Aidan Mortensen, KOAL News
The Castle Dale City Council met for their monthly meeting on Thursday, May 9. Members Emily Mills, Brad Giles, Joel Dorsch, Mike Jorgensen and Julie Johansen were present in person with Mayor Danny Van Wagoner in attendance via Zoom.
The first agenda item for the council to tackle was an update from the head of Animal Control Terry Lofthouse. Lofthouse reported that in the month he received 22 calls, 19 of which he responded to in person. He then spoke on a series of calls in particular regarding a stray dog outside of the Castle Dale Maverick which had been very elusive, but after a five-week hunt, they were able to finally catch the stray. Lofthouse reported that the dog had already been adopted.
Next, it was Bryan Christensen’s turn at the podium, where he provided an update regarding the security doors in Blue Sage Arena, stating that he had worked through some errors regarding the key card system and made it so city employees could read the card logs to see who entered the facility and when. Christensen next provided an estimate and a contract for the city council of $4600 annually to perform biannual maintenance on the doors of the arena. The council moved to vote and approved the contract unanimously.
The agenda then moved to a potential stipend for city employees Tresa Skinner, Jody Gerber and Councilwoman Mills. The rationale behind this stipend was explained by Mayor Van Wagoner, who stated that he calls the employee’s personal phones almost as much as their office phones, so he felt that they should be compensated. Councilman Dorsch proposed a stipend in the amounts of either 50% or $50, but after discussion, it was decided that $50 would be the amount. The motion was made to vote with the stipend passing unanimously and Councilwoman Mills abstaining from the vote.
The Council then heard from the Emery High Rodeo club, who were requesting that their fee for their rodeo be waived along with the membership fee for Blue Sage Arena be waived when they hold practices in the winter. Both requests were approved by the council.
Bookending the meeting was a discussion on the proposed budget for the city. After looking over the budget, the decision was made to approve the tentative budget and move it forward to next month’s meeting where it will be open for public comment. That meeting is set to be held on Thursday, June 13 at 7 p.m. in Castle Dale City Hall.