By Julie Johansen
Emery County Public Lands Director Ray Petersen explained the state petitioned management plan for the inventoried roadless areas in Emery County during the county’s commission meeting on Tuesday afternoon. The management areas are divided into four categories:
- Primitive areas
- Forest restoration areas
- Forest stewardship areas
- Re-inventory/boundary adjustment areas; with number one being most restrictive to the least restrictive areas being number four.
After his explanation that the public lands board and also the planning commission had reviewed these areas and made recommendations to the commission, a motion to open a public hearing was made. A few comments were made during the public hearing asking the commission to consider changing areas 7389 and 7391 (Candland Mountain) to a level two instead of one. The commission then closed the public hearing and approved the recommendations with changes garnered from the public hearing. These recommendations will be added as amendments to the Emery County General Plan as well as submitted to the state.
Next, country attorney Mike Olsen explained that in 2016, Senate Bill 246 allowed tax revenue grants to be used for infrastructure. Olsen had reviewed the agreements for the Central Utah Throughput Agency and recommended them to the commission.
The commission then approved an interlocal agreement between Carbon, Sevier, Sanpete and Emery counties that would create a deep water port on 20 acres in Oakland, Calif. This agreement would be used to make the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws for the Central Utah Throughput Infrastructure Agency. A letter of engagement was also approved.
A resolution was approved that assigned commissioner Lynn Sitterud as the director from Emery County with commissioner Kent Wilson as the alternate director. This port would be an economical boost for all four counties as coal could then be exported to Japan.