The Carbon County Commissioners discussed a ratification of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Utah Administrative Office of the Courts and the county during their Wednesday evening meeting.
Commissioner Larry Jensen explained that this pertains to the parking lot for the new courthouse and the old courthouse, which is now occupied by the Southeast Utah Health Department (SEUHD). During renovations for the SEUHD, it was determined that there were enough funds in the grant portion to resurface the parking lot.
After opening up the area, it was discovered that there was a large amount of wet mud underneath the asphalt, which required a lot of extra work in the area. The costs overrunning were a concern for the health department.
As the staff watched this occur, Commissioner Jensen said that they approached their supervisors in Salt Lake and inquired about additional funding to pay for the extra work. They agreed to pay $10,000 to the county for those extra costs.
In return, they simply asked for a guarantee of 10 parking stalls for the courthouse that are along the north part of the parking lot behind Wells Fargo, which was agreed upon.
The MOU was created, signed and sent to the state for the funds. Commissioner Jensen explained that the ratification pertained to this situation, which was then approved.
Also discussed during the meeting was the possible approval of an amendment to the JVIATION agreement for the engineering on the Carbon County Airport. Commission Chair Casey Hopes spoke on this, stating that this is for the Build Back Better applications that were awarded funding during Phase 1.
A series of questions were reviewed with the EDA for approval. Commissioner Hopes explained that there is an engineer record out at the airport and it seemed odd to have somebody else conduct the preliminary report and then have another engineer do the final engineering.
With this in mind, they received approval from the EDA to have JVIATION do both the preliminary engineering and the final if awarded the second phase. Commissioner Hopes emphasized that this is all contingent on receiving the second phase and this is simply an amendment to the current contract with JVIATION to add the service, if awarded.
Within the last year, there have been a number of individuals that are trying to start up businesses or inquiring about hangars to rent. Currently, the county does not have extra hangars at the airport, but there is interest.
Commissioner Hopes stated that the desire is, if awarded, to build out and drive even more interest. This was also approved by the commission.