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• • The County might need to enter into the municipal services business <br />to serve approximately 508 of the population that resides in the <br />'unincorporated arena, or town-county shared services responsibilities <br />could be further explored using the current County Sheriff-Town <br />Police as a model. <br />The concern over random development stems from an interest in seeing residents <br />not be polarized by the false dichotomy of agrarian vs. energy interests. <br />Yet, without a plan for managing c¢owth, expansion may needlessly create a <br />schism between the two major sectors of Delta County's economy. Historically, <br />Western states are reluctant to impose land use regulations; however, energy <br />impacted counties wishing to avoid the Rock Springs, Wyoming, experience <br />typically have some form of residential code. For example, in Emery County, <br />Utah, the new residence ordinances stipulate that a new home must be connected <br />to an existing culinary water system. Since the water systems are in towns, <br />then new development must, by fiat, also be in towns. Such an ordinance <br />promotes orderly growth, and signals to towns to be prepared for a population <br />• influx. <br />Most heartening, as reflected in the expenditures, is the prioritization of <br />public safety and public works. Assuming that budgets are a quantified <br />statement of a community's priorities, then the service needs (Table II-S) and <br />expenditures (Table II-12) to contain the problem areas are in balance. <br />Educational services are a bit problematic. Voters narrowly approved a $13 <br />million bond issue in Spring, 1979. Essentially, the bond was to replace, not <br />necessarily expand, existing capacity. Should more schools be required in the <br />SO's, the electorate may be hesitant to pass another bond before the last one <br />is retired. The coal industry, through the severance tax, contributes to <br />education; fifty percent of severance tax collections are funnelled into <br />Colorado's state-wide school system. Thus, energy concerns, like voters, may <br />be hesitant to "give again." Some alternatives that could be explored, short <br />of restructuring the disbursement of severance taxes state-vide, include year- <br />round school which maximizes the use of existing buildings; split sessions <br />• with half the students attending in the morning, the other half in the <br />afternoon; and/or reliance on temporary classroom space rather than a <br />permanent building. <br />35 <br />