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Show A2 Wednesday, October 8, 2008 Vernal Express Council meets Continued from Al some council members bristle initially. One problem facing the department, he said, is the high cost of living in Vernal, and Jensen's plan includes both a $1,000 sign-on bonus and one-time housing allowance of $3,600. "As you' re well aware, living in Vernal seems to be the biggest issue. Rental costs are astronomical." astronomi-cal." Living expenses aside, Jensen says he's having a hard time finding find-ing qualified candidates. "Quite frankly there's not enough qualified applicants in our local area, and in the past we've reached out and advertised on the Wasatch Front. We've actually got pretty good numbers of applicants from over there in the past two or three years." But those numbers are dropping, drop-ping, he said, and the candidates he now gets either do not meet the minimum qualifications or have background problems. "In hiring new police officers we certainly cer-tainly don't want to start letting our guard down in who we hire and how we maintain our police force." Under Jensen's proposal, a new hire from outside the area who planned to buy a home in the Vernal area would receive a lump-sum payment of $3,600 to help offset costs. A new hire from outside the area who planned to rent an apartment or home in the Vernal area would receive $300 a month for 12 months. In addition, both new hires would receive a one-time, lumpsum lump-sum payment of $1,000. "What this does is, hopefully, offset them getting into town, getting on their feet, and getting established in the community so that we can see them through their first year," Jensen said. Council members were concerned con-cerned that the bonus and housing allowance could affect the morale of existing officers and city workers but approved Jensen's request for the $20,000 line item. They also approved an additional request for $10,000 to be used in developing a recruitment recruit-ment DVD and brochure. In other business, the city council approved: (USPS 0892-1091) Periodical postage paid at Vernal, Utah Published weekly at 54 N. Vernal Ave., Vernal, UT 84078 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Vernal Express at 54 N. Vernal Ave., Vernal, UT 84078 OFFICE HOURS: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday Phone: 435-789-3511, Fax: 435-789-8690 DEADLINES: News, legal notices, classified ads and display ads must be received by 5 p.m. the Friday prior to publication PUBLISHER: Kevin Ashby - kashbyvernal.com EDITOR: Patrick Timothy Mullikin - editorvernaI.com ADVERTISING MANAGER: Byran Marshall - bmarshallvernai.com ADVERTISING: Jacque Hobbs -jhobbsvernal.com Alycia Johnson - ajohnsonvernal.com CLASSIFIED: Tonya Muse - classifiedsvernal.com OFFICE: Harriet Harding WRITERS: Mary Bernard - mbernardvernal.com Ryan Allen - sportsvemaI.com Tabatha Deans - tdeansvernal.com PRODUCTION: Heather Crosby Michele Roper On the Web: http:www.vernal.com Email: editorvernal.com Subscription Rates: Clin nnri Rpnri tn In the Uintah Basin Vernal Express si i. vernal Ave Vernal, Utah 84078 I I JName I i lYr.$26-2Yr.$48 Out of the Uintah Basin lYr.$42-2Yrs.$70 OutofState-lYr.$46 2Yrs.S80 1 . Address ' ' . : . - City Zip4 Cash or Check only. Sorry No Charges mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mmx A request from Perry Motor to rezone from R-4 residential to CC-1 commercial: Ordinance No. 2008-26. An amendment to Ordinance No. 2008-21. "This is a bit of a housekeeping item," Assistant City Manager Allen Parker told the council. "This addresses the permitted uses of an RA-1 zone, residentialagricultural zone. I had a phone call earlier where an individual asked if goats were allowed al-lowed in the RA-1 zone. We felt we needed to amend the ordinance. Since we were allowing sheep, we ought to address goats." "Would the council like to have goats?" The Mayor asked. An amendment to Ordinance No. 2008-22, amending the industrial in-dustrial zone use table to include commercial storage units. An amendment to Ordinance No. 2008-23, requiring that new developments include on-site fencing for litter. An amendment to Ordinance No. 2008-24, requiring that grading permits be issued before grading operations begin. An amendment to Ordinance No. 2008-25, rezone procedures, which allows a property owner to petition city council to change the zoning map. The final plat for Juniper Heights subdivision that creates five new single-family lots. Reviewed bids for street striping strip-ing and awarded the contract to Interstate Barricades. Cost of the project is $163,554.50. Red curb marking is $4,936.96 Approved the selection of Landmark Land-mark Design as the firm to update the city's general plan. Half of the firm's $120,000 fee was offset through a Community Impact Board (CIB) grarit; the remaining $60,000 is city money. The next regular meeting of the Vernal City Council is scheduled to be held at 7 p.m., Oct. 15. The public is invited and encouraged to attend. State PTA Continued from Al as a stop on the road trip, and each prepared a program for the visiting officials. Vernal Mayor Allan Mashburn and City Council member JoAnn Cowan attended both activities. Maeser Elementary students and teachers wore red,white and blue, and students performed for their guests. Boy Scout Troop 890 presented present-ed the flag ceremony, and fifth-grade fifth-grade students serenaded their guests with the song "America the Beautiful." The Maeser Music Machine, a group of students in grades third through fifth, sang "This Land is Your Land" for the VIPs. Carol Parrish, principal at Maeser Elementary, said the school's PTA provides teacher recognition awards, dinners, student incentives and support for the students and teachers. "I have the best PTA I've ever seen in any school, " said Parrish. "They're there whenever we call." After recognizing PTA leaders lead-ers at Maeser, the PTA officials visited Ashley Elementary, where they were met with a stage full of red, white and blue balloons. Nine veterans of the VFW post 5560 presented the flag ceremony, then fifth-graders honored the veterans by singing "Thank You Military." Ashley Principal Deidra Massey said the school's PTA volunteers help raise money for the school, recognize teachers and motivate students. "The PTA is wonderful," said Massey. "Theydosomuchforthe school, and we appreciate them very much." IIa nlkttl I m U4kmm a am VI ft lkH mmm to mu you a loan (bally 30 Minute Service No Checking Account Heeded! $100 -$1,000 Call Today! mm r Bullfrog Spas in Bluffdale received $7,900 in incentives from our FinAnswer Express program when they switched to efficient lighting at their facility. Alex Eddington, plant manager, is pictured here. J , r- v. t, N ( VA iy Iki1 L I ) Make a splash on your bottom line with help from Rocky Mountain Power Bullfrogs Spas, a Bluffdale, Utah, hot tub manufacturer, is growing by leaps and bounds. But plant manager Alex Eddington could see that the older lighting above his busy production floor had some warts - the lights caused inconsistent color, shadowing and other issues. When Bullfrog was expanding the facility, their lighting contractor recommended Rocky Mountain Power's FinAnswer Express program to help upgrade to energy-efficient T8 high bay fluorescent lighting. Now, Alex Eddington says, 'Tm getting very uniform light, instant-on, better color rendering, improved productivity and bettor safety." Another major benefit - the company is reporting up to 53 percent reduction in energy usage on lighting. Plus, through FinAnswer Express, Bullfrog Spas received $7,900 In incentives and is now saving an estimated $15,635 In energy costs annually. Cash incentives from Rocky Mountain Power Most Rocky Mountain Power business customers are eligible for cash incentives to upgrade to new high-efficiency lighting equipment. All you need to do is contact us or one of the participating vendors to get started. For lighting retrofits, you'll sign an incentive agreement before you purchase and install your new lighting. For new construction, contacting us early before you've ordered equipment is recommended but not required. Jump in on the savings You'll find incentive tables and a list of participating vendors at www.rockymountainpower.netutsave. Call a participating vendor or call us ' toll free at 1-800-222-4335 or e-mail energy.expertpacificorp.com. Dnriv Rurti ikita mi Seep Ridge Continued from Al McKee sees little difficulty with the latest loss of funding, saying the project will move forward. The 47-mile-long dirt road is being upgraded to allow better bet-ter access to the remote area in southern Uintah County and impacts im-pacts directly a lot of school trust lands in that area. Because of the benefit to the trust lands, SITLA (Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration) has already granted $100,000 to the project. "Our support in the senate included the economic development develop-ment in that area that will help fund the needs of school children and will assist in energy growth and development in the Basin," said VanTassell. To keep the project going, local lo-cal leaders announced this week that the Uintah Transportation Special Service District will commit com-mit $8 million toward the project while other funding options are being sought to fund what could cost in excess of $50 million. "We are going to approach the Community Impact Board to help fund the project," said Cherri McCurdy, executive director, di-rector, Uintah Transportation Special Service District. "It is a force that we can go to that will help this project along. They are funded with mineral-lease funds, and this is the right direction for the use of those funds." Safety and road maintenance will be addressed by surfacing the existing gravel road. McCurdy said that to date comments on the project received through the public comment process have been positive. Positive public responses have come from a variety sources including cross country bike enthusiasts, OHVusers as well as energy industry transporters. According to McCurdy, there is enough of the design completed to submit a draft EA to the BLM office this month. Construction could begin in 2009 after the EA is in place, design work is done and funding secured. VanTassell also said that even though the Seep Ridge funding was cut, the other Highway 40 projects in the Basin will be completed, including all the signal lights now proposed in Ft. Duchesne, 500 South in Naples, a signal at the power plant turnoff in Naples (highway 45 south), and another located at 1000 South near Wal-Mart in Vernal. VanTassell said that education educa-tion was left whole, they didn't get into the rainy day funds, and there was no bonding. He also said that they didn't have to raise taxes, and they left the tax cut in place. "I'm not sure we are through with the problem," said VanTassell. VanTas-sell. 'There coidd be more adjust-ments adjust-ments that will have to be made in January." Greenhouse Continued from Al organized a Carbon Capture and Geologic Sequestration Workgroup Work-group to develop state regulations regula-tions governing ways to capture carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants. Market aspects may involve the sale of pollution of allowances, allowanc-es, tax increases on carbon-based fuel use, or investment-incentive funds for use of alternative energy en-ergy resources. The cost of implementation, according to the state's study on climate change, is far less than inaction. The study cites "the costs of reducing emissions and realizing a cost savings through increased efficiencies and reduced re-duced fuel consumption." This presents a problem for rural regions of the state or areas where the economy is less diversified. More complete consideration con-sideration of the.WCI economic impacts will be addressed at by DEQ electricity subcommittee in Salt Lake City on Oct. 16. For more information about the world climate initiative visit www.climatechanire.utah.gov. i f 4 i ( i r M 1' 1 Wow! Vernal Let me tell you, it is worth shopping in the pages of the... 54 North Vernal Avenue Vernal, Utah 435-789-3511, ' ' ' www.vemalcom W rro at s 'm ls rr-ic Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation VERNAL EXPRESS 8 I 9 2 1 I I 0 I 9 I 1 1 Oct 1 . 2008 4. Ulu Frwjuenq, 5. Number al luua Ptilwd Annoaly 6 Anruoi SLbtCTtAon Pnca Weekly 52 $26,00 7' Conirttrf Miiilinu Addiasu of Ktmwn Oflii of PUjIlutuon (Nol itnnm) fSlfeoL uly. camty, sal: Mnd HP4Q) Comae! 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