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Show n f7 KlUE) sJfly praposcsiS H city officials were asked 'onsof Ue U.S. Department of ; d Urban Development's : fnew city proposal during a I ' ,th Utah Department of Command Com-mand Economic Development of- ,'Tuesday. .:- Energy Town program pro-f:, pro-f:, response to a request from irtmentof Energy (DOE) to cure the rapid development of ' c oil shale industry. to' proposes to supply up to $50 f , fn loan guarantees for road, A underground development C would contribute another $20 i grants to get the new com-! com-! under way and maintain it for years until it is self sufficient. r projects that to achieve a goal of barrels of oil daily by 1990 from 4jc 0ii shale, a population of .would be needed. Current plann-umunity plann-umunity growth could accom-,f accom-,f orjy 21,000 of these additional e in Colorado and approximately t'n Utah, contends DOE. LjT. Searle, director of the Utah rtment of Community and mic Development, asked in f of the governor, local officials ' .pinion of the proposal, ah County Commissioner Neil aard said, "I feel the need to put already services, I don't like building a new site and discouraging other developers." Searle explained that the new city can either be a free-standing community, communi-ty, or an extension or in-city development develop-ment of a present city. "HUD has tried 15 similar cities around the nation and only three have succeeded," Searle said. From experience with similar developments, HUD recommends the new city be on 750 to 1,000 acres and allow for 15,000 people. Many people at the meeting objected to the requirment of HUD in the new town proposal which asks the local communities to "support the development develop-ment of the prototype Energy New Town and discourage the development of competing developments." Searle said the purpose of this clause is to prevent land speculation from up-ing up-ing the cost of land. "If you rule out local people," Uintah County Commissioner Roland Merkley said, "it's not fair to them." Searle said that the planning of the new city would be done by a committee composed of local and state officials, and the construction of the city would include local developers on contracts. He indicated that the state is responsible responsi-ble for the selection of the site for the new city, but it wouldn't act without local approval. Shane Luck, Vernal City Manager, said he was against the proposal unless local officials had a guaranteed input. "Our first priority is to stimulate a ; good economic base which will last, if the proposal only stimulates a temporary tem-porary economic base, I would s discourage it," Luck said. . Searle concluded the meeting by asking ask-ing the officials to make a decision as soon as possible to prepare for a presentation with HUD Oct. 31. Local officials, who said the meeting w'ith the state cleared up a lot of concerns, con-cerns, will meet within a week to decide whether to support the proposal or not. |