By Julie Johansen
A business license for a manufactured home park at 350 North and 300 East was approved at the beginning of Huntington City Council meeting on Wednesday. This mobile home park is now under new ownership, so a new business license was required.
The Emery County Community Theatre then requested a $150 donation, which was also approved. The next item on the agenda was the consideration to increase the fees for leasing a share of water from Huntington City. This is an annual fee and is reviewed each January. It was decided to charge $10 per year for each water share leased.
The budget for Heritage Days in 2022 was inadequate, prompting discussion on what action needs to be taken for 2023. The celebration has been shortened to two days this year. Entertainment, the rodeo, prizes and sponsorships were all discussed and the council decided to increase the budget for the celebration by $20,000 for 2023.
At this time, the meeting was closed and a motion to open a public hearing was made and seconded. The purpose of the hearing was to receive public comment regarding the budget for fiscal year 2023. There were no citizens in attendance, but the council discussed opening and adjusting the budget. This included expenditure changes as well as increased revenue. Following this, the public hearing was closed. After which, a vote was taken on Resolution 1-2023 allowing for the budget changes.
Mayor Leonard Norton then announced the Open and Public Meetings training on Jan. 24 at the Emery County administration building in Castle Dale. He advised the council and staff to attend, which would mean that the city office would be closed that afternoon.
The mayor continued with his report, announcing that Scott Gordon will be replacing Mike Gordon as maintenance supervisor as Mike recently retired. He thanked them for their efforts with snow removal within the city. Mayor Norton also spoke about his concern regarding the vandalism in the restrooms. He stated that if this continues, the restrooms will be closed and not available for public use.
During the council reports, it was noted that there have been four funerals since their last meeting and that Mitchell Funeral Home is changing the type of vaults used for burials. These Hercules Polymer Burial Vaults have made it much easier to prepare the site for the burials as they do not require the big truck to set the vault into the ground. The comment was made that the council would need to change the ordinance, which at this time requires the former vaults.
It was also noted that Edward Geary, the Huntington City Planning and Zoning Chairman, has retired and Don Gordon will be filling that vacancy. To conclude, it was announced that fireworks are being ordered for the July celebration and that the new fire truck is in Salt Lake City and should arrive soon.