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Show f ) UINTAH BASIN STANDARD Mw 14.2002- - Pace 17 Ground breaking Program offers young couples & singles a chance to own a home On April 25, Uintah Basin Associa- ment involved with this program, the tion of Government, in conjunction participants sweat equity is sll they with USDA Rural Development, held need to realize the dream of home their thirdGroundBreakingceremoqy ownership. for the Mutual Self-Hel- p Housing Eight to ten families will be program in the Midland Heights Sub- brought together and with the traindivision in Vernal Gathered were state ing ofa construction supervisor, they and local officials who have helped to will build one another's homes. The make this program continue to grow participants will contribute hours each week in the evenings and on weekends and develop. The Mutual Self-Hel- p Housing to do the construction. No one is alconcept is that families work together lowed to move in until each home is to build each others home which re- completely finished. Families will realize a minimum duces the already extremely high construction costs. There ig no down pay of $10,000 equity the minute they move into the home. On the average, homes built through this program have been appraised at $23,000 over the cost ofthe loan, which could calculate out to equal about $18 per hour if members were to be paid for the work on the homes. The program is for individuals and families. The main funding source is USDA Rural Development who offers reduced interest rates for qualified participants. If you or someone you know may be interested in volunteering or participating in this program, call Lisa low-inco- READY TO BEGIN WORK Families who are participating in the Mutual Self-Hel- p Housing program break in ground the Midland Heights Subdivision just off of Highway 40 behind the USU building. The families will help each other build homes. They will move in when they aiv all completed. For more information on the program 0 or contact Lisa Nielsen or Shelley Mullins at the Uintah Basin Association of Governments at Nielsen or Shelley Mullins with Uintah Basin Association of Governor ments at Applications are being taken now. 789-727- 789-727- 722-451- 8. 0 Tight city budget will see There's no miracle cure for drought By tvnni Hinkamp There will always be people who try to profit from disaster. Remember Utahs official drought ta-tis no different People who want to save water and still have green lawns all summer are looking for quick fixes and are likely to be susceptible to scams. There are some interesting new products, but probably no miracle cure short of converting your lawn to Astroturf. Polymers are one possible solution that we are starting to see advertised, says Kelly Kopp, Utah State University Extension water conservation specialist. These are the same kind of substances used to increase the absorbency of disposable diapers. There isntinuch research on how well they work in lawns, but they do hold a lot of water. They might be more efficient and cost effective if you are just startings lawn rather than trying to iiyect them into the soil of an existing lawn. If you are just starting a lawn, polymers can be tilled into the soil easily. There are some companies emerging that claim to be able to inject polymers deep into your lawn, which is important, but consumers should be cautious, says Kopp. Humate is another product being promoted to reduce the amount of water your lawn uses, she says. Because it contains organic material, it is beneficial for the overall health of your lawn, but there is little evidence to support that it can increase water retention by 500 percent as some have claimed. . There arent any quick fixes, but there is a lot you can do to preserve your turf while still complying with watering restrictions, Kopp says. One of the best things you can do is to give your lawn the amount of water it needs and not more than that, she says. Evapotranspiration" is a long word representinga complicated equation based on heat, humidity, wind speed and total solar radiation during the growing season. It is the most precise measure of how much water your lawn needs. Many of the Utah newspapers are starting to run evapotranspiration numbers on their weather pages. Most people dont know exactly how much they are watering until they evaluate their sprinkler systems. Leaving your zystem on for an hour might be putting cm twice as much Y2K? Well most donations eliminated water a8 your lawn needs. If you live in , Salt Lake, Juab, Wasatch or Utah coun- ties you can get in touch with the Water Check Program foraftee evaluation of your sprinkler system. wwwjvwcd.org). In other counties, contact your USU Extension office for information on evaluating your sprinkler system. Some areas of the state may see outright bans of lawn watering while others will enforce alternate day other water conserving measures, she says. Of course if there is a water ban, you are going to have to just sit back and let your lawn go brown and dormant. Just remember that while it may appear to be dead, the lawn will recover from the dormancy once the temperatures decrease and moisture is more plentiful. The trouble with the alternate day watering is that people tend to think they need to water twice as much on the alternate days and by doing so end up UBing more waterthan they need, Kopp says. Even during the hottest part of the summer, lawns only need watering once every three days, so even alternate day watering is too much. Detailed watering schedules are available In USU Extension offices around the state. Dont forget the basics of turf water conservation: Water to apply Vil"at a time. Waterat a time wastes ing more than water because it soaks deeper than the depth of the grasss roots. Increase mowing height. Two to four inches high is optimum. This actually encourages longer root growth that allows turf to access water deeper in The Roosevelt City Council will be cutting down on the a moil nt of donations they will be niuking in the future. Budget restraints are forcing the city to eliminate giving money tocauses that do not benefit the general public. The role of city government is not to donate money. It is to be a good partner and a participant, explained city bouncil member Russell Cowan. As a general rule we are going to buck away from donations. Wc are going to give to those (requests) that arc in the best interest of the community. The city council is in 1 he process of shapingtheir 2003 fiscal year budget. With health insurance premiums ris- - (1877-SAVEH2- 0, or State Rural Development Director John R. Cox met CHECK SIGNING with local Rural Development leaders, county commissioners and the housing staff of the Uintah Basin Association of Governments to award a new grant to administer the Mutual Self-Hel- p Housing program. Interested families apply and qualify for a loan with Rural Development or other mortgage lenders. Pictured left to right: ingand the need to provide employees with better wages, city council members will be doing some belt tightening when it comes to expenditures of limited financial resources. The citys discretionary fund is also depicted, he suid. That fond helped pay for unforeseen emergencies or just to help out individual citizens in certain ciniunslanccs. In the past, Roosevelt had tried to budget between $20,000 to $24,000 a year for costly emergencies. To make up for the luck of the emergency fond, each city department will liuve a funding cushion they will utilize when an unexjiccted, but necessary expense omi rs. f V4-- 1" & r theground. Mow as infrequently as possible. Mowing is a stress on the grass and actually increases its water consumption. This is especially true if the grass is becoming dormant. Reduce evaporation. Make sure the maximum amount of water leaving the sprinkler head actually makes it to the turf. Watering during the midday heat causes more of the water to evaporate. Avoid watering between 10 AM and 6 PM. Water trees and ornamentals separately from grass. People generally have more time and money invested in trees, shrubs andother ornamental plants, so when faced with a water crisis, give these plants water first. A GMC Envoy HI i lawn recovers fairly easily from drought, but a prized spruce may take a generation to replace. GMC Sierra 2500 . . "I TM !?T L'Z. 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