Castle Valley District to acquire tax notes

By PATSY STODDARD Editor

The Emery County Commissioners met in their June 22 meeting. Jacob Sharp, manager for the Castle Valley Special Service District presented information about the sale and issuance of up to $565,000 of the district’s tax anticipation notes. Sharp said the notes are a short term loan to boost the cash flow for the CVSSD. The loans will allow the district to have money in the bank until the taxes come into the district in November. The district has been left short of money due to two large debt service payments in 2009 and 2010. These payments were due in January and March and were paid with the taxes from November 2009. The district collected $1.59 million in taxes for 2009 and made a $2 million debt service payment this year.
Sharp said the district has been trying to stretch dollars. The mineral lease money was down and there were some cost overruns on projects. The debt service payment was bigger than in previous years. The way the loan was set-up the repayment would be the highest in 2010, 2011 and 2012 and then those loans would be retired.
The tax anticipation note would be paid off in December. Sharp said numbers look slightly better now and the district is $200,000 ahead of projections because some projects have been less expensive than they were budgeted. Sharp said tax anticipation notes have been utilized by the district in the past.
The commission has requested Rocky Mountain Power move a power line and transformer at the Huntington Airport. The home at the airport is being relocated. The food bank construction will be advertised as soon as the contract is received from the Community Development Block Grant organization. Commissioner Jeff Horrocks requested the county wait until the contract is in hand before notice to bid be advertised. Commissioner Laurie Pitchforth voted to go ahead and approve the advertising for bids just as soon as the contract is in hand so things can move along with the project.
The commissioners voted to approve an ambulance write-off for two deceased persons. The contract for the Architectural Coalition was approved for their services as the architect for the new food bank building. The contract was for $13,800.
Brenda Tuttle, clerk/auditor presented the tax rate sent down by the state. It is slightly higher than last year. The rate is .003494; rate for the repayment for the swimming pool bond is .000140; the county library rate is .000404; the operation and maintenance of the pool is .000063.
The commission approved the Utah State retirement rates.
The commission approved the Justice Assistance Grant for $51,234. The Emery County Sheriff’s Office has applied for and received this grant for the last 10 years to operate the drug task force for Emery County. The funds are used for enforcement and education. Capt. Kyle Ekker puts the grant together each year.
The commission approved the contract with the Huntington Aviation, LLC. for the lease and management of the Huntington Airport.
Commissioner Gary Kofford explained the situation with the new chiller for the county building. It was put in new last summer and during the winter lost two compressors and a fan blade. The company came and fixed it and recommended the county purchase the extended warranty before the current warranty expires on July 1. The chiller cost $85,000 to put in and an extended warranty purchase for $5,000 will keep it going for four years. The commission approved the extended warranty.
Under citizen concerns Commissioner Kofford said a property owner in Lawrence is building a fence on the county right of way. He needs to move the fence off this right of way which also is right of way for North Emery Water and Emery Telcom. It was determined a letter will be sent and a time frame to remove the fence will be given and if it’s not removed the county will remove the fence.
In other business the commission ratified an agreement with All-America/Granite Environmental team for pre-demolition asbestos survey of two structures at the Huntington Airport. They approved KONE for emergency elevator repairs. A business license was approved for L&B Construction.
The commissioners gave their reports, Commissioner Horrocks said the Utah Humanities Council has given a grant to the Emery County Archives to document the histories of Central High School and North Emery High School. The grant is also to educate people on the history of the county. The three commissioners met with Ted Wilson from the governor’s office. Commissioner Horrocks said he attended the Relay for Life cancer walk. He attended the retirement luncheon for sheriff’s office employee Kathy Jensen. She has been an important part of the sheriff’s office. “Thanks for your years of service, Kathy,” said Commissioner Horrocks.
Commissioner Pitchforth said she attended the Emergency Preparedness Fair and it was a great event which put out a lot of information. “It turned out well, I’d like to thank the sheriff’s office and the Local Emergency Planning Committee for their hard work. I attended the cancer walk and we helped serve dinner and then returned the next morning to help cook breakfast. I would like to congratulate Kathy Jensen on her 32 years of service. Jeff and I met with the Emery County Business Partners. They are trying to put together an organization to take the place of a chamber which has been inactive for several years.” Pitchforth said the business partners will work to bring businesses together and help each other with new ideas and monthly meetings. Jerry Stottler is the chairman for the organization.
A Miss Emery golf tournament was held to raise funds to help Shelby Huntington attend Miss Utah. “Shelby did a great job, an exceptional job and represented Emery County very well. The Miss Emery Pageant will be held on July 17 at 7 p.m. and the Royal tea party will be July 17 at 1 p.m. I took my grandkids to the Aquatics Center and the Aquatics Park and they had so much fun. If you haven’t been to the Aquatics Center this summer, then I encourage you to go. I want to thank Commissioner Kofford for his work on the Aquatics Park all last summer he was working on the grass. I want to commend you. It really looks great and the free concert will be held this year at the Aquatics Park,” said Commissioner Pitchforth.
Commissioner Kofford said soccer games are being played now at the Aquatics Park and there is one metal grate that needs to be covered. He reported the problem in Ferron with the gas in the sewer lines. He said the Emergency Preparedness Fair was well attended and they cooked about 600 hamburgers.