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Show 'Nearly New' Grader Purchased by County Garfield County commissioners seemed pleased with their purchase of j an "almost new" grader, a piece of badly-needed equipment. The 10-year-old Fiat-Allis model 645-B Front End Loader, previously owned by Millard County, had very few hours of actual use, commissioners were told. Commissioners felt that the machine purchase from Cate Equipment in Salt Lake City, was a bargain at $27,500. It will be housed at the Panguitch road shed and a similar piece 6f equipment moved to the Boulder road shed. Verl Matthews, Utah State University Extension Agent appeared before the commmission to seek approval for County Weed Supervisor Virgil, Anderson to attend a two-day workshop at USU in Logan. The state weed conference on February 24 and 25 is designed to help state personnel in identifying, preventing and solving serious weed problems in their areas. The seminar will serve to update Anderson's skills in working with people on weed control problems in Garfield County. The latest techniques in achievingg weed control will be discussed along with learning adequate safeguards of the environment. Velpar, a new weed control herbicide for use with alfalfa' crops will be highlighted at the workshop. The county purchased several old flatbed railroad cars from surplus property owned by the state at a cost of $375 each. They will be used to upgrade sections of the road along the Burr Trail approximately 10 miles south of Boulder. In other business before the commmission, representatives of the Bureau of Land Mangement, Ken Knowles and Rex Rowley, made a presentation to the commissioners of,a site-specific, analysis of the, Mudd Springs Wilderness Study Unit. Approximately one-third of the units is located in Garfield County with the ' balance in Kane County. Com-mlssioners were particularly concerned about 30 to 50 million tons of coal (Continued on Page 5) bounty Buys Grader I (Continued from Page 1 ) He said that by submitting such along term plan, It would be likely possible to avoid several environmental impact studies and perhaps limit requirements to only one. At this point, discussion ensued as to whether UDOT or the NPS had Jurisdiction to proceed on designs, with UDOT stating they were the experts In road construction and NPS appearing reluctant to fully relinquish controlling authority. Commissioner Church stated "It's unreasonable for the National Park Service to have any authority over state roads passing through the park . . we have the expertise, we know the needs." Benton stated that he didn't feel that the problems on "the dump" were any greater than the problems that existed with Red Canyon. Ie reiterated that the NPS needed a long-range design from UDOT, to which Richardson countered, "I heard what you're saying . . . this is the first time that we've ever had you ask for a full design from the state. We responded to your general management plan in the past. Our plans were refused. We gave you some specific recommendations and specific alternatives; those were denied." Benton replied, "You have to keep in mind that times change ... I don't personally agree with the General Management Plans." Discussion continued about traffic problems on "the dump" and the possibility of a third lane. ii $ Tropic Mayor Evan Chynoweth remarked that he drives the route daily and that he could "speak specifically for Tropic and generally for the other communities . . . people would favor the third lane." Chynoweth added a little later that Kalbab Industries would soon be logging in the eastern protion of the county and running eight logging trucks, 16 loads per day from the Posey Lake area up "the dump" to Panguitch. Approximately 5.5 million board feet of lumber would be transported. Again, Benton said, "I would like to see some kind of sketch or plan from UDOT ... the National Park Service tends with alternatives to tell you what is good for you." When Benton asked again for specific lengths of passing lanes, Richardson replied, "We are looking at several sites where we can get 500 or 600 feet." When Benton was reminded that the issues being discussed had all been covered in the 1979 hearings, even to the several alternatives for passing lane lengths, he replied that he had not been present for the hearings which were handled by the previous superintendent Thomas Hobbs. He stated he did not necessarily agree with the conclusion resulting form the General Management Plan. When asked if the state planned to submit in depth designxas-requested by Benton, Richardson stated that UDOT would wait until the final General Management Plan was released shortly and see whether the NPS, planned to fund the project. If they do not plan to fund it, he said UDOT will include it along with other proposed state projects and proceed according to its priorities within the state. Twice during the meeting, the subject of the state seeking legal rights to the portion of highway was mentioned. Both times Benton stated that litigation in the past had beef), generally unsuccessful and tended only to stir up bad feelings between agencies. He said, "I think its a dangerous course of action." No decisions were forthcoming from the meeting as far as specific moves to be taken by either UDOT or the NPSW. After the meeting, Boulder Mayor Donna Wilson stated that she felt that "We got the runaround," and Henrieville Mayor Riley Miller remarked, "The road has been there as long as the people we shouldn't have to ask the park for permission to do what is needed to make conditions safe." |