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Show Volume 111 500 WEATHER FORECAST Thursday Mostly Sunny High 35 Low 16 WWW.moabtimes.COin -- Partly Cloudy High 44 Low 20 yv' Saturday Low 22 Sunday vjv Partly Cloudy High 43 Low 22 Grand Junction office. Middle School chorus debut. See B1 glitch-fre- e contract since 1997 when the Moab City Council unanimously approved a Solid Waste Franchise Agreement with the garbage collector during a special workshop meeting on Tuesday. All residential and commercial rates will remain the same, with the exception of apartment and condominium dwellers, whose rates will go down by $1 per unit due to the central location of garbage colfive-ye- Weather forecast courtesy National Weather Service ar lection. Bobs Sanitation has been operating on a extension of its last contract since August, while previous franchise agreement was cleaned up, according to Bob Hawks, owner of the fran six-mon- th chise. This weeks action was a renewal of the last agreement with some changes, and the contract did not go out to bid. Bobs Sanitation has provided service to Moab residents and businesses for 34 years. Seven years ago the company lost the franchise to Mecham, which provided service for 14 months in a maelstrom of community discord over losing Bobs Sanitation services. Bobs was given back the contract on a contingency, and then lost it again to an outfit called Robinson, which underbid Bobs Sanitation. Robinson stopped providing service after months, Hawks said. There is a provision in the contract that allows Bobs Sanitation to come to the city council for a rate increase, how- 6 Continued on Page A2 Vehicle County's ordinance may be changed Carrie Switzer Christoph Schork by and DWA Sabku, going to world championships. B2 Read about it on staff writer Recent whisperings of a new ordinance allowing Off Highway Vehicles (OHV) to legally traverse city and county roads were brought to light Monday during a meeting of the Land UseRecreation Task Force. Its true that the county is working on an OHV ordinance, announced Joette a discussion of Langianese,- to the proposed ordinance the agenda to help dispel growing rumors of the potential for widespread ATV use on the streets of Moab. Were looking at ordinances from other counties. I have them here and wanted to ask you guys what you think. The task force has been meeting since May for the purpose of developing a recreation management plan for the county that will help keep illegal vehicles off the road and ensure enforcement of the allowable uses of trails designed for d vehicles. Langianese said the task force has discussed opening portions of county and city roads to OHVs to help users get from one trail to the other, and expanding trailheads so people can trailer in vehicles more easily durtheir ing Moabs busiest times. But, county council members who are no longer active in the task force originated the idea of a new ordinance, and have put the task of writing it in the hands of Deputy County Attorney Scott Barrett. Business Directory: B9 Classifieds: B8 Editorials, Letters: A6-- 7 Historic Photo: B1 Obituaries: A4 Region Review: B1 B1-- 3 B2-- 3 off-roa- LAST WEEKS! WEATHER High Low Precip. Date horse-draw- n Continued on Page A2 by Carrie Switzer staff writer Grand County Council members and staff were given the legal last go-ahe- ffjintcr Sun tyolidag Fcsnoal Schedule: W Friday Senior Center 8 p.m4 Canayland Craft Fair.' ..V....'. Local and at Eklecticafe, 7 p.m. writers poets Readings 4-- Saturday 10 a.m., Moab Golf Course to GCHS track Senior Center, 9-- 3 p.m. MARC 10-- 5 MARC, all day Guided tours 10-- 2 leaving from MARC Winter SunRun 10k Candyland Craft Fair Holiday Craft Fair Santa StudioGallery tours Tree Lighting Electric Light Parade Community Dance (See details in Courthouse Lawn, 5 p.m. Main Street, 6 p.m. MARC, 7:30 p.my separate ads throughout this issue) off-roa- B3-- 4 TV Guide: The first major snow storm of the season brought several inches to Castle Valley and covered an old buggy that has seen better days. The storm also caused havoc forThanksgiving travelers with slick roads and poor visibility. Photo by Ron Drake go-ahe- I thought we should take this to the committee so they can have some input, and so the folks that are worried about it who-add- ed Inside The T imes First snowfall of the winter . . . for County gets legal water board consolidation Off-Highw-ay Sports: Nov. 23 Nov. 24 52 30 Nov. 27 53 30 Nov. 28 38 31 29 Nov. 25 52 28 Nov. 26 53 38 51 Nov. 29 34 26 Nov. 30 33 13 --- d Funding nearly doubles for maintenance of Atlas tailings The Department of Energy has nearly doubled its contribution to bare bones maintenance of the Atlas Tailings pile near Moab with the passage of an omnibus spending bill last Saturday in the U.S. Congress. .07 - .33 First in the Nation EPA Green Puwer Connnui it According to Press Secretary Alyson Heyrend of Congressman Jim Mathesons office, $7.8 million dollars will be use for maintenance and remediation while four alternatives are being considered for a permanent solution to the leaching uranium mill tailings. the pile They will be with drains and filters in an ongoing effort to decrease the amount of contami- nated waste leaching into the water, Heyrend said. "Theyve got to keep the dust from blowing, and while theyve offered no permanent solution yet, they are responsible for minimizing contamination. They is the DOE, which spent approximately $4.5 million on remediation last year. Heyrend said that evidence of contamination in the roadbed was discovered several miles north of the Atlas tailings when road construction began into Arches National Park. s This is maintenance, Heyrend said. The big numbers will be involved when the Department of Energy settles on whether and how to cap the pile in place or move it. Those costs range from $166 to $464 million, depending on the alternative. These are project design and development costs, and do not include annual maintenance. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the future of cleaning up the Atlas pile was released on November 8. Public comment on the report will be accepted until February 18, 2005, with public hearings scheduled for the week of January 24, 2005. A decision is bare-bone- . ' ; In -I First Place ' Four Categories Group B The Time- - To subscribe to The Times-Independe- nt marshals . . . Light grand parade Christmas electric Grand Marshals for this light parade will be the members of a meet this summer, are, front after the Red Rocks Special Olympics Team. Shown here, from left, Ezra Ward, assistant coach, Dustin Bowden, Christopoher Whitesell, Veronica Johnson; back row, Carlos Castro, Troy Scoville, Sarah Fetters, Jed Taylor, Zachary Sundin (behind Jed) and Kristin Krummenacher. Team members not in the photo are Clarissa West, Kimbree Atwood andMichelle Fetters. The float is sponsored by Coldwell Banker Arches Realty. The parade follows the Christmas Tree lighting ceremony on the courthouse lawn at 5 p.m. MainStreet goes dark at 6 p.m. for the extensive electric light Saturdays call subscribemoabtimes.com The nt This news- - paper is 7 (JyX) printed vHy on recycled paper and is recyclable. k 2, 2004 Bobs Sanitation eases r into new franchise agreement by Carrie Switzer staff writer Bobs Sanitation won its first Partly Cloudy Notices: Thursday, December five-yea- Friday High 44 Number 48 ' t expected in March 2005. A copy of the draft EIS is available for review at the Grand County Public Library, and on-lin- gj.em.doc.govmoab. e at http: ad week to pursue the consolidation of four separate water agencies. Under the sizeable umbrella of the Grand Water & Sewer Service Agency, three boards and an operating committee conduct most of the business of water in Grand County and northern San Juan County. Each has a different specific purpose, yet they meet simultaneously to vote separately on different issues. The county council decided last July that the structure does not work efficiently and hired Salt Lake attorney Blaine Carlton to study the legal ramifications of consolidating the entities. What the attorney told us last week is that it can be done, said council member Jerry McNeely, who sits on two water boards - the Grand County Water Conservancy District and the Grand County Special Service Water District. We have to present a plan for consolidation to all four boards, and then bring it back to the county council. If we still want to proceed then we have to meet with the city because they are a municipality that should be involved in this. Were going to take it really slow and do it step by step as the attorney has directed us to do, he said. The agency is the umbrella over an Operating Committee, the Spanish Valley Water and Sewer Improvement District, the Grand County Water Conservancy District and the Grand County Special Service Water District. The Special Service Water District is the one likely to emerge intact, as it is the most usable bonding agent and funding mechanism. Also, the City of Moab is included within the boundaries of the special service district. The city is very interested, agreed council member Joette Langianese. Sewer service is their main concern because they own the sewer plant. Langianese said the county council allocated $14,000 in attorney fees last summer to look into the consolidation, and she believes the work is done. There may be some additional work in drawing up the resolutions for actual consolidation when that time comes. According to Grand Water and Sewer Service Agency Manager Dale Pierson, the agencies were formed during the 1970s primarily to have additional bonding powers for the construction of Kens Lake. Two of the agencies still hold outstanding bonds, and one of the conditions of consolidation will be to have those bonds paid off, or to have those boards meet in limited capacities until the bonds are paid. If the steps Blaine laid out are followed, we vill be able to consolidate before the bonds are paid off, Pierson said. The plan will be brought before the -- Grand Water and Sewer Service Agency at their next meeting on December 9 at 7 p.m. |