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Show 8 ' CHANGING TIMES 0 FEBRUARY1994 — More HEART from Page 1 fl bantering, yelling, and even a few rolled up sleeves. Heated topics of the day were a ban on pheasant hunting, whether to incorporate or not, and the I was troubled and ready to give up these meetings for good. In talking with friends and neighbors about this, I heard many comments about the roar and ruckus of meetings past. I thought, “If this is just politics, maybe I’ll stay home.” But as we talked longer I gained another impression—that while the first meetings were often volatile, there wasn’t such animosity. There were plenty of strong-minded folks speaking their piece, yet neighbors seemed friendly and on good terms. As I listened, one thing was clear: politics were not taken quite so seriously, meetings were more entertaining, more playful, a part-time thing. “Us and them” was more in jest or at least limited to the political arena—it was likely that opposing sides would gather together over coffee after a meeting or work together the next day on their opponent’s project. There were community-wide social functions; old timers came from far and wide for the annual Easter Party. It was an event. I heard how Castle Valley became a town in 1985. Initially there was quite a bit of opposition to incorporating, but many remember that the exploration drilling by Conoco on Pace Hill did much to convince residents of the need to incorporate. A meeting was held, with residents strongly opposed to the drilling. It turned out to be a done deal. Residents then realized their care and maintenance of the roads. (Even then there was much discussion about turning the road over to Grand County, but this was never done due to a poor relationship with the threemember county commission of that time.) Another hot topic was septic tanks in the valley. (There was a list of those not in compliance—unfortunately the list keeper himself was dumping raw sewage into the irrigation ditch even while neighbor children played in it.) It’s no wonder our suspicions today are so easily aroused. When the February meeting came, I did go, hoping for something better. It turned out to be much better. The heat of the last meeting had cooled— perhaps because of a sobering recent event, perhaps because there were so were rugged individualists and for many years pioneers in a wilderness. And that is just what attracted the rest of us—we are all pioneers in our own ways. I could count on one finger those who moved here expecting suburbia. As one town founder said, “We never even meant to be a real town and next thing you know we’ll be paying taxes.” Some of our wild ones are moving out—to La Sal, to Thompson, to Cisco. It makes my heart sink. I know this place just won’t be the same without them. So neighbors, as we pay attention to the inevitable changes coming toward us, let’s consider carefully what our actions will be, both as individuals and as a town. In our attempt to preserve this valley, let’s not destroy our community. Let’s take up the recent challenge to heal this place by giving our goodwill as we play our individual parts. —Jil Kulander many new faces, perhaps because of a growing weariness with battle. Combined they seemed a catalyst, a definite shift. Not that anyone has agreed to always agree, but perhaps ideas and issues might be substituted for venom. Perhaps what had begun to feel like hate can be laid to rest I believe that most of us came here for the quiet rural beauty of this valley. Those who choose to live at the end of a 25 mile dead 'end road have certain expectations. There have always been rules and regs (we agreed to them when we bought), it’s just that in the past, few were taken seriously because there were so few of us. The first residents vulnerable position and were moved to act, their new goals to gain some control over the future of the valley and allocated budget that year was $500. Next meeting there were four residents attending, by the third it was up to 13. And so it went for several years. However, if you think this means the valley was quiet and peaceful, forget it. The real action was at the POA meetings which started long before we became a town. These meetings rotated to different homes, with some meetings even held outside. There was plenty of CASTLE VALLEY @331 COUNTRY STORE '5 ¢ .. x: ge’ «v0/ fresh-baked whole wheat bread nuts, beans, seasonings gliill \n to try for some community funding. Town meetings in the first few years were relatively quiet. In fact, the first meeting in June of ’85 was attended only by the mayor (Marguerite Sweeney), the council (Valli Bricker, Tom Rees, Saxon Sharpe, and John Groo), and two valley residents (Jim Smouse and Michael Omana). The pastas, flour, cereals 7- :1 fruits. vegetables, & MORE 9 ORDER m BULK QUANTITIES AND SAVE 50/0 Mondays and Thursdays 2:30 to 8 p.m. Phone 259—5906, Molly Jensen (CASTLE VALLEY ACADEMY) |
