Emery Town and water

By COREY BLUEMEL Staff Writer

Emery Town Council recently held a regular council meeting at the town hall. Mayor Mike Williams requested authorization to sign the agreement with Emery County for building inspection services. The agreement will run for one year with no funds coming back to the town during that year. The commissioners have asked for this one year agreement to see how the new process and charges will work.
At the current time Sunrise Engineering, a private company that handles building inspections, is not doing small jobs like sheds or remodels. Mayor Williams said that the new agreement with the county will alleviate those types of problems. The council approved the signing of the contract with Emery County.
Mayor Williams explained that Emery Town has recently undergone an audit. He said, “The town did well and passed with flying colors.” The town has several copies of the audit on hand for review.
Morris Sorensen, of Muddy Creek Irrigation Company approached the town council concerning a project. The project is the installation of a de-silting structure to replace the current structure that is very old, and a reservoir for the structure. This project will run in conjunction with piping the canal and installation of sprinkling systems to the farms in the area.
Sorensen stated that the irrigation company has applied for a $500,000 grant with the Bureau of Reclamation. The total estimated cost of replacement of the diversion structure and constructing the reservoir will be $1 million. The reservoir will be a 200X200 foot cement pond that will slow the water flow into the de-silting structure. Much of the silt will drop into the pond and will then be flushed back into the creek, which will reduce the amount of solids in the drinking water in town.
The piping of the canal and installation of the new irrigation systems to the farms will raise the cost of the projects to about $17 million. The council approved to request $5 million for a portion of the project from the Community Impact Board. They decided to approach the CIB in stages for the entire project instead of trying to tackle the complete project at one time.
Sorensen stated that the environmental assessment for the project had been completed. Included in the EA was the entire town of Emery, not just the farms, and the impact this project would have on the drinking water quality. “It was a very complete EA and is very informative. It also includes numerous photos of structures that have failed due to the silt problems that Emery is having at the present time,” said Sorensen.
“We (the irrigation companies in Emery County) will be going to a meeting with the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining on Jan. 19. We have all signed a letter stating that we do not feel that DOGM is doing their job, and it has been sent to the Office of Surface Mining. This letter will be discussed at that meeting,” stated Sorensen.
With one abstention, the council voted to approve a year end bonus to one of the town’s employees. The remaining city employee refused a bonus. The council also approved to give the fire department $2,000 to begin making the fireworks preparation for the July 24 celebration, which will be held on July 23.
The next Emery Town Council meeting will be Feb. 8 at 6 p.m.