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Show W inter come too early a wet weather bird. BY BRUCE JENNINGS ahead of its Too early winter regularly appointed date by more than two weeks? That assessment, of course, depends on the viewpoint. For skiers, perhaps, just right. But for most people much too soon. That too soon includes livestock people, whose fall pastures are now under snow and who have their cattle in feed lots or are scattering hay in windrows on the snow. It also includes turkey growers those who still have birds that havent gone to the processing plant. one swimming, Theyre producer said, and turkeys arent or three wetter Novembers. But the 2.75 inches added to Octobers 1.91 and inch come out at 4.66 inches thats about a third of a normal water year. He said theyre not gaining now, because of the wet and the cold, even though theyre consuming more feed. At the cooperative weather station Manti, Lee J. Anderson measured 2.9 inches for November. That made it the second wettest November on record in Manti the wettest was November 1983s 3.39 inches. And it includes some farmers, although most have completed their in fall plowing. Some plow until but not this December. At the Sorensen Field Station that the U.S. Forest Service maintains southeast of Ephraim, Gary Jorgenson measured 2.75 inches of moisture in November. Average for Most of Novembers precipitation Manti was delivered by two snow storms. The first one, on the 12th, produced 1.0 inch, the second one, last week, deposited .70 inch on Friday and .47 on Saturday. in the month at Sorens on Field is .87 inch. The 2.75 inches in November isnt a new record, Mr. Jorgenson said. In a half century there have been two Mr. Anderson we get 1. 17 "It isnt often," commented, that inches of water in one storm. The average for the water year in Manti a year that always begins is about 13 inches. With on Oct. 4.76 inches already deposited in a h period, that means Manti has already received around 1 two-mont- percent of an ordinary weather 35 year. Although its far too early to forecast precipitation for the full water year on the basis of two months, Mr. Jorgenson pointed out, March and April are, over the long terms, the wettest months. And so October and Novembers precipitation could portend plenty of irrigation water, at best, or further flooding, at worst. Whether on the ground or on the perch, these turkeys find snow snow everywhere. THE MANTI MESSENGER ,1'M" 'J S ' ' C , J' f V i' r ' j' posioijM f i.i POST V AM! , Kt.. j,. V,. S Vofume 10Q Number 21 MANTI. UTAH (4442. THURSDAY, 1 'v KmG Mfs4' Voim . A J u i. s,' V . V n 30 par copy DECEMBER S, 1985 Commissioners struggle to adopt workable budget BY PAT MEL1.QR The Sanpete County Commission meet today (Thursday) in executive session to spend several hours whittling departmental requests for the 1986 budget year down to a workable 1986 budget. will Jill Petersen Jeremy Baker Yule Candle presenters named The Ephraim Middle School will again present Yule Candles symbolic of service at its annual Candlelight Service Thursday, Dec. 12, 1985 at 7:30 p.m. in the school auditorium. Nominations for the Yule Candle recipients have been made by the public at the invitation of the school and a faculty committee will select the two recipients. A recipient and Ephraim recipient will be presented candles, by Jeremy Baker, son of Mr. and Mrs. Baker, Barry Ephraim, Rebecca Kae Jorgensen, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lamar Jorgensen, Manti, and Jill Petersen, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Petersen of Manti. Manti-Sterlin- These g students are the highest ranking students academically in Middle Schools Ephraim class. graduating The Candlelight Service will include performances of both traditional and contemporary Christmas music by the schools band directed by Lance Larsen, and the orchestra, directed by Roseann Higham, and chorus directed by Bill Thompson. Hydroelectric projects becoming prominent in Sanpete County BY BRUCE JENNINGS Ephraim now has its new hydroelectric system back in full operation and Manti expects to spend about $3 million soon in upgrading its two in Manti Canyon. hydro-plant- s Further down the road, Mt. Pleasant has plans for additional And hydro-powgeneration. likewise Levan, in neighboring Juab in and Monroe, County, neighboring Sevier County. er Overall, throughout Utah, sites for around 300 small hydros are in the mapping stage. from Harnessing Utah streams the large rivers like the Weber, to the little streams like Six Mile Creek capturing the power that moving this has become a water contains major item on the agenda. unique in that it has two turbines, the one powered by irrigation water, the other by culinary water. The d culinary generator is 350 around now producing kilowatts, according to Ted Olson, Power Board member. around 4.0 mills and thats a lot less than the cost of the power the city has been buying. water-powere- A big advantage for hydro-poweof course, its low cost, as compared to the coal plants that Ephraim and Manti will continue to obtain some of their electricity from. That advantage, and the fact that the water is not used up. Its diverted through a pipeline and then returned r, is, When new springs are brought in, he added, its production could go as high as 700 kilowatts. advantage of a turbine powered by culinary water, Mr. Olson explained, is that the flow is relatively constant. The to the irrigation stream or culinary system, in Ephraims case. Theres mid-wint- Mantis rebuilt plants, utilizing d the new turbines, will probably produce twice as much electricity in summer as in winter, a Galen city Christiansen, councilman said, reaching 2,000 or more kilowatts at peak operation. to new The technology, summarize, is making possible the economically feasible production of electricity by plants depending on relatively small streamflows. low-hea- Why Ephraim and Manti and Mt. Pleasant, Levan and Monroe, in the central Utah area? In fact, why ? almost state-wide- of improved Partly because be that 200 to used It to technology. 300 pounds per square inch of pressure was needed to generate power. But the new turbines can generate electricity efficiently with 40 to 60 pounds of pressure. That means a stream, even a small stream, can be diverted into a pipe, shot downhill and used to turn one d turbines. of the Thats the way Ephraim is doing it and thats the way Manti expects to do it. low-hea- In the past, the streamflow in Manti Canyon or in Ephraim Canyon diminished to the point in winter that it didnt supply sufficient e pressure to operate an generator effectively. old-tim- Ephraims t new hydro-pla- nt is something else thats pushing the rush to hydro development. Seven years ago Congress passed legislation requiring electrical utilities to purchase power generated by small producers. Utah has gone a step further. Its Public Service Commission last spring ordered Utah Power & Light to buy power generated by other sources at about kilowatt hour, 5.2 cents per providing they could offer that power 75 percent of the time. That provision is not likely to affect Ephraim and Manti, since they wont have that kind of electricity available except on a very The generator operated by the irrigation water, which fluctuates widely in amount from spring runoff to trickle, is now 200 about kilowatts, but generating months its the spring during production could be multiplied around 10 times. Some of the promoters of new however, say they may market some of their power in that s, way. But another factor besides the new technology is pushing the rush to the Ephraim and Manti, in the matter are their marching in step with numerous other communities throughout the state. They are making the effort to take advantage of the new theyre technology; generating determined to utilize the their in contained resources striving mountain streams; theyre to hold down power costs in an era of rapidly mounting prices, and as theyre out to practice as far old virtue, that pioneer possible of That factor modern is the rapidly rising cost of energy that is relfected in everyones power hydro-plant- s. bill. The price that cities and towns have to pay for electricity must, of course, be passed on to their consumers, and thats a main reason why Ephraim and Manti, among others, are going the hydro-powe- r route. Ephraims new plant, Mr. Olson says, can produce electricity for A 16 at 10a.m. The 1985 budget will also be opened for final revisions at that time. The major 1985 budget revision is a $49,000 increase in liability insurance costs for Sanpete County. At the 1985 budget hearing last was December, $28,500 allocated for liability insurance premiums, but during the year such insurance costs rose to startling heights and the county was forced to shop extensively for a new insurance carrier, finally settling on a pool arrangement through Utah Local Governments Trust. Even at that, the county spent a total of $79,050 in insurance costs in 1985, overrunning the budget for that item by $49,000. Reductions in expenditures in other departments for the 1985 budget, however, will result in a 1985 budget which overall comes to within $1,500 of its original estimate, according to Willard Smith, CPA auditor for the county. Mr. Smith noted that the Sanpete County commission has a policy of spending tax revenues collected in the following year: that is. 1985s taxes will be collected during the last hydro-project- s, material- wh.i primarily handed out to cisiiv. school children vs.t- - no'cJ. V' Brown said Sanpic cm.' vd relatively normal - to ijmct v. i: fire responses, with 17 act i: G responses noted by his divi-i- . numerous false alarm-- . I he S y. County fire warden did - t for one day with a fire in me m end of Sevier County and rem.b o . " ment was provided by Sevier for that service program i - i : as-i- to l)W R land purchase Don Christiansen of the Division of Wildlife Resources advised the county that the DWR was entering into a land purchase invoKim 363 acres southeast of Fountain Green belonging to DcVon Mikkeben. Of the land Mr. Mtkkelsen is selling to the DWR, 285 acres is rangeland valued at $200 per acre, 60 acres is irrigated land with water rights valued at $200, and 18 acres is wet meadow valued at $1,000. Part of the rangeland will be purchased in 1985 with the remaining land paid for in three increments. The DWR lease-bacalso has a arrangement on the irrigated land with Mr. Mikkelsen. Mr. Brown noted that weed contiol was about to be discussed in s a state lafl meeting and lira, e speculation tint the sta'c would decide to try to contract with for weed spraying, on the assumption that they had sufficient funds to provide for spraving m state lands but not sulfrcicni mo u to provide equipment for sush throughout the state. I he coumv -- au-hi- v it commission advised Mr. Blown in many instances they also .id d pi.v.cc retained the services t! companies to do wee-- vpiaviny had even gone so far as to pinout e payment for spraying on p'r--property if the owner default, We have real problems pet: e applicators, even when- we h. 'r ihcm guaranteed Keller Christen commiserated . : Fire budget drops - Lands and Forestry representative, Lou Brown, brought the Sanpete County Commissioners The State good news in the form of a $1,000 reduction in the countys share of costs for fire protection. Brown said the States estimate of costs is based on a seven-yea- r average and the wet years in Sanpete are beginning to be reflected in that estimate now. A small increase in fire prevention pavnicn-Commisuone- Claim made County attornev Ross Hlackh commission rn.it Ephraim man, Richard Similes, entered a claim for $2321 agaios; i -- t the advised (Continual an h e 7 The Messiah to be this weekend Two performances of Handels The Messiah" will be presented in the Manti Tabernacle on December 7 and 8, according to Professor McLoyd Ericksen who will direct the 7th December The oratorio. program will begin at 7 p.m., and the Sunday performances at 5:30 p.m. "We have a full symphony orchestra comprised of 50 musicians an and Sanpete Community-SnoCollege choir. Ericksen commented. Soloists will be Barbara Barton, Danielle Burgess, Carolyn Erickson, Janet Jackson, Lily Jane Miller and Judy Morgan, singing soprano; basis. short-tim- e hydro-plant- The commission will present the 1986 budget at a public budget hearing at the Sanpete County Courthouse on Monday, December three months of 1985 and will be expended in 1986. This policy runs counter to the States mandate that tax revenues must be expended in the year in which they are collected. Smith says, but it prevents the county from having to borrow money to operate during the year which would have to be paid back with that years tax collections at interest. Will speak Bertha Anderson. Julie Christensen and Susan E. Stotts, alto; Boyd Goble, David Wallingford and David Burgess, tenor, and singing bass will be Gene Hansen and I uke Woolf. Christensen is assistant with Judy Morgan, assistant choir director; Harry A. Dean, Director Emeritus; Dennis Hansen, orchestra director; Ardith Peterson, organ accompanist, Kathleen Hansen, piano, and Norma S. Olson, harpsichord. As a matter of interest, Professor Ericksen submitted the following concerning Handel: Jay director, Frederick George Handel composed 21 oratorios and than JO operas, as well as coni crt. cantatas, anthems and sonata' He was horn February 2.1. 16X5 m Germany, hut spent 50 years ,t he life in England, and represents an international figure in music. 1 in' climax of Handel's life came in 1 when he conducted his first pet to mance of "The Messiah" in Publm, Ireland. He composed the entm oratorio in 25 davs in the year 1 741. and it became an immediate an 1 huge success. , Mr. Fricksen said, as has been the tradition of over 50 years, there is no admission charge and the public b invited to attend this cordially special musical program. at Forum 'srv General Authority will dedicate new Institute Bishop Glenn L, Pace, Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-da- y Saints, will be the Forum on speaker at Friday December 6, 1985. He will also dedicate the newly constructed Institute of Religion at that time. Bishop Pace was called as second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric on April 6, 1985. His major areas of in the Bishopric responsibility include Materials Management, Welfare Services, and International Offices, as well as Investment and the Thrasher Properties Research Fund. A . i ; J , 1 yy il Bishop Glonn L. Paco |