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Show 92nd Year Price, Carbon County, Utah Wednesday, May 25, No. 41 Price won't taxes By BRANDON FORD Staff Writer While it is sunny and warm over most of Utah, dark clouds seem to hang over the efforts of those trying to undo the damage caused by the mudslide in Spanish Fork Canyon. Two workman were rushed to the hospital after a section of the tunnel collapsed injuring them Monday. Bids received Tuesday by the Utah Department of Transportation for the section of road over Billies Mountain were higher than expected. And to top it off the sudden warm d weather is causing the lake to rise faster and threaten the dam. The water in Lake Thistle is rising at a rate of IVz feet a day despite a flow of 350 cubic feet per second through the diversion tunnel and another 300 cubic feet per second of water being pumped out by pumps put in place by the Army Corps of By DAVID LONG Managing Editor Price City officials have good news for taxpayers the proposed budget for fiscal year 1983-8- 4 taxes. wont increase your In a report to the City Council last week, City Administrator Jeffrey W. Killian said the proposed budget will maintain the quality of city services without creating an extra burden for taxpayers. Last years budget provided in significant improvements public safety services, namely police and fire protection. Killian, who serves as the citys budget officer, said this year city officials decided these services must be maintained but that now would not be the time to raise taxes. The proposed budget represents efforts to maintain these services without increasing taxes, despite a reduction in general fund revenues, Killian said in his report. The citys proposed $3 . newly-forme- million 3. a 1982-8- 3 budget of $565,700. The fire department budget will see an increase from last years $101,300 to $106,900. The proposed budget does substantially give any specific area a higher priority from another, Killian said. He said the budget will continue all existing programs previously funded in the budget causing another problem. Water from the tunnel is eroding part of the downstream face of the dam, possibly weakening the structure. Crews worked Tuesday to try and reinforce the area damaged by the running water. It is of some concern and we are watching it, Smith said. If it continues to erode and cut, it could endanger the dam. Further downstream, the residents of Covered Bridge Canyon are dismantling the bridge that leads to their property from the highway. Increased flow of the Spanish Fork River has undermined the structure, making it unsafe. Meanwhile, in Salt Lake City, the Utah Department of Transportation held a bid opening for a road over Billies Mountain, bypassing the slide and Lake Thistle. All five of the bids received were more than UDOTs estimated cost for the road. The lowest bid, submitted by 6.5-mi- le not (Continued on Page 2A) Single Copy 254 according to resident engineer Bob Smith. We expect that the flow W.W. Clyde Construction Co. of through the tunnel will increase Springville, was $22.7 million as the water pressure in- about 10 percent over the The estimated cost for the project, Smith said. creases, main concern we have right now said Hanna Whitney, a UDOT is that the warm weather will spokeswoman. cause the water to rise faster It looks like we will probably than the pumps and the overaccept the low bid on the flow tunnel can handle and the project, said Archie Hamilton, water will reach the low point in UDOT District 4 engineer who the dam. was at the bid opening Tuesday. 9 water is level Hamilton led the team that the Currently feet above the the floor of the designed the road over overflow tunnel but still 21 feet Billies Mountain. The design below the lowest point in the took Hamiltion and his team dam. If it looks like that (water eight days to complete. Other topping the dam) may happen, steps in the project were sped up Smith said, we will build up the also. We went from zero to a full top of the dam so it doesnt overflow the top of the dam. project in 12 to 14 days, The diversion tunnel itself is Hamilton said. We havent skipped any steps. We just didnt wait for approval on each step of the way like we would on a normal project. As soon as one part of the project was commiles on a bus to Notre Dame pleted we went on to another Engineers, general fund budget is just over the $2.9 million budget for fiscal year 1982-8The budget earmarks $531,600 for the. police department,-slight decrease from the departments Pages Dark clouds hang over slide project m. hike 64 1983 Water courses from the mouth of the diversion tunnel on the east side of the dam formed by the mudslide in Spanish Fork Canyon. The lake behind the dam is rising at IV2 feet a day dispite the 350 cubic foot per second flow through the tunnel and the cubic feet per second being pumped from the lake by the Army Corps of 300 Engineers. Photo by Georgo Frey Parents speak out on quality of education Editors note: This is the final installment of a series examining the effectiveness of the school system in Carbon County as seen by administrators, teachers and parents. By ANGIE HYRE Staff Writer Its almost a Catch 22 situation on determining just where to lay the blame on the state of our public poor education system. But one thing is for sure there is a problem. When problems arise usually the first place to look for a solution is at home. At least that is the feelings of some educators in the Carbon School District. After interviews with some parents it seems the lack of parental involvement in the childs educational process is present sometimes. Educators, parents and of ficials were up in arms when the recently released report by the National Commission on Excellence in Education said our nation is at risk because of the poor educational system in America. Responses to the report were vast. It seemed that a lot of the blame was put on the shoulders of the teachers themselves. But teachers in Carbon County say that conclusion is unfair that a lack of parental involvement in the childrens education is one of the biggest weaknesses in the system. Shareon Higgs of Price is the mother of two children currently attending school in the district. She is vice presidentelect to the Carbon High School PTA. Getting involved with her childrens education is a daily process in her home. Yet Mrs. Higgs is the first person to point out a lack of involvement by parents in this area. Parents arent concerned with getting involved in their she said. childs education, There is little support from parents at PTA-sponsor- ed activities. According to Mrs. Higgs, even the sports programs in the county suffer from low parental turnout. One point she brought out was that communication suffers when children and parents arent aware of each others activities. My daughter came up to me the other day and told me she feels she can come and talk to me anytime because Im aware of the activities and things she is involved in, she said. It helps the home atmosphere when parents are more involved in what the child is doing. But this support of the child and his or her activities is not always possible. Francis of the Hussey, president-elec- t Carbon High School PTA, said she enjoys being involved in her childrens activities but she has never had to work outside the home. I believe a lot more parents would like to be involved but cant because of their jobs, she said. An East Carbon woman who wishes to remain anonymous, said because of the situation at the public school she is taking her daughter out of the school and sending her 25 School. Otherwise I would have to keep my fingers crossed that she gets a good teacher next year, she said. I have stopped by her classroom and seen the children talking back to the and saying terrible teacher things. The major problem facing this child is her low reading skills. The woman said her daughter, in the fourth grade, cant even read on the same level as her second grade son. My daughter needs more attention and discipline, she one. A deadline of Dec. 1 has been set by UDOT with a $5,000 per day charge to be assessed the contractor for each day after the completion date that the work isnt completed, Hamilton said. Hamilton expects work to begin on the road by the end of this week since W. W. Clyde Construction Co. is a local contractor. The project will require a into excavation the Mountain and Billies removal of 2 million cubic yards ep (Continued on Page 3A) (Continued on Page 3A) INSIDE: Fishing Anxious opener anglers in the county area should have a good fishing opener Saturday. See page 2B. Carbon-Emer- y School projects will create jobs By ANGIE HYRE Staff Writer Whats good for the children is in good for the community one. more ways than Construction workers seeking employment could be hired on to help with the building of two projects for the Carbon School District. At the regular meeting of the Carbon County Board of Education Thursday, Warner & Kendrick Construction Co. of Salt Lake City were the low addition bidders for the to Sally Mauro Elementary School and the new m Wellington Elementary School. According to Superintendent George Behunin, Warner & Kendrick plan to hire as mary local people as possible for the projects. The company plans to put a foreman at each site with a supervisor over both projects the rest of the employees could be made up of local people, he said. The cost for the two projects combined came to a bid price tag of $3,289,351 complete. Behunin said by putting the two projects out for bid together, the district was able to save ap- proximately $40,000. Warner & Kendrick are currently working on the remodeling of the Price Post Office. With these three projects in town, Behunin said this was one way the company could keep costs down. But the big boost for the area comes from the potential job opportunities. Behunin said Warner & Kendrick plan to notify the district when applications will be taken for jobs. Hes trying to get all of the subcontractors from here also, Behunin added. Well probably sign the final contract the end of this week or the first of next week. By the end of next week he should be hiring. Behunin said he felt good about the bidding for the projects. In a field of 18 bidders, four of them were within a price range of $40,000. I feel we hit the right time to bid, he said. With construction set to begin within the next couple of weeks, Behunin said the Sally Mauro addition should be ready for the beginning of the year. The new w&ai. m 1984-8- 5 m " school Water fight Wellington Elementary School, to be built on a small hill directly behind the present school, is to be finished by expected Christmas of 1984 with hopes of completion as early as September 1984. Behunin said the school will be a replica of Castle Heights Elementary School with a few minor changes. This action by the district saved taxpayers $75,000 in architect fees, he said. There is still no definite plans for the old Wellington Elementary School. But Behunin said Wellington City and the district are still working out a possible agreement. purchase I - ' : p v Motocross It was man against machine at the Carbon County Fairgrounds Motocross track over the weekend. Hundreds of bikers gathered from termountain the West In- for competition. See page IB. Residents of the Miller Creek area of Emery County may get culinary water service from the Price River Water but Improvement District they will have to fight the Emery County Commission |