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Show C M Y K Gazette GUNNISON VALLEY C M Y K Presorted Standard U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 11 Gunnison, UT ECRWSS Your Hometown Newspaper! Volume 4 • Number 7 Thursday, February 14, 2008 Copy Price • 75 cents Fuel spill tops City Council agenda by MARK HENLINE Last Thursday’s Gunnison City Council meeting opened up with a flag ceremony by the Gunnison 2nd Ward cub scouts and then proceeded directly into a public meeting on the Top Stop fuel spill. Lee Barrus, Vice President of Wasatch Environmental, was introduced by Mayor Scott Hermansen and was asked to give the forty to fifty in attendance an update on how things were proceeding. Barrus passed out maps of the spill that identified the plume of the spill area. He said that the investigation is 95% complete. Fourteen wells have been put in place, each 17 feet deep to help monitor the spill. 1500 gallons of fuel were removed from the ground this past month. Add that to the 4000 gallons previously removed and the total stands at around 5500 gallons. Currently extraction efforts are removing around 80 gallons per day. There has also been 25,000 tons of dirt removed and hauled away to the landfill. When asked how many gallons were in the 25,000 tons, Barrus responded that there is no accurate way to determine the correct amount. Barrus also said fume levels in homes with extraction systems in place have reached safe levels. He continued saying that more trenching will take place in some hot spots and extraction efforts will continue. Testing has also taken place on the south side of the river and no fuel has been detected. Barrus also commented that residents have been great through this whole process. Following the report by Barrus, Mayor Hermansen introduced Craig Larsen, the president of Wind River Petroleum, the parent company of Top Stop, and gave him the floor. Larsen said that Top Stop is willing to help; they want to be good citizens and take responsibility. He commented that Top Stop is willing to work with people on an individual basis. This brought a quick response from Council- Mark Henline/Gunnison Valley Gazette Lee Barrus, Vice President of Wasatch Environmental, gives an update on the Top Stop fuel spill during last weeks Gunnison City Council meeting. woman Lori Nay who pointed out the fact that the city billed Wind River for expenses incurred back on September 20th and the city hasn’t received payment, even in part, at this point. A concerned citizen, Frank Pike, then stood and addressed Larsen. Pike’s home is directly on top of the spill’s plume. Pike said that he made an offer months ago, through his attorney, to settle for fair market value on the house and he received no response from Top Stop. Pike said, “This gets real personal with me. I have a house I cannot sell; I can’t even refinance my home. No mortgage company or real estate agency will even touch my home. I’m stuck.” Larsen requested that Pike send another letter through his attorney and the situation would be looked at. With this, the mayor ended the public meeting. Top Stop says they are willing to work with the city and the public but most in attendance left the meeting feeling frustrated that little or no action on Top Stop’s part has been taken. Other city council items included a discussion on the upcoming 2009 Sesquicentennial Celebration. There will be a meeting this week where plans will continue to be made. There were also discussions held on trying to update Christmas decorations on Main Street, the thought being to add a little each year. A fencing permit was approved for Hill’s Heating and Air Conditioning located at 50 East Highway 89. Curtis Anderson and Sara Donaldson were in attendance and gave a report from the Hospital Board. There are three new members on the governing board. Sara Donaldson will be replacing Kim Pickett, David Madsen will be replacing Gene Yardley and Dr. Jan Christensen will be replacing Dr. Cary Judy. It was also announced that Dr. John Black, a podiatrist, has started coming to Gunnison as a visiting specialist. Also starting in March, Elizabeth Larsen, a certified family nurse practitioner, will start practicing in the new Rees/Stewart Medical Building with Drs. Willden and Christensen. Wade Anderson has also joined the staff as a physician’s assistant working with Dr. Inouye. Anderson will also work in the hospital’s emergency department as a physician back up. Curtis Anderson said the hospi- tal strives to give the best care at the lowest possible cost. Only 32% of the patients come from the Gunnison Valley. He felt that the quality care is the main reason people are willing to travel distances to visit our hospital. Financially, the hospital is in good shape and is self sustaining, which isn’t always the case for Special Service District Hospitals. Many SSD hospitals require community funding to keep afloat. Credit for much of the hospital’s success was given to Hospital Administrator Greg Rosenvall. Curtis Anderson concluded his remarks by saying that every member of the hospital board considers their service as a sacred trust. The meeting concluded with discussions on a new city hall. The current city hall has serious heating and cooling issues and is quickly becoming a money pit. Councilman Paul Greener said that Gunnison City has never had an original City Hall in its 150 year history. “City Hall has always been in a building built for another purpose. We need a City Hall located on Main Street and it needs to be a building that we can be proud of.” Said Greener. Discussions on a new City Hall will continue in upcoming council meetings. Mark Henline/Gunnison Valley Gazette BrieAnn, Braylie and Brycen Peterson with the flags and certificates that were donated to the middle school and elementary school. Peterson’s make donation by MARK HENLINE Mark Henline/Gunnison Valley Gazette Melodie Fredrickson is the lucky winner of the Bombardier 4-wheeler given away in the GVHS Student Body raffle. Melodie’s name was drawn during half time of the Bulldogs last home basketball game last Friday evening. The students had a goal of raising $6000 during the raffle, all of which was to be given back to community projects. The final total fell a little short though, bringing in just over $5,500. Many thanks go out to all who helped make the raffle a success, with a special thanks going to GIC Motor Sports who generously donated the new 2007 Bombardier. Pictured above with Melodie is the GVHS Student Body Officers: Jordan Caldwell, Cari Garff, Tilly Miller and Jimmy West. In an article two weeks ago, the Gazette featured a photo taken at the middle school of the GVMS students with a flag that had been flown over Camp Bucca in Iraq. We failed to mention that the flag had been sent over by SSG Roger Peterson and was donated to the school by his daughters BrieAnn and Braylie along with a certificate that reads: To Gunnison Valley Middle School, Principal, Faculty, and Students, I honor you for your support for Us, the Delta Company 1st/145 Field Artillery Unit. For you, I flew this American Flag of the United States at Camp Bucca, Iraq on December 14, 2007, during my Tour Of Duty for Operation Iraqi Freedom 2007-2008. It is to be presented to you by My Daughters BrieAnn and Braylie Tae Peterson. I am proud to be from Gunnison, and I am thankful my children attend school there, It is people like you, back home that makes our sacrifice worth it. Again, Thank You All, Principal Peterson, and Faculty for your love and support. May God Bless you for your efforts. Sincerely SSG. Roger Keith Peterson Peterson also sent a flag to the elementary school along with a certificate that were donated by his son Brycen which reads: To Gunnison Valley Elementary School, Principal, Faculty, and Students, I honor you for your support for Us, The Delta Company 1st/145 Field Artillery Unit. For you, I flew this American Flag of the United States at Camp Bucca, Iraq on December 14, 2007, During my Tour of Duty for Operation Iraqi Freedom 2007-2008. It is to be presented to you by my Son Brycen Roger Peterson. I am proud to be from Gunnison and I am thankful my children attend school there. It is people like you, back home that makes our sacrifice worth it. Again, Thank You All, Principal Hansen and faculty for educating me and my children, and for your love and support. May God Bless You for your efforts. Sincerely, SSG. Roger Keith Peterson Along with the flags there was a camouflage banner sent to GVMS as a gift from SPC Jay Bartholomew. Jay had the banner signed by all the members of the 145th unit. C M C M Y K Y K |