The Huntington City Council met on Wednesday, Aug. 21 for the city’s monthly council meeting. Facing the council on the Agenda was a myriad Mental Health topics, including the city declaring September as Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month.

After the meeting was called to order, the first item of business was the approval of a new business license within the city. The business in question was  Johnson’s Diesel Service. Gary Arrington explained that because the business was an LLC, there would be no change in the name but just a change in ownership.

Next, was a reading of a proclamation by Mayor Leonard Norton which declared September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month for the city. Amanda McIntosh, a suicide prevention specialist for the Southeast Utah Health Department and the HOPE Squad of Carbon, Emery and Grand Counties, spoke to the council on the importance of the declaration. “ It is really important to destigmatize mental health and self-help seeking behaviors … By recognizing September as Suicide Awareness and Prevention month, hopefully, that will bring more awareness to what we’re trying to do.”

After this proclamation, Niki Allred from Four Corners Behavioral Health spoke on a new coalition that was formed within the county. “I would like to take a moment to share some information about an exciting opportunity to join with other community leaders to improve the lives of our community’s youth through a customized, communitywide project called the Communities That Care (CTC) prevention-planning system.” Allred continued,” The CTC system takes a practical, evidence-based, outcome-focused approach that involves the whole community in promoting positive youth development … A successful Communities That Care effort will need the commitment of dedicated Community Leaders like you, representing all the significant segments of our community.”

The statement ended by stating,” We hope that you will join us in building a shared vision of our community as a safe, nurturing environment for all children.”

Next up for the council was a discussion on tire removal within the city. Mayor Norton described this as the “nightmare at the rodeo ground,” and explained that the project would cost three to four thousand dollars if the city continued with the current course of action. Council Member Lesa Miller jumped in and explained that after several phone calls, she had found a cheaper solution. “I got a hold of Carbon’s landfill, and because we are a city they will take the tires for $280 a ton, with approximately 80 to 90 tires per ton.” After hearing this, the Council moved to accept this deal. “The city will not take any more tires and the rodeo grounds or the dump,” declared Mayor Norton after the issue was voted on.

Then the council tackled the issue of an invoice from Kay Electric for repairs to the city’s concession stand. $4940.21 was the amount of the bid placed by Kay Electric for the project. With the council making the motion to move forward with the project.

Another big item of business for the council was a raise in wages for the city’s crossing guards from $11 to $12. Following minimal discussion, the raise was approved unanimously.

The last major challenge facing the council was a request from a citizen who had their secondary line cut for a refund for what they paid while the line was severed. Because the citizen in question’s neighbor was the one who had allegedly severed the line, the citizen would not be charged for its replacement and instead it would be the neighbor.

After this discussion, the motion was made to put the matter to a vote, With Councilmembers Miller, Judd Beagley, Gloria Wilson and Devin Wilson voting in favor while Council member Tom Kay voted nay, with the vote passing 4-1.

When it came time for the Mayor’s report, Mayor Norton was very candid in saying,” It’s been a crazy month.” Mayor Norton also wanted to remind citizens to be careful with school back in session and to watch out for children traveling to and from school. He also took the time to thank the city staff for the hard work that they put in to improve the city.

The next scheduled Huntington City Council meeting is for Wednesday, Sept. 18 at 6:30 p.m. in Huntington City Hall.