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Show Cyan Magenta Yellow Black Wednesday, March 9, 2005 River Walk wins $20,000 state grant, $192,000 more pending By Suzanne Dean Publisher GUNNISON—Funding prospects appear bright for Gunnison’s River Walk, Councilwoman Lori Nay told the Gunnison City Council Wednesday, March 2. Nay announced that a milelong walking and bike path along the Sevier River from about 200 East to 200 West was the statewide winner in a competition sponsored by the Utah Department of Health for local infrastructure projects promoting cardiovascular health. The project will receive a $20,000 grant. She also said the walkway made the first cut, from 75 to 25 applicants, for a major Utah Department of Transportation grant. Nay was scheduled to make a presentation Friday, March 4 before a selection panel, which would award funding to 12 of the 25 finalists. Gunnison is applying for $192,000. The target date for groundbreaking is May or June, 2006, she said. In other discussion, Curtis Anderson, president of the Gunnison LDS Stake, told the council the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may be interested in buying the former Gunnison Post Office, located on the west side of Center Street between Main Street and 100 West, for use as a bishop’s storehouse. The church is considering expanding the building and improving the grounds, Anderson said. “The church is a very good neighbor. The property will look a lot better if the church buys it.” One feature that makes the building attractive is the loading dock at the rear, Anderson said. However, he said, the semi-trucks that bring in food supplies for dissemination through the church welfare program are bigger than the mail trucks that formerly used the dock. Anderson asked if the city would permit the church to take down a chain link fence at the rear of the property that divides the post office site from municipal parking behind (to the south) of the property. Removing the fence and permitting trucks to cross the municipal parking would enable the large Church trucks to have convenient access to the dock, he said. The council passed a motion stating that anyone purchasing the post office property may tear down the fence and use the entire area behind the building, including the municipal land. On another matter, Councilman Larry Jensen reported that he had contacted architects and engineers about installing a ceiling above the children’s wading pool at the city’s indoor pool complex. The ceiling is needed to cover pipes and ductwork that are rusting due to condensation. Center (Continued from A1) discussions. Councilman Rod Taylor asked Rosenvall why the hospital was leasing rather than selling land to the Petersons. Rosenvall said the hospital had been considering getting into the extended care business for some time and had acquired the proposed site for that purpose. But the hospital didn’t want to go into competition with the Petersons’ Mayfield operation. So, he said, the hospital and the Petersons reached an agreement under which the hospital would provide the land, the Petersons would build and own the building, and the hospital would have an option to buy the building when and if the Petersons decided to sell their business. “We don’t want to compete with them,” said Rosenvall. “We want to help them get the building here in Gunnison.” In an interview Monday, A3 Sanpete Messenger-Gunnison Valley Edition Cindy Peterson said the hospital had an interest in her nursing home moving to Gunnison because the location would be “closer and more convenient” for doctors practicing at Gunnison Valley Hospital. Taylor expressed concern about the potential loss of tax revenue under that arrangment compared to a scenario in which both the land and building were privately owned. Under the proposed arrangement, the Petersons would pay property tax on the structure. But the land, since it is owned by the nonprofit hospital, would be tax-exempt But Peterson said Monday that the building will account for most of the total property value. “The land isn’t going to make much difference,” she said. It wouldn’t make sense, she said, for the hospital to sell the land and then later, if it exercised its option to buy the facility, to buy the land back at an appreciated price. Finally, Hearing Instruments that talk to each other! Years of researching, refining, innovating and listening to what really matters to individuals with hearing loss has created the world’s most advanced hearing system - ACURIST with e2e (ear to ear) wirelessT. The first of its kind in the world, e2e wireless built into every ACURIS hearing instruments affords a new level of complexity not possible before when wearing two hearing instruments. ACURIS hearing instruments actually communicate with each other; sensing, analyzing, interpreting, sharing, and adjusting constantly and automatically. Paint on the pipes is dropping into the pool. The estimated cost of the project is $6,000-$7,000, Jensen said. Meanwhile, city recorder Marilyn Stewart reported that pool usage is up this year compared to the same period one year ago. The city’s police chief, Blane Jensen, visited the council to discuss a shortfall in the police department budget. Jensen reported that the figure used to calculate benefits for the city’s new police officer had been incorrect. As a result, he said, he was projecting a $7,000-$9,000 deficit in his budget by the end of the fiscal year in June. At the same time, the officer was due for his six-month raise. “We’ll be asking for a raise at the same time we’re exceeding the budget,” he said. He added that he had been trying to control expenses by “holding down hours as much as I dare hold them down.” The council didn’t take immediate action on the budget shortfall but voted to grant the raise, which brought the new officer’s salary to $13.50 per hour. The council also took up the need for an accurate map and directory of graves in the city’s cemetery. “For as long as I’ve been here, upwards of seven years, we’ve been trying to get [the cemetery] mapped,” Stewart said. She said she had walked through the cemetery with a resident whose husband had died. On the maps available (which show a few graves on 8-1/2 x 11-inch sheets), the location of the family’s plot ”was wrong,” she said. Stewart said the Division of State History offers grants of up to $5,000 to help communities computerize their cemetery records. Communities must provide an equal match for the state funds. Location data for graves in the Gunnison cemetery is already in computer form, she said. If the city had a Geographic Information System (GIS), the system could generate a map and directory from the existing computer records. Councilwoman Lori Nay said the cemetery board supported getting a GIS, and creating and displaying a directory of graves in the cemetery. The council didn’t take action on the proposal. Stewart said the city would need to get bids to find out what a GIS would cost and to determine if the city could afford such a system, with or without a state grant. Sanpete County Compiled by John Hales THURSDAY, MARCH 10 Snow College Convocation Series Free weekly lectures and performances are held from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. every Thursday in the Jorgensen Concert Hall of the Eccles Center for the Performing Arts at Snow College. For information call Diana Spencer at 283-7410. This week, Dr. George A. Seielstad of the Center for Aerospace Studies at the University of North Dakota will speak. His presentation is entitled, “How Special are We: the Tale of Conpernican Humiliation.” LDS singles to have dinner and program The singles of the Gunnison Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will have a dinner and program at the Centerfield Ward building at 6 p.m. Please bring your own dishes. FRIDAY, MARCH 11 Red Cross to sponsor blood drive The American Red Cross will have a blood drive at the Red Church at 48 S. State Street in Mt. Pleasant from 3-8 p.m. For more information, call John Allred at 462-2240 or Nina Johnson at 4622361. SATURDAY, MARCH 12 Gunnison seniors to have party The Gunnison Valley Old Folks Party will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the Gunnison Stake Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Lunch and dinner will be served. There will be entertainment, stories, pictures and friends. Please come for a great day. MONDAY, MARCH 14 Miss Manti meeting to be held All girls age 17-24 interested in participating in the Miss Manti Scholarship Pageant on May 14 are invited to an initial meeting on March 14 at 5 p.m. at the Manti City Building. Girls must be age 17 by June 1 to be eligible. Questions may be directed to Serri Ashton at 835-8517. TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15-16 Church to celebrate anniversary The First Presbyterian Church in Mt. Pleasant will celebrate its 130th anniversary. As the event coincides with Parents Weekend at Wasatch Academy, Pastor Boge invites parents, friends and Wasatch alumni to attend. A special service is planned, and the public is welcome. Call Pastor Boge for details. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16 College music department to present recital The woodwind and brass ensembles at Snow College will present A Night of Ensemble Music at 7:30 p.m. in the Larsen Recital of the Eccles Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are $3 for adults, $2 for children and seniors, and $12 for families. SATURDAY, APRIL 6 Arts for Everyone concert to be presented A concert in the Arts for Everyone series will be presented upstairs in the Ephraim Co-op building at 7 p.m. The band Fiddlesticks will perform Celtic and English dance and folk music. Tickets are available at the door: $3 for adults, $2 for children and seniors, and $10 for families. Jail (Continued from A1) Kay Larsen indicated that the state would allow a timeline no greater than two years, and perhaps not even that long. Linton indicated the project could probably be completed in a year-and-a-half with a lot of dedicated work. Another issue is funding. Although money through the state contract could be used to service the building’s construction debt, the county must decide how to come up with initial funds. Further, the building must be funded in a POSTED THIS www.sanpetemessenger.com WEEK ON 1. Details about Defiant, Lifan and Maxfine cycles at the new Ephraim Family Motorcycles. Some models $1,000 below manufacturer’s suggested retail price. Click the banner ad on the home page 2. Gunnison High School honor roll 3. Complete Iowa Test Scores, North Sanpete and South Sanpete School Districts. See how your school did on nationally normed achievement tests Click “School” on the home page, then click the Iowa Test Scores icon on the right side of the school page ANDERSON HEARING & AUDIOLOGY Colorful Gunnison High School prom pictures At the Special Clinics office (next to Dr. Nay’s) in Gunnison Finally, the commission must determine whether the building will house services in addition to the jail, such as courts and ancillary offices to the courts, Utah Division of Adult Probation and Parole offices and a Utah Highway Patrol office, among others. For instance, Sanpete County Attorney Ross Blackham told commissioners, “It suits my purpose best to be as close to the court as possible. The county attorney’s office should be wherever the court is.” Sanpete County clerk Kristine Frischknecht made a similar comment regarding her office, which also serves as the Sixth District Court clerk’s office. The discussion to include the courts in a possible court complex with the jail will include officials from the state Administrative Office of the Courts, commissioners and Linton said. The commission plans to consider the matter further at its meeting on Tuesday, March 15. Click “School” on the home page, then click the GVHS Honor Roll icon on the right side of the school page Call Today for a FREE hearing test and consultation. 435-867-5761 way that accommodates the timeline. That timeline precludes funding the project through a general revenue bond. A general revenue bond would require voter approval, but Linton said waiting until the election in November is “out of the time stream.” Site-selection is another matter to be considered. Commissioner Bruce Blackham said there are three potential sites, but indicated one looks more promising than the others. The jail site should be determined, Linton told commissioners, by the time the county presents the plan to the state for approval, and by the time public hearings are held on the project. Commissioners declined to say where potential sites were located, fearing that land-acquisition prices might rise if those sites were specifically identified. “If someone knows you’re looking for ground, prices tend to go up,” Linton said. Click “School” on the home page for lead school story. Click link for additional pictures. Just a click away from home www.SanpeteMessenger.com Sanpete County’s premier web site We, the family of Joseph Leslie Heath wish to thank each of you for the wonderful support, love and sympathy extended to each of us during our time of bereavement. There are a lot of wonderful people in this world, and you of Sanpete and Sevier Valleys are the cream of the crop. Thank you. Sandra, Brett, Steven and Tanesha, Mitchell, Booke, and Katie; JoeAnn; Randell and Tina; Russell and Mavis; C.G. and Brenna Heath; Audry, Danny, and Nancy Boore; and Tadd and Nancy McBride. 1MBDF ZPVS PXO XBLF VQ DBMM |