| Hunting deer close to communities has become a concern for local residents. |
Under citizen concerns at the recent commission meeting, Randall Stilson brought up the matter of public safety during the hunting season.
A home in Orangeville was hit by bullets during deer season. He also said four deer were killed close to his home. He suggested maybe the valley should become an archery only area.
Commissioner Gary Kofford said he had talked to Derris Jones from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and Jones said the county has the ability to set its own regulations and could make the valley, archery and shotgun only if they wished.
Kofford said he would like to see a recommendation made by the people who are affected as to how the county should proceed. It is a big problem and the farmers want to see the wildlife out of their fields.
Sheriff LaMar Guymon said one of the biggest problems is the people who are being affected aren’t the ones who own the property. If an ordinance is passed for no hunting, then the property owner can’t hunt there either.
The county needs to have some countywide meetings to see how to address the problem of hunting near homes and towns.
Commissioner Hatch said that no hunting is not the answer and if property owners allow hunting they need to educate the hunters as to where the houses are and cows and other hazards.
Commissioner Hatch suggested seeing what ordinances the cities already have in place for the discharge of firearms and the distances involved and then have a public hearing.
Delena Fish, from the Workforce Services updated the Emery County Commission on how the Castle Dale office is doing. She said the TANIF program has had some changes made to it and they have been working to implement these changes.
Each TANIF recipient that receives services must spend 30 hours a week making themselves employable. They must receive training, job seek and develop skills to get a better job. Fish reported not a lot of people are receiving TANIF assistance at this time, but 83 percent of those participating are doing what they need to do. The supervision for this program has increased and study time can’t be done at home anymore.
Fish reported that unemployment in Emery County is at a low of 3 percent. They still see people who are struggling to develop skills and she wants everyone to know there are funds available for training. If these funds aren’t utilized then the Workforce Services will lose this funding. “We need people to take advantage of these funds,” said Fish.
Fish reported more job listings are done on the internet now. Workforce Services has been downsized and more work is being done by telecommuting and internet work.
Commissioner Drew Sitterud said the Castle Dale office always leads the four county region in their percentages. Commissioner Ira Hatch thanked Delena for the work done by her and staffmembers for the benefit of the Emery County people.
In other matters the commission heard from a county resident who is unhappy about the condition of the road where she lives, Peterson Lane, she said it is a one mile county road which is terrible. It has huge potholes and when the magcholoride was on the road, the mud stuck to their vehicles in big chunks and was hard to get off. The county removed the magcholoride, but there are still problems with the road.
A grader was in that area recently but didn’t get their road graded. She said she would appreciate anything the county could do to help with the road.
Commissioner Hatch told the citizen that her problem is not unique and many of the dirt roads in the county have similar problems with mud and ruts. The road department director will look at the daily reports and see when that road was graded last. They also have a maintenance schedule they adhere to and the citizen is welcome to come and look at that to see when her road is scheduled for maintenance.
As far as snowplows go, Commissioner Hatch told her the main school bus routes are plowed first and the other roads are plowed accordingly.
The citizen brought pictures of her road to show the commissioners and invited them out to drive the road anytime to see how bad it is.
Sheriff Guymon reported they had been awarded enough grant money to buy two cameras for patrol cars.
The commission also approved the CIB list of short and medium term projects with a couple of additions. These projects are submitted to the CIB board for consideration for possible funding. Any government entity can list projects on this list. December 1 is the deadline when the list must be submitted. Any project not on the list will not be funded. If an emergency situation arises, then the CIB will act on it on a case by case basis.
The commission also voted on four roads being considered for abandonment. These roads are the #327 Cowboy West, #116 Hansen Spur, #117-Pappas Spur and #112 Jensen Spur. It was determined to abandon part of the Cowboy West road and the other part to maintain it to the corral. On the Hansen Spur it was determined if the gate on that road is left unlocked for use then it will not be abandoned. If the landowner doesn’t agree to keeping the gate unlocked then the road will be abandoned. The Pappas Spur and Jensen Spur will both be abandoned. When the county abandons a road, they will no longer provide maintenance on that road; they will however aid county people with their roads in emergency situations.
The commissioners voted to waive the building permit fee for the Emery County School District for the new gym they are constructing at Green River High.
The public lands director, Ray Petersen requested the county approve the agreement between the Utah parks and recreation and Emery County for the installation of signs marking the county roads which are open to OHV travel.