The Carbon County Commission gathered on Wednesday, June 5, for their biweekly meeting. On the Commissions plate, this go-round were items such as the creation of a geocaching collectible coin and a wrap-up report from the Carbon County Fair.

Kicking off the meeting was the awarding of the Carbon County Employee of the Month, which went to Adam Cox, a jail lieutenant with the county. Cox, who has been employed with the county for 16 years. Cletis Steele, chief deputy for the Carbon County Sheriff’s office nominated Cox and spoke on why he did so,” I’ve had the opportunity to work with Adam since 2015, and since that time he has proven to be a dedicated employee and a great leader.”

Next, it was the awarding of the Super Service Award, which was presented by Tina Grange. Grange explained that you can nominate people for this award by emailing her at tina.grange@carbon.ut.gov. The award went to Stuart Burgess, a barista for Starbucks. The nomination for Burgess read,” Stuart greets customers with a smile and a “hey, how’s it going?” making each visit to Starbucks great.”

The next item up for approval was the ratification of a Geocaching commemorative coin to be sold by the Utah State University Prehistoric Museum. Grange explained that the coin was unique in the fact it had a GPS tracker, allowing those who find the coin and hide it for other geocachers to find to be able to follow the coin’s journey. The Commission motioned to approve and unanimously ratified the agreement.

Utah State University Eastern took center stage on the next item, with the Commission looking to potentially approve a kiosk agreement with the college and the Travel Board to place more informational kiosks around the area to be utilized by tourists. Commissioner Tony Martines spoke on the kiosk,” These kiosks are being used and looked at, I’ve seen a few just as I travel …I’d like to commend the Travel Board’s decision on where to place these.” The commission approved this agreement unanimously.

The next major item on the agenda came from Kourtney Cox with Carbon County Recreation, who provided a wrap-up of the Carbon County Fair. “At the end of the fair, we provided a survey for feedback on the fair. One of those questions was asking if people enjoyed the new dates for the fair, which a lot of people do enjoy that we now kick off the summer’s events. Another piece of feedback we got was people want to see Carnival rides. So as a group, we are going to push harder to see if we can find a Carnival midway to come into the community and join us for the fair.” Commissioner Larry Jensen gave appreciation to the Recreation Department,” I think the fair was a huge draw for the community and in some ways even some healing.”

Next, it was Aubrey Kirkwood from the Recreation Department looking for approval to apply for the fiscal year incentive grant. Kirkwood explained that this grant is used to help improve the motocross track, and is funded through the state’s OHV registration fees. After hearing this the Commission approved to apply for the grant.

Following this, the Commission looked into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Price City and Carbon Regarding fire/emergency services. Commissioner Jensen explained that the fire departments of Carbon County work out of their city limits to respond to fires in unincorporated parts of the county, so in return, the Commissioners grant extra funding to departments specifically, in the case of Price that came in the amount of $86,620. The motion was made to approve the MOU which was passed unopposed.

Next on the docket was a discussion for the possible approval of the Seventh District Court Security contract for 2024. Commissioner Casey Hopes explained that this contract was for the courtroom bailiff and the county has the obligation to provide that security. But in return, the county does make money. The motion was made to approve the contract which passed successfully.

After this, the Commissioners looked to extend an agreement from Aug. 6, 2021, between Jones and Demille Engineering and Sewer Design Work for Carbon County Airport. Commissioner Jensen explained that,” in the effort to build the new training facility at the airport we learned of the requirements for sprinkler systems in the hangars. We also learned the existing water system at the airport is inadequate.” Rather than entering into a new agreement, the Commissioners agreed it would be better to extend the 2021 agreement. Following this discussion, the extension was approved.

Next, it was the ratification of a nonfunded participation agreement between the Skyline Cooperative Weed Management area and the United States Forest Service. This agreement in essence works with several agencies both local, state, and federal to spray weeds. After a brief discussion, the commission ratified the agreement.

The last major agenda item was the potential appointment of Doctor Zak Konakis to the Sheriff Merit Board. The Commissioners spoke on his qualifications, serving on the Economic Development Board as well as the Board of Directors at the health department, on top of all this working as a professor at USUE. The Commission moved to nominate Konakis to the board which they all approved.

The Commission’s next meeting will be held Wednesday, June 19, at 4:30 p.m. in the Carbon County Administration Building. For those unable to attend in person, a livestream of the meeting is available on YouTube and Facebook.