The Emery County Commissioners met in their November meeting where Jeff Guymon, the county planning and zoning administrator asked for an adjustment in the fee schedule for conditional use permits. The county would like to be more business friendly and small businesses with one or two employees find the $1,000 fee excessive. “It is quite high for a business just starting out and I recommend the fee schedule be revised. I have reviewed other counties fee schedules,” said Guymon. The board approved lowering the fee for conditional use permits. As a business grows they will come back to planning and zoning for permits. This is an attempt to help out small business in the county.
Commissioner Lynn Sitterud said there was one bid that came in for removal of dirt from the Huntington Ball Complex and to widen the existing roadway and parking area. The bid from JN Auto was to do the job at zero cost in exchange for the dirt. Wayde Nielsen from the road department will oversee the project. Nielson Construction will do the work. The board accepted this proposal.
Ray Petersen spoke regarding the MK Tunnels. He said there is a possibility to create a heritage area at the MK Tunnel site. They are in discussions with the Bureau of Land Management. There will be more information coming forward as these meetings progress. The BLM is talking of giving the MK Tunnel area to the county to preserve. Repair work is needed at the tunnels because the concrete the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining put in before to block entries has deteriorated due to water getting around it.
The Southeastern Utah Association of Local Governments presented to the commission outlining their programs. They reported their drivers will receive a raise. They have training set-up for all of the senior citizen center directors. Introductions were made of the employees in charge of the various programs including, grants and the aging division, food bank, HEAT, and housing programs.
The new website shows meetings, blog posts, what’s going on in each department, activity lists for the senior centers, employee information, block grant information, CIB application helps, community services, economic development and much more. The AOG also provides a revolving loan fund which is available as gap financing for local businesses wishing to expand. The Emery County senior centers have applied for monies for a carport to park the Meals on Wheels vehicle.
The AOG also provides a free tax service for lower income people needing help filing their taxes.
The food bank in Castle Dale is open on Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. The food bank recently received a $5,000 donation from a hunter who visited the area and was so impressed he wanted to make a contribution to the community. A grant was applied for to fix some things at the food bank. The AOG offers quick assistance to those in need of housing and will help with rental costs until the person gets on their feet. The AOG partners with Workforce Services on several programs. The HEAT assistance program began on Nov. 1. There are instructions on the website to help people apply for this service. The HEAT program also works with the weatherization program to help get heating bills down. There is a long waiting list for the weatherization program. More funding is needed in this area. In the Aging program there is the meals on wheels, family care program which teaches skills to help the elderly and keep them in their homes. There is a music and memory program that connects those with memory problems to music which helps stimulate their memories.
Training will also be done at local care centers to help aides learn more about Alzheimer and dementia patient care. There is also one on one services to help seniors with the health care plans and Medicare.
Mike Olsen, county attorney asked what the aging program does to help seniors avoid scams. Shawna Horrocks said there are education opportunities on this subject that the state provides. Any new scams are quickly reported to the local centers to get out to the county senior citizens.
There is someone at the state office that monitors all of the programs the local AOG administers.
Olsen said he has looked over the goals of the AOG and they are providing some great services to county residents.
Ray Petersen presented a letter requesting Cooperating Agency Status in development of amendments to BLM Resource Management Plans and associated Environmental Impact Statement in response to DOI Secretarial Order 3353. The commission approved Petersen taking part in the planning sessions.
Capt. Kyle Ekker and Eric Dixon presented Change Order two and three on the Millsite Dam Rehabilitation Project. In the December commission meeting they will give an update on how the Millsite dam project is progressing. Some of the sand filter materials that went into the foundation didn’t pass inspection. Quite a bit of this material had to be removed. The contractor will get paid, but will eat the cost of the materials. Dixon said there will be double and triple checking of the sand filter materials in the future. Some of this material has been left in place. Materials are tested on site.
The commission made tax adjustments to two parcels.
The commission approved the 2017 Business Personal Property Tax Exempt Accounts.
The commission will advertise for bids for the Landfill Metal Pile.
The county will advertise the job opening for the Emery County Event Coordinator. Amanda Leonard is currently in this position and the contract for one year is now up. Commissioner Kent Wilson said he would like to change the verbage in this contract so it could be renewed if the person is doing a good job for up to three years.
The commission approved the Marketing Match Program for Huntington City. Huntington City will take over the costs of the billboard on SR-10 north of town. They will advertise Emery County for the first two years and after that they can advertise what they choose. Huntington City will pay the rental fee each year on the billboard. The county travel bureau will help with the initial cost of getting something up on the billboard.
A Full Page Ad Contract for National Geographic Traveler was approved. This will attract professional photographers to the area. The state is helping with some of the costs through the co-op marketing partnerships. The county will pay $18,597.50. The photos will add to the county photo library and they will control use of the photos.
Commissioner Wilson said this will get Emery County out on a global level. This ad will run in October and November of 2018. The creative firm HUB that the travel bureau is contracted with will design the ad for the National Geographic Traveler magazine.
Jordan Leonard asked for approval of a partnership with state parks to produce a video. The cost is $4,000 and the county will own the rights to the video. It will feature the local state parks.
Commissioner Wilson reported motel rates are up 10 percent, visitation is up 5 percent, fast food is up 25 percent. He looks for the return on investment to the county for the expenditure of the TRT funds. Sixty percent of all TRT funds must be used for advertising.
Commissioner Wilson said the issues with the health department are being worked out. The interim director was made permanent. They are working on a memorandum of understanding and will continue to move forward. Carbon County would like one more voting member on the board because they have 50 percent of the population. They would like their sheriff and hospital to be on the board of directors. Emery County pays more than their fair share because the Emery County tax evaluation is more than Carbon County because Emery County has the power plants. He would like to see the portion each county pays based on population.
Commissioner Wilson said the commissioners have been working on the budget cycle. Mineral lease money has been down the past two years, but costs continue to go up. The 2018 budget will be funded at the same level as the 2017 budget. “But it’s obvious Emery County has got to make some changes in the future. Carbon County is going to raise taxes, but we can’t do that. We need to look at services and see what it means for us. What’s important to us. Seventy percent of the budget goes to the sheriff’s office and the road department. We need to find a creative way to find new revenue. How do we get the word out? We don’t want to make these decisions alone. We want input from the citizens,” said Wilson.
Commissioner Paul Cowley said they had been involved in the decision to hire Robby Jensen as the senior director for the county. He will be based out of Price. He is from Ferron.
Warren Oviatt and Carrie Childs were appointed to the Fire Special Service District Board. Danny Van Wagoner was reappointed to the Travel Board to serve a four year term.
Les Wilberg was appointed to the Planning and Zoning Board to serve a four year term.
Ray Petersen was approved to attend the Annual Colorado River Water Users Association Conference in Las Vegas, Nev. on Dec. 13-15.
Commissioner Lynn Sitterud and Commissioner Kent Wilson were approved to travel to Washington D.C. for work on the Emery County Lands Bill on Nov. 12-15.
Jorgan Allred, Les Anderson and Kacie Healey will work as seasonal Russian Olive Technicians 29 hours per week, with no benefits, wage $13.50 per hour.
Jonathan Seely and Sydney Terwilleger have been selected as part-time lifeguards. Derek Beagley was given a 3 percent wage increase for successful completion of his 6 month orientation.
Makyan Nielson, Levi Olsen, and Parker Stilson received a 3 percent wage increase for their orientation.
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