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Show ) ii" inrnrmiii ii ii i m m m imiiiiiBirniir"" wj mu..'ujMB.-wai.'-huj " 'ij"-BiiiiiTiirMBTirTirwMMM'mfW rj-iuitiMM"-JM'LJ1M"1''''-' '-J ' :---- " Cwhm-Hme&'y Spokesmen Pmties? Bmni Comfy CAP Pkmi j Secmud Memhm Called f o Betievmme Me of Pmmm i ........ r- i . ! I The County Commission hearing Tuesday on whether the Community iction Program should be retained in Grand County ended with no decision, j j,, additional hearing on the matter as set for Oct. 20, at 7:30 p.m. Although it was a standing-room onjy situation in the council chambers for ,),e hearing, there were only 9 Grand County residents who testified. The majority of the rest were from Carbon and lery Counties. Without exception, they ,sied that Grand County remain tied to the CAP program in some way, so that the other three counties in the area could continue their CAP programs. Federal CAP guidelines are formu- lated in such a way that if Grand opts out of CAP, the other counties will not be eligible for funding, due to a lack of population. Lynette Hadden, SEUCAP coordinator, suggested that Grand County not renew its delegate agreement with SEUCAP rather than formally opt out of CAP. In this way, she said, the program could be continued in counties wishing to do so. Many letters and petitions were presented supporting the CAP funded Headstart program for preschoolers, and a number of programs for senior citizens, especially Meals on Wheels. A CAP administered winterization of homes program was also praised by several giving testimony. W1T1IIBIII i.i. Members of the Grand County CAP board said they recommended the program be dropped here because of the amount of funds going into administration administra-tion compared with actual good derived by citizens from CAP sponsored programs. They stated that if Grand County drops its CAP, they did not want the county's share of CAP funds to be reallocated to other counties. Commissioner D. L. Taylor said he sees this move as an effort to "start someplace" in trying to curb federal spending for questionably beneficial programs. He advocated what he called Grand County's tradition of finding ways to solve its own problems rather than always looking to the federal government. govern-ment. He also questioned the value of CAP programs when the dollar-value good derived on the local level is compared with the vast amount of money going into salaries for administrators on the federal, regional, state, area and local level. Comm. Taylor also suggested that options for retaining the Headstart program in Grand County be studied. This program could be sponsored by an agency other than CAP, the official stated. To the Carbon and Emery County residents at the hearing, Comm. Taylor recommended they study possibilities of tieing their CAP organization with other geographic regions, and that they explore other alternatives for carrying out programs they view as beneficial and needed in their counties. The Grand County Commission . received sharp criticism from many testifying blaming commissionei s for what they viewed to be the demise of CAP in the 4-county area if Grand opts out of the program. Both Commissioners Harvey Merrell and Dan Holyoak stated they feel it is unfortunate that Grand County's decision will affect other counties in the area, echoing Comm. Taylor's earlier comment that he is not responsible for how the federal guidelines are written. Yvonne Hawks, a member of the county CAP board and the Grand County i school board, suggested that more . taxpayers should be in attendance at such 4 hearings, intimating that the testimony of 1 those present does not reflect the feelings "j of the majority of residents. It appeared 3 about one-third of those persons testifying at the hearing were employed ft by or in some way associated with the CAP program. The others were mainly i concerned parents asking that Headstart fcj for 4-year olds and programs for the 1 elderly and shutins be continued. M The Oct. 20 hearing is set for the H Grand County Courtroom to accommo- H date the larger crowd which is expected fit to attend. Jf |