Photo courtesy of the Division of Wildlife Resources.
By Julie Johansen
Discussion on contracting with Emery County for municipal elections kicked off the Ferron City Council meeting on Thursday, Feb. 14. Jeff Guymon with Emery County explained to the council, as he has with other cities, that it was the council’s decision to contract with the county or host its own elections. If contracting with the county, the expense to the city would be to print the ballots and mail them out. The voters would have to mail them back or drop them off to a ballot box. The county will gather the ballots, verify the signatures and count them with their machine.
John Healy expressed concern with voter fraud and comparing signatures. Guymon understood his concern and said that the county would have to contact the voter to verify the signature if there were questions. The council members decided they needed more time to consider the issue and would make a decision at the next meeting.
Wade Paskett, a representative of the Division of Wildlife Resources, reported that they have had several complaints again about deer in people’s yards and gardens, so he was wondering if the city would like to have an archery doe hunt. There is already an archery buck hunt and he explained that a split decision had been reached when the city had been approached at an earlier time. Deprivation permits had been issued then. The hunts would happen in August and September and would hope to remove deer that had become permanent residents, not migration herds. Normal hunting regulations would be enforced and permits would not be limited to city residents. When questioned about other cities doing this, Paskett responded that Green River, Monticello and the Price River Corridor have participated in these hunts. The council members felt that they needed more time to investigate and would make a decision during the next meeting.
The council voted to donate $250 to the community theatre and also $500 from their special needs fund to the Utah Council of the Blind Community Projects. The council is hoping to do some sculpturing and will need welders. Further consideration and approval from the Council of the Blind is needed.
Arbor Day projects were also discussed. Trees at the cemetery have been found to not be infected and are in good shape. It was suggested that burial plots not be sold directly adjacent to the older trees and that watering be kept at a minimum so that they would not blow over if the soil becomes too damp. City cleanup and also cleanup around the reservoir were mentioned as projects connected to Arbor Day, which is April 27.
Greg Howes proposed having chainsaw competition at Peach Days. He would like both professional and amateur classes. He also suggested an added attraction of mud bogs. Howes will do more research with regards to liability and insurance coverage.