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Show 'mpmmwmm up.ttruwi'wn)! iiitt iiiTui n ri rririii ii. n t iiwm wmwm .& tfWijfW'WJeg'iyywiigieniM nil tvtc jL- rf1 agpMiw13 - Thursday, February 17, fwvmn in ERVIN SIT33 amryssr "wtfj, iinmiT liiiniiT niiii y ii m i?i w firm iwii Wai'iPPM eHlmi aaMi'ianffltiri J rrn 2000 moabtimes.com editor 1 hi ymulBSIlSnlu fES 50c Z Volume 107 Number 7 - of recall govemment provisions change County may chance to recall council members through a petition process and a vote. by Ken Davey staff writer Should Grand County abolish term limits and recall provisions approved by voters eight years ago? That will be the topic at a public hearing at Tuesdays county council meeting. As part of a 1992 change of govern- ment referendum, voters approved adopting a council, and also approved rules limiting county council members to two consecutive terms in office. The change of government proposal gave residents a non-partisa- n, seven-memb- er Now, says Council Chairperson Kim Schappert, there is sentiment within the council to drop both term limits and recall. Some council people would like to have that reconsidered," said Schappert Theyve gotten feedback on those topics and they decided that we should have a public hearing and see about having these changed, which we can do." Schappert added she has no problem" dropping both provisions. I feel like we have term limits and recall ev ery four years, when we have an election. I feel a recall election is a real burden on the taxpayers." Council Member A1 McLeod agreed. Term limits are kind of lazy democracy," McLeod said. I think if people in a community dont want someone in office theyll vote them out; Ive seen it happen before. Its kind of weird to have both term limits and recall because if you have one you really dont need the other" Bart Leavitt also agreed, Im kind of mixed but I think it is a good idea." Leavitt said the Utah Association of Counties thinks some of the Grand County change of government provisions, including term limits and recatl, do not jibe with 6tate law. We need to get this in line with state code," he concluded. It has hurt our relationship with other counties, as far as them taking us seriously." But taking another tack is Council Member Harvey Merrell, who doesnt necessarily oppose the changes, but believes the council should not unilater- Continued on Page A 2 NRC cites Atlas trustee for tailings violations by Franklin Seal staff writer 10-4- 2 inspection of the Atlas tailings site resulted in the Nuclear Regulatory A Dec. 15, 1999 for Chief West Commission issuing two notices of violations to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the new trustee in charge of overseeing the toxic waste site, PwC had been appointed the trustee only two weeks prior to the site inspection, and NRC supervisors familiar with the inspection said it was conducted at PwCs request in order to inform them of the sites current compliance with NRC Hail to the Chief: Moab Police Chief Alan West, left, inspects a wnst watch presented to him by Mayor Karla Hancock, right, at his retirement party last Wednesday, Feb. 10. The large room at the Moab Arts and Recreation Center was filled by uniformed lawmen and citizens who gathered to celebrate Wests 23 years of service as an officer in the Moab community, with both the Moab Police Department and the Grand County Sheriffs Office. He spent 13 years as chief. Hancock praised his work as a liaison with community organizations. Officer Mike Navarre has been appointed acting chief while city officials undertake a national search for his replacement. There is also some community discussion regarding a combination of county and city forces. Photo by Franklin Seal. HU Grand County Solid Waste Director Jane Jones, right, and Board Chairperson Ken Johnson check out a pile of tires left from previous years at the old landfill near Sand Flats Road. The Utah Legislature last week restored funding to pay for counties to have them hauled away and recycled. Photos by Franklin Seal. Depleted fund restored for recycled tires THURSDAY Showers, High 50 Low 23 FRIDAY Partly Cloudy, High 46 Low 19 SATURDAY Mostly Sunny, High 44 Low 18 SUNDAY Partly Cloudy, High 49 Low 25 MONDAY. Partly Cloudy, High 51 Low 31 There are several options for the care of senior citizens in the Moab area. Help is available when home care isnt an alternative. Page Bl. by Franklin Seal staff writer As the Utah Legislature enters the final two weeks of its session, Grand County representatives have been busy visiting Capitol Hill lobbying the Legislature on a number of locally important issues, including a bill to help restore funding for the recycling of tires. After having cut funding for the statewide tire recycling effort last year, the legislature passed two bills last week that restored most of the lost funding. Those bills now await Gov. Mike Leavitts signature. Grand County Council Member Harvey Merrell, who also serves on the Solid Waste Board was in Salt Lake City lobbying to help restore the tire recycling fund. But during the winter, he and the Solid Waste Board have also worked on back-u- p plans just in case those funds werent restored. Inside The Times Business Directory AS Calendar B4 Classifieds B6,7 Dining & Lodging Guide..... A7 Editorials, Letters A6,7 B5 Legal Notices Region Review Bl Sports AB Television Listings ....... B2 Weather History POOR COPY Meanwhile, a pile of discarded tires left from several years ago has been sit- - regulations. Even though the citations v ere issued to PricewaterhouseCoopers, they occurred before that it was the Atlas Corp. at that time," said Blair Spitzberg, chief of the NRCs Fuel Cycle and Decommissioning Branch. One violation concerned erosion on the tailings pile itself. When we were at the site, we observed that there were a couple of places on the south end of the pile that had eroded, Spitzberg said. We dont consider it to be serious at this time. They just need to take action to prevent something from happening in the future." The second citation was for failure to use more sensitive measurements in monitoring air samples from around the pile. Both citations issued were designated Severity Level IV, the least severe category of infraction possible. No financial penalties were assessed for either problem. Spitzberg explained that penalties must be considered at least Severity Level 3 before penalties are assessed. Regarding the erosion problem, the written notice of violation stated; This finding was a concern to the NRC because of the potential for further degradation and subsequent release of licensed materials outside of the confines of the restricted area. It appears the staff could not repair the damaged interim cover because you do not have the equipment needed to perform these types of repairs." About the testing problem, the letter said, This issue is of concern to the NRC because the same problem was identified and cited during a previous inspection. PwCs Keith Eastin said the citations were, Atlas violations, but since we took over the license, we are bound to correct them, and we are doing so. We will be taking steps to correct those two things here in the next couple of weeks." Asked if he thought the problems were serious, he said, We take any violation seriously and we do not intend to let anything Continued on Page A2 on-sit- ting at the old Moab landfill waiting for its fate to be determined. The story begins in 1990 with passage of the Utah Waste Tire Recycling Act. It was created to stimulate the tire recycling industry and help prevent discarded tires from being dumped into landfills. The act provided money to have old piles of tires hauled off by tire recyclers, thereby reducing the fire dangers they posed. It also helped fund the recycling of newly discarded tires that stream in to solid waste handlers each month from tire dealers. To pay for it all, the state assessed Continued on Page A2 earth-movin- e g air-samp- le Officials sign memo to move pile Officials moved a step closer Friday to moving the Atlas tailings pile away from the Colorado River. Government officials and members of Utahs Ute Indian tribe signed a Memorandum of Understanding to move the pile of toxic waste to a safer location and return 80,000 acres taken from the tribe during World War I. In exchange for the land, the Utes to a portion return agreed of royalties to help pay for the cleanup. 150-acr- e oil-an- d gas-ric- h The agreement still needs congressional approval. Moving the pile has been estimated to cost as much as $300 million. According to recent news reports, U.S. En- ergy Secretary Bill Richardson and representatives of the Ute tribe signed the agreement at La Vernes Weymouth Filtration Plant, 25 miles east of Los Angeles. Gov. Michael Leavitt, who was not present, signed it earlier Friday. Officials have identified no immediate health risk to domestic water users in Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah, but MWD officials said the potential risk presents enough concern long-ter- m to remove the pile.. The bill that won't die: Green River annexation by Franklin Seal staff writer The eastern part of the City of Green River may get its chance to secede from Grand County into Emery, but if it decides to try for secession, some seriously high hurdles have been placed in its way. Like two previous bills passed durlast four years, the Utah Legisthe ing lature this week again passed a bill HB49 that attempts to make it possible for the Grand County part of Green River to move over into Emery County. The Grand County part of the city, sometimes called Elgin, has fewer residents but more commercial property and generates significant tax revenues. The two counties have wrangled for years Will third time be charm in retooled legislation ? over disagreements about services provided by the City of Green River and Emery County to Elgin community. A 1996 law that enabled Elgin to secede from Grand County was ruled unconstitutional by the Utah Supreme Court because it only applied to one place in the state and laws must be written to apply generally, not just for special cases. A secversion of the law was ond, passed by the Legislature but was vetoed by Gov. Mike Leavitt, apparently because it might have also applied to the City of Draper on the S alt LakeUtah County line. This year, HB49 reportedly has the governors backing and will go to his desk for signature. But even if he signs it, a series of amendments attached to the bill in the Senate create some tall barriers that Elgin would have to overcome if it chooses to pursue secession. The bill requires that both chambers of the Legislature pass a resolution approving the specific annexation proposal; those resolutions have to pass by a majority in each chamber. Then the governor has to sign the resolution. Once those hurdles are cleared, both counties involved must jointly select and pay for an independent economic study. If that study shows the boundary change will negatively impact cither county by two-thir- i ds five percent of their annual revenue, then the annexation vote will apparently not be allowed. But exactly how this five percent measurement could be applied was not clear, even to the bills sponsor. Rep. Brad Johnson. When asked to give his interpretation, Johnson said. My understanding is that it is to prevent undue financial hardship on either county. When pressed for a more specific reading of the amendments intent he said, Tm not an attorney, and said he wasnt really sure. We agreed to put it in as one more hoop that has to be jumped through Assuming the proposal has cleared those barriers, the citizens of Elgin will get to vote on the issue, as will all citi- Continued on Fage A2 |