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Show Check Inside i rsri Vernal "Boo" Freestone style. ..page 3 Scouts to collect food page 5 New tobacco laws page 11 Cleanup effort unites page 14 Utes squash rivals page 18 Caster finishes 2nd page 20 Express online: www.verexp.com WEDNESDAY, October 28, 1998 Vernal, Utah 84078 106th Year No. 43 24 Pages TF1 Single Copy 501: y UDOT approves highway widening The Utah Department of Transportation signed an agreement Tuesday to allow Uintah County to widen 500 North in front of Uintah High School and to set the ground for the installation of traffic lights at 1500 West and 2500 West. Construction of the project which will include the widening of two bridges, curb, gutter and sidewalk installation and two footpaths will begin as soon as next week. The project will include the installation instal-lation of wiring and bases for the traffic lights. The actual installation of the light will not occur until the intersections meet state warrants. "With the improvements we are making, the two intersections will meet the state warrant for the traffic lights," said Troy Ostler, county engineer on the project. Cost of the entire project is $551,821 with UDOT picking up 80 percent of the cost and Uintah Road projects receive national recognition Uintah County and the Uintah Special Service District were recognized recog-nized by the Federal Highway Administration Region 8 for their presentation at Rapid City, South Dakota conference last this month. Through the cooperation and pooling of resources 50 miles of roadway have been paved this year. ""llSconfererice7 tRecdunty road and SSD presented their program which featured the use of native asphalt. "We also gave out Dinosaur Hunting Licenses for stocking stuffers," said Commissioner Herb Snyder. Monday the presentation was given best of the conference. The county's road building efficiency efficien-cy were also hailed in the "Utah Technology Transfer Center. "The commendable initiative of Mr. Lonnie Hogan, Uintah County Road Superintendent, and Ms. Kate Erickson, Uintah County Special Services District, marshalled these Land issues top Running for Uintah County Commissioner are three candidates on the ballot and one who would like voters to write-in his name on the ballot. In the Commissioner A race, Cloyd Harrison, Republican, faces Dale Massey who is running as an independent with no party affiliation. affilia-tion. In the Commissioner B race, Lloyd Swain, Republican, faces a write-in challenge from Lewis Vincent. During a "meet the candidates" meeting by the People for the West, candidate Swain said he felt land issues were important to Uintah County. "I am concerned about regulations and efforts by groups to control J Cloyd Harrison County paying 20 percent. Uintah County's investment in the project will be $108,600. "This is the first time UDOT has allowed a county to improve a state highway. When the original bids for the work came in, they were over the engineer's estimates and Uintah County offered to be the primary contractor on the project for less money," Ostler said. "The county will subcontract for the concrete and bridge work. The asphalt will be purchased from Burdick paving in Roosevelt. The project will include the widening of the bridge at 1500 West and 500 North and building a footbridge on the south side of the road across the Kid's Canal. Also the bridge across the Steinaker Service Canal will be widened and a footbridge will be placed on the north side of the road across the canal. resources under the proactive direction direc-tion and guidance of the Uintah County Commissioner and Uintah County Special Services Board. Mr. Hogan leveraged CIB funds to acquire the necessary equipment and provided the labor and equipment equip-ment operators to perform the work," states the newsletter published pub-lished by Utah State University. Equipment purchased with the funding including a Caterpillar 350 road reclaimer, a Caterpiller 1050 paver and a 12-ton vibrating steel wheel roller. Training was provided to the new paving crew by Utah T2 Center and Wade Betenson, pavement pave-ment and Materials Engineer for UDOT. The Caterpillar road reclaimer allowed the county to rehabilitate and strengthen the existing road base of 150 miles of roadway prior to paving. Native asphalt was mined from the county's pit and combined with access to public lands," Swain said. "I am disappointed with our present leaders for letting this happen. People are our most valued asset, and people need work. My income and yours are at risk." Vincent said the county has worked with the BLM to resolve the public access issue and the BLM wilderness question. As a result, "There is not one bit of wilderness in Uintah County." Harrison said 58 percent of Uintah County is federal or state owned. "I don't see the agency who manages these lands as being our enemies," Harrison said. "With 64 percent of the county's revenue coming for the south part of the county, we need to be involved in public land issues." Dale Massey Between 1500 West and 2500 West, 500 North will be widened to include a bicycle path and a turning lane. Curb, gutter and sidewalk will be placed on the north side of the road at no expense to property owners. own-ers. "I attribute much of getting this project approved to the determination determina-tion of the Uintah County Commission," Ostler said. Commissioner Lorin Merrell said one of the first issues he faced when he took office eight years ago was improvement to the highway. "It has been eight years and I've been through four different commissioners commission-ers to get this project approved," Merrell said. "There is a serious problem on the highway which really needs some traffic lights," said Commissioner Lewis Vincent. "This is a step in that direction." crushed gravel to improve the gradation gra-dation of the native asphalt mix. "Uintah County has not relinquished relin-quished its rights to mine Asphalt Ridge," said Erickson. Crown Energy has demanded that the county vacate its present asphalt site, to give the company exclusive rights to its tract. The county has refused to vacate, but is looking for a new source of asphalt as the present pre-sent pit is depleted. The county a stockpile of asphalt at Asphalt Ridge which should last for many years. Several proportioning and mix refinements have been made to optimize the quality of mix during its production. The mixing plant is owned and operated by Ned B. Mitchell, Inc. "Our hats are off to Uintah County on the excellent resource leveraging that has enabled them to make major improvements to their road system," conclude the newslet- commission race Massey said the public land in the county is the base of the county's economy. "We need strong commissioners com-missioners to guard against restraints," he said. "Tourism is an important industry, but is not a sustainable sus-tainable industry. "The SUWA people have boxed in a portion of the Book Cliffs and attached it to HR-1500, an old Wayne Owens bill. This could shut down oil and gas drilling." Concerning multiple use of lands Swain said all of the land in Uintah County should be multiple use. "No one has the right to lock up land for a single use." Vincent said Uintah County has recently adopted a land management manage-ment plan which takes a middle of the road approach to multiple use. Lloyd Swain I J---'.'; 5. 1 it Volunteers Bernadette Harrison, Mary Alice Page Allen and Rob Caldwell get Children's Justice Center ready for its opening. Children's Justice Center seeks volunteers, donations The Uintah and Daggett Counties Children's Justice Center is the perfect per-fect place to start to make a difference differ-ence as 20 members of the community commu-nity found out last Saturday during "Make a Difference Day." The Children's Justice Center, to be located at 84 N. 200 W. in Vernal, is a place for social service and law enforcement workers to coordinate their efforts to respond to child physical and sexual abuse cases. The Children's Justice Center is an alternative to the current system, sys-tem, which can be traumatic to children chil-dren already frightened and confused, con-fused, provides a calming, homelike setting to interview children who have been abused. Eleven students at Utah State University, Uintah Basin Branch Campus have decided to help get the Children's Justice Center up and running by the scheduled opening date of Dec. 1 this year. They, along with numerous other volunteers, are soliciting donations from businesses, business-es, family and friends. Twenty volunteers vol-unteers Saturday worked on various construction projects in the center, and did some yard work and land "I like the statement sensibility in multi-use," Vincent said. Recently Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt has interpreted some BLM regulations in a way to restrict public pub-lic access. Massey said the county has claims to any road or rights of way established before 1976. He said, "Babbitt's directives are out of line, I would be willing to do what is necessary to protect the rights of oil and gas and recreation." Harrison said to stop such a directive, direc-tive, he would contact the Utah Congressional Delegation to help. "There are all kinds of road blocks, and there are ways to get through them," Harrison said. Vincent said he would not block the sell of a farmer's property to a state or federal agency, but he Lewis Vincent i,r""''"xJS.-.' li'.V V-.. A . J scaping outside. An outdoor playground play-ground is being planning for installation instal-lation next spring. The center is in need of office supplies and any monetary donations. The students will be working on the center throughout the next two months to get it operational before opening. If you are interested in donating items or volunteering time call 781-6719 781-6719 and leave a message. Someone from the Children's Justice Center or the student support sup-port group will return your call. The Uintah & Daggett Counties Children's Justice Center (CJC) was conceived in conjunction with the Utah legislative action to create Children's Justice Centers throughout through-out the state in 1995. Elected officials, offi-cials, concerned citizens and agency people from both Daggett and Uintah counties were organized to form the interlocal CJC Advisory Board and planning for the CJC began. In 1996 a proposal for funding to purchase a building was made to County Commissioners under the Community Development Block Grant program. Funding in the agenda would hold the agency to the county's coun-ty's no-net gain policy. "If they buy a piece of property they need to make a piece of public ground available," he said. "Whenever you take a piece of private property, you take it off the tax roles. It is inappropriate for government to buy land. The county coun-ty has the right to sue them for the damages, and I don't know why they haven't done it." Swain said a typical example is the sell of Conoco property in the Book Cliffs to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. "They kept the oil rights and it is not right. The county should sue for damages." Concerning compatible use of public land, Harrison said all these things can be compatible. "There is not a great deal of incompatibility between recreation and resource development." Massey said that multiple use of lands for hiking, camping, backpacking back-packing and grazing can be done economically. Concerning Proposition 5 which would amend the Utah Constitution to require a two-thirds vote on wildlife issues, Vincent said he is for it. "I would encourage everyone to vote for it. We don't want people back East running our wildlife issues." Swain said Proposition 5 is detrimental detri-mental "and an insult to the people of Utah. A simple majority is enough to determine any issue. With Proposition 5 we won't be able to vote out any poor regulations." v-j ,r!N amount of $50,000 was authorized. The Friends of the Uintah & Daggett Counties Children's Justice Center, a non-profit corporation, was organized in April, 1997, to continue efforts to raise the balance of needed funds. In June, 1998, the transaction to purchase a building at 84 North 200 West, Vernal, was completed. Efforts since that time have focused on doing the minor remodeling necessary to open the Center. Over the last three years a dedicated dedi-cated group of people have been putting their efforts towards making the Uintah & Daggett Counties Children's Justice Center (CJC) a reality. Among the accomplishments accomplish-ments has been the creation of the CJC Advisory Board to steer these efforts and the Friends of the CJC to raise the funds to make the efforts a possibility. Uintah and Daggett counties earmarked a $50,000 Community Development Block Grant and the Friends of the CJC raised another $48,000 for the purchase of a facility. The property was purchased in July, 1998. In addition to raising money, the community's consciousness has also been raised. Government leaders lead-ers publicly indicate their continued support for the CJC. Various groups and organizations have donated time and supplies. Local media highlights the endeavors to raise funds. Several events including concerts, festivals, and school activities activ-ities have focused on the CJC as the recipient of their fundraising drives. The grant from Uintah and Daggett counties started the process of finding funding to purchase a building for the CJC. Another substantial sub-stantial donation in the amount of $40,000 was received from The Christmas Box House Charitable Foundation. County in running for $40 million Uintah County is inline to receive $40 million over 10 years as one of 16 areas in the running for Federal Empowerment Zone designation. The designation has brought drastic dras-tic changes in other areas of the county and Max Adams, Ute Tribe economic advisor, believes it will benefit the tribe. The zone includes the west side and southern half of Uintah County. About 8,000 people live in the zone. The zone assists in applying for grants and loans from other agencies because the money can be use to leverage other funding. fund-ing. The funding will be governed by a full-time manager and board. "The zone enhances everything, employment, education, economics and the rules for use of the money are not bad," Adams said. The five recipients of the designation will be announced Jan. 1, 1999. 1 RCOPY |