The Daily Sentinel from Grand Junction, Colorado • 11

THE R5 DAILY Sentinel Friday, September 23, 1994 INSIDE: SPORTS Prep Pros Recreation Scoreboard Section County clogs job creation, HaH accuses Bob Silbernagel Daily Sentinel Mesa County Commissioner Jim Spehar may talk a good game about wanting good jobs for the county, his Republican challenger said, but the county uses subtle ways to stop growth of good jobs I just think theres a lot of talk about growth and development, but they find all sorts of ways to make it very difficult for people who have been here in business for awhile to expand," Kathy Hall said Regulations in the Mesa County Planning Department and other departments are among the causes of the problem, she said Spehar denied there was any such bias, saying, I dont think the facts will bear it out When you look at the subdivisions we've approved and the house lots in the past couple years you can hardly call that stifling growth," Spehar said Weve added personnel to deal with growth and provide quicker turn around, and we did it in the middle of a budget year Hall and Spehar were among a dozen candidates for political office who spoke at the annual meeting of the Western Colorado Chapter of the Associated Build ers and Contractors Inc Their exchange came after one member of the group said the county was making it more difficult for local businesses to grow by doing things such as requiring developers to put money into funds for roads that aren't even on the drawing board Spehar responded, If we dont get a handle on roads in this county were creating a time bomb for the future Spehar said the county has tried to make things easier for develop ers by coming up with several dif ferent ways they can contribute for roads Also at Thursday nights meet ing, Jerry Cooper, a Republican candidate for district attorney, said the county and courthouse officials need to re-examine the security measures put into effect this summer at the courthouse It seems to me when we put a sign out front of the courthouse that says No Access. we might as well put up a sign that says, The criminals won, Cooper said Al GibesDaily Sentinel Just packing through Dan Deuter leads a trio of pack horses through Grand Junction heading to Fort Uncompahgre in Delta after beginning their trip in on their way to the Mesa County Fairgrounds The horses are Ouray, Utah Grand Junction police escorted them through town Southern Pacific could abandon Olathe-Montrose track Montrose economic council hopes to derail idea The manager of the Russell Stover plant, which averages about one rail ship ment of sugar or syrup a week, said any increased cost eventually will be absorbed by the consumer Were not going to run out and tack on 10 cents, Doug Tuttle said Ultimately, someones eventually got to pay it He said he couldnt predict how much aban donment might increase company costs Tuttle said the company prefers rail service, but noted that it doesn't always provide the best service The company ships its candy strictly by truck, he said Stacie Oulton Daily Sentinel MONTROSE The Southern Pacific Railroad might abandon about 15 miles of track between Olathe and Montrose The Montrose Economic Development Council plans to fight the move The section upder consideration starts south of the Louisiana Pacific Corp plant in Olathe and ends in Montrose, a com pany spokesman said Its not definite Its on the list to be studied Mike Furtney said The process to abandon the line could No hard numbers were available on how the abandonment would affect busi nesses Some companies, like Russell Stover Candies, rely heavily on trucking because its faster than tram service Its something that's nice to have, Nicklas said I dont think its super crit ical He said the abandonment could create a cost increase for some companies Council plans to find out how many companies use the line, and how often Chuck Nicklas said the council has decided to see if we can save it He couldnt say whether the council would be interested in trying to buy it or putting a deal together to have it bought "After weve explored all options we certainly would try to find some short line operator to look at it, Nicklas said take lVi years even longer if the process becomes difficult, Furtney said The Interstate Commerce Commission must review any abandonment The railroad is considering deserting the line because of declining profits, but would be willing to sell it, Furtney said "I dont think we would foreclose any option, Furtney said The Montrose Economic Development City needs 22 volunteers to help write growth plan Rapist may have fled to Virginia, DA says IFIRSTiMEETINGl Oct Springs girls aged 12 to 14 His case was switched to Mesa County because of con fiicts in Garfield County He was slated to appear April 22 before District Judge David Bottger on charges that he violated the conditions of his probation by having repeat ed, unsupervised contact with two 17 year old Mesa County girls during the fall of 1993 The federal warrant, issued in June on suspicion of unlaw ful flight to avoid prosecution has been entered into the National Crime Information Computer and law enforce ment offices in Virginia have been notified Cannistra said Warrants usually are exe cuted when a law enforcement officer stops someone for a traf fie violation, he said They 11 check with NCIC and if they have an accurate birthdate, they'll discover the warrant." Cannistra said If Smith is apprehended Mesa County authorities will be notified, he said The city also would like a representative from St Marys Hospital, the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Development Authority, the Home builders Association of Northwest Colorado, the Mesa County Air Quality Control Committee the Uncompahgre Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Grand Junction Plan ning Commission, Healthy Communities 2000, the Mesa County Board of Realtors, School District 51, Mesa State College and the Mesa County Special Dis trict Association The consultant will be, paid $191,000 to develop and publish the growth plan, and $76,700 to re write the citys zoning and develop ment code when the growth plan is completed Mesa County is produc ing a growth management plan at the same time Anyone interested in serving on the growth steering committee should call the communit.v devel opment office before noon Wednesday at 244 1430 workshop will 26 in Two Center Warrant issued by FBI for flight Sharyn Wizda Daily Sentinel Federal authorities believe convicted Glenwood Springs rapist Shannon Bear" Smith might be hiding in Virginia, where his father lives The Federal Bureau of Inves tigation has issued a warrant for Smith who disappeared in April while facing probation violation charges in Mesa Countv The FBI issued the warrant at the request of District Attor ney Milt Blakev. who said in an affidavit that Smith has likely fled to Virginia FBI spokesman Tom Cannistra said Smith 21 was serving a six year probation sentence in Mesa County after pleading guilty to four counts of second degree sexual assault The charges involved Glenwood Sentinel staff The city of Grand Junction is looking for 22 people to help its consultant write a plan for growth Issues the city and its Kansas City, Mo based development con sultant Freilich, Leitner and Carl isle, will tackle include growth management, land use, zoning and related issues The steering committee will meet at least nine times alter the city makes the selections Oct 5, said Larry Timm, community development director The city is selecting individuals from the following areas to serve on the committee city at large, north downtown neighborhood, north area within the city, north area outside the city, east area within the city, "last area outside the city, Orchard Mesa, the Red lands within the city, the Red lands outside the city, an agncul tural representative inside the city, an agricultural representa tive outside the city, and an arts and cultural representative A community be at 7 Rivers Convention Hotel Colorado settles civil-rights complaint They've addressed our concerns more than adequately." Anthony Moreno, who filed tomplaini with Roberto (ronzales Dan HumphreyDaily Sentinel complaints There was no admission of guilt or wrong doing on the hotel part Moreno said Hotel manager Garry Sullivan said in a press release the settlement is aimed at maintain ing (the hotels) leadership position in provid ing support of Colorado accommodation and anti discrimination acts Sullivan said that he Moreno and Gonzales are working out the details on the employee training program and the youth conference Gonzales is the director of Denver Street Intervention a public school program aimed at developing leadership and motivation among inner city teens He likes to expose students to the finer things in life, so they see what can be achieved if they stay out of trouble Heather McGregor Daily Sentinel GLENWOOD SPRINGS A civil rights com plaint against the Hotel Colorado was settled this week when hotel managers agreed to begin a minority-sensitivity training program for workers and host a youth conference for the Denver Street Intervention program Anthony Moreno and Roberto Gonzales of Denver filed a complaint with the state Civil Rights Commission after they allegedly were harassed by a hotel security guard in January The men were attending a conference of the Governor's Bicycle Advisory Board I was disturbed by the incident, and I didnt want to think it was representative of the hotel." said Anthony Moreno, an economics student at the University of Northern Trimming the trees Delta resident Tom Ziola, who works for the Grand Junction Parks and Recreation Department, trims sucker branches from a blue ash on 17th Street. The trees are prone to bore infestation. The forestry division, part of the parks department, tnms city-owned trees on private property upon the request of the property owner Colorado It wasn't They've addressed our concerns more than adequately." he said Moreno said the director of the Civil Rights Commission ruled in June that there was prob able cause to believe discrimination occurred Brian Kellogg a spokesman for the commis sion said that regulations prevent him from releasing any information on civil rights.