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Show Serving East Juab County - A Nice Place Volume 101, No 14 To Live! Single Copy Price Wednesday, April 9, 2003 www.nephitimesnews.com Proposed rail line, Mona ordinances Levan to Salina, will and resolutions to be studied, clarified and filed for reduce truck traffic; public is invited to make comments By easier access and Myrna Trauntvein Correspondent understanding Times-New- s By It is time to make thoughts known in the environmental Times-New- review process concerning the e k Commissioners agreed that all interested'citizens should be invited to make comments during this process. Anybody who has a comment is invited to send those comments to the board, Robert Steele said. It is anticipated that the community of Levan will directly benefit from the railroad because, once it is constructed, it will reduce the truck travel through the community. Rutson did not make a specific estimate of the number of trucks passing through Levan on a daily basis. Most segments of these loads currently carry 750 trucks per day, with 1,500 tucks passing through downtown Salina each day at a rate of about one truck per minute, said Rutson. Reducing the number of trucks on these roads would decrease roadway congestion and increase the quality of life through towns impacted by the travel. Not only will truck traffic through communities be reduced by the rail line, but road surfaces and he thought that council wranted to know what ordinances LOOKING TO THE SUN These Daffodils in the yard of Scott Ashworth were in full bloom on Tuesday as the clear sky s brought back the sun and warmer temperatures. The weather man is calling for highs in the 7()'s through Saturday, with storms returning the first of next iceek. Get out and enjoy Spring is our advice Mona City takes a serious look at fairness of requiring a quarter share of irrigation water to accompany every building permit application before approval By Myrna Trauntvein Correspondent Times-New- s Can or cannot Mona require a quarter share of irrigation water from anyone proposing to build in the city? That is the question, and once again, there seems to be contro- versy surrounding the answer. Council members, Doran Kay member, said that requiring quarter share of irrigation water accompany every building permit application before it a would be approved may not be fair. We may be closing up the community to building," she said. Right now that much water would cost $10,000 if anyone would sell. and Harry Newell, who both are That figure represented the in Mona holders share Irrigawill have longer life. The wear and going price for water in the is tion think there area. Company, tear on state roads and interstate Most cities where water is irrigation water enough that highways will be decreased. On July 30, 2001, the Six some will be available for sale required with a building permit have plenty of water to sell by landowners. County Association of GovernCory Squire, council member, to begin with. That is why it is ments (SCAOG), which is made said the council had agreed to considered legal in such locaup of Sevier, Juab, Sanpete, Miland lard, Piute, Wayne Counties, notice the proposed changes to tions, because there is a lot of to Surface the applied Transpor- the ordinance and so he was pre- available water for sale. Pleasant Grove has a water tation Board for authority to con- pared to do so. Nevertheless, the line council postponed taking that requirement but they also have struct and operate a seven canals and water from of new single-tracstep for a while longer. rail line. If we put such an ordinance Strawberry that comes to the The line would operate in Sanin place, we need to be able to community so it is not a hardpete, Sevier and Juab Counties. stand up to the legal test that ship to purchase water there, The proposed line begins at will come, said Rick Schnurr, said Schnurr. the connection with Union Pacific council member. Our decision Water cannot be purchased Railroads mainline near Levan, be has defendable. to from outside the drainage area legally said Howarth. He said he had contacted transferred to Mona as and then The connection at Union Pacific Phil the in the reverse. For be done can Lowry, would be a between the Juab and citys attorney, he found had still some and that he said, water which example, Sharp Sidings, where the track the about Mona drainage to concerns in the proposal would then travel southward originated irof sold share be to someone could Resand east of Chicken Creek require system ervoir. The rails would generally rigation water be dedicated to in Santaquin or Gonhen because follow a path near an existing the lot of every home built in the water drained that way but it could not be sold by someone power transmission line that the future. who was in and the Schnurr, appointed the of center Juab Santaquin or Go-hgoes through transferred to by Mayor Bryce Lynn to review Plain. Juab Plain consists of the val- the proposal, said he had found Mona. Water can be transferred ley between the South Hills to the out that Mona is considered a west and the Skinner Peaks area "closed water district. That from the Nephi area to Mona." means that the resource in the said Kay. to the east. The proposed railroad then valley where Mona is located Nevertheless, he said, water laws are as will never was a limited that expand runs parallel with the Easter structured needed today. to be guarded and the boundary of Yuba Reservoir and "I understood that you were requirement that every home continues east of the reservoir until it reaches the point at which not supposed to go to Lowry but in Mona which is built in the the reservoir narrows at a point to a water attorney," said Kay. future have a quarter share of Schnurr said that was to water to he dedicated to the lot known as Yuba Hills. The line He would also contact it was built on was just sound come. then continues south, west of Utah Association of Towns and planning. Yuba. Cities and find out what their What happens if the city canstaff had to say about the not supply the water needs of legal See Rail on page 2 the residents of the community proposal. Darlene Fowkes, council in the future?" he asked. 43-mil- s Mona City Council accepted a proposal to make the ordinances of the city more accessible to the council and others. Everd Squire, city treasurer, said he would take on the job of educating the council so that they knew the ordinances and resolutions and could understand the requirements of each. At a time wrhen we are experiencing the kind of growth, which we face at this time, there is a great responsibility on council members to make decisions, said Squire. He said the decisions made needed to be based upon the best knowledge of the guidelines set down by this and other councils line of construction of a single-tracrail line from Levan to Salina. Juab County Commissioners were asked to submit comments on the project by Victoria Rutson, Chief in the Section of Environmental Analysis for the Surface Transportation Board in Washington D.C. We would like everyone in the county who is interested to have the opportunity to make comments on the project, said Wm. Boyd Howarth, commission chair. 43-mil- Myrna Trauntvein Correspondent e k Cities had ways to get wa- ter that private individuals did not have, said Schnurr, and attorneys considered that when looking a proposals. One of tho.-- e ways, of course, is con- demnation. That would lie a la.--t resort and one the council would, more than likely, not consider but attorneys did take that into consideration. What they did not like was imposing unfair standards on those seeking to build in a community. Before we make a decision, we need to find out what re- sources are available," said Schnurr. and resolutions were in effect. He thought the council could use some help in this regard. He asked if the majority of council members what ordinances the city already had in place and if they knew where to find it. "Rick Schnurr and our previous secretary went through the ordinances and organized them, said Bryce Lynn, mayor. As a result, Schnurr, council member, had worked with them and did know where and how they were filed. However, said Schnurr, he could never find an ordinance about noise. In addition, he said, Mona had adopted a group of model ordinances a number of years ago. Those ordinances were put together by the League of Cities and Towns and he thought that would be a good place for Squire to start. The city council needed to know what was in those ordinances and how they affected other ordinances which the city had in place. Rick knows more about the ordinances than most, Squire said. From my perspective, I think the council could use some help but if there is no need, then I will not go He said the council and the attorney they consult, a water attorney, will need to determine further. the availability of water in the However, the other council Mona drainage system and members said they would all like determine how difficult it will the help Squire offered and sug- be for residents to purchase a quarter share of water and howSee Mona on page 2 legal imposing such a requiremoot will be considered bv the courts. one-quart- en point-of-diversio- n re-our- r ce STERLING SCIIOIAUS .JUS Sterling Scholars did well in the Cen tral I tab lit gum Sh rhng Si In Jars program held last u ec k. Runners-uwere, from h ft Gng Hamlin Si lemv. Natalie Knou lion in Family and Si n ni i . Hole Nt u ton in liusmess and Marketing Education, and dames Esphn in Music. Stc rhng Sc holar finalists rerrit e scholarships and cash an ards The program is supported by institutions and merchants m Central Utah. Absent from photo, Laura Gould, Visual Arts, u as named a u inner p Con'-ume- r 1 ) i A |