By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News

The Carbon County Commissioners faced a loaded agenda when they met for their biweekly meeting on Wednesday, June 4. Totaling 18 line items, the Commissioners faced decisions on land sales, vehicle bids and both receiving and presenting awards.

Kellie Payne opened the affair, presenting a quartet of Carbon County Sheriff’s employees with the county’s Employee of the Month award. Garrett Safely, Donna Archuleta, Erik Buchmiller, and Mike Hreinson were all presented with the honor.

Nominated by Chief Deputy Cletus Steele and Sgt. Rick Adams, the duo praised the four officers for their work as school resource officers and as civil processors. “Their dedication and positive attitude is second to none at the Sheriff’s Office,” said Adams. “It’s hard to give it to just one, so you have to do all four. They’re all that good. This award is way overdue and well deserved by all of them.”

Next to the podium was Tina Grange with June’s Super Service Award, which was presented to Rita Baker of Cowboy Kitchen. “Rita is very friendly, very efficient and represents our area very well,” reads Baker’s nomination. “She always does an amazing job, and I think she would be a great candidate for this award.”

Moving forward, Grange addressed a change in the transient room tax across the state. The tax is increasing from 4.25% to 4.5%. This change applies to short-term rentals. The change goes into effect on July 1, with Grange stating,” As you know, this is the money that comes in that supports our department. This is how the tourism office is funded, and this we take that money, and that’s what we use to market our destination to bring people in to give back to our lodging partners who pay that tax.”

The Commissioners approved the change unanimously.

Next on the agenda was the certification of contribution rates to the Utah retirement system. “All of the full-time employees qualify for that, and the county contributes to that fund depending on what fund they’re in. Some of them can be just a pension, sometimes a pension and 401(k), sometimes a 401(k), so it just depends on what fund or tier they are in.”

Commissioner Larry Jensen wanted to clarify to the public that elected officials do not get a lifetime benefit from the fund. Once retired, officials are in control, but contributions stop.

Again, the item was approved.

Following this, another award was presented. This time, the Commissioners were the recipients. American Legion Vice National Commander Randy Edwards presented the Employer Support of the Guard Reserve award to the Commissioners. 

“The above and beyond award is presented by the employer support of the Guard Reserve state committee to recognize employers at the local level who have gone above and beyond the legal requirements of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act by providing their Guard and Reserve employees additional non-mandated benefits such as differential or full pay to offset loss wages, extended health benefits and other similar benefits that you had provided,” said Edwards. “The award is given in limited numbers by the state committee to employers who have at least one of their supervisors/managers recognized with a patriot award and who have signed or agreed to sign the SUR statement of support, which your county has done so on behalf of the Department of Defense. We want to present to you the above and beyond award to Carbon County and thank you for your services.”

Following this presentation, the body opened sealed bids for the motocross pavilion construction project, a building department vehicle and a roads department vehicle. Three bids were received for the motocross pavilion, eight for the building department vehicle and four for the road department vehicle. The Commission acknowledged these bids and passed them on for additional analysis.

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources then presented to the Commissioners a proposal to purchase a .43-acre plot of land the county owned, which falls in the middle of a wildlife management area. It was explained that this purchase would help streamline the DWR’s management of the WMA. With minimal discussion, the sale was approved.

Moving forward, the Commissioners looked to start a committee to celebrate the 250th signing of the Declaration of Independence. This committee would start with a $3000 allocation from the state to help plan a celebration for the anniversary. This allocation comes from federal tax dollars. When put to a vote, the Commissioners moved to ratify this agreement and create the committee.

Next, the Board of Commissioners handled several law enforcement items, approving the Federal Bureau of Investigation Criminal Justice Information Services Security Addendum, a court security and bailiff funding agreement with the seventh district court, and approving a grant through K9forCops. “K9forCops is a nongovernment entity that you can apply for their grant year-round,” explained Sheriff Jeff Wood. “They provide the K9s and training for the handler and the K9s. So, our handler is Garrett Blank. He’s a top-notch K-9 handler, and he’s trained and everything. But the dog will need some training. They get these dogs from licensed K-9 breeders, so they’re good dogs. They fund it fully for us all we have to do is apply for it. If we are granted the grant, they’ll provide us with the K-9. Our only obligation is to provide them with the dog’s medical records every year.”

All of these items passed 3-0.

After this, the Commissioner ratified a contract with the Utah Department of Health and Human Services to help fund the Southeastern Utah Health Department in return for oversight.

The body closed the meeting by approving the 2025 tax sale. This sale impacts county parcels that have been delinquent for five years. Five parcels were sold this year. County Clerk/Auditor Seth Marsing described this year’s sale as “straightforward,” prompting the Commission to approve the item.

The meeting was then adjourned.

The next meeting of the Carbon County Commissioners will be held on Wednesday, June 18, in the Carbon County administration building. A livestream of the meeting is available on YouTube and Facebook for those unable to attend in person.