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Show 0 0 91st Year Price, Carbon County, Utah No. 13 Wednesday, February o 0 56 17, 1982 Pages Single Copy 25c East Carbon water system hinges on vote By ANGIE HYRE Staff Writer EAST CARBON Residents will have the final say in the fate of Students at Durrant Elementary School didn't seem to mind the dreary, wet snow T uesday afternoon during recess. Alas, kids will be kids. This happy group managed to find fun in the mess by playing "jump over the snow bank and land in the slush." The Price area can expect more scattered showers Wednesday with high temperatures from 40 to 45 degrees and lows 25 to 30 degrees. For Thursday, expect more unsettled weather with snow in the mountains and rain in the valley. Lows will again be in the 20s and highs in the 40s, according to the National Weather Service. Rural areas wary of housing boom Editor's note This is the fourth and final installment in a senes examining the housing outlook in various areas of Carbon County This installment explores the situation in unincorporated and smaller incorporated communities By SCOTT LLOYD Staff Writer If you live away from the major residential areas of Carbon County, it is probably by choice. Rural areas attract and hold those who are repelled by the congestion of cities, even smaller ones such as Price and Helper. Residents in Scofield and Spring Glen, for example, are anxious to preserve the pristine nature of their environment and do what they can to discourage population growth or new housing developments. A new development code passed last year by Carbon County is ostensibly designed to limit growth in areas where residents would prefer to be left as they are. Yet that effort may face opposition in the inevitable pressures of a boom-bueconomy combined with the need to improve municipal services such as water and sewer systems. That conflict is reflected in the following analysis of the housing outlook in the less dense areas of the county: Spring Glen In the Spring Glen area, I guess you could sum it up by saying its Carbon got water problems, Walker Richard Planner County said. st Lack of water pressure discourages future housing in that area. Moreover, there is virtually no housing stock available. Walker said there are very few houses for sale and the current residents are opposed to high-densit- y developments. Kendrick Brothers Construction Co., with the encouragement of Price River Coal Co., has proposed building a major development in Kenilworth Canyon east of Spring Glen. Price River needs housing for future employees as it expands. Curiously, the proposal has excited little opposition from Spring Glen residents, despite extensive publicity. Walker said the residents may expect the county to prevent the development in the absence of major improvements. Kenilworth Kenilworths sewer problem has become legendary. That, combined with inadequate water supply fectively an ef- discourage any in development Kenilworth, Walker said. If those significant problems could be solved, the county would entertain proposal for that area, he said. any development in Kendrick Brothers has offered to let Kenilworth tie in to a new sewer system in connection with its proposed development. But they have also asked Helper to annex the property on which the development would be built and if that occurred, they would forget about Kenilworth. Carbonville The Carbonville community is split in half by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. Walker said because of poor railroad crossings, the eastern part of the community is a poor prospect for development because of the access problem. Gordon Creek Walker said much of the area in Gordon Creek would be good for future development. The developer of Westwood Estates in Gordon Creek has a number of improved lots which they are currently trying to sell, he (Continued on Page 2A) the controversial water treatment plant in a bond election next month. The City Council tentatively set the election for March 16 at a special council meeting Monday attended by about 75 residents. The council has crossed one hurdle by giving Mayor Dale Andrews approval to file an application to lock up federal funds for the Culligan Water Treatment Plant. However, after listening to angry residents complain the council was the pushing proposal through passage, Andrews suggested the council hold the bond election. Andrews told the group it would cost approximately $1,500 for a bond election. Residents shouted they were willing to foot the bill. This hurdle might not be so easy to cross considering East Carbon residents previously defeated two revenue bond elections for an approved water system. Andrews said 471 residents signed petitions circulated by the city supporting the water proposal. This is enough to satisfy the bonding parties, he said. They wanted a number over the amount that voted against the bond in the last bond election. That number was 391. I feel a very definite need to improve this water system, Councilman Donald King said. We finally took the bull by the horns and did something. Water meters continue to be the element discouraging residents from accepting the proposal. Carl Maggio, East Carbon resident, told the council he was afraid that the petition results would be challenged in court without a bond election. Andrews said the meters are a stipulation required by the funding agencies in order to meet their conditions to release funds for the project. Im not for water meters, but if a bond election passes that is fair, said Jan Avery, another resident. The meters cant tell me how much my water is going to cost me. An example cited by several concerned residents was and its water meter situation. One resident claimed with the meters, Kenilworth residents pay exorbitant water rates. Andrews said the people of Ken-nilwor- th Kenilworth put the meters in as a community to curtail abuse of the water. He said they buy their water from Price River Water Improvement Dictrict and are continually making costly repairs on the 400 horsepower pump. Ive lived from California to Virginia with water meters, said Jim Robertson, East Carbon resident. It works. With the approval to file for the grant money, the city will make application for a $50,000 grant and $200,000 loan from the Farmers (Continued on Page 2A) Coal mine fatalities up in '81 Coal mine fatalities in 1981 throughout the nation and in Utah were well above the 1980 level. Mine Safety and Health Administration officials report a total of 153 mining deaths last year, 112 in underground and 41 in surface mines. Three of these deaths occurred in Utah, two in Carbon County and one in an Emery County mine. This compares to zero deaths in Utah in 1980. MSHA reports that in 1980 there 133 deaths nationwide. were only Jensen L. Bishop, manager in MSHAs Price District, said the three Utah fatalities were not directly due to safety infractions. Bishop shares the fear of other MSHA officials that mine safety budget cuts and the Reagan Asub-distri- ct dministrations well-know- n reluctance to regulate could hinder mine safety. The funding resolution passed by Congress at the end of last year will reduce the agencys budget from $158 million in fiscal 1981 to $139 million in fiscal 1982. Yes, this will have an adverse effect on safety, Bishop said. The Price district lost five inspectors to industry last year and a smaller budget could lead to even more losses. If we are unable to recruit mine inspectors then our exposure is going to be lessened, he said. The coal mine fatality rate, based on deaths per 200,000 dropped from 0.24 to 0.09 from 1970 to 1975, holding at about 0.09 ever since. work-hour- s, Budget is a top concern New chief of police sets high goals By ANGIE HYRE Police Chief William Cossaboom, with secretary Colosimo, says upgrading the force is his major goal. Pat Staff Writer the reputation and quality of the Upgrading Price City Police Department is the major goal of Chief William Cossaboom as he begins his second week on the job. In order to accomplish his goal, Cossaboom wants to establish an effective rookie training program that will instill a working knowledge of the law in each officer. One of the first inherent obligations is to train the young people, he said. Several officers came in with little or no official training and its quite possible they didnt know all the laws. To correct this problem, Cossaboom has taken the new officers and placed them in a patrol car with a training officer. He wants to establish an inservice training program that will give these rookies proper training in situations. Cossaboom said the training program will include report writing procedures, pullover approaches, delivery of citations, patrol procedures and arrest techniques. The officers have expressed a desire for guidelines and supervision," he said. With the change in command, Cossaboom is aware many feel he is coming to Price as the new man complete with an axe ready to begin chopping heads. I inherited less than desirable ground in he said. However, some cases pathetic, every officer is starting fresh and I have It's my job to succeed for myself and my community.' asked them to show me what they can do. Seniority is dead. The leaders will naturally emerge. Cossaboom said he has never seen a system based on seniority that works. He is establishing a merit system that will give each man an equal chance for advancement. Another major concern of Cossaboom is the low pay for the officers. Starting pay is $1,090 a month, he said. The pay is drastically low and it needs to come up. Cossaboom blames the departments reputation for the low pay scale. I want to establish quality, then the money and benefits will come, he said. Half of my guys are working another job. When the officers are equipped properly their attitudes will change and begin to expound the positive aspect of the job, he said. The handicapped police fleet, with three out of 10 cars out of commission, is something Cossaboom hopes to soon correct. We need to better equip the cars with items such as first aid kits, flares and fire he said. The actual dollar extinguishers, amount doesnt matter to me as long as the city is willing to fund the necessary items for the job." Cossaboom said he wouldnt have accepted the position had he not felt the department could be improved. He said this isnt Just a job to him, he really cares about the community. Its my job to succeed for myself and the community, he said. I have confidence in myself and the department." |