Editor:
While everyone living in Carbon County knows how important water is and I feel most would agree that the idea to save and store water in the winter and spring to be used in the summer has merit, we may not agree on the best way to accomplish this end goal. It appears to me that Price City is looking at one possible solution presented by an engineering firm whose home office is in Sanpete County to build the Garley Wash Reservoir without exploring other alternatives. This is not the preferred way to address any action on federal lands. In addition, it may be doing a disservice to those people that will be impacted by the project.
For example: I have a building that has a $200,000 mortgage on it which lies in the Price River Flood Plain. I am forced by the bank to carry flood insurance. My yearly cost is $15,000. Some of the homes below the reservoir will be in a new flood zone. The Price River flood zone will most likely be expanded below the golf course. Even if all these homes are owned free and clear, the fact that if a home owner wants to sell their home it has to be disclosed it is in a flood zone. I guarantee you this will hurt the value of those properties and make them very difficult to sell. Consider what you see on the news about the homes in California below the Orville dam.
A project of this nature should go out for bid by at least three or more engineering firms. A number of alternative sites should be looked at! I personally, do not believe this may be the best site and I cannot fully understand why a several mile pipe line is more cost effective than a small diversion with a pump or perhaps to relocate the reservoir to Willow Creek or Consumers or any number of other areas where natural flow would accomplish the same objective, for less money and considerable lower impact.
It appears to me that Price City and their engineers are attempting to package a cow pie and sell it as a “T-Bone steak”. I would like to see full disclosure on how tax payer’s money is being spent in a noncompetitive manner and tell us what the real impacts of this project are. Not only on the environment but to those home owners who will be negatively impacted. What happened to competitive bidding in Carbon County? Where are the firms that worked in the county for the last 50 years? Example, Creamer & Noble, Johanson & Tuttle, etc.? The city and county need to play fair with open competitive bidding when they spend our money.
I have received calls from a number of firms asking me what is going on. All I can say is I honestly don’t know, but I agree with them it appears unfair. I do not want to continue to buy cow manure with my tax dollars with the only assurance that its prime beef based on the word of our elected officials! That expression, “we should drain the swamp” applies to Carbon County and Price City.
Mel Coonrod
Helper
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