East Carbon discusses fire department, plan update

By Sun Advocate

The East Carbon City Council met on Tuesday and approved a zoning change that allows horses to be kept at the ranchettes in Columbia.
East Carbon officials had inadvertently failed to include the ordinance change when the city sold the property some years ago.
The new ordinance, zoning change 501, will rectify the problem. The change was approved unanimously by members of the board and will go into affect 20 days after posting.
At the Sept. 27 session, Joyce Caviness indicated that she believes the city plan is in need of an update after attending meetings with other city and state representatives. She asked the mayor to ask the planning and zoning board to update the general plan for the city.
The mayor agreed to request the update.
Caviness also reported that there have been several complaints regarding school bus transportation to and from Price.
Caviness asked citizens with complaints to contact members of the city council. The council will have a representative at the next school board meeting.
Councilman Darlene Kuhns reported on the status of the fire department.
“The city does have a fire department,” said Kuhns. “We are short four people, but we have eight people on the force.”
The council members then discussed the recent acquisition of a new fire truck and the need for more volunteer firefighters.
The council applauded the efforts of the residents who serve on the fire department.
Councilman Dave Maggio pointed out that he had attended county recreation department meetings recently and wanted to encourage all East Carbon youth to take advantage of programs offered by the agency.
“East Carbon’s young people have fewer recreation opportunities now that the high school has been closed,” said Maggio. “We need to encourage them to take full advantage of what the county offers.”
Maggio also asked the city council to recognize the efforts of Marcus Palacios and Ronnie Gonzales, who have been giving much of their time and talents to the youth football program.
In an unrelated business matter, Rick Morales appeared before the council to ask for help with the youth boxing club. A licensed boxing coach and trainer, he explained that all the club needs from the city is a place to train. The club owns all of its equipment and the members raise all of the money for the group’s events. He said the club has been doing well at recent boxing tournaments.
“One of our boxers is ranked eighth in the United States,” noted Morales.
After discussing the request, the city agreed to help the club with training space.
Possible options were suggested, but no decision will be made until Morales and the council inspect the proposed sites to determine which will best meet the needs of the club and the city.
In an unrelated matter, Mayor Dale Andrews reported that an engineering study on the reservoir and spillway is in progress.
The mayor explained that the reservoir needs a new over-the-top spillway to make it more earthquake proof. Funding is being secured for the project.
In addition, Andrews indicated that problems with the city’s sewer lagoon stem primarily from a lack of water and, hopefully, work on the project will begin by November.
The mayor indicated that there would be some burning of weeds near the sewer lagoon in the immediate future. He advised residents not to be alarmed if they saw smoke in that direction.
It was also noted that two of the goats recently placed in the city’s sewer lagoon enclosure near Columbia to eat weeds had escaped.
The council, with some smiles, agreed that efforts would be made to acquire other goats.
The mayor closed the meeting with a reminder to all residents to vote in the upcoming municipal elections on Oct. 4.