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Show j w VWVW' 'YVW'V' MOAB, UTAH 500 Volume 111 WEATHER ft1 -- Mostly Sunny High 90 Low 59 'Tyv Thursday, September 9, 2004 Main Street medians denied by FORECAST Thursday www.moabtimes.com Number 36 by Michelle Wiley contributing writer In a 2 vote the Moab City Council denied the proposed medians as part of the Main Street enhancement project. Council members Rob Sweeten and Kyle Bailey voted in support; Keith Brewer, Jeff Davis and Gregg Stucki voted in opposition. A public hearing was held in early July for residents to express their opinions concerning the proposed medians, with two slated for the center most blocks of downtown. Although Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) supports medians and has statistics for a decrease in accidents and speeding vehicles after installation, the majority of residents opposition was based in fear of increased danger. Residents in support of the medians believed that medians would slow traffic, increase pedestrian travel and create a boulevard Friday 3-- Mostly Sunny High 87 Low 58' Saturday Mostly Sunny High 89 Low 58' Sunday Mostly Sunny High 89 Low 58' Weather forecast courtesy National Weather Service Grand Junction office. Grand Cross Country team feel to downtown. Council member Stucki, who made the vote during the Tuesday night meeting, said that his reason for changing his mind in the last two months from median support to median opposition was due to talk that the public hearing was a phony front and that the medians were already a done deal, which is not the case. Stucki emphasized that he is not against enhancements otherwise. However, Community Development Director David Olsen, who wrote the grant for Main Street enhancements, has reservations about using the $6 million grant money from UDOTs Transportation Enhancement funds for downtown without installation of medians. Its not right to go to a funding board and ask for money and then not do what you said you were going to do. I think we could still get the money from them without installation of the medians but I dont think its right. . .the money should be returned. vote 3-- 2 Council member Jeff Davis responded: Changes are okay to be made. The people youre getting money from will understand. City Manager Donna Metzler emphasized that consistency is important when going to a funding agency and that retracting the medians from the Main Street enhancement plan jepordizes the citys record for receiving funding in the future. The city staff went out on a limb with this project because we thought we had support from this council. She clarified that earlier in the process the council voted in support of the medians as part of the Transportation Enhancement funds. Mayor Dave Sakrison responded to members of the audience who grumbled about the median secrecy, This process was started 18 months ago. This has been a very public process and we went out of our way to make this a very public process. . and the last two months is when we got all the flack. . in uniform and off to a big start. See pg. Project will narrow West Center Street, but add large interior-bloc- k public parking lot B1 by Jeannine Wait contributing writer At the September 7 City Council meeting, council unanimously approved an agreement for development and street improvements on West Center Street that will set in motion a plan whose many component parts have been in negotiation for almost two years. The deal involves the donation of a parcel of land consisting of 28,975 square feet on West Center Street owned by Utah Desert Investments Inc.Will D. Petty, to Moab City to be used for a parking lot with 72 spaces. A separate gift of $150,000 will be used for con- Campgrounds closed to protect city-own- Cooper's Hawk fledglings. B2 See pg. of the year. The beginnings of this project go back several years to when the city had a $50,000 improvement project planned for West Center Street. When the city decided to implement this plan, they notified all the affected property owners and it was at this time that Will Petty, the main property owner, stepped up his involvement. He proposed the land donation and Continued on Page A2 ed struction, landscaping and improvements on the parcel. Petty would retain and develop as commercial property, a sizable parcel fronting on Center Street. Petty receives a parking easement on the lands conveyed and a credit for 32 parking spaces toward requirements for parking spaces for future commercial development of retail, office, restaurant or similar uses. No overnight parking will be allowed and all 72 spaces will be available to the public. The subdivision of the presently large land parcel is necessary to allow the donation of the smaller piece to the which city. The area is already zoned develcommercial allows for fairly dense opment. Public comment on the subdivision will still be accepted. Once the subdivision is made, it will be scheduled for approval Sept. 28 and the entire plan finalized. The project would then go out to bidders around the end of September. Construction could start in October and the project should be finished by the end Inside The T imes C-- Business Directory: BIO Classifieds: B11 Editorials, Letters: Historic Photo: B1 A6-- 7 Notices: B4 Obituaries: A4 Region Review: BIO B1, 3, 10 Sports: TV Guide: B2-- 3 Language clarifies Travel Council Board as advisory only LAST WEEK'S WEATHER Date High Low Precip. Sept. 1 98 60 Sept. 2 98 63 Sept. 3 92 78 Sept. 4 85 55 Sept. 5 76 45 Sept. 6 86 48 Sept. 7 91 50 ; In - ' .24 by Carrie Switzer .07 staff writer . - Minor changes in language contained in the Travel Council bylaws may have major implications as Travel Council board members struggle with their status as advisors to paid staff, without any real authority to direct staff ex- penditures. In a discussion that came down to semantics, the County Council on Tuesday voted 2 to amend the bylaws and remove the words direct in several places, and use advise instead, allowing the Travel Councils director of ten years, Marian DeLay, to act independently to fulfill her charge by the County Council. Marian started on a shoestring and shes done what the county has directed her to do, said council member A1 McLeod, who proposed amending First Place Four Categories c Group I TheTiim- 4-- - Independent the bylaws. To subscribe to The Times-Independe- nt call subscribemoabtimes.com The This . nt news-pap- is er 7 X) printed on recycled paper and is recyclable. 3, I want to change back to the way it was. Marian is her own boss, responsible for her own budget and her own employees. Council member Nate Knight, who also sits on the Travel Council board, said many misunderstandings reported to the County Council after a heated meeting of the Travel Council board last week, had been cleared up. The county has appointed members to the (Travel Council) board with expertise in marketing and dealing with advertising agencies. The direction of the board was to move that along. By making the changes were undermining the advisory board, Knight said. The bylaws, changed nine months ago to include language that allowed the board to direct the Travel Council director in expenditures, were reverted back to the lesser advisory language as a result of Tuesdays vote. Crisis team to help community deal with suicide prevention The Grand County School District Crisis Response Team met on Thursday, September 2, to review its efforts to support family, friends, middle school students and staff after the death of a second Grand County youth within four weeks of the first death. The team, comprised of school district administrators, school board members, local law enforcement and fire department members, and representatives from Juvenile Justice Services, Four Comers Mental Health, Grand Health Department and the Division of Child and Family Services, met to review the level of support provided to students and to determine what further effort needs to be taken to stop any future actions of this nature. One of the most immediate actions to be taken will be to furnish training for school staff, agency members, parents and the public at large in how to recognize signs that might signal a potential problem, and how to best assist an individual manifesting these signs. In order to begin this effort, arrangements have been made to bring in a crisis specialist team from the Provo School District. This team is led by Greg Hudnall who is well known and respected both in the state of Utah and throughout the western United States for his work in teen suicide prevention. Hudnall and his team will meet and train Grand County School District staff during the regularly scheduled early out time on Monday, September 13. He will meet later that afternoon to work with the various agency support personnel, and will make a special presentation to parents and the community-at-larg- e that evening. The be held at the will parent meeting Grand County High School auditorium, beginning at 6:00 p.m. In addition to the training by Hudnall and his team, the Crisis Response Team asked Superintendent Ron Ferguson to prepare a letter to all school parents which informs them of what is being done to strengthen the districts and the communitys awareness of the issues surrounding teen suicide, and what they as parents can do to be better prepared to recognize warning signs and provide support for their own children should such concerns arise. This letter and additional information was scheduled to be mailed Tuesday afternoon, September 7. |