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Show A3 The Emery County Review, Tuesday, November 11, 2008 County signs agreement on industrial park C. Josie Luke With a mix of relief and excitement, Emery County Economic Development Director Mike McCandless reported that Emery County’s lease agreement with the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration for the Green River Industrial Park is complete. McCandless has been spearheading the project for over 18 months and is excited to finally have a signed document. “We’re thrilled to be at this point,” he expressed. He reported that Jeff Horrocks, the chair of the County Commission signed the document on Nov. 6, executing the agreement that has been so long in coming. “Emery County has signed the agreement with SITLA and we’re moving to the next stages of the process,” he said. McCandless was excited to report that the county can now fully involve Green River City in the planning and design of the industrial park. Referring to the city McCandless explained, “They can now step in the ball park and be really involved.” He said they will welcome input from Green River citizens and the city, including the planning and zoning committee. With the signing, the county can also engage in negotiations with interested companies. The agreement entails that Emery County will lease the land and market it so interested companies can buy. McCandless related that they will now “work quickly to get interested tenants, in- cluding Mancos Resources, to sign property purchase agreements.” McCandless explained that Mancos Resources has already publicized their desire to purchase property at the site to operate a uranium mill. He also said that they are currently in talks with a recycling company, a “very large” manufacturing facility and a couple of oil and gas related businesses. In all, he said they are “still negotiating with 11 different entities which have some level of interest.” He spoke specifically of one “very very large company” from the East that wants to have a site in the West. He said the talks have been “on again, off again,” but they are now “on again” for the project which could bring in 200-300 jobs. Florence Daley displays some of her creations at the festival. Christmas Festival The Emery County Christmas Festival has become an annual tradition. Initially held at Cottonwood Elementary more than 25 years ago by Darlene Magnuson, the event is now held at the Emery County Recreation Center by her daughters-in-law, Jodi and Shandy. This year the event drew hundreds to the 38 booths offering a variety of handmade and manufactured items. Commission votes to support school district with resolution Continued from Page A1. district the greatest potion of the payment, but the county’s PILT would be deducted by that amount. County Attorney David Blackwell explained the effects each option might have on the entities involved. He and Sitterud also reported that Utah school districts and counties are working with the Utah Legislature to pass legislation which would allow the deducted funding to go to special service districts because the county is legally not allowed to receive it. They were not sure the law would be retroactive, but were confident the Legislature would be open to such a change. Sitterud reported the only catch in selecting the second option may occur during the fourth year of funding. Because the payment is made this year and the PILT deduction will come out the following year with the amount going down each year, the amount granted during the fourth year of funding may be less than the PILT deduction, requiring the county to make up the difference. The difference would not be an issue, were the legislature to pass the desired change. While the commission discussed the required funding percentages under the second option of the resolution, Commissioner Gary Kofford suggested that they simply give the full amount to the school district. Though the suggestion was clearly supported by the other members, it was explained that they were required to split the funding 50/50. Kofford made a motion to support the second option, which was seconded by Sitterud and passed unanimously by the commission. In the next four years, the school district will now receive approximately $600,000 from the funding. District Superintendant Kirk Sitterud expressed the school district’s gratitude for the commission’s decision. “The rural districts have really lobbying hard to get this. We just really appreciate the sentiment of the county commission in support of that for the school district. We certainly support the motion that has been made and we extend our gratitude to the commission for that,” he said. Since the commission chose to make the resolution selecting the option which will benefit the school district, the county will receive full funding, which will be split between the county and the school district. As was required by the law, 5 percent will go to fire suppression projects on federal forest lands, 10 percent will go to forest enhancement and a regional advisory council, who will govern how the funding is spent, and the remaining funding will be split between the county and the school district. The county is required to use their funding on road maintenance. Voter turnout high in county, but not as high as expected Continued from Page A1. votes. The five other candidates for president split the other 115 votes in the county. For the U.S. House of Representatives Congressional District 2, Democrat Jim Matheson was the first to show that it is possible for democrats to win in the county when he easily bested his republican challenger Bill Dew. Matheson received 2,938 votes to Dew’s 1,377. Governor Jon Huntsman received 3,395 votes for a landslide victory over democratic challenger Bob Springmeyer. In local representative races Republican David Hinkins received 2,938 votes to beat out Democrat Brad King, who had 1,424 votes for State Senate District 27. And for State House of Representatives District 70 Kay McIff was reelected with 2,559 votes in the county to his challenger Bevan Bas- tian’s 602. While Christine Watkins won the election, she did not carry the county. She received 147 votes compared to Jerry Anderson’s 235 votes for State House of Representatives District 69. In an election that was embroiled in controversy, Drew Sitterud lost his bid for reelection to the Emery County Commission, losing out to challenger Laurie Pitchforth. Pitchforth recived 2,165 votes to Sitterud’s 1,791 votes. Write-in candidate Everything Steve Kemple received 410 votes. Sitterud, who pled guilty to misappropriation of public funds, was running for his third term as commissioner. For school board, Sam Singleton won over Janeal Dugmore 534 votes to 385 for District 1; Nanette Tanner won over write-in candidate Rue Ware 768 votes to 80 for District 2; Laurel Johansen won over Mike McCandless 465 votes to 349 in District 3. Emery County’s New Newspaper 685 South Main Street P.O. Box 487 Orangeville, UT. 84537 www.theemerycountyreview.com Phone: 435-748-2541 Fax: 435-748-2543 Established January 2, 2007 Published Every Tuesday Publisher / Editor James L. Davis jldavis@theemerycountyreview.com Co-Publisher / Office / Advertising Manager Colleen A. Davis cdavis@theemerycountyreview.com Assistant Editor Josie Luke Advertising Design / Office Lyndsay Reid Editorial Staff Kathy P. Ockey Webmaster Casey Wood Postmaster: Send change of address to The Emery County Review, 685 South Main Street, P.O. Box 487, Orangeville, UT. 84537. Publication No: (USPS 6) issued once a week at Orangeville, Utah. Standard postage paid at Orangeville, Utah. Subscription Rates 1 Year (52 Issues) In-State $23.00 1 Year (52 Issues) Out-of-State $26.00 Copyright 2008 The Emery County Review 19” to 60” Screen TVs You Need! Lcd or Plasma room sets Washers Dryers ouches "We make the world's best mattresses" attresses of Recliners 435.637.5776 in comfort and style for the Holidays. Sets |
