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Show Emery County Ij Tuesday, November 30 15, 1988 Cents Volume 89 No. 46 County asked to adopt roads i ByS.K. DAVIS 7, Staff writer On Thursday, Nov. 10 representatives for the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) met with the county and other commissioners county officials to discuss the possibility of Emery County taking over some of the state roads in the area. i Howard Richardson, operations engineer; Dyke LeFevre, district director of the Price area; Mark Musuris, engineer for transportation planning; and statewide f planning engineer for Utah, John Quick, were present to get the countys view on the proposal. Mr. Quick presented the commissioners with a mapped study that was prepared by the Committee of Traffic and Saftey along with the Committee of i The Transportation. Legislature approved the study to access the roads in the state that werent being maintained by the people who use them the j i most. The formula for determining the use of roads is based 54 percent on population, of 1,000 residents; 14 percent on land ) area; and 32 percent on road mileage. The Commission of Cities and Counties used examples of state roads as being the interstate routes, including some roads that involve excess of 1,000 as in populations well as some of the major arterial roads and selected major recreation area routes. County roads were identified as being local, subdivision, city streets, as well as some of the major inner-communi- ty recreation county include part of SR-2- 9 up to Joes Valley, part of SR-5the coal haul road, and Route 155 through Cleveland. Quick said that the Legislature could go ahead and do this but UDOT wants to get feedback from the individual counties before any action is taken. All information is to be compiled by January so and major in- tercounty roads. Road mileage is the main factor in the condition of the roads and used to be the criteria for assessing the jurisdiction between state and county roads. It has since been changed to reflect population as the determining factor for the states distribution of B and C that the Transportation Committee can make the resolution to the Legislature next fall, before the 1990 session. Emery County Engineer Craig Johansen asked where the population figures for the Cleveland area came from, stating that the number was not in line with the actual number of people using the road. The figures were taken from a 1986 census that listed the population of Cleveland at 560, and 350 for Elmo. It did not include the outlying farms and ranches in the area which contribute an estimated 300 more residents. That would put the figure over the guideline of 1,000 population. Mark Musuris indicated that the figures only represented the incorporated areas of Cleveland and Elmo. Johansen pointed out that the county doesnt have the money to fix up the proposed roads which are considered high impact areas. Emery County emptied before individual returning to the yard at the end of the day, he said. Another factor is multi-us- e by tourists to and the the desert going Dinosaur Cleveland-Lloy- d Quarry. UDOT said that they could not justify the use of two state roads in the area, just one. counties. The proposed roads in Emery County that the state is considering turning over to the Thompson asked what would happen if the county just said That is for the no. monies to the Commissioner Clyde the roads. Transportation and Planning Engineer Mark Musuris said, No one has enough money to take care of these roads. The feeling of the committee is that if they remain state roads, they Legislature to decide. Quick said, adding, Emery County is not alone in not wanting the roads Road Department Supervisor Rex Funk pointed out that the deterioration of the roads in that area was attributed to more than just usage by county residents. He cited the impact that the coal trucks that are based in Cleveland, where their coal yards are located, have on the roads. Thirty percent of the coal trucks going through Cleveland are loaded and havent UDOT officials recently met with the Emery County Commission to discuss transferring state roads to county jurisdiction. Left to right are Howard Richardson, Other counties feel the same way, indicating that San Juan and Cache counties are the least receptive of the idea. Commissioner Jerry Mangum asked about the possibility of funding and was told that the county needs to make recommendations about the needed repairs before they would be expected to accept them. That would not necessarily mean that they be up to state standards, but to the standards set by the county. Rex Funk also pointed out that the road up to Joes needs Valley, particulary SR-5to meet federal standards as well as state. Interstate commerce is responsible for the tearing up of the road, he said, adding that coal trucks as well as private vehicles belonging to residents who own land and cabins in the Joes Valley area are also contributing to the deterioration of would deteriorate. If they are turned over to the counties the local cities could put more money into them than the state. He indicated the mineral lease monies that Emery County receives could possibly be used. The trouble with that is there are already several requests for the money from other groups, Commissioner Thompson said. He is also concerned that our being able to use the mineral lease money would somehow decrease the budget of the Price district, and it would be penalized for Emery Countys additional funds. We shouldnt have to use our mineral lease money to maintain our roads while other counties who dont get mineral lease money would have to be subsidized by UDOT. 7, ty engineer; Dyke Lefevre, district director, Price area; Mark Musuris, engineer for transportation planning; and John Quick, state-wid- e planning engineer. operations shouldnt be penalized because we receive funds through mineral lease. I didnt mean to imply that you had to use your mineral lease money for this. It is an alternative you have that other counties dont, Musuris said. County Attorney Scott Johansen added, The first thing Gov. Bangerter said after was that he he was was going to reduce property taxes. Thats all we have for revenue in Emery County. If the property tax is reduced and we take over these roads from the state; we wont have the money to maintain them, or bring them up to standard. Adjustments in state roads were made 25 years ago and it is time for an There are The money that the state receives from drivers license fees and gas pumps is assessed and distributed throughout the state. The money that doesnt go to maintainance goes into a 600 proposed miles to come off Mr. Quick suggested the commission get in touch with area representatives connected with the Legislature for help and suggestions. They need to have the proposed package ready before the end of We ed up-dat- the state budget and 200 miles to go on. It is a matter of equity to the Legislature in an effort to establish a format for adjustments. Idaho and Oregon are also involved in similar studies of state roads. 1 mint mift nnUi jufftit rffti hi .mil mnrt mff iff rf nflff nflff irHmlltnnT irfTttmti mt niHii (Iffii ifirTnuiiWiftii mti ifti e. MliiWiiiitawiaiiiilW MB construction fund for new roads. The public point of view is that the state needs to set a standard statewide that is not necessarily based on population although it may hurt rural areas. Rex Funk asked that the proposed roads, approximately 38 miles in Emery County, two miles of which are in East Carbon, be rated and brought up to county standard before being accepted. It was also suggested that there is a need to get UP&L involved in the funding due to the high impacted coal haul routes. January. |