The Carbon County Board of Commissioners convened on Wednesday, Feb. 5 for their regularly scheduled meeting. With only eight major items covered during the public session of the meeting, the Commissioners were able to close the session in only 20 minutes.

Opening the meeting was the presentation of the county’s Employee of the Month award, which was presented to Dekota Kraushaar and Joshua Plauche, members of the county’s EMT team. The pair were nominated for actions taken during a rescue operation by Scofield. According to a release regarding the incident from the Helper City Fire Department,” In the early morning hours of Dec. 27, Helper Fire was dispatched to milepost 9 on SR264 near Scofield for a single vehicle accident. A small passenger car rolled approximately 400 feet down a steep embankment with two occupants.”

Chief Matt Montoya spoke of the pair,” They did something that oftentimes other responders do, but the fact that they were willing to do it and go through those extreme conditions they deserve recognition.

Next was the presentation of the County Super Service Award, which went to a trio of Todd Richardson, Kathy Richardson and Tanner Richardson, bus drivers for the Carbon County School District. The nomination for the trio read,” They’ve always gone above and beyond, making sure my youngest felt safe on the bus and being my oldest’s bus driver since kindergarten. They’re kind, compassionate, and truly care about every child they transport. They deserve so much recognition for the way they keep our kids safe and keep them happy every day.”

Following this on the docket was the potential approval of an agreement with Blueprint Creation LLC for customer service & leadership training. Tourism Specialist Tina Grange explained this agreement would be to bring Customer Service Specialist Brand Anderson for free customer service training. This would be the second time Anderson had come down for training, as in 2024 he held the “Make it Memorable Customer Service Training.”

To fund this training, the Utah State University Custom Fit program covers half while the tourism department pays the other. The commissioners moved to vote on the matter, passing it unanimously.

Registration is currently open for this training and is available here.

Next on the Commissioner’s plate were appointments to Friends of the Carbon Emery Children’s Justice Center Board for 2025. Five citizens applied for the board position, with all five being approved by the Commission. Irene Everett, Ricky Camberlango, Brittany Cunningham, Miranda Miller, and Casey Wilson were all appointed to the board.

Following this was a presentation from the Castle Country Classic Livestock Show, with Ava Crossland, Dayson Thayn and Jaxton Thayn all addressing the Commissioners. Dayson Thayn explained one of the benefits behind the show,” Another thing that is important for Castle Country Classic Show is to choose younger judges that are working on building their judging profiles.”

At the conclusion of the presentation, the Commissioners moved to provide a donation of $1500 to the show.

Another donation-related item followed as the board pondered a donation to East Carbon Community Daze. Levels of sponsorship consist of $250 to $499 for bronze, silver for $500 to $999 and gold level for anything above $1000. With minimal discussion, the board decided to go for gold and donate $1000 to the event.

The next item on the docket was regarding the continued construction of infrastructure at the Carbon County Industrial Park. This item in particular would be a purchase for half an acre of land from the estate of Larry Young which would then be turned into a utility road for the industrial park. The terms of the deal were discussed in a previous closed session. The purchase was ratified by the Commissioners in a 3-0 vote.

The final public item of the meeting was the appointment of Clerk/Auditor Seth Marsing to the o Utah Association of Counties board of directors for 2025. Although the position is decided by the county commissioners, many state leaders on the board requested Marsing reprise his role with the body. A motion was made and the appointment was approved unanimously.

The meeting was then closed to the public as the Commissioners entered into a closed session to discuss ongoing litigation.

The next meeting of the Carbon County Commissioners will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 19 starting at 4:30 p.m. in the Carbon County Administration building. The meeting will also be streamed on both YouTube and Facebook.