The Carbon County Commissioners met together on Wednesday, Sept. 18 in the Carbon County Administration building. The Commissioners faced the normal items of grants, approvals and requests, but also in this meeting, the trio had the opportunity to be introduced to this year’s Miss Carbon County Royalty.

Mini Miss, Little Miss, Junior Miss, Teen Miss and Miss Carbon County all made appearances before the Commissioners to talk about their platforms and what they’re excited about for the year. 

Mini Miss Addalynn Jones told the commissioners how excited she was for the parades and all the events the royalty would get to attend 

Little Miss Paisley Jenkins spoke about how she is excited about the parades, photoshoots and serving her community. 

Junior Miss Taylee Brower explained that she was excited for her services project the Little Voice Movement. Brower explained this project was about lifting people’s voices up and not putting people down. She continued by explaining she wanted to go around to fourth and fifth-grade classrooms sharing a video on self-confidence as well as creating kindness cards that spread positivity.

Teen Miss Burcklee Brady was unable to attend in person, but prepared a video message for the commissioners explaining her platform. #Social Media Smart is the platform for Brady, explaining that she experienced a harrowing experience in which she was privately messaged and then later tracked by a stranger when she was only 12. To promote this she wrote a book and created her platform to spread awareness of the dangers of social media.

Finally, Miss Carbon County Shalyce Rauhala presented to the Commissioners stating first that the reason she competed to become Miss Carbon County was to help make a difference in the community. She continued to explain that her platform was based on mental health awareness, teaming up with the Southeast Utah Health Department to help promote Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) training in the community. Rauhala also wants to go to the schools of the county to talk about the importance of mental health.

The Commissioners expressed their gratitude and thanked these young ladies for all they’re doing to help better the community. Kylie Howes, the director of the Miss Carbon County Program took the mic to explain how the organization had the funds to send both Brady and Rauhala to Mexico on a humanitarian service trip in Nov. Howes then requested the Commissioner’s donation for the 2025 rendition of the pageant. In the past, this has been a $1500 scholarship for the Miss Carbon County royalty, and $400 for the Miss Teen royalty. The commissioners fulfilled this request unanimously.

Following the introductions the Commissioners heard from Tina Grange to fill a vacancy on the County’s Tourism Tax Advisory Board. Grange stated that Anna Wilder, who was a restaurant representative on the board received a promotion out of state, creating the vacancy. Two applicants applied for the position, Cammy McManus and Crystal Nostrin. Commissioner Tony Martines voiced that because McManus had applied previously and did so again, she was willing to fill the position, a statement which the others agreed on. The motion was made and McManus was appointed to the board.

Following this, Grange and Aubrey Kirkwood would speak to the Commission. Both applied for the state’s Off-Highway Vehicle Grant for the 2025 fiscal year. Grange spoke first, explaining that with the money from the grant the Tourism office would like to buy a side-by-side and other equipment such as a water tank to better care for the trails of the Carbon Corridor.

Kirkwood then spoke, stating that Carbon Recreation would be using the money to help continue the renovations on the County’s motocross track. These renovations would include graveling the parking lot and redoing the drainage system, as well as building a pavilion to create a picnic spot and the implementation of a new sound system. The Commissioners would approve both these items in 3-0 votes.   

Next on the agenda was the review and possible approval of the FY 2024 – 2025 Inter-Local Cooperation and Subrecipient Contract Agreement with the Southeastern Utah Association of Local Governments for Senior Center funding. This item would provide the county’s senior citizen centers with funding for their programs. Again, this item would be approved unopposed. 

After this item, the Commissioners looked to assign Jones and Demille Engineering to build a fire suppression pump at the Carbon County Airport. This pump would be primarily for the new aviation mechanic program, but will also benefit the publicly used hangars as well. The motion was made to vote in favor of the item which all three Commissioners did.

Following this, the Board of Commissioners would adjourn. The Carbon County Commissioners meet biweekly in the Carbon County Administration Building, with the next scheduled meeting set for Wednesday, Oct. two at 4:30 p.m. For those unable to attend in person, a livestream of the meeting is available on YouTube and Facebook.