Mayor's Minute

 

Mayor Dan McGuire

Everyone is talking about all the flood damage in St. George and Santa Clara and they have taken a major
hit, to be sure. But, Rockville suffered damage too and some will be very expensive to repair. The Hall and
Grafton Ditch lost more than 300' of 12" line that had been buried along the river. The Virgin River actually moved about 100' south and tore out the embankment and pipe. There have been many phone calls to County, State and
Federal officials. Recognizing that financial help would not be likely. we were seeking permission to get in the river to do the work. We have the permission and the permits, but now it's a question of when it can be done - we must have some drying before heavy equipment can be moved in
place.
Some private residences had water in their yards and many acres of agricultural land were flooded. Several
items were washed away in the river and some has been recovered. There have been no reports of homes being flooded or endangered. Don't ever believe that the Virgin River is your friend; the Virgin River will do as it pleases and deserves our respect.<
Recently, we had the Utah Department of Transpor- tation (UDOT) and a crew from the Purgatory
Correctional Facility in Rockville to clean out the ditches on both sides of the road. They did a splendid job and we owe them special thanks for cleaning the ditch on the south side of the road. UDOT's responsibility is to maintain the north side ditch because it is a drainage ditch. The south side is for irrigation water and the homeowners on that side are responsible to keep it clean. We all appreciate their extra service for our town.
The Town of Rockville has recently acquired two marvelous musical instruments for our Community
Center: Susan Taylor donated a lovely organ which was played so wonderfully by Bob COX at our Christmas Party. Through Lynn Berryhill, we received a gorgeous upright piano and that too is in our Community Center. Both will be put to good use throughout the year at various activities. Thanks so much to Susan and Lynn.
At a recent Town Council meeting, we agreed to make the Community Center available for free for activities
that benefit the community. This applies to residents of Rockville and Springdale as well as our partners at Zion National Park. Several Rockville residents have agreed to help in the administration and cleaning of the facility and they will be involved. A resolution must be developed to legalize the procedure and that is in progress.

This year's Rockville Reunion is scheduled for Friday and Saturday September 16 and 17 at the Rockville
Community Center and Pavilion. A committee is being assembled and once the first meeting is held, we plan to send a Jetter to all residents, landowners and friends of Rockville with details of the reunion. If you haven't been asked to serve on the committee and you want to be involved - call Dan McGuire at 772-3144.
We are expecting delivery of our town clock some- time in March and it will immediately be installed
on the pedestal that is already in place. This will be a
i grand addition to our streetscape and a source of pride to
all.
You may have noticed a small section of the Post Of- fice has rock facing. I had asked Brad Quinn to do
that to get an idea of what people thought of doing the Post Office with stone facing about 4' high on three sides of the building. Brad is a master stone mason and I per- sonally think it would look good. Additional consideration would be given to doing the same thing on the front and side of our two Community Center buildings. This will be an agenda item ata future Town Council meeting.
We have discussed having an aerial photograph taken of Rockville. With the trees bare and the new
flood areas still visible we want to get a photograph of the core of RockvilJe from Tree's Ranch store westward to the Springdale sewer settling ponds on the west end of Rock- ville. Such information could be very helpful in better de- fining the floodplain.
Alas, there has not been any work done on the sewer line in our town. My last discussion with Springdale's
Town Manager Rick Wixom was that they had put the job out for bid and waited the required time for responses. They received only one bid and that was from Bud Lee and Sons. I don't know if a work schedule has been set. I will stay with it.
We received a letter from the Utah State Auditor on our fiscal 2005 budget stating that our budget is in "substantial compliance". They don't give better compliments than that and as the Budget Officer, I am indebted to Elaine Harris for her attention to detail in keeping our budget records in good order.
The Board of Directors of the Rockville Pipeline Company attended a Town Council meeting a few months
back and they wanted to discuss with the town the idea of Incorporating the Pipeline Company Into the Town of Rockville. It was an exploratory discussion and many is- sues were discussed. At the February meeting of the Rockville Pipeline Company stockholders, the question will be asked about the feelings of the stockholders on
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