CVSSD hires new manager as Leamaster readies to retire

By PATSY STODDARD Editor

The Castle Valley Special Service District has just hired a new manager, Jacob Sharp. Darrel Leamaster is the current manager and he has plans to retire this fall. The governing board of the district agreed it was a good idea to bring the new manager on board well before the retirement of Leamaster so a smooth transition can take place.
Sharp is not new to Emery County, he grew up here. He was employed in Fillmore and living in Meadow before applying for the position at the CVSSD. Sharp was born on July 31, 1978 to Allan and Vicki Sharp. The Sharp family moved to Orangeville when he was 3 years old. Sharp attended Emery County schools and graduated from Emery High in 1996. He spent one year at Utah State University studying engineering before leaving on a mission to the Ukraine.
Upon returning from the Ukraine, Sharp attended school at Utah Valley State College and obtained associate degrees in pre-engineering. Sharp also worked for Wall Contractors and XL Cable. In 2003, he did an internship with the Utah Department of Transportation in Price where he inspected concrete and rebar on construction projects. “I was working with UDOT the year the widening project from Huntington to the Horseshoe Dugway was completed,” said Sharp.
From 2004-2005 Sharp worked at the water research laboratory in Logan. Extensive experiments in water research take place at that facility. They work with valves, meters and models. Sharp worked there while completing his bachelors/master’s degree at Utah State University in civil engineering.
Sharp worked at Sunrise Engineering in Fillmore from 2005 until the present time. Sharp has been on the job with the CVSSD for two weeks now. The Sharp family currently owns a home in Meadow which they are trying to sell so they can make the move to Emery County.
“We have plans to build a home over here, when our house sells in Meadow. My wife is Brydi Griffin and she is the daughter of Boyd and Trudi Griffin from Cleveland. We have four children. Cannon is 6, Crue is 5, Creek is 3 and Jabry is 2.
“We are excited to move home and the kids are excited to be closer to their grandparents. We have wanted to move home, if I could find a good job.
“I have always been interested in construction and design. I have a lot to learn here at the CVSSD, but it is similar work to what I have been doing with Sunrise. I have been a project manager on several projects where we help cities to get funding. I have worked on culinary and irrigation projects. I helped with the Orangeville Community Center project,” said Sharp.
Sharp has passed his state licensing test for professional engineering. There are two tests involved. One is the EIT-engineer in training taken at the end of completion of a bachelors degree and the other test is taken four years later after some practical experience in the field. Sharp has completed and successfully passed both of these tests. At Utah State, you must successfully pass the EIT test before you can graduate.
Leamaster said, “I am leaving in September and we are having a transition period of a few months. I want to take Jacob on a lot of field trips to look at our CVSSD facilities which are substantial. I want to take him out with the crews to look at the various projects we have going to familiarize him with the operations here. The water treatment plants are a big part of our function here at the CVSSD and I guess I just want to work with him from the ground level up. So he can get a feel for what’s going on here.
“The toughest thing about the transition will be just transferring all the knowledge of where CVSSD starts and ends. We have been adding and building the system for some 33 years now. Some of the information is on maps, but it’s going to take some time to work through everything,” said Leamaster.
The position was advertised and applications were taken for the position. The CVSSD governing board appointed a selection committee which reviewed the applicants and four applicants were chosen for an interview. The applicants were interviewed by the mayors on the committee and other members including Brad Giles, Kirt Rasmussen, Neal Peacock, JoAnn Behling, Mike Knop, employee representative and Darrel Leamaster, district manager. The operation of the CVSSD is governed by the administrative control board. The CVSSD is a sub-entity of Emery County. The county sets the property taxes, sets the bonds, and any annexations the district is involved in are under the jurisdiction of the county.
Sharp is looking forward to the challenges of taking the CVSSD into the future and working for the good of the Emery County residents.