Commission approves budget/new tippage fee

By PATSY STODDARD Editor

The main business for the December commission meeting was the public hearing to approve the amended budget and the approval of the 2016 budget. The commissioners and the clerk/auditor have been in budget meetings for the past two months to ready these budgets. Clerk/Auditor Brenda Tuttle said they have been meeting with all department heads and budgets are lower because they don’t know what the mineral lease monies will be for 2016.
Unlike some counties, Emery County doesn’t rely on mineral lease monies to balance the budget. Jacob Sharp from the Castle Valley Special Service District reported the district has adjusted its budgets for the mineral lease estimates. They estimate they will receive $200,000 which is $100,000 less than some years. They have taken this $100,000 from the road maintenance budget. The CVSSD will go to the Community Impact Board in January to see if they receive the monies they have applied for from the CIB. Their repayments of loans to the CIB have remained steady these past few years. The district is still working on the new Ferron water treatment plant.
Commissioner Paul Cowley reported the Landfill Tippage Resolution will go into effect on March 1. The fee will be $10 a ton after the first 1,000 pounds. City containers can be brought into the landfill for no charge. Contaminated soil is $15 per ton. These fees will bring approximately $120,000 into the landfill. The storage of contaminated soil has been one of the only sources of revenue for the landfill.
This increase will bring a 10-20 percent increase in garbage collection fees for individual homeowners and businesses. This would be approximately a $12 a year increase.
Commissioner Migliori said the county has maintained the needs of the landfill. When is the right time to implement fees for a future need? County Attorney Mike Olsen said the problem with the 2009 resolution was commercial contractors was not properly defined. That resolution has never been enforced. He recommended that resolution be revoked. Tuttle said the budget has already been set and any increases in revenues at the landfill weren’t added into the budget.
Commissioner Migliori said the resolution was sent to the local mayors but he hasn’t heard much back from them. Wade from City Sanitation said they are still getting hand tickets with no invoices at the landfill. Commissioner Migliori said they will get that fixed.
Dennis Ardohain attended the meeting to update the commissioners on the progress of the Miners Memorial for Emery County. He would like to have two benches at the site and anyone wishing to sponsor the benches is welcome to and their name would be added to the bench. The benches are $1,500 each. He wondered if the county would like to have lighting on the monument. This must be decided by Jan. 1 so the lighting can be added to the plan. He requested the county pick a color for the stone. He suggested matching the color to the Wilberg Mine memorial which is in front of the county building. The bronze needs to be ordered. The bronze plaques with the donor lists are added after the monument is in place. The monument will honor all those who have died in a coal mine in Emery County. Another plaque will also list the names of the 100 mines that have operated in Emery County over the years.
Ardohain observed the cities in Emery County were more receptive to the monument and more generous than those in Carbon County, however the Carbon County people were more involved in the project over there than the Emery County citizens have been so far.
Commissioner Ethan Migliori said Emery County has committed $25,000 in cash and inkind preparations for the site.
Ardohain said there will be four satellite monuments in other communities including Wellington and Scofield. Tax credits are available for donations to the monument. Pacifi-Corp will be donating $25,000 to the Emery Miners Memorial. The Prazen brothers have donated all their time for the project.
Commissioner Migliori thanked Dennis for the work and all the time he has put into this project.
The commission approved the use of Spillman Technologies, Inc. for software for the Sheriff’s Office. This will consolidate three different data bases into one.
The commission voted to adopt the Workers Compensation premium for 2016 with the Utah Local Governments Trust. There is a decrease of $8,963 from last year due to fewer claims.
There was a commission tax adjustment for PJ Jones Storage LLC.. This was needed because the storage sheds were assessed but not the land.
The holiday schedule for FY 2016 was approved. The only change was instead of having Columbus Day off in October to have a whole day off on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
The board set the meeting schedule for 2016. The meetings will be held at 3 p.m the first and third Tuesdays of the month. The August meeting in Green River will be on Aug. 23.
The board will advertise for vacant and expired positions on various county boards.
The library will apply for a Mini-Grant Application from the Utah State Library for a teen reading program. The grant is for $500. Commissioner Keith Brady said he is impressed with how the libraries are finding grants to help with their programs.
The lawn care contract agreement for 2016 was approved with Tennant Lawn Services. The contract runs from April to October. This does not include the fertilizing and sprinkler maintenance.
The board approved a Letter of Engagement with Randy Johnson’s Government Matters LLC for 2016. This agreement was in the amount of $23,000. This is for work on the Emery County Public Lands bill and other lobbying for the county. Commissioner Brady requested that Johnson give more updates to the commission on the work he is doing for the county which he agreed to do.
The commission approved the Special Use Lease Agreement between Emery County and the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration for the Industrial Park near Green River. These fees are passed onto any company that locates in the industrial park.
The Huntington Airport Management Contract was tabled until the airport manager Leon DeFriez could look at it.
The commission approved an amendment to the contract for the Huntington Airport Hangar Lease to the State of Utah, Division of Facilities Construction and Management. The state cannot have a contract with a private individual and the contract must be with the county, so this agreement must be readjusted to reflect the $165 a month for a hangar lease will be returned to DeFriez.
Commissioner Brady reported the six county coalition needs permission from the county for the Utah Division of Aeronautics to provide the coalition with the county’s airport improvement plan. The coalition is working on a map for economic development for the region. The commission requested Jones and Demille who is doing the work for the coalition to come to a meeting and explain what the plan will be used for.
The commission amended the mineral lease revenue and State Mineral Development Revenues (SITLA) Resolutions. This will reflect the way the funds are dispersed in the county to the special service districts.
The commissioners approved to send a letter of support for Goblin Valley State Park’s application for International Dark Sky Park Designation Gold Tier Nomination Package. Tim Smith from state park’s requested the county do this. It’s important to get the message out that even with five power plants in the area you can still see the dark skies. Commissioner Brady said this would make Goblin Valley one of the few to have this designation.
The commission approved Tina Carter to accept an invitation to become a member on the Utah Office of Tourism Travel Trade/International Media Advisory Committee.
She will attend a meeting in Salt Lake every other month. Commissioner Brady said this is a good opportunity to build relationships with those upstate and keep Emery County involved in receiving tourism opportunities like the recent Roger Brooks training. Emery County is involved with three other counties in the building up of rural tourism and its being funded by the state.
The board Approved a 3 percent wage increase for Tarryn Parkins, Nate Gilbert, Daryl Guymon, Paytn Jeffs, Laci Hulse, Jadree Huntington, Erin Oliverson and Morgan Nicholson at the Aquatic Center, and Jordan Leonard, economic development director for successful completion of the 6 month orientation period.