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Show THE ZEPHYRNOVEMBER 1995 business licensing. Mick: Is this a result solely of growth? No. Improvements to water and sewers have been needed for many years. Raw sewage cannot continue to be pumped into the Colorado River whenever the primary or secondary clarifier is shut down with no back up. During the past year the City Council has significantly rased water and sewer hookup fees and may very well raise them even more if we cannot implement fair impact fees to cover costs. I have asked city staff to schedule a special workshop meeting with the city council to study how and when we can implement impact fees. Warner: "If you build it they will come." Five years ago Moab was struggling to survive. Everybody was trying to lure people and businesses to Moab. Well, we built it and they came. As for the relatively insignificant hookup fees", true, the City did not charge high excessive hookup foes or impact fees. Is that wrong when you are trying to lure a business into your community? In retrospect maybe the City should have been charging more. But, that's all water under the bridge or, excuse the pun, down the drain. On the bright side, at least Moab isn't having to expend taxpayer's dollars to defend themselves in court today because of the "impact fees" that might have been arbitrarily imposed. Apparently you are not aware that Moab City has increased connection and development fees to cover "actual" costs. Today, appropriate fees arc being charged for water and sewer hookups that cover those costs and are not being subsidized by the taxpayer. In retrospect, do you think Moab citizens should have had the right to vote on a decision made by Moab City to expand water and sewer capacity by 2000 hookups? Why or why not? Cockayne: Our infrastructure is the main fuction of the council. I do believe that upgrade of our sewer system should have been I motion 5 or more years ago. I'm not sure that this is an issue that would a public vote be nessasary. Cooke: Growth is a natural part of the life of a city, and the city is charged with the responsibility to adequately prepare for it. It is too unw'eildy to bring every issue before the voters, in addition it is too expensive. The city also has an equal PAGE 23 is larger than the police department. Or the criminal justice is This a community problem and the city government can encourage and system. assist in coordinating community responses to it: such as the Citizens Assistance Program of which I am a member. I support bringing educators together with police and city administrators to consider more effective approaches to this problem than are currently in use. Johnson: The City Police are currently attempting to come together with the County Sheriffs department. County and City governments are also entering a new era of cooperation to address this urgent problem. Perhaps a few less domestic violence and squabbling neighbor calls would result in freeing up more officer man hours to devote to drug prevention and enforcement. McDougald: Police matters are generally confidential. We do not, as council members, get involved with confidential matters. We receive reports, and annual reports from the Police Department. We continue to support a reduction in drug sales and drug use. We are, once again, forming a Drug Task Force cooperatively between Gty and County law enforcement departments, hoping to further control or inhibit the illigal sale of drugs. Mick: The City Police cannot do it alone. The City has set up a Citizens Advisoty committee to help assist City Staff, including the police department with many of the problems facing us today. I support our efforts to establish a Narcotics Strike Force with Grand County to combat Illegal Drugs not only in our schools but wherever they may be found. Until we are willing to face drugs' head on and in our homes the problem will continue. Warner Yes, I do believe that the Moab City Police Department is doing all it can to deal with the drug problem given it's budgetary and personnel limitations. However, recognizing the fact that this problem has been rapidly growing. The Moab City and Grand County Councils have joined together in an attempt to create and fund a "local joint task force". I have all the confidence in the world that this task force can be an effective tool in the fight against drugs. their trade. But the issue 6' - THE CHALLENGERS (Left to Right) Richard Cooke Scott Cockayne Kent Johnson responsibility to protect its citizens from disruptively large increases in service rates which, in effect, is a taxpayers subsidy of new development that does not, in fact, measurably benifit them. The city needs to restructure its repayment of sewer system expansion costs in order to remove a significant portion of the newly imposed burden it has required its citizens to bear. It's worth noting that councilmembers Mick and surcharge upon overnight McDougald voted against assessment of the 12 accomodations which helps to defray sewer expansion. If their votes had succeeded in blocking this surcharge, rates charged to residents would have increased even more sharply. We simply cannot continue to place the financial burden of commercial and real estate development on the backs of our present citizens, period. Johnson: Moab citizens should have and do have the right to vote on anything that concerns them. Initiative petions may be written and circulated at any time. The City Council must act in accordance with the desires of the citizens of Moab. Majority Rule is at the very foundation of Democracy. McDougald: The council is duly elected by the majority of voters to make critical decisions as to the expansion of sewer plants, water transmission lines, storage and distribution. The council is charged with the responsibility to maintain a sound fiscal utility fund operation. The council holds public meetings to receive public imput and considers this imput in making final determination of such projects. Mick: You the citizens elected us, the city council, to look out for the health, safety g and of our community. We hold public input meetings whenever possible. It would make no sense to upgrade the sewer plant without planning for future hookups. Warner. The Moab City Council has the responsibility of "providing for the public safety, health, morals, and welfare" of it's citizens. When the council voted to expand and upgrade the sewer system they fulfilled that responsibility. That decision came as a result of approximately two years of planning, engineering, public hearings etc. This was a good decision, one that I support and one that was decided in the proper format. well-bein- Do you think the Gty Police is doing all it can to deal unth Moabs growing drug problem? Particularly me th amphetamines among high school students? Cockayne: Our city police have many duties to preform and I'm sure that they do what they can about the drug problem we now have a task force to pinpoint on the problem. We must remember this kind of problem is better delt with first at the family level then school and church's hopefuly to head off problems before they become legal. Cooke: I do not believe the police are being effective in curbing increased traffic in and removed from methamphetamines or "crank". Dealers should be better taigctted It has really only been since 1991 that Moab's tourism industry has boomed. Since then we have witnessed the construction of many motels and fast food restaurants. Give us examples of Moab residents who have benefited and residents who have suffered. Do the pluses outweigh the minuses? In other words, are most Moab residents better off now than they were five years ago? Cockayne: Being a 20 year resident I have seen alote of changes. I do feel Moab residents are better off than five years ago. I can remember very well the hand time's of 10 years ago. Cooke: As the tourist industry has boomed, the problem of unemployment has dropped out of the picture. It's true that many jobs do not pay well or are seasonal, but Moab's workers probably are better paid now than five years ago, even tho' scarcity of housing has now offset this benefit somewhat. Certainly the owners of tourist enterprises have benifitted. Tourism has spurred residential development, again creating jobs for residents. Realistically, tourism fuels the city government and is the major employer locally. But the rapid growth it has engendered will begin to drive many Moab residents from town if the costs of grow'th are not more fairly assessed upon the areas of tourism and real estate development. Two of my opponents voted against the assessment of a sewer tax on overnight tourist rooms and also voted against a moratorium on expanding city water and sewer services north of town. These votes, in my opinion, reflect on insensitivity to the financial hardships that growth has imposed on normal citizens, and I believe our town can only protect itself from these increased costs by action at the council level. There is no other board that can create ordinances to protect our citizens from consequences of over-rapi- d and d We need council members who will deal with growth more growth. cautiously. Johnson: Youthful and untrained workers have benifited by a larger number of jobs and the competition has led to some increase in wages. I personaly have benifit by a greater choice in types and prices of foods I may choose when I eat out. Most Moab residents are marginally better off than during the uranium bust. McDougald: Moab residents have benefitted either directly or indirectly by increased sales tax revenues, increased employment, and land sales. Unfortunately, those who have benifitted least are those who are on fixed incomes. The city council is charged by law to provide basic services including public safety, sanitation, water, sewer, parks and recreation. Basically we should be able to service both residents and commercial developments. Mick: Yes five years ago the Joke around town was the last person please turns off the lights. You could not give a house away. You could drive down any street in poorly-manage- Questions & Answers continue on next page... |
