OCR Text |
Show o 73 VERNAL Chepk Inside Smwyiaf ofywur , jmgt 3 1 Helicoptai trophy p 2 Doauts for a&ot. pag 12 Center help youth .....pag 14 Utee scat Miners -PX IS Permit numbers Mt F 19 Express online: www.vernal.com U Single Copy 50 WEDNESDAY, April 17, 2002 Vernal, Utah 84078 1 10th Year No. 16 20 Pages Djcsel Program clarified By Chantile Ipson Express Feature Writer At the April 9 Uintah School District meeting the Kurd discussed dis-cussed plans for next year, the fate of the high school Diesel Program, and honored students and members of the community for their achievement. achieve-ment. A petition was brought to the board by students that was signed by over 1,100 people and businesses business-es throughout the Uintah Basin who would like to see the Uintah High School Diesel program kept in place. Over 100 of those that signed the petition work irr businesses that deal with diesel. Superintendent Gumey stated that there are many misconceptions about what is happening with the Diesel program. He explained that the intent all along has been to keep the Diesel program, but to make it into a half-time program. The remainder of the day would be for teaching the Principles of Technology program. Gurney said that the POT program is not a "glorified "glo-rified seventh-grade level program," pro-gram," but rather a pre-engineering program. Gurney believes it w ill be an "excellent marriage of the two programs Diesel and POT." President Dick Jones.UBATC. said the decision to cut the Diesel program pro-gram to a half time program was a difficult one, but he is confident that solution can be reached that will be in the best interest of the students. Dr. James Allen suggested that the $76,000 needed to support the program next year could be . gathered from local kuuaease&ihat wmf to help keep the program running'. run-ning'. Jolene Cottrell, the DHCA advisor, advi-sor, recognized the state winners from among her students. Each student stu-dent received a certificate of achievement. The state competition was held in Ogden in March. Thirteen students qualified for the national competition, and petitioned the board for J 1,300 in funds ($100 per student) to help pay for expenses. expens-es. The students will compete at the national competition April 20-22. Uintah School District's business department received the 2001 Excellence in Statistical Report Award, and the 2001 Excellence in Financial Reporting award. Superintendent Wayne Gurney expressed his appreciation of J. Randall Upton and his staff for the work that they do. The award was presented at the Utah Slate Association of School Business Officials conference in St. George on March 23. Representatives from Ashley Valley Medical Center received an award, presented by JoJo Gale, Work Based Learning coordinator, for their support of the medical internship program based at Uintah High School. Christine Oviatt was honored for her volunteer service as the Olympic liaison for the Uintah School District Her duties included managing transportation, tickets and scheduling events for Uintah School District students. The Trust Land Applications submission sub-mission made by eight Uintah District schools was approved, as was the Language Arts Textbook Adoption for the junior high through high school. Power pole is blackened on one end after a construction worker pufied down the pole at the Baptist Church on west Highway 40 Saturday causing a fire and a power outage for about an hour. A transformer on the pote contributed to the fire. 1 $S? l.f Hi ( I x O j v - M -t.V- m Students are taken out of the Vernal hospital as part of a mock disaster. MqcCi dlosastteir florae times einraeirgjeuiicy persoramieD At 10:45 a.m. Saturday a chemical chemi-cal explosion at Vernal Junior High was the stage for a mock disaster. Those injured in the mock disaster disas-ter were 1 7 students and a teacher. Responding to the mock disaster were EMTs, Uintah County-Vernal City Fire Department, Hazmat crews, Utah Highway Patrol, Vernal City Police and Uintah County Sheriff deputies. Because hazardous materials were involved in the mock disaster, EMTs waited outside the the junior high while fire and Hazmat crews brought out the injured. The injured were transported to Ashley Valley Medical Center, where emergency room personnel attended attend-ed to the artificial wounds. The planning of the mock disaster disas-ter began month before Saturday's event and was headed by the LLPC committee. As an evalualor at the scene, Nikki Fredette, LMT intermediate with Gold Cross Ambulance Senice. said she saw only a few minor things that went wrong during dur-ing the disaster. There were some things that I wish would have been done differently, differ-ently, but overall it went well," she j Junior High School and lay on grass waiting to be transported to the said. Uintah Basin Applied Technology students were used for those injured in the incident and teachers assisted in makeup and staging the disaster. In the event of a real disaster Candidates rely Two candidates have filed for the office of Clerk-Auditor, Michael W. Wilkins and Leu C. Snow, both Republicans. The present Uintah County Clerk-Auditor Pat McNeill chose not to run after serving two terms. The race will be decided in the primary election unless one of the candidates receives over 70 percent per-cent of the delegate vote at the Republican County Convention, April 24, at 7 p m. at the Vernal Junior High School. Lete CSoow: I am running for ClerkAuditor because I have a positive attitude and the leadership ability to being excellence to this position. I have a great deal of experience in this area both as the CEOvice president of Snow Construction Inc. for 20 years and with Wal-Mart for 10 years. In my current supervisory position with Wal-Mart. I am responsible for over 100 employees who report directly to me. Il is necessary to have teamwork and respect for others. oth-ers. I have the qualifications necessary neces-sary to carry out the responsibilities of clerkauditor including all aspects of accounting, payroll. Mate and federal reports, supervisory abiliues and knowing how to get the job done. If I am elected I will bring honesty hon-esty and integrity to this position and the standard of excellence that Uintah County deserves. I will keep the county commissioners informed of a0 financial skoaoons so they will be able so make correct decisions deci-sions as they arise. My office will have aa opes door policy. We wifl keep the public informed as to Ac o injuring 18 people, AV MC would likely move some of the injured lo surrounding hospitals At about 12:15 p m. the last patients were transported to the hospital. expenditures that are being made. I have the ability to listen and act upon public concerns. I will work for you the people of Uintah County. I very much believe in good old fashioned values and know that the right people in leadership leader-ship portions are crucial to the quality of life here in the Uintah Basin. If I am elected. I know that we can make a difference if we all work together. Michael W. Wilkins: I am running working for Uintah County Clerk-Auditor because I feel it is very important lo have a trained, educated, and experienced individual in this elected office. The Clerk-Auditor is more than a position It is a full-time job. When I started for Uintah County 15 years ago. the Clerk and Auditors' offices were separate offices The County Clerk at that time was Dorothy Luck, and the Auditor was Amy Pope. The Clerk and Auditors' offices were combined com-bined upon the retirement of Dorothy and Amy 12 years ago. at whkh time Pat McNeill became the Uintah County Clerk-Auditor. After the offices were combined, it created a dual office. A few of the Clerk's responsibilities are elections, elec-tions, commission minutes, ordinances ordi-nances and resolutions, selling marriage mar-riage licenses, business licenses, passports, licensing ail county vehicles vehi-cles and a lot more. The auditor b the budget officer of the county It is the job of the auditor to compile and present a budget to the County Commission, fa is also me job of the 3 C - NV I - r I, County suirveyoir coyidl (become iraaBO-iinnie posntiiomi By Steven R. Wallit Express Editor For the first tinve in 4() years. nre than tnc pervm has filed to be the county surveyitr. The interest in the position is sparked by a move to change the cininly surveyor from pari time to full-time. With the passage of the 2002 bud-gel bud-gel the Uintah County Commissioners proposed to combine com-bine the CIS dcpartntcnl with a full-time full-time surveyor. Alter 40 years as a part lime Uintah County Surveyor, an elected position. Nelson Marshall is retiring. retir-ing. With his retirement, it was proposed pro-posed by the Commissioners to appoint a county surveyor who would be full-time. The expenses for the surveyor comes from the (icncral Miscellaneous line item in the county coun-ty budget. In 2000 the county spend J7M) on survey woik authiwved by Marshall and performed by Uintah Engineer and I .and surveying. In YW, the county was billed J2y,HW.y5 for seven projects done by the county surveyor. In the survey did three projects lor JI4.M.6.50. To hire a full time surveyor also with support staff and expenses, the county has put S60.000 into the (ilS department's budget increasing it to $2f8,700. The Commissioners, by state statute, cannot eliminate a county department, but they can choose to combine I wo departments as tltey did in the 1980 when the County Clerk's and the County Auditor's department were combined. The Utah Code states the "The County Surveyor or his designee shall establish all corners of government govern-ment surveys and re establish all corners etc." Marshall, as a part- Gusher fire causes some concern High winds fanned a brush fire southwest of Gusher Monday night to the point of requiring some areas to be evacuated as a precaution. The Ute Tribe Grocery Store and a subdivision nearby were reportedly reported-ly evacuated because the fire was on experience . r vi fTT- J? I "v m Michael W Wilkins auditor to keep a light hold on the county lax dollars lo see thai the commissioners and department heads adhere lo the approved bud gets. The auditor is responsible for the biweekly payroll and benefits of 3J0 employees, accounts payable in excess of $20 million a year The Auditor is responsible for all assistance assis-tance programs provided by state statue to help the elderly, disabled and those under extreme hardship in our community with their priority (axes. It is the responsibility of the Auditor to work with every taxing entity m the county by assisting them in setting their tax rates. The Auditor is called upon frequently by taxing entities throughout the county coun-ty to assist them in doing their budgets. bud-gets. Now these are only a few of the duties of the Qerk-Auditor"s office. In no way can one individual time surveyor of Uintah County has interpreted "or his designee" as being any duly registeied professional profes-sional land surveyor in the Slate of Ulah If the Utah Code is interpreted to mean thai only the County Surveyor cihjIJ establish tr re-establish owners ow-ners of the government survey, then il would require a full tunc County Surveyor and stall to do the woik. Under the present system, lavpay ers only pay for wk that is needed. need-ed. Under a full time surveyor taxpayers tax-payers pay lor work al a set loci every year Uintah County is alieady spend ing over $ 1 50,01 X) on sun eying ser vices, said Uintah County Recorder Randy Simmons "It's time the county hired a full tinve surveyor to handle it all " Simmons said the' full time sur vcyor would do surveys on county projects such as roads. Usually the engineering company that is aw aided aid-ed a contract for a county pioject will do the surveys and charge the county Also, Simmons said the county cemeteries need to be surveyed, so that the people are buried in the right place "There is little suney data lor the west side of the county," Simmons said. "I just have to tell those people the information is not available." "I believe Nelson has done an excellent job as the county surveyor," survey-or," Simmons said. "I have never found an error in his woik, but it is lime we had s full-time suncyor " Currently Simmons is over the (ilS Department . iind would be department head if the GIS and full-time full-time surveyor were in one otlice. If a lull lime suiveyor is hired. I don't see why he couldn't still woik on non county projects alter hours," Simmons said. headed in their direction 1hc lire was first reported al about 8 p in. and some witnesses said Ihey saw flames V) to 50 feel high. There weie no structures damaged by the fire. Cause of the fire has tA been determined Leta C. Snow do all of this by themselves. It is with the help of the employees in the Clerk-Auditors office who do such a great job in performing their respective duties The Audit ir is the "Accountant" for the County As I see it, the responsibility of the voters is lo elect or maybe more pmperly put "hire" the most qualified candidate. I feel that because I have a college degree in accounting and business management, 15 years experience in the Clerk-Auditors office, three years working as a staff accountant for a local CPA firm, that I am the most qualified candidate at this time. As your Clerk-Auditor. I pledge to you that I will work full-time full-time lo protect your lax dollars. The county is currently financially strong, and I plan on keeping it that way. 1 R COPY |