Castle Dale City to look at emergency plan

By COREY BLUEMEL Staff writer

Sgt. Tom Harrison of the Emery County Sheriff’s Office informed Castle Dale City Council of training that is coming and will be required for a community to get help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “The Sheriff’s Office and the Local Emergency Planning Committee is in the middle of revamping the emergency operations plan for Emery County. This plan must be in place and people trained in its operations. In the event of a disaster, FEMA will not help any community that does not have a plan,” said Harrison.
He went on to say the county is not aware of a plan in place for Castle Dale. Harrison told the council they can come on board, get the training along with other communities, and be a part of the county plan. “We just need a letter from you requesting to get on board. Your council people and fire department will be required to take the Incident Command Systems training and become National Incident Management Systems certified,” said Harrison.
Harrison informed the council that Cynthia Grant is in charge of the LEPC and is conducting the training. Mayor Neal Peacock recommends study and review of the current county plan and a decision will be made at next month’s meeting. It was also stated that many of the fire department members and one councilman have already begun the required trainings. Mayor Peacock asked Councilman Jack Rogers to head up the committee to oversee that everyone who needs the training to get signed up.
Les Wilberg, a Castle Dale resident approached the council with two concerns. He stated the road and water lines in his area have been dug up nearly 20 times in the last few years. His concern is the condition of the old water lines in the area. They are cast iron and are in bad shape without all the disturbance. “What is the process which needs to be started to get the road repaired correctly?” he asked. He told the council he has a broken water meter and has had many other water problems and would like them resolved.
Councilman Brad Giles informed Wilberg that the Emery County Special Service District is over the water lines and roads. “The special service district is in the process of retiring a bond and having a new bond election to have all the cast iron water lines replaced in all the cities. This is a top concern for the special service district and this election in November must pass for them to be able to do the repairs. This bond election will not raise taxes due to the retiring of another bond,” said Giles.
Wilberg’s other concern is for a fence line on his property on Center Street. Councilman Giles arranged a time to tour the property with Wilberg and note the problems. Giles will report at the next meeting.
Brian Dawes requested the city buy advertising space in the program for the upcoming Emery County Community Theatre production of Nunsense. The city agreed to purchase the space. The city also will purchase advertising at the Emery High School Rodeo being held April 17-18 at the Castle Dale Rodeo grounds.
Richard Herring reported two letters have been sent regarding the clean up of the yards. He also reported a vacant house with a security problem. The owner is living out of the area. “We will be working on signs in Castle Dale. There are many signs up for businesses that no longer exist, and many of the other signs are not legal,” said Herring.
Herring also informed the council of the donation of a gas monitor to the fire department by XTO. XTO has donated a monitor to all the departments in the county. They will do the necessary calibrations for the fire departments. The fire department will collect hats, all kinds of hats, to donate to the Huntsman Cancer Center for the children to keep and wear home.
Herring told the council of the new equipment which is now being required for fire fighting equipment. If this comes to affect the rural departments, they could be looking at quite a sum of money to retrofit the equipment.
Council person GayLee Jeffs announced the Easter Egg hunt will be held at Cheddar Field on April 8 at 5:30 p.m. They are planning a lot of fun things for the children with the addition of a kite flying contest.
Councilman Joel Dorsch expressed his appreciation to the city’s crew for snow and ice removal. “The Sheriff’s Office has called me with their appreciation of the quick response by the crew to clear the roads and remove the hazards in a quick manner,” said Dorsch. Dorsch informed the council the kitchen area has been completed in the Blue Sage Arena.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Mayor Peacock showed the council and other audiences members the new website the city has been building. He said it is on the web now, at www.castledalecity.org, but is not yet complete. The completion will come very soon, and the website will have a lot of valuable information for residents.
The next Castle Dale City council meeting will be March 12 at 7 p.m. at city hall.