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Show Presorted Standard U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 11 Gunnison, UT ECRWSS Volume 5 • Number 44 Thursday, October 29, 2009 Copy Price • 75 cents Will there be oil? by MARK HENLINE Most Gunnison residents are aware by now that oil exploration has begun in the city limits. Wolverine Oil has started a new well named Cedar Ridge 17-1 at approximately 400 South and 400 West. This new well is a wild cat well and is considered a risky drill with only a 10 to 20% chance of finding oil or natural gas. According to Paul Spiering, a land manager with Wolverine, “A preparatory drill rig is being used at this time to set a surface casing.” This first rig will drill to a depth of 2000 feet. This initial drill should be completed this week. A bigger rig will then be brought in starting next week and should be set up within a month. This new rig will drill to a depth of 14,000 feet, nearly three miles, until it reaches the Navajo sandstone layer. The Navajo sandstone layer is the depth that oil was discovered in the covenant field near Sigurd. It should take approximately two months to reach this depth once drilling begins. If oil or gas is discovered a commercial rig will be brought in to pump the oil to the surface. If the well turns out to be dry it Mark Henline/Gunnison Valley Gazette Whitney Merrifield, Miss Utah, with students from Gunnison Elementary. Mark Henline/Gunnison Valley Gazette The Cedar Ridge 17-1 oil well in Gunnison. will be capped and Wolverine will perform reclamation and return the land to farm ground. Results from drilling should be known within three to four months. Miss Utah, Whitney Merrifield of Lindon, paid a visit to Gunnison Valley Elementary School this past Thursday morning. Merrifield gave the students a presentation about change. She broke down each letter of the word “change” into a different category. “C” is for commit. Commit to do something like learn a new language or learn a musical instrument. “H” is for help. Learn to help others like Gunnison City Council News by MARK HENLINE Meet the Candidate Night Wed. Oct. 28 • 7 pm Donaldson Insurance Building All candidates running for office in Centerfield and Gunnison are invited to participate. Tickets go on sale for New Moon Thur. Oct. 29 • Noon Casino Star Theatre Local General Elections Tuesday, November 3 7 am to 8 pm at your local polling locations Important Flu/School Reminder It is very important that your child stay at home until at least 24 hours after there is no longer a fever or signs of a fever (without the use of a fever-reducing medicine). Have something for the “What’s Happening in Gunnison Valley”? Send it to gazette@gtelco.net fax to 528-5179 or call 528-5178 Payton Sorenson, of Centerfield, came before the Gunnison City Council last Wednesday evening to request $150 to help with his Eagle Scout project. Sorensen is putting together six-hundred Kid Safe identification kits for his project. Each kit will be Amber Alert ready and will have weight, height and fingerprint information along with a photo of the child. Parents will also have the option of adding DNA information if they like. Each child in the elementary school should have brought home a paper with all the necessary information. This project is being funded by a $2,100 grant administered by Centerfield City and the $150 donation granted by Gunnison City at Wednesday’s meeting. Some funds are still required to complete the project. If you have any questions or would like to contribute to this worthwhile cause you can contact Payton at 528-3598. In other news from the meeting, Kay Kimball of Kimball and Roberts CPA firm was in attendance to give the year end audit report. Year end audits include checks on invoices, assets, liabilities and federal and state compliances. According to Kimball, the city’s general fund is in good shape with an ending balance of $539,000. The special revenue fund, including the swim- friends and family members. “A” is for act. Take action, get going, don’t put things off. “N” is for no boundaries. Step out of your comfort zone and don’t be afraid to try new things. “G” is for gratitude. We should be grateful and learn to tell others thank you. “E” is for everyone. We should learn to involve others in activities and not make them feel lonely or left out. Merrifield asked the stu- Community grasshopper control by MATT PALMER USU Agriculture Extension Agent in Sanpete County Mark Henline/Gunnison Valley Gazette Payton Sorensen approaches the Gunnison City Council for help with his Eagle Scout project. ming pool, was in the black. The utility fund still has over $1,000,000 in the fund balance. Councilwoman Jerolyn Young asked Kimball what shape the city is in. Kimball responded, “You’re in good shape. City personnel are doing a good job.” The only recommendation made by Kimball was that the Justice Court should make deposits daily, if possible, and are required by state law to make them within three days. During the past year the court had been tardy with a few deposits. Councilwoman Lori Nay announced that new Youth City Council officers had been elected with Eric Rosenvall being elected as President. The Youth City Council will attend the Gunnison City Council meeting on November 4th to be sworn in. Councilwoman Young also announced that she, along with Mayor Hermansen, had attended a meeting with Wolverine Oil. This emergency management meeting was also attended by local police and emergency personnel. The purpose of the meeting was to begin to establish procedures in case of an emergency at the new Wolverine drilling site in Gunnison. The next scheduled council meeting will be on Wednesday November 4th at 7 p.m. dents to, “Be the change and always be kind to others.” Merrifield also played a piano piece that she will be playing at the Miss America Pageant in January. She then took time to pose for photos with all who wanted their pictures taken with her. The students and faculty of GVES were thankful to Miss Utah for coming to their school and spending time with them. Large grasshopper populations come in cycles. We will have many years with very few grasshoppers. Then something changes in the environment and the grasshopper populations climb dramatically. This change can be weather related and/or disease related. The grasshopper populations spike in a few short seasons. Then the number of hoppers slowly decline for several years. We may have major grasshopper infestations for 4 to 7 years. Then we will see very few grasshoppers for 4 to 10 years. This cycle seems to be unbroken for many centuries. We just finished the second year of a major grasshopper infestation spike. The number of hoppers has climbed from 0 to 1 hopper per square yard up to 20-50 hoppers per square yard throughout the county. This has caused farmers, ranchers, and gardeners to use any means available to reduce the hopper populations. We have all found that treating grasshoppers on our own property is futile if the surrounding vacant lots and federal lands are not treated. It is critical for land owners to work together to develop grasshopper treatment plans that will treat large land areas and therefore benefit everyone in the community. Utah State University Extension office in Sanpete County will conduct a grasshopper control meeting for communities in the Gunn i s o n Valley. T h i s meeting will be on November 4th 2009 in the Gunnison Irrigation Company building (110 S Main, Centerfield, Utah) at 6:00 P.M. The topics that will be presented are as follows: - Current Grasshopper Control Issues by Lonnie Hammond - Community Grasshopper Control by Matt Palmer, USU Extension Agent in Sanpete County - State Hopper Control and Cost Share Programs by Clint Burfet UADF - Hopper control programs for Federal Lands by Greg Abbott USDA APHIS Now is the time to plan grasshopper control projects for next year. TREVOR POWELL FOR GUNNISON CITY COUNCIL |
