Show Serving Utah’s Great Pahvant Valley 7 Coov 50c USPS Climbers trained Membcrsoflhe 1992 Utahns on Everest expedition began their 1990 training schedule by spending a few days in January on top of Mt Timpanogos Craig Bishop Hinckley a member of the expedition was among the Mt Timp climbers In February Bishop and two other team members tried to climb Aconcagua in the Andes the second highest peak in the world outside the Himalayas Bad weather kept them off the top Bishop is on Aconcagua as you read this for another attempt In May the ember Everest team will try to scale Ml McKinley in Alaska the tallest mountain in North America ECTC stopped The Air Force planned to build an Electronic Combat Test Capability in the West Desert of Millard and Juab counties to test new electronic aircraft combat equipment The idea met stiff opposition in 1989 from an unholy alliance reminiscent of the MX fight Ranchers environmentalists legislators watchdog groups and ordinary citizens opposed to the plan finally won when the Air Force dropped the project in January Tax deal struck After lengthy negotiations county and Intermountain Power Agency officials finally struck a deal last winter that would settle the continuous tax protests being filed by I PA The deal emerged after lengthy negotiations among attorneys 1PA paid $24 mil how in- taxes but protested 44 percent of that The deal would have freed $11 million held in escrow and was designed to end future IPA tax protests The Tax Commission was asked last summer to sanction the agreement with a but that hasn't come to pass yet In July the Utah Supreme Court made a ruling on the Amax case that has put the proposed IPA lax settlement on the back burner until the state legislature deals with fallout from the Amax case in January Meanwhile IPA continues to pay it's taxes under protest the county continues to escrow the protested portion and draft budgets accordingly and unofficial talks about the stalled settlement continue sporadically No one knows when it will finally be settled Dove sentenced After several delays former grocery store chain owner Deon Dove had his day in court in Provo June Originally charged with 56 felony counts involving attempts to keep his bankrupt chain afloat including one in Delta Dove of Springville pleaded guilty in a plea bargain arrangement to eight counts He was sentenced in August to several prison terms Wood sentenced Lance Conway Wood was tried in a Provo courtroom for the Nov 1989 murder of Gordon Ray Church whose body was found near Cove Fort Wood was murder as found guilty of Michael Archuleta a was few months before but unlike Archuleta he was not sentenced to die Both defendants arc appealing Police consolidated Elections held Delta closed it's police department in January and contracted with the Sheriff s Department for law enforcement services Delta's police officers were made deputy sheriffs In November the mayors of Delta and Fillmore approached the county commission seeking an adjustment in the cost of services dedicated to the two cities No action was taken to relieve the cities of the cost of those contracted services but the general topic of “revenue sharing” between county and cities will likely come up again in 1991 Only two political offices in Millard County were contested in the 1990 general elections and only one primary was needed Republican Lana Moon defeated incumbent Mike Stylcr in the primary to face Democrat challenger Jim DcWyze for Commissioner A Republican incumbent Commissioner B Frank Baker was challenged by Democrat Warren Peterson who gave up his County Attorney seat to run for the commission Moon and Baker won The wilderness question was also on the ballot Voters said they preferred Change in multiple-us- Valliquette retired Jack Valliquette after 30 years with Brush Wellman Inc retired as plant manager March 31 He was replaced by Don McMillan Three killed A southbound freight train struck a pickup truck crossing railroad tracks near downtown Delta Monday Feb 5 killing three people The victims were Archie Barben 79 Brittney Stewart 6 and Shannel Smith 6 At the time the crossing was 359th on the state's list of crossing to be upgrading Delta city officials urged priority be stepped up in the interests of safety In November it was announced that the crossing and another dangerous one in Della would receive crossing arms and appropriate safety upgrades within 18 months Facilities built Creative financing leveraged $500000 half from Fillmore half from the county into a $750000 loan from the build an to indoor state swimming pool in Fillmore Supplier delays pushed back the planned opening date past the Nov 30 construction deadline The opening date is still pending Construction was completed this fall on a new racquctball court addition to the West Millard Swimming Pool and it was opened for use in September Buildings used First used in August 1989 the new exhibition building and indoor arena at the county fairgrounds proved their worth last year by their constant use The exhibition building was used last year for a craft fair a chamber of commerce meeting at which Gov Norm Bangerter spoke a home and garden show unveiling of a county agricultural promotion video a benefit for medical expenses for the Ken Adams family a 15th anniversary party for IHC’s Delta and a Christmas hospital personnel holiday shopping fair In the indoor arena a Junior livestock Show was held a benefit rodeo for the area’s first high school rodeo and the first high school rodeo itself were held The facilities were also used during the Millard County Fair in August Waste law drafted Draft of a county hazardous waste ordinance was begun last year Wording of the draft was discussed extensively in sessions of the County Planning and Zoning Commission YEAR END See page 3 Steve Erickson 81 No 23 December 2tf 1990 "No decision" 1990: The year in review (Editor’s note: The events summarized here were among the most prominently reported in the Chronicle Progress during the past year They are presented in no particular order) Vol and son Pipelines proposed Pending construction of two interstate natural gas pipelines through eastern Millard County prompted a flurry of activity beginning last March by project proponents and companies seeking franchises to deliver gas to the Delta and Fillmore areas Central Utah Gas Co got a franchise from Delta to deliver natural gas to the city but failed to get one from Fillmore Mountain Fuel officials wooed area leaders hoping to eventually secure contracts to deliver but no deals were struck WyCal one of the two competing interstate anpipeline companies nounced in December it was withdrawing from the project leaving Kent River the only company in the running to build a pipeline B ut also in December Forest Service officials rescinded permission to build through their property until protests by opponents are heard The controversy about the pipeline and the high level of interest in eventually getting natural gas service to area residents will keep this a major story in 1991 IPA tax deal studied by Ken Rand Millard County officials are taking a attitude on a possible Power change in the Intermounlain Agency tax protest settlement First public word of the new concept came at a commission meeting in Fillmore Tuesday Dec 18 The idea is unofficial “We're just kicking things around" County Commissioner Mike Stylcr said “In Washington talk this would be referred to as a ‘trial balloon "' Part of the meeting was devoted to discussing with Millard District School Board officials what to do when the legislature takes up the Amax case The Utah Supreme Court has ruled that Amax a property cannot be taxed at 100 percent of market value while properly is taxed at 80 percent What impact the court decision has on other property like IPA will be determined by the legislature when it convenes in January Local officials fear that- whatever action is taken Millard County will suffer They have been conferring to find ways to soften the blow but have taken no specific action to date Meanwhile the proposed IPA tax protest agreement has been put on hold pending legislative action on the Amax case IPA operates the Intermounlain Power Plant near Delta The plant counts for about 85 percent of the Millard County tax base IPA paid about $24 million in taxes to Millard County last year but protested 44 percent of that based on several issues About S million is being held in escrow pending settlement of the protest A deal struck between IPA the and the school district earlier this county year would give IPA their way on one issue the municipal exemption issue while the county and school district got their way on others includWSATA issue ing the The Tax Commission has not taken action on a request by the parties to deai endorse the in a IPA officials have asked the Tax Commission to put the deal on hold until after the legislature lakes up the Amax issue Reed Scarlc General Manager of IPA said the hold was instigated at the quest of some legislators Searle floated the settlement amendment “trial balloon" idea with Stylcr after a school board meeting in Delta Wednesday Dec 12 The public portion of that meeting was devoted to the Amax issue The deal brought up by Searle w as not made public until the Dec 8 commission meeting Basically the deal would swap the municipal exemption issue for the WSATA issue The municipal exemption issue volves 11 9 percent of I PA taxes Several entities including some other counties have objected to a settlement on the complex issue “It's met with a lot of static" Sty ler said “It’s a political prob- lem” The legislature may consider a bill that would declare that once a Utah municipality uses power bought from IPA the utility would then be eligible for the exemption based on percentage of use “Until that time" Styler said “it would be fully taxed" Stylcr said he thinks IPA would support passage of such legislation if the county gives up on the WSATA issue WSATA an acronym for Western Slates Association of Tax Administrators is a formula used in taxing utilities and other entities that straddle slate and other jurisdictional lines The Tax Commission rather than the legislature deals with the WSATA formula One snag officials see is that the WSATA formula can account for fluctuating percentages of IPA taxes Millard School District Superintendent Kenneth Topham said he'd like to see a way of putting a ceiling of percent on WSATA before he would support conceding it to IPA "We could end up giving up more than we are now" he said Stylcr said passage of a bill clarifying the municipal exemption issue would require the support of cities and IPA But he said IPA won't support a municipal exemption bill if Millard County doesn’t concede WSA1 X “WSATA is a volatile situation” school board member Scott N ickle said "I feel very uncomfortable giving any support to WSATA one way or the other" “We will support trying to get legislation for the municipal exemption” Topham said "but we aren’t going to make any commitments to IPA right now until we find out w hat direction the legislature is going" Searle said any current thinking on the protest settlement is only exploratory given the complication presented the Amax issue "There’s no decision by to make at this point in time” he said “because there’s nothing on the table” Bishop to retry mountain climb quest for Mt Everest 1992 in by Ken Rand A Millard County man is planning to return to a mountain in South America he tried unsuccessfully to climb last winter Craig Bishop Hinckley a member of the 1992 Utahns on Everest expedition began climbing Aconcagua on Monday Feb 26 1990 Two other Everest team members Bob Weston Springville and Howard ChuntzOrcm also tried the mountain Bad weather schedule kept the group and a from reaching the lop “We're going to try to do it a little bit smarter this year" Bishop said “and hope we have better weather too" Aconcagua is 22834 feet high It is the second highest mountain in the It the Himalayas world outside straddles the Argentina Chile border in the Andes Chuntz will join Bishop for the tempt They were scheduled to leave Salt Lake City for Santiago Chile Wednesday Dec 26 and return Jan 8 The route Bishop and Chuntz will climb is called the Polish Glacier It's not “super steep" Bishop said “It gets up to about 60 degrees The only one that's super steep is the south face and that’d probably make the Eiger north face look easy" Bishop said he and Chuntz try to reach the summit sometime between Jan Warnlck honored Delta Technical Center industrial arts teacher Waldo Wamick was named Millard School District Teacher of the Year in August In October the State Board of Education named Wamick 1991 UtahTeachcrofthe Year Weighing and Tagging for 1991 January 12 1991 is weighing and lagging of beef for the Millard County Jr Livestock Show The times and places are: 10 am Scipio- - Town corrals Holden to wit corrals 2 noon Lynndyl Tim Nielson’s 10 noon Delta - Howard Bis sett’s 10 noon -- 50 i bags of poison bound for Kanosh fields a I2TM10 Craig Bishop The entire Utahns on Everest team is planning to climb Mt McKinley in May McKinley in Alaska is 20320 feel high It’s the highest peak in North America All 12 members of the team arc Utahns The climbs are pan of the extensive training for the group's planned ascent of Ml Everest in 192 Training is going well “but we still need money" Bishop said Delta man dies in work accident Russell Stew art Delta died act wee k when the boom he was operaing contacted a pow crime A spokesman for the Union Pacific Railroad said Stewart a ITRR employee w as operating a crane on a truck transloading material from one truck to another near Wend over During the operation one of the booms came in contact with an overhead pow crime and Stewart was killed instantly The accident happened at about 325 pm Thursday Dec 20 |