What a great job all the City clean-up volunteers did this past Saturday.  According to the coordinators, 50 folks turned out to help.  Pile after pile of dead vegetation went past on its way to the town dump site.

Long forgotten strips along Highway 12 are now clean and ready for another season.  Bags and bags of trash have been removed and we have a bright face for our visitors.  Our strip is all concrete but we swept up the gravel and the state crew came and swept it away. 

And our guests have finally arrived.  Seeking an outdoor experience after a long cold winter, they brave the wind and cold and visit Peek-a-Boo and Spooky slot canyons in record numbers.  Our new map is helping lots of folks find their way to places removed from the federal maps.  And there’s already been those stuck in the mud because they followed the GPS instead of watching.  That’s why our new tow truck service is needed.  He has his license, the truck has been inspected and he’s awaiting permits from the State.

It must be spring – Desert Doc has been spotted on his motorcycle.

I finished the Grant request to USDA for the Airport Runway Improvement project.  The Mayor has signed it and it’s being reviewed.  Armstrong Engineering will be the project leader and work with UDOT and FAA for the balance of the money.

Until next week – - -

Explore Escalante
jana@exploreescalante.com
Greetings. Now you know where Silver Reef was, I wonder how they’ll get to Escalante? Maybe through Alton? Alton’s earliest name was Roundys Station after Lorenzo Wesley Roundy and his family. He built two log cabins there but was forced to abandon his ranch site because he was having trouble with the Indians. He drowned in 1876 while ferrying supplies across the Colorado River. All right Jerry, which Roundy was this? I know – come to the play.

There’s always so much going on in our great village that we don’t hear about, that’s why I was greatly pleased that Steve Roberts dropped by to tell me about 5th grader Aidan Croft. He participated in the SUU Science and Research Fair and project “Plant Invaders of the Grand Staircase Escalante” won several awards. His project won an honorable mention from the BLM in the 5th – 8th Grade Division; a first place from the National Park Service and 2nd Place overall in his category – Earth and the Environment. Congrats to sponsor Escalante Outfitters and Aidan. Good Job!!!

There’s been a great deal of discussion in the business community about Utah Senate Bill 272. Introduced by Representative Herrod at the request of Dewey Reagan (Reagan Outdoor Signs), there were three amendments to the bill before it passed the house and senate. There was an attempt to get the Governor to veto the bill, and several requested if he couldn’t sign it let it slip into law without his signature. In the end he signed the bill. It was called the billboard bill, but to me it was about allowing cities and counties to have jurisdiction over the roads that provide their links to life. Unlike Escalante, new Scenic Byways will require approval by the legislature before the route can even be submitted for Federal Highway Approval. It requires cities and counties to formally approve the route, or request segmentation out of the route because it is not scenic, historic, or culturally significant.
Unfortunately, the Federal Outdoor Advertising Control Program a part of the Highway Beautification Act, Public Law 89-285, was signed on October 22, 1965 by President Lyndon B Johnson. The first section of the law sets forth the basic program objectives: “The erection and maintenance of outdoor advertising signs, displays, and devices in areas adjacent to the Interstate System and the primary system should be controlled in order to protect the public investment in such highways, to promote the safety and recreational value of public travel, and to preserve natural beauty.”
The law mandated State compliance and the development of standards for certain signs as well as the removal of nonconforming signs. Expeditious removal of illegal signs was required by Federal regulations. While the States are not forced directly to control signs, failure to impose the required controls could result in a substantial penalty. The penalty for noncompliance with the Act is a 10 percent reduction of the State’s annual Federal-aid highway apportionment. Not going to happen.

Over the years other amendments to the law have been developed and approved and the criteria for off-premise signage was included in 1978 and later included Scenic Byways and All American Highways, Both of which SR 12 is designated. As Representative Herrod indicated to me when I last e-mailed him, you cannot segment out of a byway just for signage. The Federal Highway Administration will not allow it. So much for Escalante. HB 272 creates an avenue for new byway communities to learn from history and be sure they know what they asking for, and exactlywhat they’re going to get. At least for them, it requires formal approval by the cities and counties, not some committee made up of good folks that don’t live in the city, don’t know the city and don’t vote in the city, And it will require elected officials to approve the actions. That’s what democracy is about.
Until next week – - -