The Emery County Commissioners met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, June 18, in the Emery County Administration building. Facing the Commission was a wide variety of topics ranging from congratulations to discussions on tax rates.

Opening up the meeting was a recognition for some state champions from Emery County. These champions included Dalton Allred in Bull Riding, Wyatt Fox in Rifle Shooting, Creek Sharp in the 100-meter dash and Monty Christiansen in reining cow horse. The Commissioners expressed gratitude to these young athletes for representing the community well and congratulated them on their accomplishments.

Next, the Commissioners opened bids from contractors to perform HVAC work on the county administration building. Only one bid was received on time, with a second being turned in two minutes after the deadline, which disqualified them from consideration. The only bid received then was for $205,425.29

The next major item on the agenda for the Commissioners was a request to move forward with a sales tax leakage report for 2023. The purpose of this report would be to see what industries residents of the county were leaving the area to purchase from, which would allow county officials to see what industries they should invest in for the future. To start getting this report, the Commission would have to submit a signed Sales Tax Data Request form, a condition which the Commissioners moved forward with unanimously.

Next another local athlete presented to the Commissioners. This time it was Johnny Fox, who was looking for a donation to go and represent Emery County in the Jr. High National Rodeo Final in Ribbon Roping. The Commissioners asked Fox about what ribbon roping entails, and he explained that it’s a team activity where one rider and one runner must rope a steer, take a ribbon off its tail, and run it back to the start. The Commission approved a monetary donation of $750.

After this, members of the Emery High Student Council Dazi Thatcher, Audrey Livingston and Allison Johansen took the podium to request funding to attend the Trailblazer Leadership Conference held at Utah Tech University. The council members explained that 19 council members wanted to attend this conference to help them become more effective leaders. The council approved this request for $1000.

Next on the Commissioner’s plate was the approval of tax rates for both the county and the Special Service District. Commissioner Keven Jensen expressed concern regarding the county tax, saying that with it being so high it was hurting residents of the county. After some discussion, the Commissioners made the motion to freeze the tax rate from last year with a lower revenue budget to help pay off the Emery County Aquatic Center.

The next tax-related item was the rates for the Castle Valley Special Service District, with Jacob Sharp explaining to the Commissioners that the rate had gone up due to the centrally assessed value being lowered. Sharp explained that the increase would only be a few thousand dollars, and not the $350,000 the County was trying to offset, and recommended they accept the State Auditor rates. A recommendation that the commission accepted, approving the special service district tax rates.

Next, the Commission looked at the renewal of a contract between the state, the county court, and the Emery County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO) for the provision of courtroom bailiffs. It was explained to the commissioners this contract was for the courtroom bailiff and the county must provide that security. But in return, the county does make money. The motion was made to approve the contract which passed successfully.

More police businesses followed this, with the commission discussing the potential approval of a partnership between the Utah Department of Public Safety and ECSO for a sobriety program. It was explained that the purpose of this partnership was to help rehabilitate people convicted of a DUI, by allowing them to keep their license but they would then be required to take alcohol and drug tests on a daily and weekly basis. It was also explained that this program in other states had a 99% success rate among the 50,000 people who participated by not only avoiding reoffending but also avoiding drugs and alcohol for over a year. The motion was made to approve this program which the Commissioners approved unanimously.

Next, the County Travel Office discussed several matters with the Commissioners, including an update on the new county branding, paying the Go-Utah.com destination program dues, purchasing event management software Eventeny, an agreement to support the John Wesley Powell River History Museum, and the potential approval of a grant for event marketing from the Utah Office of Travel. All items which the commissioners approved.

After this, the Commission discussed the potential hiring of a watershed project manager through the Emery County Conservancy District to help finish the Cottonwood Drainage Projects. The purpose of these projects is to keep debris out of Joe’s Valley Road, and hiring a project manager would finish this ongoing plan and help keep the momentum going for other potential similar projects. The motion was made by the Commission to move forward with this potential hire, a motion that was approved unopposed by the Commissioners.

After this, the Commissioners faced a series of area plans and budgets for various solar projects within Emery County. The Commission was able to move through these items quickly, approving all area plans, budgets and amendments for the solar projects.

Next was a major item for the County, which was the potential approval of a no-cost lease agreement between the San Rafael Special Service District, Emery County, and the Utah Office of Energy Development regarding the management of the San Rafael Research Center. Commissioner Lynn Sitterud explained that this would be a show of good faith from the state that they would honor their commitment to purchase the research center once the funds became available. This would also allow the state to start taking over management on July 1. The Commissioners approved this request, allowing the planned takeover to continue.

Following this item, the Commission looked into the possibility of purchasing a building in Huntington to remodel into a new Senior Citizen Center. Commissioner Sitterud motioned to table this item until more research could be done into the potential cost, a statement which was echoed by Commissioner Jordan Leonard. The tabling of this item then went to a vote where it was approved with no opposition.

The final agenda item was an amendment to the contract between Emery County and the Utah Office of Energy Development, which would extend the window to complete the purchase of the Research Center, provided that the office would continue to make payments. The amendment was approved unanimously.

Rounding out the meeting were departmental reports, with Sheriff Tyson Huntington explaining that due to new legislation, an armed staff member would be required to be present in the school from bell to bell. Because of this, the Sheriff’s Office took administrators from around the school district into a training exercise where they learned how to search schools for threats in the event of an emergency. Sheriff Huntington also fielded questions about how the law works, explaining that it was the department’s job to train the faculty tasked with being armed, but that it fell on the school district to ensure someone was always armed in the schools.

The Emery County Commission will not be meeting on Tuesday, July 2, meaning that the next Commissioners meeting will take place at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, July 16, in the County Administration Building.