Serving East Juab County - A Nice Place To Live!

Volume 115, No. 23 June 7, 2017 Single Copy Price $100

96 South Main Phone Offi ce Hours Our WebsiteNephi, UT 84648 (435) 623-0525 M-F- 9:30 to Noon nephitimesnews.comDeadlines: Monday 12 noon 1:00 to 5 p.m.

Forest Service releases Final Records of Decision for TransWest and Energy Gateway South projects

By Myrna Trauntvein

Times-News Correspondent

In a press release issued on May 31, 2017, the USFS (Unit-ed States Forest Service) an-nounced the release of Records of Decision (ROD) for the Tran-sWest Express and Energy Gateway South Transmission Projects. After almost seven years of interagency and stakeholder collaboration and environmen-tal analysis, the Forest Service is releasing the Final Records of Decision for the multi-state TransWest Express and En-ergy Gateway South transmis-sion projects. “I signed the Energy Gate-way South and TransWest Ex-press Powerline RODs today,” said Chad E Hudson, Deputy Forest Supervisor Forest Ser-vice Uinta-Wasatch-Cache Na-tional Forest. Hudson released that infor-mation in a memo on Wednes-day. “The Forest Service is a cooperating agency respon-sible for decisions on affected National Forest Lands,” said George C. Garcia, District Ranger for the Forest Service Spanish Fork Ranger District, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache Nation-al Forest. The TransWest Express (TWE) project will carry enough power for almost two million homes. The project con-nects renewable power with consumers in the desert south-west via a high voltage, direct current transmission system. The project, including alter-natives, crosses parts of Wyo-ming, Colorado, Utah, and Ne-vada. The 730-mile HVDC trans-mission line promises to ben-efi t regional grid energy con-sumers. It encompasses lands owned or managed by the Bureau of Land Management, USDA For-est Service, National Park Ser-vice, Bureau of Reclamation, Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission, various state agencies, Native American Tribes, municipali-ties, and private interests. “About 19 miles of the TWE Project is on USFS land,” said Garcia. The TWE Project is a high-voltage, direct current (HVDC) electric transmission system being developed by TransWest Express LLC to directly and effi ciently access diverse re-newable energy supplies while reducing greenhouse-gas emis-sions. According to information re-leased by TWE, “This signifi -cant energy infrastructure will strengthen the resiliency and reliability of the western U.S. electric grid by adding 3,000 megawatts of ‘backbone’ trans-mission capacity connecting

See Power line on page 2

FINAL RECORDS OF DECISION RELEASED • The United States Forest Service released the fi nal record of decision for the TransWest and Energy Gateway South projects that will pass through the utility cor-ridor in Salt Creek Canyon. Above, some of the current high voltage lines just off the Salt Creek Canyon road.

County commission receives annual payment from county fair board

ANNUAL PAYMENT • Jamie Garrett, Juab County Special Events Coordinator, presented the annual $10,000 check to Juab County Com-missioner, Clinton Painter.

By Myrna Trauntvein

Times-News Correspondent

Jamie Garrett, Juab County Special Events Coordinator, presented the annual $10,000 check to Juab County Com-missioner, Clinton Painter, to pay for their share of the cost of the bleachers at the rodeo fairgrounds. “We’re here to pay for our part of the payment for the west bleachers,” Garrett said. “We pay every year in June.” The west arena fairground replacement bleachers were paid for by a Community Im-pact Board (CIB) loan. “It was agreed at the time,” said Painter, “that the Ute

Stampede Committee, the county fair board and the county would each pay one-third of the loan.” The loan was for zero per-cent interest and the contract is to be repaid in 30 years. Some of the CIB money also came in the form of a grant which does not need to be re-paid. The cost of the new bleach-ers which were constructed on the west side of the grand are-na amounted to approximately $1 million. The three-way agreement calls for the county fair board and the Ute Stampede Com-mittee to pay $10,000 each year and the county to pay $13,000.

Ute Stampede Committee presents county with annual payment

ANNUAL PAYMENT • Chris Memmott, left, and Wade Garrett present county commissioners Byron Woodland and Clinton Painter with their annual payment check for $10,000.

By Myrna Trauntvein

Times-News Correspondent

In 2009, Juab County, the Ute Stampede Committee and the Juab County Fair Board en-tered into an agreement to re-build the west bleachers in the grand arena. Chris Memmott and Wade Garrett, representing the Ute Stampede Committee, attend-ed Juab County Commission meeting on Monday to present commissioners with a check for $10,000. “The payment we agreed on to pay back the loan was $33,000 per year,” said Memmott. “Each of the entities is to pay $10,000 a year expect for Juab County

because commissioners agreed to pick up anything else.” The west arena fairground replacement bleachers were paid for by a Community Im-pact Board (CIB) loan. “The county pays $13,000 each year,” said Clinton Paint-er, county commissioner. The loan was for zero percent interest and the contract is to be repaid in 30 years. Eight of those years have passed. Some of the CIB money also came in the form of a grant which does not need to be re-paid. The cost of the new bleach-ers which were constructed on the west side of the grand arena amounted to approximately $1 million.

County will make call for open bids on property in Eureka

By Myrna Trauntvein

Times-News Correspondent

Over the years, Juab Coun-ty has become the owner of properties that come to them through tax sales. Mike Fernandez attended Juab County Commission meeting to request that he be allowed to purchase such a piece of property in the Eureka area. “The property is about four miles outside of Eureka,” said Ferandez. “It is in the Silver City area.” He said that the property was under one acre. “The previous owners did not pay the property taxes,” he said. Fernandez presented the commission with an aerial map showing the exact loca-tion of the property. All states have statutes that permit counties to place a lien on property with delinquent property taxes. Under most state laws, property tax liens are granted fi rst lien status and are superior over other liens, including mortgages, re-gardless of whether the mort-

See Eureka on page 2