Right of Passage

Kathy Ockey

With a little pomp and pageantry all its own, Emery County celebrated what is considered by many the single largest social event of the year, as students, parents and loved ones gathered at the Spartan Center for a right of passage known as the Class of 2009 Junior Prom.

With the theme of New York, New York, students dressed elegantly for an evening that will be remembered by them for years to come as they danced and were celebrated by sometimes tearful family and friends during the March 7 event.

J.R. Nelson, junior class advisor and faculty member over the prom, said he has been in charge of the prom since the early 1980s, approximately 27 to 29 years. He said he “sees the students in a classroom environment and I am always extremely impressed with the beauty of the young ladies and how debonair the young men are.”

Nelson explained there are no nominations for Prom Royalty. Each year on the last day of practice the juniors vote for those students they want to be royalty. He always encourages them to vote for “someone they respect, who is kind, gentle and a friend to everyone.”

Prom royalty chosen for this year is: King and Queen, Ryan Thompson and Natalie Winn; First Attendants, Taylor Tanner and Keera Allred; Second Attendants, Addison Collard and Jodi Robertson.

Donations were accepted at the door for Ryan Thompson, who is awaiting a kidney transplant and there was a standing ovation when he was selected as Junior Prom King.

Nelson said there were many people involved in putting the prom together. “There was a lot of hard work from a lot of good people. Darrell Gardner and Nadine Hinkins were instructors for promenade, junior class officers, and also Kevin Reynolds, who helped with the preparations.”

Patience urged in aftermath of Crandall report

Josie Luke

The contents of a March 6 report on the Crandall Canyon Mine disaster released by Senator Edward Kennedy, Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, drew a variety of reactions from those involved, notably a call for patience from other members of the Senate Committee including Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, along with Huntington City Mayor Hilary Gordon.

The report questions the actions of the Murray Energy Corporation, calling mining operations at Crandall Canyon “among the most dangerous ever attempted,” while also questioning the actions of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, and suggesting that the Secretary of Labor refer those responsible to the Justice Department for prosecution.

The report states, “The record compiled by the investigation shows that Murray Energy was operating a dangerous mine in a potentially dangerous manner, was lax about or hostile to safety, and was bullying a compliant MSHA,” and continues, “The record shows that Murray Energy failed to exercise care and caution in formulating the mine plan, disregarded increasing signs of danger in the mine, failed to tell MSHA about these dangers, and violated the mine plan in a way that put miners in danger. Murray Energy’s actions must be fully investigated and those who broke the law must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

The report also calls for changes to be made in the future, including additional requirements for the roof control plan review process, further technical analyses of retreat mining, more monitoring of retreat mining, minimizing and tracking contacts with mine operators during the review process, enhancing communication with other agencies and strengthening accident reporting requirements.

Mayor Gordon was contacted by several news agencies after the report was issued. The next day, after getting a chance to read the report, she offered her reaction, stating, “This was an investigation by the Senate. They were doing things from their view. I think that when all of the facts are on the table, like the report from MSHA, they will be able to make a more advised decision.”

Three members of the senate committee, Senator Hatch from Utah, Senator Mike Enzi from Wyoming, and Senator Johnny Isakson from Georgia, also issued a statement calling for those involved not to rush to judgment on the issue. It read, “Three top members of the Senate committee that governs mine safety today said federal investigators conducting a thorough investigation of the Crandall Canyon Mine tragedy must be allowed to complete their work, and urged Congress to refrain from rushing to judgments based on incomplete and unofficial evidence.

“They will await the nonpartisan, official findings of the investigation under way by the Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Department of Labor’s Inspector General before reaching conclusions about the accident.”
Senator Hatch said he appreciated Chairman Kennedy’s interest and work, but cautioned, “We need to ensure we have all the facts before enacting additional mine-safety regulations that may not address the real problems or prescribe the right solutions.”

United Mine Workers of America International President Cecil E. Roberts also issued a statement, saying “The report released today by the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on the tragedy last August at Murray Energy’s Crandall Canyon mine in Utah underscores the need for the enhanced mine safety and health protections.”

The Salt Lake Tribune reported reactions to the report from many sides of the issue, including those from Robert Murray’s lead attorney, Michael McKown, MSHA Spokesman Matthew Faraci, and Ed Havas, an attorney for the heirs of seven of the nine victims and two other injured miners.

They reported that Murray’s attorney, McKown, responded strongly to the report. “We are shocked and outraged,” he said, by the “serious and biased allegations [in a] superficial” committee report that is “politically motivated, irresponsible and unjustifiable.”

The Salt Lake Tribune also quoted Faraci, who stated that speculation by Kennedy’s staff is inappropriate while his agency’s accident investigation team prepares its official report on the disaster’s root causes.

They also reported that Havas saw the Kennedy report as “straightforward” and that it “seems to be well documented and thoroughly researched.” He told the Salt Lake Tribune, “this simply confirms what we’ve always believed. The mining being done was dangerous, how it was being done was inappropriate and it should never have happened.”

County economy weathering ‘recession’ storm

Josie Luke

With national headlines blaring the record number of home foreclosures and the suspected recession, Emery County citizens have reason to be concerned about the state of the local economy, but according to Mike McCandless of Emery County Economic Development, there has not been “a whole lot of change” in the county’s economy in the past eight months.

In fact, in business development, said McCandless, “We’re still seeing reasonably good growth.” He also revealed that he has even been receiving calls from lower paying service related businesses that can’t find workers to fill positions and that numbes of higher pay scale jobs are “holding relatively steady” since the tragedy at Crandall Canyon Mine. In fact, he reported that in Carbon County, there have been discussions about recruiting people to fill many jobs.

Although many local professionals in the field would agree that the housing market has been affected by the news of foreclosures, opinions vary on where the effect is being seen as well as the level of that effect.

According to numbers from Jim Marrs Realty, currently there are 33 residential properties for sale in Emery County with price ranges between $38,000 and $500,000. The average price on these properties is $130, 580 and the average number of days properties are on the market is147. Thirty-five homes were sold between July 2007 and March 2008, with the average sales price being $100,040. Residential sales are down 12 homes from the prior year count, but the average price in the prior year was $96,847, so prices have gone up 3 percent.

Ethan Hurdsman, with Remax Realty, believes that the market is doing very well. “People are brainwashed by the media that the market isn’t doing well, but in the last month things have picked up like crazy,” he reported. On the other side, there are those, like JuNette Terry from Trail’s End Realty who although they don’t report seeing many foreclosures in the area, are fearful that within six to 12 months, the number may go up.

One of the issues that many realtors are reporting is actually a lack of homes for sale in the area. Janet Roberts, also from Trail’s End Realty reports that she has “buyers coming out of the woodwork, and there’s no property to sell.” She revealed that she has “a dozen buyers that want homes in Emery County,” but she doesn’t have properties to sell them.

Another issue addressed by many of the realtors is the low values that homes in Emery County are being appraised for. Terry explained that property values in Carbon County are being appraised at a higher level than those in Emery County. Roberts echoed this, citing issues with appraisal values. Jim Marrs explained that for those looking to buy a home, this may be a positive. He reported that “Carbon and Emery home prices are the lowest in the state,” and said, “The message we’re actually trying to get out is that this is a good time to buy.”

Marrs also believes that the media is making more of the issue than there actually is. He said that sales have slowed down in the area, but he agrees with others in believing that it is because of a “lack of inventory.” He also believes that foreclosures will not prove to be a problem in Emery County because of the low unemployment rate.

Almost everyone who was contacted agreed that the record number of foreclosures has affected lenders, in that they are being much more careful when approving loans. Roberts reported that “closings are taking a lot longer and buyers are required to have better credit ratings. Lenders are double checking and validating everything.” She related that closings are taking six to eight weeks instead of the normal three to four weeks.

McCandless sees this same pattern in business loans. “They’re not willing to take as much risk. They want to know whoever it is is committed,” he stated.

Supporters hope new hangars will help airport fly

This is the second of a three-part series on the Huntington Airport and efforts past and present to keep aviation opportunities in northern Emery County

James L. Davis

Traveling south on SR-10 toward Huntington the sign on the side of the road with an aircraft painted on it looks a little out of place. For one thing, the aircraft on the sign looks like a jet aircraft and little Huntington Airport is hardly equipped to handle an aircraft anywhere near that size.

The airport was never intendedto compete with the Price for airport dominance, even if it could. But that doesn’t mean supporters of the facility don’t see the possibilities it could offer to the county. The problem has been and remains finding a niche market that the airport could fill and as with virtually everything that is attempted or dreamed of being attempted in the county, the problem comes back to infrastructure. To attract business the airport needs to have a little more than it does now, which is why supporters of the facility are trying to bring it to a base line of service.

“It’s never going to be a big airport, but there is still a need for what it can do,” said Commissioner Gary Kofford.

Over the years there has been debate and consideration of establishing a new airport in the county and Kofford indicated the county had looked at an area east of Castle Dale, but it was quickly realized that establishing a new airport would be costly ($4 to $6 million just to get operational) and it would still be ineligible for funds from the federal government because of its proximity to the larger Price airport.

“We decided the best thing to do was do what we can with this airport,” Kofford said.

While the Huntington Airport has its share of problems, there have been marked improvements made over the years. The biggest problem the airport faces is the runway itself. With two dirt runways and one paved runway, the main runway runs east/west and with the wind gusts the county experiences, a north/south runway would be the ideal. Despite that major flaw, the airport has potential, supporters believe and the county has put forth a lot of effort over the years to bring the facility up to date. The main paved runway was widened by eight feet on either side to an overall width of 75 feet, which is a huge matter for pilots.

“It was a narrow runway. Now it looks good from the air and feels good when you land,” said Leon Defriez, who manages Huntington Aviation LLC, which operates the airport.

A wider runway also opens the possibility that pilot trainees can utilize it. Pilots getting their instrument rating are not permitted to land on a runway unless it is at least 70 feet wide.

While being open to pilots to use who are getting their instrument rating may seem like a small matter, it is a few small steps that supporters believe will position the facility to be an economic force in the county. If one business could be developed and prosper at the airport, it would start the ball rolling for more businesses to locate around the airport, bringing new economic possibilities to the county. It is one of the reasons Defriez has been such an avid supporter of the airport. Last week the installation of an electronic fuel system was completed, which allows pilots to land and refuel with the swipe of a debit or credit card, without the need for an airport attendant. Having the airport set up to run automatically will attract pilots to the facility and allow Huntington Aviation to keep fuel on hand.

But to get pilots to the airport and keep them there will require more than fuel and that is one of the reasons the county is looking at avenues to build new hangars at the facility.

MJ Aero Service has indicated that it will relocate its business to Huntington if there was a hangar available for the business to operate out of. Kofford said the county currently has a request in to the Permanent Community Impact Board for airport improvements totally approximately $750,000, $375,000 of which is being requested from a CIB grant and $375,000 which would be funded by the Municipal Building Authority.

If the cash can be gathered it would be used to build four new T-Hangars and one larger 50 foot by 50 foot hangar that could be used to operate a business from.

“We could rent another hangar today if we had one available,” Defriez said.

The requested funds would also go toward installing a new water line to the airport. The facility is currently served by a small water line, so small that there is no fire hydrant at the airport. Some of the funds would be used to install a six inch water line to the area.

With new hangars in place Defriez, Kofford and other airport supporters believe the facility could attract new businesses to the county and support businesses already here.

The fact that Huntington has two dirt strips is actually a draw in and of itself for some aviators, such as the Utah Back Country Pilots Association, which is a group of aviators that land in remote areas. The dirt runways at Huntington offer a location for training that the association would be interested in, Defriez said.

With more than 200 acres of land, most of it under lease from the Bureau of Land Management, the airport has room to grow and attract businesses, but whether the ideas being considered will find their wings and fly or not, perhaps only time will tell.

(Next week, in the third and final part of the series on the Huntington Airport, the focus will be on the history of the airport and the findings and recommendations of the Huntington Airport Layout Plan, developed in 2004-2005, the plan calls for a huge investment of resources for the future development of the airport and may be more than the county could ever afford.)