2009 County Fair in Sevier County, Utah

Celebrating the annual county fair — and the new facilities at the re-built fairgrounds.

2009 Sevier County Fair: Under Construction

July 4th Celebration in Richfield, Utah

Richfield, Utah: 2009 Recreation & Parks Summer Programs

Getting Around Utah: A Tour of Utah’s National & State Parkes and Recreation Areas

Mileage and scenery to State and National Parks from Richfield, Utah.

Central Utah Traveler’s Television

Central Utah Traveler’s Television: Travel and recreational info for Central Utah, as presented in hotels and motels throughout the Central Utah area.

Central Utah Traveler’s TV pt. 2

Tribune calls Sevier County officials “obviously guilty”

The following editorial was published by the Salt Lake Tribune on August 14 about NEVCO/Sevier Power efforts, in league with Sevier County officials, to avoid fallout from the tentative vote on coal-fired power plants here in Sevier County:

Sevier subterfuge: County out to foil efforts of its citizens
Tribune Editorial
http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_10207373

“It seems that since Sevier County officials failed to keep a
citizen initiative that they don’t like off the ballot, they’re
willing to try subterfuge to make the vote meaningless.

“At the least, the county attorney and County Commission are
engaged in a campaign of aggressive obfuscation apparently aimed at
frustrating the democratic right of their constituents to have a voice
in determining the county’s future health and welfare.

“The complicated conflict began when a grass-roots group of
citizens objected to construction of the Sevier Power Project near
Sigurd. The $600 million plant would burn about 940,000 tons of coal
per year and spew CO2 and other pollution over the region.

“When the County Commission went ahead and approved the plant
anyway, the Right to Vote Committee managed to gather more than enough
signatures in just over a week to put the proposal on November’s
ballot.

“Their initiative would stop the power plant by revoking the
current permit and requiring that voters approve any conditional-use
permit for a coal-fired power plant. The group acted quickly, before a
constitutionally suspect state law that bans initiatives and
referendums on land-use issues went into effect.

“At that point, the County Commission members decided not to
object to the voter initiative. Instead, they contrived another tack.
The initiative as written amends the “conditional-use permit
ordinance.” So these public servants labeled the project a
“planned-unit development,” which requires a different kind of permit.
Even if voters approve the initiative, it would not block the Sigurd
plant. Cute.

“The planned-unit development label is ordinarily applied to
residential projects that feature clustered housing and areas of open
space. A power plant is no PUD. A conditional-use permit, on the other
hand, is a variance to allow a project to go forward in a zone where
it would otherwise be prohibited.

“Sevier County Attorney Dale Eyre contends that the Sigurd plant
was always referred to as a PUD, but an attorney for the citizens
group disputes that in a complaint to the Utah Attorney General’s
Office, and says he has documents referring to a conditional-use
permit for the plant. He also says Eyre did not notify the group of
the time period when it could contest wording of the initiative.

“Even if the county is innocent of skulduggery in this dispute,
which seems highly unlikely, it is obviously guilty of standing in the
way of citizens exercising their constitutionally protected right to
legislate by initiative. That alone pollutes the atmosphere of Sevier
County.”

Cowboy Poetry: CR Wood, Tyrel Curtis, and Phil & Don Kennington

An afternoon of cowboy poetry in Elsinore, Utah, held during the annual Heritage Days Festival. Often hilarious poetry from some of the best: CR Wood, host of the festival, Tyrel Curtis, and brothers Phil and Don Kennington.

Christmas lights in Sevier Valley, Utah

2007 Christmas lights around Sevier Valley, UT.

Central Utah Traveler’s TV Mileage

Mileage and scenery to Utah’s State and National Parks from "Gateway City," Richfield, Utah.

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