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Show 'tah State Press 0 Box 1327 alt LaXe City, utan . Volume 70, Number 2 8J&10 24 Pages Brigham City, Utah 84302, Thursday, January 13, 1977 Beaver Dam road TWENTY CENTS Seeks to be recognized UPiA elmm5iilli, hearing Jan. 21 Box Elder county has scheduled a meeting in Beaver Dam Jan. 21 to discuss y a proposed realignment and for the road serving the rural community. Commissioner Ted Burt who heads county roads, said the session will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Beaver Dam church house. The county official previously said the e stretch if work will be done on a can be secured at necessary rights-of-wa- y no cost to the county. The route currently has many turns and the intent is to straighten it. At the county commissions weekly meeting Tuesday, it was announced also that a public hearing will be held Feb. 1 on proposed zoning at the Brigham City right-of-wa- two-mil- Brigham City officials have been named in a complaint brought in First District airport. The session will be held in the commission room, downstairs in the county courthouse, beginning at 3 p.m. The proposed zoning would affect air space on approaches to the airport. Its been under consideration for a long time with several hearings previously held. Commission Chairman Don Chase noted that property owners in the area have expressed favor for the plan which was recommended to the commission by the Box Elder County Airport Zoning commission. In still other business Tuesday, a letter from Silver Beehive Telephone company which serves western Box Elder county, proposed an amendment to state law which would enable, planes to land on county roads. The amendment would allow the county to issue permits for such landings. Eligibility for permits would extend where such aircraft are used for public services, such as air ambulance, crop dusting or by a certified public utility . . . Silver Beehive, which serves 70 customers in west Box Elder county, is seeking a $3 monthly rate hike to compensate for alleged higher costs to service the system by truck as opposed to airplane. - trees on Brigham City's south Main street are undergoing a trimming with a local commercial operation handling the work. In the forground here, men feed smaller branches into mulching machine. THE FAMILIAR POPULAR court here by the Utah Public Employes association. Thrust of the legal move by the UPEA is to gain recognition by Mayor Harold B. Felt and the city council. Mayor Felt said he was served with a summons Tuesday between 4:30 and 5 p.m. and promptly turned it over to the city attorney. I had a conference with him and I presume hell prepare an answer within 20 days, the mayor said Wednesday. The UPEA which has about 50 members among city employes alleges that it has been ignored as an organization representing city workers. The defendants will not allow the plaintiffs to meet with the defendants to discuss matters of concern to UPEA members, the complaint says in part. It alleges that the UPEA and local chapter president James Wadman have been denied a place on council meeting agendas and city officials have, failed to. respond to telephone calls or . written, correspondence. Instead, it charges that in August an employes advisory council was established and the mayor and council now choose to recognize only that body as representing employes. The step was taken to render the UPEA impotent and powerless the complaint says. As a result, local UPEA members are Raft River airs rate hike plan In a letter of notification to customers, Raft River wrote: "We are pleased that the increase will be for such a reasonable percentage. On the other hand, we realize that any increase is a big problem for members in times such as we are going through right now. Gardner said the format of the rate increase proposal is based on a study with the idea to put the cost where the expense is. He said there would be no increase on small general service such as homes. Its proposed to impose a 9.7 percent increase on larger general services, in ' concern of employes and as a help to improve working conditions of the city. The UPEA complaint asks the court to issue an order permanently enjoing the mayor and council from continuing to consider the employe council as the only authorized and recognized representative of city employes. In building its case, the UPEA cites state law and asks that those determined to have violated legal provisions be found guilty of a misdemeanor. The mayor observed that six members of the council are affiliated with the UPEA. BRAG survey will assess three-count- y area needs A study designed to identify needs, problems and attitudes of residents of the Box Elder, Cache and Rich counties area is now underway by the Bear River Association of Governments. The study, which is part of BRAGs comprehensive human services planning program, will provide information to help local elected officials evaluate existing services and determine the need for additional services, Roger Jones, BRAG director for human resources, said. BRAG has contracted with Utah State universitys bureau bf government and opinion research to Conduct the survey. About 400 randomly-selecte- d households for the area will be asked to identify problems in their area. They will also be asked to evaluate existing programs and to provide demographic data. Residents who are contacted are encouraged to cooperate by giving a few (Continued on Page 8) - Still not sufficient snow Will affect BE communities Public meetings are being held in two western Box Elder county communities to air a proposal of Raft River Rural Electric cooperative to adjust its rate schedules. Manager Golden Gardner, Malta, Idaho, said the system is seeking a 9.7 percent increase in revenue to keep up with rising costs. A hearing was held in Grouse Creek Wednesday night and another is slated Friday, Jan. 14, at the LDS church house in Park Valley. The starting time is 7 p.m. Other sessions are planned Jan. 21 at Montello, Nev., in the church there, and Jan. 19 and 25 at the high school in Malta. threatening to withdraw their membership and other employes who would join are discouraged from doing so, the complaint contends. Mayor Felt said he encouraged organization of the employes advisory council to give all employes representation. He said the employes themselves organized it. Ive never met with them nor have I ever been invited to meet with them. However, they have met with the council on one occasion, the mayor stated. He views the councils function as being to report to the mayor and council areas of cluding commercial operations, and 15.6 percent average hike in the irrigation rate. The study showed that irrigation really isnt paying its way, the spokesman said. The proposal is based on 1975 usage. Gardner said its intended also to simplify the rate schedules. Instead of a declining bloc structure, a minimum rate will be assessed plus a fixed charge for each additional kilowatt hour. There has not been a change in the rate structure since 1964 when there was a decrease, he explained. Raft River has served western Box Elder county since about 1950. Records show that first construction work on extension of the system began at Park Valley in November 1947. There currently are 360 customers in Box Elder with Raft River serving a total of 2,000 customers in southern Idaho and northern areas of Utah and Nevada. Gardner said electricity is purchased from Bonneville Power administration. Of the requested rate hike, he commented, we really dont have much choice. After the public meetings, its planned to submit the proposal affecting Utah to the Beehive states Public Service commission for approval. for ski buses, aide says Theres much interest locally but still no green light for Brigham Citys weekly Saturday bus trips to Beaver Mountain ski resort. People have been ringing our ears off with concern over the ski buses. The question of course has not been where they are going, but when. ..and if, City Recreation Director Jack Winn said. The answer the recreation department can give is the only logical one : When it snows, and is safe, the recreation department will sell tickets for ski bus transportation. If conditions dont improve at Beaver Mountain, the recreation department will consider transportation to Snow Basin until conditions improve at Beaver. Your comments on the subject are welcome. Call extension 49, the director invited. 723-852- 1, Corner lot owners get a break Plan to build a fence? A permit now required are acceptable up to four feet high on front and side street side yards under new zoning ordinance amendment. It's termed a "see through fence. FENCES LIKE this Theres an old saying that fences makes good neighbors. But in Brigham City, they can also constitute a violation of municipal ordinance. The subject was brought into focus this past week when the city council approved amendments to the zoning ordinance relating to maximum height of fences, walls and hedges. A couple of changes included these: A permit is now necessary to erect any fence, wall or hedge over two feet high. In the past its been necessary to obtain a permit only when the fence or wall exceeded six feet high. Building Inspector Max Muir said the new provision requiring a permit for any physical structure over two feet in height" is intended to encourage compliance with the ordinance. City officials would like to make local residents aware that certain limits apply in this area. Muir said there is no cost for the permits. It is now possible to obtain a permit to construct a front yard or corner lot side yard fence higher than two feet (a restriction of the old ordinance), provided it is a fence or wall. Examples of the latter would be chain link or wrought iron. Muir pointed out that on a number of occasions, corner lot owners have wanted to put up fences to keep children and dogs from cutting cross their property. But the old ordinance said such a barrier could be only two feet high. This was impractical in terms of keeping animals or children out. Thus, the new provision was adopted. The inspector noted that the fences now allowed may not exceed four feet in height. One other provision not previously spelled out clearly in the city ordinance is this: No private fences, walls or hedges may be maintained on public property. Muir explained there were more than 100 infractions of the old ordinance around the city. People, unaware of what is on Page Three) see-throu- HEDGES, SUCH as this one, however, are not acceptable under the city's governing the height and location of fences, walls and zoning ordinance hedges. |