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Show THE ZEPHYR APRIL 1995 PAGE 4 WORLD NEWS ROUND UP "Cheer up...The worst is yet to come." Philander Johnson What Price Sewers? When the Moab Gty Council yielded to pressure from local motel owners and tabled a motion to add a .5 sales tax on overnight accommodations, it was sending a message to the rest of this town's citizens: YOU will pay for the cost of upgrading the water treatment plant... YOU will pay for the growth that has hit us like a whirlwind in the last five years... YOU will pay for future growth. The proposed tax would add about 40 CENTS to an $80 motel room, according to the City Council, but motel owners daim the added tax will force potential customers to seek cheaper accommodations in towns like Green River and Monticello. The fad is, tourists are already looking for cheaper rates in other nearby communities, but not because of the tax. Rather it's due to the fad that many (not all, but many) have as much as doubled their rates in the last six years. In addition, while the .5 increase would raise the total tax levied on motels to 11.5, a part of that amount, is transient room tax which is predominantly used to further promote Moab and its surroundings. Even with the motel tax, the dty plans to increase sewer bills by $5 to $10 a month. If the Gty Council capitulates to the motel owners, exped the sewer bill to increase by $15...maybe 3, more. In Grand Junction, Colorado, a town that has seen its share of boom and bust economies, the which assures that those who use the sewer system most, dty government has devised a formula must pay a 'basic plant investment fee.' This fee is pay the most. Any new construction project is believed to put on the waste treatment business that based on the demand any particular system. resident units' (EQU) that any new construction They determine the number of 'equivalent establishes a standard of 1 EQU, each room in might consume. For instance, if a residential unit a motel requires 36 EQU. If the motel has 50 rooms, the total number of EQU are 18. Each EQU costs $750. So the plant investment fee for a 50 room motel would be $13,500. In Moab, the dty uses a completely different method of calculating sewer hookup fees. But for comparison, a 50 room motel that used a six inch sewer would pay $1700 for the six inch line and $135 for each erf the 50 units. The cost is $8450. And for any other business, like a restaurant for example, the cost of a sewer hookup is the flat $1700. In Grand Junction, again, they utilize the EQU to determine the cost. A restaurant that seats 100 people would use 14 EQU (Thats .14 EQU X 100.). Fourteen EQU at S750 each is $10,500. Obviously Grand Junction has attempted to make sure that new construction does not place a burden on the dtizens that already reside there. Why don't we use the same method here in Moab? do the dtizens of Moab want to expand the sewage treatment plant by 50? Shouldn't the dtizens have the opportunity to determine the destiny of their own town? Again, let's put it to a vote. Let's have a referendum on the issue. If most Moabites see no advantage Finally, to living in a town of 15,000, then they should have the right to say so. Castle Valley Brouhaha Residents of the town of Castle Valley will vote on April 18 whether to disincorporate the town itself. Rather than throw itself into the middle of this issue, the Zephyr sought the opinions of two Castle Valley residents. Jeff Whitney favors disincorporation; Bruce Keeler does not. lore are their comments: 1 BRUCE KEELE- RTm a resident of Castle Valley and a member of the town planning commission. The movement to disincorporate comes from a varied group of people. 1 think there arc people who would call themselves property rights activists who want as little government interference as possible. They see the town as something that could be eliminated. There are also people who have certain things they want to do with their property in Castle Valley and they feel they would be allowed to do that under the county rules. 1 also believe there are people who are dissatisfied with certain elements of the government in Castle Valley, whether it be the style or err tain members of the government. Now all these groups have come together over this issue. The reasons that Im opposed to disincorfuratc the town arc mainly the things the town can provide. The town boundary includes the valley all the way up around Round Mountain, w'hich puts that jurisdiction under our zoning. If we disincorporate, there is no control that the property owners can exert other than the rancheros themselves. We can do things to protect our watershed and the thereat of Atlas wanting to use rock from Round Mountain to cap their tailings pile comes to mind. If there is no town, we would fall under the established by the zones planning county. The Round Mountain area is zoned G-- l which allows such things as strip mining. The door is open for that kind of thing. Mostly we live out there because we like the space and through the town we can maintain that flavor. Our future, with the town, is determined by the 250 people that live in Castle Valley. Without the town it'll be determined by the 8000 citizens of Crand County." New Rodeway Inn under construction. Will it pay its fair share? JEFF WHITNEY... "The reason there s a vote is because there's a large group of people out there who feel the It works government is one-sidefor the benefit of friends and family, rather than for the only benefit of all the people. We've had instances where our town council has solicited complaints on one person, but would then ask that a similar complaint be rescinded by the complainant, and they would forget it against some other person. Why the Council feds it needs to be involved in protecting one person while attacking another seems pretty farfetched. "We ve looked at some of the main reasons that the town was incorporated in the first place and wedon t fed like those have come to or pass even been worked on for the 10 years the town has been in business. We felt somewhat lied to about what the town would do for us as far as protecting our water rights and what have you. At this point the town is thinking about letting d. It's true that the water treatment plant is 30 years old and would need an upgrade at some d construction has made the future point in the future. But the dramatic increase in NOW. The expansion also indudes a plan to increase the number of potential hookups by 50. Is that what the community wants? The Gty has to find a way to make those responsible for this extraordinary growth pay for the added costs to Moab's infrastructure. If motel owners think it's unfair to place part of the burden on the tourists, how can they think it's fair to dump it cm the shoulders of residents who have lived and worked here for years and years? If not their entire lives? tourist-relate- Lodging Good food RV Hookups Gas & Groceries Pool Table Piano In the quietest, most beautiful setting imaginable. ON UTAH HIGHWAY 95 BETWEEN NATURAL BRIDGES & HITE CROSSING 4 (801) is .( 'f 259-533- . ' A' Historic photograph of the Hite Ferry in "A country inn disguised 1959... ( before Lake Powell) as a classic Southern Utah outpost." i m i |