Travis Bacon is Green River’s new mayor

By Patsy Stoddard
Editor

Green River Mayor Pat Brady has resigned after 10 years as the Green River mayor. His family will be relocating to Sitka, Alaska. He was given a plaque from Green River City as a thank you for his years of service.
The award was presented by Conae Black, city treasurer. “Mayor Brady was appointed as mayor after the former mayor resigned. Then he was elected to two more terms. He ran unopposed which says a lot for the kind of mayor he was. We will miss him terribly and are sorry to see him leave. Mayor Brady appreciated the employees of Green River City.”
Mayor Brady said, “I would like to thank the council for all their help. We turned to Conae daily for answers to questions. She knows how to do things. The employees are hard workers. These guys work well together and there have been a lot of good changes. I appreciate what you do for this community.” Mayor Brady offered advice for the council. He passed out Q-tips to remind them Quit Taking in Personally. He said they will not always agree and will rub people the wrong way, but people have awesome ideas and they should be willing to listen. He said some councils have had a hard time supporting the non-profits in town, but they employ locals and offer services the city can’t afford. By employing locals, money comes back into the community. They work hard to get grants for the city and it’s easier for them to get grants if their city is backing them up too. “I hope we appreciate this community and how wonderful it is, we are having a hard time leaving it,” said Mayor Brady.
Black also did the swearing in for the new mayor Travis Bacon.
Bacon and Jeff Newland were the two applicants for the mayor’s position. The council members held interviews with the two candidates and then the voting took place. Kathy Ryan and Penney Riches cast their votes for Travis Bacon and Mr. Silliman and Gary Riches cast their votes for Jeff Newland. This created a tie which was decided by the flip of a coin which Bacon won. Bacon is a current councilman and with him moving into the mayor’s position, this will leave a vacancy on the council. This position will be advertised and applicants taken. Bacon went on to conduct the council meeting and also hosted a public hearing on the community reinvestment agency which was approved as well as two maps including a Main Street section and an industrial section.
Adam Long the attorney putting together the community reinvestment agency presented a slide show concerning the agency. He said the agency is made up of the city council members. Under the agency they will have more freedom to advance the community with economic growth opportunities. “The agency is governed by the board, it is one of the few tools local governments can use to encourage economic growth.
The project area is created by a resolution and delineates an area where the development can take place.
No taxes are charged, eminent domain isn’t exercised, taxes stay the same. The city won’t be able to do anything it doesn’t already have the power to do explained Long. The agency will be available to help with large or small projects. Projects which come in may request tax incentives to establish in Green River. In order to give tax credits or incentives, there must be agreements with all the taxing entities including Emery County, Emery School District, Emery Water Conservancy and others.
Long explained if a property owner needs help to construct a building for business, or tear down an existing building, the agency might be able to help. The agency itself doesn’t do any property development. The agency can also help with infrastructure developments including water, sewer and utility development.
Long explained in the early days, the reinvestment agencies were created to deal with urban blight. Things have expanded since that time to include job creation. The agency would also be eligible to receive grants. The agency could give help with clean-ups or business facade improvements.
In the public hearing the drawback of inadequate housing in Green River was mentioned. It’s hard to seek companies to come here if there isn’t a place for workers to live. Green River has been working on a strategic plan. The riverside development, Main Street Development, industrial development are all parts of that plan.
Maria Sykes said some people are concerned with how spread out the Green River business section is now. She sees the development projects might spread Green River out even more.
Mayor Bacon said in the strategic plan it calls for strengthening the core of Green River.
Mayor Brady suggested tackling one area at a time.
There is a project that has been proposed to the city, but the project wasn’t identified at the meeting.
The idea of a dog park for Green River was discussed and the proposal given to the council members for their consideration. It will benefit Green River residents as well as travelers to the area. A grant will be applied for to help with the costs of the park. The area is .7 acres and is fenced. A volunteer clean-up crew worked on the property and cleaned it up.
The board approved the contract with Johansen and Tuttle for the design, surveys, testing and administration and inspection of curb, gutter and sidewalk on Main Street between Broadway and Pearl Street in the amount of $10,850.
The council awarded the bid for the curb and gutter project to WE.
The board approved the authorization of Loni Meadows and Conae Black to make changes to the Public Treasures Investment funds for Green River City.
The board reviewed the proposal for the Green River City website. They received a bid for $8,500 and it will take them 21 weeks to complete. It will be maintained for a yearly cost of $1,900.
They will do the set-up, design and do training on the site. The board had a budget work session to go over the city budget.