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Show MOAB, UTAH WEATHER FORECAST Thurtdiy. PelyOoudy Edtfw- War on Terrorism hits home rjt' tow 33 High 86 - "7 Pilfy Cloudy High 64 Low 36 U4Cloudy it. Piify High 66 Low 40 Imtdtt. bout Itl Look Iraida lor Tha Times Independent Extra! YouD find weekly events, a TV guide, horoscope, crossword, calendar, real estate listings, classifieds and more, Bottom ara NMon standing Board to decide jurisdiction of Cloudrock claim The Grand County Board of Adjustments will meet April 29 at 6:30 p.m. in the Grand County Council Chambers to determine whether it should hear a petition filed last month challenging the county councils approval of the Johnsons Up On Tbp resort I i preliminary plan. County Planning Admin? Utrator Mary Hofhine, said , OCHS sehbell and baseball teams an playing well this year. See Sports & B1 Finding solution wator managomont In helps the Grand water board address the positive and negative points of their agency, Tmcb Inmdc Thk tuetneea Dtrectoy BT Church Directory 04 lAoriale, Lattart: AM ! Historic Photo: A1 .eu WEATHER HISTORY GSlAJjKjKfc Apr! 10 April 11 April 12 AprfilS pril 14 Aprils Apd II W $4 -73 44 .2$ 71 41.07 71 41 -A- 04 41 02 01 72 50 -- - Tt wbsertfet to UiaJbatfc CThe TJmwMnchrvwidftn Thtt new- - peperk prMod sl- conditional use. Jltimately, it will be up to the board to determine whether they will hold a hearing on any of the issues raised in the petition. owed aa a 0Mur1ee:A4 Merit: 43 ! Some issues, such as tha availability of water, clearly do not fall within the board's jurisdiction, Hofhine said. But others, such as allowing muitipla restaurants, may because that provision of the ireliminary plan waa NofoacM tpoit tha Board of Adjustments must first decide if any elements of the petition fall within the board's jurisdiction. If so, the board will hear those elements and make a ruling on their validity. If the board determines it does not have the proper jurisdiction to hear the petition, or any of the issues raised in it, the matter will be left to the courts, should petitioners decide to file a lawsuit against the county, Mofhlne said. A2 T on recycled rvy xt) vDv' paper end k recyclable. DOR COPY by Ron Georg T-- I The petition, Hied with the county by Clark Minson, requested a hearing before the Board of Adjustments to ap- peal tha Grand County Council's Feb. 4 approval of tha controversial Cloud nxk Lodge and luxury housing development. Hofhine forwarded the document to the Grand County Attorney because ah said it waa unclear whether the Board of Adjustments, which typically heart cases involving toning am! administrative disputes, waa the proper venue foe the appeal. Tha petition allege the council violated county land use code when H approved the development proposed by Moab Meat Land Co. L.L.C. Citing a number cf issues, including whether the county can provide water and sewer services aa outlined in the plan, potential negative imparts caused by increased traffic to tha development, and violations ofland use code protecting sensitive lands, petitioner have e&Id tle council did not follow its own rules when H approved the plan. which she said is costing the federal government over $3 billion per month. The change would part of the agenda for the conference, a diversion from the OU"7A,N NNO, workshops, affect communities throughout the nation that receive federal FILT payments aa compensation fir pub lie landa located discussion. and network- ing that will be the focus re- ceived $492,266 from the federal govern- ment Last year, the county waa told to expect a significant increase in ITLT binding for 2002, so the council budgeted to receive $689,168 this year. But under the proposed cuta, the county will only receive about $246,000, leaving the county general bind short by about $443,000. But many in Congress are opponod to the substantia cuts, Cannon said, so the proposed cuts may not become reality. In recent years, Western Congressional leaders have fought to gradually increase the PILT budget so that counties will eventually receive 100 percent of the PILT monies they are due by the government. Cannon said Congress had hoped to increase the bind by $20 million this year, bringing payments closer to 60 percent Then September 11th happened, aha aid. "With the cost of the war and to balance the budget, the administration rut the PILT budget. County CtakAudi-to- r Fran Tbwnsend said if the Bush administration cuta go through, the county may lave to look including sibly else-wher- e, pos- increasing taxes, to make up the ahortML "The aad thing it how do you make up this lost revenue? If these cuts happen, well have to make further cuts or dip into our fund balance Continued on Page A1 TM.Nwof.Towr: 'On Two W MCE Li' Pa o. A8 of the four- day summit Most of the advocatee within county jurisdiction. The Presidents proposed budget cuts PILT payments by 60 percent of 2001 levels, Cannon said. In 2001, Grand County columnist It's not surprising the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMRA) has chosen Moab for its first major gathering since 1996, the 2002 IMBA Mountain Bike Advocacy Summit, April 18 to 21. After all, advocates are also cyclists, and it's hard to find a mountain biker who doesn't want to visit Moab. Still, cycling will just be a small Maureen Cannon, aide to Son. Orrin Hatch, made announcement the during a report to the Grand County Council on Monday. Cannon said tire administration has proponed the cuts to help balance the federal budget and to fimd the ongoing war on terrorism, staff writer A facilitator Event coincides with annual Tbur of Canyonlands lie Church by Lisa Church Outdoors. Mountain bike access central to national convention at Red Cliffs tai7 writer Grand Countys 2002 budget may awe a shortfall of over $400,000 if a Buah Administration proposal to cut the amount of federal money paid to counties as Payment in Lieu of Taxea (TILT) is passed hy Congress later this year. Raad all up in Feds may cut PELT payments by $400,000 by Partly Cloudy High 74 Low 33 Thursday, April 18, 2002 WWW.moabtimes.com $0i Volum 109 Number mountain bike racer takes a spill during last year's Tour of Canyonlands downhill competition on the Moab Rim Trail. The same event will be held this Saturday at 9 a.m. See The special section and official race program tucked Inside this Issue. It's your guide to seeing all the action. Photo by Action Shots A Tlmes-lndependen- t's time will be spent at the Rod Cliffs Adventure Lodge near Castle Valley on Highway 128. There, IMBA representatives from around the country will meet with land managers and representatives from other trail and conservation organizations. Many of these people will already be familiar to one another. At the very least, a number of them have communicated by email or. IMBA'a active Internet newsgroup. IMBA has been promoting connections and communication in the mountain bike community since 1988, and the resulting framework has heljmd a variety of people and elute in mountain bike advocacy. find a voi Continued on Page AS Owner of defunct tramway files multi-millio- n suit against county by Franklin Seal staff writer Tha owner of the Moab Mining and Tramway Company, a gondola ride at the northern gateway into Moab, has filed claims worth millions of dollars against Grand County. Company President Rick Jewett says the countys failure to issue the com pany an operating permit last spring has caused the firm to lose business. Grand County received a letter from Jewett on Tuesday, April 9. The letter stated that Jewett is seeking $1,126,000 for loss of business and $3,294,000 for damages. As of last Thursday, the county had forwarded the letter to their attorney, Scott Barrett. There was no word yet from Barrett on his reaction to the letter. Repeated efforts to contact Jewett received no reply. The conflict over the tram dates back to the fall of 1999, when then-busine- partners ss Chris Schellabarger and Jewett asked the Continued on Page A2 Nurse may file grievances; School discipline hospital declines resignation issues linked to by Janet Lowe staff writer Local registered nurse Laura J. Griffiths claims she Griffiths has been working for the hospital since July of 2001 after moving to Moab from Detroit, Mich., where she was a waa forced to resign her position from the nursing staff at Allen Memorial Hospital because of the guest editorial which was published in The Timeslnde-penden- t on April 4. In a closed discussion between Griffiths and nurse su- nurse at Children's Hospital. During her employment at Allen Memorial she has been subject pervisor Nancy Chsrtier, intimidated into resigning. to no disciplinary action. Shortly after Griffiths resignation, hospital administrator Chuck Davis was made aware that the nurse felt like she was I Griffiths claimed she was intimidated into resigning." I was told that none of the nursing staff would want to work with me after the article I wrote for the new spaper, said Griffiths. She then wrote her resignation on a piece of paper thought this was a strictly voluntary resignation, stated Davis. If there is any notion on an employee's part that it w as not voluntary, or that she felt she w as intimidated into resigning, we want to correct that Griffiths offered a notice, but it w as declined by administration, and she has and handed it to Chartier. two-wee- k Chartier who made arrangements for the nurse to be paid notice period, for the w but not continue orking. two-wee- k Griffiths resignation has not been accepted by hospital been invited to exercise her com- plaints under the hospitals grievance policy, Daria said. If the facts are not there, lets get to the facts," said Dari. I i public attitudes This is the aecond installment of a three-parseries etaminin & the state of the Grand County School District. t by Franklin Beal staff writer During a recent aeries of interviews with The Times Independent, district leaders, staff and parents were asked to grade the Grand County School District, to list its strengths and weaknesses. Superintendent Ron Ferguson generally gave the district I2AE21 CU2 n As, lightly higher marks than it state statistics infer (see last would seem week story). According to Ferguson, Grand gets an A for the way its teacher challenge students. Also, In surveys, when high school graduate are asked w hether they feel well prepared for life after graduation there it an emerging trend of Continued on Page AS |