By Julie Johansen
Huntington City Mayor Hillary Gordon reported a successful meeting with the CIB Board in Moab. Huntington City had asked the board for $74,000 to finish the wall at the cemetery. The board approved $64,000, which was all grant funding. The additional $10,000 will come from the perpetual care funds and the wall will be finished. The money will become available in February.
Huntington City was also successful in receiving $2,600 in financial assistance from the Emery County Travel Bureau to begin using the billboard on SR-10 north of Huntington. The Swell Logo of the county will be placed on the billboard for the next two years. The city plans to use it to welcome visitors to the city and invite them back again as they leave. The city will pay the lease and UDOT fees.
Discussion whether to sell, lease or retain the SITLA land near the city’s water reservoirs was tabled for further study. Leasing contracts with businesses in the old city hall were also discussed and reportedly need to be more specific. This will be done by Gary Arrington, planning administrator for the city.
Christmas for the Community is planned for Dec. 7 at the Huntington fire station with Santa arriving at 4 p.m. Dinner will kick off at 5 p.m. A photographer will also be present for pictures with Santa. A dinner for CERT team members will also be served by the council on Dec. 18. The council’s holiday party is planned for Dec. 20 at the old city hall building and will be catered by the Ponderosa Grill.
Jake Powell, Southeastern Utah Association of Local Governments project manager, spoke to the council about the many programs available through the AOG. He announced that Geri Gamber is the new director of the AOG and that Robert Jensen has recently been hired as the Emery County director of aging. Jensen will be meeting with the senior directors of the county for training in the near future.
Canvasing of the election results reported that the new council members are Kerry Oveson and Gloria Wilson. LaMar Guymon will be the new mayor for Huntington City.