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Show Wednesday, October 31, 2007 AX.. Meet the candidates for the November 6 election 3i Vernal Express Voters across Uintah County wfflseedifferentbaUotsbasedon the city or water district in which they live. One common question -Referendum 1 regarding school vouchers-will be presented to all voters, regardless of precinct. Thirty candidates' names will appear on various ballots. In Vernal, Naples, Ballard, Maeser Water Improvement District, Ashley Valley Water and Sewer Improvement District and Ballard Bal-lard Water Improvement District, Dis-trict, all names are incumbents running unopposed. The two remaining races for board members on the Jensen Jen-sen and Tridell-Lapoint water improvement districts include both incumbents and challengers. challeng-ers. Three members on both boards are up for re-election. In Tridell-Lapoint, there are eight candidates' names are on the ballot and in Jensen, voters will select from six candidates. Each candidate received an invitation to include a candidate profile and photo to appear with his or her name. Ballard Water Improvement District Board Robert Abercrombie Earl Murphy Ballard City Council Ace Davis Mark Reidhead Ashley Valley Water and Sewer Improvement District Jay Haslem Norman Haslem Darrell Lance Naples City Council Dale Bowden. Dale Bowden has been a council member for four years and is Naples' representative to the Uintah Recreation Special Service District Board. He is a Restaurant's closure violated court order toff Ira, UilMh BlSiff Ntws SrVMnoi mjshw'jto An 8th District Court judge has ruled that the owner of a popular Vernal steakhouse violated a court order earlier this month when he shuttered another restaurant he owns in Fort Duchesne. Judge A. Lynn Payne ruled Wednesday that Dee Swain, owner of Stockman's, was in contempt of a prehminary injunction in-junction that requires the Fort Duchesne restaurant to "maintain "main-tain the status quo of operation" while Swain's civil suit against his son and daughter-in-law is pending. Swain filed his lawsuit against Jeremy and Athenya Swain in July, claiming the couple's actions had resulted in undetermined unde-termined financial losses for a business he had solely financed. He also asked for an injunction to "keep the parties apart and minimize conflict" while the case was ongoing. In response to his father's lawsuit, Jeremy Swain - who claims to have an ownership interest in the restaurant - and his wife filed a counterclaim against Dee Swain, arguing that his interference had harmed the Fort Duchesne Stockman's. Payne agreed to grant the injunction in August, designating designat-ing Dee Swain as head manager of the disputed restaurant and 9 i f .; w&tL UQU small business owner. Bowden said subdivisions, growth, roads and the need for a commercial area in Naples are among the city's most pressing issues. ,If reelected, he has goals of finishing the ciy park, developing develop-ing roads and improving relations rela-tions with Vernal and Uintah County. "Ithinkby studying the issues and working with the people, we can accomplish what needs to be done," said Bowden. DanOlsen Ken Reynolds Jensen Water Improvement District Ruel Crowton Cleveland Karren Boyd Snow Boyd Snow is currently serving serv-ing on the Jensen Water Improvement Improve-ment District Board of Directors as chair. "I am very aware of what is happening in the district and the challenges which we are faced with," said Snow. "I have worked closely with professionals in getting projects implemented and completed. I have worked with the CIB to get financing for those projects." He said growth impact in the Jensen area is one of the district's biggest issues. "It means we must be able to acquire the needed water to keep up with the demand and still give good service to those patrons who are already members," he said. "New lines will have to be built and old lines updated. At the same time we must keep the district financially sound." If elected, he said he wants to represent the members in a way that is fair to all. "I would like to see those projects, proj-ects, which we have funded, completed, com-pleted, and help get more funding for additional needed projects," he said. "I feel it is important to work hard to get grant money as much as possible, so as to have the ordering Jeremy and Athe'ynal' Swainnot to tell 'employees or ' the public that they are owners of the Fort Duchesne Stockman's. Payne also ordered the parties to seek out a mediator to resolve the case. But court records show that, on Oct. 17 a cook at the restaurant restau-rant reported to work to find a padlock on the door. When the lock was cut off the door, it was discovered that all of the food, plates, cookware, and menus had been removed from the restaurant. restau-rant. Jeremy and Atheyna Swain later learned that Dee Swain had contacted the restaurant's vendors and informed them that the couple could not place orders for more food. DeeSwainhadalso had the utilities to the restaurant turned off. In a letter to Payne dated Oct. 19, Dee Swain advised the judge that he had decided to drop the compliant against his son and simply close the restaurant. He said the Stockman's in Fort Duchesne had beenlosingmoney for the past five months. "What was started as a good plan has unfortunately turned into a legal 'can of worms' and a nightmare to all of us concerned, " Swain wrote. It is unclear whether Payne will allow Swain to withdraw his lawsuit; however, as a result of Wednesday's contempt ruling, rul-ing, management of the Fort Flu Shots' Available in Roosevelt! Tues. Nov. 6 Davis Jubilee 750 E. 200 W. Roosevelt 10:00 a.m. - 2 p.m. $25.oo Medicare Accepted least amount of financial impact on the district." Snow plans to continue to have a voice on the board that says, "If it isn't good for the majority, it isn't good." "Iplantoworkwiththeboard, employees and professionals in deciding what projects need to be done that will be for the best good of the water district as a whole," he said. "Itis veryimportantthat we go through the proper channels chan-nels for that funding and that we get those monies through grants as much as possible. We need to keep the district financially sound by being careful how we spend our taxpayers' money." Randan Vincent Randan Vincent is a lifetime resident of the Jensen area. He said his experience living in the area has given him the background back-ground and knowledge of the issues facing the community. "From working at Uintah Soil Conservation ServiceNRCS office, I am familiar with engineering, engi-neering, implementation and management of water projects," said Vincent. He said his many other leadership positions further fur-ther qualify him for board membership." mem-bership." He said providing service to all district customers while maintaining reliable service is the greatest issue facing the water improvement district. If elected, his goals include upgrading the system to meet current demands and future growth, while maintaining the present rural community. "I plan to accomplish these things by seeking out those programs pro-grams available to help districts like Jenen to meet their current demands and prepare for the future by working with the board and the community to identify the areas of most concern and develop de-velop a work plan to complete the plan as quickly and as efficiently as possible," said Vincent. ToddWallis Harlan Wilkins .-f 1 uirantw: over to Jeremy Swain and his wife,, pending resolution of the lawsuit. Athenya Swain said Friday that she and her husband plan to have the restaurant re-opened sometime this week. Dee Swain did not respond to a message left Friday afternoon at the Stockman's in Vernal. Subscribe today! Call 789-3511 f a M Coffee. , mm ERBreoa m Vernal City Council JoAnn Cowan Sonja Norton Cal Dee Reynolds Tridell-Lapoint Water Improvement District Troy Hartle Troy Hartle is a resident of Lapoint and has been on the water board for four years. "I am aware of the current water situations and the challenges chal-lenges the area is faced with," he said. "I have also worked closely with county and government officials as well as community members." Hartle said one of the main issues facing the water district is the shortage of water and its affect on water connections and population growth. "Another issue is that our treatment plant is at maximum capacity and production," he said. "We also have water lines that are more prone to breakage." break-age." "My goals, if elected, are to work toward and continue in the progress for an upgraded water treatment plant," he said. "I Fire department personnel held to higher standards Br UtaflMi iteonaw Express Writer The 50-plus volunteers of the various county fire departments under the Uintah Fire Suppression Suppres-sion Special Service District will be fingerprinted, background checked and drug tested as approved ap-proved by the Uintah Fire Suppression Sup-pression Special Service District Board last week. In a September fire district board meeting, member JoAnn Cowan asked the board if there were any regulations for background back-ground checks of the fire department depart-ment personnel. The issue was back on the table at the Oct. 24 meeting. "After going through our policy there was nothing really re-ally in there that talked about background checks and what would happen," said Uintah Vim Siinnmuinn Knwinl fipr ' vice DistricrExeciitive TJireiaoTf1 would be fabulous if we had J JeremyTlaymond. He; tod h emyltaymond. looked at other departments and developed a basic criminal records check which he proposed to the board. "Everyone, all new employees, will be subject to a background check." Uintah County Commissioner Mike McKee suggested the board change the wordingto read: "Everyone "Ev-eryone will have a background check." "To me that makes a lot of difference," he said. "Because if CZZ vol OPTIMUM MORTGAGE, L.L.C. V Phone: 435.789.7705 Conventional 7 Fax: 435.789.7706 ' FHA vl Vf Purchases (Up to 100) f ' 80 North Vernal Avenue State Income Loans ' J ' Vernal, Utah 84078 . Manufactured Housing R'ylds breynoldsoptimuniusa.com . Less fhan Perfecf Credit m& An '---fx- "i t- jUr h id if- Mig xn Hon:Co,.:riMiTom Piccirilli of the Minerals would also like to continue working work-ing on water contracts which would allow us to have water for our community in times of shortages. short-ages. I would also like to keep water costs as low as possible." Hartle said to accomplish his goals he would be involved and active in the decision making process for the district. "I would continue looking for sources of water that would be of use for the district," he said. "I would continue to keep water costs down by being conscious about what is spent, therefore delivering water at the lowest cost possible." Clinton Harrison Johnathan McKee RexMcKee Shirley Peterson Bryan Smith Whitey Turner Whitey Turner is a resident of Tridell, where he has lived for the last 12 years. He has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering engineer-ing that he said should help him understand the technical aspects of the Tridell-Lapoint system "Our system is aging and fragile," he said. "In dry years our access to reliable supplies of water is not guaranteed. Our community is growing and we you say 'subject' you aren't saying say-ing they will have a background check." The policy, Resolution 2007-17, 2007-17, was changed to state that all potential hires of the fire departments depart-ments will have a background check run on them before they are hired. "It goes on to say that fingerprints finger-prints will be taken and sent in to the Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification," Raymond said. "Cases where criminal convictions convic-tions are discovered, the human resource department will consult with the fire chief." "We can't send people into people's houses to put out fires and stuff like that and then find out that one of them was a burglar," Cowan said at the meeting. "Nothing would be worse than for someone to wreck one of those fire trucks who had a disastrous driving record. could run it every six months." Because the fire department personnel drive such expensive equipment, the board wanted to make sure all of the volunteers had clean driving records. "You don't want to have a guy driving a fire truck who has a DUI,"saidNaplesCityFireChief Brett Reynolds. "Forthepublic's peace of mind we have to have a standard." The Uintah Fire Suppression t 'All .rvice wm answer yvur uueyuun declining oil and gas royalties: Tuesday, Noxemberjfrf 8:30 A.M. v V Service at 800-982-3226. Please plan to after ') need to ensure that any growth., is sustainable." 'VJ Turner said he wants voters") to know what is going on in the"' water district. "I want to be as sure as pos- ' ' sible that our community has" access now and in the future to a reliable supply of potable water'" at a reasonable cost," he said. "I would generate a quarterly ' ! newsletter to keep the commu-', nity informed as to the activities' ' of the water district so they can ' be aware of th efforts and prog-n ress made in the management of,,, the most priceless commodity in " the West: water," said Turner, "r. J would like to make sure that we have a solid access to as much1,"4 water as possible, at the source ' ,' and in storage. I would also like to track our system failures, frequency, cause, time to repair and to find ways to improve the overall quality of service to the 5 community." Glade Wooley Maeser Water Improvement Improve-ment District Board Richard Jolley Ivan Hall Max McLean E $3 Special Service District has also begun an extensive drug test," 1 fingerprinting and background J check on the current fire district employees. "5 "There are just a few more li background checks that we need H to get going," Raymond said. " Raymond also mentioned .: they are currently trying to get " all the volunteers fingerprinted and drug-tested. $ i "We are working on it, but it is hard to get all 50 volunteers to go in," he said. The drug tests and fingerprinting has tqjj be notarized which makes it in convenient for some of the more- ; remote stations where notaries 2 are not easily accessible. "I'll keep working on it but we have the majority drug tested and fingerprinted," he said. "It 5 is just the matter of getting the two or three in each department i : v. .j it Ann " S While Raymond mentio UJ Cb u& Will V x nt&a plained about the test, most view the test as a routine procedure necessaryforthefiredepartment personnel. , "I was tickled to death when we made all my firemen do the 5 drug test," Reynolds said. "We have privileges the average 2 citizens don't. Citizens have a reasonable expectation that 5 they will have honorable people V walking through their stuff." i eral Interest- araeolrcin -j r Company uj inc iruci wr - 1 II llllllll IIIIIIM Call 789-0499 or 789-3981 , Thank you. GoobsHEraoib HOMECARE AND HOSPICE |