Volunteers Needed For John Wesley Powell River Fest This Weekend

The new Roosevelt Library is open for business and the community and library staff are plenty excited. The library has resumed their regular hours, opening at 9am, and are ready to serve the public. There are a few things still in process. Duchesne County Library Director shares that they are preparing the 3D printer and the Cricut machine to be used for public use soon. Story Times will resume next week. The community room spaces and conference rooms will be open for reservations next month on the library website and the optional self-checkout stations will hopefully be available in March. The Grand Opening for the new Roosevelt Library is being planned for April 22nd.

2022 was a record year for the endangered Green River razorback sucker population. The fish is under consideration for downlisting from an endangered to a threatened species and the jump in population will support that effort. The Bureau of Reclamation announced last week that 3,294 wild-spawned razorback suckers were produced at Stewart Lake near Jensen which was almost double the fish produced there in the previous 10 years combined. These averaged 6 inches in length making them the largest ever produced at Stewart Lake. There were 615 razorback suckers produced at Old Charley Wash near Ouray which is four times the amount produced there in the last 4 years. There were also 551 produced at Stirrup Bottom that averaged 9 inches in length. “Several factors converged to make 2022 a record year for razorback sucker,” shares the Bureau of Reclamation. “Operations under the Drought Response Operating Agreement allowed for additional water releases from Flaming Gorge Reservoir above and beyond what would normally be released in an otherwise moderately dry year…Habitat management that occurred at Stewart Lake over the preceding several years also helped increase population. Prescribed burns and other forms of vegetation management conducted since 2018 created considerable acreage of open water at Stewart Lake, and water quality was maintained during the hot summer months through the addition of supplementary water diverted from Red Fleet Reservoir miles upstream on Big Brush Creek… Additionally, food availability for young razorback sucker was maximized mostly by keeping non-native fish out of the wetlands while allowing tiny razorback sucker larvae in, reducing the number of mouths to feed. In a single summer, the joint coordinated effects of dam operations, habitat management and non-native fish management doubled the number of wild-spawned razorback sucker produced in wetlands since LTSP was first implemented in 2012.”

The community is mourning the loss of a young man who was killed in a crash on Highway 40 in Uintah County on Monday morning. UBTech was given permission to share the young man’s identity. “It is with heavy hearts and great sadness that we share a student, Chance Smith, passed away yesterday in a vehicle accident on his way to UBTech,” shares their announcement. “Please keep Chance’s family, friends, classmates, and the UBTech family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. Chance was an Auto Technology student and was recently nominated and celebrated as student of the month.” Chance was known as a hard worker who was happy and personable. UBTech shared that they partnered with Northeastern Counseling to provide grievance counseling to UBTech students, faculty, and staff. Utah Highway Patrol shared that the accident took place on slick roads due to winter conditions.

The excessive snow and challenges with snow removal on Uintah County roads and in subdivisions is on the radar of the Uintah County Commission. Last week, the Commissioners and members of the Uintah County Roads Department discussed the issue while exploring the formation of a new Ordinance. The Ordinance will outline the process for clearing the streets in a safe manner and what the requirements are for snow removal within the County. Scott Hardman with the Road Department stated that they are running out of places to put the snow and that it is becoming a hazard. It was also brought up that there will be drainage issues when the snow starts to melt. It is expected a draft of the Ordinance will be presented to the Commissioners at an upcoming meeting.

Road maintenance is a huge job for rural counties and it takes the efforts of many professionals to succeed. The Duchesne County Commission considered and approved a bid for the 2023 Engineering Roadway Maintenance Project during the Commission meeting last week. Duchesne County received two ‘Statement of Qualifications’ for the project and the road department developed a criteria to judge each offer received. The scores turned out to be nearly identical with the difference between the two just 3/10 of a point. After reviewing the bids, the Commission approved the bid from Jones & DeMille Engineering for the 2023 Engineering Roadway Maintenance Project in the amount of $110,600 dollars.