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By Loni Stapley
HYRUM -- The City Council meeting was invaded by mountain men Thursday night. But they only stayed long enough to thank the council for giving them a place to hold their annual rendezvous over Memorial Day weekend and to present a $1,000 check to go toward funding for the new Hyrum City Library. Members of the Old Ephraim Mountain Men Club showed up to the meeting in full mountain men attire, complete with leather clothing and beads around their necks. They were there to show their appreciation to the council for letting them use a site up Left Hand Fork to hold their annual meeting. Members come from all over the western United States to take part in the festivities. The Old Ephraim Mountain Men Club has had issues with where to hold the meeting in the past. "People were really appreciative that we could be back," Jody Reese, president of the club, said. "It is our honor to have you there," Mayor Gordon Olson said. Olson then announced that he had laid out a preliminary plan in conjunction with the Forest Service to trade land owned by Hyrum City for some land adjacent to it up at Left Hand Fork, which would make the site bigger. The plan still needs to be presented to the council for approval. In other business, the council approved the adoption of a resolution authorizing a waiver of Hyrum City's utility fees for the households of active duty military personnel. Olson stated that many cities are already doing this, but he was not sure how many families in Hyrum had immediately been affected by the military efforts in Iraq. Councilwoman Dixie Clawson said that the city had attempted to gather information to form a list of those on active duty back in July, but that the list was not complete. The council will work on obtaining a full list of names. "I think that this is a very appropriate thing for the city to do," Olson said. The council also discussed a water use agreement issue with Paradise City. Paradise has recently built a sign welcoming guests into the city and has planted pine trees close to it. However, there is no water line to that area and residents are concerned that the trees will die. Margaret Obray, a member of Paradise's city council, called Olson and asked permission to put a pump in a canal located nearby -- but still technically in Hyrum -- in order to water the trees. The council unanimously voted to approve the request. "What water she uses won't get to our ponds anyway," Councilman Bruce James said. Also discussed at the meeting was the appointment of judges for the upcoming election in November. Hyrum will hold two elections, a primary and a general. There are two types of judges: receiving judges and counting judges. A list of those appointed will be made public Oct. 1 at 10:30 a.m. The council unanimously approved the list after looking the names over, but had a few comments to make about the lack of men. Councilman H. Michael Stauffer wondered why no men were on the list. James replied that women do a better job. Olson thinks of being an election judge as more of a service than a job and said the women on the list were very gracious for being willing to give of their time. "Some of these women have been doing this since I could vote," he said. "If their name wasn't there, I'd think I was in the wrong town." Olson also announced that a Meet the Candidates night will be at 7 p.m.Sept. 25 in the Hyrum Civic Center and will be open to the public.
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