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Show 5005 Serving East Juab County - A Nice Place To Live! Volume 92, No. 47 Wednesday, November 30, 1994 10 pages Single Copy Price 500 close B road to limit public access to elk herds new Juab Utah County line DWR wants County to The concern the commission had, said Don Eyre Jr., county s Correspondent attorney, was that the DWR recI ognize the road as public access. The Department of Wildlife If the road were gated for secuResources told Juab County Com- rity reasons, all those with a need missioners the department would to have access to the road would like the right to restrict access to need to be provided with a key. elk herds which winter on a refuge near the old Doc Steele Ranch By Earlier, DWR had gated the road. At the time, Ike Lunt, Myrna Trauntvein county commissioner, had notified DWR of the error. The road on the county sys- is a Times-New- near Mona. John Fairchild, representing DWR, asked commissioners if there was a way the public access oh the road be controlled by a gate. Keys could be provided for those who need them, said Fairchild. and and lock a you loose your funding, said You gate B-ro- ad Randy Freston, county engineer and administrator. He said it was a basic rule of funding in the state of Utah that such roads be kept open to the public. As long as they were open, the funding to maintain them would be available. Fairchild said the DWR would like the road closed to general access from December 1 to ALL BOXED IN Levan Postmaster Sanda Mangelson shows off the new boxes at Levans new Post public 15. April Office located in the Old County Mall building. B-ro- ad See County Road on page 2 Public hearing next Wednesday on county plan general Juab County will be holding they feel should be addressed a public hearing Wednesday, at the hearing. The General Plan will probDecember 7 at 7:00 p.m. in the County Commission Cham- ably take a year to implement, ber, to discuss and set forth a said Glenn Greenhalgh PlanJuab County General Plan. ; ning & Zoning Chair, however Issues of concern will in- we need public input now so clude land use, zoning, and that citizens can have their street planning. Citizens of concerns or needs included in the county are asked to attend the process for inclusion in the 5 and submit any other issues Plan.'- - Levans new Post Office is council will study the now open By Julie Smalley Times-New- s Correspondent Postmaster Sandra Mangelson began receiving and dispersing mail through Levans new post office on Tuesday, November 29, 1994. The office is located in the south side of the Country Mall building, at the intersection of State Highways 73 and 28 in Levan. The Postal Service had decided to remodel the former building (built in 1969) to accommodate the increase in Levans population. They put in a new furnace and had plans to add more P.O. Boxes, as well as replace the cement around the building. These plans changed when the owner of the building refused to fix the Postmaster because she is a The roofhad deteriorated so woman, she replied, Yes, Postmuch that water leaked through master denotes skill. When a all of the light fixtures as well as person has mastered the skills of down the walls whenever it handling, postmarking the mail, and all of the special services, he rained or snowed. , The new office has 400 P.O. she has earned the title of PostBoxes compared to 198 boxes in master. Kathleen Kenison, postmaster the old office, A shortage of approximately 20 boxes has existed leave replacement, has worked in for the past several months. the post office for 3 years. The history of the Postal SerThere are also 30 Parcel Lockers in the new office. This will enable vice in Levan includes 10 postpeople who have parcels or mail masters and 9 different locations. that wont fit into their P.O. Box Most of the earlier post offices to pick them up before or after were located in the postmasters home. Then Postmaster Ivan regular office hours. roof. Sandra Mangelson has been postmaster in Levan for 12 years. She replaced Kenneth Hoyt. She worked as a clerk for 8 years. When asked if her title should be railroad crossing safety issue in upcoming meetings By Times-New- s Myrna Trauntvein Correspondent Nephi City Council members agreed to take a work session to discuss railroad crossing issues in Nephi City. Randy McKnight, city administrator, proposed forming a task force or committee to examine safety questions at the existing crossings in Nephi. This group could include the Dalby erected a small frame city engineer, police chief, and building between Main and First streets superintendent, a repre- -' from Union Pacific, a sentative See Levan Post Office on page 2 representative from UDOT, and City Council talks about financing for buildings at Nephi City Airport By Myrna Trauntvein Tunes-New- s Correspondent Nephi City Council learned a traditional financing security arrangement is not appropriate in providing financing for a hanger being built by Mt. Nebo at the city airport. Bank One is providing financing for the hanger being built at the airport by Mt. Nebo Aviation, said Randy McKnight, city administrator. Because the property where the hangar is being constructed belongs to Nephi City and is leased to Mt. Nebo Aviation, a traditional financing security arrangement is not appropriate, he said. The council would need to enter into an estoppel and consent agreement to allow financing to take place with Bank One. Council members agreed to authorize the mayor, Robert Steele, and the city recorder, J. Co nine Garrett, to execute an estoppel and consent agreement for the benefit of Bank One and Mt. Nebo Aviation. A natural gas purchase con- Aviation, Nephi, POOR COPY tract has been negotiated with the city will be paying. Some projections were that gas Grand Valley Resources allowing sell for as much as $2.10 would to natural Nephi City purchase MMBTU gas. during some per Under terms of the agreement, months. I would recommend we apsaid Randy Anderson, gas department superintendent, Nephi prove the draft agreement with may purchase gas from wells Grand Valley, said Anderson. owned by Grand Valley and loMayor Robert Steele agreed cated in Rio Blanco County, Colo- and also recommended the council approve the agreement. The rado Anderson said the provisions of purchase amount, between 500 the contract call for Nephi to pur- MMBTU per day and 1,000 BTU chase at least 500 MMBTU per per day, was at the citys discreday and up to 1,000 MMBTU per tion, he said. All council members voted in day. This will mean some gas will need to be put into storage favor ofthe action except for Jens or sold to other users, said Mickelson. I would like to know we have a strong commitment to Anderson. The gas can be purchased at sell before I approve, said the price of $1.30 per MMBTU Mickelson. He asked what the worse case for a period of five years, said would be if the city could not reAnderson. e sell the gas. Is there a point Balancing storage and is a major item. In summer we where it doesnt pay to store try to move additional gas into gas T he asked. I would never say that," said storage," said Anderson. In the Anderson. We will have to sell winter we try to pull out." We could sell some of the gas, some but we could sell today. The council then discussed an said Anderson. That could also be of benefit to. the city system. interruptible transportation There are times when gas can be agreement with Northwest Pipesold at a much higher price than line. In order to move gas from the fixed $1.30 per MMBTU that - out-tak- one or more concerned citizens, said McKnight. The group would look at existing signing, lines of sight, y maintenance and weed control and other safety concerns and make recommendations for. improvements, he said. The task force is a good idea, said Milt Harmon, council member. However, he said, he thought the city council should be the right-of-wa- task force. Nephi Mayor Robert Steele said he would be willing to work on such a task force. Most crossings are unmarked, said Harmon. Stop signs should at least be put up at the crossings. McKnight pointed out that over the past few years severed issues had arisen related to railroad crossing safety. Union Pacific and the Utah Department of Transportation have proposed the closing of the Center Street and other crossings and the upgrading of S.R. 132 and the 2nd Grand Valley wells onto the South said Crossings, Questar system, Nephi City will McKnight. need to utilize Northwest Another issue was Union PaPipelines gas transmission line, cific removing the parallel tracks said Anderson. through part of Nephi and the of the Moroni Feed The contract will allow Nephi improvement loading siding. to move whatever quantities purcouncil had An issue the chased from Grand Valley opposed withoutcity result, he said, through Northwest into the was Union Pacific unilaterally Questar system for delivery to raising the speed of trains pass- Payson gate without a reserva- ing through Nephi over the protion charge required by a firm tests of the city council and resitransportation agreement. dents. The recent tragedy at a city Council members agreed to railroad crossing in which two authorize the agreement with young high school students were Northwest Pipeline for interrupt- killed is one of the problems the ible transportation. city has been concerned about, Larger volumes are easier to said McKnight. There have been market, said Don Eyre Jr., city several other accidents and near misses at crossing in or near attorney. In an effort to reserve the possibility of eventually having a firm transportation contract with Northwest Pipeline, a firm transportation agreement can be signed now to be activated at a future date, said Anderson. Council members agreed to authorize Mayor Robert Steele to execute an agreement with Northwest Pipeline. Another concern was the load-in- g of gypsum near the Center Street crossing and the Union Pacifics requirement that Center Street be closed during the loading activities. The Nephi City Council should its concerns, about train speeds in writing to re-sta- te Union Pacific and should also contact other cities where train speeds are an issue to see if a united effort can have increased effectiveness, said McKnight. Harmon said he thought the city was extremely fortunate there had not been more deaths. People traveling back and forth across the railroad tracks on a daily basis had had some close calls. McKnight suggested city council members invite a representative from Union Pacific and one from UDOT to meet with the council and explain the rationale for closing the Center Street crossing and also how crossing safety can be enhanced at other crossings. Council members agreed they should conduct a work session devoted to the topic. We could discuss the other issues with them too, said Chad Brough, council member. One problem which the city council needs to address, said Milt Harmon, city council member, is the large tractor-traile- r units parked along Nephi City streets. The people driving them use them to make a living and are residents of Nephi. They certainly have a right to use the streets. However, said Harmon, sometimes drivers park too close to the comers of intersections. You cannot see around the corner to observe traffic, he said. Nephi." A recent accident on Main The city had received complaints from residents near the Street was caused by the blocked tracks about safety problems and view of the driver who could not property damage from trains see around the semi-truc- k traveling at the new speed, he parked at the comer until it was too late. said. Other problems, he said, were There was also, he said, the concern the city and county had about the effect on the fairgrounds if the Center Street See City Council on page 2 crossing was closed. |