The Emery County Board of County Commissioners met on Sept. 23 for their regular meeting. The board approved the cancellation of the commission meeting scheduled for Nov. 11, Veteran’s Day. There will only be one commission meeting in November on Nov. 25.
Ahmed Mohsen introduced himself as the new BLM Price Field Manager. He said prior to being named as the manager he was the assistant field manager. He has also worked in Nevada and California with the BLM. He worked for the forest service with oil and gas leasing. He hopes to be a good neighbor to Emery County and work with them on their projects.
The commission heard a presentation from Beacon Educational Resources. Marvin Reynolds spoke about the different investment options the company has to offer to county employees. Reynolds said they would like to offer expanded opportunities to the county employees for saving. He said in his business he sees that when people retire their income will go down and taxes will likely stay the same or go up. With a Roth style 457 plan you can pay taxes now on savings and then use that money tax free at a later time. He suggested the county employees diversify to set aside money for the future. Most of what they are putting away now is taxable. There is no cost to the county to make the plan available to the county employees. With the payroll deduction the money in the account can earn interest and it can grow tax free. If the employee leaves the county the money in the account can be transferred elsewhere without penalties. The money in the account can also be diversified and invested in more than one place. If the market goes up the money goes up, if the market goes down the money stays the same and it doesn’t go down. Reynolds said, “There’s very good earning potential and you won’t lose anything. There is a company backed guarantee and a state guarantee.”
The commission approved the company to talk to employees about the plan. The board approved the Memorandum of Understanding between the National Park Service and Emery County, Garfield County, and Wayne County for Capitol Reef National Park Livestock Grazing and Trailing Management Plan Environmental Impact Statement. Ray Petersen, public lands director said Emery County is supportive of grazing and trailing in the national park and in general. Petersen said the review is one of the requirements the national park has to do. Petersen said this review seems to be standard procedure.
The Board of Equalization Closure was approved. The tax protest period was open until Sept. 19.
Kris Bell the county assessor provided the commission with a copy of the Board of Equalization changes. They approved the change list with a few additions. County Clerk Brenda Tuttle presented the list of veteran, blind and homeowners tax credit abatements. The list was approved. Two low income tax abatements were approved for half of the taxes due.
The commission ratified the US Army Corps of Engineers Application for Sections 404 and 10, Utah State Engineers Office for natural stream channels as part of mitigation for the Huntington Debris Basin Project 2014. Merrial Johansen from Johansen and Tuttle said this included the stream alteration permit which protects fish. The Site Access Agreement (Huntington Creek Wildlife Habitat Site) between Emery County and PacifiCorp was approved. This allows for mitigation projects should any damages and impacts be incurred due to the construction of the debris basins in Huntington Canyon. This includes wetlands mitigation.
The commission set budget hearings for the 2015 budget on Oct. 2, 9, 21 and 24. More meetings will be scheduled as needed.
In the commission reports, Commissioner Migliori said the travel bureau has done a lot of good work this year to increase tourism to the county. They currently have excess funds and they are deciding what the best use of these funds might be.
They are considering smaller projects or waiting for the funds to build so a larger project can be completed. Their big project this year was the completion of the Buckhorn Information Center.
The BEAR project is sponsoring an exporting conference to learn more about marketing your product outside your area. They will also be hosting a profit mastery class for business owners to teach operations and financial statements to see where your business can become more efficient. The Division of Oil, Gas and Mining meeting discussed drilling and fracking.
The coal rally will be held on Oct. 23 and they are asking for the support of everyone. They will have speakers and it will be held at the Carbon County events center. They are promoting the rally in other states and would like a good show of support for fossil fuels and any monetary donations anyone can make to support the cause are needed. Everyone is welcome to attend the rally especially employers, employees and those involved in coal related, fossil fuel industries.
Commissioner Nelson reported he and Randy Johnson were involved with the Division of Natural Resources tour bus. They spoke about the public lands initiative and they were able to view wild horses on the tour. They had lunch at the state park and observed the dredger that’s been used at Millsite to clean sediment from the reservoir. This dredger can be used in other areas as well.
Commissioner Nelson said the forest service management plan was written in 1986 and the forest service is examining what needs to be included in a new forest plan. A meeting was held that was well attended by grazers because impacts to grazers must be considered with any new plan. A committee has been formed to stay current on what’s happening with the forest plan. The Mexican Mountain airstrip is being repaired. Commissioner Nelson said their trip to Washington DC was very productive. The commission approved to hire Egan Smith as a full time Dispatcher for the Sheriff’s Office with full benefits. Grade 14.
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