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Show A3 The Emery County Review, Tuesday, June 3, 2008 Small circus offers big thrills for young audience Continued from Page A1. From the ponies, who were trained to prance around the ring while staying in line, the sheep dogs who, like children, fought each other to slide down a chute to the floor, a magician whose assistant gave away the secret to every one of his tricks, to the many usual circus antics, the circus was an hour and a half of fun. Children use a clown for a friendly game of tug-of-war. Ferron City wrestles with easement issues Continued from Page A1. Canyon Road. Conover owns 10 acres of land in the area off of Canyon Road and 2nd West and the city project requires a right-of-way across the entire frontage of his property for a drainage system. During the meeting Mayor Gil Conover said that in exchange for granting the right-of-way George Conover was requesting two sewer connections and two water connections from the city, plus road access to his property that would be sufficient for him to drive heavy farm equipment across. For most of the project the drainage system would be able to stay within the footprint of the old Molen canal. Members of the council expressed concern that providing the water and sewer connections to Conover would set a precedent that would be too costly for the city. Mayor Conover indicated that there were options available to the council and explained that when the new sewer ponds were being developed for the city an independent appraiser had been given the task of determining the individual market value of each required easement and the city made an offer to the property owner based on those values. He suggested that such a policy might be something for the council to consider. Councilman Ronny Bloomer made a motion to not accept the original proposal for the easement made by George Conover and the council agreed. The council eventually voted unanimously to obtain appraisals on any future right of way or easement requirements required for Ferron City or Castle Valley Special Service District projects. May Conover said he was uncomfortable negotiating agreements on behalf of the city for such matters because he was not a voting member of the council. The city council voted to appoint Joe Trenery as to negotiate any further easement or right-of-way requirements. Orangeville community set to celebrate Continued from Page A1. In 1985 he married Joan Stevens and together they have four children: Wesley, who is serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Nashville; Melissa, who will attend the College of Eastern Utah; Kellie, who will be a senior this year at Emery High; and Natasha, who will be a junior this year at Emery High. Brinkerhoff enlisted in the Navy in 1983 and was active duty for 10 years, then took a 10 year break and reenlisted in October 2001 in the Navy Reserves following 9-11. When he is not serving his country in the military he is a Utah Highway Patrolman. Dave, Joan and their family have lived in Orangeville for 13 years. Following the parade there will be games in the park starting at 11 a.m. and an ATV Poker Ride beginning at 11 a.m. as well. Beginning at 1 p.m. inside the Old Firehouse Community Center there will be a Guitar Hero competition for gaming enthusiasts with big prizes for winners in all three difficulty levels. There will be a $2.50 registration fee for Guitar Hero and the competition will continue until a Guitar Hero king or queen is crowned. Refreshments will be available throughout the day and at 5 p.m. the always anticipated Humphrey Lamb Fry will take place. Fireworks will top off the evening at dusk. The Orangeville community invites everyone to take part in celebrating Orangeville Days. SITLA green-lights county development of industrial complex Emery County has been given the green light to enter into a lease agreement with the State Institutional Trust Land board that could result with new businesses setting up base near Green River. The SITLA board officially agreed to enter a lease agreement with the county in mid-May for 2,547 acres of industrial property west of Green River. “Under this lease, Emery County will serve as the developer of the property and will market the lots within the development to potential clients,” said Mike McCandless, economic development director for the county. According to Emery County Commissioner Gary Kofford the industrial complex is intended for heavy industry only and will not be available for businesses such as hotels or gas stations to locate, an area of concern for Green River City, which is trying to revitalize its downtown and doesn’t want to compete with similar businesses right outside its borders. With that concern in mind, McCandless said development of the industrial complex will have as its point of access a road from Green River, essentially the old portion of SR-6 which was used before I-70 was developed. There will be no access to the industrial park from SR-6, which will preclude businesses from bypassing Green River for potential services. As for the 2,547 acres of land, McCandless said Emery County will not be taking ownership of the property. “The county will work with the Castleland RC&D Council to facilitate the transfer of land from SITLA to the client,” he said. The process of obtaining the lease from SITLA proved to be a long and detailed process that began in July of last year. With the lease approved the county can begin to work toward the park’s development in earnest. “Emery County will now move toward establishing a relationship with Green River City on the project as well as initiate the development of infrastructure,” McCandless said. One of the potential sources of funds for infrastructure is the Economic Development Adminstration, a federal agency that promotes economic development. According to McCandless and Commissioner Kofford, Emery County was hopeful that the approval of the SITLA board would occur at the April meeting, because the EDA funds are available on a first come-first served basis, but the discussion on the lease possibility was postponed until the May meeting. “The same day that Emery County received approval from the SITLA board on the lease, they also were notified by EDA that the funds for the current year have been exhausted,” McCandless said. “This means that Emery County will have to wait until at least October to obtain EDA funds for the project.” The EDA funds are available to the county because of the low wage situation in Green River and because of the recent closures at Crandall and Tower coal mines. Earl’s Furniture & Appliance Quality for less Victorian Furniture Sale 40 In-Stock Recliners To Choose From Emery County loses position for economic incentives Continued from Page A1. of the pile to the top of the pile, as to those counties that have the highest wage. “Where it really hurts us is if we’re competing against another Utah community, we end up in a very unfavorable position, because a person who is looking at coming here actually has to pay a much higher wage to qualify for the incentives. That’s going to make us less attractive for potential employers. That’s why we’re frustrated with this bill,” he said. McCandless explained that because of the large number of people in counties like Emery who work in mining and utility companies, the new calculation “skews” the numbers. “When you do an average, you take all of those wages and divide it by the number of people. With the median, you’re looking at the wages themselves, rather than the number of people. So, if you have a big group of people who have a high wage, which we do because of the power plants and the coal mines, that skews that number,” McCandless said.“Basically any of your rural counties with an extractive industry base will now be unfairly represented in the process. There is probably now no chance for us to qualify for state incentives under this formula. I think this new system is a real disservice to rural Utah.” He did qualify his remarks saying, “I don’t want to overstate the problem, we don’t succeed in getting a lot of these programs, but we have gotten some.” Another problem that he sees is if the average wage is used, the assumption is be- ing made that if a new business is recruited to the area, they will pay the same wage that existing businesses are paying, which McCandless maintains, “makes no sense.” “You’re not going to bring somebody in and have them make the same wage as someone who has been working at the power plant for 30 years. Median just looks at everybody making wages and basically says, this is the midpoint of everyone making wages,” he said. He said that the county is also frustrated by the timing of the change. “What’s frustrating about the timing of this is that as a result of Crandall Canyon, Governor Huntsman had basically told the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and other people, ‘We want you to do everything you can to help Carbon and Emery counties; at the same time this bill gets passed, which basically discriminates against Carbon, Emery and Millard counties,” he revealed. McCandless said he had discussed the issue with legislators and the board of GOED, but revealed, “Frankly, we don’t hold a lot of hope that much can be done until the next legislative session, and that’s assuming that we can get their support.” In the short-term, he said, “What we would hope is that we can get the GOED Board to make rules -- they can’t change the law, but they can adjust the rules -so that we are not negatively impacted on this, until the Legislature has a chance to revisit it.” Star Fun Center Grill & Arcade Monday - Saturday 11:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. The Hottest Spot In Emery & Carbon Counties Great Family Fun, Food and Entertainment NEW ROCK CLIMBER DRINK Fresh Limes-Shakes and More See You Soon ! Movie & Meal Special $20.00 Star Theatre 155 N Main Huntington •In-stock swamp cooler sale •Window and down draft coolers •Air conditioners and room coolers 390 n. Main Street Huntington 435-687-9119 Phone for information 435-687-(STAR)7827 Open Friday & Saturday Matinee Saturday 4 P.M. Night show at 7 P.M. |