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Show f V J V - Parents: High School Conferences are Important Please Attend Number 15 Volume 103 Despite support for current system, City decides to ask for proposals on garbage collection system here by Ken Davey The council also discussed What kind of trash collection service should Moab have? The Moab City Council decided Tuesday evening to take bids on a number of options. The city contract with Bobs Sanitation runs out this summer, and for months the council has been discussing and debating the level of service residents want. Council member Dee Tranter said that hes been asking residents what they would like to whether or not residents who produce less garbage should pay less for pickup. But in the end the council agreed with- Seibert to call for bids addressing both one - and two pickups per week, and backyard and curbside service. In other business, the coune cil approved a new city Position Classification System and pay schedule, to go into effect this month. The schedule is the result of discussions with a personnel consultant, and redefines jobs, responsibilities, and salary levels with other based Utah cities. For city employees in general, it means a pay increase. As a result of the new system, the city payroll will go up by $142,000 per year, with some - Full-Tim- see, and. that the biggest response he has gotten is from people who like what Moab has, k pickup, backyard service. It costs more, but its worth it, he stated. He was backed by Jeanne Veteto, who said her discussions with Bobs Sanitation owner Bob Hawks indicate residents wont save much by having only pickup. Lets keep it the way it is, Veteto concluded. But council member Paul Seibert said that the only way to determine how much can be saved is to bid out all the options: once or twice a week, backyard or curbside pickup. Mayor Tom Stocks men- tioned two concerns. The first is that the city is involved by billing residents for garbage service, and after taking a cut, passing it on to Bobs Sanitation. He said the city should either run trash collection as a municipal service or get out of the business completely. He also said there were no provisions for recycling, a major topic of discussion at recent meetings of the Solid Waste Management Special Service District. Recycling is something that can be done, he added. I don't see us taking a step in that twice-a-wee- workers receiving small increases and others getting significant raises, depending on their jobs. Mayor Stocks expressed his objections to the new schedule, once-a-we- ek Moab, Michigan . . . you bet! ... Beverly LaFond, a former Moab resident, has been back in town visiting her daughter and grandson, and stopped into The Times to share a photo from Three Rivers, Ml, where she now lives. This marker, dated 1830, sets forth Moab as one of the four wards" of the area at the time, greatly predating the naming of Moab, Utah. The LaFonds lived in Moab for 14 years before moving back home to Michigan in 1988. After a year of turmoil, DCFS making progress on foster care program by Janice Hubbard During the past year, citizens in Utah have read via state-wid- e newspaper great criticism of the Division of Child and Family Services with apparent focus on the Moab area. However, it would appear, especially in the area of Foster Parents that the division is deserving of praise. Last year at this time, there was a shortage of available foster parents, but that is definitely not the case at the present. According to Mary Mullen McGann, We have been able to place most children that have had to be placed in foster care within Moab in the past three months." The people in Moab are willing to go out on the limb and are quick to report cases of perceived abuse or neglect of its children and youth. Although Moab receives the most referrals per capita for child abuse in the state, after investigation, most reports are not substantiated while some are. The most common abuses substantiated are neglectnon supervision followed by physical abuse, then sexual abuse. Another reason for the additional referrals is the result of a changed state law which states that anyone who works with children teachers, doctors, religious leaders must report any WEATHER STATISTICS suspicions of neglect or abuse. Perhaps this is the time to make clear that the natural parents of children placed in foster care do love and care for their children. Many of the parents are having severe problems (i.e. loss of work, mental illness, etc.) and are unable to fill their childs needs at this point in time. As Mary Mullen McGann, the person in charge of recruiting foster parents says, It is not that the parents are unwilling, rather it is not knowing specific parenting skills. McGann speaks from personal experience. She and her husband, James McGann have been foster parents for a little over three years. McGanns husband, who owns and operates his own construction business once said, I want to love all children as much as I do my own." The McGann family members, including their own three children now living at home, are in agreement about the rewards of having foster children in their home. Foster Parenting has, and does, add richness to their lives. When placing children in foster care, the purpose is to establish a safe, caring, nurturing and stable home for youths Once the children are placed in a good environment, a treatment plan is devised by the treatment team and varies according to the needs of the individual child. Areas often include medical care, schools, assistance by the county nurse, Tina Brown, mental health, and daily living. The plan to assist the children and their parents always has the goal of the child returning to his own home within 18 months. At 12 - Continued on page 3 saying that some management positions should require college and in some cases degrees. The council approved a for property along Powerhouse Lane owned by Andrew Riley Riley wants to divide the property so he can sell off the post-gradua- te sub-divi- ' sion portion including the Powerhouse Lane trailer court. Recently a homeowners association at the court was able to d low interest obtain loans to purchase the land, as a way of preserving low- - and moderate-income housing in the area. Nearby property owner Dave Barry objected, questioning the legality of allowing the trailer park in the new subdivision. City staff member Debbie Gilger said that while the zone does not al- - low mobile home parks, the park existed before the zone, and is therefore a nonconforming use that can continue, as long as changes in use or size are not made. Barry also said that the trailer park was blighted, and would have a negative impact on surrounding property values. Council member Bill McDougald voted against the new subdivision, also stating legality questions. Robert Tangren asked the council to rebate him some money. A water leak caused by vandals increased his monthly bill from about $5 per month to just over $100. The council decided to split the difference, and rebate half the bill. And Moab may be in the desert, but to the State of Utah its an example of good urban forestry. Stan Baker of State Lands gave the town a Tree City USA award, lauding the continued commitment of the city to preserve and plant trees throughout the community. Early Easter, warm March brought lots of visitors An extremely warm month of March and an early Easter were obviously big contributors to a market increase in traffic at Arches National Park for the month. According to figures released late last week, Arches hosted 64,176 people during March, compared to 58,978 a year ago. That brings total visitation at the popular attraction to 87,091 for the year an increase of 6.9 over the same three months a year ago. Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands showed similar popularity. 8,129 people visited the Island in March up 14.8 from the same month a year ago. Island, however, was the only unit in Canyonlands to show an increase, except for the isolated Maze section. The Needles district showed a decrease of 21.9 in March, with 9,845 visitors. The Maze was up 60.3 over March a year ago, but the total visitation there was only I,- 234, compared with 770 a year ago. Overall, Canyonlands is showing a slight 0.1 increase in traffic for the first three months of the year, an increase logged due to the heavy traffic to the Island in the Sky. Natural Bridges National Monument, administered by the Moab NPS office, showed an increase of 14.8 for March and II.- 8 for the year to date, with a total of 11,187 people visiting there so far this year. state-backe- County land appraisal was "disappointly" high But recent (and by Ken Davey It looks like Grand County may not be selling land south of the county line to nearby property owners, at least not at the thats been offered. That was the discussion price Monday evening at the county council meeting. The six acres are along Spanish Valley Drive near the old Spanish Valley Airport. Adjacent landowners offered the county $2,500 per acre for the triangular shaped parcel. as yet a unreleased) appraisal apparently placed the value of the land much, much higher. Higher appraised value generally means a better price on the real estate market. But some council members expressed concern. I think the appraisal, personally, is way out of line, stated Ken Ballantyne. I have to agree with Ken, added Chairman Bart Leavitt, Continued on page 3 La Sal snowpack normal, and is getting better the La Sal Mountains, taken the last Snow measurements on s week in March, showed for normal this under just time of the year, but snow has been falling on the mountain range almost since April began, and more snow is expected this week. snow-pack- .La Sal Mountain lower course, near South Mesa at an elevation of 8,800 feet, showed 18.3 inches of snow containing 7.2 inches of water when measured on March 27. That was 92 of normal La Sal Mountain upper course, at an elevation of 9,600 feet near Geyser Pass, showed 12.4 inches of water in the snow-pacwhich is 93 of normal. On the Abajo Mountains k, near Monticello, Camp Jackson at an elevation of 8,600 feet on the south end of the range, showed 20.1 inches of water in the snowpack, which is 228 of normal. Last year at this time. Camp Jackson showed only 21.25 inches of water, which was 21 of normal. Buckboard Flat, at an elevation of 9,000 feet near Monticello, showed 42.6 inches of snow containing 13 inches of water. San Juans infamous 1996 drought is obviously over at least for this season. The San Juan Soil Conservation District has also placed several precipitation cans throughout the dryfarming parts of the county All are recording satisfying amounts of water. The Three Baritones . . . One highlight of the upcoming concert of The United States Air Force Band will be renditions by The Singing Sergeants. And, among the Singing Sergeants are The Three Bantones. Modeled after the famous Three Tenors performances, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose The Three Baritones consists of SMSgt. George E. J. Single-toand MSgts. Kerry Wilkerson and Alex Helsabeck. The selections for this performance come from both the Broadway and operatic stages, including such favorites as Tonight" from West Side Story. The Toreadors Song from Carmen, the famous Figaro" aria from Rossinis The Barber of Seville and their grand finale, New York, New York. Each individual of this operatic trio is a member of The Singing Sergeants, the official chorus of the United States Air Force. When not delighting their audiences with their phenomenal singing talents, SMSgt. Singleton e serves as the assistant noncommissioned of The Singto is serve Wilkerson as the director of The ing Sergeants. MSgt. proud Singing Sergeants mens Chorus. MSgt. Helsabeck enjoys assisting the director of guest relations for The Air Force band, as well as serving as bass section leader for the chorus. All of the three baritones are from different areas of North Carolina, and have served in the Air Force since 1975, 1989 and 1991 respectively. The Air Force Band and Singing Sergeants will appear in Moab on Thursday, May 1 at 7:30 p.m. at the Old Spanish Trail Arena. This free concert is sponsored by the Grand County Council and The Can-eras- , n, officer-in-charg- Times-lndependen- t. |