OCR Text |
Show Volume Tooele, Utah, Thursday, January 13, 19S1 Eighty-Si- s NuuiIxt Thirty Three Cost; Twenty Five Cents Tooele Senator Files Two Legislative Bills HE ALSO intends to intriMluce legislation designed to give county coiiiiiiismoii-er- s the final authority as to whether radioactive material is in the county. However, Sen. Swan points out that Tooele County has never lieen considered as a site for dumping high level radioactive wastes. Sen. Swan reports that Itah faces an ex- landed state parks system w liich the legislature created without adequate funding for operation and maintenance. By Hugh Barnes Capitol Correspondent llie first hill of the 4 tlh Itah legislative session was rushed through both houses Tuesday to meet the needs of counts government. The legislation eliminated the interest ceding on tax anticipation notes which counties use to finance county government until taxes are colics ted. reSEN. KARL Cl. Swan, ports that he has iutrixhiceil a hill in the Senate to make (Mixing promoters more IIE CITES this as one of the problems responsible in presenting hoxing proalxml hv growth fating the state as hiNight in I'tah. grams it faces the task of 1 is legislation will increase the percenproviding scIkmiIs, high-ays and recreational needs for a grow ing tage of the purse that must lie deposited with the state and make the Itah Athletic populat ion. Commission more As a of the natural resources The hill should make more certain that committee, he says that start-ucosts are boxers show up fot their slated matches one of the things facing I'tah in its effort and should result in r fight programs to utilize its natural resources. being presented to the public, Sen. Swan Such as access roads and utilities . Tills IN turn would nuke less funds available lor other piupow. The complexity of financing state t government is apparent ev m in the of property area. Some legislators evalclaim that while residential projH-rtuation has increased, industrial and busievaluated ness property has actually at a smaller late than ill the past. assess-liM-u- Ih-c- With the 5H Republicans and 17 Democrats ill the House of Representatives and 23 Republicans and six I Vinocrats in the State Senate, the political makeup of the it ure is heavily weighed in fasor of theCOI'. la-gi- 1 p These cooks who have been working in scrunched' conditions will move into expanded facilities when the new sen ior citizens center opens in March. things must lie installed any of the states natural resources can Ire fully utilized. Swan said. feels. e Pots Still Boiling At Senior Center Feeding of the flock is alMiut the only activity in progress while construction winds down toward completion of the Tooele Senior Citizens Center. All the pool tables, checker hoards, card decks, and other forms of recreation which attract 700 active meinliers to the center have lieen stashed away in lonely comers as the late February completion date of the 14,000 square foot new center inches toward completion. BECAUSE plans for the $500,000 facility incorproated the old Smelter- mans Lodge, where seniors have gathered for the past seven years, all activities were moved into the liasement. AImmiI the only activity we have going now is the cooking of meals," says Butch Dyniock, unit supervisor of the senior citizens center. We also have our Meals on Wheels program that delivers hot lunches to seniors in homes in the rural areas of the county. Dymock sax's const met ion of the facility is on schedule and it should be completed by late February, with tentative plans for the open house set in mid- - vi,.h WHILE accessibility to the few tables in the liasement of the center has leen reduced and most activities temporarily sidelined, receptionist Virginia Lewark says the nuiiilier of seniors coming in for lunch has not decreased. We still feed between 100 and 150 people for lunch every day. The same ones still come in day after day, she said. While Dymock anxiously awaits the completion of the expanded center, he says the reduction in activities has shed some light. ' 1 REALLYdidn't realize how much these senior citizens really enjoy being THE STATE'S tight money situation is state agencies to look for ways of causing around each other and having something meeting their increased costs by shifting to do, Dymock said the burden to other areas. ' Es)ec,ially the New Years Eve dance and party. There were actually some tears For example, the hig game damage shed this year I xtau.se we did not have a payments to farmers has steadily inplace to hold our paity and dance which is creased to the point w here it has liecnine a prolKihly the biggest event of the year. severe drain on license funds used to pay However, when the rihlMin is snipped to the claims. open the new center, the seniors will have Sen. Swan points out that even though a new hard oak surface with a spacious the claims average $500 each, they have stage to do all the leg shaking they want. ' 'The center will also have added kitchen multiplied where the Department of and d; ring facilities, arts and crafts rooms, Wildlife Services is seeking to have money a health clinic, a reading room, office appropriated from the slates general fund to meet these costs. space and conference room. . HOW EVER, Rep Beverly J. White, feels that the urban representatives and the rural representatives in the legislature are more of a dividing factor in this year's session than the political parties. The legislature is occupied heavily in committee meetings with legislative leadership starting to place deadlines for their recommendations to lie submitted to the executive committees. Such measures as funding for state emergency services to inct-- t disasters in the state and also aid the state in olitaining federal funds is now in the discussion stage. BOTH HOUSES arc taking care of house keeping hills which mainly tend to clarify pad legislation considering the more weighty measures that require public input and debate. Legislators cont iime to argue over Gov. Scott M. Mathcson's proposals with the coii.crvative elements' calling for in many areas. cut-luc- New Vitro Panel Will Form To Handle Impact Study Officials will be named within two weeks to a reorganized committee to continue preparation of an environmental impact statement on the disposing of the Vitro tailings in Tooele County. This decision was reached Tuesday in a meeting with state. Salt Lake and Tooele County officials, said state health director, Dr. James O. Mason. THE WORK on the environmental impact statement will address the problem of ground level water at the proposed dumping site at Clive, 40 miles west of Crantsville. It is expected the report will begin in 60 days and could take up to 18 months to complete. In addition to the ground water level, the report will study geological effects and consider prospects for stabliliz-in- g the Vitro tailings at its Salt Lake County site, 800 West and 33rd South. But, a study completed four years ago by the firm of Ford, Bacon and Davis for the federal Department of Energy heavily favored the Clive location and said the stabilizing process at the current Vitro site would tie unfeasible. IN WASHINGTON, D C., Secretary of e James B. Edwards said he will support nuclear waste disposal on federal lands in the West. During the confirmation hearings in the Senate Edwards also said he does not be- problem, and said the governors should have only a consulting roleinheHecision process. ALTIIOUCII Utahs Paradox Basin in the southeast section of the state is being studied as a possible site for storing nuclear wastes, Tooele County Commissioners fear that if plans for bringing the Vitro tailings to Clive become a reality, Tooele County may become the nations major dumping site. In addition to the possible hazards the Vitro tailings could bring to the county, we dont want to open the gate and become a national dumping site for nuclear wastes, Commissioner Charles Chick Stromberg said. A National Radioactive Waste Management Program was established last February to address the unresolved problems associated with use of nuclear technology. RADIOACTIVE wastes exist as gases, liquids and solids and can be responsible for causing a variety of diseases, including cancer. The wastes are produced in many different forms including scientific research, medical diagnosis, mining of uranium ore, defense related activities, and the operation of commercial nuclear power plants. THE MAJOR types of wastes include: high level, transuranic, low level, uranium mine and mill tailings, decontaminated and decommissioning wastes, and gaseous effluents. At the present time there are three commercial burial grounds for wastes, such as the Vitro tailings. They exist in South Carolina, Washington state and Nevada. The Department of Energy has been working with Utah and other states to find regional disposal sites, such as the one that is planned at Clive. DOE will review existing and alternative low level waste disposal techniques low-lev- throughout this year and determine whether any should be adopted, according to guidelines of the Waste Management Program. At the same time, they have been directed to accelerate research and development on improved disposal methods and continue to upgrade land burial technology. Energy-designat- lieve governors of the affected states should have veto power over where federal nuclear wastes are dumped. Edwards identified the nuclear waste storage as a national, rather than state Hey Sun , You Up There? Valley residents had trouble telling the night from the day during the past five day period. Tooele has been banked in by fog while other areas of the valley looked in vain for the sun under murky skies, bottomed out at 20 with daytime readings hovering at 27 degrees. So far January has chalked up only .06 inches of moisture. Dog Gone Inflation Is Hurting strict set of zoning laws, modeled after Tooele Countys, is being drafted to revamp outdated Tooele City ordinances, many of which are 25 years old. Where the original ordinances had a total of 10 classifications, the new set has 12 just for residential and a total of 26 different districts. THE CITY has considered adjusting the zoning laws for two years, said Ray Johnson, planning commission chairman, but it has only been since October that the work became serious. The countys zoning plan is based on a matrix, which allows a person to look under a category to see what is permitted under certain zones. The citys existing zoning requires a lot of checking under different sections and an unnecessary amount of judgement, Johnson said. With the present system, the strictest control is obtained through the city s Rdistricts. They permit up to a four-ple-l however, not considered very restrictive for a residential zone by City Planner Janice Jardine. THE PROPOSED laws would distinguish between single family lots with sizes ranging from lots that must be at least 6,000 square feet to ones that must be at least 40,000 square feet. Present ordinances define Tooele in terms of residential, agricultural, business, manufacturing, and commercial. The new plan would expand these as well as add many new kinds that can specifically deal with problems not coasidered a quarter century ago. Among the new definitions are designations for multiple uses, three different rural residential types, neighborhood commercial, commercial shopping, highway commercial and general commercial. THE latter kinds would encourage desired types of growth in certain areas of 1 the city. Other new classifications would decide where light and heavy industry would be best placed. Basing the citys zoning on the countys has several lines of logic, say Jardine and Johnson. It will facilitate annexing county land into the city because the same standards will be used. And the county already has a workable zoning system that the city can adopt. ADOPTION of the matrix system, though, is months away. Johnson said he would like to have a draft of the citys plan for the city council within a couple of months. If the council likes the proposal as presented, public hearings could begin as the step to approval. Now, Jardine said, the planners are deciding how to redesign the city into the new system, and different areas are being Too! Tooele dog owners have until March 1 to purchase licenses before they double in price. The licenses, which are being sold at the city water department behind city hall, are $5 for unneutured males, $2.50 for neutered males and spayed females, and $10 for unspayed females. In order to purchase licenses the owner must present proof that the dog has been given rabies shot. The city office is open from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. . City Begins Task Of Rezoning Tooele A Us considered for the various zones. SHE NOTED that if a property existing is zoned to something different, the owner does not lose his privilege to operate. Prior uses will continue, she said. While she stressed that the redistribution of zones is in a preliminary stage, some of the goals being sought are to protect Tooele from the high density hillside development Salt Lake City has. is one Zoning canyon land MU-16- 0 method. That permits only one home per 160 acres. MAYOR Doug Sagers, who has sought the revision, said he is looking forward to arrival of the zoning ordinances. They will provide the administration and council some guidelines and valuable tools to work with, Sagers said Tuesday. He noted that the work would not only assist the city with direction for housing, but would provide help with other city problems, such as water. Stockton Farmer Gains Seat On National Ag Board Tooele County and Utah agriculture gained an important voice this week on the national farm scene when Leland J. Hogan of Stockton was elected chairman of the American Farm Bureau Federations Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee. Pending approval by the American Farm Bureau board of directors, Hogan will become a member of that group, which makes policy interpretations and other decisions which affect agriculture in the nation and world-wid- e. HOGAN AND his brother Bill, who is president of the Tooele County Farm Bureau, are partners in a hay and grain operation west of Stockton. They also cube hay and sell it in the export market. The election took place during the 62nd annual AFBF Convention in New Orleans, a convention being attended by more than 140 Utah Farm Bureau members. One highlight of early convention activities for the Utah group was a talk by John Block, Secretary of for the coming Reaadministration and a grain and gan hot farmer in Illinois. BLOCK TOLD an audience of some 7,000 Farm Bureau members from across the nation that as far as Im concerned, agriculture is by far the most important industry in the United States. He pledged to safeguard the interest of agriculture and serve as an agriculture advocate. |