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Serving East Juab County - A Nice Place To Live! $ $ 1 1 00 00 96 South Main Phone Office Hours Our Website Nephi, UT 84648 (435) 623-0525 M-F - 9:30 to Noon nephitimesnews.com Deadlines: Monday 12 noon 1:00 to 5 p.m. Volume 118, No. 23 June 3, 2020 Single Copy Price Commissioners approve cost reimbursement agreement for solar project By Myrna Trauntvein TN Correspondent Utah Municipal Power Agen- cy (UMPA) has entered into an agreement with sPower, a Salt Lake City-based Independent Power Producer (IPP), to build a solar project in Juab County and because of that the county will need to set up a CRA (com- munity reinvestment agency). Lincoln Shurtz, Director of Government Affairs with the Utah Association of Counties (UAC), Brandy Grace, Chief Operating Officer with UAC, and Brent Boswell, county economic development direc- tor, met with commissioners to discuss forming a CRA and the consulting fees that would be charged. “We are here to discuss UAC consulting fees,” said Shurtz. For the assistance UAC will give the county, the fee will be $17,000 plus another $3,000 for travel, said Grace. She said that the RDA would be reimbursed for the expense. “Initially it will be paid by Juab County, but will be reim- bursed to us by sPower,” said Clinton Painter, Juab County Commission Chairman. “The county will present invoices to sPower, which they will repay the county within 30-days.” Commissioners approved and authorized Painter to sign the Cost Reimbursement Agreement following a small correction in the document provided by Ryan Peters, coun- ty attorney. The error was in the termi- nation clause but that was now corrected, said Peters. “We will meet with all tax- ing agencies,” said Grace. Boswell said that he sent Shurtz and Grace a list of those entities. The county will need to de- velop a CRA but the commis- sion will act as an RDA in do- ing so. “Once they were all called RDAs,” said Shurtz. “The name was changed to CRA but, to further confuse things, commissioners will act as the RDA.” He said that the RDA, with commissioners acting as the board, would work with UAC to form the needed CRA. As authorized by Utah State Code, counties may form Com- munity Reinvestment Agen- cies to help form and oversee Community Reinvestment Ar- eas (CRAs). The CRAs are a valuable resource to help a county ful- fill its planning, economic de- velopment, and place making goals. Once approved for creation, the CRA is slated for economic development. RDAs have funded projects from arena construction and renovations to solar farms. “To date, sPower has not asked for any tax incentives, nor have we offered,” said Painter. “Yes, there will be taxes paid to the county by sPower.” The new solar See Solar on page 2 Mona City leaders weigh pros and cons of holding Pioneer Day celebration By Myrna Trauntvein TN Correspondent Mona City Council members should reconsider a decision, halfway made, and keep the Pioneer Day Celebration that is a tradition in the commu- nity. Clinton Painter, Juab Coun- ty Commission Chairman, said he, and Wade Garrett, also from Nephi, sit on the state Live Events Recovery Sub- committee. “The committee is working to get people to open up but open up responsibly,” he said. “Community celebrations are vital.” Painter also brought Eric Larsen, Director of Environ- mental Health and Emergency Services at Central Utah Pub- lic Health Department, with him to explain the restrictions the city might need to make if the state remained at yellow. He had also brought a letter from Nate Selin, Central Utah Public Health Department ex- ecutive director. “Family groups can be to- gether but must social distance from other family groups,” said Painter. “Those family groups can have as many as 50 per group.” He said that the city park could still be used and the en- tertainment could be held. The yellow guidelines sug- gest people to try to stay at least 6 feet from other people but that means family groups. For example the Kay family could have 50 people and the Newton family could have 50 people and the family mem- bers could be elbow to elbow but the Kays would need to be 6 feet away from the Newtons. “Food could be passed out by a server and there would not need to be any reaching in,” said Painter. Face painting could be done with the person doing the painting wearing a mask and the kids taking off their masks for the time. Or they could just have their faces painted around the mask. “At the derby in Nephi, we will be wiping down the rail- ings,” Painter said. “High touch areas would need to be wiped down.” Under current phased guide- lines, by July 24, the state will likely be at green which was the new normal. Last year, said Painter, the demolition derby, an an- nual event held as part of the county fair, handed out buffs. A buff, also called a neck gai- ter, is a closed tube of fabric and is useful for covering the nose and mouth and is worn around the neck. Basically, it looks like a tubular bandana. “We will have hand sanitiz- er stations,” said Painter. Mona City could do the same thing and still hold their cel- ebration. The only items that Mona Recreation will hold sports camps starting June 8th By Myrna Trauntvein TN Correspondent June summer camps will be held in the place of team sports in Mona, but the fields in Mona are too small for tour- nament play. Amy Stanley, city council member over recreation, re- ported that Melinda Mathe- son, city recreation depart- ment director, had decided that because of COVID-19 restrictions, the team sports would be canceled. “She has some excellent summer camps that will last four weeks beginning in June,” said Stanley. “They are filling fast.” “Nephi would like to rent our fields for play,” said Stan- ley. Frank Riding, council mem- ber, said that Nephi Recreation was looking to rent facilities in many places. “These fields are not the regulation size,” said Riding. “A ball would travel far enough to go through the playground.” Stanley said that the recent Outdoor and Recreation cate- gory of the Utah Leads Togeth- er 2.0 document states that all citizens should not yet en- gage in close conduct or team sports. Due to this, all spring sports were canceled. This affected the remaining six classes of tumbling, the re- maining three classes of yoga and girls softball and boys baseball leagues. “The camps are a good trade- off,” said Stanley. “Summer sports camps and programs are not canceled.” Beginning in June the fol- lowing camps will begin: Softball/Baseball Camps with 16 registrations only per camp. (Every participant will receive a camp completion cer- tificate and prize.) “Register in your current school grade,” said Matheson in the online information. Girls T-Ball Camp: ages 3 to 6 at $20 for a four week camp, one hour each; Boys T- Ball Camp: ages 3 to 6 at $20 for a four week camp, one hour each; Girls Coach Pitch Camp: 1st and 2nd grades at $20 for a four week camp, one hour camps; Boys Coach Pitch Camp: 1st and 2nd grades at $20 for a four week camp, one hour camps; Girls 3rd and 4th Grade Softball Camp at $20 for four week camp for 1 1/2 hour camps; Girls 5th to 8th Grade Softball Camp for Mona/Ne- phi/Rocky Ridge at $20 for a four week camp for two hour camps; Girls 5th to 8th Grade Softball Camp for Levan/Ne- phi at $20 for four week camp, two hour camps. Girls T-Ball Camp will be Mondays starting June 8, 6 p.m. at Mona Park South Field; Boys T-Ball Camp will be Mon- days starting June 8 at 6 p.m. at Mona North Field; Girls See Celebration on page 2 See Recreation on page 4 SPLASH INTO SUMMER • Patrons were able to beat the heat as they took a dip in the Nephi Swimming Pool on Monday. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, those who want to come swim will need to call 623-1622 and reserve a time slot. No more than 100 people within the pool grounds at one time and time slots are for 2-hour increments.
