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Show PAGE 4 THE ZEPHYR APRIL 1992 t .mf River Corridor Commercial Development w ,, development should be allowed along the Colorado of gCmndssta, discus been discuss proposal from chairman and master pUn the county they look at Possible to zoning designed to protect sensitive scenic areas. . the plan is to . commisrion members, dm goal According tJThandout gfaSto while corridor nver the of aUowing for some nature scenic and tte to say tenements owned properties." It goes on river entire rridor, a zone that would the to sdmic overlay zone to be applied and could limit other areas River the Bridge, White's Ranch and prohibit development between insual impact restrictions to cut down on along the river, based on specific that he saw it more as a and a not plan, was Rees emphasized that his proposal fa for grazing, which area zoned the out that currently, starting point for a discussion. He pointed I a 5 acres. sense sizes to growing pressure does notallow commercial development and limits lot to rezone the area, requests the county to change that" he said, remarking on some past requests his proposal only specific types of under that commission has granted. Rees pointed out of spot zoning changes, once a method the current enterprises could be allowed, while under allowed in commercial zones would be permitted, "and zoning change fa approved, everything that includes just about anything you can think of. . Rees' proposal was met with strong opposition from some landowners in the area and from real estate agents, who called it an infringement on private property rights. Tm always concerned when the government interferes with the highest and best use of private property, stated Ray "It's my land, and it's my business," added Merlene Mosher. "That's what made Tibbetts. America great." But other landowners in the area spoke out in favor of limiting development, for both esthetic and financial reasons, saying the more pristine the area remains, the more valuable "I ; m case you missed it... . j rociHpntial . rational countyissions shld full-blo- a summary of the month's news by Ken Davey . ' l ,p . V' . , ' S ''..Ik, 'J i t. South Mountain Trading Post Weathers the Political Storm . V s ' Spectators at the March 3 Moab Gty Council meeting witnessed the first public appearance Emma Walker in over a year when she spoke out against efforts of the city to tear down her by building, the South Mountain Trading Post cm Main Street But it took threats from a Salt Lake Gty attorney to convince the city to back down on demolition plans. The building caught fire on New Years Day, 1988, and for over 4 years has stood vacant. After years of delay, the city moved in 1991 to have the building condemned, and were on the verge erf hiring a Colorado company to rip it down in December. But at that time, the dty council agreed to give Emma and her daughter Janie a few weeks to come up with an alternate plan. Those efforts went nowhere, and again the dty was ready to move on the razing. Then attorney David Gessell came into the picture. A member of a law firm that boasts the services of, among others, former governor Cedi Rampton on its letterhead, Gessell is also a board member of the Utah Heritage Foundation, and he announced the building, one of the oldest in Moab, should be preserved for historical reasons. Then he said he'd sue the dty if they made a move, for violations of due process. The Walkers were given until June to stabilize the building. high-power- it becomes. ed The planning commission will continue to discuss the overlay zone proposal, as well as the next month. county master plan, at its meetings throughout the , Green River Golf Course par 3 golf course in County Travel Council is backing a plan to construct a Green River, and will fund a feasibility study for the project out of transient room taxes. The golf course fa a favorite project of new Travel Council Board chairperson, Olive Anderson, a resident of Green River. The Travel Council here will spend about $5,000 for the feasibility ' The Grand ' study. short of fa made holes, 3 A par golf course usually about 100 yards in length (as only up d courses), and caters to the less serious compared to holes 4 times that long at regulation-sizegolfer, those just learning the game, or these with limited time available to play. But though the Travel Council fa backing the plan, there are reports from Green River of opposition to it, where some residents instead want the dty to construct a swimming pool. Most of Green River fa in Emery County. But a number of that dtyfa motels are across the Grand County line, and transient room tax collected at them goes to the Travel Council here. ' Taking on the Federal Government A coalition of rural counties induding Grand has obtained $45,000 from the Community Impact Board to come up with master plans to establish more local control over federal lands, but federal officials believe the effort will only increase tensions between the governments. The money will go toward the first phase of a program to increase county influence over federal land decisions, particularly those areas involving oil and gas development, grazing, and environmental restrictions. , Die campaign ties in with the proposed Grand County Master Plan, compiled by Bette Stanton and the county's economic and community development office. That draft asserts that the county should determine, for example, when protection for endangered species should be applied, and when and where drilling and mining should be allowed. In a sort of reversal of zoning requirements, which limit how land can be developed, the county draft master plan attempts to assert that county officials should be able to force the federal government to lease or sell land for le, ' . . ' ' 1 J i' iS, Financial Performance of the Hospital v - ... devdopment projects. Besides Grand, other Utah counties involved include Garfield, Wayne, Emery, Rich, Sanpete, and San Juan. The efforts, often referred to as the new Sagebrush Rebellion, focus on fighting not only the federal government, but numerous environmental organizations, including the Sierra Gub and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. According to Salt Lake Tribune reporter Qiristopher Smith, supporters of the movement describe the federal land agencies such as the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management as "imperialist, dictatorial landlords" intent on discouraging oil and gas development, prohibiting road improvements, and ignoring local economies and customs. "Right now, we're really just a colony of the United States," Grand County Commissioner David Knutson told the Tribune. "I came on as die 'green' commissioner and I was forced to eat my words because many of my concepts were not well thought out, added Commissioner Sam Cunningham to the same newspaper. Federal officials, however, believe the efforts will end up costing local governments significant amounts of money challenging the sovereignty of die United States, a challenge doomed to failure. And they worry that in the meantime efforts to increase local participation in land management decisions will be negatively affected by the confrontational approach of the counties. Allan Memorial Hospital cost county taxpayers more in 1991 than the institution's budget called for, according to hospital administrator Kim Hardman. But Hardman added the reason for it was bad accounting by the previous administrator, and that the real performance of the hospital was better than expected. .; S' Hardman presented a financial roundup to the Grand County Commission March 16. 1991 was a controversial year at the fadlity. The county commission dedded in January of that year to abolish the hospital board, and directly oversee AMH themselves. A short time later they fired Lutheran Health Services, the management firm hired in 1990. The 1991 budget was put together by LHS. ..It called for net operating revenues of $2.11 million, and expenses of $2.28 million. It also called for income, induding taxes, of $227,000. All told, that would mean the hospital after the tax subsidy, would have a surplus of almost $56,000. . .. . The actual performance, according to Hardman, was better than budgeted insofar as the hospital actually brought in $222 million in net operating revenue. But Hardman added that the hospital had to write off about $250,000 in bad debt and uncollectable federal contractual, assets the facility should not have been keeping on the books. That pushed expenses up to $2.52 million. That meant that the hospital operated, says Hardman, at a defidt of about $306,000, or about $135,000 worse than projected by LHS. Induded in that amount fa an $18,000 payment to LHS, an settlement for severing their contract. But a property tax collection of $263,798 was higher than antidpated in the budget, and the hospital also received revenues from bank interest, food sales, donations, and grants. Those extra funds reduced the hospital final defidt to about $9,000, about $65,000 worse than the LHS ' 7 projections. .'v.;- V -- non-operati- ng out-of-co- urt DECORATED WITH ANCIENT AMERICA ... Pottery by Andrea Winters : Decorated Pot Anasazi symbols around the lower boui Delicate Vase Hand sttpled artwork on each vase Southwest Indians of bygone days. 33 No. Main 259-862- 3 Pottery Mug : V Generous size, glazed - v-. : !S and fined mug. The Shop features many of Moab s local Artisans ; V'-- |