Ferron Council approves donation for Girls State

By Alice Wadley Staff Writer

The Ferron City council held a meeting on April 23. Jo Sansevero from the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary approached the council for a donation of $100 for each of the Ferron girls attending Girls State this year. The girls who will attend Girls State this year are; Sarah Swasey, Sierra Benson, Madi Allinson, Julie Doria and Mikaela Jensen. “Girls State will be the first week in June at Weber State University in Ogden. This is a great program sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary to help young women learn and become involved in the legislative process. The girls also have the opportunity to meet many of our state and national elected officials and apply for and receive scholarships to help with their college,” said Sansevero. The council voted unanimously to donate $500 for the Ferron Girls State participants.
Bill Langston gave an update on the BMX track, to be built at the fairgrounds. Langston said, the BMX track is behind schedule because of the loss of equipment. The company who owns the equipment is using it for business purposes and can’t dedicate it to the BMX track at this time. Nielson Construction has some equipment Langston can use to build the track. It will just take some coordination to get started. Langston wondered if volunteers needed to sign a waiver before using city equipment. In order to use the equipment the volunteers must sign a release waiver. There is $15,000 allocated for the track. The money is from the Emery County Recreation Center. Langston asked the council about paying for the fuel used in the project. The city will have someone available with a fuel card when necessary. All of the receipts for the track will need to be marked. It is Mayor Trent Jackson’s understanding the receipts will need to be submitted to the recreation center. Councilwoman Abby Jensen will check with Jake Atwood concerning the receipts.
Todd Thorne representing Southeastern Utah Association of Local Governments came before the council to let the city know about their services. SEUALG has loans and grants available to help businesses.
The city received two bids for reroofing the city hall. They requested bids for metal roofing and asphalt roofing. The bids were not very detailed in their content and there was no warranty included. The council would like a one year warranty included. The bids were subject to rejection and the council decided to reject the bids and contact a consultant, who knows what to look for with a roofing bid. The council emphasized the two companies who submitted bids can resubmit a bid.
The council discussed advertising for bids for a maintenance contract for the cemetery. The contract would be from April to October. They will put the maintenance contract out for bid.
The council held a work session to discuss the tentative budget. They are still working on it. There has been a 13 percent increase in insurance. The council has been in contact with Green River and Castle Dale concerning their insurance costs. They are researching ideas to see if they can lower the costs of insurance.
Orangeville City recently changed their plan and is saving money. If the city decides to go with a plan similar to Orangeville City, the employees would be required to pay 3-4 percent a year. The budget needs to be balanced. Councilwoman Adele Justice suggested taking $816 from the general fund to balance the budget. There will be a public hearing to discuss the budget in the May council meeting.
There is no one running the golf course restaurant right now. Sherrie Herbst is interested in running the restaurant, but is not sure if she would have the funds to get it up and running. She inquired if the council might have money to help her get started. The council said there is no money in the budget to contribute to the restaurant at this time. There would be no rent for the restaurant if an interested person contacted the city to run it.
Councilwoman Jensen reported the new baseball field is in use. The city will need to put up the sponsor signs at the new field. Troy Winter is still working on the soccer field project.
Councilwoman Justice thanked everyone who helped out with Arbor Day and planting flowers. She stressed water conservation. There will be no changes to the water schedule. There is no watering from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Councilman Ronny Bloomer will get quotes on the speakers at the fairgrounds.
Mayor Trent Jackson reported the golf course is doing well with the mild winter and spring weather. Jordan Leonard has accepted a position with the county. The city will need to look for a new golf course manager. They will advertise for it. Ryan Winn may have to take on some extra responsibilities until someone is hired for the vacant position.
Winn reported he is wrapping up some projects at the golf course. The senior mens league has donated $450 in sod for the golf course. The sand trap behind hole five was removed. Erick Stilson and Sid Swasey have been fixing the sprinklers.