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Show Bianding welcomes natural gas system Bianding City officials inaugurated a new $4.5 million natural gas project at ribbon-burning- cere- " monies on November 21. The construction project, which began on July 18, was completed several weeks ahead of plan. The first natural gas appliances were approved and running on November 19. the first Bianding residents hooked into the new natural gas system. Don't miss Staff photo the special natural gas supplement beginning on page seven. The San Juan Record HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER FOR SAN JUAN COUNTY, UTAH SINCE 1915 30 cents Vol 79 No 8 November 30,1994 Residents have signed-u- p for approximately 1,000 Natural gas properties. lines will be installed to each property in the next several months. Residents have six months to buy and install a natural gas appliance. At that time, they will be charged for natural gas access whether or not they are using gas. Because of the expected rush, appliance dealers and plumbers are gearing up for a busy winter season. This edition of The San Juan Record includes an natural gas eight-pag- e sup- plement, with a number of advertisements and articles. strict set of regulations govern the installation of natural gas appliances. In A addition to other requirements, black pipe is required to carry the natural gas. Lines should be able to carry 20 pounds of pressure for five minutes. Systems should be correctly installed and tested before the city is called to install a meter. Truitt Purcell is the Bianding City natural gas superintendent. Chad Perkins is the natural gas foreman. The City of Bianding encourages residents to be aware of regulations and take steps to ensure the safety of the system. Natural gas lines now run throughout the city. Residents should call before digging. The city telephone number is In addition, city officials remind residents to call if they smell natural gas. 801-678-279- 1. San Juan County ramps onto information superhighway New sections of road on the electronic superhighway allow the center to handle more inmates. are being paved in San Juan County, thanks to can use the system to do Health service providers agnostic work di- Utah and computerized SLC wants bulk of the airline mobile asset taxes paid in Utah cur- riculum. Dr. Ralph Pomeroy, project director for the CEU-SJ- technology grants to the San Juan School District and College of Eastern Utah San Juan Campus. Area schools, government physicians at remote tions can access high tech diagnostic equipment. Government agencies can agencies and eventually, individuals and busines- share resources. tor. Access to the superhighway means that local busi- He served as superintendent of the Queen Creek Unified School District in -- ses, will have local access to the unlimited information resources of the information superhighway. The San Juan School District currently is laying fiber optic lines in Monti-cellBianding, and Montezuma Creek. This new system will work with existing telephone infrastructure and microwave relay stations to provide access to some of the most remote areas in the country. Monument Valley High School is the first school in the district hooked into the o, system. Diagrams on page 17 show the schools and government agencies which will be connected to the system. Individuals wanting to access the superhighway will be able to hook-i- n at branches of the San Juan County Library or through personal computers at home with the use of a modem. Potential uses for the in- formation superhighway are almost limitless. The Public Safety Building in Monticello will use the system to educate inmates. The expanded educational capabilities will whereby information share loca- and nessmen can have ready access to critical information as soon as anyone else. Stock brokers could be as effective working on a computer and modem in San Juan County as if they were on Wall Street. Time frames vary for implementing the system, but schools, agencies, and businesses county-wid- e will see increased access to technology within a year. The school district system will connect every school in the district, in addition to the Aneth Community School and, eventually, the Navajo Mountain school. CEU-SJwas awarded a $2.7 million Star Schools grant for the current fiscal year. The Bianding campus can apply for another $2.7 million next year. C The Star School project is a partnership between CEU, the San Juan School District, the Aneth Community school and the Utah Educa- tion Network (Ednet). The intent is to improve instructional ming for K-1- 2 programand college students in southeastern Star Grant, was C se- lected from among five applicants. He has 25 years experience as a teacher and public school administra- Phoenix for the past 17 years. The first component of Star Schools is to develop a dual channel telecommunications delivery system, complete with microwave towers, transmitting studios, and receiving classrooms. dean Lynn Lee, CEU-SJmuch of development, says of the first component is in C place or under development. The proposal calls for completion of the first component by September, 1995. The second component is instructional programa computerized ming using curriculum development instruclab. tional materials will be developed by teachers with asMulti-medi- a sistance of an instructional design specialist. Courses will be transmitted to eight classrooms. Sites include reservation classrooms in Aneth, Mon- tezuma Creek, and Monument Valley. The lab is scheduled for completion by (Please turn to page 17) A proposal by Salt Lake City to the Utah State Tax Commission would divert the bulk of airline mobile asset taxes to the city. Losers would be all Utah ci- ties and counties that currently receive a portion of tax revenue paid by airlines using ground and air space in Utah. Severely critical of the methodology adopted by the Salt Lake City Mayors Business Advisory Task Force, San Juan County Commissioner Bill Redd has asked that the same methodology be used for severance taxes and mineral lease monies. In a November 4 letter to the appeals section of the Tax Commission, Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corradini wrote: The Mayors Business Advisory Task Force voted to support the Citys effort to seek adoption of the proposed rule presently before you. Clearly the assessed value of the subject property (airline mobile assets) should be apportioned consistent with its substantial presence in Salt Lake City. The City intends to follow the direction of the Task I strongly en Force ... courage your consideration of the Task Forces recom- mendation and your favorable consideration of the Citys position. In a letter to each of the 32 members of the Task Force, Commissioner Redd wrote, If substantial presence or major impact are the more equitable and just method for tax apportionment, then surely you and your city will support the same methodology for severance taxes and mineral lease monies. I would appreciate your support for this in the 1995 Legislature." L. Brent Gardner, execu- tive director of the Utah Association of Counties, notes that the Task Force membership list shows a number of banks, CPA firms, utility companies, and other orga- nizations whose market area and customer base extends well beyond the boundaries of Salt Lake For some reason, they have chosen to support the position of one of their clients and customers over many others. Task Force membership, which Commissioner Redd says reads like a whos (Please turn to page 20) City. |