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Show Community i Comments ... i A large number of boards and committees now ! :tively seeking needed community improvements are laking a valiant effort this week to "get it all igether," and for this they should be commended. : It seems that each time a group sees a community I ed, a special committee is formed to reach the goal. I nd those committees function, all too often, without a J ear-cut knowledge of what the community in general ! eeds or wants, and no clear-cut idea of what other i oups might be working on similar or competing j jrojects. j A community survey is to be conducted in an attempt I 'f find out what the majority of citizens of Grand I flinty want in the way of improvements. That survey j -.ill be supervised by a steering committee made up of ! :;presentatives of all the agencies that are currently i lOrking on projects, although plans now call for the (irvey to be actually conducted by an impartial agency j f firm that has no predetermined bias. Although this I i ill cost a little money, it should be money well spent. I j When we lump all the projects together that are j firrently being worked on by committees in Moab and J rand County, we come up with a total capital aprovement figure that staggers the imagination, i hen we're talking about that kind of money, even j jiough much of it would come via the federal grant oute, sound preliminary planning is absolutely I necessary. J j I've heard it said the past couple of days that "the j ounty is throwing away more money on a survey that ;e don't really need." I couldn't agree less. Unless we ,o after projects that have real cross-county priorities, e could be saddling ourselves with maintenance and I pkeep on a number of facilities we are not using fully, I r didn't really want in the first place. Let's put the J orvey-making in the hands of persons trained in such urveys, and let's find out what the people of Grand . ounty really want. j sjt j j Current problems at the Rio Algom mine, which I buld have a tremendous impact on the lives of a lot of I Ioab area residents, should be brought to a head as j tuickly as possible. ! Employees and mine officials contend the mine has een erroneously classified as "gassy" by an inspector i i number of years ago using equipment which could not j etect the difference between methane and acetylene j as. As a result, the company is being forced to curtail I lining in certain areas of the mine, because equipment j rhich could be cleared to work in "gassy" areas is not j . ven available, for hard-rock mines. ! : Apparently, the whole problem stems from the one i aspection conducted a few years ago, and federal j ifficials have been unwilling to re-examine their I jevious inspection. Surely, if the federal people made I a error, due to unsophisticated testing equipment, jessures should be brought to bear to force a ! -examination, even if those pressures have to go to 1 :ie Washington level. : i sjt j Moab residents are stunned this week at the I ' gnseless murder of Highway Patrol Trooper Lynn I ierson, who transferred from Moab only last week I fter living here with his family for a number of years, j I Lynn's death points again to the tremendous risks j aared by those who wear uniforms and patrol our ads and highways in lonely rural Utah. While we all j ssume, and rightly so, that the most hazardous duty is j ; n heavily-traveled roads and in densely-populated I i reas, this tragedy again points up the potential j ersonal danger faced by every law enforcement officer j j-hen he pulls over and approaches a vehicle. I , j For Lynn the transfer to Panguitch was a move closer , p family, a returning home to the country where he j : oent 14 or 15 of his growing-up years. He's home now, ermanently, and so needlessly. Our sympathy, and I ;iat of all the local folks here who knew and admired ' ynn, goes to his fine family. j A fund has been established in memory of him and r the benefit of his wife, Darlene, her three small .lildren, and the one as yet unborn. Donations may be jailed or brought to the TraveLodge, 550 So. Main, ,loab, Utah 84532. The money will be of little comfort . this time, but represents the love and respect of this mmunity, and will surely be useful in the future. |