The Board Emery County Commissioners gathered in the Emery County Administration Building on Tuesday, Sept. 17 for the Board’s regularly scheduled meeting. On the Commissioners’ plate at this meeting were topics such as tax abatements, remodeling plans, and a presentation from the American Legion which turned into a donation for the organization.
Starting the meeting was a safety minute presentation given by Castle Dale Librarian Susan Hess, who discussed the importance of being aware in the workplace, especially when working by yourself. Hess provided some tips for how to become more workplace aware,” Number one is avoid multitasking. We help customers and patrons and then have to go back to our list and it’s hard to stay focused. But if you can avoid doing too much multitasking, you can be aware of your situation and your surroundings to people that are coming in and out of your business.” She continued,” The second thing is to limit distractions. Distractions in the workplace can detract from employees’ ability to do their job like loud or irritating noises … And then the last one is proper rest. According to the Mayo Clinic adults need at least seven hours of sleep per night.” Jokingly Hess added,” It did say in this article Commissioners, some companies even encourage naps during the work day to increase productivity with physical health.”
Next was a presentation from Nikki Allred and Kent Nelson, who discussed the 1Direction Coalition and the Green River Prevention Coalitions respectively. Nelson spoke first, explaining the struggles that directly affect Green River due to being nestled right on a major drug trafficking highway. Nelson also explained that of the 18 licensed alcohol vendors in Emery County, seven of them were in Green River.
This is where the Coalitions come in, providing prevention resources and education regarding the dangers of underage consumption of drugs, alcohol and nicotine products. The main aim of the programs is to increase protective factors and decrease risk factors. Allred also spoke on this mission, inviting the Commissioners to become key leaders with the 1Direction Coalition.
The biggest item of the meeting came when Reed Black from the American Legion came to present. Initially, the item was supposed to be a discussion regarding the possibility of creating an Emery County-specific Veterans helping Veterans organization due to rising costs in American Legion membership. Black explained that dues for the organization had risen significantly, costing $46, $40 for the actual legion fees, and $6 to help fund the local posts.
Commissioner Lynn Sitterud asked if the organization wanted to disband from the legion, or if they would rather keep the legion posts open. Black stated the consensus was that they wanted to keep it open and had floated the idea of asking for a $200 donation to the posts. Commissioner Sitterud asked Commissioner Jordan Leonard and Kevin Jensen what they thought, and after a brief discussion, the trio decided to donate $500 to each of the three posts totaling $1500. Commissioner Sitterud explained that this was in part due to a” debt of gratitude” to the Veterans for all they do within our community. Those in attendance erupted into applause upon the passing of this item.
Next on the agenda was a continuation of a previous Commission discussion regarding the resolution to annex some unincorporated parts of Emery County into the Castle Valley Special Service District. Again District Manager Jacob Sharp presented, explaining this item was just to have the Commissioners adopt the resolution to begin the process. The motion was made to vote which passed unanimously.
The next two items on the agenda both involved tax abatements, the first for veteran and blind homeowner tax abatements and the second for low-income abatements. Both were approved by the Commissioners with no controversy.
The next major item was a modification to a preexisting contract between the Emery County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Land Management. Emery County Sheriff Tyson Huntington explained,” Our current contract was signed in 2020 and it’s a 5-year contract. Each year, the BLM will send us a modification, so we can bill against the next year’s funds. Just so you know, we bill at $47 an hour when we respond to calls out on BLM land … So anytime we go out and do any kind of law enforcement on BLM land, it’s coded differently in our dispatch system.
The penultimate item of the meeting was the compliance plan resolution which recently became mandatory due to the state legislature. County Attorney Mike Olsen explained that he had already drafted the resolution and plan and just needed approval from the commissioners, which they gave.
The final item was the approval of a contract between Arrowhead Construction and the county for the renovation of the restrooms in the Administration building. The contract amounts to $217,560, the motion was made to vote on the contract, which the Commissioners approved 3-0.
The Emery County Commission meets biweekly, with their next meeting being scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 3 p.m. in the Emery County Administration building.