Training takes place for firefighters at a house in Castle Dale.

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The Castle Dale City council met in their June meeting. They discussed improvements to the cemetery. There is a need for temporary employees for the cemetery.
Castle Dale Mayor Dan Van Wagoner said the cemetery project is contingent on approval of the budget.
Ignacio Arrien, city worker, explained the project is to level the uneven ground in the cemetery. The workers will fill in depressions less than 5 inches with sand. On depressions more than 5 inches they will remove the sod, fill in, and then replace the sod. They will pour new footers for the headstones as needed. This project will possibly take five years to finish. “We don’t know how much can get done this year,” said Arrien.
Mayor Van Wagoner feels it is important for the citizens of Castle Dale to see that the city is making a big effort on the cemetery improvements. The council approved to approve hire two Contract workers for the project.
The council reviewed a letter for a donation to the County Fair. Mayor Van Wagoner said, “My feeling is that we already donate a lot to the County Fair that they don’t know about.” The council agreed not to make any additional contributions to the fair.
Kerry Lake was approved to be the spokesperson from the city to the Bureau of Land Management. For information Lake passed out a list of BLM requirements before the BLM will sell property. The Council decided to use the property for Recreation purposes and look into leasing it from the BLM.
The Council discussed the budget.
Joel Dorsch asked about a 5 percent pay increase for the maintenance workers. Mayor Van Wagoner said they had a 3.5 percent increase with the premium for health insurance which the city pays 100 percent. Ferron City employees pay 8 percent of their premiums. The Mayor is talking with the county about the cities joining their health insurance program. Some changes were made increasing the amount for weed control.
Arrien wanted to make sure that funds for a compressor, a new truck and a grass aerator were in the budget. The Mayor said they were. Julie Johansen asked about renting a space in another building for City Hall. Dorsch asked about the $50,000 for the new building, and if we can afford it. Mayor Van Wagoner stated that the current building is falling apart. We are going in with other entities, and it will be cost effective. The County Building is also very old, and will need to be replaced soon.
The council accepted the budget as revised. Mayor Van Wagoner presented the branding phrase “Get Dirty With Us”. “We have a lot of opportunities for hiking, 4 wheelers, bouldering, mountain biking, and other activities to bring visitors in. We have purchased the domain name getdirtywithus.org to use, and also getdirtywithus.com. Roger Brooks from the State is helping by training us in turning us toward tourism. The State Rural Planning Committee is also helping us. A trifold brochure for activities in Castle Dale is being developed.”
The council signed off on the new branding phrase and website.
Enforcement officer Doug Moreno reported, “I have talked to a lot of people about water violations. They have clarification on the International Fire Code, and how it applies to single family homes. There are two ways we can approach abandoned houses. One is the Fire Code, and one is the Abatement of Nuisance Weeds ordinance.
The Ordinance is very vague. We need to tighten it up.”
Arrien reported on the fire department, “We have lost some firefighters. Some have moved away. I am going to make a flyer and distribute it door to door for recruitment.” Johansen asked to include CERT volunteers on the flyer. The Fire Deptarment planned a live fire training on the old house on 100 north.
Dixie Thompson reported, “We were missing some flags for the Veterans on Memorial Day. We found some of the missing ones, and will order some new ones.”
Mayor Van Wagoner said they are asked to this on the November Ballot. It is a fuel tax change. Instead of 24 cents, it will be a 12 percent tax.
“I have talked with Lon Huntsman about the Eagle Scout Project. He has changed the location of his shooting range project, and it will be within City limits now.” said Mayor Van Wagoner.