Green River city council holds bid openings

By COREY BLUEMEL Staff writer

The Green River City Council spent most of the time in their recent meeting opening bids for five different items. Bids for the HVAC system to be installed in the John Wesley Powell River History Museum were the first to be opened.
City recorder Conae Black informed the council that two bids for the new system had been received. She presented them to Mayor Ed Bentley and he opened the bids. The first was from Dugmore Heating and Appliance and was for $15,195. Moab Heating and Cooling’s bid was for $14,385. After some discussion of the two bids, the council approved to award the bid to Moab Heating and Cooling.
Mayor Bentley presented the bids for the surplus items the city is selling. Connie Copenhaver won the bid for the Mac computer, Roy Phander won the bid for the army compressor, Tim Pyle won the bid for the John Deere tractor and the snow blower, Damion Bolerman won the bid for the water truck, Ken English won the bid for the panel van, Joanne Wetherington won the bid for the Chevy Blazer, and Leonard Johnson won the bids for the water pump, a flatbed for a pickup truck, and an air compressor.
Other items were advertised but no bids were received on them. The council decided to readvertise those items and try to get more bids.
Another bid item was for a Web site/TV station for the city. Only one bid was received for this. Mayor Bentley and the council decided to continue to advertise for this to see if more bids could be received. This bid opening was tabled until next month.
The demolition of the old City Hall/DATS building was the next bid opening. Two bids were received for this project. A bid was received from Dal Hansen for $14,400, and another bid was received from High Desert Excavation for $7,850. After some discussion the bid for the demolition was awarded to High Desert Excavation.
Green River has advertised to lease mineral rights on city owned property. Of the more than 900 acres owned by Green River, a little more than 145 acres have mineral rights attached. Two bids were received for this mineral lease. International Petroleum submitted a bid for $207 per mineral acre for a five year period with an option for a second five years at $400 per mineral acre. Their bid also included a royalties in the amount of 12.5 percent to be paid to the city. A bonus of $150,000 was added if the drilling was successful.
The second bid was from Twilight Resources. Their bid included a bid for $400 per mineral acre for a five year period. Also included was a $400 per mineral acre bonus, 12.5 percent royalties, and two computers. Following a discussion of the amounts and projected profits, the bid was awarded to Twilight Resources.
Mayor Bentley announced that Joanne Wetherington, who has worked for the city for more than 19 years as the city clerk, has retired effective April 16. She will continue to work at the Museum part time in the information center. “We want to recognize Joanne for her hard work and faithful service to the city for nearly 20 years,” said Mayor Bentley.
Following the announcement of Wetherington’s retirement, Councilman Kerry Bigelow announced that Karen Smith, who is presently the emergency services coordinator for the city will be appointed to fill the position as clerk. She will continue to be the director of emergency services.
Bigelow also announced four new employees have been hired to work at the Museum. Julie Stoyer, Mary Lou Richardson, Judy Smalley and Jean Shultz have been hired and their salaries are to be paid from the Transient Room Taxes and a grant from Easter Seals. Char Uptain and Wetherington are the other two employees who are currently working at the museum.