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Show Page A2 July 4, 2002 U-h- t' Grand to lose $250K in tax revenue following annexation lading b l-- (.hurt h i klttff ritx-- r Grain! (oulily stand to lux al (HX in Ultra and oliit r rrt luu.--t nuw lh.it thr I lth Sujuenn i iiui ('null 1.la (lalfd lilt ay lor lilt iunrv t'ounlv to diiut t tin Grand I lit I 'ouutv oi lion ol Green Kivtr r would the ullt Emery until t.Uion I'ounlv lint to mi lode about 6 tiUO iquuit at n i ol land and would umlt tin' utv ol (iit-- u Km r into one lountv lot tin lirat tune The annex dtloii diie not atletl tla uniiuurpu lull tl town ol Elgin, adjaitnt to Or t n Uiver in (liaiid County On dune 25, liit- states highest louil ovt i turned a Deiemher 2000 lulmg by 7 Uistiut Judge l.yle 1 VI t Audi l anil Unit del laied a state law gov i i u mg the annexation prin ess to lie unionatitutioiial and tossing out a vote by him ry (ounty and (Ireen Kivt r residents approx mg the annex atmn Ander.aon had ruled the slat ute wits a "speual law" i rafted only tor (ill en Kivir Hut the state Su (Heine Court ruled that the statute outlining the pioiess lor county aunt rations is a valid law, noting that lour other lilies in the state also straddle lounty lines The lourt also ruled that the November 2000 vole by Kmery County and (Jreeu Kiver residents in Grand County is valid Grand County nevcrieitified the 35 17 vote, lontending that the slate etatute requires a majority of regls-red vottrs, not a simple majority, in order lor the measure to pass Sime 81 registt red voters resided in the portion of (Ireen Kiver located in (Iraud County, the clerk determined 41 votes were needed to pass the an nexation measure Within 30 days, the State Supreme Court will send the i use bai k to Anderson tor a final ruling "Its going to have a major impact on (Irand County," County Cleik Fran Townsend said Monday "If you lose value, then everybody else will have to pick up the slack So that " could mean an increase in taxes Townsend noted that the county has been hit hard" this year due to a number of lowered revenues includ- ing congressional budget cuts that will reduce federal payments in lieu of taxes by up to $400,000 (see related stories Huge B8) Additional cuts from lost (Ireen Kiver revenues will be hard, d not inifMissible, to absorb, she said (Iraud County currently collects about $328,000 from property tax, transient room tax, county saies tax, restaurant tax, and fees for mosquito abatement, according to a 1909 study - the most recent available - by Cedar City based Meridian ('(insulting (Iroup The study concludes that the effects of annexation on (Irand County will likely result in higher taxes fur residents in the redrawn county, since the cost of county-widserv ices -- including law enfoiiement, e county overhead, ambulance service, fire protection, and travel and tourism promotional expenses - tan only be reduced by about $75,000 fur direct costs now associated with pro- iduig those services to Green River In the big picture, the study estimates that, unless Grand County tan reduce spending on general oveihead and promotional activities county wide, remaining property owners could be asked to pay an additional $1 27 million in property taxes, total" ($254,008 annually to maintain -- ) the needed county revenue. The study asserts that if the county can cut in half its general overhead and promotion activities, property owners could still see taxes increased to makeup a $127,004 annual shortfall treated by the lost revenue from Green River. We do nut believe it w ill be possible fur Grand County to cut the allocated share of overhead and promotion sufficiently to hold remaining property ow ners harmless," the study concludes General county government, at least, will need to continue at about the same level as at present, with or without the annex area " written statement, Grand County Deputy Attorney Scott Barrett, who represented the county In a court battle, lamA basted the ruling jagged and ugly w ill serve county boundary along as a monument to the triumph of polin the long-runnin- g over the Vtah constitution," Barrett w rote. itics County Administrator J udy Bane said the ruling effectively ends the matter. The county has run out of appeals options, and w ill now begin work to transfer the property to Emery County We still cannot be hev e w hat has happened, she said 1 feel for the people in Green River who are being annexed Theyre going to suffer." The 1999 study shows that Green River projierty owners will see their taxes go up by more than 34 percent due largely to the fact they w ill be required to make payments on bonds in Grand County that were passed while Green River was still located in Grand County. As for how the county will deal with the revenue loss from the annexation, Bane said the council has not yet begun to examine the problem. We have to incorporate that into things at budget time and figure out w here to go," she said Weve been hit hard this year, and there may be further hits to come," Bane said, referring to a bill being pushed in the state legislature that would force counties to tax secondary homes as primary residences. Currently, secondary homes are taxed at 100 percent of their value, while primary residences are taxed at 55 percent of v alue. If the bill is approv ed, she said. Grand County, which has a high number of secondary residences, could lose tens of thousands in annual tax revenues. Emery County officials were elated by the ruling. Were very pleased, said Emery County Attorney David Blackwell. This has been an ongoing issue and this ruling puts the issues to bed Blackwell said Emery County officials will begin work immediately to facilitate the transfer of property, but said he doesnt expect the change to take effect until January 2003. That would avoid potential problems with the 2002 budgets for each county, and difficulties that might arise should property owners be forced to pay taxes in two different counties. Blackwell also noted that Emery County currently provides services including some law enforcement costs to the Grand County side of Green River. The 1999 study shows those services cost Emery about $261,000 annually. The annexation will allow Emery to recoup its costs, Blackwell said. Emery County already pays more than it recoups there. This will essentially pay for some of those services," he said. It will help clear up a lot of problems weve had in the past." bombs as they burst is pretty cool, but my neck gets a crick in it from looking straight up. Debns is raining on us A big piece hits Guns, bombs t dehydration: Behind the scenes of the Moab fireworks display by Randy Evans guest writer Moab, Utah July 4 th, 2001 'Uh oti1 There s a fire" We all look toward the blackened mortars and see flames licking high Our fireworks (male lias just faded from the sky and our audience is applauding with headlights and car horns all over ttie valley want to bask I the glory scramble tor a fire extinguisher We usually wait twenty minutes before approaching ttie tiring line time enough to allow any hanghres (shells whose fuses lit but didnt launch) to smolder out or finally shoot But one ot ttie mortar racks is burning so we cautiously creep close enough to douse it with a 30 toot stream from the extinguisher Ttie stink ol burned gunpowder is strong We can see that some of ttie fireworks are still in ttie mortars unfired and could launch at any moment or even explode inside the guns We prudently retreat No fiurry now We II wail Independence Day Sunrise flag raising cannon salute pancake breakfast before tt parade high stepping cuties marching in sync bicycles festooned with crepe paper red white n blue music and laughter and midsurrimer tieat races in I and rides and contests and prizes hot dogs and cotton candy and snow cones, potato salad with chicken or sloppy joes and Jell O cckd watermelon and tnjrne rTiade me cream before If ie fireworks What would the Fireworks' 4th of July be without fireworks? Woo ever thinks about the pyroteefir naans the guys and gais who put on the fireworks show7 Wtiatsour4tho( July e7 I rn up at fc a m . assembling my tools and safety equipment Tt terrerature will hit 1 10 de- grees today I hope tfvee jugs of lemonade Tvee jugs of water of raspberry iced and a 1 tea wiK be enough Dehydration makes you stupid and stupid can get you kild Tt four ot us meet at 7 crew chief Dom Kiffmeyer his brother Joe Kerch Simpson and myself tt s Joe s first shoot and we re g.ad he s with us He is bringing fits Easy-Up- " shade canopy Ttie see gracKusiy loaned to us by its owners Dick arid ry Jane Gczzens is a litte bench above the Grand Valey Cemetery overlooking the entire valley Yesterday a truckload of dry sand was dehvered. into which we will place and stabilize Fe mortar racks It s aiready sunny and hot The desert air is very ta around snag the debris so it ering now It s tine to start dropping shells All the steiis for each rack are strung to a time fuse Each shed must be slid into its mortar and firmly seated against ttie bottom W hen all the guns have been loaded with shells, ttie time f jses must be spiced together so they will ad begm burning at the same instant For this we use quick match fuse ft bums at about one 100 feet per second All ttie muzzles and any exposed fuse mjst be covered with aluminum foil This assures that the sky) are all break- that brand again. The toil does its )ob. The guns keep belching out bombs at an increasingly funous pace as the show builds in excitement and intensity to the finale. Now shells are firing too rapidly to count. The sky is filled with noise and color. The final burst seems to cover the sky Sh fence The last sparks wink out and horns begin to blow aU over town. We see fireworks going off across the valley as individual parties continue their own Independence celebrations. Few of them wi think of the fireworks crew that still has hours of cleanup work to do. The fireworks bombs are all lined up, waiting to be exploded, while below, Randy Evans flashes a smile during preparation. Photos courtesy Joe Kiffmeyer finally have a halt hour ot anticipation to eat some cold pizza and make sure we all have our helmets and eye protection ready It look s like the breeze wi blow debris nght over us Bummer Maybe the wind wi change direction again. Doni radios the fire department to let them know we're a set. They have an engine standing by The fuU moon is up and tf's ten oclock: SHOWTIME We have a slight delay as security (provided by our diligent search and rescue volunteers) moves some people who have parked nght m the fallout zone on Tie cliff edge above us can be dragged up and out of the gun Sometimes i comes up out ot one tube only to drop down into ttie one I just cleaned By the time I'm done. I have a tester on my finger and have f vust ted off a second jug of water We take a break for shade and cool off under the canopy Lunch is here Joe s son Chester prevailed upon the bakery to open their kitctier just to make us some sandwiches We feel special Keith remembers how different this site was on New Years Eve when we were freezing our butts off at the Millennium shoot No one is shiv- in ing low, showering the ground with burning stars. We wont get burn tast on dry Gun powder a day like today The layout plan shows us how many of which size mortar racks will go in each barrage, nearly 700 shots in all Every barrage has various sized shells going up together All the fuses are lit by the flip of a switch 200 feet away Bui that s hours from now It's going to get a lot hotter before then. The sand isn't spread out as well as we had hoped and we have an hour of shoveling and raking in the hot sun Now we can unload the heavy mortar racks out of the big Ryder van But first, several hundred pounds of boxes marked "EXPLOSIVES" must be off loaded and set aside Each rack weighs from 60 to 160 pounds or so They are stacked to the ceiling It is darker, but no cooler inside the truck I've already consumed a half gallon jug of water I drink more We slog through the deep sand with ttie racks a man on each end, and deliver each to its correct spot Now we must firmly embed the racks side by side and nail them togeTier with lumber we brought for bracing Should a detonation blow up a mortar, a rack cant tip over and shoo( into either the crowd or otfier fireworks Sweat is running freely now No ciouds today As ttie last of the racks are being nailed together I begin cleaning ttie mortars of any paper or debris left from a previous shoot My tool is a broomstick with tiny sharp nails poking out sideways from one end These are used to will Keiths hard hat. The Fish Crowds" (shells that send dozens of little stars swimming Keith lights the first shot by hand a military rocket flare that bums bright red as it floats slowly down on its tiny parachute. It tells us which direction the fallout is likely to be blown Right over our heads, tt is sparks won't prematurely ignite any fireworks It s really sad when a spark lights the finale at the beginning of the show Ttie reflection of the sun from the foil is cooking us and we must take care tailing that sweat dripping from our noses doesn 't soak any fuses Us- ing masking tape to fasten the foil m place, we notice that doesn't stick very wed to ttie smoke residue left on the guns from previous shoots We ase a kX of tape i The sun is low m the afternoon sky and we still have a lot yet to do We re ad wilted and lagging m the heat and need to break tor shade more often We wonder how the town's celebration m the park is going One c4 Tie crew suggests that f the fAojtemen lived Moab. they certainly wouldnt have picked July to begin Tie rebellion Suddenly the wind gusts, blowing strong threatening to np ad the tod off We rush to cover Tie finale and some other racks with tarps to help hoid down Tie foil in the wind but we havent enough hands to bold down Tie tarps f how! with frustration Then an angel appears r to give us aid tt s Don's lovely wife Kaki, bringing us homemade pizza No time tor dinner right now Not with Tie hot, dry wind petting sand m our faces while we re Tying to hold everything down Kaki pitches right tn and fetches a kit of rocks to hold the tarps down while we re tod and -- some damaged covering re-ta- We re running out of masking tape For Lizz Brns is written on Tie shed that will side of the txglQ-nc- h finish the show tt is our custom to dedicate the biggest and most beautiful fireworks m the show to the memory of loved ones Lizz was killed m a climbing accident last Spring t pause for a moment to envision her pretty face. The bomb weighs 15 pounds or so and we use rope to lower it into the mortar f splice a piece of time fuse m place, hoping I've correctly estimated Tie length for Tie delay it needs We see. Sunset. Its time to attach eiec-tn- c matches to each barrage and run Tie wires to Tie firing board We test each circuit, then move Tie vehicles out cd Tie talio jt zone and as feared As soon as the flare comes down, Don ftps the first switch and 1 5 shells go up at once to open the show, one of them a big six inch silva- palm. We re a delighted to see what effects our boss, Rick Fuliam (who has been stringing shells tor weeks), has chosen for each barrage He uses top quality shells and displays high art m choosing which fireworks will be breaking in the sky together. Ring" shells and Glitter Palms are always crowd pieasers. Big, "Color- - changing Peonies" get oof and aahs every tune. Some folks like the loud salutes best. My favorite are the Charcoal Willows" that sparkle orange as they slowly Tail to the ground. The last she m each string is a salute (big boom) When we have counted a salute tor each rack in Tie barrage, we know Tat a the shells have been launched and its time to begin the next. -- - Standing right beneath the Some mortars have been blown to pieces We later decide that they contained comets, which develop much higher gas pressure m the mortar than other shells. It was just too much tor the cardboard tubes. In future we only toad comets in plastic guns. After checking each mortar tor unfired shells (we only have six, and a but one can be and used again) begins the real drudgery. Were thankful that Chester has volunteered his strong, young body tor the cleanup. We must pu a the nails, stack ail the lumber, ro up a the wire, load the racks and lumber back in the truck, dean up a the tattered to and fuse remnants and more Tash than you would imagine. The slight breeze is sti hot and dry I dram the last of my jugs. The mortars seem much heavier. They stink of sutfur. We stink of sweat. Tired and sore and dirty we trudge, stumbling back and forth through the deep sand by the light of the moon, our energy depleted, working on sheer wi. The cargo door finally slides shut with a bang. The latch clanks, and t is quiet. Time to break out the lawn chairs, pop open a few cokj ones and review our day We' remember other shoots and reminisce, te a few fireworks tales of terror and wind down. BJt when Joe begins to describe the pleasures of a hot shower and a soft bed we decide to head on nome. 1 want to and send up Tie nicest of the six unfired shells as a parting shot to let the town know the fireworks crew is gom home Net tonight, tt's too hot and dry None of us has the energy to XT out any fires we might start We finally drive away from Tie site at 1 am Seems ke a let of work for just 15 minutes cf ephemera! art But it is good ad Oarrm good. re-fu- se |