County Council - Regular Meeting

All right, we're ready.

Good. Welcome everyone. Thank you for coming uh the uh Tula County Council meeting. It is February the 3rd, 2026. We are located at the council chambers, the county building on the third floor. 6 pm is when we're starting. Uh we will be led by the pledge of allegiance by Lieutenant Dery. If you all please rise.

Please follow me in the pledge of allegiance.

I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands one nation indivisible and justice for all. Thank you, Lieutenant. [clears throat] [snorts] As far as roll call, we have our county attorney, Scott Brad, present. We have um as far as councilman, Councilman Hoffman, Councilman Thomas, Councilman Stroberg, Councilman Hamner, and Councilman Wardle, present. Our county manager's office, we have our county manager Andy Welch, assistant county manager, Britney Lopez, present, and Nikki from the clerk's office. Thank you for being here, and welcome each one of you. Thank you for spending your evening with us. Uh that brings us down to number four, public comment. Is there anybody in the audience by raise of hands or [clears throat] hand that would like to make a public comment? Seeing none, we'll go to uh item number 5A, which is the Twill Technical College update. Okay. All right. Thank you, council members. Um, good evening. I'm Kent Tigerson, interim president for Tech College and our student of the year should be showing up soon. So, I'll do a little song and dance in a moment. Uh, our president, Paul Hacking, you all know He retired or graduated last November. He's off enjoying time with his grandchildren and other professional pursuits. So, we wish him the best. So, I'm the interim president. I've been with Tech College for the past 10 years and the vice president of finance and

operations. So, I've got a long history there. Um, and the search for the next president will start in the next few months. It's a process managed by the system of higher education. So as you know Twilla Technical College is Twilla County partner and resource. Uh the college is a state college. It is one of the 16 member colleges under the system the Utah system of higher education. Uh the Twilla Technical College has a long-standing relationship with Twilla County and Twilla City. you know, the state legislature funds us and gives us a lot of direction and guidance, but it's working with the local communities that we really can shine and provide a lot of benefit. So, our mission is the same. It's to train Twilla residents for Twilla employers. That's kind of one of the key um roles of our mission. So as you consider the needs of Twilla County, think about how Twila Technical College can help you and help the needs of the county because we are resource here for you and for the county. With all the changes of the college the past year, we had a grand reopening. Um we completed our business our building expansion project. The legislature funded $27.5 million for the building expansion. um that basically doubled our instructional space. So a lot of programs that were which we were previously at capacity, we now have space to grow. Um that also included converting a former Twilla County School District warehouse into instructional space. So we're making good use of that location. Um, in our plans, we do have space to

expand future programs and we'll expand those programs as funding allows. During fiscal year 25, so June, July through June fiscal year, we served 1,231 students. About 40% of that is high school students. The other 60% are adults. We had 488 graduates with a placement rate of 86%. Meaning 86% of our students obtain employment in the chosen career field. Doing some rough dirty math, um that's about a $17 million wage impact, you know, just for those graduates per year of working. So, you know, there there is a huge benefit to our local economy for job training as citizens are able to upskill their abilities. And we also provide a flexible enrollment. Most of our programs you can start any time. You can fit a schedule that fits your needs depending on which demands you have. So with the flexible enrollment and um you were able to meet individual training requirements during fiscal year 25. Happy to say 93% of our employees live in Tula County. Um you know that's 154 employees with a wage impact of about $5.8 million to the county. So you know a lot of a lot of us we live here we work here you know we are part of the community and we do have an impact on the community. So the college currently has 22 training programs in business and technology in healthcare in manufacturing we have a satellite police academy we have beauty and service industries transportation

electrical apprenticeship. So for these 22 programs, they're supported by a team of industry businesses. So we have 174 different companies that represent um employer occupational advisory committee members. So we do have a big impact with a lot of the local businesses in our area. Um as some of you are aware, Twilla Technical College also has business resources. One of those programs is custom fit. This is where local businesses can receive um some subsidies for training. Not only the college, it could be any external training. During fiscal year 25, we served 60 companies that comprised over 13,500 training hours and over $322,000 in training value. Some of the training could be leadership training, business management training, safety training, business development, and also business process improvement training. So any businesses that need training, you know, custom fit could be a good resource for them. The college also houses the small business development center. This is the local entity that provides coaching and services to small businesses. During last year, we served 206 clients and we participated in 22 new business starts and 50 new jobs. The SBDC also does loan and grant advising and they brought in 3.2 million in grants and loans. And we're also active in the chamber. So, Twillet is the business development partner. Now, I want to talk about one area where

we can use the county's help, and that's in with scholarships. During fiscal year 25, we used $138,000 of our own funds for scholarships. So, the the college covered some scholarships for CDL, about $56,000. And then we also do high school digital textbook scholarships. We had about $32,000 in that. And I last week I learned that Millard County has a scholarship for Snow College for CDL students. They made the decision that any citizen in their county that wants to get their CDL um the county would cover that the cost of that training. Um they figured out it's a good way. It's a good job, provides good pay, and it's also a way to keep the residents in the county so you don't have to go someplace else. So, um, I think you guys have been exploring some options for scholarship opportunities. So, I'd love the opportunity to talk with you, kind of explore, you know, what our needs are and what funding is available for that. So, you know, any training that we can have in the community, as I've shown, you know, there's a good return on investment of those funds. I also like to invite you to our graduation on May 14th. Um this will be a great time to celebrate our academic achievements of the students.

So he'll be here. He'll be here soon. Okay. Um are there any questions for the council? Okay. I've gone to a couple things. Always go to graduation at the school and they graduate and the awards that you recognize and select the students. What a great program [clears throat] doing good things and uh you've been done a good job filling in for President Hacking and since his retirement so thanks for what you've done too and the rest of your staff for sure. So we appreciate all the work the applied technology does. Yeah. For the county. Yeah. It's a great honor to be able to help serve the community. Chair recognizes Councilman Wortle.

Uh I echo what Councilman Thomas has said. Um please thank your employees. I've had the chance to sit down with a few of them over the last month and just talk about what they do um in social settings and the impact that they're having in the student relationship and what it is doing not only to build the confidence of students, but the capacity that they feel like they can go do and and become something in a field. And I I don't know if we ever talk about the impact of education and what that does for the student, the family, and the future opportunities down the road. Mr. President, please thank your staff on our behalf.

Okay, I will. Thank you very much. and your your comment about helping students to what they can become um is is a very poignant um topic and that that's kind of one of the things um I'm focusing on when our student of the year arrives. Maybe I'll I'll break and then we can when he arrives we can reconvene. But um he's got a great story about his career choices and how you know he had his life dreams in one area but those fell and he took up a second career. And you know one of the things you know technical education isn't just about career development and job training. It's about helping people develop into what they can become. kind of where's your full potential? A lot of our students, you know, technical education, what they receive from us is fine. They go find a job and employment. Great. Some students go on use it as a stepping stone to further their education. You know, there's several students who we talk to, you know, they they're not the traditional students. You know, they they're not sure that schooling is right for them. They come, they learn, they figure out, hey, I can do this. they gain the confidence and then they continue on their education. So you know it is something we treasure you know in education the big payoff and benefit is just seeing how people have grown and developed and how they're able to contribute to our society. So, thank you. Ken, I have a question if you don't mind. What

how many students have you um helped or do you have a number top your head since uh conception of uh uh Twilla Technical College here in Tilla County? Um so, the college opened up in 2009. For most of that, it was under 700 students per year. Then about 2018, we started to see an increase in enrollment. Um, so we're at 1,200 students now a year. So yeah, you're the numbers guy, but that that's that's a huge number. Little rough math and some estimates. Yeah.

Yeah. The the other question I have is what's the percentage of growth over year-over-year? It depends on which years you're looking at. [clears throat] Um from last year to this year [snorts] it was about a hundred 100 students. Okay. Before that, you know, it was probably about 150 students. But each year you're seeing increasing numbers. Yes. Yes, we are. All right, Ky, you can come on up. Don't sit down too long. [snorts]

So, we are seeing increases in growth. A couple things that um called our growth was the building expansion. We had seven programs that were at capacity. So, with this building expansion, you were able to increase the capacity of those programs. So, we're going to we're looking forward to continued enrollment growth. Wonderful. So, all right. Great. Now, I'll turn the time over to Doin. He's our student of the year for the 25 26 year. Awesome.

Made it right in the nick of time, so a little bit slow with this crutch. So, um, well, my name is Ty Dobin. As he said, I was selected as the student of the year for Tul Technical College. I attended the police academy for Toul Tech. And first off, it's an honor to be here today. Absolute pleasure to be able to speak in front of you guys and represent the college and the program that I was able to attend and continue to work for today. So, uh, I grew up here in the state of Utah. I grew up in American Fork. Uh, my entire life, uh, I've enjoyed playing sports. I played football. I wrestled. Um, I enjoyed scouting. Uh, by the age of 14, I became an Eagle Scout and really loved the outdoors. I showed a interest in law enforcement from a young age. Um, always found it fascinating. Grow up around law enforcement. My neighbors were law enforcement, some family members. Uh, obviously at a young age I can't pursue that. So, I really stuck with football. Um, besides sports, I also enjoyed music. I played the clarinet and the piano. A lot of people would look at me and, you know, take guess and wouldn't know that, but I I really enjoyed that and was a part of our band growing up in school and sang in the choir as well. Um, moving on to football after I graduated from Pleasant Grove High School. Uh, I moved on and played college football, moving on to play semi-pro and eventually going out and playing professional arena indoor football in Tampa, Florida. Um, from that point I was getting to I've had dreams of playing in the NFL my entire life. You know, classic story you hear people I want to buy my mom a house, buy my dad a car, be able to provide for my family and my friends and really lived that that dream that so many others, you know, wish to live. And uh, I was at the doorstep of that dream after I got invited to the XFL draft. Uh, for those

of you unfamiliar with the XFL, that is the Extreme Football League, which is renowned for its entertainmentbased approach for the game of football. And it's incredible. And I was at the doorstep of achieving that dream. and uh all the years of hard work, all the years of dedicated training, being away from my friends and my family, all the time in the gym, uh just, you know, all the sacrifices I made to get to that point in my life was finally my dream was about to come true. Uh unfortunately um all those years of the training, all the years of the contact, the sports, the reoccurring injuries, unfortunately I sustained an injury and was unable to continue. Um from that point, my dream was over um in an instant and that was the lowest point of my entire life. uh everything I worked for, the the blood, the sweat, the tears that I put forward towards that sport came to an end and I was lost. Uh but fortunately, I have a really good and close dear friend of mine uh that reached out to me and notified me about the tool technical college program. He knew I needed some guidance and you know he he reached out and gave me info about the academy and I ended up joining that and participating and that was the the greatest decision of my entire life. Um through the academy I just I just want to hype it up. You know it was an incredible experience. Uh the the instructors they they cared. uh they spent so much time, you know, helping me and my fellow cadetses really really learn and become passionate about what they're teaching us. and they they really made it obvious to us that they cared about, you know, what what they

were teaching and especially with us being in Tilla Tech, a lot of Tullet Tech uh graduates stay within the county and, you know, they they're so willing to put forth so much time to us to to be the best that we can be and learn and and really, you know, stand out and make us care about what we're learning. And um I think uh apologize I'm trying to slow down here. I hurry. Um I wish I could thank my all the all the instructors, you know, Chief White, Sheriff Whmer. Um they were all there teaching us and and you know that was the the greatest experience of my life and uh director May made it such an incredible experience and it really learning the the true meaning of you know hard work, honesty, integrity, um trust trustworthiness um you know and in the academy they pushed me past my physical capabilities. Uh to start the academy, I was over 330 lbs. Uh and I was able to by the end I lost over 60. And not only did they push me physically, they pushed mentally as well in the classroom, at the firing range, um during scenarios, they they really hone in and taught me and my fellow cadets the the value of hard work. And um I really appreciate that. And you know, me playing football and me me growing up playing sports, I I learned a lot um about teamwork. um about trusting your fellow teammates [clears throat] and you know to get the job done and how you

know you work as a team, you operate as a team. It's important for you to do your job right and and trust in you know the your fellow teammates and co-workers alike and in the academy they really helped me refine those skills and um I'm I'm really grateful for that and Tula Techch as a whole you know I was able to go through the academy for free you know they provided me with the with the grant to be able to go through and they really made it such a good experience for for me and I know my fellow cadets as well. And um yeah, I I stand on this to this day. Tilla Technical College is one of the best, if not the bestmies in the state of Utah. Um you know, I I I I stand on that. They they really made it such a good experience for me and they made my transition out for the sheriff's office which I've been now off FTO for well been working for the sheriff's office approximately eight months now and obviously I'm out on live duty got in the accident earlier this month on patrol. Um,

football is too dangerous. [laughter] But, um, yeah, it was it it was a great experience and I'm truly honored to be student of the year and, [snorts] you know, I'm I'm really proud to represent Tula County and or Tula Tech in Tula County and I'm grateful that we're able to, you know, have this opportunity to give back to our community and just be a part of something great. And so I I I think Ty your Sheriff Doman's story is great. Um you know he he changed from you know a state where it was the lowest point of his life to where he is now. It was just one year ago he started the academy.

Yeah. One year ago. So just in a year's change um you know we're able to help lift him up and now he's a good happy productive member of the community and I'll take the credit for the boot even you know because [laughter] he wouldn't have been there if it hadn't been for us in the process. We'll take credit for that. [laughter] Any questions or comments from the council? Drop 60 pounds. Impressive. You look great. Thank you. Appreciate it.

And uh glad you're part of the team here. And thank you for I know when we sat in the initial discussions about what Twillet Tech would look like almost 15 years ago and building on that property, this was the vision. And uh I'm glad that you've said what you've said about the people who've gone through who've stayed here because it was supposed to be met to educate the people in Twilla County in a corridor that would allow them to not only have livable wages but to be successful in who they are and you're a great example to that. So thank you.

Appreciate it. And I'd also just like to say one more thing. Being able to see, you know, my friends that I went through the academy with working for the city, working with the county, and, you know, seeing all of us being able to thrive out here, it's just really makes it I mean, better for everybody. But I'm happy to be part of this community and, you know, I traveled from South Jordan to to Will every single day, six days a week for the academy. And every day was worth it. So, it's awesome. Thank you. Thank you guys. Ty, thanks for choosing us. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Cat. [applause] Okay, that will uh that will bring up uh Matt Huntington and Darren Dery. They should have put Lieutenant down here, but they put Darren, so that's all right. I go buy many things.

Okay. All right. Okay. Uh, thank you for having me here. This is my first time doing this, so I'm excited. My name is Matt Huntington. I work for Utah State University Extension and I represent the TW opioid response network. It's a consortium that I lead and we're going to talk about the work that we've been doing here in Tilla County. Um, so we're going to talk about what TOR is. We're going to talk about the substance use program that's been developed in the jail with Lieutenant Dury and and Sheriff Whmer. And we're going to talk about how to stay out of jail. That's that's the big takeaway from our um presentation tonight. So why create TOR? Um, Tula County historically has had some high risk factors for substance use. It has a high overdose death rate compared to the rest of the state, especially when we began torn. Not as high as it used to be. And in 2019, Tula had the second highest overdose death rate in the fewest treatment options in Utah. So, this is a justification for us to begin focusing on overdose in To County. This is an image of all the members of Torrren. It's supposed to look messy. Um, I know it's a little frustrating to look at, but the idea is there's a lot of participating members to achieve what we have achieved. A lot of collaboration. We work together to center on building partnerships and create a recovery ready community that is resilient to the effects of substance use disorder. And that's the the purpose of TOR and our mission. We began in 2020 and since then we've served over 6,000 people across 270 activities. Some of these activities include Nlloxxone training, professional education, community awareness events, community recovery gatherings, fa family strengthening classes, community resource trainings, and our jailbased

classes. Some of the milestones that I want to highlight, we've increased treatment options here in Tula County with a partnership with Bonavville Family Practice. We've expanded home visiting for families impacted by substance use with DDI Vantage. We've established a community health team with the Mountain West Ambulance. and we've created the jailbased substance use treatment program with the Tula County Sheriff's Office. Um, USU has brought in over $2 million in external funding based on this idea that we have such a strong consortium, such a strong relationship with all these agencies that are willing to collaborate on addressing overdose. And other people seem to find our work interesting as well. we've presented nationally and and statewide on the work that is being done through tor. So why do we focus on the jail? When compared to the general population, people leaving incarceration are 10 times as likely to have a non-fatal overdose and 20 times as likely to die from an overdose. So it's been a focus from torn forr since the beginning of our work. Um, this was sort of a pivotal moment in my mind, a quote that Sheriff Whmer gave at one of our professional education conferences. And he said, "I'm convinced that you cannot incarcerate away addiction." And really from that point, we slowly went building a program to to change this mindset and also change our approach. So what did we do? This didn't all happen at once. This was, you know, over the past five years. But things that the program now include are peer support services and exit strategy classes and referral to services once they leave. Medication for opioid use disorder, substance use disorder counselor services, group based therapy and afterare recovery group. So when people leave they have a social network they can participate in. All the programs are offered. Obviously none of them are required. some the outcomes of this specific jailbased program and again this is the

full version of this program has just been implemented within the past year um but since November 2023 for about 1400 total inmates were released 72 of those had participated and graduated in the program. Can I ask what does it mean to graduate program? Graduating the program is defined as completing exit plan. So Cheyenne, who is here tonight as well, um she works with the inmates to develop an exit plan. It's they're working out what their life is going to look like once they leave jail. Do they need Go ahead. So do are they still incarcerated then? Even if they could or is that is graduating part of being released or So they may graduate and still be incarcerated. Yes.

Yeah. And and there's actually two programs that we're going to talk about. So Exit Strategies and then the RISE program.

Okay. Thanks. Um this data is preliminary. Uh we still need more so that it's statistically significant. But so far we've seen that individuals who've graduated from the program do have a lower recidivism rate return to jail. What makes this program effective? Obviously the collaboration and partnership that we have with Tor. All the members that were listed there um help with referrals, help with providing resources. We have supportive leadership from Tula County Human Services and obviously the Tula County Sheriff's Office, funding external and in internal from Tula County Human Services. And one of the biggest things is having personnel involved with the program who have lived experience, people who know what it's like to be incarcerated, people who know what it's like to live with a substance use disorder and work your way through that to recovery. Um, so what is the impact of going to jail? When we think about this, just off the top of my head, you know, if you have an individual, there's lots of different bubbles in their life, right? This isn't all of them. It's not exhaustive, but when you go to jail, this impacts so many factors of your life. And all of those bubbles are really connected. It would be like a complex web spiderweb of things that they're all related to one another. And so someone when someone is incarcerated, it impacts every aspect of their life. And then if you throw in, you know, if that person is a parent or a grandparent, what impact does that have when someone is incarcerated? And this program is not designed to say, you know, if if you commit a crime that there's no consequences. That the aim of this program is that when you leave jail that you're more likely to be successful upon your return to the community. Children whose parents are incarcerated are three times as likely to become justice involved at some point in their life. Um, what's the cost of going to jail? That's about $75 per day per inmate. The average stay is about 32 days. So, you're looking about $2,400 per person

per stay. If we look back at that data from 2023 to 2025, 1,400 inmates, it's a little over $3 million. And of the 275 who are rebooked, if they were just rebooked once, many return multiple times, that's around $600,000. Those are the upfront costs. The the cost that we also need to consider is what is the cost of someone not fully participating in the community. You know, if their housing is unstable, they don't have a job, they're not being able to participate in the way that they want to. We want to change that and for the benefit of them and the community. So, we believe that this program is impacting an individual health and wellness, family and generational health and wellness, a healthier community, and reduce community costs. Okay. Um, I'd now like to invite a few key members of this program to just share what they think or their their viewpoint of the impact of this program is. So, we have Lieutenant Dery, Cheyenne Anderson, and Cory Scott. All right. So, I'm going to talk to you a little bit about the RISE program. Uh, the RISE program I helped co-found uh in Utah County in 2013 when I was the uh chief deputy over the corrections bureau. And I I just want to give you a little bit of history on on what it is. It is a highly intensive substance use disorder course and um [clears throat] it has touched thousands of lives. Uh there there have been over 2,000 people that have gone through the program now in Utah County. About 1,500 of those have never returned to jail. Now I don't know many programs that can actually tout that kind of success. Um, so when I agreed to uh take this position out here, I called uh James Childs who helped co-found RISE and said, "Hey, I've I've accepted this position at Twilla County as the jail commander. I would really like to bring Riseze out here. I don't know what the dynamics

are, but at a certain point in time, I would really like to get this going." We started this program in October of 2024, so it's been going for about 15 months. We started on the women's side, which is what we did in Utah County. And I will tell you that for whatever reason, women seem to be more receptive to change than men do. And so, uh, you know, there's a lot of people that come to jail, uh, they do have the desire to change their life, but they don't know how. What this program does, it's a 90-day uh, substance use program. Uh what it does is it strips them back, strips all the layers back to find out what actually led that person to being incarcerated in the first place and what led to their addiction and then we move forward and work through the that trauma or whatever happened in their life. And we know criminality is is oftentimes generational. And so you know some of these people they never had a chance to begin with. So what we try to do is work through those issues in the program. And one of the things that's unique with the RISE program is there is after care. Now my jurisdiction ends when they finish their sentence. And the most vulnerable time for people in their life for success is the first 90 days that they're released from jail. So if we can give a good handoff to the community and have this supportive afterare, we give them a fighting chance now. and and we work through much like Cheyenne's going to talk about an exit strategy, a plan. So what are your challenges? Is it housing? Is it employment? What does it happen to be? You don't have any place to go. Your support system is gone. Do you need inpatient treatment, outpatient treatment, etc. And we try to make arrangements for those things. Uh one thing that I will tell you, there is a financial aspect to this. So, as Matt pointed out, if somebody returns to jail and they serve 180 days in jail,

the the incarceration rate for that person is about $15,000. So, that's one time, right? So, if you can keep one person from returning to jail, that saves Towilla County taxpayers $15,000. So, if you can have that impact on one person, it saves you that compounded, right? Because a lot of these people return to jail over and over and over again. Not only that, it's the prosecutor's office that doesn't take into account their time, their cost, the court's time and cost, and other aspects as well. So, the financial impact is huge. The financial savings, if you can keep somebody from returning to jail, is huge. They become a productive member of society. They're starting to pay taxes. They're not victimizing society by stealing everything that's inside to pay for their addiction. So, one person, how about a 100 people? How about a thousand people? 100 people, $1.5 million. Thousand, $15 million. There's a huge impact. Not only that, what is the price of a soul at the end of the day? That's really what it's about. If we're doing our job, our job is to correct behavior. And so, what we're doing is we're giving people opportunity, tools, and resources to change their life. And hopefully they do. And so right now, as as uh Matt said, we have uh grants that pay for this. We have currently three people that come in for for 14 months, they volunteered their time to come and teach this program because I asked them to. Um but with the port with the support of of Sheriff Whmer and with other people, uh we we were able to obtain grants and I I thank Matt for that and I thank you for approving those grants. um because we now have three years of grant funding that will help us to get this this program established. So the cost to you

is zero. I hope that when that grant funding goes away, you you will see the benefit of that that program and you'll continue that. Uh many of you might not be on this this council. I don't know. But whoever is, I hope they'll see the value in it and they will continue paying for those instructors who come out and perform a wonderful service for us. Um anyway, again, at the end of the day, the impact is to try to break that cycle of criminality. Hopefully, not have their kids follow in their footsteps. That's really what it's all about. I'll be dead and gone before we really know the impacts of this program. And hopefully it's with their kids and their kids that they don't follow in in their parents' footsteps. So, with that, I'll turn some time over to Cheyenne and Cory. Hi, my name is Cheyenne Anderson. Uh, the first thing I'd like you to know about me is that I'm a person in long-term recovery. A little over 30 years ago, I was in the woods cooking meth, doing bad things, robbing people. Today, I work for you fine folks. Um, so the opportunities that I am able to present to the people in incarceration, I get to say, "Hey, look, you don't have no excuses. There are no excuses that can tell you who you get to be when you walk out of these doors because this is who I am today and that's who I was before. And um part of what I get to do is help people break those barriers that they don't understand what they are. Right? We're told as criminals that you'll you can't get a job, you can't get housing. And listen, a lot of that is true for a a major part. There is some barriers that that we need to work through. But when you know people and you have connections and you're able to help people get those resources, it's just a barrier that we're able to hop over. The problem has longstanding been that we didn't have connection to

those resources. We incarcerate folks and then we expect them to just get back out and figure it out. And I'm here to tell you that it's not that simple. I wish that it was. We wouldn't have such a reoccurring problem of recidivism if it was that easy, but it's not. the many times that I left incarceration, if I would have just had somebody walk me through the next steps, I promise you, I would have got it because I was desperate for it. I wanted it. I wanted it to be different for me. But as a teenage girl following my mother around cooking methamphetamines, I didn't have a lot of hope. I didn't have a lot of opportunity to do something different. Nobody was leading me to be better than that. So when I was incarcerated, leaving incarceration meant going back to that because where was I going to go? What was I going to do? I got sober before internet really had anything to offer us. So it wasn't like I could get on social media and find a meeting. U Medicaid didn't you didn't even get Medicaid if you didn't have children. You didn't go to treatment if you didn't have private insurance or core orders. So there were no opportunities for me. I white knuckled my way through it. and it was really, really difficult. Overcoming things like bad credit and overcoming things like evictions, um, trying to get housing seemed nearly impossible. So, what always happened to me was finding places in what we would call the ghetto where everybody's selling drugs. Those are the places that'll take you. So, guess what happens? You just keep rotating in this system. Um, when I came into the jail program with USU, um, that was about a little over three years ago. Um, I saw a need. People, we came in with resources, local Twilla resources. Um, and people started coming to me. Do you have resources for Weber County? Do you have them for Duab? Do you have them for Salt Lake? I'm not, I don't live here. And I just started ask, okay, well, can I bring this resource in? Can I bring? And it just kind of snowballed in the way that I understood what their need was. And I saw these people were desperate for help. And I knew um, I've

been working in the recovery field for about six years prior to coming into this. So, I had a lot of connections. The recovery community is really close-knit, so I knew a lot of people across the state that could but I thought, well, I could I could plug into that person. I could plug in here, you know, for treatment. Um, housing resources are a little bit harder, but I had some ideas uh jobs a little bit harder again, but you know, I work with Clean Slate Utah and Raza and they're building a community of job opportunities that are willing to offer offer opportunities for felons. And so I just started building this program called Exit Strategies where what we do is we take an inmate and I say, "What do you need? Like what are you what is it that you're lacking? Is it housing? Is it is it connection? You know, where are you from? Where did you do all your dirt? Because if you're going to tell me it was downtown Salt Lake, guess where I'm not going to send you for treatment. If you're telling me that Tilla is where you've done all your stomping, we're not going to keep you here. I'm going to find a way to get you out of here." Which has also been an issue because um Medicaid most people have Medicaid, right? So they get Tila Optum, which means if they don't take to Optum, you can't go to that place and very few people take to Optum. So this probably a thing I'm going to have to take up with Peter. But um so there are some there are some barriers still, right? Those don't go away. Um, but what I have found is that giving people resources like the RISE program so that they can dig into their core issues and get to the value of who they are leaves them available to say, "Hey, I'm worth this and I want to do it." It gives them a greater desire to fight and then they get connected to me where we do exit strategies, right? And we build a plan. What does that look like? Do you need residential treatment? Um, now we're working with the courts. Um, Judge Hogan has been really amazing at working with us and um, the prosecutors at this point work with me. They lean on me for for questions. Hey, do you think that this would be a good opportunity for this person? I say,

"Yeah, I can do that." The the attorneys, they call me and, "Hey, this I got this client. Can you do this for me?" And I will absolutely do that because it's a team effort, right? It takes everybody to get on board and be a part of this. If we want to truly reduce recidivism in our community and in the communities that surround us, we have to work together. And so, um, it's been a it's been a huge opportunity for me to be able to connect to all of these levels of care. Um, last year I became a substance use counselor. Um, so we're just moving right up the ladder. Um, I enjoy what I do. I never ever thought that I could work in corrections because I have a criminal history, but um Sheriff Whmer and Lieutenant Derpy really just like they really have my back and they really worked hard to make sure that I was able to be employed by the county in this position. So, um I really want to thank them for this opportunity. But what I really want to give you guys a f you guys understanding of is what it looks like. So, I will let Corey tell you his story. Good evening. So, I came to the toilet county guild as a stadium mate in November of 2023. Um, I worked with Cheyenne and uh 24 hours before I was supposed to parole my parole date. I was in Cheyenne's class when my case manager come and told me he's like, "They pulled your parole date. We're going to find you a halfway house." If anything,

his address was not approved.

Yeah. So if anyone knows anything about the halfway houses ran by the state a lot of them are just hate to say this but dope houses. If I would have went to fortitude I would have and been right back on fentanyl. Uh Shy made a phone call and got me into a sober living out here. So I parrolled March 5th 2024. Uh was in sober living. I got a job about two weeks after I got out. I've been employed by that job the entire time. Um, while in treatment, I got my peer support um while working at the homeless shelter as a second job. Uh, in October of 2024, I got my own place. I just got a little studio and I lived there until February. February, I got my own place. I lived in a brand new townhouse. Um, and I paid for it by myself. Uh then I started working at Nazu Healthcare and now I get the opportunity to give back to people who struggle with the same addiction I did. Uh I've been employed by Nazu Healthcare since April. I'm a support staff, too. I still work both jobs, so I work about 110 hours a week. Um but if it wasn't for the Exit Strategies program, I'd have been farmed out to some state ran, you know, halfway house where I would have never made it to where I'm at. Um, the joy of this is is this weekend I actually get to meet I get to have my son for the first time in 10 years. So, I get the privilege my ex-wife trust me enough now that I get to go take him and bring him to my house. And without, you know, having a safe place to go and having like they invite me into their house for Christmas. I mean, without that, I wouldn't be here. I would have been right back in prison. Been doing the incarceration for about a

third of my life. I'm 44, so spent about 10 years locked up. And when did you successfully complete parole? I successfully completed in September of last year. So it took me 18 months to get off parole.

[applause] and he is not the only graduate that we have from programs like this in Tilla County. He is just my longest standing protege of this program. Um, and he is the one that is he's really putting out in this community and he has been for the last two years. And so I kind of drag him along with me everywhere I go because I think it's really impactful for you guys to see in person what this looks like and for you to hear his testimony about he's going to bring his son, right? We like like you talk about [clears throat] generational, right? He's not going to pass that down. He's going to pass down something different and that's because of the programs that we're running in the Tilla County Jail. It's wonderful.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Um it's been a real pre pleasure to work with Lieutenant Derphy and Cheyenne and Corey make this this program impactful. Um we'll we'll skip a couple of these things here. Um I think what Corey shared was really um really captures the impact of what this program can be. So what you can do is champion jailbased treatment as a public health public safety and public health strategy. support coord coordination across justice, health, and human services and use data from this program to guide future county decisions. Thank you so much for your time. Um,

yeah. Any uh questions or comments from the council? I've got you go first. First, can we have you email us the presentation? Yeah, absolutely.

Lieutenant Dery, thank you for the ask. Um, I think that so often when we talk about programs you know, and we do go and election cycles occur and in that there are a lot of funding decisions, but being able to understand that now and see the outcome is so critical and the story of the outcome. And uh Corey and Cheyenne, I uh I want to commend you. Um, I've lost two brothers to substance abuse and uh I wish they would have had exit strategy and I think it would have made a whole lot of difference particularly in one of them. So, thank you for who you are. Thank you for what you've done and and I hope that you know you're not a criminal. It's not the label. So thank you. [clears throat] The reason this program succeeds is because of the the love you have for the people. When I heard about when I seen this program I program I don't know a couple of months ago whatever it was. This is God's work and I can't I believe that in my heart when I hear Cheyenne and the the the people that that are successful, it's because you're we together, but you are in the trenches doing God's work. And thank you for what you do to your team, to everybody. Sheriff Whmer for your leadership on this. It takes somebody with a vision. So, and the county and the council for your

support. So, thank you very much.

Thank you. Uh I do have one other ask. Right now, we currently utilize uh USU as a uh meeting place for our afterare. We would like to find a more permanent home uh with a county u room. at some point their uh generosity is going to run out. And so uh what we'd like to do, we do rise after care on Mondays. We'd like to have a a space that was reserved um for that purpose. It's it's incredibly important for the support system. Uh we would probably ask that there's like a room at the health and just or health uh I call it health and justice because that's Utah County, but the health department uh where uh they can meet for their afterare. Um, so I don't know who we make arrangements through with that, but that's that's one ask that I would I would have. So, uh, and I do want to say, uh, I thank you again for, uh, allowing us this opportunity. I know we took more time than what we were probably supposed to, but, uh, I do appreciate it. It's, it's a wonderful program. Uh, and and I agree with you, Kendall, uh, Councilman Thomas, it is God's work. And so, uh, you know, it's something that I'm passionate about. I don't have very many more years left uh in this profession. People ask, "How long are you going to be here?" I say, "Well, it could be six weeks or it could be six years." I don't know. I retired in 2018. I don't know when I'll retire again. So, anyway, uh but we do appreciate it. So, thank you very much.

Thank you.

Now, bring us down to the peak buildout. Corey Good evening, council. Thank you for your time. Um, I'm here today just to update you on the master plan buildout at the Peak Sports Entertainment Complex. Um, so to start off with, I just want to refresh us [clears throat] a little bit on on what's gone gone uh what we've been through over the last four years. In 20ou in 2022, uh, Tula County hired Victus advisers to conduct a feasibility study about the then named Desireette Peak Complex. From that, um, study, a master plan was drawn up and in early in two uh, 2023, the master plan was adopted by the county council and we began work on um, uh, designing that master plan and and beginning to build that master plan. And so that's what happened in 2023. Um we began uh the design was complete of the master plan phase one was also started which is the festival lawn area. Uh the construction there and uh then we got the wonderful surprise of the pool also in 2023 as well. So with the uh with the discovery of what was going on at the uh energy solutions aquatic center phase 2 became the rebuild of that pool. Uh and that happened the pool was designed in 23 or uh in in in 24 um and and that process uh began um the construction began with that as well. So then in 24 and 25 the pool continued to uh we started construction on the pool. Phase one was complete. The festival lawn area was uh was complete uh um in 2024. And then we also had designed and started construction on Peak View Park, which

was phase three of the master plan. And phase four began design as well. Now we're at 2025 and 2026. Phase 2 is about 85% done. Um probably closer to 92%, but I'm going to say 85 here publicly. So, um they actually started to preload the lap pool uh today so that uh we can we can get a little bit ahead of the ball game on that. Uh and so, um we anticipate that uh that uh pool opening in the spring of 2026. Uh we continue to work on phase 4 design is almost done. It's about 99% done and um then it's it's already um out to bid in some aspects of that. So, just to review a couple of things here, the festival lawn area was phase one. Uh, it's 12 plus acres of grass with a walking path and trees designed for large uh festivals and concerts with upgraded power and Wi-Fi. Also designed to be a recreational athletic fields and open space. The cost of that was $3.7 million. This is our second most popular amenity currently. We hosted the Desireette Peak High School youth football home games on this field. We actually do quite a bit of of of little league soccer on this field currently. And so the festival on area is a little bit of a misnomer. Um it's really a great recreation space. So and that was completed in in 2024. Phase two of course is the energy solutions aquatic center. The old pool was demolished. New pool was designed to separate the two pools. pools are 85% completed and are scheduled to open in spring of 2026. Uh those pools will be over $1.1 million gallons [clears throat] of water. Um the cost of that was $5.2 million.

Oh, sorry. $15.2 million. I apologize for that. $15.2 million for the uh for those pools. So that's uh phase two. Like I said, that'll be completed here in the spring. How much do they have to excavate for that? So they had to over excavate uh because of the issues we had, they had to over excavate the entire So if you look at the footprint where all the cement is [snorts] all the way up to the buildings, they over excavated 22 feet down and in some areas they found that they had to go 3 ft farther. So um there was a lot of lot of dirt moved at that point. So yeah.

So in understanding that if the public watches this or those online are watching The issue was the compaction of the ground underneath the pool was in the previous pool that we were having some issues with the subs soils and the pool was sinking. Correct. and and the pool um when it was built 25 years ago, the the technology and engineering at that point thought that the subway was was was good enough. But it we now know that that the desiccated soil is what they what they call it was not good enough and we had to go 22 feet to get to a subbase that that we could then build back up and build a pool.

Wow.

Talk a little bit about IG. So, um, we actually hired IGS to come out. Um, they're the ones that discovered the desiccated soil and the issues with, um, they're a they're a, um, a geological firm that comes out and does all the testing. Um, they come out and, um, they've been us with us through the whole process. Um, and and they're the ones that will make uh, make a decision u on whether the pools move or not. The the leisure pool has not moved. So just just so you understand the leisure pool right there is about 450,000 gallons. It cannot move a 16th of an inch. That's how much engineering is going in. The same is true for the 640,000galon lap pool. They they will fail it if it moves more than a 16th of an inch. So it's it's quite an engineering feat to be honest with you uh to do those. Phase three, Peak View Park. Peak View Park um was started in 2024, completed in 2025. It included and expanded the parking lot to accommodate the park uh and the softball fields that are already there, a walking path that goes up and around the softball complex, a pavilion and restroom, plus additional shade structures and benches, a nationally recognized destination playground that is inclusive for all ages and abilities. And that was a cost of $6 million for that project. Phase four um will be the athletic fields and barn uh horse stalls uh will be rebuilt. Uh there'll be four natural gl uh grass multi-purpose fields with adjacent parking lot. Four artificial turf fields with adjacent parking lot. New horse barn and stalls. New bleachers uh an updated RV park as well. New bleachers for the rodeo arena shower and restroom facilities. modification of traffic flow at the main entrance and the estimated

cost of that is $14 million. One other thing, so that's that's where we are currently in the master plan. So, we anticipate we'll start moving dirt really soon here. So, on phase 4, one other thing I wanted to uh just update you on, over the past three years, um we have uh gone out and sought for uh several different grants. Um to date we've been awarded two grants. One for $750,000 that went to phase three walking path and one for $200,000 to help with the excavation refurbishment of the pool. So we have offset the cost of this by $950,000 almost a million dollars through grants. We continue every year to apply for grants to help with the master plan program at the Peak and Sports Entertainment Complex. Any questions?

Questions or comments? council.

So, Cory, I I I just want to say because I think the the park when it went in, I mean, I think it was a lot. I know every time coming back and forth, I've always seen people there and I've had folks in Grantsville um and around the county say kind of, you know, they weren't sure about the park, but they've seen it packed. They've taken their kids and they've been very impressed with what we've done so far. And I think that leads right into I think that's added to while there might have been some frustration over the last couple summers um with the lack of poll, I think the park itself has got folks excited for what we we should have this summer as well and everything else that's going on there. So, thank you to you and your staff for all the work there and manager's office and and really to the council as a whole because this was put in place before me to just say, "Hey, this is what are we going to do with that?" So, I think we're headed in the the right direction for that and it's what our citizens need and what we can provide to them as a county. And I appreciate you saying that, Councilman. Thank you. Um, we have a little game we play. Um, 18 was the number today. 18 cars in the Peak View parking lot today at at the height. So, staff will come in and say, "Hey, there's 12. Hey, there's five." And we have not had a day that I can remember that we have not had cars in the parking lot. Uh, so we've been very excited about that. And and finally, I do want to thank you. I want to thank you for your vision. I want to thank you for your leadership and I want to thank you for the opportunity to be able to provide these amenities to the people of Kula County. So, thank you.

Y So, a couple of questions I have and and it it goes back to some discussions that were had over the last year about why are we spending this money, right? So when we we finish with phase four and all the sports fields, what will be the impact in our ability to attract state tournaments or weekends, not only at the softball complex, which are had every weekend over the summer, but for other events in those other areas.

So we currently have three lighted soccer fields. When phase four is complete, we'll have 11 soccer fields plus three additional soccer fields that can go on the festival area. So that's 14 soccer fields. That puts us in the top 3% in the state of Utah for one soccer fields at one location. Um so regional tournaments will be very easy for us. Um state tournaments will be very easy for us to bring in. We've already been in communication with um the people in Salt Lake County at the regional uh athletic center and with their 16 fields and our 14 fields. That's 30 fields. That's a national draw. So because it's only 30 minutes apart so that's a national draw and we've already been in communication with them. We've already uh started discussions about how we partner on that.

So when we talk about the impact of those kind of tournaments, are we talking 100? we talking 500 players? Are we talking

Well, and it'll just depend on regional tournaments, but you know, um, industry standard in parks and wreck is about three and a half per player. So, three and a half people per player. Um, so if you have, you know, if you have 10 teams and there's 20 people, that's 200 people times three and a half. So, that's, you know, one day um of that many people. And then, and then when they come back the next day, um, that's that's a lot of people to come into town. when you do get those those big um um events in like that, how long do you have to wait to do another big event so you don't destroy grass and stuff like that? Um so the artificial turf will help. Uh we don't have to wait

we don't have to wait at all. So those four fields will that's an immediate turnover. Um it'll depend on what is on those fields. So they're they they're shown as soccer fields, but they're really multi-purpose fields. football, lacrosse, different things can happen on those fields. So, um there's a there you can design them in ways that you can turn the wear pattern so that you can play immediately the next week or um we have a we have a great turf program that that we have initiated with Jeremy Steedman. Um and and so we have um upped our fertilizer game. We've upped our wedding agents and different things of that nature so that the grass is a lot more healthy and can take a lot more abuse. So really participants at how many days they're on them will determine the turnaround of where they are and what is going on. So if you have soccer, you can immediately play football the next week because the web where wear patterns are different.

So [cough] as [clears throat] we talk about this and Eric, you weren't on the council and and the rest of us were, but if you'll remember, we were get we we were received COVID funds to create legacy projects. That was one of the challenges that the governor gave us is to create a project that would be uh generational and not just rest for today or spend it in our general fund or wherever else that was for day-to-day expenses. Um we also bonded for part of that.

Correct. uh which we have an incredible bonding capacity, an incredible bond rating because of the financial proudness of the county and and the department heads, the entire team and being able to maintain and provide services at an excellent rate. Andy, when we talk about funding for this, we when we went and received the bond, we weren't the pool. We did not know yet. I think we got the call while we were in San Francisco. I think so. Um sorry, it was a great trip. I've got a great picture of crawl. [laughter] Uh, financially, can you tell us a little bit about where we're at?

So, we're in good shape right now. This year, we budgeted $14 million in this year's budget. Now, we're, as was mentioned, we used a lot of the ARPA funds, and we received some other one-time funds that we've had to piggyback to get that in there as well to make sure we can complete the master plan. There's still some things we'd like to do and some of those things we'll just add into our operations each year as we're adding more landscaping and some other things and working on that. We're working on the the uh water source as well. We have a well, but we need to get some shares apparently. We'll work on that as well. Um but then we're using tourism funds to pay off the bonds. And so it's not this is the beauty of this. We use federal funding primarily from ARPA from from COVID to help pay about half of this. We already had some money that we'd set aside the first year that got us started and then when we bonded for the rest of the money, we're using tourism money to mostly pay back. It isn't completely, but we use that mostly to to pay back the bonds. And so it's a great if you're doing $40 million of of a project and you have to put out whatever that ends up being, it's a a sign in insignificant amount compared to the total project. We're very fortunate. The timing was perfect. Whether you like CO when it happened or not, it was just a perfect timing because you guys were smart enough not to just blow the money, which I've talked to other counties and their money was gone within the first year or so. They'd spent it all. We sat on it. We did a study and then we implemented the study. And as whether you recall or not, this is from our newspaper reporter. He says, "This is the first time I've seen the county do a plan and carry it out in all the years that I've been reporting on the county." He says, "You guys, this is the first time I've seen you do it." And within a year, year plus, we should have most of it completed,

which is just a testament to our team. So, yeah, late spring of 27, we're hoping phase four will be complete. And one thing I guess just just so you're aware, one thing that surprises a little bit is moving dirt in this valley is really expensive. That's why you see some of these prices that they seem may seem a little bit high, but it's expensive to move move dirt here. I mean, that's

Well, moving dirt anywhere is expensive. You know, the $3.7 million on phase one, that that that surprises people. Well, that's not what it cost me to put sod in my house, but you have to remember that was a horse racetrack and it was banked. It was banked significantly. We had to move tons of dirt to get it level. And phase four will be very similar to moving a whole bunch of dirt. And it takes a lot of big equipment and it takes a lot of time to move dirt. But as we've learned, you do the dirt right or else you get pools at sea. So exactly. Yeah. You do you do the you do the foundation correctly. Yes, you do. Mr. Chairman,

just one comment. Fortunate to go down to Western Music Songwriters Festival this last week. And we talk about how nice the improvements are. It was really good to go in and see how well what we have were taken care of. The arena was good. I remember the days when we put the waffle the plastic squares together made like a big puzzle. You could walk on it. Smelt like an arena. Yeah. And they loved it. But we're taking care of what we're do. Corey, I think that's the thing I picked up on. It's easy to see the new construction, but to see what we have, we're taking care of it. So, I think that's an important thing to say. At a boy, thank you, Corey. Appreciate. Thank you.

Thank you. Appreciate [snorts] it, council. That'll bring us down to the January 20th, 2026 business, excuse me, minutes. Um, is there any corrections or additions to those minutes? If not, chair to entertain a motion. Chair reviewed those. They look accurate. I would make the motion that we approve of our minutes from January 20th. Here a motion from Councilman Stroberg for approval of the minutes. Is there a second? Second. Hear a second from Councilman Hoffman. All those in favor say I. I. I. All those may oppose say nay. Uh check registry is online. You can certainly check those out. Um pardon [snorts] pun, but check those out online.

Nice pun. I'm trying [snorts] really hard here. Um, let's see. Um, I need a motion for the check registry. Mr. Chairman, I make a motion that we adopt the check registry into the minutes. A motion, Councilman Ward. Is there a second? Second. Hear a second. Councilman uh Thomas. All those in favor say I. I. I. All those may oppose say nay. Can

can I just address that quickly? So, if you look on the second page of the the agenda under item 13, what we're proposing is moving that checked register and any other transparency items that we have on our website. These will all be links. You can look there anytime you want to. We'll just leave that on there at any point. You can see our audits, our budgets, our check register, the grandma request, public meetings will all be there. So, what we would recommend is you legally don't have to adopt the check register. It's an executive function once we switch form of government. And so that's something that I take care of. And so we would recommend kind of going forward we'll take that off. But we'll always have it here to where you can always see the checked registry will always be available for the public as well as any other thing that we can think of to be transparent because we want to be as transparent as we can be.

Wonderful. Thank you Andy. I'll bring us down to discussion items on the service delivery uh discussion. This is um something that we've uh asked for numbers. So Andy, you have some numbers for us? I'll have a discussion. Let me go down there for just a second. [snorts]

Thank you, council. Um, the reason I I I worded this the way it is with service delivery is one of the things that as a growing community, you you kind of go through phases and at some point you have to kind of step back to decide, okay, are we providing services in the most effective way. Who's who's who receives a service and who's paying for that service? And you have to start to think through that as you and the reason this came up this year is we're going through the budget and we we'd finished paying off the uh loan on the USU building. And correct me if I'm wrong, but the the city put in some money and the county put in some money to help build that building. And this was the last year we we paid it off. And we still had that money in the budget. But here was the here was the issue is you're looking at who who receives a benefit from um a service and who's paying it. And so we paid it off. Then what do we do with that extra money that we've had? Now that money from for the county has been coming from the unincorporated residents. It's not a countywide tax. It's unincorporated. Well, it made sense because we needed the facility. So the city residents were paying and the unincorporated residents were paying. Now Grantsville residents weren't paying. And so but that's what we had to do to get it here. Now as you as you mature and and and you're where we're at right now, we need to rethink that. Do we still want to? So, we have a a line within the municipal service tax. It's a budget for economic development where really the economic development we do is countywide, but right now that tax is only being collected in the unincorporated area.

So, when you say unincorporated, just explain who that is.

Stanbury and South Rim and the other areas that are outside the city limits. And so, you have those paying are just in the unincorporated areas. those receiving the benefits really is everybody. It's countywide. And so there are some of those and we didn't make the change this year, but it would be one recommendation. That's one of those we need to look at. Instead of it being a municipal service, we move it into the general fund. That way everybody's paying for it because everybody's getting is receiving a benefit from that. And so that's something that I think we should look at. Not just that service, there are others as well that we need to look through uh as well. Now, this I'll don't do this very often, but I'll I'll hearken back to my days in Georgia. Georgia went through something very similar about 35 years a 30 years ago, and cities and counties had to decide, they had to look service by service and decide who was providing the service and who was paying for it because in instances, and we probably have some of these as well. I'll give you this just the example from there right now. We won't discuss anything here, but the airport there was funded by the city resident and it was funded by the county. A city resident is a county resident. And so a city resident was paying as a city resident and they were paying as a county resident. They were being double taxed for one service. And so the city and the county got together and said, "Okay, we'll pull that apart and it really should just be the county paying for that." So the county took over the payments. then everybody was paying for that and there was no double taxation. And so that's when you you walk through that and it it became very contentious in Georgia. I'll just put it that way. Cities and counties fought. Um I did a study for one of the counties to try to sort it out and they did a pretty good job, but I saw cities and counties fight and and hire three three consultants to do studies. The one good thing that came out of that and this is this was a state mandated uh that the cities and counties had to do is you had to look service by service and say who is providing it, where's the

map of where they're providing it and how what is the funding source. That's something I think that we need to look at this year. That that would be a good exercise for us as we've had incorporations. We need to kind of examine that. So that would be something that if you're okay, we can start looking at that. I'd like already like to pull out the economic development uh because it just it needs to be there. But there are others like that that I think we need to look at as well. But one part that makes this this is the ask I guess and we talked about this and I remember Councilman Hoffman talking about this in one of in this meeting is we need to look at the indirect costs that we're charging that we should charge each other for services. Um we have administrative costs is what we call them, but we we kind of do a light version of that. we probably need to have a study and you ask can we do a study well we could have then but we were too busy doing a hundred other things and so we're probably to that point now that I would recommend that we do a indirect cost study that way we know what to charge out for the services that we're providing one to ourselves as we're providing services across funds but also as we're providing services externally to to the cities then you can or to the to the state I mean dispatch it can be anything are we are we charging out the full cost of GIS to the departments or are we not? I think just looking at that we would get an idea of what those indirect costs are. Now, we don't have to charge them, but I think it's a good um process to walk through so that we know where those cost centers are and it helps if you have federal grants. They do require you to have a justifiable reason to charge how much you're charging. And so, it's easier to have a study like this done. And so this is this takes a little bit of time to walk through, but I just wanted to to start the discussion, but that's why I call it service delivery. It's how we provide services and who pays for it just to make sure it's fair. It won't be perfect, and some services get really funny. Roads is a funny one. Public

safety can be in some instances as well. How do you how do you charge? But the way they got around [cough and clears throat] that you get around it is sometimes the county provides a basic level of service across the board and a city can provide the same same service but they provide a higher level. Therefore they're there's no double taxation. They're getting the base level and then they're paying for some extra. And so that's something that we could discuss, walk through, decide, you know, how we want what we'd like to um decide on some of the services. It's just a good process. I don't do I have all the numbers on what that would be? No. I started kind of an indirect cost study, but I would much rather have an independent person or firm do the study that's more justifiable to outside entities so that we can and we would discuss that with all of our departments just to see who's providing what service. So, any questions? That's just kind of a high level.

Well, I can certainly start it off in saying this that in the private sector they practice that. So, you've probably heard that they pay themselves first and then they pay out. But the same thing in any best practices business that you'll see in the business community, if that service is utilized, they pay that service in there so that they're not robbing from Peter to pay Paul. They pay that in there and then they calculate what that service is as they go out. So in the private sector, they do just exactly that so that they can have a paper trail and know exactly what is offered, what is being utilized, and what the expense of that is.

Yeah. And and you'll hear it in just a minute. Let me just jump in on that one issue with the roads policies. We're talking about keeping some of the network roads. Is it fair? you know, if if we're collecting money from the unincorporated and we're transferring that into the general fund and we transfer that to the capital projects, there's a certain amount of that that's justified, but some of that maybe not. And so, is the are the unincorporated residents paying for 33rd Parkway, which is not in the unincorporated area. It's a countywide benefit that maybe all of us should be paying for. And so, there's some of those things that we need to start walking through just to make sure that it's fair for for for all of us. Yeah, like I'd like to have the sheriff pay for my car, but he won't do it.

That'd be nice of him. And I appreciate it. [laughter] However, sheriff, we like paying for your car. Well, I I think the sheriff also gets to pay for everybody else's jail service, too. Correct. Unfortunately, I'd like to build the other entities for that, but I'm not sure we can. But, but thank you, uh, Andy for starting that conversation, and it will it's going to be lead on. So, uh, council, um, I think the ask is to look at, uh, maybe put a RFQ or something out there to find a firm that would be able to analyze that, a third party that specializes in this and can get down to the nitty-gritty and granular numbers.

And I think it's important for like the airport, are we charging them too much or too little? You don't have to charge that, but at least then you know exactly what you should be charging, right? Council, any questions or comments? I think I think we needed it for a long I think we need to move forward. Okay, Councilman uh Thomas. So, we got that money in our budget to fund that that study. I would take it from contingency and put it into professional services. Councilman Stroberg. Okay. Councilman Wardle,

you know, I I think that when we started up a government five years ago, there's a lot of chaos that comes with that and organizing chaos is hard. And when we we sat down and we talked about the values and as a council, the values that we espouse and that is tax dollars are not income to us. they're taking and we need to provide the best most efficient service for that tax dollar to the people who are paying it because they're not volunteering that money. They don't pay it. We take their houses and and I think we have to understand that every time that taxing services takes place, the public has a right to know how that money is being spent and is it being spent in an equitable manner.

[snorts] I think that we've seen a lot of really poor government use of money over the last four or five years on a federal level. I I remember going clear back into the 80s and how much a toilet cost on an airplane in the defense department

and when they were trying to rein all that in. And yet we still have the problems. And our citizens in this county, I believe, have a right to know what we do. And we have a moral obligation to be accountable for that. I am so grateful we are at this point in our short existence as a council manager form of government that we can now do this. So, thank you. Okay, I think we're good. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you for that discussion. Um, update on the um Nathan audit committee uh training.

Good evening, council. Um you guys all know me. I'm Nathan Harris with the county attorney's office, but some people might not. I'm sure we have a huge audience online that's watching, so that introduction was for them.

Nine people. Wow, we do have a huge audience online. That's impressive. Um so uh within the last month I had the opportunity to sit down with the the audit committee and kind of go through uh with them what their uh what their duties were and what their uh you know how they would function uh within our county. And I'm not sure why this isn't showing up but sorry. Can I uh steal the screen? It is your screen. It is my screen. You need to like, you know, in your office. Oh, I need to drag over. Yeah.

Okay. Let's see if I can find Yeah, there it is. Great. That's unfortunate. There we go. That'll work. Um so part of uh what I discussed was with them uh in their role was obviously uh our county code um chapter 20 of our own county code that talks about the audit committee and what they do because that's kind of the basis where I wanted them to start and what I wanted them to know. So, you know, I talked to them about how they were established uh through this ordinance and and through this code and how they would have terms. Um, an important part to know is that they do actually received uh they do receive a $1,000 annual stipend. And that will kind of go into the other part of the training that I talked to them about about the open public's meeting acts. Uh the OPMA out of Utah code because that is one of the criteria that if they're being paid with taxpayer dollars then OPMA may have applied to them. Um, we talked about how they would need to elect a chairman and that they how they would need to have meetings um and that they need to have these meetings and they need to coordinate with the council because they do report to you uh and they need to coordinate those meetings with the manager's office to make sure that they are meeting those open and public meetings act requirements because based upon the the Utah code I believe that they are an advisory board uh that would meet those criteria or likely meet those criteria and so they need to be holding public

[snorts]

uh meetings and making sure that they are conducting those meetings uh appropriately. Um and then we talked about their duties and they have quite an extensive amount of duties. Um they're all in 4-20-4. You know, they need to be developing and annually reviewing autorelated policies. Um in some of the trainings that uh you all had to go through, a lot of the electeds had to go through. Um I [clears throat] was lucky I did not. But one of those trainings is about the internal auditing policy and how their role plays an an important function in determining what that policy looks like and presenting that to you guys so you guys can adopt that annual uh policy. Um they also need to meet with the external auditing firm and review the audited financial statements every single year. Uh they have [snorts] two required meetings. They can meet more than that, but one of those required meetings is to go over those audited financial statements and then come before the council and present those to you. They need to address any issues identified um you know uh that Andy you know if Andy says hey there's this uh there's an issue through this management letter then they might need to address those uh they need to uh solicit from that audit uh the you know observations on staff skills or things that those weak points in our system as as these people who are on that committee have this financial background. They need to say, "Hey, this is a weak point. We need to help with this staff skill or we need to make sure this person has this qualification." Um, they review the performance of the auditors. Uh, so both internal and external ensuring you know continued independence and that is an important thing in the county and and we want to make sure our auditors both external and

internal feel independent and that they can give an unbiased decision. and we talked about their duty to review the audit plans for the coming year and discuss with the external audit firm and the internal auditors kind of what's coming and and their expectations. Um, one of the duties that I do want to point out, uh, so number nine specifically is they are pursuant to our code to act as an external point of contact for any whistleblowing issues on financial matters and if necessary initiate special investigations of policies, procedures, and practices. Again, since they report to you guys, um you know, they would come to you if there was a financial matter uh that they were involved in and then they you could they could actually start looking into our internal policies and procedures and practices and make sure that we resolve that financial matter. Um it does, you know, so they have a bunch of other duties in here and we went through those. Uh and then unfortunately we then go into a 4-20-6. This might be a section that we want to clean up because to me the role of the audit committee is that their duties as well. But uh in number two, right, they are there to assist you the council, not the commission anymore. Um that the integrity of the county financial statements is good, right? that that they are good financial statements that their internal control over the financial reporting process is good, right? And that our external auditor qualifications and independence and performance meet the standards that you as the council want and that they advise on in their advisory capacity. So they don't actually have I mean they have a lot to do but they only meet

twice mandatorily twice a year and and so as things come up the the audit committee may be reaching out to chairman Hamner and the manager's office to set up meetings and I told them that was the best way since you guys are part-time and uh the manager's office is going to be the one who's going to be making sure that they meet those requirements. uh for the open and publics meetings act. So I did want to get into that code because that's also kind of important. So in Utah code it uh in the in 524. This is the open and public meetings act. And what I want to focus on is the definition of what a public body is because this is where I believe that they would meet this requirement. So it is any administrative advisory executive or legislative body in uh of the state or its political subdivisions that one is created by the Utah Constitution statute, rule, ordinance or resolution. And so we would have passed an ordinance that created our code and therefore created the audit committee. two consists of two or more individuals. There are five members I believe in the audit committee. Um it expends, disperses or is supported in whole or in part by tax revenue that goes to their their site that we pay them and is vested with the authority to make decisions regarding the public's business. This one is um a little bit less clear in my opinion, but I would lean towards it's better to be conservative in your interpretation of OPMA versus being restrictive. Um, I I believe that they can make decisions regarding the public's business with giving input and advising and

essentially they do have some um investigative power and that could affect the the public's business. So, I lean more towards that this is a public body and if it's a public body then it would need to follow OPMA's procedures and that was kind of what I had talked to them about. So, in that training that's what we went through. We went through their duties, our code, and then also the open public's the open public and meetings act. So, [snorts]

thank you. You you just uh gave a lot of information and we're grateful for those that have agreed to serve on that audit committee. I know that takes time away from their work or from home. Um, but it is an important role for Twilla County as we grow that we're following all the procedures and making sure it's transparent with any tax dollars that are being [clears throat] spent or questioned on those. Any other comments or questions from the council council?

So, as we're looking for through this, we need to do a cleanup on the audit committee's role just by definitions is what I'm seeing. And most likely we were going to have to look at how the audit committee's role comports with our fraud, waste, and abuse and whether or not we vest the right things within the audit committee's powers. Is that what I'm seeing?

Yeah. The the internal, you know, part of their process and one thing that the audit committee needs to do is come up with an internal audit plan. And I think internal auditing that that includes a a lot of different subjects, right? I think fraud, waste, and abuse could be one of those, but then they can also look at other checks and balances that we have in place. Um, you know, we do a really good job of separating our auditor's office and the treasurer's office, right? They have separate duties, but perhaps there are weak points. I'm no financial adviser or financial person. I hate numbers, but there could be other weak points that they recognize and that they see that could go into that internal audit plan that they could advise us on or you right as the council. They could say, "Hey, as the internal audit plan should include X, Y, and Z." So yes,

I I I would say that the one of the things that come up through all this is that the fraud, waste, and abuse policies that are within the auditor's office really should be county policies, not just because they're policies that apply to the entire county. They're not internal policies that apply just to the auditor's office. I have I have policies in my office, but they only apply to my office. They don't apply to the manager's office. They apply to my office. fraud, waste, abuse, hotline, how we proceed with those. Th those should be a county policy and the county should have a a say as to how we're how we're doing things. That's number one. And number two, if we're going to involve the audit committee in that process, we needed to specify what things or what issues that the the audit committee should be looking, which things are theirs to look at, define those and which are items that should just be directed somewhere else because I think the audit committee is really looking at way the financial processes of the county work. They shouldn't be addressing individual complaints about an individual. It it shouldn't be Nathan used the county car for an improper purpose. That's not really something the audit committee should be addressing. That should be an issue that's addressed by management, HR, maybe criminal prosecution if it's that bad. But that's an individual. And so we got to we got to kind of have to separate out and define better what those areas of areas should be. And I think we should be working with the auditor. I think she has basically good policies. They came from the state auditor's office. I think we just need to kind of tweak them a little bit and make them county policies rather than I want to say hidden because they're not hidden, but they're appear to be hidden because they're only the auditor's office has them.

Not to be a county policy as opposed to just a an policy. So an idea like when we go through financial compliance, one of the things that it talked about on our trainings that we all had to complete by last week, which were wonderful hours of video, um our financial policies should be comporting with our county policies and county policies should be comporting with state policies and just making sure that we we've worked through that. So over the next little while as a council if we decide to do this and delegating some of it out and working with others we look at and we review these policies and then we we come back with some adoptions. That's what I'm hearing us talk about. Yes. Okay.

Mr. [clears throat] Chairman, I had the same I was going to ask the same question Scott addressed. So if someone calls in about a violation of a use policy of of our policies that doesn't directed right to financial who does that go to I mean who's the one off who's those responsible so that's my question was exactly I think when I somebody if the audit who gets the call who goes where and does the audit committee just deal with financial or how where do they go so I I'm glad you brought that up and I I think we need to move forward to that way. So you you you have an answer to your question. I do have an answer. I just want to make that comment that I was as smart as these two guys.

Great. Well, that's that's that's obvious. That's obvious. [laughter] Any other comments or questions? Thank you, Nathan. Appreciate you. You're welcome. That'll bring us down to ordinance 2026-01 adopting the Twilla County water use preservation element as amendment. Oh, thank you. Yes, hopefully I was going to say that's not [laughter]

um Stephanie Eastburn filling in for Relle. Um Hansen Allen Loose has completed the required water element for um addition to the Tilla County general plan. The plan was presented to you guys at the last meeting. Um, so ordinance 2026-01 is before you for formal adoption of the water element as an addendum to the toilet county general plan. Any questions, council, or comments or from manager's office? [laughter] What's that? We need more water. [laughter] Uh chair to entertain a motion.

So moved. A motion from Councilman Hoffman. Is there a second? Second. Hearing a second from Councilman Thomas. All those in favor say I. I. All those may oppose say nay. That is adopted and sounds unanimous. Thank you. We'll tell Relle you did a wonderful job. Thank you. We just wish you would talk a little less. [laughter] That's what my husband says, too. You know, most people we have sing and dance or we have walk up music for them. Would you like that next time? Sure.

Well, uh 9B resolution 2026-02 adopting roads policy. Jed. [clears throat and cough]

Good evening, council. Um, if you might recall, I was here four weeks ago and presented uh the road policy that uh manager's office, community development, myself have been working on and we are presenting it today for adoption. So, was there any questions, concerns or anything else? No, there's some roads that we we want to make sure we stay um uh care of and stay on top of. Absolutely.

And if we let those get below level of acceptability, it will take huge amounts of money to get them back up and and where that comes from. That would be difficult. Andy.

Yeah. And just a quick comment. I know there was one one more road that we're having a discussion with one of the cities about whether we should take that one as well. And that's one that we discussed and and we can amend this to add that road when we get to that point with the city if they're okay with this specific one. Um there's probably in our best interest because we're already maintaining it in some ways by plowing it anytime we start. We don't start the plow at the unincorporated line. Jed starts it and he's already plowing some of these these roads. So which just makes sense. So Okay. Any other comments or questions? Okay. chair to entertain a motion. So moved. Second.

Hear a motion. Councilman Thomas, second from Councilman Hoffman. All those in favor of resolution 2026-02 adopting the roads policy was presented say I. I. I. All those may oppose say nay. It is adopt.

Can I jump in just quickly? Just just we had you can get up. Nate will be talking about this, but we had a meeting today with community development and roads as well. We're starting to be very forward thinking and not reactive. And so we'll be bringing some other policies that won't be part of the roads policy, but there just some other issues of road failures after utilities are put in that we need to address and find the right way to address that. And so that's something that we've started working on just today. We've known we've had an issue, but as we've had incorporations, it causes some other issues as well that we need to kind of walk through. We may need to add some language to the agreements that we have with the cities just to make sure that we're covered. now because we we wouldn't have a franchise agreement with a company doing work in Lake Point or Erda. The cities would have that, but are they doing that? And it starts to create some issues that we need to start addressing. And so, we're trying to get out ahead of that so that we don't have these road failures and we make sure those who cause the problem get to fix the problem when there's issues with roads. So, that we the county as as a whole shouldn't be paying for some of those. So, that's something that we'll be working on in the next couple of months.

Yeah. And that's something we work on with like other council uh members from these municipal areas is we we provide the maintenance for the road. But if the road fails because the trench failed beneath the road and that trench is under a franchise agreement that's not under our control, then should we be responsible to fix that failure? and I don't think we should. So, we're working through that. So, who fixed the failure? Is it the the utility company, the gas company or utility or that municipality?

Yeah. So, commonly in the franchise agreements, there's a word called pertinances. And that basically means if you're installing a sewer line or a gas line, that's the gas line, the the vault, the trench, everything involved with that utility being placed in the road. If any of that fails, it should be the responsibility of the utility owner to fix that, even if it causes the asphalt to fail. Okay. None of the come along and really cause it to fail. That I should fix. Well, not their failure first.

Yeah. Okay. Thank you, Jud. Thank you. That bring us down to ordinance 2026-02 amending title 15 roads of the Tula County Code. Nathan.

So, in tandem with the resolution for the roads policy, uh what happened was a lot of title 15 of our code wasn't necessarily an enforcement issue and it was more of our internal policies and procedures that we had just put into code for some reason. So, those portions were taken out and put into that policies and procedures manual for the roads department. And what is left is title 15. Now, what we didn't want to do is repeal everything because an important section of that is dedicated to our truck routes and our definitions. And if a truck is on a road that it shouldn't be, we still want to be able to enforce that through uh criminal prosecution if needed. And by moving that out, if we had done that, we would have lost the ability to enforce that. So, what we've done is we've taken everything out of Title 15 and just left our truck routes. Uh, chapter one um has definitions. It has our designation of truck routes. If we designate other roads as truck routes, we will add them into this list. But it does allow for a class C misdemeanor. Um, which is is what we want and we want to have that enforcement mechanism. If somebody does break our county code, we want to be able to tell them that nope, that was inappropriate and we can pursue our enforcement the way that we can.

Wonderful. Any questions or comments, council or manager's office? Then chair to entertain a motion. So moved. Hear a motion from Councilman St. uh Stroberg. Is there a second? Second. Hear a second from Councilman Thomas. All those in favor of uh ordinance 2026-02 say I. I.

All those may oppose say nay. That is adopted. Sounds unanimous. Now, let's bring us down to boards and committees. Uh we do have uh two boards to appoint uh participants to it. And I'll turn the first one that's a aging over to Councilman Thomas.

Yes, they uh have a vacancy. Someone uh resigned from the board and they have recommended Suki Cannon. uh she teaches uh she's a retired educator, teaches uh computers skills and how to use computers to the aging folks already. And as a side note, the county nominated her to as a recipant to receive the Chamber of Commerce award from the county as as a service volunteer service. So she's deeply involved with the aging group and so I make that nomination of Suki Cannon to fill that vacancy. Thank you, Councilman Thomas. Hearing a motion, Councilman Thomas. Uh, is there a second?

Second. Hearing a second from Councilman Strumberg, and that is Susan Cannon. Her nickname is uh Suki. So, all those in favor say I. I. I. All those may oppose say nay. That is adopted. The second one is the Community Economic Opportunity Advisory Board. Turn some time over to Councilman Wardle. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh the cog has recommended that Bill Coobe be appointed to represent the incorporated municipalities on the community economic opportunity advisory board. Bill is the Grantsville city community and economic development director and will serve as an interm term expiring on 122326.

Hearing a motion from Councilman first. Is there any questions? Not then hearing a motion from Councilman Wardle. Is there a second? Second here. Second with Councilman Hoffman. All those in favor of appointing Bill to the Community Economic Opportunity Advisory Board say I. I.

I. All those that may oppose say nay. Is adopted. And you even got a nice little uh bell sounded on you. Uh, I think we also need to just make this clear to the council and put on the record that the COG did appoint uh by a vote Sheldon Burch to represent the incorporated municipalities on the board of health. This is not one that we vote on, but it is an appointment from COG and he'll his term will expire on 123127. Thank you. Will that change if he gets elected in the state legislature? Yes. Okay. That will bring us to council updates. Councilman Ward, any

I just want to thank Nikki for keeping track of all of the board appointments. That is a tough duty and you've kept us moving along on this. So, thank you. Other than uh we did meet with the WFRC board uh in the last two weeks um talking about economic development and many of the things that will be going forward in housing. uh a lot of stuff on the Salt Lake front, but when when we're looking at the growth of the county, we we see that Twilla County is growing up and and we're entering into some of those bigger issues now that we will need the help of uh an association of government like we have and a more prominent role. I want to thank all the council members here and those who serve in other government entities for being appointed to the subcommittees for the WFRC and going forward and doing the roles that we need to do. So, thank you.

Wonderful. Councilman Stroberg.

Um just a a quick update. Uh last year's House Bill 48, uh the WOOI wildland urban interface, I think, uh Ty brought it up, but so the state did put out their map. This is all what the state has decided is high risk when it comes to wildfires. Um did meet with Bucky and Dan to look at it. Um from a county perspective, we probably don't have too much to complain about when we really look at the residential areas. Um they're accurate. Obviously, there's some areas that um you have to wonder what they were looking at, like the campground by the Grassel Reservoir. Um so we do have the ability to um appeal that. Um part of the discussion we had though is a lot of the areas that probably need to be appealed are within either Gransville City or Tilla City. So um at COG um here in a couple weeks we're going to present that information to them. I know there's been a lot of questions and I don't know it's I don't think everyone quite understood what it is. Um, so we want to educate them, let them know if hey if you want to work on um an appeal. We're we're here to help and support, but um it is up to the municipalities. I think from a county perspective, one thing we need to know is the fee that is going to be applied obviously is going to come as part of their property taxes. and we all know when something is on their property taxes who gets the blame um for that. So that is why we're trying to educate did talk with Andy and Britney and then once we know more we will do everything we can to educate the citizens in that area what it is what the fee is maybe how they can do it. Um one of the biggest

concerns is um it's based upon square footage of your home. initial fee is going to be somewhere between 20 and $100, which may not seem like a lot to start with, but that is only until we get to 2028. Um, and at those rates, they can't continue to fund the project or the program or whatever you want to call it. So, I would anticipate when we get to 28, those numbers are going to increase significantly. And so someone that might have thought, I don't really care about the 20 bucks to rip up my grass or do whatever I need to to get out of the area when that's 10 times that or whatever the cost might be, they may care then. So, um I don't know, more to come on that one. We'll see what the cities want to do. I'm hoping the state figures out a way to fix it. So,

thank you. So, all kinds of things happen up at the capital. Yeah. Is it was it is it Senator Perkins bill? Is that who was it? Who was it that presented this? And he really got beat up at the county day on the hill over this. He was there to talk about this and there it didn't [clears throat] go well for him. Yeah. Yeah. Because the the unintended consequences are already happening was insurance companies are using it to drop people for coverage. Yeah. And it was supposed to do just the opposite and make it so that they could do that. But the insurance companies are using it as a way as a way to justify either raising premiums on pretty much everybody in Utah or drop them as a whole.

Yeah, they're actually using that if you have wild grass within a 100 yard or 200 yards of your house now they can increase it times three. Yeah, they thought it was going to do just the opposite. Take that stuff away from them, but now the insurance companies are using leverage. So yeah, they really just looked at photography and guest. Um, and there is a way that individuals can, you know, ask for someone to come out and look at it to try and get removed, but we don't know what that will look like more to come on that part of the

Do you remember who it was? Kendall, you were there and when you just can't remember which senator was that presented it, but whose bill it is, but boy, he he took a beating for the majority of that panel's time. Councilman Thomas, any updates? Councilman Hoffman,

just a couple of um more bills that the public lands meeting or the public lands um group is watching. HB 378. Um it's a dust mitigation bill. They're going to um monitor that for now. It's just going to potentially charge fees for people that create a lot of dust. Um House Bill 367, this is one that they're moni monitoring as well. solar power utility exporting um pricing tariffs. Um basically it puts power you can put power into a bank and then use it later. Um and then so it's just one that they're looking to monitor right now. Um Senate Bill 16 196 is a water project management one. This one there's some concerns about to where um it's going to give basically create a water um oversight group for the state and a lot of people um had concerns that it's just another big brother is watching on water and stuff like that. So this is

who's the sponsor on that?

I it's Sand Hall. So we ought to talk to him because he represents part of our county. So, they were going to talk to him and try and get him to come and talk and see what is going on here because a lot of counties have some concerns about this one. Um, solar panel disposal, House Bill 323. We know that um solar panels can create some issues for disposal and basically this is by representative Jack and basically they're monitoring it right now as well but they think that all this kind of stuff for like solar panels and people bring in solar farms that that need to be put into how to store them and recycle them or dispose of them should be in the conditional use permits by the counties. Um, House Bill 381 is something with ebikes. I can't remember. They just they wanted to bring that one up and they didn't know much about it, so they were going to start watching that one. And Senate Bill 191 on um registrations where you can have um some of your I think OOTD's lifetime registration. So there was concerns that that may reduce the revenues to the municipalities if they do that pay pay like an upfront fee. I can tell you what if they did that I would do it for sure. But

yeah because they were talking some years down the road they may have to increase and those lifetime fees would not and be so many how you drive it.

Correct. So, I'll just uh do a couple updates and minor a little bit downers though. Everybody knows that US Magnesium shut down and went into chapter 11. Um they actually went on the auction and um the state of Utah purchased them. You saw that in the paper. Uh some of the things that we're a little bit concerned about is all the water use and other companies that are in that same area that are uh still functioning uh lease some water from them. And so, um, it's impossible to utilize all their water shares into the Great Salt Lake without harming another business. And so, we're in ongoing discussions about that. And hopefully that can uh work out. Um, another thing that you ought to be aware of is um with all the nuclear plants that are been going and discussing throughout the United States, they've they're looking at uh two places, one on East Coast, one on West Coast for um waste control for those plants. Um and so those are ongoing discussions also. Um and that's all my updates, manager update. Andy.

Yeah, just [clears throat] a quick couple of quick updates. So, one thing um with our justice court judge as he left at the end of the year, we have received the names from the nominating committee and Jared and I will be interviewing the four candidates that were submitted from the nominating committee next week and we anticipate offering and then having that as a resolution for your ratification at our next meeting as long as that goes well. So this would be probably record time in replacing a justice court judge. So we appreciate those who were on the nominating committee. We had three of our staff members that were on that. So the next thing is next week the IT will be working to make the improvements to this the to the room and so they'll be working on that. So we'll we'll see what happens the following week, but we'll be testing that out. um those that um you many of you saw on Friday there was a petition um to IDA from property owners to disconnect from the city of Ida that was about 6,000 acres and so we're just waiting to see what will happen there just FYI. Um one thing I want to ask um this was recommended by a couple of council members and this is uh something that we've been working on as a policy. This would be within the personnel policy. This is just a an idea. If you are okay with that, we'll forward it um some of our recommendations to department heads for their review. But it was for the performance evaluations and when it allow departments, we've already had some of them use that is that they can within a a defined area. If we give a a 3% merit, the department heads, then they score all of their employees and they can use that 3%. So if a department um their salaries were, you know, $300,000, they'd get $9,000 to give as merit. They can allocate that to their employees. There's a max there's a cap on what that could be. You know, we may say 3%, they could only max at five. This just gives flexibility to

department heads to differentiate. What we've seen in the last couple of years is we had a nice bell curve of scores four years ago, three years ago, then we started getting little spikes a year ago, and then we saw this really spiky thing this year. So, there's some grading, I think, to the number. This would allow the department heads the flexibility. They could continue to do that the same way if they wanted to, but it gives them flexibility to to offer extra to the higher performers. But then if they're if two people score the same score, you better justify why one gets a higher raise than the other. This is just an opportunity for departments to have some flexibility with how they do the merits. We've had a couple departments that have done this kind of informally. We'd like to if that's something that you're in favor of, we'd like to the language that we've kind of come up with, we'd like to send it out to departments for there to review their review just to make sure that it makes sense. Um, we we think we've walked through most of that. We've been working with Matt and Nathan on this to come up with some language that would kind of expand how we do our performance reviews. Is that something conceptually you guys are okay with us getting more feedback from departments? Go ahead, Kendall.

I hate I hate this. This will help get rid of that. I'm all [laughter] We hope so. All right. We We have a jar and needs money. We started over in the new year. So, so we'll send that out to departments. And the last thing, we just received this from our our lobbyist. He was looking at um um money that we have um through Celeste Malloy. And we've heard from the Senate. We've heard from the House. They've approved it. We're just waiting on the president to sign. It'd be the $5 million for our first round of improvements on Drew.

5.2. You're right. $5.2 million for our first phase of Drew Bay. So, that's exciting. If that goes through, that would be, of course, we have to match it 20%. But what we've done in the past is we go to COG saying we received $5.2 million. We need our 20% match. And then we can go down the road and each year ask for the next phase. So that's exciting. Just waiting on the president to sign that. So good news. Thank you. There's nothing else. Chair to entertain a motion to adjourn. Second. Hear a motion and a second. All those in favor say I. I. We are adjourned at 8:00. Exactly.