On Tuesday, Oct. 1, the Emery County Commissioners met in the County Administration Building for their regularly scheduled commission meeting. With a lighter agenda, the Commissioners took the time to spotlight mini bull riding champion Hoyt Horton as well as the libraries of the county.

First on the agenda was an update to a memorandum of understanding for the county’s library system to participate in the Utah Education Network’s Wi-Fi for Libraries Program. This update would provide an extra $1,000 in funding to buy uninterruptible power supply batteries for the libraries. These batteries would give electronics within the libraries additional power and help them avoid damage in case of a power surge. Commissioner Keven Jensen asked for clarification that this would not come out of the county’s pocket, which it would not. After hearing this the commissioners approved the MOU.

After this, the commissioners looked at the potential approval of two tax abatements, one a veteran tax abatement for Jeremia Rich and the other a circuit breaker abatement for Lonnie Rich. The Commissioners approved these with no controversy.

Next was the potential for either a commission adjustment or abatement for Marci Rogers. Commissioner Jordan Leonard said that although the commission wants to help everyone in the county, deadlines do have to be followed. Commissioner Leonard also proposed some solutions for the commissioners for the future, such as better deadline advertising. The other commissioners echoed this sentiment and denied the item.

Following this, the commissioners looked to appoint a county representative and backup representative for the Utah County’s Indemnity Pool annual membership meeting. The Commissioners looked to bring the same representatives with Personnel Director Mary Huntington as the main representative and Commissioner Lynn Sitterud as the backup. Commissioner Sitterud informed the others that he could not make it, so instead the Commissioners called on County Attorney Mike Olsen as the backup. This item passed unanimously.

Up next on the agenda was the approval to advertise a request for proposal for the Emery County general plan. Commissioner Jensen explained that they had gone through this process before, but the proposals came back more expensive than the county wanted, so they went back to the drawing board and tightened up the scope of the plan. Jensen also explained the county had secured a funding match that would help get the plan going. After this explanation, the Commissioners moved to vote and approved the item 3-0.

After this, the Commissioners welcomed mini bull riding champion, Hoyt Horton, taking the time to honor him for his incredible achievement. Horton was asked what he had to do to earn this, stating,” It took a lot of practice to get ready for this. I can’t believe I did it. And that was the third year there I’ve been. I always did good, but this year, I really practiced hard.” Following this, those in attendance gave Horton a standing ovation.

The next two items both passed with little to no discussion or controversy. The first was the approval for the road department to continue their rental agreement for a backhoe loader. The next was approval for the county to join the Napoli Target Opioid settlement.

The final agenda item was the potential approval funding to the Emery County Aquatic Center for critical repairs. Commissioner Sitterud explained that these repairs would be to the boilers of the pool, which health inspectors had determined were leaking Carbon dioxide and had to be shut off. Sitterud also explained that it would be in the best interest of the county to buy new boilers instead of attempting to rebuild the current ones, as it would give the boilers more mileage. The other Commissioners shared this sentiment and approved the purchase of new boilers, which will cost around $300,000. 

Closing out the meeting was elected officials’ reports. Sheriff Tyson Huntington shared that the Sheriff’s Office enjoyed the time it spent at Green River’s Melon Days. The Sheriff also gave a reminder to be safe while driving as we’ve arrived at the time of year with a lot of unexpected weather. Commissioner Jensen shared that the county’s library system had received an award from the Utah State Library Division recognizing the county as having quality libraries. After this, the meeting was adjourned.

The Emery County Board of Commissioners meets twice a month in the Emery County Administration Building. The next scheduled meeting for the commissioners is Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 3 p.m.