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Show ;r r.C Serving East Juab County Volume 94, No. 7 -A I, I1 Nice Place To Live! Wednesday, February 14, 1996 12 pages Single Copy Price 500 City sewer system will be adequate for the next few years, council hears By Times-- N Myrna Trauntvein ews Correspondent Nephi City Council members re- viewed the city sewer system at Tues- days meeting, a state requirement, and found the system to be more than ade- quate for the next few years. The council was asked to carefully review the report which will be submit- ted to the Utah Water Quality Board, The state uses the information for ranking for sewer improvements, said Randy McKnight, city administrator. said communities were required by state law to make certain the infor-mation was and that the water board would then compile a of communities, according to need, where improvements were needed. Our system is ten years old and the treatment system is in good condition, said McKnight. The system was ade- quate to handle the current growth spurt and was good for the near future. year we had 41 new residential sewer connections and two new com- mercialindustrial connections, said Approximately 130 new people were served. Roy Tolley is the superintendent over the system and three collection system operators are employed by the city. The te city has a written annual preventative maintenance program, a written emer- gency response plan and a written safe ty plan. The system was graded as good to excellent for the past year. Two times, last year, there was sewage backup in basements in the community for other than plugging of lateral connections, said McKnight. Those backups were caused by clogged main lines, he said. The council is planning to improve line extensions in the next ten years, said McKnight. Inside town, said McK-H-e night, some lines are smaller than the rest. Those are lines which are older, Most lines, however, are in good condi-stat- e tion and are able to serve the com mu-linity, he said. The lines for the sewer system wt 'e laid in 1950, said Robert Steele, mayo.', The system is in excellent condition and will serve well for the next five years, said Steele, The time will come to make a sion to take water out of the lagoons for certain types of irrigation or to add a cell for more service for a larger lation, said McKnight. If the decision is made to add a discharge system or st deci-La- st popu-McKnig- Continued on page 2 Coimdfl extends eatairafl gas appliance Incentive program for the near ffuntinre By Myrna Trauntvein Times-New- s Correspondent The natural gas appliance incentive program adopted by the city council in November will be continued for the near future. Before the program was adopted, progress was negligible, said Randy McKnight. Other than new homes, the process of the owners of existing homes adding additional appliances to their homes was small. After the initial rush of people adding some gas appliances to their existing homes had died down, there had been little additional done. From November 1 to February 2, there have been a significant number of residents adding on gas appliance, said McKnight, so, I think we can consider the program a success. During that amount of time, 20 residents had added a gas furnace to their homes, 21 had added a water heater and six had added a dryer. No residents had taken advantage of the program to add a gas cook stove, he said. Eventually, you will have to set an ending date, said McKnight. However, council members agreed to allow the program to continue for a while longer. The program allows a rebate to all those who have the gas system running to their homes to add more appliances and receive a rebate from the city. A receipt for the cost of the appliance must be submitted at city hall before the rebate is allowed. Tree roots are not the only problem city crews fight in keeping the city sewer open. And, in addition to tree roots, it isnt just a rubber ducky that city crews find in Hie sewer lines of the city they find toys, softballs, 2X4s, and empty plastic milk jugs among other strange items. It is no laughing matter to find such items in the system. Of course, children might be responsible for flushing Bmall toys down the toilet but the adults in the city are the ones who put the majority of trash into the system. The city sewer collection system continues to have problems which are caused by residents. We do, from time to time, continue to have challenges, said Randy McKnight, city administrator. We sent out a flyer with the utility bills to explain what a sewer will and will not handle. One problem, he said, is grease. If cooking grease is poured down the drain while it is hot, it does not look like much of a problem because it appears to be liquid. However, it congeals in the pipes and causes blockages, said McKnight. We have found some odd things at the lagoons and in plugged lateral lines and in main sewer lines, said Robert Steele, mayor. One of the oddities, he said, was plastic milk jugs. The jugs, sometimes, made it through the city collection lines if they were moved along by high water pressure in the lines. I think the jugs might come from those who build unauthorized lines so they can drain their trailer systems, said Milt Harmon, city council member. Children might drop the jugs into the unauthorized lines as they play, he said. But, aquarium rock does not help the sewer system when it is flushed down the home commode and nether do paper towels and baby wipes. They all can clog the system, said McKnight. Some people try to dispose of material scraps from sewing projects by flushing them, said McKnight. This can cause problems for neighbors when it blocks the system further down the line. You would wonder, though, how a make it through the homes lines to find its way into the main sewer lines, said Steele. But, he said, that has happened. 2X4 could All these items can cause blockages of the home owners lines or of their neighbors, said McKnight. City council members approved two business licenses at Tuesday meeting. Western Interior, 50 South Main and owned by William Lamb, will be allowed to operate from the Main Street address as any other business in the city. A business. Stone Age, which does landscaping and rock sales, was approved with a rider. The business, owned by Mike and Holly McPhilomy at 355 South Main, must comply with outside storage requirements. There must be no displays on the park strip or curb area and landscaping or opaque t screening must be added to shield other outside storage from view. Nephi City and the Nephi Planning Commission have completed the preliminary draft of the Nephi City General Plan and are now in the process of taking the draft to the community to discover what the residents think of the ideas presented. The next hearing has been tentatively set for March 12. The earliest the council could adopt the plan would be on March 19, depending on the comfort level the council has with the document, said Randy McKnight, city administrator. Then, the implementation tools will follow the adoption, he said. Several headings cover topics such as the regional setting, historic background, natural features, population and demographics, population projections, current land use, holding capacity, public facilities and services, streets and circulation, Housing, economic base analysis, land use ordinances, values and goals, and policy statements. The document has 74 pages of text and the planning commission has also prepared a draft General Plan Recommendations Map. Areas for low density residential properties, higher density residential properties, a central business district, com- - mercialIndustrial, highway commer- for future projects, he said. The budget will be approximately cial, residentialcommercial mix and light industryresidential mix have been $55,000 for the initial studies. Of this, the city will need to contribute approxplanned, said McKnight. Nephi City Council members were given copies of the draft general plan for Juab County and were asked to read the document before the hearing to be held on Thursday, February 15, in commission chambers at 7 p.m.. We made a copy of the plan for each of you to review, said Randy McKnight, city administrator. The commission would like a member of each community in the county to be present at the hearing on the 15th. We would encourage you to read the draft by then, said McKnight. There are a lot of things in the plan which need our said Robert Steele, mayor. That is what a plan is all about. This is a plan the county will put into use for the next 10 to 15 years to help them make decisions. Nephi City Council members authorized the mayor and the city staff to apply for federal grants for city airport projects. We need the council authorization before we can apply, said Robert Steele, mayor. TTie money, he said, if received, would help the council determine policy at the airport. This will help us currently and up-da- te in-pu- t, imately $2,500. That should be our local share, said Steele. A businessmen in the community, Mike McPhilomy, would like to meet with the city to discuss the condition of the old theater on Main Street. However, he could not be present at the meeting on Tuesday, though his name was on the agenda. McPhilomy has a concern about the old theater and would like to talk to the council about his concerns, said Robert Steele, mayor. The building was gutted by fire more than ten years ago. It has stood, in much the same condition, since that time. The county commission, who received the property following the fire, sold the facility to a local businessman. At the time, commissioners had discovered tearing down the facility would be a costly venture. The problem was construction used with the when the building was attached to other buildings on either side. The condo project, much like the one side-wa- ll Continued on page 2 Council hears that a womens slow pitch softball league in starting up owned fields for the tourney. The boys should be done by then. s Correspondent They also did not want to run competition for the' regular season for the womens softball league womens softball league which has been h A for the women of the east Juab area is playing for many years. Im sure you can use a field, said in the planning stages. Linda Allen, spokes person for the Robert Steele, Nephi mayor. Raymond planned league, asked Nephi City Coun- Nielsen has been over the scheduling. cil members if it would be a possibility We havent talked to him about doing for the women to use one field one night the scheduling again this year and Chad Brough, who is the council mema week. So far, we have four teams, said ber over recreation, is absent tonight." Steele said he would appreciate Allen Allen. Allen said the women have also talking to Brough about the proposal. planned a tournament for August 1, 2, But Im sure we can work you in. Allen also wondered about the fee for and 3 and would like to use the city- By Myrna Trauntvein Times-New- slow-pitc- use of the field and for use of the fields during the proposed tournament. She said there was also a possibility the women could use the Mona fields but would still like to use the Nephi field one night a week. There is a cost of $25 per team for use of the fields. There is not an additional fee if the tournament is played during the season, said Randy McKnight, city administrator. He said the council had never set a fee for use of the fields for just a tournament and would need to do so if the h teams wanted only to use the city fields for the tournament. slow-pitc- |