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Show 36 SPRINGVILLE HERALD Thursday, September 30, 2004 ten the lights came to Spnngviile i 1 by Jessie Alleman Whitney Have vou ever looked ror- yard to some great event to tiappen? If so, you can imagine imag-ine how excited we were Svhen the City Fathers had jheir dreams of lighting our own realized. Great excitement was in iown in anticipation of our Jpwn electric light plant, y In 1903 financial construction construc-tion was started to plan and iuild an electric light plant in gobble Creek Canyon. I Jion't know all the details, out after awhile the town fathers fa-thers had their, plans finished. fin-ished. The waiting had been tremendous. All were happy Svhen the men had completed $.11 the necessary preparations prepara-tions and the actual work ad begun. ! t Before the light, each home Jiad coal oil lamps for lighting light-ing purposes. Some of the tamps were large and fancy, ivhile others were small so Jhey could be carried. ft' f We had wall lamps with reflectors re-flectors to give off better and Jbrighter light. These lamps Jvere found mostly in the Jcitchen. j I remember we had a fireplace fire-place ire1 our dining room where mother,, kept a tall amp on the mantle. I was go-jng go-jng outsiders it was cold, I threw a coat around my Jshoulders. It accidentally hit the lamp fnd knocked it over. We had uite a little excitement for Awhile. Perhaps this is one reason jvhy I remember so clearly now glad we were when the ower system was to come. t While the homes were be-ng be-ng wired, we watched and waited in great anticipation. J3eing of a curious age we i : watched the men go into the attic and around the house wiring the circuits. As the days passed we grew more" anxious for the lights to come on. i f Finally, with the coming of" fall, all work was completed and the town of Springville was ready for light. The townspeople gathered under the light poles on each corner with homemade drums and noisemakers to celebrate the coming of electricity. elec-tricity. At twilight the lights flashed on. The people began beating the drums and other noisemakers and shouting at the top of their voices. It was truly a memorable event. I remember going outside and seeing how light everything every-thing seemed. The poles were in the middle of the road with only one globe on each corner. To some people it gave a feeling of security, and my sister said she felt someone was around and the heavy black darkness was removed. re-moved. Even though the lights were small it seemed so fight and beautiful. "Each room was prepared to nave its , own fight by turning a tiny switch on or off . Mother turned on the chandelier and we were thrilled. What a happy day and how secure we felt when we went to bed. , ; What followed and has continued has been the light bill. It is still with us. Maytit(i ever remain...Can ariythmg"" be any better? ! ' :-F'1"' ' ' l' y .,. .. .. ., ... .... 'L"""V,.fj"Ss Local fifth graders are shown one of the giant V-12 generators at the Springville Power Plant as part of Public Power week by Tony Fieldstead. ' i 'i'!,t'-t r : ; L ' 1 ; f - 1; U L . I f if ! j4 . ! ? f fit '- ; .1 7 !j These students are shown how oil circuit relays are able to disconnect direct voltage lines. They are covering cover-ing their ear from the noise that they make. The voltages are in excess of 48,000 volts. : ii 1 Cr:jC;.-Lztnsen, 642-3467 j lziHUi7?.Z3(itl42-ZilC& f 1 1 f .'I i : ' ' I Their strenath Is helping you finance It (but they just might help you build It too). Your nttborB havt money to loan. Until now, you may not have known that your neighbor is also a Bank of American Fork loan officer. So you may have been missing out on getting a construction loan or a home loan with surprising ease. Now that you've been introduced to the loan officers at our Spanish Fork branch, come in and see Just how pleasant it can be to secure the money you need. FJU out a construction loan application and cat a free $325 appraisal whan your loan doses. Bank of American Fork has many qualified loan officers, like Jed, Greg and Todd, who are experts at tailoring loans to meet your needs - whether for home or business: There at their best when securing your ban, but they're also wilting to do what it takes to ensure your house gets built, and your business gets the cash it needs. Stop by and let diem show you how neighbors like to do business. Bank of American Fork Thtnslghbor you can borrow from. Spanish Fork 625 North Main 84660$ (801) 794-3500 Mapleton requests imput over settlement Todd Hollingshead STAFF WRITER Friday was the final day for Mapleton residents to comment on the state's $12 million proposed settlement with Ensign-Bickf ord, the company responsible for contaminating cont-aminating city groundwater. Concerned by the lack of residents who showed up and voiced their concerns at a Sept. 2 open house regarding re-garding the settlement, city administrators have taken action. Last week Mapleton officials mailed a special newsletter newslet-ter to residents encouraging them to "support the city in persuading the Department of Environmental Quality in obtaining a proper and meaningful commitment from Ensign-Bickford." . The statement read, in part: "The City does not want to accept Ensign-Bickf ord's cleanup proposals for remediation remedia-tion of our contaminated water supply. This is a serious issue that needs each citizen's involvement in writing to the Utah DEQ." Mapleton city administrator Bob Bradshaw said the closing public hearing period was the only opportunity for the city to challenge the proposal. After Friday, the city can only wait for the final decision. We were disappointed with the number of residents that actually attended the open house," Bradshaw said. "But there has been a significant response to the city newsletter." The proposed settlement includes two agreements; a $9,375 million fund for pumping and treating the groundwater ground-water for the next 20 years, and a $2.58 million trust fund to restore, replace or acquire the equivalent of the injured groundwater in the impacted area. In an earlier statement, Mapleton officials said the proposal pro-posal "falls woefully short" in protecting the citizens of Mapleton and restoring the city's contaminated aquifer. Despite Mapleton's protests and written complaints, Ensign-Bickford officials are confident the settlement will be accepted by the state, said James Holtkamp, the attorney representing the explosives company. "This is the culmination or about eight or nine years' worth of discussions with them and work on the cleanup of the groundwater," Holtkamp said. "We've gone through excruciating detail with the state. We don't see anything that has prompted us to feel there is any need for change. We think the proposal is just fine." The newsletter distributed by the city also contains a list compiled by resident Grace Huffaker detailing 17 residents who nave lived in the contaminated area who have suffered cancer-related incidents since the spill in 1986 including former mayor Marilyn Peterson, who died Aug. 30. Residents say the cancer incidents are directly related to the spill, but health studies have concluded there is no significant data to confirm those claims. Bradshaw said city officials have personally received; 17 letters from concerned residents protesting the settlement. settle-ment. Those letters, along with the comments recorded at the open house and those sent by mail and e-mail, will eventually end up on the desk of DEQ executive director Dianne Nielson for review. Nielson will also prepare a response to comments doc- ument that will be released in conjunction with the decision. deci-sion. There is no projected time for the decision. . "I think they would like to do it sooner than later," Holtkamp said. "I don't think the state is going to hurry it. But that's their call. They were really interested in making sure they heard everything." Gymnastics V " Call now for a free class 491-8766 ?T7 PRESCHOOL GYMNASTICS KINDERGYM GIRLS AND BOYS DEVELOPMENT COMPETITIVE TEAMS POWER TUMBLING State of the art equipment used at the Olympics trials' 1025 SOUTH 1950 WEST, SUITE B, SPRINGVILLE (On the frontage road behind Wal Mart) |