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Show C; 2 3; 9P UTAH PRESS ASSOCIATION 467 r.r 300 S SIX, (IT afll I. -2A0A WEDNESDAY, November 11, 1992 Vernal, Utah 84078 100th Year No. 46 22 Pages Single Copy 50 Inside Computers spark Interest in math Page 13. Teacher prep. Page 3. Tractor put to rest Page 18. Book Cliffs Highway CIB mn Vernal , (I k. by Steven Wallls Express Editor Whether for or against building a road through the Book Cliffs, most agree that to some degree the Draft EIS was flawed and should be changed to reflect their viewpoint. The rumblings over the Draft EIS on the 83-mile road proposed by the UintahGrand County Special Service districts began when the EIS was released initially three months ago. Uintah and Grand County officials offi-cials were concerned by the low use and high wildlife kill projected by the study. Officials submitted their own studies to the Draft EIS. In the Draft EIS, the BLM recommended recom-mended paving the existing right-of-way as funding becomes available. avail-able. The districts requested a 200-foot 200-foot right-of-way for an all-weather highway. In accordance with National Environmental Policy Act, three public hearings will be held concerning con-cerning any other additions or inaccuracies inac-curacies in the EIS before the final document is released. The first public hearing was Nov. 5 in Salt Lake City. About 60 people peo-ple attended the hearing and the majority ma-jority supported the "not action" alternative al-ternative in the EIS. The main objection to the highway high-way was financing, lack of a costbenefit and cumulative impact analysis. "The project would provide a few people with short-term jobs, while over the long run leaving our already al-ready financially strapped State with more economic burdens," said Stephen Borton, president of the Uintah Mountain Club. When there are so many other worthwhile projects pro-jects needing money our schools, our poorly maintained existing county roads, the sewer systems, our library and police forces why waste money on this project?" Stephen Lewis, a Salt Lake attorney, attor-ney, said he supported the no action alternative. Statements in the Draft EIS are "arbitrary and capricious." CUP fund authorization "You can say this is truly a high water mark for Utah." One cannot blame Don A. Christiansen for his pun regarding President Bush signing into law legislation leg-islation authorizing funds needed to complete the Central Utah Project. You see, Mr. Christiansen is general gen-eral manager of the Central Utah Water Conservancy District, the agency that has been doggedly guiding the proposal through Congress the past three years and which is now responsible for completing com-pleting the state's biggest-ever construction con-struction project. The legislation was signed into law Oct. 30, 1992, amid fears that President Bush would veto it because be-cause of strong opposition from California's powerful agri-business lobby that did not want to see water Local resndliriiti awacdledl flw "hi'' - ' I mil I iii ii t ' " , j, Tim Ingwell THOM WARDELL says the highway is "a road to work." MAYOR LEONARD Heeney speaks in opposition to highway. high-way. i He said the most flawed statement in the Draft EIS was concerning the impact of the proposed highway: "Of the major highway construction alternative, the Special Service Districts' Proposed Actions would be the least damaging because it would avoid wetlands, cross shorter distances of landslide areas, and would result in fewer potential road kills of mule deer, elk, and antelope." ante-lope." "There is no evidence in the EIS that support to statement," Lewis said. Uintah County Commissioner Max Adams said the county com- diverted from farming to fish and wildlife. Water projects in 19 western west-ern states had been incorporated into in-to the all-encompassing legislation called the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustments Act of 1992, including authorization of $922 million for the CUP Completion Act. The presidential signature, explains ex-plains Christiansen, ends a three-year three-year battle in congress to get approval ap-proval to complete the decades-old Central Utah Project (CUP) which delivers water from Eastern Utah to the populous Wasatch Front He said even if the bill had not passed, its drinking water projects would have likely been completed, but irrigation, irri-gation, recreation and environmental environmen-tal programs would have faced an uncertain future. In addition, Indian .Tim Ingwell of Vernal received the prestigious Golden Key award presented to dedicated people for their efforts to employ persons with disabilities. He received the "Outstanding Citizen" award from the Utah Governor's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities during a luncheon at the Salt Lake Red Lion on Oct. 8. Ingwell is co-organizer of the Uintah Basin Disabilities Council. He and his wife, Shannon, and children, chil-dren, Carl and Laura, moved to Vernal in September of 1988. Ingwell started the first day at his new job as a geologist with the Vernal District Bureau of Land Management by having an epileptic seizure. He says, "It was that lime in my life when I decided I was going to confront this." Prior to this par ' Ouray PROPOSED ROUTE r PROPOSED ROUTE --AltemativB East Cisco Interchange Alternative mission wholeheartedly supports the EIS in that it "addressed all items pertinent to an EIS." "However, there are some inaccuracies inaccu-racies and inadequacies in the document," docu-ment," he said. "One of the inadequacies inade-quacies is the BLM's route does not fulfill the purpose of the highway." Adams said the county would list means $200 million to water rights conflicts would not have been resolved. Even with passage of the authorization autho-rization legislation, warns Christiansen, the water district still must ask Congress to appropriate funds annually for specific projects. In addition, Utah must allocate some $179 million in cost-share funds over the life of the Completion Act, and Utahns will be required to undertake water conservation conser-vation efforts. Christiansen acknowledges that the water district had anticipated the signing of the legislation and has a year's lead time on several programs pro-grams and studies. "We took a gamble, gam-ble, no doubt about it," says Christiansen, "but we felt confident it would pass and now we have a ticular seizure he' denied he had a disability. Upon arriving in the Basin, Ingwell became aware of the vast opportunities for outdoor recreation. He also saw an unmet need to make these same opportunities accessible and available to people with disabilities. disabil-ities. In cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the State Fish and Wildlife Agency and volunteers from the community, he spearheaded an event called "Experience the Outdoors." That first event, three years ago, was a tremendous success, suc-cess, bringing people together with the same goals, hiking, fishing, and exploring the beautiful area around Flaming Gorge. Through the Special Employment Program of the BLM, Ingwell has challenged other districts of the Bureau to find areas mwmmmmmmmm mmam iiiiiiii:ti: Red Wash Alternative Ouray Interstate 70 Highway Proposed and Alternative Routes BrusherEast Canyon Alternative Uintah County Grand County PROPOSED ROUTE Exit 220 the other inaccuracies in a written statement to the Moab BLM, which can be submitted until Dec. 10, 1992. Jay Mealey of Crown Oil said the highway would benefit his company's compa-ny's development of tar sands in the PR Springs area of the Book Cliffs. Continued on page 9 head start on many aspects of the project" He said the key to the successful execution of the legislation requirements require-ments is "trust..trust among environmental envi-ronmental interests, water petitioners, petition-ers, farmers, ranchers, metropolitan water officials, state water resource officials, the governor, recreational interests, and fish and wildlife officials. offi-cials. That trust played a key role in our forging the legislation's language lan-guage to the satisfaction of all concerned," con-cerned," he said. "And that trust will see the project to a successful conclusion." Christiansen added that the trust "transcends into a partnership of environmental en-vironmental organizations water users, fish and wildlife officials, farmers and ranchers, municipal wa DneDpDirDg N $) 0 5 H V j f V "Experience, the Outdoors " of interest and then plan similar events for people with disabilities. The latest "Experience the Outdoors" this past September was just as successful and was even expanded ex-panded to horseback riding, canoeing canoe-ing and digging for dinosaurs. Ingwell was nominated for the Golden Key award by representatives representa-tives of various agencies. Ray Macstas with the Department of Rehabilitation, and co-organizer of the Disabilities Council stated in his nomination, "Mr. Ingwell has spent many hours in the development of this local council, and his tireless dedication and commitment is truly an inspiration to everyone. He has been described as the driving force 911 Enhanced to go online next January Enhancement to the 911 emergency emer-gency telephone service to the three-county area moved one step closer to reality Thursday. The Community Impact Board granted Vernal City a $145,000 grant to purchase equipment for Central Dispatch for the 911 enhancement. en-hancement. "This is a one time expense," said Kenneth Bassett, Vernal City manager. "Vernal City is just the agency chosen to receive the grant." Central Dispatch operates from the Uintah County-State Building and provides dispatch services for all law enforcement agencies in Uintah, Duchesne and Daggett counties except for Ute Tribal police. po-lice. Central Dispatch is managed by the State of Utah. Laconna Davis, Central Dispatch supervisor, said the 911 Enhanced will give dispatchers the phone number, address, which jurisdiction jurisdic-tion and property owner for every incoming call on 911. Over 700 pulled over in multi-agency DUI arrest roadblock , Over 700 vehicles were pulled off of West Highway 40 last Saturday evening in an effort to curb driving under the influence. Six law enforcement agencies participated par-ticipated in a roadblock in front of Wal-Mart. Vehicles were pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot where drivers were checked for DUI, driver's driv-er's license, registration and other infractions. The roadblock was set up from 9 p.m. to 12 midnight All officers canvassed the area after 12- Ute Tribe ter officials, and recreationalists. He said more than 50 private, public pub-lic and governmental agencies are lending their input and expertise to the sensitive environmental issues that accompany a water project of this magnitude. "Agencies and private groups throughout the 12-county CUP area have united to form one of the most comprehensive committees on environmental envi-ronmental matters ever assembled," he said. Christiansen adds that the signing of the legislation "ushers in a new day in the history of the CUP. This also affords a great opportunity for the citizens of Utah to show the rest of the nation that we are capable of Continued on page 9 dlBsalbiedl behind this Council, and it is to his credit the committee has become the voice of people with disabilities. Mr. Ingwell has worked within the BLM to rc-definc and coordinate efforts ef-forts to assist with employment opportunities." op-portunities." In accepting his award, Ingwell told the audience that the award was shared by many people, not just him. He said the success of efforts made were not done by just one person, per-son, but by a whole group of people. peo-ple. Ingwell was the only citizen from rural Utah to be recognized during the day. Others who received awards were from the Wasatch Front. "It will be a tremendous help in reducing unnecessary 911 calls," Davis said. "We receive many prank calls," she said. 911 Enhanced has been a couple of years in the making. It requires counties' cooperation to place numbers on every street. Also, every ev-ery homeowner will have a house number. The addressing was completed com-pleted last January. Now the system sys-tem is waiting for all the data to be input to a computer. "The data base should be complete com-plete by the middle of January," Davis said. There will be a three-week test period when each person will place a call to Central Dispatch to verify the information on the data base. "It will take a while for everything every-thing to be running smoothly, but once it is it will be a great time saver," Davis said. Dispatchers will begin training on the new system Jan. 1, 1993. midnight looking for other violators. viola-tors. As a result of the effort, 9 DUI arrests ar-rests were make along with 60 other minor infractions, said Officer Robert Vanderbusse, Vernal City Police. Vernal City initiated the program which is supported by state funding. City officers sent a memo to other agencies requesting help with the roadblock. Officers from the Utah Highway Patrol, Uintah County Sheriff's Department, State Parks, Naples City and U.S. Forest Service, 21 overall, responded. "We could not have done it without with-out the cooperation of the other agencies," said Officer Vanderbusse. "There was a lot of inter-agency cooperation which will help relations in the future." "I was surprised there were not more DUI citations," Vanderbusse added. "We also had good cooperation from Wal-Mart," Vanderbusse said. "The manager agreed to let us use the store's parking lot and to leave the parking lot light on." The BAT Mobile (Mobile Breath Analyzer) was used to screen the drivers. County to discuss phase three of Western Park With phases one and two complete com-plete on the Western Park facility, Uintah County will consider phase three at the next County meeting Nov. 17. The commissioners are open to suggestion as to what will be added to the multi-million dollar facility with phase three. Originally phase three would include an outdoor arena are-na and development on the west end of the track. With CIB funding for phases one and two, Uintah County was able to build an indoor arena, amphitheater, museum and improvements to the outdoor facilities. Randy Freston, Uintah Engineering, presented the proposal to the Uintah County Commission last week. Freston said the details of the expansion to Western Park had not been finalized. During the public hearing the Uintah County Commission will also al-so meet to discuss and entertain public comment on a proposed rcso-lution rcso-lution to authorize the execution of Continued on page 2 |