SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMISSION MEETING February 4, 2013 The regular meeting of the San Juan County Commission was held at 10:00 A.M. in the Commission Room at Monticello, Utah. Present: Bruce Adams, Chairman Phil Lyman, Commissioner Rick Bailey, SJC Administration Norman L. Johnson, County Clerk /Auditor Dawn Barr, Deputy Clerk Absent: Commissioner Kenneth Maryboy Attendees: Monte Wells, Nick Sandberg, Bob Turri, Lynn Stevens William Guevara, Danny Fleming, Joy Howell, Dorothy A. Smith, Margie Dee, Bill Boyle, Lynn Laws, Crystal Holt, Susan Taylor The Minutes of January 28, 2013 were approved, with spelling changes, upon a motion of Commissioner Lyman and seconded by Commissioner Adams. Vote was unanimous. William Guevara - WEESTA Mr. Guevara, presented a program which has the purpose of developing a project to research and evaluate the economic needs of the Navajo Nation that exists in southeastern Utah. He said once information is gathered, Oweesta will recommend activities that will stimulate economic development on the Navajo Reservation in Utah. A final report will be presented to American Express and its partners which will include strategic recommendations. First Nations Oweesta Corporation is working with the Navajo Nation for financial support. The Commission thanked Mr. Guevara and suggested he might also contact Tony Dayish of the Trust Fund for input. Susan Taylor – San Juan County Library Board Susan presented a request to have Lee A. Bennett appointed to the County Library Board. Following a brief discussion Commissioner Lyman made a motion to approve the request. Commissioner Adams seconded. The vote was unanimous. Danny Fleming – Mexican Hat Special Service District Danny Fleming, manager of the Mexican Hat Special Service District, introduced Joy Howell a resident of Mexican Hat and user of the MHSSD services. He then explained the current financial situation of the District and requested the Commission become involved in assisting with additional funding. Danny explained the current fee structure and limited number of hookups for water and sewer. The limited size of the service area and number of connections create a situation where the cost of water and sewer is a major percentage of the cost of doing business in the area. The District would like the commission to consider a line item in the county budget to assist the MHSSD and return some of the property, sales or TRT taxes it collects. Rick Bailey indicated the MHSSD is the oldest special district in the county but have seldom had a functioning local board. The commission requested Joy and the local residents of the district get organized so a board could make a request of the county. Joy and Danny agreed to work on that but were not very hopeful of success. Crystal Holt – SJC Personnel Office Crystal and Lynn Laws, County Road Superintendent, presented a request to have Clint Bradford’s pay step changed from step 93 to 97, due to an error in the Road Department records. Following a brief discussion Commissioner Lyman made a motion to approve the requests and Commissioner Adams seconded. The vote was unanimous. Rick Bailey – County Administrator Rick presented a building permit to Rand Bellows & ML Lincoln for a residence in Pack Creek. Following a brief discussion Commissioner Lyman made a motion to approve the permit provided all the appropriate signatures are in place. Commissioner Adams seconded. The vote was unanimous. Rick said we have several Bridges and crossings that do not meet the requirements to stay on the bridge system. He presented two contracts with Cramer and Noble for $13,300 each. One contract is to design the structural component and the other to design the guardrails. The contracts would be from the B Road Fund. Following a brief discussion Commissioner Lyman moved to approve and sign the contracts. Commissioner Adams seconded the motion. Vote was unanimous. Rick lead a discussion about the San Juan Health Care Services District and how the original notice of intent limited the board to serving two terms. There are presently four Board Members who would like to serve another term. Rick indicated that with the difficulty we have in getting board members for our special districts and changing the Notice of Intent to allow three terms would make a lot a sense. There was a good discussion about how the district representative area is divided up. A motion was made by Commissioner Lyman and seconded by Commissioner Adams to change the Notice of Intent to allow for three terms and re-appoint J. Burton Black, Allen Barry, Gail D. Johnson and Doug Allen to the San Juan Health Care Services District Board. The voting was unanimous. Rick presented information relating to last week’s approval to purchase a propane refrigerator for the landfill. Commissioner Lyman indicated he might check with Aramark as they are getting rid of a lot of their propane equipment. Lynn Stevens – Hole-in-the-Rock Foundation Lynn presented the paperwork for the Certified Local Governments (CLG) grant discussed last week. He has checked with Mr. Cleal Bradford of the San Juan Foundation. They are also making an application but it will not be in conflict with this grant. The Hole-in-the Rock Foundation has two potential projects, the Kumen Jones home and the Barton Cabin. The Foundation will put up all the matching money, approx. $8,000, and the County will be the sponsor of the grant request. Following a short discussion Commissioner Lyman made a motion to authorize the Chairman to sign the application when it is in its final presentation form. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Adams. Voting was unanimous. Nick Sandberg - SJC Planner Nick reported that he attended the open house held in Dove Creek on the Sage Grouse. He said there was not a Q & A session and that he requested that be changed for the Monticello meeting. It is very important that the affected property owners get involved and express in writing the impact a designation will have on their property. This is a very similar situation to the “prairie dogs” in Iron County. Commissioner Adams indicated Representative Noel is going to run a bill dealing with property values and the impact a designation has on the landowners. The Commissioners agreed that it is critical that they continue to be aggressive and active in opposing the designation. Nick also briefly discussed the BLM’s Master Lease Plan’s economic analysis. We have both coordination and cooperating rights so can offer changes. Commission Reports Commissioner Adams – attended UAC legislative meetings last week and next week will be in St George at CIB. He intends to propose that all loans be at 0% to the producing counties, rather than the present two and a half percent. Commissioner Lyman – said he attended the Dove Creek meeting and has talked with Mr. Victor Iverson on the public lands issues. He said this week he will be attending the Sage Brush Coalition meeting and the Sage Grouse meeting on Thursday. At 11:59 Commissioner Lyman made a motion to go into Executive Session to discuss a legal and personnel issues. It was seconded by Commissioner Adams. Vote was unanimous. At 12:15 Commissioner Lyman made a motion to go out of Executive Session the motion was seconded by Commissioner Adams. Vote was unanimous. Meeting Adjourned 12:15 PM