Commissioners hear complaint about tippage fee

By PATSY STODDARD Editor

Neva Strong attended commission meeting to discuss her opposition to landfill tippage fees. She said she lives in Castle Dale. There are places in our community that need to be cleaned up, but residents may be deterred from cleaning up due to the cost to dump at the land fill.
Loads under 1,000 pounds are free she was told.
Commissioner Paul Cowley, said fees were in place before, but not enforced. In order to offset costs for new equipment and operating fees the charges were evaluated and a new fee schedule was adopted.
Strong said she is concerned that residents will bypass the landfill and dump in outlying areas of the county.
Commissioner Keith Brady reminded everyone that the roll-offs the cities have are free of charge to dump. Strong wasn’t aware of any roll off dumpsters. Castle Dale City doesn’t have the roll off dumpsters due to their proximity to the county landfill.
Commissioner Ethan Migliori said they can look at the weights, maybe 1,000 pounds is too low. Grass, trees and yard debris is free to dump. The commission will take her comments under consideration.
Gerry Stotler, Habitat for Humanity Board Member, introduced the new Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Karen Basso for the area and discussed the Castle Dale habitat home in foreclosure. Basso said the Habitat for Humanity program offers a hand up to people and not a hand out. Those purchasing the homes are required to put 250 hours of sweat equity into the program. They also have the Brush with Kindness program for help with home repairs. Habitat is currently taking applications for the Castle Dale house.
The commissioners and the forest service met on closure of roads on the Manti La-Sal Forest and have resolved the situation so cabin owners can get to their property. Also in the future drifts will be cleared from the roads to allow earlier access to the mountain.
Jay Mark Humphrey spoke at the meeting. He said as the director of the Emery Water Conservancy they manage the Joe’s Valley Reservoir. The county and the DWR has not approached the water conservancy board concerning the Joes Valley Boat Ramp Extension project. Before any work was started on that project, those involved should have approached the board. Where it’s on federal land, a NEPA evaluation will need to be made as well as proper permitting including approval by the Department of the Interior, “You have to do it right,” said Humphrey. “There’s a process, the design needs to be approved by the Emery Water Conservancy District. There is a problem up there with parking.” July 11 is the next EWCD meeting at 7 p.m. Humphrey indicated there was too much to get done for the project to be completed this year. The other boat ramp at Joe’s Valley by the marina is closed because there aren’t enough DWR personnel to man two boat ramps. With the threat of quagga mussels all boats must be decontaminated before entering Joe’s Valley. He’s not opposed to having the other boat ramp open during the busy month of July if there are enough DWR personnel to staff it.
The commissioner approved the Interlocal Agreement between Emery County and ECSSD#1 for the Joes Valley Boat Ramp Extension project. The board approved the Utah Department of Transportation Aeronautical Operations Division project application and grant agreement for state aid for Huntington Airport 2016 projects and the Interlocal Agreement between Emery County and ECSDD#1 for Huntington Airport Improvements 2016. A fencing project was approved because when the canal was cleaned out the fence was damaged and horses were on the runway.
On the 2016 tax sale proceedings, 11 properties were up for sale and seven of those were paid off. One parcel was sold and the balance will be sent to the Utah State Tax Commission as unclaimed property.
The commission approved a contract with S. MABE Consulting, LLC for developing/drafting of a hazard Mitigation Plan for Emery County. A cell phone stipend for Dustin Deto was approved.
The Emery County Short Term Project list for Permanent Community Impact Fund Board was amended to include Huntington City ADA compliance restroom and cemetery project.
The commission Ratified the $4,515,000.00 Cooperative Agreement between Emery County and U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service for Emergency Watershed Protection in Emery County.
The board approved terminating the contract with the Southeastern Utah Association of Local Government for Senior Citizen services/program. Discussion of plans to hire Senior Citizens Director and future direction of program.