Show USPS 349 - 520 Qqbysoc IPA tax Vol 80 No 39 April 12 1990 compromise sought by Ken Rand Millard County will proceed with a settlement in a tax dispute with IPA but will not admit IPA is correct on a legal issue in question Commissioners ordered County County Attorney Warren Peterson at a Tuesday April 3 meeting in Fillmore to redraft a tentative agreement reached in January with the Intermountain Power Agency that reflects the new position IPA operates the Intermountain Power Plant north of Delta It supplies 85 percent of the county tax base The utility paid $24 million in taxes last year for 1988 and 1989 but protested 44 percent of the payment The protested amount was put into escrow to be released when the dispute is settled The deal offered by IPA in January would give the municipal exemption sue to IPA while the county would get favorable ruling on several other issues in dispute The municipal exemption issue involves about $44 million of the escrow account Peterson had advised against settlement but commissioners were prepared When Peterson showed to go ahead them a legal brief Tuesday March 20 that questioned the legality of the IPA position on the municipal exemption sue the commissioners decided to modify their earlier agreement The brief outlined a 1976 State Supreme Court ruling that supported a posi tion contrary to that held by IPA It was written by Salt Lake City attorney Bill Peters who is helping the county with the dispute IPA contracts to sell power to several Utah cities which are not now buying it Instead the power is being sold to California IPA claims it should still enjoy an percent tax exemption for the sales Peterson contends transferring the exemption out of state is illegal and that the supreme court supports his view IPA General Manager Reed Scarle said the ruling cited in the Peters brief was not relevant Peterson said IPA had not been negotiating in good faith Searle denied it In early March Searle said IPA hadn’t heard from county officials on the proposed settlement wording drafted by IPA attorneys in January so they went ahead and asked the Tax Commission to adopt the language Peterson filed a petition with the T ax Commission to stop the IPA request until he had time to brief the county commission and get rections from them on how to proceed That discussion occurred April 3 The proposed settlement wording change ordered by commissioners will reflect agreement that IPA should get their way on the municipal exemption issue “not on legal reasons" Commissioner Mike Stylcr said "but on legislative history And we reserve the right to go back to the legislature and get that changed" County Administrator Robyn Pearson said he thought it was proper for a settlement to state clearly that the county can find no legal standing that IPA should be allowed the municipal exemption “but we chose rather to simply resolve the issue through negotiation" Peterson compared the idea to the kind of settlements insurance companies reach out of court in which payment is made but liability denied Stylcr called a settlement “expedient" He said it was needed for several reasons including budget stability and maintaining good relations with the power plant The settlement must be based on circumstances" Peterson “exigent agreed “but I would not want to give them anything that can be used a precedent in future years" Commissioner Frank Baker said while the county may give up the right to raise the legal issue again he would not be surprised if IPA was challenged on the issue from a different governmental entity in the not too distant future The new draft will be forwarded to IPA attorneys when it is complete If they agree to its wording the Tax Commission will be asked to hold a hearing The funds in escrow could be released soon after that hearing u Manager sought to build pool by Ken Rand Commissioners Millard County have decided to hire a construction btnld a swimming pool'br"' manager to Fillmore The commission voted unanimously at its Tuesday April 3 meeting in Fillmore to ask for bids for the job The manager will supervise aU phases of the project with a mandate to keep total cost under $750000 A legal notice appeared in the April 5 edition of the Chronicle Progress advertising for bids for the position Commissioners have said they expect the job will be let few around $15000 Commissioners meeting as the East Millard Recreation District Board have been frustrated in attempts to get a general contractor to bid the project within the $750000 budget The first try on Tuesday Feb 23 produced nine bids The lowest bid was $114000 above budget The bids were rejected A comm iltee composed of four local residents chaired by Commissioner Jer'E Brinkerhoff tried unsuccessfully to rewrite design specifications to lower costs In addition to rebidding the projthe ect with modified specifications group in a meeting Wednesday March 28 looked at raising more money or hiring a construction manager “We decided we couldn 't get it budgeted to rebid it" Brinkerhoff said He 'saidthe bommlftee Opted to recommend the board hire a manager The manager will work closely with the group Hiring a construction manager is expected to cut several costs including profit that a general contractor would build into a bid There would also be a savings in sales tax County equipment would be used and materials would be county purchased with money But County Administrator Robyn Pearson said some administrative costs would increase because the county would be doing things normally done by a general contractor The pool construction manager will be responsible for coordinating the work Each subcontract of subcontractors must be separately advertised for competitive bid It takes three weeks to advertise each bid but the process can be by overlapping advertising periods Up to nine separate contracts will have to be bid Some may be combined “If we go this way" Brinkerhoff said “we’re gambling it’s going to save us money" Lawyer grew to like killer In the process of helping to convict Michael Anthony Archuleta of murder and sentencing him to die attorney Carvel Harward grew to like the man “I was comfortable with asking the jury in his case for the death penalty" Carvel Harward told an Associated Press reporter “But as the trial went on and I got to know him I ended up liking I have contempt for him as a person what he did but to this day if you ask me if I like Michael Anthony Archuleta I will tell you yes” Harward assisted Millard County Attorney Warren Peterson in prosecuting Archuleta and Lance Conway Wood of Gordon for the 1988 Ray Church a Southern Utah State Harward is chief College student criminal deputy for the Davis County Attorney Harward said he agreed with the death penalty verdict returned by the jury but he docs not see that as a cause "When people would for celebration I didn’t say to me ‘Congratulations’ even like the word because it’s nothing to be congratulated about and it’s nothsaid ing to celebrate about" he Wood was sentenced to life in prison Harward for his part in the homicide worries that someday he will be released “My opinion is that he is a man who should never ever be released from "I feel very that prison" he said strongly about that" Developing a liking for the defendant was not the only emotional impact on Harward during the case “I became acquainted with the parents of the victim and I have a lot of love and respect for them" he said “I became acquainted with Mr Archuleta's parents and I have love and respect for them" Candidate filing deadline nears and Nickle Scott Roger Stan worth are the latest toregistcr to run for public office in Millard of as Monday April 9 County to Both are seeking the Millard School District Board Deadline to register with the seek office clerk's to public county office in the November general election is Monday April 16 Contact the county clerk's office for details County Attorney Warren Peterson said the idea was “sixes" as far as saving money “But politically it seems to go better Yoa have somebody you tan look to and say ' You are our employee Get out there and do the job this way "When you have somebody who is interested in the community and is good Peterson at or knows construction" said “you don’t have that split loyalty of a contractor who is trying to protect himself and report back to you what he thinks he can tell you and still keep his bottom line where it belongs" Fillmore Mayor Keith Gillins said it would be close "It may not be exact" he said" but it will be close I suggest you proceed with the construction management concept as defined by the attorney" The board voted to do so The manager will be expected to “provide completion in not more than six months" according to the Request for Proposal The manager must also “be able to report to the construction site within 30 minutes during normal working hours and within one hour at all other times” Bids must be submitted no later than April 23 They will be opened the following day Spring cleaning at the Chronicle Progress Johnson did his Tom Sawyer routine last week whitewashing the front of the Chronicle Progress Delta Bill got carried away with his spring cleaning: he completely refinished Sue's office from floor to ceiling He even whitewashed the newspaper box He put up the sign above the door (made by Diane Church) a few weeks ago Looks nice doesn't it? Bill office in War declared on crickets by Kea Rand State and federal officials are using poisoned bait to fight a Mormon cricket infestation in Millard County The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) a division of the US Department of Agriculture is conducting the program on federal land Baiting of about 4000 acres of B urcau of Land Management land near Oak City got under way Wednesday April 4 The misnamed Mormon cricket actually a grasshopper is just now hatching in the Oak City area "It’s a very ferocious feeder on grasses" USU County Extension Agent Jody Galeof Delta said “They consume the forage range people need for their range cows Thai's the biggest problem They’re also coming down into some of the outlying farm areas the alfalfa fields and grain fields right up next to the foothills" Gale said the problem is concentrated in foothills areas specifically Fool Creek Leamington Canyon Canyon the mouth of Oak City Canyon and points both north and south of there Clay Springs and the area north of Holden “We don’t have as severe problems there but last year we had problems at the mouth of Fillmore Canyon and Meadow Canyon" he said “And there has been a fairly significant problem in the Kanoeh area" He said the problem is more severe this ye ir than last year Poison bait was also spread in the county last year "This year’s effort is a suppression effort only” Gale said “They’re just simply trying to maintain the number of crickets without having them increase significantly” He said an eradication effort would cost millions of dollars “If the problem gels worse that may be what needs to be done But at this point the problem hasn’t been severe enough to warrant that type of an ef- fort" The APHIS program applies to federal land only But Gale said the Utah Department of Agriculture is sponsoring a companion program to make poison bail available to private land owners While the federal government pays the cost of spreading the bait on BLM land other costs are shared Utah splits cost of baiting state land with the federal government The state and private land owners will split cost of poison bait for private land “It’s $28 for a 50 pound bag" Gale said "They're making that available to the private land owners for $1450" The state bail is rolled barley sprayed with SEVIN which Gale said is a relatively safe insecticide “Sometimes cats like to go out and chew cm the dead crickets" he said “but we’ve had no problems or incidents to date as far as a pet dying from consuming crickets There may have been but I’m not aware of any" The application rate varies from 20 to 40 pounds per acre Gale said Private land owners will spread the See Crickets page 2 PSC ruling puts CUG up in county gas war A request by Mountain Fuel Supply Company for more time to prov ide natural gas to Millard Juab and Beaver counties has been denied by the Public Service Commission paving the way for Central Utah Gas Company to move in The PSC ruling came Thursday MFS wanted to extend its April 5 “certificate of public convenience and necessity" to provide service to the Utah area The ruling was “without prejudice" which means the PSC took no stand on legal aspects of whether or not the certificate actually expired Dec 31 1989 Instead Commission Chairman Ted Stewart said the PSC would wait until MFS or “another party" could prove it could provide the service CUG President Earl Andrews of Nephi said the decision gave his company an opportunity to demonstrate it could provide natural gas service to the area "We’re going to prepare a feasibility study to present to the commission and get ourselves certified so we can begin construction as soon as possible" he He said he expects to file an said application this summer If the PSC grants CUG a certificate and the utility can get an adequate gas supply Andrews said service could start “in a portion of Juab County by the end of the year" Ironically a possible source might be a Quesiar Pipeline Company line that goes through Payson Canyon 30 miles north of Nephi The pipeline is owned by Questar Corporation the MFS parent company MFS got its certificate in 1986 At the time the company expected a proposed pipeline would be built through the area providing a more accessible source of gas The pipeline is meeting stiff opposition from citizens who want it rerouted around Davis and Salt Lake counties If it gets built at all commissioners were told it won’t be in service before late 1991 After the hearing MFS attorney Patricia Drawe said Mountain Fuel will proceed under the premise that its certificate to serve all of southern Utah is still in effect and will seek PSC approval to move into new service areas “as it becomes economically feasible" Drawe said Mountain Fuel will seek franchises from communities still not served including those in the three counties when it believes an adequate gas supply is available and projected sales warrant "The commission sees that it is worthwhile to wait and see what develops" with the interstate pipeline MFS spokesman Glenn Robinson said “It's clear to us that the public interest is not saved by Mountain Fuel or any other party spending millions of dollars" to build long distribution pipelines when gas supplies could be available a few miles from the different communities within a couple of years Robinson said He said tapping the interstate gas line could cost only a few hundred thousand dollars while building a 30-- to long parallel line could cost millions |