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Show December 8, 1998 Tuesday rrs 98th Year - No. 49 Castle Dale, Utah 500 Credit unions join to fight court ruling Petitions being signed to allow the introduction of a "peoples initiative into the state legislature By COLE CLARKE In response to the recent court Legislators met with Emery County school officials to discuss issues of concern to the school district. See page 3A inion Doris is concerned about wilderness in Emery County and is striving to gain more knowledge on the subject. Doug and Paula are back with more childhood antics and good advice for the home. And the bank vs. credit union debate rages on. See page 6A-8- A rorHiinifiTiW decision limiting credit union membership to single counties, the Utah League of Credit Unions is asking credit union members to sign a petition which will accompany an initiative to be introduced into the state legislature. If the petition contains signatures of at least 5 of the registered voters in Utah the bill becomes a peoples initiative and, by law, must be voted on by the legislature. Mike Milovich, president of Carbon Credit Union described the initiative as, taking existing law and modifying it to allow credit unions to continue operating the way the have since 1982. He further added that he is puzzled, as to why they the banks think were such a thorn in their side. ..banks have continued to grow significantly since 1982 while credit unions have s of grown a mere two-tenth- Wild animals killed by cars, Sports Chat with Gary Arrington and big fish caught at Joes Valley are just a sampling of the stories on our Sports and Outdoors pages. See page 3B & 9B one-percen- t. Credit union officials are hoping that members will rally in a grass roots effort to provide more than the required 5 to send a clear message to the state legislature. The current law, as recently inter- preted Texaco gives by credit unions to a membership base of one county or employment group. According to Lisa Howell, Director of Communications of the Utah League of Credit Unions, the decision came as a result of a lawsuit filed by banks in 1993. Credit unions have been operating outside of single counties since 1982 as a result of a decision by the Utah Department of Financial Institutions which changed their regulations to allow credit unions to expand. This is the same body that also regulates banks. Credit union officials are hoping that the peoples initiative approach will create enough awareness and support to provide the legislature with a clear view of what, they believe, is the will of the people. In order to meet requirements 34,554 signatures of registered voters are needed statewide. Carbon County needs 402 signatures and Emery County needs 210. Petitions are available at local credit unions and signatures are needed by December 10. Members have already begun signing the petition. When asked why he is signing it, Earl Jones PROGRESS PHOTOCole Clarke said, Banks dont like competition is the impression I get, and Lorrie Dennison, a Desertview Federal Credit Union employee, signs a ( Continued on page 2 A) petition which will be presented to the state legislature. state-chartere- Progress Assistant Editor the courts, restricts $5,000 d to Ferron Elementary playground fund By COLE CLARKE last Wednesday, almost doubled Many of the playgrounds at Emery County Schools no longer meet Principal Kathy Petersen contacted Gary Cox at Texaco Corporation who submitted her request for assistance to a board. The re- Progress Assistant Editor current safety and liability guidelines. In an effort to conform to a upgrade plan, Ferron Elementary has been aggressively raising funds to bring their equipment up to par. Since fundraising efforts began the school has raised $6,000 and, that amount. sponse from Texaco was an unexpectedly generous $5,000. Petersen stated that the new playground equipment will cost around $40,000 and that the donation from Texaco was a big boost the their efforts. On hand for the presentation were Ron Wirth, production supervisor for Texacos Orangeville Operation, and Steven Prince who is the executive director of the Castle Valley Gas Producers Council. Texacos operations are growing in Emery County and as profits begin to increase so will the benefits to the local economy. The Gas Producers Council is a consortium of local gas producers whose goal is to promote the gas industry in Emery and Carbon Counties and to help educate the public concerning the industry. The Ferron Elementary student council consisting of Dane Worwood, Jesse Housekeeper, Taylor Jensen, Mallory Knop and Kayla Carter represented the students at the presentation and student body president Dane Worwood thanked Mr. Wirth for Texacos contribution to the new playground equipment. Despite the fact that operations in Emery County have not reached peak levels of profitability, the corporation has also donated money to the new equipment at Orangeville City Park and to the local D.A.R.E. program. Emery Telephone receives electronic leadership award Emery Telephone was awarded the Electronic Community Leadership Award as part of the Carbon County Internet and Technology Expo on November 19. The award was presented by Senator Mike Dmitrich to Greg Killpack, Emery Telephones General Manager at the executive Breakfast held prior to the Expo. The award was given by Smart Utah, which is a nonprofit organization created by Governor Leavitt to promote technology usage throughout the State. Emery Telephone was chosen to receive the honor because of its outstanding leadership in the promotion of electronic communities in the Carbon and Emery area. Less than ten other businesses and individuals throughout the state have received this prestigious award since its inception in 1996. According to Greg Killpack, General Manager, We are excited to receive this award. I think it demonstrates people are beginning to that recog- nize some of the things Emery Telephone is doing to improve our community. We are committed to providing the same level of telecommunications service in Castle Country that residents in Metropolitan areas receive. Emery Telephones high level of commitment to its customers has enabled it to accomplish significant growth in a short period of time. The company has grown from 13 Employees in 1993 to over 60 today. During this same time, Emery assets have inTelephones creased by 78 percent. Emery Telephone was organized in 1952 by the residents of Emery County to create a modern, affordable telephone system for rural residents. Today, Emery Telephone serves approximately 4,700 local telephone customers and thousands of others through its subsidiary companies. These include Long Distance, Customer Service, Business Telephone Systems and a new venture which will bring competition to the local telephone market in Carbon County next year. Ferron City, water company honored Ferron Canal and Reservoir Darrell Gardner, Merrill Duncan Company along with Ferron City and Roger Barton, with Hal have been awarded the Out- Lemon as Secretary-Treasure- r and Zone Coordinator. standing Cooperator of the Year As the Irrigation company and award by the San Rafael Soil Conservation District (SCD) and the the SCD met, it was determined Utah Association of Conservation that an Irrigation Coordinator was needed to seek funds for the Districts. This award is presented to project. The Irrigation company those people or organizations approached Ferron City to rethat contribute to the conserva- quest financial assistance, as this tion of water and soil. irrigation project would have an In 1996 stockholders of Ferron impact on the city. Canal and Reservoir Company Pressurized irrigation would had a desire to improve their irri- improve water efficiency from the gation system. Their biggest ob- current 30 percent to as high as stacle was money. After seeking 90 percent, thus increasing the help from various local groups, amount of water available to the Irrigation company ap- Ferron Citys own water stock. It would also eliminate the proached the SCD for help. Dane Worwood, Jesse Housekeeper, Taylor Jensen, Mallory Knop and Kayla Carter pose with Ron Wirth and Steven Prince on the old slide which is scheduled to be removed. Most of the old playground equipment has already been dismantled. poor copy MaipwllllIPWlSl' r 1'' W Win '"!9WI and Ferron City agreed to con- tribute $10,000 each toward the project. The Soil Conservation District was also able to obtain a $10,000 grant from the state Utah Association of Conservation Districts funds. With this money an irrigation coordinator was hired. Initially Mark Young of Castle Dale was hired, but now Brett Behling fills this position. SCD enlisted the help of the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), an arm of USDA, who works directly with the SCD to carry out its objectives. NRCS, with Gary Roeder as district conservationist, has the technical skills and staff to deThe SCD is comprised of five Molen Ditch, an open canal, run- sign the project. Randy Bradbury, locally elected individuals given ning through the city and would Tony Beals and other staff memthe charge of protecting the soil help dry up other wet areas of the bers are doing the design work. A preliminary design was deand water in the watershed of city caused by canal seepage and western Emery County. The flood irrigation. veloped and the funding source d Ferron Canal and Reservoir became the Bureau of present board members are Clyde on page 4A) Magnuson, Richard Snowball, Company (Irrigation company) Reclama-(Continue- |