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Show Kane County Residents Continue To Challenge Their Commission On Roads Kane County residents continue to challenge their county commissioners commis-sioners whose announced intentions to cut a deal with the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Monu-ment on RS2477 roads has landed them in court more than Once. At the same time they are asking the commission to support their citizen petition asking for help from the state's Constitutional Defense Committee in protecting their rights on their RS2477 roads. On Oct. 16 crowds attended the Kane County Commission meeting, meet-ing, with only 30 able to get in and over 200 outside. Over 220 people signed a citizen petition, developed following Monument Manager Kate Cannon's announcement that she would begin closing roads on the Monument. The petition states that "Federal law and Congressional Mandate clearly establishes that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has no authority to unilaterally close public roads belonging to the counties of Kane and Garfield and the state of Utah." It asks the elected and appointed officials of the two counties and the state to "cooperate in the initiation of a common legal effort" to protect RS2477 rights, to legally challenge Babbitt, the BLM and the federal government and seeks an injunction against closing the roads. Most recently, on Oct. 17, Judge David Mower in Sixth District Dis-trict Court in Kanab entered a permanent injunction preventing the commissioners from signing any road agreement with GSENM until current litigation is settled. (See ROADS on page 5-A) ROADS From Front Page The judge also ordered Kane County Attorney Colin Winchester to add the plaintiffs (Color Country Chapter of People For the USA and other Kane County residents) to the commission's fax list to keep them informed of Commission activities. Winchester had previously acknowledged ac-knowledged the commission's failure fail-ure to give proper public notice of meetings. The plaintiffs complained that, after a court-ordered mandate to meet together to work out the problems, the commissioners did not meet with them in a good faith effort and had refused to consider what they felt were inconsistencies in the revised road agreement they were proposing to sign with GSENM. The citizens group declares that problems started in April when the Kane County commissioners were ready to sign an agreement but backed off when protests became vocal. The intent of commissioners commis-sioners appeared not to change over the following months despite citizen citi-zen opposition. On Aug. 15, Monument Manager Mana-ger Kate Cannon told Garfield County Commissioners Louise Liston, Maloy Dodds and Clare Ramsay that the Kane County commissioners had indeed signed the roads agreement. By the next day, however, the three commissioners commis-sioners realized that it was not true. The day before, on Aug. 14, Kane County commissioners had motioned to sign the agreement but, apparently did not sign it as citizens sought a restraining order against their elected officials. On Sept. 8, Judge Mower granted the citizens group a preliminary injunction with orders that the two groups meet together to seriously try to resolve their problems. Garfield County commissioners have continued to carefully watch as events have uniolded in their sister-county sister-county since road issues there are so closely tied to those in Garfield County. In early September, Rep. Tom Hatch wrote the Kane County Commission asking for their reasons for signing an agreement while litigation is in progress at the state level and questioning the complexity of the agreement they were considering signing. He said he did not receive a reply. On Oct. 17, when the meetings between the citizens and the commissioners had reached a stalemate and the commissioners appeared to persist in their intent to sign, they were all back in Judge Mower's court where he granted the plaintiffs an injunction until their lawsuit against the commissioners commis-sioners is settled. At the next commission meeting meet-ing on Oct. 23, the citizen group presented the commission with a (See ROADS on page 7-A) ROADS From Page 5-A 15-page analysis of the GSENM's proposed road agreement, a road maintenance agreement based on Garfield County's maintenance agreement with the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area which has functioned effectively for the county, and a letter which states that the commission believes that "...signing the road agreement is necessary to continue the Government Govern-ment Relations Program and to allow Kane County to again receive substantial federal grant moneys." The letter says that, while the majority of Kane County's citizens protested the designation of the Monument, shortly after the development devel-opment of a Government Relations Program, $800,000 in federal money mon-ey flowed into the county over a three-year period. The funds stopped when the commissioners did not sign the first road agreement in 1999. "In order to save the county budget, property taxes were raised 27 percent this year and will probably be raised another 27 percent next year for a total of 54 percent tax increase," the petition states, suggesting that the commission commis-sion is being driven by its desire for federal moneys because of budget pressures. Now, since Monument Manager Kate Cannon has announced her intent to close roads on the Monument, Monu-ment, the citizens group is asking their commission to support their petition and to seek help from the state through the Constitutional Defense Committee to protect their RS2477 roads on the Monument, from a closure they say will affect some 80 percent of their roads on the Monument. The petition is addressed to state officials from the governor down to county officials and law enforce-ment officers. Kane County Sheriffs Chief Deputy Tracy Glover stated, "If road are closed in Kane County on which the county believes it has RS2477 assertions, the Kane County Sheriffs Office will notify commissioners of the road closures and urge them to authorize reopening re-opening of those roads." Garfield County Commissioner Clare Ramsay said that Garfield County's attorney Steve Urquhart has been asked to review the 15-page 15-page analysis of the GSENM's proposed road agreement based on Title V and consider supporting their effoprts to seek Constitutional Defense Funds to assist in their fight. After two of the petitions were found missing at two sites, the group offered a $500 reward for information about their disappearance. |