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Show 500 Volume 110 WEATHER FORECAST Partly Cloudy 1 04 J Low 68 High by Lisa Tay lor Friday ? Partly Cloudy High 105 'Low 69 Grand County property taxes will remain unchanged for 2003. The Grand County Council last week approved the years tax rate, which includes no increase in property taxes for area residents, said County Clerk Fran Townsend. State law requires the county council to officially adopt tax rates each year. In a memo to the council, Townsend said total Grand County property valuations grew by $628,821 this year. Those higher valuations will generate about $1,000 in surplus revenue for the county even though tax rates will remain the same, Townsend said. Saturday Partly Cloudy Low 68 High 105 Sunday Partly Cloudy Low 69 High 102 Thursday, July 17, 2003 sees funding package coming City County tax rate to remain same together for old middle school V Thursday WWW. nioabtinies.com Number 29 Read all about it! Look inside for The contributing writer The City of Moab expects to get approval for the an that will fund most of the old middle school project in three weeks, and city manager Donna Metzler says the project team is ready to go to ork The loan is for $2,050,000 at two per cent interest oer 20 years, and will come from the Permanent Community Impact Fund Board it'IB). 1 The city has guaranteed the loan with a sales tax revenue bond, and plans to repay the loan w it li sales tax, leasing space in the reno ated build mg, and selling or leasing the current city hall complex Metler says site knows people are impatient to see something happening with till' project, slated tor completion in 2005, hut that the wait lias been worth it We did a lot of homework to make sure1 this was a viable project and it takes a long t time to accumu! He the funding w a tax increase " The city has done structural analy 'is of ev ery possible i k incut of renov ation and dt sign try mg to find best alternat iv es, part ly because the new building, at 33,000 square' ieet, will he much more expensive1 to operate than the current 9,000 sq ft. ith-ou- facility Continued on Page A2 Extra1 nt You'll find area news, Miss Grand County weekly events, a TV guide, horoscope, crossword, calendar, real estate listings, classifieds and more. Wendy Dickson How many Gold Medals? See page B1 Pageant has six contestants so far by Jeff Richards contributing writer The Miss Grand County Scholarship Pageant currently has a tentative field of just six entrants, but pageant organizers still hope to get a few more local young women signed up in time to compete in the Aug. 8 event. Wanda Secrest, According to pageant six who have either registered or have verthe girls to bally agreed participate are Monica Arehart (last second attendant), Sarah Bobbitt, Becky years Byrd, Vanessa Dolphin, AniAsie Green, and Camrin Shumway. Besides Arehart, Dolphin is the only other returning contestant from last years pageant, which featured a field of nine entrants. The 2003 pageant is scheduled for the evening of Aug. 8 at the Grand County High School auditoteam Rob and Lisa rium. Husband-and-wif- e Sweeten will reprise their role as emcees, Secrest said. Admission is $5, and the contestants themselves will start selling tickets soon This week, on Thursday, July 17, the first free workshop for entrants will take place at Sorrel River Ranch. Former actress and model Hope Levin will teach the sessions (covering such areas as hairstyling, makeup, dress, interviews, and poise) once each week from now until the pageant. Secrest pointed out that one thing the 2003 pageant will have that last years did not is a reigning Miss Grand County. Rindy Engleman, now 23, won last years pageant and $1,500 in scholarship money. Rindy has done a marvelous job representing Grand County this past year, commented Secrest, noting that Engleman has made a variety of public appearances as Miss Grand County this past year, including at the Moab Music Festival, Grand County Fair, Utah State Fair, Jeep Safari, Rod Benders Car Show, and at least three different pair Footprints The guys there deliver technology that works! What? See Extra! Inside T he T imes Business Directory: Extra Dining & Lodging: B2 Editorials, Letters: A Historic Photo: A2 Notices: B4 6-- 7 rades. Obituaries: A4 Region Review: B2 B1-- 3 Sports: WEATHER HISTORY Date Low Precip. High 104 July 10 107 Julyll 109 9 12 uly 63--Ju- 59 59 -J- 110 ly 13 109 ly 14 109 66 -J76 -- 107 15 uly ly Ties record set in 2002. oessAssoC' 259-552- 6 To subscribe to Times-lndepende- nt call subscribemoabtimes.com The This news- nt paper is printed on Qy 7X) XHy recycled paper and is recyclable. oper-ai- businesses art gallery on Locust Lane would give permit inspectors the shivers if the long gone. We're still not sure about the motorbike - check out that front tire r v. signs weren't Photo by Lisa Taylor golden-ag- e Proposed new parking rules nixed due to disagreement over allocations of spots by Lisa Church contributing writer Proposed changes to countywide parking regulations off-stre- were1 derailed Tuesday night by a dispute1 over how many parking spaces should be required for restaurants. The plan, recommended by the1 Grand County Planning and Zoning Commission, would have altered the county's one sjze fits all parking requirement ordinance1 to allow more flexibility for businesses such as warehouses and light industrial deparkvelopments with low ing demands, while revising stanbusinesses indards for cluding restaurants and taverns. But county council member Nate Knight objected to the proposed change because the new guidelines would have more than doubled the number of parking spaces required off-stre- high-traffi- by c restaurants. Current regulations are based on businesses, regardless of'the type, are required to maintain one parking siaee for every 200 square feet. But the proposed changes increased that requirement for restaurants and taverns to one space per 60 square feet, while reducing the number of spaces required at warehouses and light industrial businesses to one space per 2,000 square feet. Requirements for most residential areas remained unchanged During a jnihlic hearing earlier this month, Knight asked the planning commission to reconsider the restaurant requirements, but the proposed resolution presented to the off-stre- the square footage of'the business building. All commercial vacations this week on HG TV - Group II TtoTimm- fndepondent The 259-779- 7. This home and all from . . rMoab featured among top ten ' Categories First Place In Four - In addition to the $1,500 awarded to the winner, the first attendant will receive $750 and the second attendant $500. Other prizes will also be awarded. The pageant is open to single young women between the ages of 17 and 23. A total of $3,000 was recently given by the Grand County Council to stage this years pageant and fund the scholarships, even though there wont be a county fair this year. Also, as part of the pageant, the Woman of Achievement award will be presented. Carol Hines, then 88, won the award last year. Only two nominations for the 2003 award have been received thus far, Secrest said. To pick up a nomination form or for more information about the pageant, call Secrest or Shirley Stewart at at Artistic license . Moab is being featured in an upcoming HGTV feature program, highlighting the ten summer vacations, called Perfect Summer Getaways, to be broadcast Saturtop day, July 19th and 3:00 p.m. local time. The program will highlight surprising summer destinations throughout the United States. The show was produced by DME of Santa Monica, California. They selected TalkProductions of Moab for filming and field production, due to a local underFrog ing standing of this region. Director of Photography, Jim Mattingly, said, We were happy to showcase the unique beauty of the Moab region for a national audience. Samantha Bonsack, Producer, adds, Moab holds an enormous amount of hidden treasures, both geographically and in the unique business services for the tourists. Capturing the essence of this area was a wonderful opportunity to promote some of the lesser known places and services Moab has to offer. Talking Frog Productions, formerly known as Omni Productions, has been in the production business along the Colorado Plateau since 1987. The award winning production company has produced a wide variety of programs for worldwide broadcast, as well as local and national news coverage. stricter restaurant regulations Isn't that a little excessive for what restaurants require9" Knight asked But Planning Administrator Mary Ilofhme said the regulations were pretty standard" and pointed out that employee1 parking is also included as part of the one per 60 square-foo- t regulations. The measure was defeated by a vote Council members Knight, Jerry McNeely, and Rex Tanner opposed, while Jootte Langianese, Judy Carmichael, and Jim Lewis voted in favor of the new regulations. Council member A1 McLeod was not in 3-- 3 council on Tuesday included the Maverik wants City to annex South Main pasture land for its new store by Lisa Taylor contributing w riter Say goodbye to another swath of green space and hello to a new, improved Maverik store if a land-saland development at the south end of Moab go ahead as planned, with the first step being annexation into the e city. e The parcel at the corner of Highway 191 and 400 East is part of the pastureland that fans out from that corner to the Chevron, 2.18-acr- Castle Rock Inn and high school. The land is owned by different members of the Ilolyoak family, and the parcel under contract is owned by Gary and Patricia Ilolyoak. In its annexation-proposa- l rights-of-wa- y notice, the City added for a total of just over seven acres. Gary Ilolyoak wasn't advertising the land, but says Maverik Country Stores found him through his brother, whose adjacent parcel is for sale. Maverik filed the annexation petition and requested commercial zoning, hoping to move across the highway from the former Circle K facility where it now operates. The east-sidjunction is already a prime location, and will get a traffic light this year, making it an even better buy. Dan Murray, Maverik's director of store development, says he understands that the entire area is slated for annexation, and the company wanted to go ahead and get city services now. Whilo thr w.v. Hfilvnok trrmm nmmr sought county approval for the subdivision of their lands, this annexe -i ation proposal is straightforward, and if all the steps are approved, will result in what has proven to be a viable business in a sensible place. Still, the Holyoaks pastures and small cattle herd are a fixture here, Continued on Page A 2 |