SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMISSION MEETING September 4, 2012 The regular meeting of the San Juan County Commission was held at 10:00 A.M. in the Commission Room in Monticello, Utah. Present: Bruce Adams, Chairman Kenneth Maryboy, Vice Chair Phil Lyman, Commissioner Tammy Gallegos, SJC Administrative Assistant Norman L. Johnson, SJC Clerk/Auditor Dawn R. Shaw, SJC Deputy Clerk Attendees: Jerry McNeely, Marilyn Boynton, Dustin Fife, Crystal Holt, Larry & Carla Sorrell, Gail Johnson, Connie Haycock, Rick Eldredge, Bob Turri, Nick Sandberg, Howard Randall A motion to approve the minutes of August 27, 2012 with Commissioner Kenneth Maryboy’s approval was made by Commissioner Phil Lyman. Commissioner Bruce Adams seconded the motion. None opposed. Vote unanimous. Commissioner Kenneth Maryboy was absent for the vote. Dustin Fife – SJC Library Director Dustin presented a request for Commission signature for the Library Construction Contract in the amount of $441,000 of which $200,000 is covered by a USDA Grant and the remainder to be paid by the SJC Library Fund. A motion to approve the request was made by Commissioner Phil Lyman. Commissioner Bruce Adams seconded the motion. None opposed. Vote unanimous. Commissioner Kenneth Maryboy was absent for the vote. Crystal Holt – SJC Personnel Crystal presented a request to hire Maurine Oswald with Chaundra Hart as the alternate for the part time Grade 1 Step 1 Blanding Library Aide. A motion to approve the request was made by Commissioner Phil Lyman. Commissioner Bruce Adams seconded the motion. None opposed. Vote unanimous. Commissioner Kenneth Maryboy was absent for the vote. Connie Haycock – CJC Connie reported to Commissioners to that the Children’s Justice Center in Blanding is up and running and invited Commissioners to the Grand Opening September 12, 2012. Connie credited Rick Eldredge and Susan DeLorme for all their hard work and support. Marilyn Boynton – SJC Ec. Development Marilyn asked for Commission consideration for the mandatory attendance of two Commissioners to the BOE Hearings and for both the BOE and Budget Hearing meetings to be recorded. Norman L. Johnson, SJC Clerk/Auditor explained the legal requirements for a BOE Hearing and that any final decision will be made in an open Commission meeting. Taping of the budget Hearing will not be a problem and can accomplished starting this year. Norman L. Johnson – SJC Clerk/Auditor Norman presented Commission signature on the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act. A motion to approve the request was made by Commissioner Kenneth Maryboy. Commissioner Phil Lyman seconded the motion. None opposed. Vote unanimous. Norman presented a request for Commissioner’s recommendation and approval of a board member to the AOC. Norman stated that there are some stipulations on the nominee and Commissioners asked that this issue be tabled until next week for further review. Norman presented Commissioners with the 2012 General Election Calendar/Schedule and provided a tentative list of election judges for Commission approval. Jerry McNeely – SJC Liaison Jerry reported to Commissioners that he has met with SITLA and BLM. Nick Sandberg – SJC Planning Nick presented a letter for Commission signature to the US Fish and Wildlife Service regarding the proposed revised designation of Southwestern Willow Flycatcher Critical Habitat. A motion to approve the signature of Commission Chair was made by Commissioner Phil Lyman. Commissioner Kenneth Maryboy seconded the motion. None opposed. Vote unanimous. Commission Reports Commissioner Maryboy reports he has been attending meetings in Window Rock regarding water issues. He plans to attend meetings this week in Salt Lake for the Navajo Nation. Commissioner Lyman reports that he talked to attorneys for the Cal Black Airport regarding cell towers and states that the County was deeded property that they have not received. He adds that he received a letter from Cedar Mesa Products (Joe B. Lyman) stating they have been misrepresented in the TRT issue. This week he plans to attend the Senior Summit. Commissioner Adams reports that he received a call from UDOT stating that ARAMARK has not signed the agreement for the Halls Crossing Fairy and does not intend to because it is an open ended contract. He states that the Oljato Chapter had received $200,000 from NRF to build a road from Oljato to Navajo Mountain and had passed a resolution stating the money would pass thru San Juan County and the County would be responsible for hiring an engineer to design the road with that money to come out of the $200,000. He plans to attend an Energy Conference and CIB in Vernal this week. Open Time and Other Business Gail Johnson, SJC Resident, presented a letter that she had written to Commissioners. JOHNSON Fry Canyon HC 60 Box 220 Lake Powell, UT 84533 August 30, 2012 San Juan County Commission Re: Sage grouse letter of support Gentlemen: Enclosed is a copy of a letter from the San Juan County Commission to the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, dated November 22, 2011. I obtained the letter after filing a grama request with the clerk’s office. I was informed by the clerk that the county did not have a copy of the letter, found no mention of it in the county commission minutes, and the clerk knew nothing about it. But, he finally was able to get a copy of the letter for the county files from a state agency and then got me a copy. Commissioner Lyman referred to the letter in the August 13th commission meeting, stating that he was not given full information when he was asked to sign it by the commission chairman and would like to rescind his signature. The letter states that the county commission supports a Nature Conservancy project to protect sage grouse habitat by acquiring 1,080 acres in San Juan County. It does not state who the landowner is. The letter further states there is local support for this project. The letter is disturbing to me for several reasons. 1. Lack of disclosure – The letter constitutes an official action of the county commission, yet it was not discussed or approved in open commission meeting. The county clerk had no record of the letter’s existence until a copy was provided by a state agency. There should have been a discussion in an open commission meeting, a motion passed to approve the letter, and an official copy on file in the commission records. This was never done. Landowners who are affected by the sage grouse issue were never approached or given an opportunity to voice an opinion. There was no local support as the letter suggested, and as the August 13th commission meeting demonstrated. There was no local involvement whatsoever. The origination of the letter was all done privately at the request of the commission chairman. 2. Conflict of Interest – Since the landowner of the 1,080 acres is the commission chairman, it is a conflict of interest for him to use his public position to support this project for his personal benefit. Late last spring, the sage grouse issue came to the forefront in commission meeting when Bob Turri expressed concern over the possible listing of the bird as an endangered species and the possibility of land being designated as critical sage grouse habitat. The commission chairman should have openly stated then that he has a personal interest in the sage grouse habitat, not only with the project to sell the 1,080 acres but with a prior conservation easement he sold to the Nature Conservancy. He should have disclosed this conflict of interest. It is unfortunate that the interests of affected landowners were ignored, that county business was conducted in private, and that public trust has been violated. As a county resident and landowner, I respectfully request the following: *I would like both this letter and the commission letter of November 22, 2011, made part of the commission minutes. *I would like the commission to issue a letter to Governor Herbert and State Agricultural Commissioner Blackham that a socio-economic analysis be done prior to any decision as to sage grouse listing on the endangered species list and asking for their support and help with this as they are facing a similar challenge in northern Utah with the Greater sage grouse. *I would like the county commission to get further input from the local landowners and citizens of the county on this issue. *I would like the county commission to retract the support given in the letter of November 22, 2011. *Further, because of his conflict of interest, I believe the commission chairman should not participate in any official decisions on this issue. Sincerely, Gail L. Johnson Adjourn 12:10 P.M. 4