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Show rr I! !,'! Wednesday, September 13, 2006 Single Copy50t Vernal, Utah 84078 114thYearNo.35 STORYTELLERS Coming this week See B1 t'CR UT PRESORT "4 'WEBttM WEATHER BY VOLUNTEER RETIRES 52 years service, fcfc ASPEN BROOK REALTY, INC. See All 913 " 914 8453 7751 Plenty of sun. High Sight chance of a in tng mid 80a and thunderetom. rw v . ii Fanir mew tosri Over 20 people were appointed Monday to serve on five Special Service District boards which are being established by the Uintah County Commission. The boards will be funded by mineral lease money paid to the county from development of natural resources on state and federal lands in Uintah County. Last year Uintah County received over $27 million in mineral lease money. "Some lawmakers are looking for ways to fund their projects with mineral lease money," said Commissioner Mike McKee, during Tuesday's Chamber of Commerce Meeting. "They say Uintah County is "squandering the money and are like "pigs at the trough." To provide mineral lease money for other services than Monday morning accident on west Highway 40 sheared the drivers' side of vehicle when it collided with the side of a tractor trailer. Quarry closed but still plenty to do "The Quarry is closed, but Dinosaur National Monument is still open and there are many things to do at the monument" is the message Uintah County Commissioners wants the public pub-lic to understand. In a presentation to the Commission Tuesday, Mary Risser, monument superintendent superinten-dent said that a preferred alternative alter-native has been developed and the proposed repair of the facility facil-ity will go through an environmental environ-mental assessment to be completed com-pleted by next spring. An environmental envi-ronmental assessment is neces- New exhibit at Utah Field House The Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum announces a new temporary tem-porary exhibit of Pleistocene mammals. This dynamic exhibit exhib-it features two sabre-tooth cats and prehistoric bison with a seven-foot spread of horns. The exhibit is on loan from Dinolabs in Salt Lake City and will remain at the Field House until the end of October. Utah Field House is open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults, $3 for Utah seniors 62 and blder, and children six to 12, children under six are free. For more information please call (435) 789-3799. recreation and transportation, and to save the county's $1.4 million Payment In Lieu of Taxes money, three districts are being formed and a fourth district has been modified. The three new districts are Fire, Economic Development and Animal Control. The Health District has been modified and addition members added to its board. Appointed to the Health SSD Board were Mike McKee, Cal Dee Reynolds, Dennis Long, Tom Norstrum, Dr. Richard Jolley, Bill Rasmussen and Gary Showlter. The Health Board was expanded to provide pro-vide for representatives from Uintah County, Vernal City, Naples City, Ballard, the Health Department, Golden Age Center and the Uintah Care Center. Appointed to the Fire SSD are STf - - sary because the facility is on the National Historic Register. The Quarry Visitor Center was closed July 12 because of safety concerns for the visitors and employees. Constructed on expanding expand-ing and contacting shale, the Quarry experiences continuing continu-ing problems with foundation movement. The installation of supplemental underpinnings and anchors successfully stabilized stabi-lized a portion of the building, but were ineffective with reducing reduc-ing shifts in the east and south exhibit hall walls and the round rotunda wing. Risser said because of the closure clo-sure there has been a "significant "signifi-cant decrease" in the number of tourists coming to the monument. monu-ment. "The Monument staff has excelled at providing other activities for kids who come to the monument." she stated. "Many visitors plan their entire vacation to come to the area and it is a tremendous impact to them and this area when the Quarry is closed," said Commissioner Mike McKee. The Park Service planners will come out to the monument in November to determine what can be done next year to maintain main-tain visitor interest in coming to the area, Risser said. She said that more of the fossil replicas rep-licas will be taken down to the lower staging area so that visitors visi-tors will not miss the dinosaur fossil experience at the monument. monu-ment. Also, many other activities activi-ties are being planned. S Dln)fe(ol Mike McKee, JoAnn Cowan, Rob DeCol, Robert Abercombie and Delmer Lane. To the Economic Development SSD Board appointments were Mike McKee, Sonya Norton, Dennis Long, Tammy Meacham, and Duston Mortenson. Animal Control Board appointments were Dave Haslem, Dennis Glines, Dan Olsen, Emily Novenger, and Vern Combs. Combs resigned in October 2005 as the Vernal City Animal Control officer. Then Combs gave three reasons for his resignation: res-ignation: ordinance changes, poor shelter management, and the way the Trap, Neuter, Release program was being administered. Local animal lovers are concerned about the appointment. Commissioner Dave Haslem said he has already received "Many visitors have expressed appreciation for the additional activities," said Risser. Also since the Quarry was closed, the fees to enter the monument have been eliminated. eliminat-ed. "We are losing visitors and fees while the Quarry is closed," Risser said. The Park Service is anxious to reopen the Quarry because they ranked it the third most important project in the country. coun-try. Whether the Quarry will be rebuilt to its original form is questionable, but the fossils will be preserved and the solution solu-tion will provide a way for visitors visi-tors to view the fossils. Before the closure of the Quarry, over 300,000 visitors a year came to the monument. Activities still being provided at the Monument are: See real and replica dinosaur dino-saur fossils in the temporary visitors' center. Take a short walk to see fragments of dinosaur fossils embedded in the rock. Drive the Tour of the Tilted Rocks auto tour and see Freemont Culture rock art and visit the restored cabin of homesteader Josie Morris. Drive the Harpers' Corner Road auto tour and see scenic, rugged canyons of the Yampa River. Hike along one of the scenic sce-nic trails in the park. See Monument flier on A4 some phone calls about the appointment. "I believe he has more experience experi-ence with animal control than many people in the county and will be a good board member," Haslem said. "In previous meetings it was stated that the boards were formed to allow more people to be involved," said Sandy Hansen. "It appears to me that it is the same people over and over again." Commissioner Haslem said there were quite a few people who showed interest in serving on the boards, particularly the Animal Control Board. With the resignation of Brent Brown from the Transportation Specials Service District, Dave Haslem was appointed. "In our county transpor Sewer problems to be fixed as soon as possible Vernal will receive a $1.4 million mil-lion grant from the Community Impact Board (CIB) to repair sewer lines in older areas of town. The first phase will include three sections: 600 South between Vernal Avenue and 100 East, 475 South between 500 West and 600 West, and the area behind Wells Fargo between Vernal Avenue and 100 East. Construction will begin in the next few weeks and should be completed by November. A few years ago the city contracted con-tracted Engineering Services to assess the sewer system to determine which pipes could just be re-lined and those that Utah State University Committee meet to discuss plans for higher education. Higher education summit held Uintah County, Vernal City and USU leaders convened a higher education summit earlier ear-lier this summer. The purpose of the summit was to discuss the future of higher education in the area. Uintah County Commissioner Mike McKee notes that the real emphasis of the summit was generated by the Bob Williams Family property prop-erty donation and the funding of the new UBATCUSU building. build-ing. "These two events," says McKee, "are key to our educational educa-tional success and to the future strength of our local economy." Uintah County, a long time supporter of higher education, contributes $400,000 annually to USU and UBATC for scholarship schol-arship support. Executive Director for University Advancement Dr. Robert Behunin explains that, "there is not another county in the state that has demonstrated this type of commitment to higher education." Uintah County residents may inquire at both USU and UBATC for the details on the scholarship program.) ffir disfric& tation is a big issue," said Commissioner McKee. "It costs over $1 million a mile to pave a road to national standards." By 2008 it is estimated that the cost to pave a road will increase to $1.8 million a mile. With over 1400 miles of Class B roads in Uintah County and a budget of $3 million a year to repair the roads, the funds don't go far, McKee said. "A road has a 20-year life and if you do the math the budget bud-get doesn't go far," he said. "A county shouldn't have to bear the burden of a national energy crisis." That is why the majority of the mineral lease money coming com-ing to Uintah County, tentatively tenta-tively 55 percent, will still go the Transportation District. Other tentative breakdowns of needed to be replaced. The re-lining re-lining project was completed two years ago, and the city estimated esti-mated it would cost $1.4 million to fix the rest. Now, with the CIB funding, the city can move ahead with repairs. The project was split into two phases so that immediate problems prob-lems could be fixed as soon as possible. Some residents living liv-ing on 600 South, for example, have been dealing with sewer backup for the last few years. Almost once a month, the city cleans out the lines in this area to prevent backup, but residents have had a couple incidents of flooding in their homes. "We can do better than that," With the funding of the new UBATCUSU building and the Williams property donation, dona-tion, USU officials felt it was necessary to put together a higher education master plan for the Uintah Basin. Campus Executive Director Dr. Guy Denton says that "the Logan campus hired a consultant to help us create a vision statement state-ment and a master plan for the University. Planning was conducted in both Vernal and Roosevelt. Local leaders and citizens had the chance to give input and participate in the process." That planning process yielded yield-ed the USU-Vernal master plan with a long-term vision to help guide the community in its efforts. And it is that plan that local officials used to conduct their higher education summit sum-mit City Manager Ken Bassett explains that "as a city we have been anxiously awaiting this type of opportunity to begin a comprehensive strategic plan for higher education and economic eco-nomic development in our community." City and County the money are 20 percent to the Recreation District, 7 percent for the Fire District, 6 percent for Economic Development, 4 percent for the Health District, 2 percent for Animal Control and 6 percent for scholarships. scholar-ships. Initial projects for the districts to be funded with the mineral lease money include a Recreation Center, fire truck, TriCounty Health Department building and new Golden Age Center building. The appointees to the boards along with the documents and agreements forming them will be submitted to the Utah Lieutenant Governor for approval. "He has 10 days to give his approval," said Ed Peterson, Uintah County Deputy attorney. said city council member JoAnn Cowan at a meeting last Wednesday. tThe council emphasized the need to get this project underway under-way as soon as possible and accepted the bid for the first phase from A&D Hacking for . about $400,000. The second phase will use the remaining $1 million and will be more involved, dealing with pipes that lie under established buildings like the Rodeway Inn, located at 590 West Main. The second phase of the sewer repair project will address the more complicated issues of how to repair such lines or reroute them. The city has not yet bid for this second phase. 33 officials are confident that it is worth the time and effort to invest in higher education as one of many critical economic components. Participants in the summit concluded that Vernal is truly a "Land of Opportunity" for higher education. The group sketched detailed plans that would help make higher education edu-cation "Attractive, Strong and Stable." Vernal Mayor Allan Mashburn noted at the summit that "we are proud to be part of the USU and UBATC famines and we want what is best in terms of higher education for our people." Vernal businessmen Bob Williams and Jim Drollinger are excited as well about the opportunities that will come from the property donation, the master planning and the higher education summit Wiliams noted that "it will be a tremendous tremen-dous opportunity for all of us to have a campus in our community, commu-nity, and we want people to get excited about it and to support it however they can." 4 L |