By Sara Price
Emery County Commissioners met at the sheriff substation in Green River on Aug. 27. First, the commission opened bids for the Huntington basin project. Because flooding continues, the county is moving ahead with the project. The four companies that submitted bids for the project were WW Clyde & Company, Nelco, Nielson Construction and JCI. Nielson came in with the lowest bid at $1,108,102.50. The commissioners agreed to sign the contract with Nielson once the county engineer has looked over and approved the plans.
Also regarding the basin project, commissioners signed an agreement with Pacificorp for land use. Pacificorp has agreed to allow Emery County to use their property to dispose of fill and debris generated during the rebuilding of the Huntington basins. The Bureau of Land Management also granted right of way to the necessary sites, so the project can move forward as planned.
Two job openings will become available soon. The Emery County Travel Council has an open position, as well as the health department. Commissioners would like residents of Green River to fill these job openings.
The Huntington Library now houses a new roof. Once the contractor began the project, it was discovered that the roof had never been vented therefore, the addition of vents as well as an upgraded felt material was installed. The library roof project finished under budget and is awaiting final inspection.
Emery County is looking to purchase roads that have been used by the county for over a hundred years. SITLA is the owner of the property who approached the county about changing the temporary agreement into a permanent one. Commissioners feel this would solve persistent road problems if permanent right-of-way can be obtained. The county will now seek CIB grant funding to complete the purchase.
Despite recent rain, drought persists in the area. The water district turned in a report stating that water levels are at the lowest they have ever seen. The water supply has held up surprisingly well, but conservation is still of the utmost importance.
On Sept. 18, commissioners would like to invite all Emery County citizens to meet at the Castle Country Café at noon. After lunch, Providence Refinery will welcome guests to a public tour. Any citizen who would like to take the tour, must attend the luncheon.
County Commissioner Jeff Horrocks addressed several topics during the meeting. Horrocks explained that Emery County fire crews are looking to replace old pumper trucks that are starting to fail. Crews would like to purchase eight new trucks at the cost of $800,000. At this time, the county is unable to fund this purchase, but the fire chief is pursuing other means including CIB funding to accomplish the much needed purchase.
Horrocks explained that the state is cutting funds to counties. He predicts that the programs most impacted will be HEAT, meals on wheels and other aging programs. This concerns the commission who is looking for ways to prevent loss of services.
In September local representatives, Randy Johnson, Ray Petersen, and Ethan Migliori will travel to Washington D.C. to offer support to congressional staff working on the public land bill. Environmental groups are working to designate over a million acres of Emery County property into protected wilderness land. The public land bill would counter the wilderness designation allowing public usage to occur together without complete isolation.