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Show 1 2 Fixing booboos ....page 12 Author writes for youth ..page 4 User fee response ...........page 8 Monster in the house ....page 10 Harvest festival page 15 Swim team 2nd .....page 21 Inside Single Copy 50fc CR III PRE WW I -IV? C 123199 UTAH PWf S3 ASSOC 1 ft I I ON 30 W 200 S BV.)OS SIX, Uf 84 101 777 IE jj!"" ""' ::" " "j WEDNESDAY, October 30, 1996 Vernal, Utah 84078 104th Year No. 44 24 Pages CamidSdlates reply to DocaB ossifies by Steven Wallis Express Editor The most heated Uintah County election is between Glen McKee, incumbent. Republican, and his challenger Herb Snyder, Democrat. The contest between the two has gone beyond the point of friendly debate for candidate McKee, who has hired the Park City legal firm of D'Ella & Lehmer to write a letter to Snyder requesting that he provide the evidence to backup some statements state-ments Snyder supposedly made to the League of Women Voters. "Unless you can backup your accusations, we must insist that you cease and desist making them and publicly retract your prior statements," state-ments," states attorney, John R. Lehmer. The letter was never delivered deliv-ered to the Snyder residence because it was improperly addressed. A second letter has been sent to Snyder, apologizing for the first letter not arriving. McKee stated stat-ed the letter would be addressed today. In response to an ad in the Vernal Express signed "Republicans for the election of Herb Snyder" the Uintah County Republican Party Central Committee has issued a statement that they are 100 percent behind the re-election of McKee. "He has served with distinction and has the party's full confidence and support." sup-port." ft," ""V if'" n - ' -t . 4 t I :; ; K I X." , ' ' V ,1 s- J s . ni Hi a 5 m Glen McKee, Republican, Herb Snyder, Democrat, corn-commission corn-commission candidate. mission candidate. Change proposed for county pay scale Uininh County taxpayers are getting get-ting their money's worth from county employee, according to comparison conducted by Jerry Colin. Uintah County PcrMnncl manager. In comparing annual salaries with other countic of similar sie in Utah, Uintah County's average U 5,27 percent below the market aver- Golins ii preparing the comparison compari-son to make a recommendation the salaries of county employee should be market driven rather than classification classi-fication driven. The market driven method compares a county employee employ-ee wages to the average of other third tlass count. Comparing an employee' salary to the average "tan gel a little tricky," Golins said. Other considerations are seniority, the individual and other reasons. There are also problems in com-paring com-paring the coming up with an aver age salary for third class counties in certain positions, For instance, there are few other 3rd class counties w ith three full-lime commissioner. To come up with an average, com parioti would have to made to department head. Other factors that will come into beat are market changes and keep- To peel off the barrage of claims and counter claims, each candidate was asked to respond to a written questionnaire. Their responses are listed below: Snyder, 54, is a life-long resident of the area, property owner and taxpayer, tax-payer, successful businessman for 23 years. He has always operated within a budget. "I'm conservative," conserva-tive," he said. He has been a member mem-ber of the Citizen Plan Advisory Committee for 16 months and has participated in preparing a county-wide county-wide general plan. McKee, 51, has served two terms as county commissioner. He has served on several Utah Association of County committees and has served on two committees where he was appointed by the governor. One of these committees is the School and Institutional Trust committee which is fighting the federal government gov-ernment taking close to 1 million acres of school trust lands from Utah without compensation or land exchange. Why do you want to be a Uintah County Commissioner? McKee: The rural counties of Utah have gained some respect the past several years. Many rural Utah commissioners, who serve on several sever-al committees I serve on, work far beyond 40 hours per week. These efforts to maintain economic stability stabili-ty is much more time consuming than just a few years ago. You can- mm Compared to other third class county, Uintah County'! average salary is S percent below average. ing employees. With other law enforcement agencies close by, Colins said the Sheriffs Department faces an additional challenge. The entire department, minus one individual who is listed at over 20 percent below the average aver-age pay, is 3 21 below the state average salary, The perccnts in the sheriff's department range from 14 06 percent under the average to 9.84 over the average for one individual. indi-vidual. More of the salary comparison compari-son in the Sheriffs Department ate below the norm. Another factor that heeds to be considered is the county benefit package hkh equals about 40 percent per-cent of the base salary, "We have to look at the totally of the issue," Golins said. "I don't not put a value on the hundreds of resources of information, my knowledge of local, state and federal feder-al law that effect local government and rural Utah. Snyder: I'm a home-grown product. prod-uct. Uintah County has always been my home, I wouldn't want to live any other place. I want to see our county prosper. We need to replace a great many old laws with new and updated planning and zoning ordinances. ordi-nances. By doing this we can get the county back on track. We must plan for the future. Planning is vitally important to the economy of this county. If elected, what would you do to stop the intrusion of the federal fed-eral government on the development develop-ment of Uintah County? Snyder: The RS-2477 issues are very important to Uintah County. The development of natural resources has always been important impor-tant to the economy of our county. This requires a strong infrastructure of roads and rights of way across public lands. I would make sure that there would be a cooperative effort with the county, BLM, UDWR and others. Counties must have the right to conduct business. We also have to assure public access, range management, man-agement, recreation opportunities, grazing and mineral development. McKee: I have dedicated several hundred hours since 1990 in creating creat-ing a working relationship with law firms that are experts in natural resources, Endangered Species Act and federal state mandates that affect rural life style. I drafted and Uintah County adopted many laws in county ordinance form. These laws are state and federal laws. They have been a very effective tool to stop or redirect unnecessary mandates. The 24 rural Utah counties coun-ties and other rural Americans understand that "united we prevail, divided we can fail." What would you do to promote economic development' in the county? - McKee: Make sure that local incentive supported by effective local committees have the support necessary to stimulate job activity. More importantly do not allow large natural resource acres to drift into single use for the benefit of someone from Washington or their Continued on page 2 think taxpayers want to under pay county employees, but they do not want to over pay them." The market driven approach is not Infallible, admits Golins. "If the data is soft. w-e won't be able to make a fair salary comparison," compari-son," he said. The salary proposal will be presented pre-sented to Uintah County Commissioners during the budget adoption process. Oolins contends the most underpaid under-paid position in the county is that of county commissioner. In a $27 million mil-lion enterprise those at the head should be edeuately compensated based on their positions. Commissioner are paid $33. 1 6? a year. A. Now that is one big potato. Logan and Micah Batty hold seven and a half pound potato grown at their home. The children's parents par-ents are Bart and Ana Batty of Vernal. Economic projects hang in limbo Since the closure of the Uintah Economic Development Office last September, the funding for 10 projects pro-jects administered by that office has been in limbo. Tuesday Uintah County Commissioner Glen McKee said that the county is considering rebuilding the economic development develop-ment department which was dismantled dis-mantled with the departure of its director. Marie Yoder, Sept. 10. McKee said the county has $60,000 to use for the Economic Development Department and has a "good offer" from the Vernal Chamber of Commerce to contract to do many of the services once done by the department for the county. Partners to the Economic Development Department, the Ashley National Forest officials, presented 10 programs during a Uintah County Commissioner's meeting earlier this month that are now in question because of the dismissal dis-missal of the Economic Development director. Wood Products Diversification Grant: $2,144.62 remaining of the original grant of $243,000 and is available to the county for purposes consistent with the grant. In addition, addi-tion, new grant opportunity exists to obtain grant monies for utilijation of wood products on the Ashley National Forest. Visitor Center Grant: $4,950 remains in the original grant of $11,000. Travelers information radio stations: The Asphalt and Jensen Travelers Information Radio Stations Partnership is managed by the Uintah Economic Office, ssith partners, collections, operation and maintenance responsibilities under the direction of the director. "We have yet to receive a bill for collection collec-tion from the county for our portion of this partnership," said Bert Kulesra. forest supervisor, "W consider the radio stations as excellent public sctvke io county visitors and residents alike and will continue to support them." Kulesa said. Flaming Gorge Umtas Scenic Byway Partnership: The director of the Uintah County Economic Development OfTke is a membet of the Flaming Gorge Uintas Jkenk Byway Partnership. The economic director partkipate as a Voting member of the steering committee for managing site construction funds and eventual operation and maintenance of Scenic Byway sires. Z- v- jj ' This partnership manages $740,692 of federal and private funds for construction con-struction of sites and fabrication of signs along the Scenic Byway. Flaming Gorge-Uintas NationalAll American Road Designation: The director of the Uintah Economic Development Office serves as the chair of the Flaming Gorge-Uintas NationalAll American Road Designation Committee. A $20,000 grant is administered by the director and an additional $10,000 has been requested from the Federal Highway Administration. Outdoor Institute Grant: This was a $10,000 grant to the county. The director of the Uintah Economic Development Office is responsible for managing this grant. Work and expenditures for this grant are not completed, and the county needs to request an extension exten-sion of grant lime periods, due to the approaching deadlines for completion com-pletion of the agreed upon work. Winter Olympic Task Force: The efforts of this task force will address the projects in the planning stages for taking advantage of the direct and indirect economic benefits bene-fits to the county of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Governor's Conference on Tourism and Economic Development: The director is in charge of the planning, organization and directing of the 1998 Governor's Conference on Tourism and Economic Development to be held in Vemal. "We are anxious to participate in this activity," said Kulcsja. U.S. Highway 40 Recreation and Tourum Sign Plan: This partnership part-nership involves Dwhesne and finish counties, the Chamber of Commerce and several federal and state agencies. Signs base been ordered and delivery is expected within M to W da) s. Jensen, Utah Wekome Center: The Forest Senke is anxious to continue its cwdmatiofl and partk ipation ih Uintah County in Various Vari-ous activities associated with the Jensen Welcome Center. "We ate anxious to cootime our represffftatinn of the t'intah tttwwnic Destlnptnent Board." Mid Kutesra in a ker IO county tommitsinnm. Napl revolving rehab fund by Kathleen Irving Staff Writer Breaking new ground, Naples City has created a revolving housing hous-ing rehabilitation loan fund for low to moderate income homeowners. City Council members approved new low-interest loan guidelines last Thursday during a regular council meeting. Seed money for the program comes from a federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). The program will be administered by the Uintah Basin Association of Governments (AOG). According to City Manager Craig Blunt, Naples has received $50,000 to begin the revolving fund. Initial loans of between $2,000-$5,000 will be made to qualifying homeowners home-owners who need the money for rehabilitating their primary residences. resi-dences. Acceptable projects include upgrading plumbing, electrical or heating systems; replacing water heaters, windows, doors, roofs or siding; adding new rooms or expanding old ones; and insulating floors and ceilings to save on energy ener-gy costs. Loan interest will be held to 4 percent with a maximum 10-year loan length. Naples residents interested in participating par-ticipating in the loan program must meet certain eligibility requirements. require-ments. Total household income cannot exceed established guidelines guide-lines (for example, a family of four cannot earn over $29,300 annually); annual-ly); total debt to income ratios must not be higher than 35 percent; applicants must have owned and lived in the home for at least one year prior to loan application; the title and deed to the home must be recorded with Uintah County and be free of liens; and applicants must show proof they are able to repay the loan. Loans are also available for mobile home owners who own both the home and the land on which it is located. Persons who meet the requirements require-ments are encouraged to complete an application that will be screened by a recently formed Naples City ad hoc loan committee before it is sent to the AOG. Naples Mayor John Maihis says the establishment of this revolving loan fund, which could theoretically theoretical-ly continue for years, breaks new ground in the state of Utah. Other communities have received the CDBG funding for housing rehabilitation rehabil-itation over the years, but it has primarily pri-marily been doled out as grant money, which does not require repayment. Vemal City currently has a housing hous-ing rehab project targeted to the elderly and disabled. That program provides grants only. "Naples is a guinea pig. a test case in the state." said Mathis. "People are watching us. If this works in our community, other communities may try it. But our first priority is to get the money into the hands of people who need H," Applications arc available now at the Naples City office complex. 1420 L Weatherby Drive. Or call 789 9090 for more information, Mayor's Walk to be Thursday The annual Mayor's W8Jk will be at Independence Park Thursday at 4 pm. Partk ipants in the walk are invited invit-ed to come in Malkmwn attire and join the mams from Vemal and Naples city as they a!k ammd the park and end at the 10 A parking lot. There will be prims given fot the best costumes. |