AUGUST 2003 NEWSLETTER; volume II, issue 6
Friends of Virgin, Inc.
P.O. Box 790005
Virgin, Utah 84779-0005
www.friendsofvirgin.com
If you wish to be removed from our email list please send a message to friends@friendsofvirgin.com.
Our Purpose:
To promote the continued health, safety, security, beauty, and viability of the town of Virgin, Utah, through the combined efforts and talents of the individuals and entities herein known as the Friends of Virgin. Though the Friends of Virgin differ dramatically in viewpoint and political affiliation, they unite here to assist in informing and educating local residents and decision-makers; promoting openness in the town government and free access to its records; and encouraging public input as well as its serious consideration by officials.
Whenever possible the Friends of Virgin shall: 
Ø promote open governmental practices;
Ø promote adherence to state law by Virgin town officials and employees;
Ø inform decision-makers about the desires of residents;
Ø inform residents about the actions of decision-makers;
Ø assist residents and decision-makers by researching key issues;
Ø encourage equal treatment of all residents by decision-makers and employees;
Ø encourage the adoption of Virgin’s own rules of procedure to clarify and tighten policies 
Ø support and assist in a thoughtful, educated reworking of Virgin’s General Plan; 
Ø support and assist in examining and modifying Virgin’s Uniform Zoning Ordinance
Board of Directors:
Lee Ballard, president
Adele Pincock, secretary
Sandra Grow, treasurer
Linda Collet, director
DRD Properties South director
Jan Walker, director
MEETING WATCH
[editorial and explanatory comments italicized in brackets]
Planning & Zoning, 8/6/03: 
Mike Crawford, Larry Amodt, Allen Lee, Darwin Hall, Marcia Rasmussen and attorney Russ Gallian were present. 
After approving minutes from June’s meeting, the Commission addressed “Recommendation of a business license for Michael Marria” to conduct computer consulting, repair and design in his home on North Kolob Drive. No retail sales will take place at this time and no subdivision restrictions prohibit his doing business there. A home occupation permit was approved unanimously.
Laura Lee and Curtis Mesa were present to request a small subdivision waiver. [A waiver allows an applicant to put aside “requirements for preparation and approval of preliminary and final plats” if certain conditions are met and requires the town attorney’s opinion] Chairman Allen Lee declared a conflict of interest (Laura is his daughter). After reviewing the conditions with the applicant, attorney Russ Gallian stated he could not offer a favorable opinion on the waiver because road length and pavement requirements were not met. He questioned whether the city would accept a substandard road. After some discussion with the commissioners and the applicant, Mr. Gallian indicated a recommendation for approval could be made if the road is widened and dedicated to the Town, and pavement requirements in the subdivision ordinance are changed. [The ordinance is complete with the exception of final road standards] Mike Crawford made a motion to recommend approval of the small subdivision waiver if the above conditions are met; second by Darwin Hall; ayes unanimous. 
Falcon Ridge Ranch representatives, Melanie Habibian and attorney, were present to discuss increasing enrollment at the facility and changing from all female to co-ed consumer enrollment. M. Habibian stated the facility is preparing to put sprinklers in the building at great expense and, before incurring this cost, wanted an understanding with the town that they would be able to increase their enrollment. She reported that Office of Licensing had been to the facility to measure the buildings and determined the main house will hold 22 students, and two other buildings will handle 10 students each. The fire marshall requires installation of a sprinkler system or fire wall if the enrollment exceeds 16 consumers, the amount currently allowed by their conditional use permit. R. Gallian explained that the home’s CUP cannot be altered to include other buildings [an increase in enrollment must be approved as a new conditional use]. Since a resolution is in place noticing a pending ordinance to group home applicants, the request would be subject to standards in the new Congregate Living Facility Ordinance, and thus could not be considered until the ordinance is adopted. [Mr. Gallian is currently reviewing the ordinance so he may advise the Town Council on the legal issues involved]. Some in attendance spoke in opposition to enrollment expansion, expressing support for a cap on consumers based on a percentage of the town’s population. One resident pointed out that septic system restrictions would change if the use changed. Attorney Gallian agreed it should be looked at and advised the applicant to review the development plan requirements in Section 8-5 of the zoning ordinance before their next request to help answer the above question and others that may arise.
Ms. Habibian had previously explained that during the course of loan applications with the Small Business Administration, she was told that having an all-female enrollment is prejudiced, and federal mandate requires they admit both genders. Habibian indicated Falcon Ridge Ranch would not house male consumers overnight at the facility, but would like to provide equine therapy during the day for boys enrolled in other programs in order to meet the SBA’s co-ed requirement. 
Marcia Rasmussen made a motion to table Falcon Ridge Ranch’s request for increased enrollment on their conditional use permit until after the CLF ordinance is passed by Town Council and the Commission has more information to address their request. Second by D. Hall; ayes unanimous.
Other than a challenge from Linda Collet for all Virgin residents to license their unlicensed dogs, questions raised from the floor centered on ownership, management and maintenance of the BMX track. Virgin secured a Recreation and Public Purpose lease with the BLM based on a plan submitted for use of the land. Councilor Gary Wilcox expressed concern that Town money is being spent to maintain the track [according to meeting minutes all work on or at the track was to be done by volunteers, and our contract with the National Bicycle League forbids the town to receive any share of profits raised by the track]. R. Gallian advised that the BMX track is an issue that should be addressed before the Town Council. 
Goings On
Although our efforts to procure a list of County Fair prizewinners have so far failed, we have heard that some of our readers brought home ribbons last weekend. Congratulations to Carol Clark and other winners, and to all who worked on the Virgin seed display, which received the coveted People’s Choice award and Reserve Championship.
The Fifth District Court preliminary hearing date has been changed for previous Town Clerk Noelle Higbee, who was charged this spring with misusing public funds during her employment in Virgin. Higbee’s hearing has been moved to September 8th at 9:00 a.m. 
There has been much said in print over the last few weeks about the large percentage of people in Southern Utah who have unlicensed dogs. Dog licensing is not only essential to monitor vaccination against rabies, it is crucial to the management of large pet populations by animal control officers, not the least because the license fee helps to pay the dog-catcher’s wage. Most Virgin residents seem to own one dog if not many, and controlling these animals has been problematic in the past. Therefore, the FOVI board has agreed to do what we can to encourage all Virgin residents to comply with town licensing regulations (beginning with our promise to license our own dogs at the earliest convenience!).
The FOVI board sends thanks to those of you who sent in membership dues and donations over the last month.
The Virgin Volunteer Fire Department will be holding a yard sale in front of Virgin Goods on Saturday October 4th, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00. To make donations, please contact Chief Bratton, Joel Haws, or Sandra Grow. 
Virgin may be heading for an interesting election this November. The terms of two council members, Ken Cornelius and Darcey Spendlove, end this year. Unlike some other local towns, Virgin actually has received more applications for candidacy than we have seats available. Five people have filed to run in the election, none of them incumbents: Matt Spendlove, Bruce Densley, Bob Kelley, John Grow, and Darwin Hall. This means we will be having a primary election on October 7th. Those of you who are not yet registered to vote and wish to vote in the primary must have your forms delivered to the County Clerk by September 20th (if mailed, they must be postmarked by September 9th).
Get to Know Your Candidates
Although there is still quite some time left for all to decide who should fill the two seats opening on the Virgin Town Council (the primary election will be on October 7th), FOVI board members are already considering what we would like to learn about our candidates. We have decided to try to interview each candidate and print the result in our next newsletter. 
The process of choosing the right candidate can be a complex one for the voter. Does he or she vote for the person who comes closest to sharing his or her general philosophies? The one who will most likely protect his investment, livelihood, or quality of life? The one who feels as he does on the largest number of issues, or with whom he agrees on a single, non-negotiable issue? The one he knows the best or enjoys the most socially? Even when the voter can choose amongst these methods with conviction, how does he or she really know who shares which opinions? 
To help the voters of Virgin make that determination, our interview questions will be as comprehensive as we can make them within manageable space. To keep our interviews as evenly balanced as possible, we are going to make a short list of questions and ask precisely the same ones of each candidate. To ensure that we cover the topics of greatest concern to our readers and the citizens of Virgin, we are reviewing correspondence we have received in 2002 and 2003 in the form of emails, letters, and phone calls, and then categorizing them by issue. In this way we will distinguish between what we feel is important and what a larger sample of our population may be concerned about. We hope the result will be a supplemental tool to help residents formulate questions for those running for Council. Virgin Town will provide all an opportunity to familiarize themselves with each runner at its “Meet the Candidates” event, scheduled for 6 p.m. on the night of the September Council meeting.
Upcoming Dates
Planning & Zoning: Wednesday, September 3rd at 7pm; work mtg 6:30
Meet the Candidates night: Thursday, September 18th at 6:00 pm; Virgin Town Hall
Town Council: Thursday, September 18th at 7:30 pm; work mtg 7:00
Preliminary Hearing: for previous Town Clerk Stacey Noelle Higbee; September 8th at 9 am at the Fifth District Courthouse, 220 N 200 E in St. George
Voter registration: Registration forms must be postmarked by September 9th or delivered by September 20th to be processed in time for the primary election.
Primary election: Tuesday, October 7th at the Virgin Town Hall
Fire Department yard sale: Saturday, October 4th at the Virgin Goods; 9 am to 12.
History
Here is another excerpt from the diary of Charles Workman. He and his wife Josephine were the first schoolteachers in Virgin.
AUGUST 1898
13- Sat. (Clear A.M., cloudy Thunder P.M.) I started for St. George 3:15 A.M. and arrived there 9:45 A.M. Attended Stake Priesthood meeting 10 A.M. and 2 P.M. Represented Virgin Ward for our Bp. Went horseback.
14- Sun. (Clear A.M. Cloudy P.M.) Rode Anthony Jepson's horse. Started for Virgin 4:50 A.M. and arrived 11:40 A.M. Elder Samuel Isom was the speaker today in meeting at Virgin.
15- Mon. (Clear) Prized goods at the Store today.
16- Tues. Watered garden
17- Wed. (Clear) Budded some peach and plum trees.
18- Thur. (Floating clouds) Budded some red clingstone peaches and some late white clings; some prunes etc.
19- Fri. (Cloudy P.M. heavy wind with some rain) Assisted in taking stock at Co-op Store.
20- Sat. (Cloudy, thunder, rain eve.) Taking stock at Store.
21- Sun. (Clouds) I attended S.S. and meeting.
22- Mon. (Cooler, cloudy, thunder) Worked on the Store accts. 4 hrs. Watered garden.
23- Tues. (65- Rain P.M.) Worked on the ditch "between the crossings" for John E. Wright.
24- Wed. (Clouds) Balancing Store accounts etc. 3 hrs. Fixed the Telephone, the bell was out of order and would not ring.
25- Thur. (95 - Clear) I have been posting Store accts. almost all day. Telephone bell out of order again, fixed it this forenoon.
26- Fri. (Rain Heaviest thunderstorm for years.) Worked on Store accts., posting 4 hrs. 
Largest flood down Hinton Wash ever was known since Virgin was settled. Hinton's staves all taken down. Bro. J. Jepson returned from Tropic.
27- Sat. (Cooler - cloudy part of day, a few sprinkles) Flood last night washed in to the Lower Ditch in Hinton's lot and took the flume away. The flume will have to be put higher up.
28- Sun. (Cloudy) I attended S.S. and afternoon meeting. 
Speakers were Jas. Jepson, Bp. 
Beebe, and Samiel Isom.
29- Mon. (Cloudy, rain, short heavy shower) Put some peaches out to dry A.M. Worked on Telephone P.M. Bell out of order again.
30- Tues. (Cloudy) I went to Rockville today and repaired their telephone bell. Rode Bro. Jepson's horse.
31- Wed. (Floating clouds) Sold a hundred pounds of grapes to Benj. Bradshaw yesterday, at 1.5 cts. per lb. First ready for sale.