Photo | Daneil Robison (Left) recieves Employee of the Month honors from Kellie Payne (Right)
By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
The Carbon County Commissioners gathered at the Carbon County Administration Building on Wednesday, March 5. A shortened agenda for the Commissioners featured items such as grant approvals, lease agreements, and a new appointment to the Friends of the Carbon Emery Children’s Justice Center Board.
Commission Chair Tony Martines opened the meeting by inviting Jade Powell, the deputy director at the Southeastern Regional Development Agency, to speak on a lease agreement between the county and Utah State University Eastern for hangar space for the college’s Aviation maintenance Technician Program.
“The facility has come along great,” explained Powell,” The hangar itself should be finished mid-May. The hangar will be owned and managed by Carbon County, and the lessee to the hangar will be USU.” The lease agreement is for 10 years, with the university paying the county an up-front lump sum of $500,00. The money to construct this hangar came from a mixture of Economic Development Agency grants and funding from USU.
“The building that will house the students and instruction that goes on there is a significant improvement to the airport,” stated Commissioner Larry Jensen. Following this presentation, the lease agreement was approved unanimously.
Following this was the presentation of the County’s Employee of the Month award, which was given to Daneil Robison from the emergency services department. The nomination for Robison reads,” Daneil is always caring, willing to help and goes above and beyond … Daneil can often be found making sure that everything is running smoothly and in order. Daneil is always the first one to check on others and make sure they are OK.”
Robison was then presented with the award.
Next was another piece of recognition: the Super Service Award. Working as a waitress at Farlaino’s Café, the honor was presented to Teri Barney. “She is the heart of Farlaino’s,” says the nomination. “She’s such a selfless person and never wants accolades, but she absolutely deserves them.”
The penultimate item was the approval of the 2025 Rural County Grant Funding. Shanny Wilson and Layne Miller from the Economic Development Board addressed the Commission, with Wilson explaining,” The 2025 funding came through and we got $200,000. We had $2,000 left over from the previous year, so we have a little over $200,000 that we were able to distribute this time around.”
The money from this grant can be used for a wide variety of purposes, such as workforce development, renovation, expansion, and equipment upgrades. The requirement for these funds is that they help the community and businesses grow.
The Rural County Grant is a 50/50 matching grant, meaning that recipients will pay for a project up front but be reimbursed 50% of the cost. Businesses aided by these funds include Kilpatrick Fine Art, Flawless Sheeting, Sign Edge, and Helper Saturday Vibes. With no controversy surrounding the funding, it passed unopposed.
The final agenda item facing the Commissioners was the potential approval of Rebecca Driggs to the Friends of the Carbon Emery Children’s Justice Center Board. Minimal discussion was had before the appointment was approved 3-0. The meeting was then adjourned.
The next Carbon County Board of Commissioners meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 19, at 4:30 p.m. in the Carbon County Administration building. A livestream of the meeting is available on YouTube and Facebook for those unable to attend in person.