| Chris Parkins is the new mayor for Cleveland Town. He takes the oath of office at the February meeting. |
Mayor Jeff Horrocks started the meeting by saying that it was time for him to step down as Mayor of Cleveland, as a result of his recent win as a commissioner of Emery County. He then made a motion to appoint Councilman Chris Parkins. Parkins said, I accept this position and would like to make a statement. I just want to thank you Jeff for everything youve done here. He went on to say that some of the reasons they moved here was because of the town and all the activities they put together for the community. Horrocks responded by saying that it was the hard work of all the council members to make it great. Also by always working as a team.
Mayor Parkins took over the meeting with the next item of business. The town is still looking to fill the planning commission seats. Horrocks said that he would sit in if needed.
Doug Rasmussen of Smuin, Rich and Marsing, certified public accountants, provided the council with a review report on the towns financial data. The town fell under the bracket. Rasmussen said if the town does not receive more grants for funds they would continue to fall under this bracket.
Rasmussens only concern with the town was they spent more money in the general fund than they had and it will need to be corrected in this current year. He said that he had gone over it with Jamie Jensen, town clerk and come to a conclusion. Jensen said that the Castle Valley Special Service District has asked for funds for road chipping and the only mistake is that it was sent to the CVSSD at the end of June instead of the first of July. Jensen said that if we would have waited a couple of days it would have been fine and we actually did have the money just not in the general fund. Rasmussen said that it was their only concern and Jensen has done a great job.
The surcharge on natural gas was explained next with the town paying a higher rate to initially get the gas. Horrocks said there is a bill that is trying to equalize the rate. He said that places spread across the U.S. are impacted just like Cleveland. Cleveland Town and Mike McCandless from the county have worked hard to get the rates equalized.
The band Switchback from Fillmore was discussed to entertain at the July 24 celebration. The council listened to some of their music and decided they were a good pick for the celebration.
A hopeful new resident came before the council with his plans to build a home in Cleveland. The property that will be used has an old home on it that needs to be removed. Councilman Greg Oliver said that if the tests for asbestos come back negative then the fire department would be able to burn it for training. The council went over the steps necessary in order to get the process moving.
A youth conference from Logan will be spending three days in the town park in August. They had asked if they could do a service project in order to repay the town. The council agreed they would like to have them do something fun or educational instead of cleaning or things of that nature.
Oliver said they have given a couple new positions in the fire department. Put in were Mike Taylor as the training officer and Chuck Rich as the equipment officer. Oliver said he is working on an inventory list for the county. The county will now supply insurance for the inventory on the list.
Oliver said that he ordered the fireworks for the 24th of July celebration and there wasnt as much as usual. Councilman Richard Murdock said there would be some money left from the recreation district that Oliver could use for the purchase of more fireworks. Murdock said that he is going to use some of the money for the new goal posts but whatever is left over Oliver can have.
Mayor Parkins said the next item was a contest in order to rename Cottonwood Drive. There are already four streets in the county with the name so they were asked to change the name so there is only one street with that name. After reading all the entries from the elementary school, the council voted on their favorites and Grover Lane was the winner by kindergartner Raegan Sitterud. The council liked the name because of the history of it, in honor of President Grover Cleveland.
Councilman Murdock motioned that Ashley Stansfield be the sports representative for Cleveland Town. Stansfield would report to the recreation district and other duties to keep the sports organized.
The council meeting came to a close and Horrocks said that he just wanted to thank Jamie Jensen for all her hard work and help while he was mayor. He also thanked all the council members for their work to improve the town and help him.
He said, Its nice to walk away and know that I helped do this. Its been a fun run.