Grandfather asks commission to modify Power Plant Road

By James Tilson

Associate Editor

MANTI—The grandfather of one of the victims of the triple fatality auto accident on Power Plant Road in Mt. Pleasant met with the county commissioners to request modifications to the road.

Vern Fisher, the grandfather of a minor victim, his wife Renae and their son Darrell Oldroyd, along with Mt. Pleasant financial director David Oxman, came to the county commission meeting last Tuesday to ask what they would need to do to change Power Plant Road, and especially the part going over the old flood dam.

“How can we help… to take out that hill?” asked Fisher.  Fisher told the commissioners he and his family had come not just because of their granddaughter, but because of the many deaths over the years on that stretch of road.

Fisher also told the commissioners that Mt. Pleasant officials had met with engineers working on the irrigation water infrastructure project near the old flood dam. According to Fisher and Oxman, the engineers told them the flood dam would be made obsolete by the project, and could be eliminated.

Commission chair Scott Bartholomew, visibly moved by Fisher’s story, told the family, “I am touched by your plight. I want you to know, we think it is our duty to make the roads in the county safe.”

Bartholomew explained the commission would reach out to the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) to conduct a study of the road, and get findings on how to make the road safer. As soon as UDOT makes their findings, the commission will pass those along to the Fishers and the general public.

Sanpete County Attorney Kevin Daniels told the Fishers, “This is only the first step,” adding any time a question of road modification comes up, it must go through a process set out by the state.

Bartholomew added the commission could not know yet how long it will take for UDOT to get back to them, but the commission will contact the Fishers as soon as it does.