols property in Fillmore The property is due to appear on the May Tax Sale and has been a point of controversy in the community of Fillmore Jackson admitted that the problem had been ongoing for “about a year" Jackson explained that Mr and Mrs Robert Andieason of Fillmore approximately a year ago came to me and they felt there might be inappropriate conduct on the part of one of the elected This Nichols property was officials listed on the May Tax Sale and the list had been published one or two times when Mayor Gillins came to me and asked the Commission to take the property from the Tax Sale so that Fillmore City may have the lime to prepare a claim Fillmore City felt they may have against the property for something the City may have done The Commissioners did pull the property from the Tax Sale The Andre asons again contacted me and on December 12th 1991 after a lot of re search I offered a Leg al Opinion Jackson then read parts of the follow ing letter into the record “Dear Mrs Day and Mr Hansen: Y our offices have requested from me a legal opinion regarding what actions if any should be taken by you in your the official regarding capacities Nichols property w hich as you recall was taken from the 1991 May tax sale by direction of the County Commission at the request of Mayor Gillins of Fillmore City I will try to deal with the various questions involved in an orderly fashion I base my legal opinion on Utah Code Annotated sections and the various cases through before the Utah Supreme Court and Utah Court of Appeals wherein any of these sections of the Utah Code were discussed together with Certified Foreclosure Report from Security Title and my Company (OrdcT No persona investigation and review of the facts in these matters As you are aw are one of the elected officials of Millard County is involved in this matter together with at least two other parties Certain allegations of misconduct have been made reg arding the propriety of the actions of the elected officials involved The facts in this matter do not lend themselves to an easy or simple and t interpretation and solution Therefore my conclusions or opinion are somewhat affected by who is volved First from my review of all facts at this lime I cannot find any evidence of misconduct on the part of the elected official However because of the perception or belief by some of the public of misconduct on the part of the elected official my conclusions and recommendations will reflect caution which I encourage on any future actions taken by your offices in this matter Second my review of the Utah law and past procedures in my practice garding intestate property or property held by heirs leads me to recommend that the grantees on the Special Warranty Deeds are not “interested persons" under the Utah Code and therefore cannot redeem the property under UCA without obtaining a Decree Determining Heirs from the local District court Additionally because of my concern and interest in protecting Millard County from any possible charges of or conflict of interest even if the elected official obtained in a Decree this matter Determining Heirs I would not recommend that the taxes tendered by accepted nor that the redeemed be be allowed to property Third my review of this matter leads me to recommend that all past taxes which have been tendered be returned forthwith together with a copy of this letter Fourth my review further leads me 2 and 6 as to recommend that parcels described in the mentioned Foreclosure Report be placed on the list of properties to be sold at the May 992 tax sale The method (“bidding down or bidding up") must be determined by the County Commissioners (UCA Fifth regarding parcels 34 and5 as described in the Foreclosure Report which have not been subject to an sessment of taxes for the years of 1986 through 1991 the County Commissioners have requested a survey to see if in fact these parcels exist or whether they are included within the descriptions of the other parcels I make no opinion or until we have the recommendation completed survey results You both realize how difficult this situation has been for all involved I have tried my best to apply the law as I interpret it to the facts as I see them My responsibility is to Millard County and I have done my best to be objective impartial and fair However I must admit that the “appearance" or “percepor conflict of intertion" of est as charged by the other involved parties has led me to recommend a higher standard regarding our future procedures in this matter than might have been recommended if one of our elected officials were not involved Sincerely LeRay G Jackson Millard County Attorney" Jackson went on to explain that charges of collusion between Day Hansen and Carter have arisen because Carter has tried to buy the property Jackson: “For your information an elected official really needs to work only one day a month to collect a pay check to meet the statutory requirements of their office And when I went into this I initially thought it would be inappropriate for an elected official to use any time while they were on the county pay roll to check into something that might be persona but that isn't necessarily so as long as they are not expending county money or something But I couldn’t come up with any evidence that Mrs Carter had even used her own time to check this in fact I don’t know how much checking had to really be done in the Recorder’s office it w as clear that the taxes hadn’t been paid" Jackson continued: “Because the Recorder w as the person involved I w as placing a higher standard Linda Carter has obtained from various heirs of the Nichols estate Deeds in addition she has obtained affidavits from the heirs are the heirs of the stating that Nichols estate Mrs Carter it is my understanding has obtained 23 out of 64 interests in the property This matter has been filed w ith the DistriclCourt and more than likely the District Court is going to tell me that the standard I placed on Mrs Carter w as way loo high More than likely once she obtained the affidavits from these heirs and a deed from one or more of the heirs she became an "interested person" and therefore was entitled to pay the taxes" Jackson continued: “The taxes still have not been accepted but Mrs Carter has filed an action in the local District Court" “I can guarantee to everybody here that nobody has acted inappropriately mostly Mary Day John Hansen or the Commissioners or anybody else that had anything lo do with this I have told Linda Carter all the time and Linda will agree that I've felt that the perception could be out there that she was acting inappropriately And it troubled me and it troubled Mary and it troubled John but I took a stance as the County Attorney really putting a burden on Mrs Carter and it’s created a lot of problems and a lot of feelings and the reason this meeting is being held is that nobody none of the elected officials want the public to think that anything has been covered up because it hasn’t and anybody here that has a interest in the property is entitled to get a copy of the complaint filed with District Court (Civil No 8750) hire an attorney and appear on your own and do what you can do to do what you think you should do" Jackson continued that midway through a survey he recommended that the survey be stopped so that the public wouldn’t perceive inappropriate action by the County If sold at the Tax Sale the property will go to the highest bidder John Hansen said: “With the claim being filed with the court the property w ill not be sold at the May Tax Sale" Jackson agreed: “Mrs Carter has filed a action The first is to determine the heirs and quiet title and the second is to obtain a from District Court Judge Christensen an order from him as the judge to directing Mary Day as Millard County Treasurer to accept the taxes from Linda Carter and that m ay be done at any time That is what is known as an extraordinary writ and that will be done without notice to anybody and that will pull it from the lax sale It might happen tomorrow or it may happen May 26th I fully expect that because of the higher standard I've placed on her than would have been placed on a person not elected or appointed to the county I fully expect that the judge is going to say “Hey Mrs Day you’ve got to take the taxes" Mr Andre ason asked if Fillmore ever filed a claim against the property Mayor Gillins stated "No we had actual expense of around S 500 but our attorney told us the procedure of judgment and lien process would double that amount and the Council and I decided that the risk of regaining any money was not worth it so we stopped and we will just take our losses" Mr Andre ason said: “I hope you can understand our frustration When we were interested in that property we were under the impression that it was going to be up for sale So there was nothing further for us to do or pursue than to come to the Sheriff s Sale And it w as taken off regardless of why it was taken off we paid the amount of the taxes So in the interim whether it’s just bureaucratic or w hatever occurred w e apparently now unless we’re willing to take legal action are not going to be able to bid on that property That doesn’t seem right to me" Jackson said: “1 understand your anxiety but you have to understand that if a District Court Judge orders Mrs Day to take the money (I have told her not to) but if the court tells her to take it that property is not on the tax sale" Andre ason said: “I'm not sure the Court is going to actually have all the information it should have to make a valid judgment" Jackson said: “Yes" Hansen said: “That's why we have asked all the parties that have expressed an interest in that property to be here today so we can best inform everyone as to what they have to do to protect that interest if they have one" Jackson said: "In order to protect the good name of John Hansen Mary Day and Millard County I have jeopardized what has been a good relationship with Linda Carter The feelings have not been good Linda has thought I've been a Her attorney dirty thought I w as unreasonable he thought I was crazy and I really have fought hard to protect John and Mary and Millard County I have told Linda it isn't worth it but she hasn’t done anything wrong that I can find Linda feels good about what she’s done but this has created problems and it has been hard We’ve felt it is now time for the public to know And there is still time for the public to do something about it if they want to buy this property" Mrs Beckstrand said thai she and her husband had come in and had tendered the taxes to Day on the day of the Tax Sale and that Carter had then come across the hall and also tendered a check “Someone went and told her" " said she said "Maybe she just saw Day Jackson said "Apparently three people have tendered the taxes And that's what concerns me These are good people and this has created a lot of trouble To me it isn't worth it but Linda's conscience is clear and I have just taken the position that if you’re elected there are just certain things you better not even try to buy or you better not use this method to try to buy I didn't think it was fair for any body to think that John or Mary are crooks because they're not" Carter said: “We started to buy this property in November in 1990 and it took us about four months to locate the first heir and all that time I did on my own time on Saturday and Sunday” Carter stated that she couldn’t use her records in the search and she had to go to Fillmore City “It took a lot of time and phone calls and a lot of contacting to find the heirs We had gotten three deeds from the heirs prior to the lax sale w hich gave us an interest in the property All the time I spend w as literally on my own time There is nothing wrong with an elected official buying property anywhere while they're in office" Carter “If it had been another persor in my situation other than being me you would have accepted the taxes based on those three deeds because they do vest an interest My attorney was upset that I've been discriminated against because I am an elected official" Jackson agreed Day said: "If we had several people come in we would have still done what we did" Jackson said: "I would have told you to accept the first one w ho had bid it had tendered the taxes" Andreason said: “Possibly because of my own ignorance on real estate taxes the property had already been advertised on a lax sale we w ere told by people in this office that that was what was going to happen Now maybe I should have known that if I can run and find a heir and get an interested signature or whatever and pay the taxes I could obtain it that way Well in my ow n ignorance I was going on the information this office was giving me And it really bothers me now that I have to hire a lawyer to take legal action to try to do something that was supposedly going to be done this year" Day said: "I don’t think that anyone in any of the offices w ould have advised anyone to go find the heirs Linda came into my office and talked to me about this before she started I told her she w as very foolish There are a lot of heirs there were a lot of problems w ith the heirs I thought it w as a too big of a can of worms And if I discouraged her certainly wouldn’t have recommended to someone else that they do that" Jackson said: “Whoever gets the lax deed on this property may not have clear title There is a lot of work and a lot of money in clearing this up because this is a family with two or three marriages One of the heirs is incapacitated kids Whoever gets clear title if they ever get it is going to have to file a legal action to provide a guardian for the incapacitated child Whoever gets it is going to have to pay for it They're going to have to their attorney" to pay a lot Jackson said: "I wish Linda hadn’t wanted this property but she does and she feels good about it and I think the County has done everything to stay clean and I think the County is clean These are good people and guess it's fair to say that every human being has a price but it w asn’t met in these cases At least we can not be accused of keeping the lid on The public is entitled to know" Brinkerhoff thanked LeRay for his work and to everyone w ho attended - Paulette Staples Computer Supervisor for the Sheriffs Department asked for the Commissioner’s help in ambulance bills collecting One of the accounts was for the County Jackson said that his office would be sending out letters to those who have known addresses It was mentioned that Scipio operates independently from the County and must handle their own accounts It was mentioned that insurance companies donot honor ambulance bills for victims that do not survive - Sheriff Phillips talked abit with the Commissioners about the old mill site discussed earlier Brinkerhoff said that he also hears about the junkyard “every morning" Jackson said: "I’ve asked Jerry about it and he just thinks he’s going to get time to deal with some of these things and something else hap- pens" - Nancy Talbot owner of Hinckley gas station appeared requesting a letter from the Commissioners stating that they are concerned and that Talbot did “everything we were told to do" with of the gas station regard to the and the underground tanks required by the Environmental Protection Agency “And they’re still not happy with us" said Talbot She presented the Commissioners with a petition of 351 names gathered over the w cekcnd in support of the beleaguered gas station Talbot asked about the Revolving Fund that the County grants to Hillside Farms for example “We sold cars and cows to come upw ith S30000"saidTalbotShe stated she had originally approached Robyn Peirson County Administrator for financial assistance and w as told “no money was available" Talbot continued: “Then I heard that the County Commissioners were basically running a bank with taxpayer's money at four percent and if they w anted you in business they would get a loan Then we heard it was for new businesses only and then we heard about Hillside Farms" Jackson said: “The Revolving Fund is federal money that’s pumped into an economy to create jobs It’s for new business or new expansion that will create jobs" Talbot said: "We spent S43000 on a Millard County Chronicle business that we can't gel $5f(0 for now and we've put an additional $50000 into it in a year's time to keep it afloat and the stale sull won't go aay " “We had to dig until we tested until we were clean Bill had a station in Salt Lake We've already done this t ice We had no idea that all of the Conoco tanks were out there We paid Un three tarks w c found out la ter there w as a fourth w e told them there w as a fourth w e got the approval on the four tanks so we dig for four tanks We had no intention of going out of business We w ish we would have thought of it but we can make a living out there We met with the state fire marshall learned about the future quirements did the cement and rebar and had Jerry Reagan inspect it We went with the fiberglass lines But every w here w e dug w e found another lank We ended up w ith n me tanks and w e had been paying for three We had three insured and three licenses We dug to test clean That w as not a problem B ut when we had lo haul it to Salt Lake we were out of money We had a $15000 bid it was up to $30000 and w e had sold everything that was sellable Because you have to pay the fees in adv ance The inspector took pictures and said it was the worst case of abandoning tanks he has ever seen” Talbot said: “We started to get letters saying that we’ve been turned in Then they billed us for the Conoco tanks because yup we should have known when we bought it that there were two stations There was another island under the island So we had to run all new wires because the station had substandard wiring Then the plumbing wasn't up to code So we get it all replumbed Then we had to bury the hoist because the floor wasn't up to the Board of Health code and then we had to lake out a wall and there was no ceiling under that section so w e had no walls or ceiling so now we have a station that has been brought up to code and Sinclair still wants the parking lot paved Someone said $22000 is a cheap price for parking lots but now we’re out $50000 plus the original $43000 and we still have these (meaning the state and people EPA)" It was agreed that the County’s nancial help is not a matter of "pick and choose" Talbot asked: “When you loan this money who has to pay if they default on these loans?" Baker said: “We have to eat it" Talbot asked: “So why are we so concerned with out of the area businesses instead of the businesses that are here" Brinkerhoff said: “We don’t make the regulations It’s the Federal government” B aker said: “We can’t lend money to refinance Now you’ve got to have the money first to lend Barry’s is closed and we could lend some money to people to try to buy that on a participating loan Because that would provide 10 to 2 jobs for kids" Jackson said: “I think the money 90 percent of the time is loaned to people who are already in existence in the County" Brinkerhoff said that Kirby Anderson got a loan because he “always wanted to live in Scipio” but four months later he moved his family to Las Vegas because he “hated Scipio" Talbot said that the same kids who shoplift from us theirparents shoplifted from Walt The Commissioners agreed to write a letter Talbot stated that the problem is the small business vs the big guys She will be approaching the legislature on April 15th under Representative Joe Moody’s guidance “I'm making copies for everyone who says it’s not their problem You keep sitting in an office until someone get’s sick of you and signs your paperwork" Talbot: “Joe Moody is the last hope Progress April 9 1S92 Pase problems Meeting adjourned Alert fire dept when burning leaves Now that spring is here many of you are cleaning up yards and vacant lots If you plan to burn leaves branches etc we ask that you lake a minute to contact the fire department to inform them of a controlled burn Contact Chief Denny Assistant Chief Brunson Lvn Williams or Captain Bill Emmett This call will save the fire department being needlessly called out We appreciate your help and support Chief Denny Brunson Fillmore Fire Dept ANOTHER CHOICE West Millard Recreation Center PM April 10 1992-7:0- 0 WHO WILL YOU VOTE FOR? How many of you are really satisfied with our current front for president? Can you imagine another four yea's of or Clinton or Brown? Do you rea"v believe they can turn ‘Bushlip America around and return Amenca back to a constitutional form of government with the same old spend - tax - spend - tax policies we have been burdened with for far too many years? It's tine to wake up America time to reclaim what is rightfully ours time to take back The" government and make it our government runners again We do have another choice James ‘Bo' Gntz Col (ret) Bo Gntz was the most decorated solder in the Vietnam War He has commanded special forces in Asia and Latin Amenca He served in A'rca and the Middle East He was Chief of Special Activities and Bo knows Caprtol Hill and Relations in the Pentagon Congressional the futh about international relations Bo is a ded cated fami’y man dedicated to Christian He has a teaching certifcate speaxs several languages has a Bachelors degree in Law Enforcement and Coirections a Masters in Communications and the author of two books 'Nation and 'Cated To Serve Betrayed Bo has a plan a step by step plan that w work He has no tes to big business international banking special interest lobbies or po’itcal pales Bo is running for president as an American Bo reeds yojr heip He needs volunteer who believe in Amerca Come and team about a real candidate for president Our M'ia'd County orgamzat on needs your help to get the word out M sared County Recreation There w be a meet ng at Balding (Fa rg'ounas) on Apnl 10th at 700 P M Bng your and be there Shew yor fue colors Let's pot America first te For more information call: 1 Fred Jackson 5 Joan Finlinson 9 Marilyn Willden Paid tof by nIutiuJBfc 3 for small business in Mllard County They pat you on the head but they don't understand If there w as a job y ou'd take it and run but there are no jobs Like the town said 'We have arsenic in our w atcr w hat can your gas hurt?’ You can make it work if you can get the Federal government to leave you alone We are the only lax base Hinckley has got" LUNCH BREAK Architect Craig Ames appeared with revised plans for the new Court Facility and also preliminary drawings for the renovation of the existing Court House building on Main Street He troduced Dr Larry Reaveley of Engineering in Salt Lake City Dr Reaveley is a structural engineer and he spent time discussing what's important structurally in older buildings that don't meet seismic codes He mentioned the importance of securing the older buildings because of the severe potential of quakes centering around the Richfield said area “A 65 is quite possible” it Reaveley After some explanation w as shown what methods would be used to bring the old building up to minimum life safety performance goals Much discussion revolved around w ho w ould go w here but every one iked the basic design very much Ames said he would be back in two weeks Shenff Phillips met with the Commissioners to announce that he tends togowiththe91 system GTEhas offered him through a special promotion Tony Deardcn asked who the Commissioners wanted to enforce the fire codes on the West Side of the County It was agreed that Bryce Ashby should be allowed to enforce the fire codes in his district and others assigned to areas should enforce the codes in those areas Zane Pcntz from Sunnse Engineering presented revised budgets for tnc Abraham Canal Bridge and the Kanosh Road projects They were exhigher than the Commissioners pected Pentz explained that the creases were due to UDOT’s design review charges the plans cost $35000 UDOT's plan review will cost UDOT has also budgeted $28000 $18000 for construction monitoring Pentz stated the bridge should begin in August Construction on the road ill begin in July Each project should lake about three months to complete Pentz agreed to send plans in two weeks for final review Jerry Reagan and Gary Church appeared before the Commission to discuss the purchase of a new stage for County events The Commissioners chose a 16’x24' stage that will cost approximately $9000 The stage will stand 30 inches tall Discussion volved around drapes behind the stage and skirting around the stage - County Auditor John Hansen apto peared before the Commissioners present various bills and requests for monies He made the motion to go into executive session for several insurance UiUard County Populist Party |