By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
The Commissioners of Emery County gathered on Tuesday, Feb. 5, for their regularly scheduled meeting. Within this meeting, the Commissioners approved a donation to the Southeastern Junior Livestock show in a shortened public session which was closed after five items to discuss litigation the county is either currently battling or expecting to face.
Opening the meeting, Kaylee Morris, representing the SEUJLS, took to the podium to request a donation from the Commissioners for this year’s rendition of the event. Morris requested the Commission sponsor the “Best of the Swell” belt buckle with a donation of $5000. She explained that this award went to the best animal in the show, regardless of species. After a brief period of consideration, the Commissioners moved to approve the donation in a 3-0 vote.
After this, the Commission tackled an amendment to the Lawrence Cemetery management plan. Commissioner Keven Jensen explained,” This one is for the adjustment of fees in grave preparation.” He added that this lowers the cost of grave preparations in order to make burial more accessible as more and more people turn to cremation because of its affordable nature. Again, when put to a vote, the amendment passed unanimously.
Next was a contract approval to work with Bio-West to develop a new general plan for the county. This contract was chosen through a bid process, and the company will provide the county with environmental planning and consultation as it revises this plan.
According to Utah State Code Section 10-9a-401, a general plan is, ” A comprehensive, long-range plan for present and future needs of the municipality and growth and development of all or any part of the land within the municipality.”
This is part of a multistage process to update the general plan as seen below:
Source: Planning and Zoning Administration in Utah, 3rd Edition
This action was then passed unopposed by the commissioners.
Following this on the agenda was the potential approval of a contract renewal with manufacturing company YESCO for the John Wesley Powell Museum billboard in Green River. The item was approved with no controversy.
The final public item was a contract amendment between the county and the state regarding reimbursements for the San Rafael Research Center. This amendment would extend the date on which the county would pay the contracts for the research center while being reimbursed by the state as the transfer of ownership continues. With no problems being seen, the Commissioners passed the item.
The meeting was then closed to deal with three matters regarding pending or reasonably imminent litigation.
According to Utah code 52–4-205, closed meetings can be called for,” discussion of the character, professional competence, or physical or mental health of an individual. (b) strategy sessions to discuss collective bargaining;(c) strategy sessions to discuss pending or reasonably imminent litigation;(d) strategy sessions to discuss the purchase, exchange, or lease of real property, including any form of a water right or water shares, or to discuss a proposed development agreement, project proposal, or financing proposal related to the development of land owned by the state, if public discussion would: (i) disclose the appraisal or estimated value of the property under consideration; or (ii) prevent the public body from completing the transaction on the best possible terms.”
Two of the three items – pending or reasonably imminent litigation regarding the proceedings with Longstreet and Emery County’s plan of action regarding Cleveland Reservoir – have been discussed previously in meetings publicly.
For Longstreet, the item was discussed during the Commission’s June 4 meeting. The minutes read,” Commissioner Leonard reported that this has been an issue for some time. The Emery County Commissioners would like to see this come to a conclusion. The property owner on Longstreet is blocking access to public lands. He suggested sending a letter to the property owner from County Attorney Mike Olsen explaining that the road is open to access federal lands. Afterward, give the landowner 30 days to present a plan of action for access relocation.”
For the Cleveland reservoir matter, the issue was tabled during the Aug. 6 meeting of the Commissioners. “Commissioner Jensen indicated that this issue has been ongoing for a couple of years now. Mr. Oldham would like to build a cabin and remove public access to Cleveland Reservoir at his private property. Commissioner Jensen commented that we, as a County, need to fight to maintain public access and Commissioner (Jordan) Leonard added historical access also. Commissioner Sitterud commented that just because you can legally do something it doesn’t make it right. He was against letting him block access to the reservoir. Without Legal Counsel to discuss this issue Commissioner Lynn Sitteurd made a motion to table.”
A search for the Green River Gravel pit item yielded no results in the state’s meeting database.
The next meeting of the Emery County Board of Commissioners is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 18 in the Emery County Administration Building.