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Show I u I Thursday iirc r August 29, 2002 JsL 'Vru .wfe J ', Price, Utah 111th Year -- No. 70 KUSBtirt : '.. " rf1 w Y .' . , - 500 Vi - w v' By fv ' r ' t .. ' 'V--- day brought to light several aspects of land ownership with regard to surface rights and mineral rights. One matter of key interest to local residents was the fact that if an individual owns only the surface rights to a parcel of property, the person has little recourse but to negotiate an extraction agree- ment with the mineral rights holder. But do remember that they can only use so much of the property that is reasonable to extract the mineral they are after, advised Marvin Rogers, an Alabama assistant attorney general and an expert on coalbed methane gas extraction rights. ' The seminar featured three experts in the field of gas and min- Contractor repaving section of Carbonvflle Road impacted by waterline project and the construction will proceed along side the railroad tracks. A sec- - ond contractor is working behind the pipeline layers to repave the tom up section of the mad. On Wednesday, the pavement had been replaced to ap-o- n pranmatety 1400 North, vastly improving the driving conditions for ville residents and local motorists who travel along the roadway. Carbon-roa- d County addresses fairgrounds concerns By RICHARD SHAW Staff reporter Kevin Hansen occupied center stage at last weeks commission meeting when the local resident approached Carbon lawmakers - carrying a bucket filled with vdnmks of concrete. I was using the main arena at die fairgrounds yesterday and I found these in the soil there, explained Hansen as he passed die container around die commission chambers. I want to remain tive about this whole thing, am concerned about the fairgrounds, its use and what it is re' ally for. Hansen, who visits the facility ona&equent basis during the summer, indicated that the arena is often so hard it is almost unusable. He also questioned the practice of keeping the horse stalls locked. If this is for public use, how come it is locked up? asked Hansen. Commissioner Ibm Matthews, who has been over the for a number of years, die situation and defended employees who work at the fairgrounds. I know that our crew out there would not chive over that concrete on the tractor if the workers saw it, stressed Matthews. They would toss it out of the arena. I think theyjust didnt see it. With numerous activities taking place at die fairgrounds, Matthews pointed out that the crews do not always have the time to maintain die facilities die waythey would like, including grooming the arena. We have 200 horse stalls there, continued Matthews. We used to leave them unlocked so people could use them. But they wouldnt dean them after. Soon, we had people moving from one stall to another instead of cleaning the ones they used. It became a real problem. Hansen also brought up several things he had observed such as asphalt piled an the ground aswell as scrap iron and old tires piled by die outdoor arena. I just feel there needs to be a direction, said Hansen. What is the facility for? Maybe we need to stand back from die situation. I want to remain positive and understand what is going on, but stuff like these chunks of concrete are like land mines out in die arena. I just think these dungs are dean up issues and safety issues. Some of the areas at die fairgrounds looked really good, par--. ticulariy the lawn in the park, ' added Hansen. Commissioner Bill Kiompel indicated that the fairgrounds, while essentially equestrian in nature, is a multiple use facility . He also commented about the amount of asphalt that is being put in and suggested that was not good for horses. That is an area where we play ' to put in playground equipment, stated KrompeL We have a lot of activities and facilities out there. The arena is used for many kinds ofthingp. There are the motocross track, the miniature airport, the new exhibition building. The asphalt is an important part of the development ofdie facility. The commissioners recently divided the duties at the fair- grounds and the lawmakers have (Continued on page 6A) eral extraction. Rogers was brought in for his knowledge of law concerning land rights issues faced some Carbon residents. Alabama was one of the first states to encounter the problem s associated with coalbed methane extraction and Rogers has been in on the legal aspect from almost the beginning. Introducing the seminar was Todd Bryant, communications manager for the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. In addition to overseeing communications for the multi-stat- e agency, Blyant supervisesJOGCCs training program. He previously served as communications director of the - . Oklahoma Energy Resources Board. He also spent many years in the journalism and public relations fields. The third presenter at the seminar was John Boza, associate di- rector for DOGM who had a handle on local information. ' The session started with Biyant describing the oil and gas industry. He provided production numbers and discussed how oil companies and exploration companies are set up. Some people dont understand there is no real difference between what we term natural gas and coal bed methane gas, said Bryant We actually have retermed that seam natural gas. type afgas-co- al Most oil development companies have numerous employees a land owner may have to dea with on various issues, explained Bryant But most often, the individual has to deal with the companys land department and, more specifically, the manager or landman. Locked horse stalls at the fairgrounds wen part of the discussion at the Carbon County Commission meeting last week. Commissioners say that even though the facility is there far the use of the public, the stalls need to be locked because people abuse the privilege of using them by letting their animals dirty the stalls and then not cleaning up after the animals. The stalls are mainly used for equestrian and rodeo events that are held at the facility. , ment of these resources. Wc think that development is a good thing. Two-thirof the land and minerals in Utah are controlled by the federal government, with one-thir- d controlled by the state and private interests. Often, we find ourselves relying on the feds to tell us where we can develop resources because of their strength of ownership in the state, indicated Boza. Showing charts and graphs, Boza pointed out that 2001 wasa banner year for the Issuance of drilling permits in Utah. Last year, 878 permits were Issued. The rise in drilling permits since 19 has chiefly come from natural gas development, stated Boza. In any one year, about one-ha- lf of those permits to two-thirare exercised. CSNG development in the local area began in early 1988 when Texaco began drilling test wells, explained Boza. In December 1990, a discovery well in the Castle Gate field proved the gas was usable and fairly easily extracted. In August 1992 a River Gas well in Drunkards Wash proved economically viable. Boza detailed the permitting process, including the pre-dri- ll evaluation conducted onsite. The evaluation takes into consideration the different aspects of the project and represents a good time for surface rights owners to talk with state officials about what Ls going to be done on property to extract the gas. While the seminar attendees were interested in the surface issues, many wanted to learn about the royalty rights of mineral rights owners. Boza introduced officials from the Utah Royalty Owners Association to the audience. The organization formed many years ago when oil companies began drilling in the Uintah Basin. We are here tonight to help those of you who are dealing with this situation right now "'explained Leroy Pectol, a past president of the association. Our organizations was instrumental in passing legislation years,ago that gives people due royalties some rights that they didnt have before. Passed in 1995 by the Utah Legislature, the law has changed the way royalty owners are treated not only by the companies, but by the state. Statutory guidelines regarding royalties include payment timing requirements, an option to petition a special board to oversee matters involving unpaid proceeds and information on payments to royalty owners. Information includes the month and year payments are being made for, the average price per unit of gas sold and the lease, well or property on which the payment is being made. A surface holder fa a person who owns the land and has the rights to the basic physical ele- -. ments of realty. The individual basically owns what fa on top of (Continued on page 2A) RICHARD SHAW A seminar presented by the Utah Division of Oil, Gas. and Mining on land rights last Thurs- flag man stops cars amid mounds of dirt lining north CarbonviDe Road, Crews are digging Price's waterline and the dirt will soon be removed as work the project approaches the old Halfway Club, where the line will cross the 4A i Staff reporter A soccej season, '' Seminar highlights mineral: lease rights ,fcr - Dinos slide Into Boza took the helm and moved seminar from a national scale to a state emphasis. The petroleum industry is a curious and unknown industry to most people, commented Boza. Almost no one understands all of what goes on, but we are here to try to help you do that However, do remember that our state organizations mission is the develop Foundation research report catalogues welfare benefits Utah Foundation has released a research report cataloging welfare benefits statewide since the passage of reform legislation in 1996. The independent public policy research groups study also includes an analysis ofthe monetary value of the benefits to the retipn i benefit was worth, in inflation-adjustterms, $69.86 compared to $73.50 in 1997. ed Utah ranks 25th in the United States for the percent erf e children receiving reduced price or free lunch. Utah is also one ofthe top 10 fastest growing states in connecschool-ag- enta Entitled Welfare in Utah: tion the reduced price or free What Rograms are Available and How Have Federal Reforms fected Them?, the report con- -' tains the foBowiqg key highlights: ; During 1999, 1 A percent of Utah households received assistance under temporary assistance to needy families, compared to 2iS percent nationally. Utahs 1ANF percentage ranks 36th in the nation. The vahie of food stamps has declined in Utah since 1996. ; In 2001, the average monthly Medicaid Utahs two-tiersystem has higher monthly income Imuts for TANF participants than for pom residents who do not receive the benefit Hie situation creates a barrier to the poor population seeking assistance with medical . R COPY ft VSVj fj. . . - .Vs s v school lunch benefi t. ed Nonprofit, affiliated charitable organizations posted an increase in for services following the in (Continued on page BA) non-religiou- de-ma- Statewide seatbelt law enforcement campaign continuing through Labor Day Seatbelts save lives, but drivers and passengers frequently ignore the devices. However, the people who respond to traffic accident scenes know how important the straps are and laW enforcement officers across Utah wil participate in the Buckled or Busted Labor Day seatbelt campaign. Sponsored by the Utah Department of Public Safety and Hold on to Dear Ufa, the enforcement effort will continue through Sept. 2. The campaign was launched in May 2000. A recent statewide survey shows Utah seat beR usage at an all time high. Results indicate that 80.1 percent of Utah drivers and front-se- at passengers use safety belts, a percent increase from 2001. The increase can result in U i V five lives saved, 123 injuries prevented and an annual state savings of $74 million in health care costs. We are pleased to see that people in Utah are recognizing the value of buckling up noted Robert Flowers, department of public safety commissioner. Our goal is to continue to increase the number of individuals using seat belts and in tom see a decrease injuries on Utah's roadways.' in tire number of deaths and serious , Utah's seat belt law requires all passengers and drivers to buckle the safety devices when traveling in a motor vehicle. . v . A |