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Show Tropic Board Deliberates Over Multitude of Problems at Meet TROPIC - Negotiations over street Improvements and a charge by a Tropic resident of unfair treatment dominated discussion at the regular November meeting of the Tropic Town Council. Mayor pro-tern Ella Adair read a letter from Creamer and Noble Engineers setting forth the terms discussed In the town's earlier meeting with the firm and the representative of the contracting company which paved Tropic's streets under a Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant. The town had sought redress from the engineering firm and from the contractor after it decided the work performed was substandard. The letter was written as a follow-up on the November 5 meeting to confirm the terms of the agreement which stated that the contractor (Hurricane Sand and Gravel) would contribute one-sixth of the cost of materials not to exceed $2,000; the engineering firm would contribute two-thirds of the cost not to exceed $8,000; and the town of Tropic would contribute the final one-sixth ($2,000) and any additional costs. The letter also stated the contractor would supply two 10-wheel trucks and personnel. Council members agreed that they could not accept the terms and Mayor Adair said the letter was rejected and a request would be made to renegotiate. Council member LaMar Feltner said that the meeting for renegotiations would be a closed meeting, but that the matter would be placed on the town council's agenda at its next regular meeting. A heated exchange took place between former Tropic town council member Katie Thomas and members of the council. Mrs. Thomas said that the council had no business pledging any of the town's money toward correcting the street problems since the town was not responsible for them. She said responsibility lay with the engineers and the contractor on the project. She said that the council had also failed to attempt to recoup from the engineer and contractor any of the money the town had been forced to spend on attorneys and other experts to try to get any action from the engineer and contractor. She said that council members had acted Imprudently by excluding from the negotiations herself and two former mayors, all of whom had been familiar with the project and had expressed their concerns to the council. She accused those still serving on the council who had served with her of agreeing to meet with the engineers and contractor while she was still serving on the council when those two had refused to allow her to participate. She said those same council members had also agreed to spend the taxpayers money to hire an attorney and then refused to follow his professional advice, and, at the request of the project engineer, refused to allow their own attorney to participate in the same meeting. Mr. Feltner said that if the council would have let him, he could have conducted negotiations and settled the matter. Mrs. Thomas replied that neither the engineer nor the contractor would agree to meet with the council until the day that she and former mayor, Doug Ahlstrom, had returned from a consultation with the attorney the council had agreed to hire. She said that when the meeting had been set up, the council had refused, at the request of the engineer and contractor, to permit her or their own attorney to be present. She told Mr. Feltner the matter had been a council matter and not one for him to be negotiating independently and that at least one council member, by revealing matters from the town's executive sessions, had jeopardized the town's position and tried to protect other individuals. Mrs. Thomas said she had spoken with the state attorney general's office and If the council proceeded on its present course, she was not sure exactly what course she would take. Tropic resident, Sharon Pollock, told the council she felt that she and her husband (Gordon) had been treated unfairly when they were required by the council to bring their out-of-town water line up to code to meet the town's ordinance. She said she had been promised that no other out-ot-town hookups would be made to substandard lines, particularly after the town had passed a moratorium on out-of-town hookups. Since that time, she said the town had permitted one hookup and was now permitting another. The town's ordinance requires that out-of-town lines extend the same size line as the in-town line, either a four-inch or a. six-inch pipe. The line currently being hooked onto is a two-inch line which council members said they felt would accomodate the connection being made. Council member, Bob Bradley, said he felt the council had cancelled Its own moratorium by permitting his out-of-town connection. Mrs. Thomas said she was serving on the council when Mr. Bradley applied for his connection and that the council had not cancelled the moratorium but had simply voted 4 to 1 to permit his connection, against Its own moratorium. Mrs. Pollock said that under the circumstances, she should be refunded the cost of upgrading the line to her property. The council listened to her complaint, but took no action and Mrs. Pollock did not press them for a decision. Trailer park operators, Bob Ott and his wife, Mira Loy, questioned the council about its water billing policy. They said they had lost business because the town apparently was not billing all operators in the same way. He asked the council for clarification so that he could make plans to Improve his trailer park and know how to charge for the spaces he rents. The matter of live-in trailers being parked at random near the construction site of the LDS chapel was also discussed because of the loss of business to bonafide trailer park operators. Mr. Ott stated he could not conduct his business without proper protection from the town against such practices. The council decided to check with the Five County Association of Governments about typical trailer park operation and hookups as well as rate policies. The council also discussed the condition of the street alongside the new chapel. They said that former mayor Doug Ahlstrom had said he made a verbal agreement with the contractor that the contractor should see that the street was properly repaired in exchange for the town's not charging for a second water meter at the chapel site. Since the town had no written agreement and the contractor had left, the council felt it had no recourse. Ordinances of the town of Tropic require that any contractor disturbing the streets must restore them to the original condition. Council members agreed to deposit the $10,000 received from the Garfield County School District In payment for the firehouse it sold to the district. An additional $2,000 was added and the amount will be deposited in a six-month time certificate. The council will select a committee to choose a site for the town's new firehouse. Mayor Adair said she had been asked by Bill Pollock and his wife, Stacey, for help from the town in repairing their out-of-town water line. The council agreed that it could not repair the line which is owned by the water users on the line, nor could the town repair leaks on private property. The town will advertise at a minimum bid of $250 the vehicle formerly used by its marshall since the town no longer receives sufficient funds from the state to permit the hiring of a marshall. The council agreed to retain Clive Bybee as Justice of the Peace to perform weddings, but the council felt he would not require state training since the county directs no citations through his office. Sheriff Vic Middleton stated Monday that his department cannot direct citations to a justice of the peace until it can be ascertained that the justice has had the state training. |