Show Z § CO if CD & Serving Utah’s Great Pahvant Valley USPS 349 - 52Q CqbySQq Bangerter to visit Delta Gov Norm Bangerter will be the gueat of honor at the Delta Area Chamber of Commerce monthly meeting Tuesday ApnJ 10 "We try every year to get a Hate representative from the governor’s office" Chamber Executive Secretary Ruth Rawlinson said “We've had the lieutenant governor we’ve had the governor’s aid and so on" Rawlinson said Bangerter would provide a general “state of the state" message Bangerter will speak at (he chamber luncheon at noon at the Millard County Fair Exhibition building 87 S Dr in Delta The prime rib dinner is Si 050 “Everyone is invited" Rawlinson said “and they need to RSVP" Call the chamber office at to reserve a seat The office at Delia City Hall is open between 0 ajn and 4 pm Pool construction delayed The East Millard Recreation District Board is looking at alternatives in the wake of its decision to reject all bids for construction of an indoor swimming The bids were over pool m Fillmore budget The board which consists of the three county commissioners opened nine bids for the project Tuesday Feb 27 The lowest bid was $864000 from Union Point Const of Salt Lake City The bid waa $114000 higher than the $750000 allocated for the project AQ bids were rejected at the board’s Tuesday March 13 meeting Acommit-teof four local citizens was appointed Friday March 23 to aludy plans and recommend cost cutting modifications or suggest alternatives The decision to seek alternatives came at the board's Tuesday March 27 meeting The pool study group chaired by County Commissioner Jer’E March 28 met Wednesday Further action based on that meeting was expected at the Tuesday April 3 board meeting “We made some cuts" Brinkerhoff said “but we still don't think it’ll come in under what we have budgeted” Instead “we want to hire a guy to oversee it and build it ourselves" he said Hiring a construction manager is expected to bring the project in under “Thiswaywe budgetBrinkerhoffsaid save sales tax we save everything" he said Subcontractors will work directly for the project manager Bids for a project manager will be advertised That will take two to three weeks before construction could begin If the idea hits a legal snag "then we're going to rebid it” Brinkerhoff said Most of the original specifications will be kept Changes are expected in the thickness of the pool cover alterations in the locker room facilities fencing and windows at the front of the building “Another choice is to find some more money” Brinkerhoff said “which is not impossible to do The only possible source of extra money is if the commissioners pot ft bt their budget" Seeking extra money would require major delays he said The pool will not be ready for use before late summer in any event Commissioner Mike Styler said most of the previous bidders estimated 160 to 180 days to finish the job “If we’re now maybe three to four wecjts from opening bids" he said “there’s your timetable” Money for the project came from a State Impact Board loan The CIB accepted the county offer of $500000 for use in retiring a $750000 loan at 4 percent for 15 years The came in equal shares from Fillmore and from the county The pool will be built in downtown Fillmore near the county courthouse and the Statchouse Museum Gas war goes to PSC Central Utah Gas Company wants to supply natural gas to Millard Beaver and Juab Counties now that Mountain Fuel has failed to comply with a Public Service Commission order CUGC officials say The PSC has scheduled a hearing for Thursday April 5 on a Mountain Fuel Supply request for an extension of its “certificate of public convenience and necessity" to provide gas to the central Utah area Deadline to provide that service expired Dec 31 1989 On Jan 5 1987 the PSC granted the permit to Mountain Fuel Commissioners said MFS must have "sufficient fran1987 to permit it to chises by Feb proceed with the construction of facilities" On Wednesday March 28 Central Utah Gas claimed in a document filed with the PSC that MFS has “withdrawn or abandoned its certificate within the meaning of—the order of the commission of Jan 5 1987" The company also said Mountain Fuel has not submitted reports required by the PSC that detail the status The company of franchise negotiations claims MFS does not have such franchises in the three county srea Delta Mayor Don Dafoe said he was aware the companies have been making plans to provide service to the area but he “I am going to hasn’t been contacted contact them to express our interest" he said “to let them know that we arc interested in having natural gas service in the area" Fillmore Mayor Keith Gillins contacted Mountain Fuel late last month after an official with Kern River Gas Transmission Company briefed the city council on plans to build an interstate gas pipeline through the area Mountain Fuel could tap the line for local service the Kern River official said “The bottom line that I was told by Mountain Fuel Supply was that if the Kent River project goes" Gillins said “Mountain Fuel Supply will supply Fillmore with natural gas" He said no city official has ever been contacted by CUGC regarding a gas franchise Millard County Administrator Robyn Pearson said he has no knowledge of contacts with either company In February MFS filed with the PSC See PSC page 2 Killer’s suicide try fails conMichael Anthony Archuleta demned to die for murder he committed in Millard County in 1988 tried to take his own life at the Utah State Prison occurred The attempt Tuesday March 20 It was confirmed in an interview with an Atooriated Pres writer Sunday March 25 by Warden Eldon B antes Archuleta 26 used a disposable razor issued to prisoners for shsving to cut his arm i and neck Barnet raid He was taken to the University of Utah Medical Cents' where he was treated and released to the prison infirmary the same day “It wasn’t very serious or they would’ve kept him at UMC" Barnes said V Archuleta was scheduled to remain in the infirmary until prison medical personnel authorized his release back to regular housing in the prison maximum security unit Barnes said a deputy warden who spoke with Archuleta about the incident said the inmate was “depressed about the situation he wu in” "Well for some reason he was upset" he said T can't tell you it was a diagnosis He wu just upset with of depression being in prison" B arnes said there is no way to predict or head ofT suicide attempts at me prison but Archuleta will be watched more closely now 80 No 38 April 5 199Q Candidates file for county seats by Kea Raad Millard County Attorney Warren Peterson hu announced he will not run for but will instead run for county commissioner Peterson a Democrat from Ouis who wu first elected to serve a term county attorney in 1986 filed his intentions with the county clerk Tuesday March 27 Peterson said his main reason for not is that the job is seeking taking up too much time “They don't he said “but I clusify it u think 50 hours a week and more up to 100 hours a week during trials that seems to me to be full time And I want to get back into private business My business happens to be practicing law and I can’t do that when I'm being county attorney" Peterson added he finds prosecution in Utah "difficult" for a number of reasons “One is the lack of resources that the state provides to a rural prosecutor" u Gov Norm Bangerter Yo he said "Second the supreme court decisions affecting rights of the accused have made prosecution so much more complex and difficult that it's just an overly frustrating thing to be involved in" Peterson got convictions as charged in four homicide trials he prosecuted during his tenure “I’m not saying that the constitutional rights of an individual shouldn’t be upheld" he said “I'm talking in a very technical sense The way the statutes are written and the fact that the Supreme Court decisions interpreting those statutes have lead to such confusion that it’s virtually impossible in a complex case to properly instruct a jury” There are some things he wants to accomplish as commissioner Peterson said “I’m interested in seeing things happen and I think I can be more effective from the commissioners seat than from where I ait now" Specifically Peterson has filed for commissioner B The state legislature passed a law in its last session to make all county comr mission seats terms instead of one scat being a term To accomplish this for the upcoming election the two seats on each three person county commission open this year have been designated commissioner “A" and commissioner “B" Commissioner Frank Baker now occupies the seat designated as commissioner B The Republican from Delta said he has not yet decided whether he'll run again or not Incumbent Commissioner M ike a Republican from Oasis has filed for as commissioner A Fillmore Republican Commissioner s seal is not up for bid Jcr'EBrinkerhofr this year LcRay Jackson a Delta Republican has filed to run for county attorney He is currently county public defender “1 never intended to run unless Warren didn’t want it" Jackson said “I was county attorney once before I just feel like it's a challenge I'd like to take on again and do the job" Jackson served as county attorney before Eldon Eliason who preceded Steve Jackson LeRay’s brother who served before Peterson Other candidates who have filed tentions to seek elective office in the county this year (as of Monday April 2) include Jim Talbot a Democrat from Meadow for assessor Ed Phillips a Democrat from Fillmore for shenff Marlene Whicker a Democrat from Fillmore for clerk and Mary Day a Republican from Fillmore for treasurer With the exception of Peterson and Jackson all are incumbents in the offices for which they have filed The filing period ends April 16 Committee okays downwinder bill Mosquito abatement Spring is here again and now is the ideal time to bum the abatemosquito ment has already begun their of work them but early checking it is hard to do t good job of mosquito control if the drains are full of weeds and trash We would like to urge all of you who have open drains on your property to keep them as clean as possible so we can do a belter job of control- ling flics and moaquitoca drainsyour 5 PSC to study 3rd party billing The Public Service Commission wants to know if residents who pay municipal fees and their power bill on the same bill can have their power disconnected if they fail to pay the other unrelated bill Utah Power and Light collects municipal fees such as garbage fees in it’s regular monthly power billing in several areas of Utah including parts of Millard County So far no one has had power disconnected for failure to pay an unrelated charge that appears on the same bill but the PSC is concerned that it might happen and they want to make sure it doesn’t The PSC has formed a study group to examine The billing" group is composed of utility and consumer representatives It is chaired by Margo Hovingh UPAL District Vince Crawford Manager for the Delta area said the utility collects county landfill fees outside the city limits of Hinckley Lyrmdyl Leamington and Delta Crawford said no one has ever had of the power shut off for fees An investigation by the state Division of Public Utilities confirmed that statement Still the UP&L billing system autonotices to cusf matically sends tomers behind in payments "That’s one of the weaknesses of it" Crawford said “It’s all computer generated so the computer just looks at it and we have to interpret and decide whether or not that delinquency is because of the landfill before we do any actual disconnection" If a delinquency is determined to be in the landfill payment rather than the power bill Crawford said he consults with the county for collection "We do look at it pretty closely" he said “We don't just go out and do what the computer says So far we haven't had any troubles at all with it" The study group has been directed to report findings to the PSC by May Commissioners will then decide what rules will be needed to protect utility consumers from of service for f other than of utility bills or equipment tampering In addition to Millard county UP&L customers the billing issue affects customers in Draper and West Valley City where the utility collects garbage fees for those communities and in Riverton where it collects municipal water feea UP&L officials defend the practice because it bring in revenue to the company thereby reducing its cost of doing business The House Judiciary Committee has approved compensation for those who suffered radiation injuries downwind from the Nevada nuclear tests of the 1950s and early 1960s including Millard County residents The $100 million appropriation bill was sponsored by Utah Rep Wayne Owens The committee cleared the “downwinden” bill Wednesday March 28 on a vote It now goes to the full House where it is expected to pass It wu the first time a House committee hu approved compensation for who lived downwind of the Nevada testa who claimed they were injured by radiation from those tesu The bill lists certain diseases believed usociated with fallout Owens wu happy the bill had passed but unhappy with efforts by the Justice Department to kill it "The Department of Justice which is a discredit to the name they should be called the Department of Government Protection they were up here working in force trying to stop it" he said "But the express is moving" he said "The check’s not in the mail but it's And things are going being written great I’m delighted" The bin would entitle alleged radiation victims or their heirs $50000 in The estimated 1100 to compensation 300 presumed victims must have lived in certain areas of southern Utah and elsewhere downwind of the Nevada testa between 1964 and 1971 "Millard county is in the fallout zone" Delta physician Melvin Lyman "We’re part of the downwind said area" Millard is the northemmoct county within the zone he said "The old timers here used to get their Geiger counters excited every little while after an explosion" Lyman said "They had a lot of fallout here" Lyman said there may be hundreds of local residents who may qualify for benefits Many may not know it "Some have died or moved away but surviving people could get some benefits out of it" he said “We need to get the people cognizant of it and get them started applying" Those who believe they may qualify for benefits will have two years after the date of enactment of the bill to apply Lyman said "I guess it's good to keep this before the public” he said "but there's nothing much we can do until it if it passes There’ no nerd passes getting excited until the bill passes" The bill would also give $ 00000 to affected uraniuM mineach of ers or heirs Eligible miners must have worked in uranium mines in Utah or ocher Western states during A similar bill in the Senate has been approved by the Senate Labor and That Human Resources Committee bill sponsored by Utah Sen Orrin Hatch faces stiffer obstacles than the House version Racquetball court building continues Workers have not had to deal wi th severe weather extremes this winter in construction of the racquetball court extension of the indoor swimming pool in Delta Work is on schedule The courts and related facilities in the extension i should be finished and ready for use in early summer according to Connie Tolbert an of the West Millard Recreation District Board "We’re looking forward to it opening" she said "We've had lots of interest and people are excited about it" The extension will provide office and storage space and "things that will be helpful to the pool" Tolbert said in addition to the racquetball courts An open house and tour will be announced |