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Show tEfre Page A8 ffitmgg-tSftftgpgttftg- November 4, 2004 trt Castle Valley Comments More Letters from the People by Ron Drake At about 9:45 last Saturday morning, the annual general meeting of the Castle Valley River Ranchos Property Owners Association got underway. POA Board Chairman Jack Campbell announced the meeting officially called to order at precisely 9:30 a.m. Castle Valley time. Thirty five to forty people were in attendance for basically the purpose of electing a new board of directors, which are the same board members as in previous years. Trish Hawkins received 200 votes and will serve a two-yeterm. She will continue as the boards secretary. Dorr Hatch collected 72 votes and will serve as the liaison to the town council. Mike Dege received 69 votes and will continue to serve as the board treasurer and Jake Burnett will continue to serve after receiving 67 votes. There were no other nominees from the floor and Jack Campbell will continue to serve as board chairman after receiving the majority of votes last year. The recent annual meetings are a stark contrast to meetings held in the distant past when a lot of interest was generated over the possibility of changes to covenants, election of board members and others controversial subjects. The property owners association is currently in a custodial mode and only holds an annual meeting as required by law. This year, as in the recent past meetings, the meeting was opened up to other agencies to report on their activities. Their work effects those living in and around Castle Valley. Dave Erley, Regional Field Representative for Utah Open Lands (UOL) and Laura Kamala, Southeastern Utah Program Manager for Grand Canyon Trust spoke on their preservation work. Dave spoke about the conservation easements acquired by UOL and said they hold easements on 880 acres in the valley and others in the county. Laura reported on the School Trust Lands Administrations proposal to trade their 4,000 acres of land in Grand County with the BLM for land elsewhere. She said the move with the two entities is complicated but will save us millions in conservation easements. Mayor Bruce Keeler reported on town activities and said he is hopeful the November town council meeting will be held in the new town hall and spoke of an official opening for the building. He said the future for the town lot includes horseshoe pits, a volleyball court, a half basketball court in addition to the pa-- v ihon currently under construction with pic-iitables. He said the council would like to i oieiv e direction for activities for the valleys outh and direction to adopt a policy for the building use. There is an open seat on the planning and zoning commission and on the board of adjustments. They are working on a new town website at castlevalleyutah.com in he near future as the old one through the Utah League of Cities and Towns just didnt ar Vice-Chairma- n u I work out. He reported a lot of problems with hunters in the valley, some in front yards after dark and said the primitive weapons designation at the upper end of the valley has to be reworked. The mayor also talked about the towns water and said they are forming a waterworking group with representatives from all interests in the valley for a broad scope so that all can effectively get representation. One of their assignments will be to look into a municipal water designation which; the mayor stressed doesnt mean a municipal water system. He said the valley still doesnt have a final adjudication even though some proved their water usage years ago. The municipal designation would simply mean the town would hold the water and it wouldnt have to be proved up again for another fifty years. The town received a grant recently to survey all of the septic systems in the valley. The council at their last meeting awarded the contract to Catherine Howells and Dave Vaughn who will write a history of the systems and get a global positioning. That information would also be handy for the fire department so they wont drive over a septic tank while fighting a fire. The surveys will be done with the landowners consent and receive a right of entry to the property. Damian Bollerman talked about the town roads and said they will be spreading gravel on the roads with the next couple of weeks. Because of the many summer projects around the county, they have not been able to get equipment earlier. Pam Hackley spoke about the problem with the Diffused Knapweed, the second largest noxious week problem in the county. It is most prevalent in the upper portions of Castle Valley but the town is focused on stopping it from getting started on town land. A project this summer with a team was successful in pulling the weeds and another in the spring with a $500 grant from the POA will do more to eradicate the weed. She said if they cant take care of the problem, the county will be obligated to use their own methods. Ron Mengel spoke ofthe Firewise program and said they are working closely with the fire department on many fire prevention projects. They are working to locate septic tanks and propane tanks, get lot numbers on property, clear weeds around road signs and hope to put lot numbers on the road signs for quicker response to emergencies. He said we are one of three in Utah to be a Firewise community and one of 45 in the nation. He also reminded people match form when clearing to fill out an from around your house and brush and weeds a state crew with match with labor to clear areas like the portion of the green belt that was completed last summer. He said the BLM sign of Smokey the Bear that advises of current fire conditions provides interest to the community with clothes and adornment. in-ki- Hr gpRPEgirttePj Dont disregard speed limit on highway . . . To the Editor: Your article on the new speed limit on Span- ish Valley Drive opened with the sentence: Grand County has a message for the drivers in the south valley: Slow down. Does this message also apply to drivers on Hwy. 191 in the south valley, or just Spanish Valley Drive? Because there is a flagrant disregard for the speed limit on Hwy. 191 by both drivers and law enforcement. Everyone knows and understands that you cannot speed on Hwy. 191 through the towns of Monticello and Blanding unless youd like a ticket - why is Moab any different? Why does law enforcement turn a blind eye when cars and semis come barreling through the 45 mph speed limit at the south edge of town - often not slowing down until forced to by the new traffic light - yet routinely patrol and ticket on Spanish Valley Drive? Yes, Spanish Valley Drive is a residential area and should be patrolled; however, does this negate the need to enforce the law on the highway? It seems to me that enforcing the speed limit on the highway could be a win, win, win situation: our highway will be safer, it sends the message that Moab enforces the speed limit just as Monticello and Blanding do, and the county has increased revenue - probably enough to dedicate an officers time to the problem. Sincerely, -- Elizabeth Moab Send a package to service people overseas Letter: I would like to suggest that a list of names and addresses of Grand County residents who are serving in the war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq be published somewhere. Some of us would like to send emails and packages in appreciation for what they are doing for us. We have sent things like sun care, reading material, jerky, dried fruit, candy, crackers, powdered Gatorade, and a Moab news- paper. box to Afghanistan. You only have to pay postage to the East Coast; the military takes it from there and It costs $14 to send a six-poun- d . . . it only took nine days from Moab to Kandahar, Afghanistan last month. I think it means a lot to them to be remembered and surprised with something from home, and it would behoove us all to add a few minutes of pleasure to their day. -- Sharon Arehart Moab (Editor's Note: The I will be happy to published names and addresses of service men and women who would like to receive packages or messages. If families, or the service personnel themselves, will furnish us this information, we will share it with readers.) T-- Let's get rid of those junk heaps Letter to the Editor: I agree most heartily with the concerned citizen who wrote denouncing the junkyards that line Hiway 191 South and Spanish Valley Drive, both of which are main thoroughfares for visitors and residents. Evidently her letter sparked some interest with local authorities as I have noticed a couple of the junk heaps on private property in the However, the commercial process of clean-up- . junkyards have been a huge eyesore that just keep expanding in spite of the fact that they Nance, , . . are not commercially active. These junkyards did have privacy fences at one time, but the fences are falling down and are as much of an eyesore as the junk autos and ironworks that spill over them onto the roadway. And speaking of trash, has anyone noticed the open pit filled with old mattresses and washing machines just a few hundred feet off Highway 191 near Canyonlands Field Institute? Lovely! Clean up your act, Grand County! Dave Oldsen Moab Get the scoop from a reliable source The your community Times-lndependen- t, newspaper published weekly The Next Stage More wind power signups announced Since the announcement that the greater Moab area the has attained d Wlhieir Environmental Protection Agency's first Green Power Community designation, several more local entities have have been listed among program participants. These include: Bobs Sanitation, Inc., Brown Betty Candy Shoppe, Canyonlands Field Institute, S.M. Stoller Corporation, U.S. Department of Energy (one block), Western River Expeditions, Moab Adventure Center, and Portal RV Park. (Sp0B ifkifeBSS WINERY s (teas) HC 64 Box 2004 Thursday CASTLE VALLEY i fhP" c Do you have your locally-grow- n and produced Qiardonnayfor Thanksgiving and the Holidays? 3 Friday MM. Sunday .'3M:30UDvapafha PrientatPanctwittLDhya Events 30 p.m., MARC Board Meeting 30 p.m., High School Soccer Party Nov. 5, 6 & 7, Moab Folk Festival Nov. 8, a.m , MARCS MOMMY & ME AUTUMN CRAFTS Nov. 8, 6-- 8 p.m., Moab Poets & Writers Nov. 4, 5 Nov. 4, 30-- 7 7.15-- 9 p m., Rural Water Association of NoV. 13, 10-- 1 p m., Qi Gong Seminar Nov. 13, 6-- 9 p m ART WALK: ALL SENIOR SHOW Nov. 9, I 8-- 4 Nov. 13, High School Sadie Hawkins Dance Nov. 16, 7- -9 p m , MARCS AUTUMN CRAFTS Nov. 18, 5 30-- 7 p m., Moab Citizens for Peace and Round Mountain Vineyards & Winery does... Call Training Need Printing? Everything you need to know to make a confident loan decision is available through your Wells Fargo banker. Whether you're looking for a home equity loan, a mortgage or a personal loan, the bankers at Wells Fargo will carefully listen to your needs and explain your financing options so you can choose the right loan for you. Talk with a Wells Fargo banker, call Stop by for prices ( Global Awareness Meeting Nov. 18, 7-- 9 p m Delicate Stitchers Quilt Guild Nov. 24, Nov. 29, for easy directions 259-19- THE Monthly Meeting 5-- 7 p m Moab Tech Night 5-- 7, Caregivers or visit wellsfargo.com today. 35 E. Support Group 3BaSg9DEl&(tiB! CENTER 259-75- 25 (2) C2004 ShmS V. J Wells Fargo Bank, N A All rights reserved |