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Show A committment to assign someone to follow through on potential areas of help for homeowners forced to move in the north portion of Highland Drive, was made by Mayor Jack Sawyers following a public meeting held Thursday evening. Mayor Jack Sawyers presided at the meeting and reviewed, with the nearly 100 in attendance, efforts of the city to acquire some type of help for those forced to move. "We're here to serve you," he commented "and we are doing all that we can to find some help for you." Mayor Sawyer reviewed with landowners meetings with the Governor as to the feasibility of declaring a disaster area. "He asked me; Jack what do you want me to do? Declare all of Cedar City a disaster area, Highland Park, or on a house by house basis?" "Frankly I couldn't answer that," Mayor Sawyers stated. "With input from you we may be aide to address that issue," he said. Most of the relief that is available, Mayor Sawyers pointed out, is predicated upon the declaration eif a disaster area by the Governor. To receive low interest loans from the Small Business Administration, assistance from HUD or possibly help from the Environmental Protection Agency, it will require a disaster declaration, it was indicated. One of those in attendance likened the situation to that of the Chicken Pox: Some of us already have the disease, everyone else has been ex posed, but we better begin treatment now. The economics of the issue, relative to declaring the entire citv a ttisaster area, were reviewed. Some of those in attendance favored such a move, others favored declaring a specified area as a disaster area- but, for those already affected and either relocated or in the process, they were ready to commit themselves to supporting some type of disaster declaration. "Like a forest fire that sweeps through an area. Help is provided but not all homes in that area are affected. af-fected. This is a similar case," declared Louis Cardon. "Let's declare the disaster area and let those w ho need help make application," he said. We need to work together to solve this problem, it was suggested and we need someone working at this problem independent of other needs of the city with the various agencies of the state and federal government, it was recommended. liased on that recommendation the Mayor committed his effort to appoint such a person to follow through with the agencies. "If we push hard enough we can get the answers and we need someone that will provide that push now," Dave Hatch commented. Request for the meeting was made by officers of the Red Hills Homeowners Association, a group organized to represent those suffering losses from :he hydrcompaction problem that exists in the Highland Park area. |