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Show Cyan Magenta Yellow Black 75¢ B1 Winter Sports Booster GUNNISON VALLEY EDITION VOL. 84 • NUMBER 4 MANTI, UTAH • WEDNESDAY, JANUIARY 26, 2005 Commission mulls ‘udderpass’ request WEA THER EATHER Wednesday 45/29 Cloudy Thursday - 44/26 By C. R. Truitt Shows possible Staff writer Friday - 45/25 MANTI—A dairy farmer asked permission to construct an underpass to enable his cows to cross underneath a county road at the Tuesday, Jan.18 Sanpete County Commission meeting. Russell Otten, owner of a diary west of Centerfield, said he would like to build the underpass ‘for his cows because his dairy business has expanded across the county road and his cows will cross the road two or three times per day to be milked. He said that during the day, Cloudy Saturday - 42/20 Snow possible Last Week’s Weather Reported by Lee Anderson, Manti Date Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Max. Min. Prec. Snow 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 46 46 51 56 51 48 51 27 22 24 25 26 24 22 - - AT A GLANCE Yule trees roast on an open fire By Kathy Lin Eggleston GUNNISON—A Gunnison bonfire tradition blazed on as about 20 families attended the ninth annual Christmas tree burn last Thursday. Kim Pickett of Gunnison started the burn and has kept the tradition going because he enjoyed gathering the Christmas trees and burning them as a boy. “Everyone has always been invited,” Pickett said. Among the original participants are John Jackson, Troy Birch, Brian Jensen, Keith Wilmore, Greg Rosenvall, Kelly Frandsen, Hal Pickett and their families. “It is a way of prolonging the Christmas spirit,” Picket said. “The key is to keep it simple. We go around with a few friends and gather up a few Christmas trees. Everybody brings his or her own potluck hotdogs, hot chocolate and marshmallows, and we all have a good time.” According to participant Mark Henline, “It was fun to get together and let the kids play and the parents talk.” Families come from as far away as Manti, American Fork, and Springfield. The burn is usually held the second or third Monday of January. You said It! “Project costs have increased dramatically, which has set us on our heels.” — Moroni Feed CEO David Bailey, commenting on joing Moroni City/Feed Company sewer project INSIDE Lifestyle ............. A5 School ............... A7 Sports ................ A9 Classifieds ........ A11 Special Sports Booster............B1-6 Utah Press Association General Excellence winner 1999 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 SEAN HALES / MESSENGER PHOTO Gunnison Mayor Scott Hermansen and John Jensen, a former manager of the Gunnison Star Theater, are set to revive Jackpot Night tomorrow at the theater. They are holding a sign dating back to 1913 that was found in the attic of the historic theater. Jackpot tradition revived in Gunnison From the 1940s up to the 1960s, patrons attending on Jackpot Night dropped movie ticket stubs into a hat. Cy Anderson, long-time theater owner, officiated as someone drew winning tickets from the hat. A patron with a winning ticket came to the front and either took a fistful of cash from Anderson’s hand or selected a number on a sign Anderson was holding. If the person chose a number, a flap over the number was lifted to reveal a prize—hopefully a prize worth more than the cash in Anderson’s hand. The tradition will be revived in connection with a showing of “Meet the Fockers” with Hermansen officiating and be repeated on the last Thursday of each month for the next several months. Possible prizes will include $100 bills, $20 bills, dinners and movie tickets. Centerfield ratifies building authority bylaws, elects board By C. R. Truitt Staff writer CENTERFIELD—The newly formed Centerfield City Building Authority ratified by resolution its bylaws and elected board members during the Jan. 20 City Council meeting. The board elected Councilman Keith Garth as chairman, Councilman Lesley Gregerson as vice-chair and Councilman Earlene Christensen as the sectary/treasurer. The city created the building authority to help finance the Old Rock Church, but the authority can be used to help fund other nonprofit projects. In other council news, Mayor Darwin Jensen said tests on the Hayes Canyon test well site registered 16 ppm in nitrates. He said the city’s water source is already out of compliance with the state, and the city has no choice but to have a second source. If the state were to shut them down, Jensen said, the city would have to truck in water. He said the city would be looking into a treatment plant. Jensen said he is working with engineers, and they will be seeking congressional funding for a $3 million appropriation. To get congressional fund- ing, Jensen said, it is imperative to get other south Sanpete towns involved. Mayfield is already on board and Axtell has showed interest, Jensen said. Centerfield already has a pipe half way to Axtell. Centerfield would retain control of a treatment plant, he said, since the city has a sizeable grant already in place for a water project, and operating costs could be around $100,000 per year. He also told the council that trying for other grants would create unaffordable $80 to $90 monthly bills since the city’s annual gross (See “Centerfield” on A4) traffic on the road isn’t as bad as in the evenings. “It would be safer for my cows, employees and also motorists if we had an underpass there, he said. Otten wanted to build the underpass himself and only asked the commission to supply road base. He said he was willing to invest $5,000 to do the engineering if the commission was serious. While he’s building the underpass, he said, traffic could be diverted onto his property so it could pass around the construction. (See “Udderpass” on A2) Man suing county for wrongful arrest By John Hales Staff writer MANTI—A Manti man is suing the Sanpete County Sheriff’s Office and others for $2.5 million after an arrest the man claims was wrongful. Bryant Douglas Lund, 67, Manti, filed the suit Monday in 6th District Court, after being incarcerated on Jan. 1 on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, a charge later shown to be unfounded, according to the lawsuit. “…A review of the facts and circumstances of this case reveals that ever actions of the officers— from the time they decided to stop Lund through the time they arrested and incarcerated him— were outrageously illegal, blatantly unconstitutional and, in all respects, unconscionable,” states information Lund’s attorney filed with the court. Defendants listed in the action are Sanpete County; the sheriff’s office, and specifically Sheriff Kay Larson and Deputy Brent Pulver; the Mt. Pleasant City Police Department, specifically Chief Jim Wilberg and Officer Leonard Brown; the Ephraim City Police Department, specifically Chief Ron Rasmussen and Officer Jared Hansen. The suit sets forth six charges: (1) false arrest; (2) illegal search and seizure; (3) illegal and/or excessive use of force; (4) false imprisonment; (5) intentional and/or negligent infliction of emotional distress; and (6) slander/libel. According to the plaintiff’s claim, Lund was driving home to Manti from a New Year’s Eve party in Spring City early on the morning of Jan. 1. The party had been held at an LDS Church building, and alcohol had not been served. As Lund was leaving Ephraim’s city limits, he leaned to his right to shift his vehicle from four-wheel drive to twowheel drive, veering to the right side of the road in the process. According to Officer Brown’s report of the incident, Brown observed the swerve, became suspicious that the driver was impaired, followed him to Manti, and finally stopped him midway through town. However, Brown said no other cues to impairment were observed, a fact the lawsuit emphasizes repeatedly. After the stop, Sheriff ’s Deputy Pulver and Officer Hansen arrived on the scene to assist. (See “Lawsuit” on A2) Moroni sewer project getting high-powered help from legislators By John Hales Staff writer MORONI—A plan to upgrade the Moroni sewer system is getting more respect from a federal funding agency after Rep. Chris Cannon and Sen. Robert Bennett threw their support behind the project, says Sanpete County Economic Development Director Sally East. The Economic Development Administration—a funding arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce—boosted its projection of available funds for the project by $500,000 after being contacted by Cannon’s office, she said. “Anytime you start bringing in those kind of people, it changes things,” East said. “It’s easy for federal agencies to say, ‘we don’t have any money.’ But when congressmen and senators get involved, somehow money gets found.” Moroni had applied to the EDA for a $1.9 million grant to fund the sewer project, said Moroni Mayor Scott Robertson. Realistically though, he expected to receive about $1 million, he said. When the EDA came back with an amount of only $200,000, Robertson called East for help. East said she recommended he seek help from higher sources, so Robertson included Rep. Cannon’s office in a conference call with the EDA about two weeks ago. During that call, the EDA tentatively raised the grant amount to $700,000. “It’s not firm yet, but we feel good about it,” said Robertson. East said that Robertson is perhaps a bit optimistic, but also says, “We had enough firepower to possibly get that.” The congressman and the senator are both sending letters backing the project to the EDA to encourage the funding, East said. The more grant money the EDA gives toward the project, the less the city will have to borrow from the state Water Quality Board (WQB) at a 2.5 percent interest rate, said Robertson. But Robertson also said that he doesn’t want to let funding issues stall the project, which has been in the works for nearly three years. (See “Sewer” on A2) BRUCE VAN DER RIET/MESSENGER PHOTO Moroni Mayor Scott Robertson looks over plans for new sewage treatment plant and collection system that the city plans to build in cooperation with Moroni Feed Co. |
