[0:47] Welcome everyone to the

[0:50] regular scheduled Grant County

[0:52] Commissioner's meeting on May 19th. It's

[0:55] 4:02 and we will call this meeting to

[0:57] order. We have in attendance Mr. Trisha

[1:00] Hedin, Mr. John Heather,

[1:03] Commissioner Brian Martinez.

[1:05] Is Mary on Zoom? Yes, yeah. Okay.

[1:07] Commissioner Mary McGlenn on Zoom.

[1:10] Mr. Mike McCurdy, Commissioner Bill

[1:12] Winfield, and myself, Commissioner Bill

[1:14] Kelly. Also, our clerk

[1:16] Administrator Martina, and also our

[1:18] auditor Shelly Wyant, and our county

[1:21] attorney is online, Stephen Stocks.

[1:24] And with that, you'll stand up for the

[1:26] Pledge of Allegiance.

[1:30] I pledge allegiance to the flag

[1:33] of the United States of America.

[1:35] And to the republic for which it stands,

[1:38] one nation under God, indivisible, with

[1:41] liberty and justice for all.

[1:48] right, we have our 4:00 citizens to

[1:50] be heard, so if you would like to speak,

[1:52] go ahead and raise your hand. We do have

[1:54] a 3-minute timer that our assistant is

[1:57] going to put up. So, when it turns red,

[1:59] stop. pop it in or I'll pop it up.

[2:02] 3 minutes. Thank you. Okay, right here

[2:04] in the blue shirt. Come on up. You can

[2:06] use the podium here or sit down, either way. They have a

[2:10] microphone so hopefully the audience can

[2:12] hear you. Before you start, I just want

[2:14] to thank you for using your microphone

[2:16] for the hard of hearing of of us out

[2:17] there in the world. Rest of you, need to

[2:19] use your mic as well.

[2:20] >> Okay, got it.

[2:21] >> them that too, but thank you. I'm Diane

[2:23] Allen. I am retired from the National

[2:25] Park Service as Chief of Interpretation

[2:27] at Arches National Park.

[2:29] Um

[2:31] I participated in many many hours of

[2:34] planning while at the park. And I also

[2:37] ran the shuttle system at Stehekin and

[2:39] North Cascades National Park for 6

[2:41] years. So, a little bit of background

[2:42] back there. Um there's several things

[2:44] about this project that concern me. Um

[2:46] there's many more, but you won't give me

[2:48] a whole hour, so I'll try to narrow it

[2:51] down. Um I One of my concerns is

[2:53] transparency.

[2:55] Most of us have no idea what's been

[2:57] going on. It's planned. Now things are

[3:00] coming out that it's like time to vote

[3:02] on it. Um

[3:05] But there's a lot of operational issues

[3:07] that I think many of us have questions

[3:08] about. For instance, VIA or VIA, the

[3:12] company that operates the Moab area

[3:14] transit um and

[3:17] local

[3:18] transit their shuttles in other

[3:19] communities, apparently it has already

[3:21] been chosen as the shuttle provider for

[3:24] Arches. Or at least they think they

[3:26] have. They issued a feasibility

[3:28] statement. I'm not sure exactly what it

[3:30] was meant to be. Saying that they could

[3:31] begin as soon as yesterday.

[3:34] Somehow that just ain't right.

[3:36] Um

[3:37] Mr. Martinez, you state that the shuttle

[3:39] will, quote, "Protect the park,

[3:41] strengthen our economy, and improve

[3:43] quality of life for locals." I sure like

[3:45] to see some specifics on all of those

[3:47] because it just doesn't make sense to

[3:49] me. I realize that you're primarily

[3:51] focusing on the economy. And my big

[3:54] issue, of course, as most of the people

[3:56] out here are concerned about is the

[3:57] funding. Um I am no expert on TRT

[4:01] funding and what it's supposed to be

[4:02] used for and all of the hullabaloo

[4:04] that's been going on about it. But it

[4:07] just seems like there are many other

[4:08] community needs that could be met by

[4:11] that half a million dollars, which is a

[4:13] lot of money. Um

[4:16] And I also am unclear if this is meant

[4:19] to be a one-time statement of TRT money

[4:22] or if that's going to continue every

[4:24] year

[4:25] or as long as the shuttle is in

[4:27] operation. I realize it's a pilot

[4:28] program, but what happens in the future?

[4:32] Um

[4:33] I don't see that this shuttle system

[4:36] will actually enhance the visitors'

[4:38] experience at Arches. I know there are

[4:39] people that will disagree with that, but

[4:42] that's my opinion. Um I also find it

[4:45] interesting that somehow having a

[4:46] shuttle system will protect park

[4:48] resources. I don't see that happening at

[4:50] all.

[4:51] And it's interesting to me that while

[4:53] this august body is required to know a

[4:56] lot of things about a lot of different

[4:58] subjects,

[4:59] I don't think visitor management in a

[5:00] national park is in your job

[5:02] description. So, leave it to the

[5:03] professionals. Yes.

[5:07] Thank you.

[5:07] All right.

[5:13] Axman, um

[5:15] concerned citizen,

[5:17] um

[5:18] I'd like to

[5:20] think a lot of what she said, but the

[5:21] transparency hasn't been that great.

[5:24] Um when you guys decided to get rid of

[5:27] the reservation system, I really liked

[5:29] the idea.

[5:30] The reservation system had some

[5:33] problems, but

[5:35] it would have been really nice if you'd

[5:36] have worked through that before you just

[5:39] opened it up and then all of a sudden we have this

[5:43] transportation

[5:45] thing going on that nobody's even put

[5:48] any

[5:49] voice it to.

[5:50] Uh for one, um I don't know where the

[5:52] money's coming from cuz I thought we

[5:54] didn't have the money. And then all of a

[5:55] sudden, here's $500,000.

[5:58] The

[5:59] Where did it come from? And here

[6:01] [clears throat] we are raising taxes on

[6:03] all of us locals. I just don't get it.

[6:06] Uh um

[6:07] Uh

[6:09] man with the

[6:11] reservation system, I mean, there if you

[6:13] wanted to start by getting some of the businesses here

[6:16] in town to to get you guys in there or

[6:19] have people park at their businesses so

[6:21] they can put them on coaches and see how

[6:23] that works for a while. I mean, that

[6:25] would be really

[6:26] We let's do some studying and stuff

[6:29] before we just throw this in. I don't know what you guys are thinking,

[6:33] but the transparency, like she said, is just not there.

[6:36] And I'd like to know where the money is

[6:38] because I the stuff that I read, it

[6:41] doesn't look good. And if we have

[6:42] another

[6:44] COVID or if we have something else,

[6:47] where's that

[6:49] where's the trans

[6:51] TRT money going to come from?

[6:53] I just don't think you guys have thought

[6:56] of this very through.

[6:58] Um so, please just take a step back.

[7:01] Let's figure out what we need to do and

[7:03] then we'll go from there. Thank you for

[7:06] all your hard work, by the way, cuz I

[7:08] know it's not easy.

[7:11] » [clears throat]

[7:12] >> All right.

[7:12] Come on up, Pete.

[7:21] I wanted to get it out of the way

[7:22] because then I can relax and listen to

[7:23] other people.

[7:25] My name is Pete Brust.

[7:26] I'd like to point out that the current

[7:28] majority campaigned on transparency and

[7:31] fiscal responsibility.

[7:33] How has that manifested itself?

[7:36] $1,000

[7:38] out of four to two vote four to two vote

[7:40] for the deceptively named Utah Public

[7:43] Council, which advocates for public

[7:44] lands grazing,

[7:46] >> [clears throat]

[7:46] >> even though Utah's percent of beef

[7:48] production in the US is like a small

[7:50] fraction of 1%.

[7:52] $10,000 for a dubious cloud seeding

[7:56] project in Grand County.

[7:58] $60,000

[8:00] I don't even mention what it's for, but

[8:02] I will. Kem C. Gardner

[8:04] uh uh policy Institute report

[8:07] to allegedly prove that timed entry

[8:09] depressed Moab's economy.

[8:12] And first of all, as even the person who

[8:14] advocated for that presented the idea

[8:16] pointed out, correlation does not prove

[8:18] causation.

[8:20] So, then the reality came out when the Kem C. Gardner report was

[8:24] issued,

[8:25] um

[8:27] as chaos and congestion returned,

[8:31] you know, at the entrance to Arches,

[8:33] we find that visitor spending in Grand

[8:35] County during that timed entry period

[8:37] went up 22.2%.

[8:40] Visitor tax revenue increased 27.8%.

[8:44] Tourism-related jobs in Grand County up

[8:46] 16.3%.

[8:48] Now,

[8:50] they also pointed out that it's likely

[8:52] that visit visitor

[8:54] um

[8:56] visitors to Arches may have declined,

[9:00] but maybe those same visitors, because

[9:02] they didn't have to wait in line, they

[9:04] spent more time

[9:05] in Grand County, because some people

[9:07] like to actually plan ahead and not

[9:09] just, you know, randomly show up

[9:11] somewhere.

[9:12] Okay. And now,

[9:14] we're talking about a half million dollars of our tax

[9:18] money to fix, supposedly, some of the

[9:21] chaos created by abolishing timed entry.

[9:24] As I echo what the other speakers

[9:26] already said, um

[9:28] I just don't get it. Thank you for your

[9:30] time.

[9:36] Come on up.

[9:47] Thanks for having me. Uh commissioners,

[9:49] I know some of us have found ourselves

[9:50] >> Say your name. Oh, sorry. Uh Luke

[9:52] Wojcicki, Grand Rapids resident.

[9:55] Um commissioners, I know some of us have

[9:57] found ourselves on opposite sides of

[9:59] public debates before. But I hope you

[10:01] can recognize that I've tried to be

[10:02] consistent about one thing. Process

[10:05] matters. How something is done is not

[10:07] separate from whether the public can

[10:08] trust it. It is how public trust is

[10:11] built. I'm not here tonight to argue

[10:12] that an Archer shuttle is a bad idea.

[10:15] The question is whether this specific

[10:16] proposal, with this timeline, with this

[10:18] level of public information, is ready

[10:20] for a $500,000 public funding

[10:23] commitment.

[10:24] When I was on the City Commission, I

[10:25] learned that controversial projects do

[10:27] not get better by keeping them away from

[10:28] public scrutiny.

[10:30] They get better when they are brought

[10:32] into the open. Public engagement can be

[10:34] repetitive and uncomfortable, but it

[10:36] also [clears throat] made the final

[10:37] proposal stronger every single time.

[10:39] That is what good public process is

[10:41] supposed to do. I understand that a lot

[10:43] of

[10:44] has to happen before a vote. I genuinely

[10:46] appreciate the interagency coordination

[10:48] that has taken place, but coordination

[10:51] among agencies is not the same as public

[10:53] process.

[10:54] There's a difference between preparing

[10:56] an agenda item and moving a major

[10:58] project this far ahead before the public

[11:00] has had a meaningful chance to

[11:01] understand it, question it, or provide

[11:03] input.

[11:04] The working group was formally created

[11:06] about 6 weeks ago. At that point, the

[11:08] public was told that this was exploring

[11:10] a shuttle. Now, this commission is being

[11:12] asked to approve the county's share of a

[11:14] $3 million pilot. After state and

[11:16] federal funding commitments, public

[11:18] announcements, and a September launch,

[11:20] Target have already created significant

[11:22] momentum. That is the concern. Not that

[11:25] partners have been doing work, but that

[11:27] public messaging about this project is

[11:28] much further ahead than the

[11:29] documentation in the agenda packet.

[11:32] Messaging makes this sound like a

[11:33] project moving from concept to reality.

[11:36] But the agenda materials leave major

[11:38] pieces for later. That gap matters

[11:40] because it asks the public to trust a

[11:42] process it has not really been able to

[11:44] see. When significant decisions move

[11:46] forward with limited public visibility,

[11:48] people fill the gaps, sometimes fairly,

[11:50] sometimes not. But if the commission is

[11:52] frustrated by speculation, it should

[11:54] recognize the conditions that allowed it

[11:55] to thrive. Transparency is not simply

[11:58] taking the final vote in an open

[11:59] meeting. Transparency means giving the

[12:01] public enough information early enough

[12:03] to participate meaningfully.

[12:05] If residents, businesses, and affected

[12:07] stakeholders only see the details after

[12:09] the direction has already been set, then

[12:11] public comment becomes more performative

[12:13] than substantive. Asking for two due

[12:16] diligence is not the same as trying to

[12:18] kill the project. Similarly, prior

[12:20] general support for shuttles is not the

[12:22] same as public input on this specific

[12:24] pilot. And just because a concept has

[12:26] been discussed for years does not mean a

[12:27] new specific operational plan is ready.

[12:30] If there's a hard deadline or a real

[12:32] risk of losing NPS or U.S. funding, put

[12:34] that clearly on the record. But if the

[12:36] urgency is mainly a September launch,

[12:38] then the commission should slow down

[12:40] long enough for the public to understand

[12:41] what's being approved. This project may

[12:43] be worthwhile, but worthwhile projects

[12:45] still need public trust. And public

[12:47] trust is built before the vote, not at

[12:49] the time of the vote. So, I'm not asking

[12:51] you to say no to a shuttle. I'm asking

[12:53] you say not yet. Pause. Put the details

[12:56] in front of the public, allow input, and

[12:58] decide whether this pilot is ready for a

[13:00] $500,000 commitment. A stronger public

[13:03] process will not weaken a good project.

[13:05] It will make it more likely to succeed.

[13:07] Thank you.

[13:09] Okay, we're going to go. We have a

[13:10] couple online. We're going to go to

[13:11] those and then we'll come back into

[13:12] chambers. So, we'll go to um

[13:14] Tory Hill. Okay, Tory.

[13:21] Hi, thank you.

[13:22] Um I just barely heard about this. I

[13:25] keep

[13:26] pretty close eye on what's happening in

[13:28] our county. I've been on the

[13:31] uh town council here in Castle Valley

[13:32] for 18 years now.

[13:35] Um

[13:38] there is no

[13:40] uh I don't know. I don't think that you

[13:42] can fairly bring something

[13:45] to the agenda that's going to spend

[13:48] $500,000.

[13:50] Um let's break this down um

[13:53] because I am the treasurer out here.

[13:57] Uh if you look at the breakdown from what is the Forest

[14:03] Service to say the population of the US,

[14:06] $0.01 per person in the United States

[14:09] for this pilot program.

[14:11] The state of Utah, their portion would

[14:14] be $0.28 for every person in the state

[14:17] of Utah. Grand County, it would be $50

[14:21] per person.

[14:23] And I know this isn't coming out of our

[14:26] taxes, but the TRT is our taxes. The TRT

[14:30] goes to community

[14:33] and it should go to helping the

[14:36] community mitigate the trouble with

[14:40] tourism, not to encourage more tourism.

[14:44] It should be a mitigating tax.

[14:48] Um I'm not willing to give up 50 bucks

[14:51] that could go to the EMS. It could go to

[14:55] the law enforcement. It There are things

[14:58] that need to be fixed. Look go look at

[15:01] Old City Park. That's in Grand County.

[15:03] There's There's things that are way

[15:06] higher priority than trying to shuttle I

[15:09] don't know. What is the percentage of

[15:11] people that would willingly take a

[15:12] shuttle into Arches? The uninformed

[15:15] would take the shuttle. The informed

[15:17] would want to take their car because

[15:19] they would want to take a gallon of

[15:21] water per person

[15:23] in their trip, they would want to take

[15:25] food, probably a cooler, they would want

[15:28] to make sure that they have a first aid

[15:31] kit. I mean, I'm thinking about if I was

[15:33] to take a bus into Arches to enjoy my

[15:35] day,

[15:37] I couldn't carry everything that would

[15:40] be required for me to be safe. What

[15:42] you're going to do is you're going to

[15:44] get uninformed people taking too few

[15:46] little water, not having anywhere to be,

[15:49] being dropped off on trailheads,

[15:52] and then what? There's no cell service

[15:55] out there.

[15:56] I don't think you're really thinking

[15:59] this through. I have you know, what what

[16:01] does Grand County get after doing this?

[16:04] I can see where the state of Utah and

[16:06] the Forest Service would be you had

[16:08] Grand County give us $500,000

[16:11] for this pilot program. You know, I did

[16:14] not go into Arches for over 15 years,

[16:16] and I wrote to this commission at the

[16:19] very beginning when this first came up

[16:21] about the the timed entry.

[16:24] I did not go into Arches for 15 years

[16:26] because it was such a

[16:28] cluster.

[16:30] And after the timed entry, I actually in

[16:33] a year and a half went to Arches three

[16:35] times with my family, took other people.

[16:40] It worked.

[16:42] The timed entry system worked. It might

[16:44] not have worked

[16:46] completely, but it did work, and it cost

[16:49] pennies compared to what you're

[16:51] proposing now.

[16:53] Um I [clears throat] don't know. I'd like

[16:56] to say, "Brian, what are you getting out

[16:59] of this? And what is your

[17:02] motivation to mess with Arches?" Um I I just don't get it. I really

[17:10] Who Who are you to tell the National

[17:13] Park how to run itself or to even

[17:16] inflict your opinion on it in the world.

[17:18] >> want to take up all your time. Thank

[17:20] you.

[17:23] Okay. Emily, would you like to go?

[17:27] Yes, thank you. Um my comment

[17:31] Oh, sorry. I hope you can hear me. Um

[17:33] I'm Emily Campbell from Graham County.

[17:35] Um fund 23 and fund 26 in the budget are

[17:38] fully allocated. And um for us to pull

[17:41] any money against TRT revenue,

[17:44] mitigation, or promotional into this

[17:46] pilot will require us substituting out

[17:49] other things in our budget.

[17:51] And I think that that's a very dangerous

[17:54] precedent for us to set given the

[17:55] current state of things. I imagine that

[17:57] many of our budgets are going to be

[17:59] overdrawn this year just due to the cost

[18:01] of fuel. And I haven't seen that

[18:04] accounted for in this conversation, and

[18:07] that speaks to the lack of transparency

[18:09] and the lack of time to give

[18:11] well-reasoned citizen input about

[18:13] something that could very well have an

[18:14] impact on all of our bottom lines. I

[18:16] mean, the sheriff's office alone, I'm

[18:18] sure, is going to be looking at a much

[18:20] higher cost for fuel and and vehicle

[18:23] ownership costs, you know, as a result

[18:24] of the current state of things. And we

[18:26] don't see any reason for that high cost

[18:28] of fuel to abate anytime soon. I think

[18:29] that needs to be addressed very directly

[18:31] this evening if you do vote in favor of

[18:33] this. Um you know, I understand

[18:37] sometimes you have a windfall, and

[18:38] that's great. And if we do end up with a

[18:39] windfall this year, lucky us. And I

[18:41] think we should be very grateful for

[18:43] that. Um you know, there's a lot of

[18:45] stuff I want to do around my house and

[18:46] my property. Some might make my house

[18:48] more comfortable, more efficient. And we

[18:51] even have the money for some of those

[18:52] projects, but that doesn't mean we're

[18:53] going and spending that money

[18:55] immediately because we know that it's an

[18:56] uncertain time. We don't know what's

[18:58] going to happen to, you know, visitor

[19:01] spending as we see, you know, this AI

[19:04] bubble maybe on the verge of collapsing.

[19:06] Certainly, the cost of fuel will put

[19:07] pressure on things. It's wise to save

[19:10] when we can and to make well-reasoned

[19:12] decisions, and I think the lack of trans

[19:14] transparency and time here really does

[19:16] suggest that this is not well-reasoned

[19:18] or um I think it it potentially creates

[19:23] quite a bit of risk for us as taxpayers.

[19:25] Um and I'm I'm really disappointed that

[19:28] there wasn't more opportunity given for

[19:30] us to be informed about this decision

[19:33] that ultimately will come down to our

[19:35] tax dollars if it uh doesn't pan out.

[19:37] So, uh please be reasonable this

[19:40] evening, and um taking a little extra

[19:43] time and and doing this right doesn't

[19:45] mean a shuttle is a good or a bad idea.

[19:47] It may very well be a very good idea,

[19:49] but we should be smart about how we

[19:50] approach it. Thank you all.

[19:53] Thank you.

[19:54] Okay, back into the commission chambers.

[19:56] Who would like to speak?

[19:58] I'm Allison.

[20:05] I'm going to ask Bernie to hold up some

[20:07] of my charts, if that's okay.

[20:09] I'm Allison Stephen Van White. I also

[20:12] have hard copies of some of the

[20:13] materials I've sent to y'all. I'm going

[20:16] to hold this up.

[20:17] Um

[20:18] anytime an elected official Oh, I'm

[20:20] Allison Mathers. I'm a resident of Moab,

[20:23] Utah, and I actually lived in a national

[20:25] park with the shuttle system for 13

[20:27] years. So, I understand the pros and the

[20:29] cons, and I'm not saying I'm against the

[20:32] shuttle a shuttle system in the ideal

[20:34] for Arches National Park. What I am

[20:36] saying is that this

[20:38] there the math does not work for this

[20:40] shuttle proposal in any sort of way. And

[20:43] it's not about hard work, and I use that

[20:45] phrase because Brian Martinez had a

[20:47] piece in the Moab Times-Independent

[20:50] says, "Oh, we're doing the hard work."

[20:51] It is not about hard work. It is about

[20:54] good judgment.

[20:55] Anytime an elected official makes a

[20:57] decision, they have to

[20:59] operate in their fiduciary

[21:01] responsibility to their citizenry.

[21:03] Secondly, they need to weigh the

[21:05] decision based on facts, and they also

[21:07] need to weigh the decision based on

[21:11] something relative. In this case, timed

[21:13] entry is what the shuttle system

[21:16] is supposed to be

[21:18] replacing, so that's a very useful point

[21:21] of comparison. And Brian Martinez

[21:24] himself in his op-ed put four criteria

[21:28] on which to judge the shuttle system.

[21:30] One,

[21:31] affordability. Number two, whether or

[21:33] not it relieves congestion. Number

[21:35] three, whether it improves visitor

[21:38] experience. And number four, whether it

[21:40] improves the quality of life for locals.

[21:43] Number one, I'm going to start with

[21:44] relieving congestion. Well, we know that

[21:47] the timed entry program did that. It was

[21:49] specifically what it was designed to do

[21:51] by spreading out visitation through a

[21:53] larger part of the day. Will timed entry

[21:57] relieve congestion? Maybe is the best

[21:59] you can do it. At most, with two buses

[22:01] an hour at full capacity entering the

[22:04] park, and these are numbers I got from

[22:06] the the summary, which was very skimpy,

[22:08] you can transport a maximum of 390

[22:11] people per day into the park.

[22:14] Out of what? 50

[22:17] 3,000 uh

[22:18] On average, 55,379

[22:21] people per day in the months in question

[22:23] using 2025

[22:25] visitation stats. So, is it is it enough

[22:28] vehicles

[22:30] being taken off the road to reduce

[22:32] congestion? Probably not. Also taking

[22:34] into account one of the major

[22:36] contributions

[22:37] for congestion is the number of vehicles

[22:39] on the road at any given time. There is

[22:41] nothing in the shuttle system to

[22:43] disperse di-

[22:45] get people out on a wider slot of the

[22:47] day. Whether it improve visitor

[22:49] experience? Well, we know from survey

[22:51] data that the timed entry program did.

[22:54] Will the shuttle bus system do it? Maybe

[22:55] not. Survey data said that relieving

[22:58] congestion and reducing crowding improve

[23:00] visitor experience. The shuttle system

[23:02] will not reduce uh crowding. Quality of

[23:05] life for locals, that's completely

[23:06] subjective. I will answer the question

[23:08] for me. Shuttle system like a

[23:11] the timed entry system for me improve my

[23:14] quality of life because like Tory Hill,

[23:16] that meant I could go into the park

[23:17] during the season and enjoy myself.

[23:19] Number of visitors served per day,

[23:21] something else to keep in mind, up to

[23:23] 390 visitors per day.

[23:26] That's almost nothing. Very many, I

[23:28] couldn't find the number right off um

[23:31] there. Uh cost, very expensive, $3

[23:34] million.

[23:35] Uh uh

[23:37] The cost of timed entry is likely

[23:42] uh

[23:44] The shuttle is 17 times times 30 to 79

[23:48] times of what the timed entry uh

[23:50] administration. And per Grand County

[23:52] resident, I used 2025 July 1 ACS census

[23:56] data and I got calculated it out that

[23:58] $51.70

[24:00] 7 cents per resident for the shuttle

[24:02] system. How much did timed entry cost

[24:04] per resident? Zero.

[24:07] Thank you.

[24:10] Okay, do we have more in the audience

[24:12] that would like to speak?

[24:16] I don't know.

[24:22] Hi.

[24:23] I'm Emily Niehaus, I'm a Grand County

[24:26] resident. Um and the former mayor of

[24:29] Moab.

[24:30] And I want to thank you for your

[24:32] service.

[24:34] Um I'm going to look at my notes.

[24:37] I'm not asking you to vote

[24:39] no.

[24:41] I'm asking you to table this item

[24:43] tonight because there's a lot of

[24:46] discussion to still be had about this

[24:48] spending of $500,000.

[24:52] Um

[24:55] I

[24:57] have always been a fan of the timed

[24:59] entry system.

[25:01] And when I was looking at the items for

[25:02] this agenda topic, that 2012 study

[25:06] reminded me why. So, if you look in the

[25:09] actual

[25:10] 2012,

[25:12] you know, agenda item,

[25:14] it lists, you know, consideration for

[25:16] shuttle

[25:18] and then consideration for timed entry

[25:20] system. Shuttle's expensive. Timed entry

[25:24] was like in 2015 going to cost $4,000.

[25:29] And so, I think the reason I've always

[25:31] been in favor of timed entry, as all of

[25:35] you know, cuz I've called you about it,

[25:37] is that it's the um

[25:40] less expensive solution for congestion

[25:43] mitigation.

[25:44] It feels like there's been this

[25:47] false narrative that if you couldn't get

[25:50] a timed entry, you couldn't enter the

[25:52] park.

[25:54] And I think that was not fair to

[25:56] visitors

[25:58] for us to be saying that because

[26:00] you just with this with the timed entry

[26:03] system that we had, you didn't have your

[26:05] preferred time entry. You could go

[26:08] before 7:00 a.m.

[26:10] You could go before or before or you

[26:12] could go after 4:00 p.m.

[26:16] And the Park Service really did do a

[26:18] good job in listening to our concerns

[26:20] and scaling back that timed entry

[26:22] system, so it wasn't all the time,

[26:26] as we know.

[26:28] Now, I know this item isn't about timed

[26:30] entry, but I know that it is about

[26:32] spending half a million dollars

[26:35] um on a shuttle system that I don't

[26:37] think really, as all the information's

[26:40] coming out, really mitigates the

[26:43] congestion that I think we're hoping

[26:45] that it does.

[26:46] Finally, you're about to approve half a [snorts] dollars that's going to

[26:51] compete with private sector, and that's

[26:53] not right. So, it's not just spending

[26:56] half a million dollars of TRT money.

[26:59] It's competing with private sector.

[27:02] The the businesses that have seaways,

[27:06] that have coaches,

[27:07] are going to be negatively impacted by

[27:09] government, and I know that's not what

[27:12] any of us want to do.

[27:14] So, we got to think about it.

[27:16] We could still potentially spend this

[27:18] money. We could still potentially have a

[27:21] really creative,

[27:22] locally built shuttle service,

[27:26] where we're buying coaches one time,

[27:28] like the Star Grant, but different.

[27:31] Where we're buying coaches for local

[27:33] businesses.

[27:35] I really think that that's the way to

[27:36] spend the money, local asset building.

[27:39] Thank you.

[27:43] Okay, and I think I saw a hand over

[27:45] here.

[27:47] She was in front of you, Michael. Well,

[27:49] I don't know. Okay.

[27:50] Sorry.

[27:50] >> [laughter]

[27:50] >> That is fine. Oh.

[27:56] Hello. I'm Michael Peck from Castle

[27:59] Valley.

[28:00] And I think one of the things that I

[28:02] noticed as not being addressed because

[28:04] most people never do it, and that's have

[28:07] you ever driven a shuttle? I have.

[28:10] And

[28:12] not everybody needs to go to the

[28:13] bathroom at the same time.

[28:15] And then in the park, there's very, very

[28:18] few bathrooms. And if you have a whole

[28:20] bunch of kids and a whole bunch of

[28:22] people on a bus,

[28:24] and you want to drop them off at a

[28:25] trailhead where there's no bathroom,

[28:27] with no alternatives to get in a car and

[28:29] go somewhere, you need to think about

[28:32] this. You're spending $500,000

[28:35] to put people in a confinement and

[28:38] shuttle them up this thing and drop them

[28:40] off at a trailhead. They may not have

[28:41] enough water for the walk up.

[28:44] It's a It's a really dumb idea. And you

[28:46] want to consider it a little deeper.

[28:48] Thank you.

[28:51] Okay, and then Michael list seems to

[28:53] come.

[28:59] Hi, my name is Michael list. I'm a local

[29:01] citizen and I've actually been involved

[29:04] um

[29:05] coming up with um

[29:07] advocating for solutions to Arches

[29:09] for like 11 years. But I want to talk

[29:11] about something else today because

[29:13] there's a lot of talk about how we

[29:15] haven't thought about this. I was the

[29:17] chair of the Moab Transit Authority ad

[29:20] hoc study committee formed by this

[29:22] council. And we studied all of these

[29:25] things. We did extensive studies on the

[29:28] Arches shuttle. We did extensive studies

[29:30] on the shuttle in town. We did studies

[29:33] on bike usage in town and how to make it

[29:36] more effective in town and to Arches.

[29:39] And um

[29:41] I just like to go through that because

[29:42] the math that we have right now that

[29:44] wouldn't exist without it. We did all

[29:46] the work and then when our work was

[29:48] done, I have to hand it to Karen Guzman

[29:50] because she got it over the finish line.

[29:52] So I don't think she gets enough credit

[29:54] for that math system because she did an

[29:57] amazing job with that once our committee

[29:59] stopped working.

[30:01] And then we had um bike paths and we

[30:03] wanted to get the bikes into Arches

[30:06] and the safest way is to go to Willow

[30:08] Springs and go in because it's not safe

[30:11] to go up that main road. And after the

[30:13] committee finished I personally went to

[30:16] Salt Lake to legislature and I

[30:18] campaigned on it I guess lobbied and I

[30:21] got us the money for that. So that was

[30:23] amazing. So then with this shuttle first

[30:26] the Park Service in 2012 did an

[30:29] extensive study all the way down to the

[30:31] street furniture and how it would work.

[30:33] Our committee did an extensive study

[30:36] which we gave you and you have and Mary

[30:38] McGann thank you because she was our

[30:41] um council liaison. So I think it's

[30:44] important for the audience to understand

[30:46] that even though it didn't happen

[30:47] yesterday or a week ago, this has been

[30:50] on the table for years, decades, and

[30:53] it's been studied extensively.

[30:56] And I actually have to hand it to you

[30:57] because

[30:59] action never happens in government, it's

[31:01] very rare. I mean, we know that timed

[31:03] entry was just a way to stop tourism and

[31:05] it was very effective. Well, now you're

[31:07] trying to take action to try and come up

[31:10] with with a real solution and I just

[31:12] want to thank you guys and thank the

[31:14] Park Service for putting money in and

[31:16] UDOT. And it's important to remind

[31:19] everyone that this council, in the form

[31:22] of the Moab Transit Authority Study

[31:24] Committee, actually in the past has

[31:26] researched this extensively. So, thanks

[31:28] for your work, Jeff.

[31:30] Thank you.

[31:32] All right.

[31:38] Hi, my name is Bruny Mason. I'm a

[31:40] citizen and I'm a voter of this county.

[31:44] And my quality of life is being

[31:46] diminished

[31:47] by the minute here.

[31:49] I've been coming to these meetings now

[31:51] for a few weeks and the circus that's

[31:54] happening here

[31:56] is outraging me.

[32:00] I'm not a numbers person,

[32:02] but I don't want to listen to people say

[32:04] timed entry diminished tourism. That is

[32:08] just a incentives. It's not

[32:11] true. If you've used it, you know it's

[32:14] not true.

[32:15] I'm getting angrier and angrier about

[32:18] this whole process. And then, I feel

[32:21] grubby little hands in my pockets

[32:24] looking for $500,000.

[32:27] Here's my wallet. I don't have $5 in

[32:29] there. I don't want you guys to take

[32:32] more of my money. And I don't want you

[32:35] guys to run the Park Service. It's being

[32:37] run already with my tax money.

[32:41] It's none of your business. I didn't

[32:43] vote you in

[32:44] to run the park.

[32:46] I voted you in to take care of me and

[32:50] other citizens in this city and county.

[32:54] Leave the park service to the park

[32:57] people.

[32:59] If you need a job, go apply for that. But they're not

[33:04] hiring right now.

[33:05] Then go get another job.

[33:08] But this is not working. This is really

[33:10] not working. Do you have any seconds

[33:12] left? I don't care.

[33:13] So, I mean, I'm just a general person.

[33:17] There are people out there like me.

[33:19] And most of them will not come here

[33:21] because they think you are some

[33:22] important people. You are our people. I

[33:26] we voted you in here to do what we want,

[33:29] not what you want.

[33:31] When our biggest hotel in town is at

[33:34] capacity, 95% almost every night, what

[33:38] problems do we have with our tourists?

[33:41] They're not being diminished. They're

[33:42] not

[33:43] being sent away. They're here. And

[33:46] they're spending a lot of money already.

[33:49] We don't need to throw another $3

[33:51] million at them to bring more people

[33:54] here and more money. We have enough

[33:56] tourists. We need to also take care You

[33:58] guys have to take care of our citizens

[34:01] here.

[34:03] And leave the tourists to themselves.

[34:05] They're coming.

[34:06] And we don't know how much longer with

[34:09] the other government that's going on,

[34:11] but they're here now.

[34:13] And they were happy. And now they're a

[34:15] little less happy, just like the

[34:16] citizens that live in this town. Thank

[34:19] you.

[34:22] Come on up.

[34:28] Hi, my name is Sandy Carey. I am a

[34:30] resident of Graham County. Um two two

[34:34] things that I just wanted to point out.

[34:35] I was not aware that this was on the

[34:38] agenda and boy, you guys are getting

[34:40] beat up. But anyway, uh

[34:43] the thing is is there's what

[34:45] 9 10 9 uh 10,000 people in Grand County

[34:48] and about 5 a little under in in Moab.

[34:51] Um

[34:52] basically, there's 100 kids that

[34:54] graduate every year from high school.

[34:56] There's 12 grades. It's 1,200 people not

[35:00] putting money [clears throat] in towards

[35:01] this project. At least. So, the

[35:04] responsibility is going on the parents

[35:06] or single people. So, that's one thing

[35:09] that I just wanted you to be aware of.

[35:11] And the second thing is um

[35:15] Arches is making their problem our

[35:16] problem.

[35:17] And uh

[35:19] you know, they could have more parking

[35:21] lots and they could have more, you know,

[35:22] they don't want to disturb the soil.

[35:24] Well,

[35:25] if you're attracting worldwide visitors,

[35:28] then you need to create facilities for

[35:30] it. And they're not putting a dime.

[35:32] They're making their problem our

[35:33] problem. Not putting a dime in towards

[35:35] expanding the parking. I mean, they've

[35:37] done it here and there, but it's the new

[35:40] thing and so they need to really

[35:43] um pay a little bit more attention and

[35:44] allocate a little bit more money. As I

[35:47] remember from people that I have been

[35:49] friends with with the Park Service, they

[35:51] always have to do a 5-year study just to

[35:53] make sure that the Park Service is

[35:55] spending money in the correct places and

[35:57] that they don't fall into

[35:59] um

[36:00] liability and and whatever. So,

[36:03] that's maybe

[36:05] you know, their the reason that they're

[36:07] looking for us for help. I don't really

[36:09] know. Anyway,

[36:10] I wasn't expecting this to

[36:13] explode like this, but nice to have

[36:15] people's opinion.

[36:17] Thank you.

[36:19] Oh, come on, Tim.

[36:29] Well, my name is Jim Webster and uh

[36:33] like Diane, I

[36:35] spent half of my career and uh many, many years living in Arches

[36:40] National Park.

[36:41] In the '90s all the way through the '90s

[36:43] and the first half of the 2000s.

[36:47] Um

[36:48] and

[36:49] since I retired quite a few years ago, I

[36:52] have

[36:53] just been watching as an observer and

[36:56] bystander what's going on at Arches.

[36:59] Very much a supporter of the uh timed

[37:02] entry. I saw it work well. I don't think

[37:05] it had anything to do with

[37:08] uh

[37:09] you know,

[37:10] hurting the community or hurting the

[37:13] visitor. I think it was a really a

[37:15] plus. But, I didn't come here tonight to

[37:17] speak at all.

[37:19] But, I

[37:21] think my advice to the commission is to

[37:23] slow

[37:25] down.

[37:26] Uh people are scrambling to understand

[37:30] what this project is all about because

[37:32] there has been

[37:33] >> [gasps]

[37:34] >> uh some of you've been involved in it,

[37:38] some for quite a while, but uh the

[37:41] community hasn't been following this at

[37:43] all. I just spent part of the day today

[37:46] looking at the 2014 feasibility study.

[37:50] That seems to have a lot of

[37:53] and that was a thoughtful process

[37:56] uh

[37:56] that involved a lot of people and

[37:58] professionals, professional

[37:59] transportation people and park service

[38:02] people. So, they um

[38:05] it seems like some of the ideas that

[38:07] have come for your for your this thing

[38:09] you've put together, Brian,

[38:11] came from that study. Is that correct?

[38:14] Yeah. Okay.

[38:16] That

[38:18] uh

[38:18] was well done. But, what I am seeing

[38:21] here is a considerable lack of

[38:23] transparency in terms of moving this

[38:25] forward

[38:26] with the community particularly. I am

[38:30] baffled by the procurement process that

[38:33] the Park Service

[38:35] has

[38:36] all of a sudden come up with a million

[38:38] and a half dollars for this project.

[38:42] I

[38:43] am

[38:43] >> [clears throat]

[38:44] >> baffled about how the county can

[38:46] proceed with this unplanned budget item.

[38:53] And

[38:55] the So, the procurement process

[38:58] seems like it's broken in this case.

[39:01] The last thing that I have really noted

[39:04] is that I have not heard or seen

[39:07] the National Park Service representation

[39:12] here in any of these commission

[39:14] meetings, but I haven't been to a lot of

[39:16] them.

[39:17] And I haven't heard or seen public or

[39:21] press releases from the superintendent,

[39:23] for example, or the regional director.

[39:25] Any support from that. I read that we're

[39:29] working with

[39:31] the Park Service, and I see the

[39:33] superintendent's name dropped

[39:35] frequently. But I haven't seen that,

[39:38] and I haven't talked to her about this

[39:39] at all. So, I have no idea.

[39:42] So, I think my advice again

[39:45] is to slow this thing down.

[39:48] Engage the community

[39:50] more, and uh be more transparent. Thank

[39:53] you.

[39:57] Okay, anybody else?

[40:05] I am Mary O'Brien with uh Grand County

[40:09] citizen. Uh I have sent

[40:12] some detailed comments about the

[40:15] financial lack of transparency, and I

[40:18] did mention that for instance the 1.5

[40:21] million coming from a Centennial

[40:23] challenge.

[40:25] I don't know whether it was already in

[40:28] the budget this last year but Trump is

[40:31] um

[40:32] in his the White House budget is zeroing

[40:34] out that for 2027. So I don't know.

[40:37] Again, there's like been no transparency

[40:40] about whether this has already been

[40:41] gotten how did it if so how did you get

[40:44] it when did it get it how was prior to

[40:47] priorities and so on.

[40:49] Um so I agree there's not been

[40:52] transparency and slow this thing down.

[40:55] But as I thought about it I thought you

[40:58] know

[40:59] the arches

[41:01] um shuttle planning of 25 2026 is kind

[41:05] of the epitome of what I would call the

[41:08] ballroom planning system.

[41:11] Someone say a president

[41:14] or a tech billionaire

[41:17] or a county commissioner

[41:19] has a plan and runs with it.

[41:22] This someone designs the whole thing

[41:25] and presents it with little advanced

[41:28] warning.

[41:29] Is it needed?

[41:31] Well, that's not the point.

[41:34] Is it met with objections from many? No

[41:38] time to deal with objections or data.

[41:41] The plan is just too good as it is.

[41:45] it sustainable?

[41:47] There's no tomorrow so that's

[41:49] irrelevant.

[41:51] Is it over the budget? Don't worry we've

[41:54] been making cuts elsewhere.

[41:57] Like to staff.

[42:00] Is it collaborative?

[42:02] Not with the public.

[42:04] Yeah, let's put this down for a while

[42:07] and start being responsible financially

[42:11] and start being transparent and start

[42:13] being collaborative with the forest the

[42:16] park service. You right now it's a

[42:18] non-consensual collaboration.

[42:24] Okay, anyone else?

[42:27] Okay, come on up.

[42:36] My name is Laura Cameron and I'm a Grand

[42:38] County resident. I've been here for a

[42:41] very long time, lived here full-time,

[42:44] and I do try to keep track of what's

[42:46] going on

[42:48] with our county and with our

[42:51] situations.

[42:52] And this whole council ever since it was

[42:56] formed and started, it's just seemed

[42:59] like suddenly there was this disconnect,

[43:02] this lack of transparency,

[43:04] and I never felt that way

[43:07] for the

[43:08] past 20 years.

[43:10] But, um,

[43:11] and there are so many people here that

[43:13] have so much more good professional

[43:17] information

[43:18] about the situation, and I appreciate

[43:21] them standing up here and talking to you

[43:24] about it.

[43:25] >> [clears throat]

[43:26] >> I

[43:28] First time I ever went to Zion Park, I

[43:30] was about 6 years old, and that was a

[43:33] long time ago. And I've seen the

[43:35] National Parks change a lot. And I

[43:38] remember when they started implementing

[43:41] the shuttle system for Zion,

[43:44] and I was trying to

[43:46] There is no comparison about what

[43:49] how that works and Brian Martinez's

[43:53] proposal

[43:54] about the shuttle system for Arches. It

[43:57] just seems so unworkable, so

[44:00] unrealistic, so many problems.

[44:04] So, it was my understanding there's only

[44:07] one shuttle in Zion and it

[44:10] [clears throat] goes from Springdale

[44:12] up up to into the canyon into Zion

[44:16] Canyon. That's the only place it goes.

[44:19] My understanding is in the rest of the

[44:21] park people go separately. So I just

[44:27] I was really curious so I called

[44:30] today Washington County Treasurer.

[44:34] And I the person I spoke to I asked them

[44:40] if if Washington County TRT

[44:44] tax money

[44:46] if any of that money went to supporting

[44:48] the shuttle

[44:50] in the park.

[44:51] And she said, "No, absolutely no."

[44:55] So why should we

[44:58] have this kind of a tax burden on our

[45:01] citizens?

[45:03] I just don't think it's appropriate at

[45:06] all.

[45:07] I really don't. So

[45:09] please reconsider.

[45:13] Thank you.

[45:15] Okay, do we have anyone else in the

[45:16] audience that would like to speak?

[45:19] No. Okay. Okay.

[45:22] Come on.

[45:25] » [clears throat]

[45:26] >> My name's Jerry Chew. I'm from town.

[45:29] And I realize sitting here maybe only

[45:33] here that uh

[45:35] I just have one simple hope

[45:37] coming into this.

[45:40] That in the face of all this

[45:43] concern

[45:45] uh

[45:46] ill conception of the whole thing

[45:49] uh

[45:51] in the face of all [clears throat] that we don't find another four-person

[45:56] block vote for something that is so

[45:59] ill-considered.

[46:02] It's becoming so predictable and

[46:04] [clears throat]

[46:05] I would think

[46:07] with four individuals

[46:10] they could sort this out separately and

[46:12] not vote as a block, which is starting to look suspicious. It's

[46:17] uncomfortable.

[46:21] Okay. Anybody else? I have one more on

[46:23] the phone. One more online. Do you have

[46:25] someone online that would like to speak?

[46:27] If you are, then take your

[46:29] um

[46:30] mute off and go ahead and start

[46:31] speaking.

[46:35] What's your name?

[46:36] I don't see him in there yet.

[46:38] >> [clears throat]

[46:41] » Okay.

[46:42] Um

[46:44] Okay. Come on up.

[46:45] >> [clears throat]

[46:50] » Hi. I'm Avery Holdenbrand, um resident,

[46:53] Spanish Valley.

[46:55] Um yeah, I'm against approving $500,000

[46:59] tonight. I suggest you guys table that,

[47:01] get some more input from people,

[47:03] understand the effect a little bit

[47:04] better.

[47:05] Um

[47:06] that's a lot of money and we could

[47:09] repair some roads with that instead. So,

[47:11] might be a better use of it.

[47:16] Okay. And let it Does Lynn get on the

[47:17] line? Lynn, do you have comment?

[47:27] Lynn? He's coming.

[47:31] Anybody else in the audience while we're

[47:33] waiting on our last online speaker? You

[47:36] guys all good? Okay.

[47:38] See if he shows up.

[47:42] » [clears throat]

[47:45] » No? But is he on there? Who's that?

[47:47] Yeah. Oh.

[47:52] Lynn, can you hear us? Are you here for

[47:53] public comment?

[47:58] Lynn, can you hear us? We're at the end

[48:00] of the session so we heard so we're just

[48:01] trying to wrap up.

[48:05] Okay, well then we're going to have

[48:06] another one at 6:00. So we're going to

[48:08] just go to 6:00.

[48:10] And I think we have our elected so we're

[48:11] going to move along to our elected

[48:14] officials report as needed and I think

[48:15] we have Jameson online and so he would

[48:17] like to speak.

[48:19] Jameson, if you're there.

[48:23] Yeah, I feel just be able to let me

[48:25] share my screen with you.

[48:28] Done.

[48:29] >> [clears throat]

[48:47] » Did you guys see that?

[48:49] Yeah. Yes, sir.

[48:52] So I'll be real quick. This is a first

[48:54] donation that we had. This was from

[48:56] Intrepid Potash. They donated $6,000 to

[48:59] our search and rescue team.

[49:02] And then this photo is from over the

[49:04] weekend.

[49:06] This is from the C10 car show. Uh just

[49:09] real quick, in April of 2005

[49:12] Chase was rescued by our search and

[49:14] rescue team. He was camping where he

[49:16] fell 60 ft down a cliff. Um

[49:19] SAR performed a rescue to get to him

[49:22] and provided medical attention.

[49:24] Fast forward to today, Chase is giving

[49:26] back in an incredible way through the

[49:28] C10 Red Rock Retreat car show. Chase,

[49:31] the event vendors, and another generous

[49:33] donor who was rescued about 2 years ago

[49:36] raised an amazing total of $71,564

[49:40] to our search and rescue team. Last

[49:43] year's uh donation, they donated

[49:45] $15,002.

[49:48] Um and so we we can't thank Chase

[49:50] enough. Donations like this help offset

[49:53] our general budget. We send staff to

[49:56] specialized training. We we special we

[49:59] make

[50:00] purchases for specialized equipment with

[50:02] this kind of money.

[50:03] And so

[50:05] we are really grateful that they

[50:07] continue to keep coming and supporting

[50:08] our economy. They stay in our hotels.

[50:11] They buy food in our community.

[50:13] Um and so I just wanted to do a quick

[50:15] report on that. He's an amazing person

[50:16] and it's his way of giving back.

[50:20] That's all I've got.

[50:28] Thanks to those awesome donors, too.

[50:31] Appreciate it. And I appreciate all the

[50:33] time they spent there. It was great

[50:34] event last weekend. Steve has his hand

[50:37] up.

[50:39] Stephen Stocks, he's also elected

[50:46] Can you hear me okay?

[50:47] Yes.

[50:49] Um just want to give a brief brief

[50:50] update. I'm at the the convention for

[50:52] crimes against women.

[50:54] Um this is the ICCR convention I've been

[50:57] speaking about a few different times in

[50:58] the past. Um this is brought to us um

[51:02] by Detective Robert Sterry with the Mont

[51:05] Police Department. Um they flew four of

[51:07] us out here to be able to get training.

[51:10] Um it's an awesome convention. We talk a

[51:12] lot about some of the different types of

[51:15] abuse that's happening

[51:17] throughout the US and domestic violence

[51:19] especially. Just going to give some

[51:20] information because we've got a larger

[51:22] audience. I like to give information out

[51:23] that can impact and help others.

[51:26] Uh today is the first day that take it

[51:28] down

[51:29] um legislation that was passed unanimous

[51:31] bipartisan effort. Um a lot of people

[51:33] refer to it as revenge porn.

[51:35] Um

[51:36] but it's images that are shared and

[51:38] distributed without the consent of the

[51:40] individual that's being recorded. And

[51:42] that legislation went into effect. It

[51:44] was signed last year and went into

[51:46] effect today. Utah also signed a measure

[51:49] as well that requires individuals

[51:52] and third-party websites to be required

[51:55] to remove down that content.

[51:58] Additionally, there's some emerging

[52:00] trends with AI and use of AI and

[52:02] creation of that those images as well,

[52:05] which is terrifying.

[52:07] Additionally, we're looking at patterns

[52:10] of domestic violence and how to support

[52:11] individuals

[52:12] especially on strangulation individuals

[52:14] that are strangled by their intimate

[52:18] partner abuser are 700 times more likely

[52:22] to die. And so this conference gives us

[52:25] additional resources, tools, information

[52:27] to be able to support people in the

[52:29] community

[52:30] that face domestic violence issues and

[52:32] to have more resources here. So it's

[52:34] wonderful conference. I'll give a fuller

[52:35] presentation when I get back and just

[52:38] want to give you guys that tidbit to

[52:39] start.

[52:42] Thanks, Stephen.

[52:44] Okay.

[52:45] So now we will move into our general

[52:47] business action items discussion and

[52:50] consideration of approvals. So number

[52:51] one is a commission member disclosures

[52:53] and future considerations.

[52:55] As for usual, my wife works for the

[52:56] sheriff's department. Okay.

[52:59] And Go ahead. You need a microphone.

[53:03] It's mine.

[53:04] Number two,

[53:05] uh future consideration.

[53:07] Uh

[53:08] we're going to

[53:09] go into we spoke this morning

[53:12] me and Chair McCanliss.

[53:14] Mark Steiner, we're going to go into

[53:16] uh looking at

[53:19] some

[53:20] hourly needs, some time needs, some

[53:22] staffing needs out of our O'Leary Arena.

[53:25] Uh it is a subject that has

[53:27] come up as of late, but

[53:31] it is being looked at

[53:35] by all staff levels to commission etc.

[53:38] but we are taking care of the problem. We want a facility

[53:42] uh that is usable by all

[53:45] as often as possible of our constituents

[53:47] who actually paid for this facility. So,

[53:50] we will be I would like in future

[53:52] considerations us

[53:54] devoting admin or staff time

[53:58] to OSTA

[54:00] to figure out a little more in depth of

[54:02] that staffing needs, some time needs,

[54:04] etc. Scheduling needs.

[54:07] But, I'd like that sooner than later to

[54:09] help [clears throat] with current

[54:10] We stacked them with current minutes, so

[54:12] they need to help now. We need to take a

[54:14] look at that as a commission.

[54:17] Okay. Any other

[54:19] disclosures of future considerations?

[54:24] No? Okay.

[54:25] We will move on to our approval of the

[54:27] consent agenda items. Commissioner

[54:29] Watko?

[54:30] Yes, I would like to remove item F,

[54:34] G, and H.

[54:37] F and G are still with Luso, and not

[54:40] ready for

[54:43] be approved, and H I believe that we

[54:45] need to do a vote on separately, and

[54:48] then

[54:49] it could be ratified at a future

[54:51] meeting.

[54:54] Okay. So, we'll add H

[54:57] on to just how about the end of our

[54:59] agenda this evening for November 13th.

[55:02] So,

[55:03] okay.

[55:05] And those are part of the county

[55:06] attorney's reports.

[55:09] Oh, we'll make an approval of H. We'll

[55:12] talk about H at the end of the meeting.

[55:15] So, with that, I will do the approval of

[55:19] the meeting minutes from May 5th, 2026,

[55:22] ratification of the payment of bills.

[55:25] Total bills is $955,255.51.

[55:30] Total payroll $166,980.03.

[55:36] Total bills and payrolls are $1,122.

[55:40] 200

[55:41] Sorry, 1 million 122,238,054

[55:46] cents.

[55:47] Ratification of the contract with Pivot

[55:49] Cycles to loan e-bikes to G cap for

[55:52] trail maintenance.

[55:54] Ratification of indigent defense council

[55:57] grant application.

[55:59] Approval of contingency expense for GC

[56:02] star.

[56:04] And we do move that and change

[56:07] the agenda.

[56:08] And I is the law of office of tourism

[56:11] participation in Utah office of tourism

[56:14] fiscal year 2027 international opt-in

[56:17] marketing program.

[56:21] Mike.

[56:22] So moved.

[56:23] Thank you.

[56:25] All in favor?

[56:29] Mary.

[56:30] I, yes.

[56:32] Okay.

[56:33] I pass with 7-0.

[56:36] And now we move on to number three is

[56:38] the local match for ordinary desert

[56:40] transportation initiative and this is

[56:42] Commissioner Martinez.

[56:46] Thank you.

[56:48] >> [clears throat]

[56:48] >> Um

[56:49] I'll go ahead and get started off on

[56:50] this real quick. Um Grand County, the

[56:53] National Park Service and the state of

[56:54] Utah have been working together to

[56:56] address the long-standing transportation

[56:58] challenges at Arches National Park

[57:00] and case forward along US 191 through

[57:03] corridor through the Moab corridor.

[57:05] This item considers the county's

[57:07] contribution in a three-partner funding

[57:09] plan for a 2026-2027

[57:11] shuttle plan.

[57:13] With a total budget of up to 3 million

[57:15] dollars of which is follows.

[57:17] The National Park Service will have 1.5

[57:19] million dollars of Centennial funding.

[57:22] That Centennial funding is good for

[57:24] fiscal year 2026.

[57:26] So we do not have it for 2027.

[57:29] The state of Utah I went up on Friday,

[57:32] um to speak in favor of UDot um awarding

[57:36] uh $1 million to this project um under

[57:39] the uh hotspot recreation hotspot

[57:41] program.

[57:42] And in that capital staff, Grand County

[57:45] would be responsible for $500,000 of

[57:48] that match right there.

[57:51] I also have a little bit of a statement

[57:52] I'd like to read.

[57:53] So,

[57:55] this is a big milestone for Grand County

[57:57] and everyone who cares about our economy

[58:00] and Arches National Park.

[58:02] A core component of the access and

[58:03] capacity enhancement alternative was the

[58:06] show by investing in infrastructure we

[58:09] can expand capacity, protect public

[58:11] lands, and keep the gate open.

[58:14] Arches does not have a people problem,

[58:16] it has a vehicle problem.

[58:18] According to National Park surveys,

[58:20] nothing would improve the visitor

[58:22] experience more than a voluntary

[58:24] shuttle.

[58:25] Shuttles have worked for decades at many

[58:27] National Parks.

[58:29] We have seen the results when we

[58:31] restrict access.

[58:33] Kem C. Gardner report estimated timed

[58:35] entry reduced visitors by 170,000.

[58:40] Every dollar of economic activity

[58:42] protected by this system is a dollar

[58:44] that funds Grand County families and

[58:47] raising without raising property taxes.

[58:50] Department of the Interior,

[58:52] UDot have stepped up and Grand County

[58:55] has a responsibility to meet that

[58:57] investment in in the infrastructure of

[59:00] our economy.

[59:01] The 2024 EIS by the NPS stated,

[59:05] "Currently, there are no reasonably

[59:07] seeable viable options for partnering

[59:10] with partnering with the community.

[59:13] However, the NPS remains open to

[59:15] proposals operate a shuttle system in

[59:18] the park."

[59:20] Conclusions from the feasibility study

[59:22] in 2012,

[59:24] "Overall, the shuttle would have a

[59:26] long-term beneficial impact on park

[59:29] visitors. Those impacts would not be

[59:31] limited to those on shuttle

[59:33] but to those who would benefit from

[59:35] fewer cars on the road and more

[59:37] available parking spaces.

[59:39] Overall, most park resources would

[59:42] experience long-term beneficial impacts

[59:46] from the reduction in the number of

[59:47] private vehicles traveling in Arches.

[59:51] The shuttle meets climate Arches climate friendly goal to reduce overall

[59:58] emissions from private vehicles within

[1:00:00] the park by diverting visitors to the

[1:00:02] shuttle during the pilot project.

[1:00:06] We are investing in our economic

[1:00:07] infrastructure infrastructure and just

[1:00:10] like advertising, it will pay dividends.

[1:00:13] Over 80% of Grand County's economy

[1:00:16] depends on tourism and nearly 70% of our

[1:00:19] local jobs are tied directly to park

[1:00:22] visitation.

[1:00:24] The National Park cannot solve for both

[1:00:26] economic and congestion challenges on

[1:00:29] their own.

[1:00:30] As a gateway community, we have to pull

[1:00:32] up a seat to the table and actively

[1:00:34] manage our future.

[1:00:37] It's taken us over a decade to get to

[1:00:39] this point and a shuttle to Arches

[1:00:42] National Park will benefit the people of

[1:00:44] Grand County for decades to come.

[1:00:47] I'm very proud of the collaboration from

[1:00:50] all the agencies that have helped step

[1:00:52] up and I'm proud of everyone who has

[1:00:55] invested time, money

[1:00:58] to make this happen and I'll open it up

[1:00:59] for questions.

[1:01:01] Hey Jack. Uh first off, I I just

[1:01:03] actually want to ask our attorney a

[1:01:05] question. It says legal review is not

[1:01:06] applicable on this, which

[1:01:09] is crazy to me. So, I would ask I'd ask

[1:01:11] Stephen if if that's truly the case.

[1:01:14] So, we're

[1:01:15] my office doesn't take a stance on on

[1:01:17] any of the items. I would like to review

[1:01:19] any contracts, especially contracts of

[1:01:21] this magnitude. To Commissioner

[1:01:23] Martinez's credit, he did give this to

[1:01:24] me roughly 11 days ago. I haven't had

[1:01:28] the opportunity to review this with a

[1:01:29] fine-tooth comb.

[1:01:31] Um it is a larger contract. I think it's

[1:01:33] 37 pages. I would need additional time

[1:01:35] and probably some follow-up. Um again,

[1:01:38] Commissioner Martinez did reach out. I

[1:01:40] did not get to connect with him on a

[1:01:41] call. And so, um my apologies for that.

[1:01:44] I've been out on trainings, but um it

[1:01:47] would need to be reviewed. I would I

[1:01:48] would hope the commission would uh would

[1:01:50] allow me that opportunity to review it

[1:01:52] because it's going to be a substantial

[1:01:53] contract with substantial terms.

[1:01:57] Go ahead, Frank.

[1:01:59] Yeah, Jack, like I explained to you when

[1:02:00] we had that call, right now we're not at

[1:02:03] the point of setting the contract.

[1:02:04] That's why it was irrelevant to what we

[1:02:06] were talking about. What we're looking

[1:02:07] for right now is the ability to go into

[1:02:10] a contract. We were trying to figure out

[1:02:12] two things um at the beginning of our

[1:02:14] working. First is is how we would have

[1:02:16] an arrangement with the National Park to

[1:02:19] provide a service.

[1:02:20] Um that arrangement will be the

[1:02:22] cooperative management.

[1:02:25] Funding source, the Centennial funding

[1:02:27] source, is also going to serve as that

[1:02:29] vehicle. So, the only way that we can go

[1:02:31] ahead and get the scope of work set up

[1:02:34] is if we actually have the matching

[1:02:35] funds to go up to the table.

[1:02:38] That's where UDOT has stepped up and

[1:02:40] Grant County will step up. Once we have

[1:02:42] a cooperative management agreement in

[1:02:44] place, we'll of course bring that back

[1:02:46] to the commission. We'll have time for

[1:02:48] council to review that, and we'll take

[1:02:50] comment on that actual the specifics of

[1:02:53] the agreement at that point. And that'll

[1:02:55] come back to the commission then?

[1:02:56] Correct. Yeah.

[1:02:59] I I would I'll speak to this because

[1:03:01] I've been on that um committee. Not only

[1:03:03] have I been on the subcommittee, but I

[1:03:05] was the one that um

[1:03:07] Superintendent Pace, and she's online, I

[1:03:09] believe, so if we have any questions for

[1:03:11] her, she online? She's going to be.

[1:03:14] Okay, I can't see.

[1:03:16] The little tile up there.

[1:03:18] >> Okay, thank you. Um, so she was

[1:03:20] officially she reached out to us the day

[1:03:23] after the reservation system um was

[1:03:26] taken away by the by the federal

[1:03:28] government and asked you know if we had

[1:03:29] ideas for this shuttle system and how

[1:03:31] that would work and she was quick to be able to go back

[1:03:35] and get a 1.5 million dollars to help

[1:03:37] with this. And so from there that was

[1:03:39] half the money working with the Via. Via

[1:03:41] is not the selected person. They just

[1:03:45] were very helpful in giving numbers and

[1:03:48] information to get to that approximately

[1:03:50] 3 million dollar mark. And then when the

[1:03:53] U dot was able to put in that hot spot

[1:03:56] funding um that left a shortfall of

[1:03:58] 500,000 dollars and that's where the

[1:04:00] commission comes into play.

[1:04:03] And I think when we look at um

[1:04:05] the Gardner report, the the purpose of

[1:04:08] that report was to look at I mean we

[1:04:11] can't we can't have the actual facts.

[1:04:13] The reservation system existed between

[1:04:15] 2020 and 2024 and there's no actual

[1:04:18] facts of

[1:04:20] money being brought in. There is the

[1:04:21] facts that they showed that our economy

[1:04:24] was able to withstand the job of that 41

[1:04:27] to 55 million dollars worth of visitor

[1:04:30] spending that comes in every year of the

[1:04:32] 170,000 people that they decide that

[1:04:36] they you know determined was lacking

[1:04:38] from Arches visitation in those years

[1:04:42] based upon the

[1:04:44] reservation system.

[1:04:45] So when people say that the time to

[1:04:49] entry was inexpensive

[1:04:52] it really questions you know when you

[1:04:54] lose two to three million dollars in

[1:04:56] local tax revenue

[1:04:58] seemed really expensive to me and

[1:05:00] 500,000 dollars doesn't seem like much

[1:05:03] in comparison for a two to three million

[1:05:05] dollar return.

[1:05:08] That's is where I'm at with it. So I

[1:05:10] mean I have been an open process. We've

[1:05:12] had all of the National Park, I think

[1:05:15] um in the press release that Grand

[1:05:16] County put out talks about all the

[1:05:19] people that have been involved in this

[1:05:20] conversation at the federal level as

[1:05:22] well.

[1:05:25] Patrice.

[1:05:26] Um

[1:05:28] I have a lot to say and I I guess I'll

[1:05:29] just start with a couple things. You

[1:05:31] know, one of the things that we've heard

[1:05:33] again and again tonight

[1:05:35] is

[1:05:37] you know, this concern by the general

[1:05:39] public that they feel that it came out

[1:05:41] of nowhere. And I feel the same way.

[1:05:44] Um

[1:05:45] and that's a concern and and I'll tell

[1:05:47] you one this this is a huge

[1:05:48] generalization of one things that I've

[1:05:50] noticed in the last year and a half. We

[1:05:52] don't have workshops anymore. Those

[1:05:54] they've stopped. They've ceased.

[1:05:56] And it's not great. It's not good. And the other thing that's happening is

[1:06:01] we used to have meetings that were 6

[1:06:03] hours long or 8 hours long and now we

[1:06:05] get done in an hour and a half.

[1:06:07] And that might be great for us, but

[1:06:12] what it also means is we're not

[1:06:14] deliberating.

[1:06:15] We're not taking the time to be very

[1:06:17] careful. We don't have experts up

[1:06:19] speaking and we're questioning them.

[1:06:22] It's It's just like we're on this

[1:06:26] just track of like speedy It's getting

[1:06:27] done. Things are getting done. It's like

[1:06:29] it's getting done.

[1:06:31] But is it done in a manner that people

[1:06:34] feel represented? Is it done in a manner

[1:06:37] that

[1:06:38] we have taken into account all of, you

[1:06:42] know, all the information that's out

[1:06:44] there? We've carefully dissected it. I

[1:06:47] don't think so. I do want to return to

[1:06:49] this concept of workshops and here's

[1:06:51] why. So, what we've done is supplanted

[1:06:53] them with subcommittees. Subcommittees

[1:06:56] don't have four commissioners. That

[1:06:58] being said,

[1:07:00] they are not open in public meetings.

[1:07:03] You probably are getting that. These

[1:07:06] subcommittees that are occurring.

[1:07:08] And I'm not saying that there's not some

[1:07:10] good stuff that's coming out of them.

[1:07:11] There are. But it's also people are not

[1:07:14] apprised. They can't go back and watch

[1:07:16] meetings. They can't go back and listen

[1:07:18] to audio of these meetings. So there

[1:07:22] things are being done

[1:07:24] in the veil of darkness and that's why

[1:07:25] you feel that you don't know what's

[1:07:27] going on. Cuz you don't.

[1:07:30] And then and and a lot of work has been

[1:07:32] done in a subcommittee and then it comes

[1:07:34] here tonight. And and and I want to tell

[1:07:37] you and I'm saying this um

[1:07:40] you guys have done a lot of work.

[1:07:42] And I and I won't I won't say I appreciate it, but

[1:07:45] you clearly have done a lot of work. You

[1:07:46] went out and got a lot of money and that

[1:07:48] that's that's you know, I I commend

[1:07:52] that.

[1:07:53] But

[1:07:55] people are feeling uncomfortable because

[1:07:56] we're not doing it in the in open. And I think we do need to turn return to

[1:08:02] workshops. There's a lot of value in

[1:08:04] those and and in those workshops we're

[1:08:07] all here. It's open and public and

[1:08:10] people can hear what's going on. And so

[1:08:12] I'm just going to make that

[1:08:13] recommendation. Um

[1:08:16] I think I'm going to start there and

[1:08:17] then I if and then maybe I'll ask Brian

[1:08:19] a question and I'll come back later when

[1:08:21] you guys Can you give me kind of a

[1:08:24] cuz this has obviously been in the works

[1:08:26] for a very long.

[1:08:29] I think.

[1:08:31] Would be my guess. Even maybe you know,

[1:08:33] prior to you.

[1:08:35] But what I would like you to do is kind

[1:08:37] of give the general public just a

[1:08:39] narrative of like

[1:08:41] where this was hatched, who you've been

[1:08:43] working with because it's not something

[1:08:45] that came about a few months ago. This

[1:08:47] has been a long time process, I believe.

[1:08:52] And so if you can kind of just give me

[1:08:53] where you stepped in, who you've been

[1:08:55] working with, whether it's at the state

[1:08:57] level, the federal level, just give

[1:08:59] people kind of paint a picture so that

[1:09:01] maybe we do have a better feel for where

[1:09:04] this came from, you know, and why.

[1:09:07] Um, it just just the narrative. All

[1:09:09] right, we're going to skip over that

[1:09:10] question for Brian. I'm going to go to

[1:09:12] the other commissioners that have their

[1:09:13] hands up, and then we'll go back to

[1:09:14] Brian.

[1:09:14] >> Okay, great.

[1:09:16] If you're done with your comments, do

[1:09:17] you have any Yeah, I'll come back. All

[1:09:19] right. Commissioner McCurtin. Mine's a

[1:09:21] two-part. Uh, Lena, you still there?

[1:09:26] I am.

[1:09:27] Uh,

[1:09:29] why [clears throat] did the uh

[1:09:31] I I don't know the selection committee

[1:09:32] or how it was uh passed through, but why

[1:09:34] did the National Park Service

[1:09:37] uh

[1:09:37] bill the the want to chip in 1.5 million

[1:09:40] dollars?

[1:09:41] And then

[1:09:42] do we have a state representative other

[1:09:44] than Larry on board here? I don't think

[1:09:46] Cuz I I want to know I know the state of

[1:09:49] Utah chipped in a million uh from the U

[1:09:51] dot recreation hotspot program. Uh, and

[1:09:54] I know that vote was unanimous. I just

[1:09:55] want to hear their

[1:09:57] hear why they said that was a unanimous

[1:09:59] vote.

[1:10:00] Uh, it it again, I'm probably directing

[1:10:02] it Brian on this one.

[1:10:04] But, uh

[1:10:05] Lena, you're you're up, if that's okay.

[1:10:08] Uh, yeah, sure. Um, I I do want to just

[1:10:10] clarify one thing. The National Park

[1:10:13] Service director uh or acting director

[1:10:15] has prioritized this project and is uh

[1:10:19] committing to uh participating and

[1:10:21] putting in the 1.5 million dollars, but

[1:10:23] that has not been confirmed. It has not

[1:10:24] yet gone through the process of of a

[1:10:26] confirmed budget. So, we we don't have

[1:10:28] that check in hand. Uh, although that I

[1:10:30] have been assured by the the director

[1:10:32] that it is a priority for her. So, um

[1:10:35] we're we're not quite at 100% in terms

[1:10:37] of that 1.5 million dollars. I will say

[1:10:39] when uh we discovered that timed entry

[1:10:42] was not going to be a a workable option

[1:10:44] for us this summer, um there was an

[1:10:46] effort at the National Park Service

[1:10:48] leadership level in the Department of

[1:10:49] Interior level to try to find other ways

[1:10:52] to mitigate the visitation and

[1:10:54] congestion that we were starting to see.

[1:10:56] And so, there's lots of different ways

[1:10:58] that we've approached that. Some of it

[1:11:00] has to do with the tactics and

[1:11:01] techniques that we're using on the

[1:11:02] ground in the field and one of those

[1:11:04] options was Grand County's coming to the

[1:11:07] table and asking if we were interested

[1:11:08] in looking into a shuttle option via the

[1:11:11] ASL alternative and so

[1:11:13] I have communicated that that is a

[1:11:15] priority for our local gateway community

[1:11:17] and the director has assured us that is a priority for her as well.

[1:11:22] But I do want to just just confirm again

[1:11:24] we do not have 100% certainty in that

[1:11:26] funding. It has not yet gone through the

[1:11:27] process of funding approval. That is a a

[1:11:30] verbal commitment from the the director

[1:11:31] of the National Park Service.

[1:11:34] Understood. I think it's a verbal

[1:11:36] commitment on our side too not a

[1:11:38] lockdown of funding until legal review

[1:11:40] etc. And coming back to the commission.

[1:11:42] So that's good to know.

[1:11:45] Did that Did that answer your question?

[1:11:47] Uh yeah and

[1:11:49] normally I'd ask

[1:11:51] a federal partner on for Udot partner

[1:11:53] but pending not having one is right now

[1:11:56] and You got to keep talking those since

[1:11:58] I had you too. Trish's comments you're

[1:12:00] going to have all these lists to answer

[1:12:03] and we're going to go to Bill cuz you

[1:12:04] might have some more questions here.

[1:12:07] And then Mary has her hand up too. So

[1:12:08] we're going to go to Bill, Mary and then

[1:12:10] we're going to go back to you Brighton.

[1:12:12] >> Sure.

[1:12:13] Yeah I want to I want to start with some

[1:12:15] of Commissioner Hadin's remarks

[1:12:18] hatched. I I've we've talked about this

[1:12:21] in the past and words matter. I think

[1:12:23] that you're basically

[1:12:25] conferring [clears throat]

[1:12:26] that Commissioner Martinez is doing

[1:12:29] something illegitimate or illegally. So

[1:12:32] let's let's be careful with our

[1:12:33] >> Come on Bill. Hatched? I mean that

[1:12:36] sounds

[1:12:37] >> Come on. It's your chicken coop. They

[1:12:38] It's not your turn to talk about this.

[1:12:40] And I'll continue on here but I do think

[1:12:42] it's important to remember that he is an

[1:12:44] elected official and he is just as

[1:12:49] I am or anybody else in this room should

[1:12:51] be represented and appreciated for what

[1:12:54] he's done and is up here and not

[1:12:56] disrespected, but

[1:12:58] let's go on with a few points that I

[1:13:00] want to make and then I'm going to make

[1:13:02] a motion. The current commission

[1:13:04] leadership is working hard and getting

[1:13:07] things accomplished and even you

[1:13:09] mentioned that Commissioner Hedin. Thank

[1:13:11] you for noticing.

[1:13:12] We have had unanimous and bipartisan

[1:13:16] support from all federal, state, and

[1:13:18] county, and city entities involved in

[1:13:21] this project. I've say I'll state them

[1:13:24] again, federal, state, county, and city.

[1:13:28] Unanimous support in our subcommittee

[1:13:30] meetings to move this forward.

[1:13:33] We even have a Moab City Council member

[1:13:36] who wants to bid on this process, which

[1:13:39] I think is magnanimous. I think this

[1:13:42] should be put out bid.

[1:13:44] We're getting things done. We're

[1:13:47] for the people of this county and they

[1:13:49] might not necessarily be the people in

[1:13:51] this room, but there are 9,000 residents

[1:13:54] in this county and we're getting things

[1:13:56] done for them. I ran on affordable

[1:13:58] housing,

[1:13:59] a strong economy, and fiscal

[1:14:01] transparency. And to question any of

[1:14:04] those is just a political game. It's not

[1:14:07] looking at the reality of what this

[1:14:08] commission has accomplished in the last

[1:14:10] year and a half.

[1:14:12] That's what

[1:14:14] we're trying to do is get things done

[1:14:16] and to continue to point and to make

[1:14:19] political Patrick remarks against your

[1:14:22] fellow commissioners, I think it needs

[1:14:24] to be called out and I would I just

[1:14:26] appreciate a level of professionalism up

[1:14:29] here. And with that, I'm going to make

[1:14:31] the motion to approve the allocation of

[1:14:33] 500,000

[1:14:35] from transient room tax,

[1:14:38] TRT mitigation funds at the county's

[1:14:40] local match for the Grand County Arches

[1:14:44] National Park Shuttle Pilot.

[1:14:49] Mike. Uh

[1:14:50] no, Mike second round is talking. Okay.

[1:14:53] I'm not saying that. Captain for a

[1:14:55] second for the Mike Brian. I'll second,

[1:14:57] yeah. Brian second, okay. And it's

[1:14:59] Mary's turn to talk and then Brian and

[1:15:00] then we'll go to Mike.

[1:15:01] >> Okay. So, Mary

[1:15:05] Whether or not this is a good idea is

[1:15:07] not my concern. My concern is the

[1:15:10] budget.

[1:15:12] $500,000,

[1:15:14] half a million dollars.

[1:15:17] Our job is to take care of the citizens

[1:15:19] and the people of this county.

[1:15:22] We need We're looking. They're

[1:15:25] forecasting a huge

[1:15:27] uh season of monsoons.

[1:15:31] We have flood mitigation.

[1:15:34] We've been pulling money out of our

[1:15:36] flood mitigation.

[1:15:38] We did not fund

[1:15:40] uh the uh

[1:15:42] solid waste to the degree that they

[1:15:45] asked for with our TRT mitigation fund.

[1:15:47] We said we didn't have enough.

[1:15:50] We did not fund the museum

[1:15:53] fully. We said we did not have enough uh

[1:15:56] mitigation money.

[1:15:59] It's a shell game to say this is not

[1:16:01] coming from the general fund.

[1:16:04] It is coming from the general fund.

[1:16:08] Flood uh TRT mitigation money

[1:16:12] is to offset

[1:16:15] our general fund for the things that

[1:16:19] Grand County needs to accomplish.

[1:16:23] This

[1:16:24] shuttle system as whether it's a good

[1:16:27] idea or a bad idea is not our per day.

[1:16:31] We should not be spending a half a

[1:16:33] million dollars

[1:16:36] when we have not given our our employees

[1:16:39] a cola.

[1:16:41] When we've had told uh heads of

[1:16:44] departments that no, you can do it

[1:16:46] without this this year because we don't

[1:16:49] have the money.

[1:16:52] When we have put a

[1:16:54] hold, a freeze on hiring because we

[1:16:57] don't have the money.

[1:17:01] And then you turn around and you want to

[1:17:02] spend a half a million dollars on

[1:17:05] something that we don't even know it's

[1:17:06] going to do what it's claiming to do.

[1:17:10] It's so fiscally irresponsible that I am

[1:17:12] shocked.

[1:17:16] This is

[1:17:17] We went through a very tough

[1:17:20] budget season this year.

[1:17:23] We told a lot of people no.

[1:17:26] We didn't fund them and some of them are

[1:17:28] facing some really hard things because

[1:17:30] we did not choose to get that give them

[1:17:33] the employees that they requested. We

[1:17:36] chose not to fix the things they asked

[1:17:39] to be fixed.

[1:17:42] I think to spend a half a million

[1:17:45] dollars

[1:17:47] to subsidize a federal agency

[1:17:52] is irresponsible and wrong.

[1:17:57] Thank you. Now we're going to go to

[1:17:58] Brian. He's got some questions to answer

[1:18:00] and then Mike and Chuck.

[1:18:03] Yeah. You know, I don't even know if I'm

[1:18:04] going to go ahead and start answering

[1:18:05] the questions with everything that's

[1:18:07] going around.

[1:18:08] You know, if everyone's just going to

[1:18:09] jockey for political position right now,

[1:18:12] then I guess I'll just join the crowd.

[1:18:15] Mary,

[1:18:16] you know, I

[1:18:17] respect you but but the grandstanding is outrageous, right? Absolutely

[1:18:22] ridiculous. You know, under the previous

[1:18:25] leadership, the state audit caught this

[1:18:27] county illegally overspending mitigation

[1:18:30] funds at $900,000.

[1:18:33] Trish, you you agreed to it. I didn't

[1:18:35] agree to it. Our 2022 financials, right,

[1:18:38] were so riddled with errors that they

[1:18:40] had to be refiled and restated, right?

[1:18:42] Our our county property tax

[1:18:44] distributions were suspended in 2023 and

[1:18:48] 2024.

[1:18:49] You you uh Jack, when you called to

[1:18:51] testify up there in front of the state

[1:18:53] audit for intentional abuse behind the

[1:18:55] backs of all of the commissioners right

[1:18:57] here after you received a Wasn't behind

[1:19:00] anyone's anyone's back. It was in front

[1:19:01] of everyone.

[1:19:02] >> After you received a tax notice right to

[1:19:05] respond in 60 days, right? Despite

[1:19:08] long-running attempts to minimize the

[1:19:11] state findings, right? Everybody uh

[1:19:13] well, not us, but you guys sat up here

[1:19:15] and accepted their accepted unanimously

[1:19:18] their damning conclusions, right? You continued last year to illegally

[1:19:24] appropriate TRT funds to the responsible

[1:19:27] recreation program. And it's funny

[1:19:29] because the same people that came up

[1:19:31] here to speak today about this were

[1:19:33] speaking out for the Tiff the the

[1:19:35] responsible recreation program. The

[1:19:37] height of hypocrisy right there. I will

[1:19:40] go ahead and we can go ahead and talk

[1:19:41] about why this is fiscally responsible.

[1:19:44] Let me pull up a spreadsheet right here.

[1:19:50] And I use I used October right there for

[1:19:52] the numbers because two things happened

[1:19:54] in October. First, this commissioner

[1:19:56] right here went ahead and started

[1:19:58] advertising again with Madden, who's

[1:20:00] been doing a fantastic job. And the

[1:20:02] second thing is it will reflect what

[1:20:04] happened minus the timed entry

[1:20:06] reservation system. We're up 23%

[1:20:10] from those decisions right there in TRT.

[1:20:13] We're up 18% I'm sorry, 11%. These are

[1:20:16] the numbers that Gabe presented right

[1:20:18] here inside your pocket. We're up 11% in

[1:20:21] total sales tax revenue.

[1:20:24] A easy moderate 10% right there from our

[1:20:27] 4.5 mitigation that we also used for

[1:20:30] last year would say that there's going

[1:20:32] to be $450,000

[1:20:34] more in TRT mitigation.

[1:20:36] Look at the previous 6 months to that

[1:20:38] right there, and we were shooting at 8%

[1:20:41] on the negative to what we budgeted, and

[1:20:43] also four to 4% down on total tax

[1:20:46] collected. And that's after the

[1:20:48] adjustment that this commission right

[1:20:50] here made when we recognized the problem

[1:20:52] of where our county was headed. Had we

[1:20:54] continued on last year's path, we'd be

[1:20:57] looking at 11% down and 7%. So, I just I

[1:21:01] just like to clear the air real quick on where everybody's sitting at. Now,

[1:21:05] getting back to Mike's conversation, I

[1:21:08] think that that we owe a ton of

[1:21:10] gratitude to the the commissioners up

[1:21:12] there at the U.S. Transportation. Um

[1:21:15] they were very supportive of this

[1:21:17] program. They asked um a couple of

[1:21:20] questions while I was up there. I think

[1:21:21] the the most important is that they

[1:21:24] would like to see the results. The folks

[1:21:26] who have been most interested are really

[1:21:28] interested in the data that we're going

[1:21:30] to be able to produce with this right

[1:21:32] here. And the reason that they would

[1:21:34] like to see the results isn't just to

[1:21:35] see if this was a success or a failure.

[1:21:38] They'd like to make sure that this isn't

[1:21:40] a one-time type of a a pilot, right?

[1:21:42] They want to make sure that this is

[1:21:43] something that continues to go on

[1:21:46] because they see the need for this here

[1:21:48] in Grand County.

[1:21:49] Um talking to Trish, I mean, I don't

[1:21:51] know where to start on this. I mean,

[1:21:53] I've been involved since, you know, 2011

[1:21:55] inside of of this conversation on Arches

[1:21:58] management. Um I mean, it really has

[1:22:00] been a long time standing that I've that I've studied these documents.

[1:22:04] I've read every report. I've made

[1:22:06] comments publicly um prior to becoming a

[1:22:09] commissioner.

[1:22:10] Um I've made, you know, um

[1:22:13] you know, I've done a lot of work here

[1:22:15] to try to to try to help with the

[1:22:17] visitor management plan inside of

[1:22:18] Arches. Um

[1:22:20] I've I've guided in Arches. I mean, it

[1:22:22] probably as many times as as most folks.

[1:22:25] I mean, it is near and dear to my heart

[1:22:27] inside that park. And I do want to see

[1:22:30] that place run as efficiently, and I

[1:22:33] want everybody to to understand this. I

[1:22:35] just want to tell a quick story about

[1:22:37] why I guide. So, when I'm out on a trip,

[1:22:40] and I'm out there, I get asked the

[1:22:42] question, "Do these red rocks ever get

[1:22:44] old?" Right? And the question is is

[1:22:47] yeah, I've seen the scenery, you know, a

[1:22:48] thousand times. But the biggest thrill

[1:22:51] that I get, right, is when I see that

[1:22:53] look in someone else's eye that reminds

[1:22:56] me of the first time that I saw. Right?

[1:22:58] And I want to make sure that everybody

[1:23:00] has that opportunity. I don't want to

[1:23:02] keep people out of the park. I want them

[1:23:04] to be able to go there and light up and

[1:23:06] go and tell all their friends about how

[1:23:08] amazing the place it is that we live.

[1:23:11] And that's my inspiration, right? When

[1:23:13] we started our conversation with

[1:23:17] Superintendent Pace, Commissioner

[1:23:19] McCandless, and Commissioner Linfield,

[1:23:22] we started off on this basic this basic

[1:23:24] trust right here, right? And that is I

[1:23:27] have a love for Arches National Park and

[1:23:29] the Park Service has a love for Arches

[1:23:31] National Park.

[1:23:32] I think from that foundation right

[1:23:34] there, I think that there was an

[1:23:36] understanding that we could solve big

[1:23:38] problems. And and and that's and that's

[1:23:40] it. I mean, I'd say that's probably the

[1:23:42] story of of of of how we got to to where

[1:23:46] we are. I think that when we work

[1:23:48] collaboratively, that that we can do big

[1:23:50] things. And and and and and it shows. I

[1:23:53] mean, we can we can make things happen

[1:23:56] in a time in time before things go

[1:23:59] wrong. And that's what I'd really love

[1:24:00] to see. I'd love to be able to see a

[1:24:02] solution come into Arches National Park

[1:24:05] to where we don't have to see any kind

[1:24:07] of destruction.

[1:24:08] Um that we can have a great visitor

[1:24:10] experience. You can look back at all of

[1:24:12] the documents that that are in there,

[1:24:14] whether it's in this commission agenda

[1:24:16] items or the other 20 that we've loaded

[1:24:18] up with.

[1:24:19] There's so much inside there that talks

[1:24:22] about all of the ways to to handle a

[1:24:26] visitor use management inside of the

[1:24:28] park.

[1:24:29] And and I know that that that folks who

[1:24:31] really liked timed entry, and some folks

[1:24:34] did, but it also was keeping a lot of

[1:24:36] people out of our parks. And no matter

[1:24:39] how we look at it, no matter how we look

[1:24:41] at it, if you want to go back to the

[1:24:43] 2012 study, it said it's going to cost

[1:24:46] you 190,000 visitors. It said that right

[1:24:48] there in the cost analysis. So yeah, it

[1:24:51] says it's only going to cost you two

[1:24:52] bucks a person, but it did say right

[1:24:54] there 190,000 visitors. We've known this

[1:24:57] all along. We've just been blind to it

[1:25:00] because we were in favor of another

[1:25:02] solution. And that's really the big

[1:25:04] difference is right now there's

[1:25:06] political will to do just like I had

[1:25:08] said earlier, right? We can have that

[1:25:11] expand that access. We can still protect

[1:25:14] our park.

[1:25:15] And we can keep those gates open.

[1:25:18] We're going to go to Stephen. He has his

[1:25:19] hand up and then we're going to go to

[1:25:20] him. Is Jack in front of me? No. You're

[1:25:23] next.

[1:25:24] Stephen Stephen's voting. Well, and and

[1:25:26] my my points are just on it's not

[1:25:29] necessarily policy, but I did want to,

[1:25:31] you know, address a couple things. When

[1:25:33] we're looking to allocate the funds, if

[1:25:34] we're looking at TRT mitigation funds,

[1:25:36] are we looking at allocating 2026

[1:25:40] mitigation funds or in the future 2027

[1:25:42] mitigation funds?

[1:25:44] Next, where we're going to budget or how

[1:25:46] we're going to budget those funds.

[1:25:48] And then if we're looking at allocating

[1:25:50] those funds if there's an extra 500,000.

[1:25:53] I'm just raising those points when we

[1:25:55] move forward. I know

[1:25:57] what's being stated is that we're not

[1:25:58] making the expenditure yet at this

[1:26:00] point, but I just wanted to raise those

[1:26:02] issues well to to make sure that we're

[1:26:03] doing this in the uh the cleanest way

[1:26:06] possible, but just raising those issues.

[1:26:09] Thank you, Stephen. Stephen, I'll go

[1:26:10] ahead and just answer those questions

[1:26:12] real quick for you. So the idea was a out of the 22 26 funds

[1:26:19] right there for the TRT, but this that's where this money would be coming

[1:26:22] from. It was already stated at the end

[1:26:26] of last year during budget season that

[1:26:28] we were going to be doing a budget

[1:26:29] amendment come next month. So, I would

[1:26:31] imagine that this would be part of that

[1:26:33] budget amendment moving forward.

[1:26:36] Okay. Commissioner [clears throat]

[1:26:37] Decker.

[1:26:39] Can Sure, can I

[1:26:40] Yeah, go ahead. Thoughts? Go ahead. Just following up on that thought. So,

[1:26:44] that means before we make

[1:26:46] um So, so then my question is whether we

[1:26:49] should be allocating the funds prior to

[1:26:53] the budgeting process. I think that the

[1:26:55] commission can express a clear intent to

[1:26:57] do that. I just don't know if we're

[1:26:59] muddling muddling things if we're making

[1:27:01] the allocation prior to doing the budget

[1:27:03] amendment process.

[1:27:07] Well, I think that that that at least in

[1:27:09] the previous commission that we had that

[1:27:10] we made allocations and then we handled

[1:27:12] all of those allocations at the budget

[1:27:14] amendment process last year. Things

[1:27:16] might have been different under previous

[1:27:18] commissions, but last year that's how we

[1:27:20] handled our budget amendments.

[1:27:27] Any more, Steven?

[1:27:29] I I would

[1:27:31] I'm just making sure that that yeah, I I

[1:27:33] don't I would probably

[1:27:36] um inquire if Gabe if the clerk auditor had a had a

[1:27:40] preference or insight. I'm not trying to

[1:27:41] put him on the spot. Um but it does seem

[1:27:44] like if we're making these things in the

[1:27:45] future, we could probably circle up

[1:27:47] between now and then and and figure out

[1:27:49] the best way to approach all of this.

[1:27:51] Um but I know that the intent to try to

[1:27:53] make the allocation tonight or or to

[1:27:55] signal that clear intent that that's

[1:27:57] what you guys would like to do. I'm just

[1:27:59] trying to make sure we vet all the

[1:28:01] issues.

[1:28:03] You want to comment on that?

[1:28:06] My question right now is in the agenda

[1:28:07] packet it says working with county

[1:28:08] administration funds have been

[1:28:10] identified for this project from the

[1:28:11] county's TRT mitigation account without

[1:28:14] reducing funds for essential services.

[1:28:17] So, does that mean that we're

[1:28:19] anticipating that the next 10 months of

[1:28:21] revenue will will create such a windfall

[1:28:24] that it will justify this expense? Is

[1:28:26] that Why doesn't If that's what we mean,

[1:28:28] why doesn't it say that in the packet?

[1:28:32] What does that mean?

[1:28:34] Okay.

[1:28:35] When I speak Mike, go ahead. Well, we'll

[1:28:37] see.

[1:28:38] I'd like to make a secondary motion

[1:28:41] in that I move to approve the allocation

[1:28:42] of 500,000

[1:28:44] from fund reserves fund 47

[1:28:48] uh

[1:28:50] as the county's local match for the

[1:28:51] Grand County Arches National Park

[1:28:53] shuttle pilot pending legal review.

[1:29:02] I'll second that.

[1:29:04] It's for discussion going on. Okay.

[1:29:08] It's that we have motion to paid out of

[1:29:10] our fund 47 which is trails, it's

[1:29:12] optional sales tax

[1:29:15] uh funds. Well, when a question comes

[1:29:19] just so everyone knows, it's options

[1:29:21] on that those fund reserves are trails

[1:29:25] uh shuttle services and I can't remember

[1:29:27] [clears throat] the third What was the

[1:29:28] other restriction on that?

[1:29:31] It was trails

[1:29:33] shuttle services and one more

[1:29:34] restriction on that on those those

[1:29:36] direct funds.

[1:29:37] >> Transit system. Transit system, yeah.

[1:29:39] >> transit. Thank you.

[1:29:44] And and sure just a point of

[1:29:45] clarification for the for folks in the

[1:29:48] public it might be helpful to identify

[1:29:49] fund 47.

[1:29:54] Yeah, he said fund 47 and that's

[1:29:56] our optional [clears throat] sales tax

[1:29:58] reserve. It's the trails fund where

[1:30:00] there's allocations made. There have

[1:30:01] been allocations made for the last 6

[1:30:04] years um

[1:30:06] uh from the roads department, um, and

[1:30:08] transferred to fund 47 for potential,

[1:30:11] uh,

[1:30:12] pay path maintenance, trail, um, you

[1:30:15] know, and trail type projects that are

[1:30:17] qualifying those funds.

[1:30:20] Okay, is Jack Hugh or next?

[1:30:23] So,

[1:30:24] virtual So, that means that's money that

[1:30:26] we could spend on, for example, the

[1:30:27] Spanish Valley multi-use pathway,

[1:30:28] correct?

[1:30:30] There's not money in that account in

[1:30:31] both. There's not money in both. There

[1:30:33] is.

[1:30:34] Uh,

[1:30:35] Um, wasn't identified.

[1:30:36] >> Anyway, um,

[1:30:39] to to to to speak to some of the things

[1:30:42] that have been said about about the

[1:30:43] past,

[1:30:45] uh, my involvement in the audit, um,

[1:30:48] there's enough political there

[1:30:51] for me to write a book on it, and

[1:30:52] sometime I'm going to. It It's That was a singular experience, and, uh,

[1:30:58] we were subject to some pretty,

[1:31:01] uh, interesting,

[1:31:02] uh, political maneuvering on that.

[1:31:05] Um, there's some hypocrisy going around.

[1:31:07] It's coming thick and fast from near

[1:31:08] quarter, and, uh,

[1:31:10] it's it's, um, awesome of you to bring

[1:31:13] that up. That's

[1:31:14] >> [laughter]

[1:31:15] >> That's That's rich, Brian. Um,

[1:31:17] it sounds like this is it's So, this

[1:31:21] it doesn't need to go through legal

[1:31:22] review. We'll get to that when we get to

[1:31:24] a contract.

[1:31:25] Um, it sounds like it's about the money,

[1:31:27] uh,

[1:31:28] and I would second much what Mary said

[1:31:31] about the money. I just

[1:31:33] I

[1:31:33] While a shuttle system in arches is is

[1:31:37] definitely interesting and and and a

[1:31:40] good idea,

[1:31:42] um,

[1:31:43] I think it it seems to me there needs to

[1:31:45] be a lot more that goes into that

[1:31:47] thought than than

[1:31:49] starting something up in the next 3

[1:31:51] months on a shoe string.

[1:31:54] And our commitment for half a million

[1:31:57] dollars, to me to me there's just so

[1:31:58] many places that we could spend that

[1:32:00] money.

[1:32:01] Um,

[1:32:01] there as it was pointed out the money's

[1:32:04] up this year. It's great. It's been a

[1:32:05] great season. It's awesome. I've been

[1:32:07] affiliated with I think four businesses

[1:32:09] in town and we're all doing well.

[1:32:11] There's a lot you can attribute that to.

[1:32:12] I think a lot of it is due to increased

[1:32:14] advertising that that all of us voted on

[1:32:16] last year. I think even more of it is

[1:32:18] due to the incredible weather we've had

[1:32:20] combined with the super poor ski season

[1:32:22] this year. I ran a

[1:32:24] uh very busy outfitting business on Main

[1:32:27] Street for 12 years

[1:32:29] and nothing

[1:32:32] dictated business more than the weather.

[1:32:34] If we had a crappy rainy weekend, we

[1:32:36] didn't have tourists.

[1:32:38] We had a uh

[1:32:39] early spring and a bad ski season, we

[1:32:42] were we were flush and and that's the

[1:32:43] case this year. I don't think we should

[1:32:46] count

[1:32:47] on those dollars going forward. It's a iffy proposition. We could have a

[1:32:52] fire. There's there's a million things,

[1:32:54] recessions, price of gas that that go

[1:32:56] into

[1:32:58] the way that people spend money here.

[1:33:00] Just because we're doing well on tax

[1:33:02] collection right now, doesn't mean we

[1:33:05] should allocate those funds towards

[1:33:06] something like this um that is a pilot

[1:33:09] and has the potential not to be renewed.

[1:33:12] It

[1:33:13] is I think irresponsible. I would love

[1:33:15] to see some of the things funded that we

[1:33:17] didn't get to fund in the last budget

[1:33:18] system and and the last budgeting season

[1:33:21] um

[1:33:22] including and foremost solid ways to see

[1:33:24] Chris here.

[1:33:26] Um I know you guys are are in need of a

[1:33:28] lot of that mediation money as well. Um

[1:33:32] that's it for now.

[1:33:34] Okay Mary, go ahead.

[1:33:37] Thank you. Uh

[1:33:39] I'm sorry I lost I'm I apologize for my

[1:33:41] anger.

[1:33:42] I'm just not giving our people a cola

[1:33:47] this year was really hard on my heart.

[1:33:50] I think our most important

[1:33:53] asset is our staff and I don't think we

[1:33:57] not giving them a cola and then this

[1:33:59] year

[1:34:00] with inflation going up and

[1:34:03] uh

[1:34:04] price of gas

[1:34:06] I mean it's really been hard on them.

[1:34:08] And I'm concerned about many things in

[1:34:12] the county from flood mitigation to

[1:34:14] solid waste to

[1:34:16] uh continuing the search and rescue. So,

[1:34:19] I just think there are so many needs

[1:34:21] that we need to focus on.

[1:34:24] And I'm also concerned that this

[1:34:26] windfall may not continue.

[1:34:29] We've always relied a great deal on our

[1:34:33] uh

[1:34:33] international travel

[1:34:36] in the summer.

[1:34:38] And I've spoken to innkeepers and such

[1:34:41] and the international people are not

[1:34:43] booking.

[1:34:45] It was bad last year, but it's gotten a

[1:34:47] lot worse.

[1:34:48] So, I'm really concerned that this uh

[1:34:51] summer we're going to see a dip.

[1:34:54] Un- unlike this spring that has been

[1:34:56] really nice and wonderful for our our uh

[1:34:59] tax base. But, I don't I'm really I'm

[1:35:02] concerned with what's happening uh on

[1:35:05] the national stage

[1:35:08] and

[1:35:09] we're not going to see

[1:35:12] the tourist continue moving forward.

[1:35:16] And I'm

[1:35:19] I I just I think that

[1:35:24] this is not in our lane.

[1:35:27] And more people

[1:35:29] will use the trails in our county

[1:35:32] than will use the shuttle.

[1:35:36] Trails in this county is what brings

[1:35:38] people here.

[1:35:40] They're internationally known. They are

[1:35:42] our many in many ways our bread and

[1:35:46] butter.

[1:35:47] They they are the one our trails are

[1:35:49] what bring our jeepers, what bring our

[1:35:51] hikers, what make brings our mountain

[1:35:54] bikers, what brings many many people,

[1:35:57] just people that like to just take

[1:35:58] casual walks.

[1:36:00] Maintaining and taking care of our

[1:36:02] trails is of such

[1:36:05] a high need to even consider taking

[1:36:08] money out of that.

[1:36:10] We just don't have the money.

[1:36:13] And we need to start putting money back

[1:36:16] into our savings. We were saving every year.

[1:36:22] We were saving $400,000 a year for flood

[1:36:26] mitigation. We haven't been doing that

[1:36:28] over the last 2 years.

[1:36:30] I'm just

[1:36:32] I think this is ill-conceived on a

[1:36:35] financial level, whether or not it's a

[1:36:37] good idea or not. Financially, I think

[1:36:40] it's a very poor poor decision.

[1:36:47] And Trish, go ahead and next. Okay. All

[1:36:49] right. So, I have No, we're going to be

[1:36:51] wrapping this. I know I've done with

[1:36:52] talk one more time, but I think we're

[1:36:53] going to all talk one time, and we're

[1:36:54] going to call it a night. Okay. Yep.

[1:36:56] That's fine.

[1:36:57] And so,

[1:36:59] um it might take me a couple minutes.

[1:37:00] So, first of all, I want to respond to

[1:37:02] Commissioner Winfield's attack on me.

[1:37:05] Um

[1:37:06] I I did not make an attack on Brian. I

[1:37:09] asked a simple question and asked him to

[1:37:12] give a narrative, and there's no reason

[1:37:14] to continue to attack me. It's getting

[1:37:16] really really really tiresome. But, I

[1:37:19] will continue to be here. You're not

[1:37:21] going to I'm not going to quit. I know

[1:37:23] that's what you want, but it ain't ain't

[1:37:24] going to happen.

[1:37:26] Um next, Mel a minute, I'm going to

[1:37:29] state that when I make random comments

[1:37:31] and I'm called out on it,

[1:37:33] understandably, I expect every

[1:37:35] commissioner to be called out. Brian has

[1:37:36] made multiple comments tonight and not

[1:37:38] been called out on it. So, please, let's

[1:37:41] just be consistent. It's all I'm asking,

[1:37:44] and there it's it's hasn't been.

[1:37:47] Um Brian, you didn't really give the

[1:37:49] story. You told like a personal story,

[1:37:51] but again, I believe that, you know,

[1:37:53] there's been work at a at a state level,

[1:37:56] a lot of work with PlipCo would be my I

[1:37:58] guess, because I know PlipCo's been

[1:38:00] involved with your guys' subcommittee. I

[1:38:02] think there's been work at a federal

[1:38:04] level. I know you guys went back to DC,

[1:38:06] and that's kind of what I wanted you to divulge to the citizens. Didn't

[1:38:10] happen, but it is what it is.

[1:38:13] I will not

[1:38:14] be voting for this. And it's and it's

[1:38:18] I first want to state I I support the

[1:38:20] concept of a shuttle system. I do.

[1:38:24] think that it should begin with a

[1:38:27] feasibility study, an updated

[1:38:29] feasibility study. We have a feasibility

[1:38:31] study from 2012.

[1:38:33] Thank you for putting that in the

[1:38:34] packet. That was great. I think the

[1:38:36] first step should be an updated

[1:38:37] feasibility study, and then we move from

[1:38:39] there. And it's a holistic process. So,

[1:38:42] I would all day long support

[1:38:45] that those are the initial steps, and I

[1:38:46] would spend money on that. I don't

[1:38:48] really want to spend more money right

[1:38:50] now, but I would spend spend money on

[1:38:52] that. Um, and then, you know, I guess

[1:38:55] the last thing I'll say is I don't I

[1:38:57] cannot stress enough, and I've stressed

[1:39:00] it all along, as we continue to spend

[1:39:02] money out of budget.

[1:39:04] We have a budgeting process.

[1:39:07] We do that from September to December.

[1:39:10] And there's a reason for that. And by

[1:39:13] the way, we started 2026 in a deficit.

[1:39:16] We were in a deficit in 25. We started

[1:39:18] 26 in a deficit.

[1:39:20] And what I would think,

[1:39:23] on just a personal level, if I was in

[1:39:25] the hole, I wouldn't be randomly

[1:39:27] spending money.

[1:39:29] And yet, we continue literally almost

[1:39:32] every single mini meeting to spend more

[1:39:36] money that is out of budget. And that's

[1:39:39] my concern, and I would agree, we have

[1:39:41] endless needs in this county, endless

[1:39:44] needs in this county. We have a capital

[1:39:45] projects list this long.

[1:39:48] We have staffing needs. It goes on and on. Mary's already said it,

[1:39:51] Jacques has already said it. So, if

[1:39:53] that's my main, I guess, twofold, two

[1:39:56] things. I don't I don't think this has

[1:39:58] been properly vetted. I think I would I

[1:40:00] think a feasibility study, an updated

[1:40:03] feasibility study would be perfect.

[1:40:05] And then, two, we currently do not have

[1:40:08] the money. We're running in the red, and

[1:40:10] we need to stop spending money outside

[1:40:12] of budget.

[1:40:14] Okay, Bill is next.

[1:40:17] Okay. Um I'll start off with I'll buy

[1:40:20] the first copy of your book, Jacques.

[1:40:22] I'd like to have it signed, preferably.

[1:40:26] Um and then,

[1:40:27] I'd like to go back, and I agree with

[1:40:29] Mary. I think every one of us struggled

[1:40:33] when we didn't weren't able to give

[1:40:34] staff a cola. I don't think it was taken

[1:40:37] lightly by any commissioner here. We all

[1:40:40] struggled with that. And it's also

[1:40:42] something that should be addressed when

[1:40:44] we

[1:40:46] amend our budget at midyear, because

[1:40:48] although Trish keeps saying that we're

[1:40:50] running in the red, um actually, I think

[1:40:54] um Gabe's numbers show that we are not

[1:40:56] running in the red, and even Brian

[1:40:58] mentioned it, we're back to running in

[1:41:01] the black, and that's because of the

[1:41:03] leadership for the last year and a half.

[1:41:06] It's not because of the prior

[1:41:07] leadership. We're running in the black

[1:41:10] now in our books, and if somebody wants

[1:41:12] to prove otherwise, please give me those

[1:41:14] numbers.

[1:41:16] So,

[1:41:17] um running on a shoestring, this isn't

[1:41:20] running on a shoestring. This pedal

[1:41:23] system has been worked on. Commissioner

[1:41:25] Hedin, you mentioned and you keep

[1:41:27] questioning Brian about where all this

[1:41:30] was hatched, or where the work started.

[1:41:32] You were at the meeting in Salt Lake

[1:41:34] City. I was at the meeting, Commissioner

[1:41:36] Martinez, yourself.

[1:41:38] We were working with the federal

[1:41:41] government, Kevin Lilly.

[1:41:43] I might be wrong. It wasn't Kevin Lilly.

[1:41:45] Um Karen Butt Fallon was there. We also

[1:41:48] had Plitko there. Yes, there's been work

[1:41:50] with Plitko. The National Park Service,

[1:41:52] Lena was there as well. I think at your

[1:41:55] table. And so

[1:41:57] we have had multiple meetings on this

[1:42:00] that you have been involved in. So to

[1:42:02] keep stating that where was this

[1:42:05] hatched? How did we come up with this?

[1:42:07] Well, you were there. You've been had

[1:42:08] every opportunity with many of us to be

[1:42:11] updated. Sometimes you choose not to. I

[1:42:14] know that Brian put out a message to all

[1:42:16] of us commissioners. Anybody ask

[1:42:18] questions, call me.

[1:42:20] So you could have been further updated

[1:42:22] with that.

[1:42:24] I um

[1:42:25] I will say that there are a lot of local

[1:42:29] keyboard warriors that are spreading

[1:42:32] misinformation from day one about this.

[1:42:35] It is no wonder that the public is

[1:42:37] misinformed, as you say.

[1:42:41] You'd have to be delusional to keep

[1:42:43] believing the misinformation that is

[1:42:45] going out on social media in this

[1:42:47] community because none of it is fact,

[1:42:50] especially when we have been in meetings

[1:42:53] together and you have been informed

[1:42:55] about them and he has and I have.

[1:42:58] All of us as commissioners have been in

[1:43:00] these meetings. So to continue to

[1:43:03] rely on social media, anybody in this

[1:43:05] community should um question that one.

[1:43:12] Clearly, several commissioners are

[1:43:14] struggling with this issue.

[1:43:17] But Jacques, you say that you're against

[1:43:19] using it for TRT. So are you fine with

[1:43:22] the secondary motion? Because we have

[1:43:24] another source here that we can use it

[1:43:26] so we don't have to take it out of

[1:43:29] as Gabe says, our numbers are up, we're

[1:43:32] running in the black." You say they're

[1:43:34] in the red, Trish. Let's go with what

[1:43:36] Mike has and let's come back together as

[1:43:38] a commission here.

[1:43:40] Let's come back together and move

[1:43:42] forward with some money out of fund 47

[1:43:46] and

[1:43:47] move this shuttle system forward.

[1:43:51] And constantly I hear commissioners

[1:43:53] talking about how we need to slow down.

[1:43:56] We've got commissioners that

[1:43:58] are going backwards here.

[1:44:00] You vote no on workforce housing, but

[1:44:04] you say you're for workforce housing.

[1:44:06] You say you're for shuttle, but you want

[1:44:09] to slow it down and you want to vote no

[1:44:11] now. So, you can't have both ways. You

[1:44:14] either are or you aren't

[1:44:17] for the shuttle system. You are you

[1:44:19] aren't for housing. Your vote shows

[1:44:22] where you are.

[1:44:24] Let's move forward. We've got another

[1:44:26] fund to pull this out of.

[1:44:28] Let's have a vote.

[1:44:31] Mike.

[1:44:33] That's what I want to make clear to

[1:44:34] everyone.

[1:44:35] Uh

[1:44:36] Mary, I understand your uh

[1:44:39] heated your feelings on the subject, but

[1:44:42] even with the first motion motion,

[1:44:43] transit room tax TRT mitigation funds

[1:44:46] can't be used for COLA.

[1:44:49] But they simply can't. They have

[1:44:50] restrictions on

[1:44:51] fund 47 has restrictions on them.

[1:44:54] But uh fund 47 restricts

[1:44:57] I'm going to need that last one again,

[1:44:58] Gabe. Uh

[1:44:59] trails,

[1:45:01] shuttle system, transit. And transit.

[1:45:04] They're all restricted funds. We can't

[1:45:06] pay a COLA out of those. I want to give

[1:45:09] our uh employees a raise, too.

[1:45:11] It's not going to happen out of that

[1:45:12] fund.

[1:45:13] It shouldn't happen per state statute

[1:45:15] that out of that fund.

[1:45:18] So, I understand the heated discussion

[1:45:21] from many up here. But we have 1.3

[1:45:25] give or take million dollars in a fund

[1:45:28] restricted to shuttle.

[1:45:30] Go ahead and use it.

[1:45:33] Okay, I remember Trisha's to Trisha's

[1:45:35] saying gaslighting me that I'm not

[1:45:38] calling other people out because I don't

[1:45:39] think there's been anyone else who's

[1:45:40] spoken out of turn tonight, but we can

[1:45:41] go back and look at the tape. Um

[1:45:43] and then

[1:45:45] I also want to bring out the fact that

[1:45:48] if another person, say Jacques, brought

[1:45:51] up the shuttle system, then it'd

[1:45:52] probably be a a slam dunk. He'd support

[1:45:54] it. But I feel like it's because it's

[1:45:55] Brian and that it's not. Another thing

[1:45:59] is that when I was looking at the

[1:46:00] revenue and the expenditures in '21

[1:46:03] through '24 before I became a

[1:46:04] commissioner, you know, the revenues

[1:46:06] were down, but the expenditures were up

[1:46:08] year over year. So, we've been running

[1:46:11] this county negative in a really long

[1:46:13] for a really long time. Um it's not like

[1:46:16] it's a brand new thing. And if we'd been

[1:46:18] getting that two to three million

[1:46:19] dollars from the visitors in the last

[1:46:22] four years, we'd be up

[1:46:24] additional eight to 12 million dollars

[1:46:26] in tax revenue. So, anyways, that's my last comment. I'm going to let

[1:46:31] Brian talk and then I'm going to call

[1:46:32] for a vote.

[1:46:34] Yeah, thanks.

[1:46:36] The reason that we're up right now is

[1:46:38] cuz we invested in tourism.

[1:46:41] Melody, you you you asked you asked some

[1:46:43] of the other commissioners, do you

[1:46:45] support tourism? And we received a

[1:46:47] double negative. Well, I don't not

[1:46:48] support tourism. And I think everybody

[1:46:51] kind of felt comfortable. I mean, our

[1:46:53] actions showed that we support tourism.

[1:46:55] You know, we started right off on day

[1:46:57] one coming in here and raising our

[1:46:59] advertising budget, having a welcoming

[1:47:01] message.

[1:47:03] Everybody said the sky was going to fall

[1:47:05] the second that we did that. We started

[1:47:07] opening up access to bike trails. You

[1:47:09] were against access restricting to our parks. Once again, every time

[1:47:14] that happened, everyone said the sky is

[1:47:16] going to fall. And here we are today,

[1:47:18] right? We're in the black, we have have

[1:47:20] bit of money, and we're saying, guys,

[1:47:22] let's keep investing in our

[1:47:23] infrastructure, right? Let's make sure

[1:47:25] that we can have those funds available

[1:47:27] so that we can have COLAs. Let's make

[1:47:29] sure that the families here in Grant

[1:47:31] County can actually be able to put food

[1:47:33] on the table cuz there's enough of work

[1:47:35] moving through. I I just don't get where

[1:47:37] there's the hang-up on that portion.

[1:47:39] Now, getting back on on track right

[1:47:42] here, I I really think that the best

[1:47:44] place we could pull the funds from would

[1:47:46] have been for mitigation. Um I look at

[1:47:49] it, we have those as you the most

[1:47:50] restricted funds that we could have

[1:47:52] right there. Um and it makes sense to me

[1:47:54] to pull them from mitigation.

[1:47:56] Fund 47, this whole thing, I mean, I I

[1:47:59] can tell you that I'm that I'm super

[1:48:00] frustrated um on this. You know, we

[1:48:03] went, you know, over the last couple

[1:48:05] commission meetings and have been trying

[1:48:06] to find money for the Spanish Valley

[1:48:08] Pathway, and I asked for all funds that

[1:48:10] we could be used to be identified, and

[1:48:13] they weren't brought forth to the table.

[1:48:14] So, I don't know where or how we're

[1:48:16] hiding money from this commission, but

[1:48:18] I'm going to tell you I'm going to find

[1:48:20] out, and I'm going to investigate it,

[1:48:21] and there will be some consequences for

[1:48:23] that.

[1:48:24] Unacceptable. Right? Unacceptable. Um I

[1:48:28] have no problem pulling from fund 47,

[1:48:30] but I'm telling you I think that it

[1:48:32] would be it would be better to use the

[1:48:35] money that is more restricted,

[1:48:38] and and it's appropriate. It's listed in

[1:48:40] the legislation. Either which way we

[1:48:42] want to go, right? The legislation says

[1:48:43] that we can use it uh

[1:48:45] under

[1:48:46] 2B, right? I'm sorry, a 3B, or it also

[1:48:49] says it right here under the uh optional

[1:48:52] sales tax that we can use it for a

[1:48:54] system for public transit. Um

[1:48:57] I don't know. I mean, I

[1:48:59] Yeah, I mean, I'm a little bit torn on

[1:49:01] pulling it out of this this fund, but if

[1:49:03] that's if that's the way that we're

[1:49:04] going to go because people don't think

[1:49:05] that we're going to have the um

[1:49:08] the the TRT, and then then let's go that

[1:49:11] way. You know, Zach, do you want to

[1:49:13] Zach, go ahead.

[1:49:15] Uh I'm I'm not going to vote for it. So,

[1:49:18] it I I It's going to pass. I think it's

[1:49:21] up to you guys to decide which fund it's

[1:49:22] going to come from. Okay.

[1:49:24] >> [clears throat]

[1:49:25] >> Okay, so we're going to go ahead and

[1:49:26] call for a vote on the substitute motion

[1:49:28] that Mike put forth to put that up to

[1:49:31] pay that out of 147. All in favor?

[1:49:36] And all opposed?

[1:49:37] Nay.

[1:49:39] Okay, so that fails. So, we're going to

[1:49:40] go back to the original motion, which

[1:49:42] was the motion that Bill put forward,

[1:49:45] and

[1:49:46] that was to pay that out of TRT. So, all

[1:49:48] those in favor?

[1:49:51] And those opposed?

[1:49:53] Nay.

[1:49:54] Okay, so that passes 4-3 with

[1:49:59] um, Hadine, Hadler, and Begay in

[1:50:01] opposition.

[1:50:03] All right, and then we'll move on to

[1:50:04] number four, which is drought

[1:50:06] declaration for the emergency management

[1:50:08] director Kinkade.

[1:50:15] We have a follow-up after subjects.

[1:50:17] conversation with Mike. I did. We should

[1:50:20] discuss the alley road. Sorry.

[1:50:22] >> [laughter]

[1:50:23] >> Hey. You're like more of a bad news

[1:50:25] bear.

[1:50:27] Drought declaration.

[1:50:29] It's not a good talk.

[1:50:31] Hey, good evening.

[1:50:33] Uh, Commissioner Hadler, you mentioned

[1:50:35] it for the ski season.

[1:50:38] That is correct. Um, it's not a secret

[1:50:40] that we were pretty light on snowfall,

[1:50:44] and then we had a very, very warm

[1:50:46] spring, which those two things in

[1:50:48] conjunction have deepened drought

[1:50:52] conditions across the county.

[1:50:55] Um, I put this in the background of this

[1:50:58] agenda item, but I reached out to our

[1:50:59] partners at the National Weather Service

[1:51:01] in Grand Junction for just some

[1:51:04] background on what things look like in

[1:51:06] this county right now.

[1:51:08] Um, some of the things that they sent

[1:51:10] back, snow tell set sites across the

[1:51:12] West Elks reached wet record low snow

[1:51:16] water equivalent by March 11th

[1:51:18] and melted out completely before we

[1:51:20] normally reach our median peak snow

[1:51:22] water.

[1:51:23] So, those had completely gone even

[1:51:26] before we're normally at our our max.

[1:51:29] Um US drought monitor degraded one to

[1:51:32] three categories across the county since

[1:51:34] March 3rd and all of the counties

[1:51:36] currently in D3, which is extreme

[1:51:38] drought.

[1:51:41] Water supply forecast along the Colorado

[1:51:43] and Dolores Rivers are less than 30% of

[1:51:46] average.

[1:51:47] March 2026 was the fifth driest March on

[1:51:50] record over 132 years of record keeping.

[1:51:54] And the evaporative demand drought

[1:51:56] index, which is a measure of plant

[1:51:58] atmospheric thirst, has been 100% dry

[1:52:01] over the county for the last month.

[1:52:04] So, kind of taking all of those

[1:52:05] together,

[1:52:07] um I put together a declaration for the

[1:52:10] existence of a drought emergency within

[1:52:13] Grand County's jurisdictional

[1:52:14] boundaries.

[1:52:16] Um reason being

[1:52:18] the drought has had an impact across

[1:52:20] multiple operations through the county

[1:52:22] that are listed in the declaration, but

[1:52:24] most notably with producers. So, that

[1:52:27] would be our farmers and ranchers.

[1:52:29] Having an active declaration opens up

[1:52:31] individual assistance opportunities for

[1:52:33] those people.

[1:52:35] Um one example would be like emergency

[1:52:37] relief and emergency food programs.

[1:52:41] Yeah, that's all that I've got. Mr.

[1:52:43] Winfield?

[1:52:45] Well, um I want to add just a few

[1:52:46] comments and then I'm going to make the

[1:52:48] motion to approve this, but um this

[1:52:50] there's state and federal officials both

[1:52:53] are weighing in on this and recommending

[1:52:55] this with the governor saying that

[1:52:57] there's

[1:52:58] an executive order most likely going to

[1:53:00] come out about this.

[1:53:02] I do believe that San

[1:53:04] Juan County, Iron County, and maybe one

[1:53:07] more of the already also Uinta County, I

[1:53:09] believe done it drought declaration.

[1:53:12] I know that

[1:53:14] it's

[1:53:15] we're tracking about half the normal

[1:53:17] water and even though it feels a little

[1:53:19] bit funny asking for a drought

[1:53:21] declaration after it snowed yesterday.

[1:53:24] Um which I'm very thankful for and that

[1:53:27] rain that we got it was a long slow hard

[1:53:30] not hard long slow

[1:53:33] rainfall that soaked in for us. I think

[1:53:36] that was extremely beneficial to us, but

[1:53:38] I will make the motion to support this.

[1:53:41] I move to approve the declaration of the

[1:53:43] existence of a drought

[1:53:46] emergency.

[1:53:47] Okay, we have a second by Mike. Thank

[1:53:49] you. Any more discussion? Brent?

[1:53:53] Yeah, can you just go over the the

[1:53:54] difference real quick between the state

[1:53:56] declaration and the county doing the

[1:53:59] declaration? I think that it has to do

[1:54:01] with the time of the declaration. Is

[1:54:03] that correct?

[1:54:05] Yeah, so if you look at this declaration

[1:54:09] it is

[1:54:11] retroactively taking effect April 1st

[1:54:14] due to the fact that conditions

[1:54:15] deteriorated so much in March.

[1:54:18] Um which means that producers

[1:54:21] if they had costs that they incurred

[1:54:24] that they could get relief for up to

[1:54:25] April 1st, they would qualify.

[1:54:28] They would be covered under a state

[1:54:30] declaration, but where if we didn't have

[1:54:32] a county declaration it would be the

[1:54:33] effective date of the state one.

[1:54:35] So, I think

[1:54:37] and and maybe Trish can help me answer

[1:54:39] this.

[1:54:39] The last meeting that we were at over

[1:54:41] this it was that the state declaration

[1:54:44] is shorter than the county declaration.

[1:54:47] Is that correct? I believe that was one

[1:54:49] of the big benefits of having a county

[1:54:51] declaration. Is that

[1:54:53] declaration lasted longer than the

[1:54:55] state's declaration? And Yeah, sorry. I really is

[1:55:00] we re-evaluate as conditions change and

[1:55:02] then we separate when we're out of it.

[1:55:06] And it was Emery County bill that was

[1:55:08] the other

[1:55:08] Um, yeah.

[1:55:13] Okay, any other questions or comments?

[1:55:15] No.

[1:55:17] Go ahead and call for a vote. So, all

[1:55:18] those in favor of passing the drought

[1:55:20] declaration.

[1:55:22] I.

[1:55:23] Thank you, Mary. That's 7-0. That passes

[1:55:25] unanimously. Thanks, KC. Thank you. Can

[1:55:27] I ask a question before I go? Yeah. I

[1:55:30] got a little lost during the consent

[1:55:32] agenda. The cooperative wildfire system,

[1:55:35] is that future meeting or is that later

[1:55:37] in this meeting? It's going to be a

[1:55:38] future meeting. Um, Stephen wanted to

[1:55:41] have time to respond to that. Thank you.

[1:55:44] Yeah, so future meeting, probably next

[1:55:45] meeting. Thank you.

[1:55:49] All right, so now we're moving on to

[1:55:50] number five, which is the Moab office of

[1:55:52] tourism summer campaign budget

[1:55:53] recommendations. Back to you.

[1:55:57] Yeah, so we've had uh um meetings with

[1:55:59] Madden

[1:56:01] and uh um to boost summer visitation.

[1:56:04] They're proposing a $236

[1:56:07] or I'm sorry, $236,000

[1:56:09] campaign um proposed that a tactical

[1:56:12] budget increase focused on driving

[1:56:15] visitation in July and August of this

[1:56:17] year. One of the office's long-term

[1:56:19] goals is to increase summer visitation

[1:56:21] to lessen the visitation dip we've seen

[1:56:24] in prior years. Uh Madden Media prepared

[1:56:27] a summer summer marketing campaign to

[1:56:29] encourage a late summer trip to Moab.

[1:56:32] Um, the Moab Tourism Advisory Board

[1:56:35] approved this budget increase during its

[1:56:37] May 12th meeting.

[1:56:39] Um, just a couple of other things um

[1:56:41] that I have from this. Um, Madden did

[1:56:44] not really start uh having ads placed

[1:56:47] until about mid-July. Um, so last year

[1:56:51] we kind of missed out on that initial uh um summer summer campaign

[1:56:56] right there.

[1:56:57] Um we've also asked um for a couple of

[1:57:00] other small things. I don't know if

[1:57:01] anyone's had a chance to see the Who is

[1:57:03] Moab videos. If you haven't, they're really good. Um but that's one

[1:57:07] additional request and we've also had a

[1:57:10] um request on to Madden for a uh um

[1:57:14] influencer campaign so that we can tell

[1:57:16] stories faster and a little bit more

[1:57:18] accurately to visitors.

[1:57:20] Um and what we don't want to see is we

[1:57:22] don't want to see these these one-offs

[1:57:24] that we've kind of put up in front of

[1:57:25] them take away from the main advertising

[1:57:28] campaigns that we've had. Um I think

[1:57:30] that we can all agree that the summer

[1:57:31] visitation is something that we would

[1:57:34] like to see get risen up. Um when we

[1:57:37] look at places like Zion and Bryce,

[1:57:40] summer visitation is actually one of

[1:57:42] their their biggest seasons still. Um

[1:57:45] and so thinking that St. George is, you

[1:57:47] know, having very similar climates, you

[1:57:49] know, the summer is one of their biggest

[1:57:51] seasons. Um what Madden is uh proposing

[1:57:54] to do is a conquesting type of campaign

[1:57:58] where we're going after the same type of

[1:58:00] um visitors that Zion is going to be

[1:58:02] having. So try to get those visitors

[1:58:04] that are already coming to Zion can make

[1:58:06] sure that they come up on up here and uh

[1:58:09] visit Moab as well.

[1:58:11] Okay. I can answer questions if you guys

[1:58:12] have any.

[1:58:13] But Mike Yeah.

[1:58:15] I approved them within budget.

[1:58:18] Uh

[1:58:20] is this an extra ask or already in

[1:58:22] within

[1:58:22] >> No, this would be this would be above what's in budget.

[1:58:25] >> Got it.

[1:58:30] So pulling from

[1:58:31] advertising paid media? Correct. Yeah.

[1:58:34] And then also speaking on that, we are pushing up again on the uh um

[1:58:40] on the limit that we can hold inside the

[1:58:42] reserves for TRT. So that fund right there actually does need

[1:58:48] to be spent. So I think that if we were

[1:58:51] to try to find a place to spend some

[1:58:53] advertising funds, advertising in the

[1:58:55] summer would be the best bang for our

[1:58:57] buck. And so that's why they've

[1:58:59] identified this as a good spend.

[1:59:03] Okay. Mike. I'd like to continue on. Uh

[1:59:07] That's So the public knows that is an

[1:59:09] advertising paid media budget. Uh we are

[1:59:12] required to keep a certain under balance

[1:59:15] uh within that budget. We can't bank

[1:59:16] those funds and they were required uh

[1:59:19] under uh statutory requirement uh that they

[1:59:22] are advertising. They are paid

[1:59:24] advertising media. Right. Uh

[1:59:27] and with that I move to approve $236,000

[1:59:30] for the Moab Office of Tourism add-on

[1:59:32] summer marketing campaign.

[1:59:35] Right.

[1:59:36] Second.

[1:59:37] Okay.

[1:59:38] Any other um

[1:59:40] questions, comments?

[1:59:43] Okay.

[1:59:44] Doug. No, I don't have any.

[1:59:46] >> [laughter]

[1:59:47] >> All right. So go ahead and call for a

[1:59:48] vote. All in favor of the Moab Office of

[1:59:50] Tourism summer campaign budget

[1:59:51] recommendation. I.

[1:59:53] Okay, that passes 6-0, 6-1 absent.

[1:59:59] Chris Mr. Nielson.

[2:00:02] So number six, Moab Office of Tourism

[2:00:04] new position proposal.

[2:00:07] I'd like to make the motion to postpone

[2:00:09] this until the June 2nd meeting.

[2:00:12] Okay. Second.

[2:00:15] So the June 2nd after budget details. Is

[2:00:18] that why we're pushing it?

[2:00:19] No, just for to allow Nick time to come

[2:00:23] back.

[2:00:24] More information. More information.

[2:00:27] So and then

[2:00:29] All right, Martinez. Do you have a

[2:00:31] question, Chuck? No, it's the same thing

[2:00:32] Mike. I was just wondering why.

[2:00:34] Or I should say that. All in favor.

[2:00:38] That passes six with one absent.

[2:00:41] Commissioner

[2:00:42] Oh, sorry, Mary.

[2:00:44] You're good on that one?

[2:00:46] Yeah, I said I. I was just slow on the

[2:00:48] uptake.

[2:00:50] All right, thank you.

[2:00:51] Seven is a resolution amending the Grand

[2:00:53] County employee handbook. This is with

[2:00:55] our personnel services director Tess

[2:00:57] Barger.

[2:01:00] I'll say she's outside.

[2:01:02] She's been patiently waiting.

[2:01:06] All right, good evening commissioners.

[2:01:08] Um, so we brought before you a larger

[2:01:11] revised version of the handbook.

[2:01:15] A little over a month ago, probably

[2:01:16] closer to two months this time.

[2:01:18] It has been determined that it would be

[2:01:20] best for us to have this last little bit

[2:01:22] of additional language that

[2:01:24] limits was not accounted for in that

[2:01:27] revised handbook. Specifically,

[2:01:30] this additional language ensures that

[2:01:32] it's

[2:01:33] that any resolutions passed is made to

[2:01:37] the handbook are effective immediately,

[2:01:40] that they will

[2:01:42] that they are able to be added to our

[2:01:43] handbook and that services department is

[2:01:46] the determinant department um,

[2:01:48] specifically named to will ensure that

[2:01:50] any additional resolutions,

[2:01:53] modifications, etc. are updated within

[2:01:54] the handbook.

[2:01:57] So, just housekeeping.

[2:02:01] I I move to approve the resolution

[2:02:02] approving the revised 2026 Grand County

[2:02:05] employee handbook.

[2:02:07] Motion by Commissioner McCarty, second

[2:02:09] by Commissioner Hedler. Any other

[2:02:11] discussion?

[2:02:13] All right, seeing none, I'll call for a

[2:02:15] vote. All in favor?

[2:02:18] I.

[2:02:20] Thank you, Mary. Passes with one

[2:02:21] abstention.

[2:02:22] Six zero with one absent Commissioner

[2:02:26] McCandless

[2:02:28] absent. So, we will move on to number

[2:02:32] eight. Do you want to do a citizens to

[2:02:33] be heard?

[2:02:34] Oh, thank you, Jacques. Sure, let's do a

[2:02:37] citizens to be heard. It is 6:03 p.m.

[2:02:40] and we will continue with citizens to be

[2:02:44] heard. Those that were not able to speak

[2:02:46] earlier are welcome to do so later.

[2:02:50] Yes, ma'am. Come up.

[2:02:53] Give us your name.

[2:02:55] Name's Chris Davis. I'm a voter here in

[2:02:57] Brown County and I just have one

[2:02:59] question. What happens if the park

[2:03:01] doesn't get their 1.5 million dollars?

[2:03:07] Anyway. Jared Knight. Jared

[2:03:10] You know, we don't answer questions, but

[2:03:12] the agreement would fail. Huh?

[2:03:15] So, the agreement would fail. Okay.

[2:03:20] anybody else in the chamber like

[2:03:22] come up? Yes, sir. Oh, we've already had

[2:03:25] you up once this meeting, sir. Thank

[2:03:26] you.

[2:03:28] Um Quinn, do we have anybody online?

[2:03:35] Nobody. Anybody else in the chamber?

[2:03:41] All right, we will move forward with

[2:03:43] number eight. Jerry, you can take it

[2:03:45] back over. Um we did our 6:00 citizen to

[2:03:48] be heard.

[2:03:50] Okay.

[2:03:51] So, removal of parcels from the 2026 tax

[2:03:54] sale. So, Treasurer Chris Chris Huffman

[2:03:57] and

[2:03:58] Quick Auditor Ginger Roland.

[2:04:01] Is he here or is he hopping online? He's

[2:04:02] hopping online.

[2:04:08] Thank you. Can you hear me?

[2:04:09] Yes.

[2:04:13] So, it's that time of year again when

[2:04:15] parcels that are 5 years delinquent on

[2:04:16] their property taxes are eligible for

[2:04:18] tax sale. The tax sale has been

[2:04:20] scheduled for the later part of June.

[2:04:23] And we this year have seven parcels that

[2:04:26] are still eligible for tax sale. Five of

[2:04:28] those parcels have requested to my

[2:04:31] office to get a little bit more time to

[2:04:34] pay their taxes because they are going

[2:04:36] to have a difficult time

[2:04:38] making the deadline. We have in the past

[2:04:41] and many other counties do this as well,

[2:04:43] given people a little bit more time to

[2:04:44] pay. In this case, removing them from

[2:04:47] the tax sale for 2026.

[2:04:49] And just to make it clear, interest

[2:04:51] still accrues on their um

[2:04:54] delinquent property taxes. And if they

[2:04:57] were delinquent and eligible for tax

[2:04:59] sale in the prior year, we do not

[2:05:01] generally

[2:05:02] request that they get a second year

[2:05:05] to pay.

[2:05:06] And the two parcels that are not on this

[2:05:08] list were eligible for tax sale last

[2:05:10] year and so they will continue to be

[2:05:12] eligible for the tax sale.

[2:05:14] But we are requesting, myself and the

[2:05:16] clerk auditor, to remove these five

[2:05:18] parcels

[2:05:19] to allow the folks a little bit more

[2:05:20] time.

[2:05:28] I'm sorry. You're okay.

[2:05:30] Uh

[2:05:32] Thank you guys for working with these

[2:05:34] five people trying to get a little more

[2:05:35] time on it, but in that, I move to

[2:05:38] approve the removal of parcels from

[2:05:41] the removal of recommended parcels from

[2:05:43] the 2026 tax sale as presented.

[2:05:51] All right, any more

[2:05:52] >> [clears throat]

[2:05:52] >> discussion, questions?

[2:05:56] No.

[2:05:57] All in favor of those in favor of

[2:05:59] removal of parcels from the 2026 tax

[2:06:00] sale.

[2:06:02] I abstain. And does the against?

[2:06:09] I'm for it.

[2:06:10] You're for it? Okay.

[2:06:12] 7-0, that passes unanimously. Thank you.

[2:06:16] Number nine is dark skies reimbursement

[2:06:18] program.

[2:06:20] Brandon Blacker, code enforcement and

[2:06:21] Commissioner Hadine.

[2:06:24] Brandon online?

[2:06:25] No, I'm not there. Oh, hey. Sorry, I

[2:06:27] didn't

[2:06:28] mean to interrupt you.

[2:06:30] I was just going to be "Where's

[2:06:31] Brandon?"

[2:06:32] Thank you.

[2:06:34] Awesome. Thanks.

[2:06:35] Um

[2:06:36] So, basically just kind of a quick

[2:06:38] overview with Rocky Mountain Power to

[2:06:40] update all the street lights. They all

[2:06:42] reached out and offered all of the uh

[2:06:44] residential customers and commercial

[2:06:46] customers the opportunity to update

[2:06:48] their semi-area lights, which are

[2:06:50] basically a street light on private

[2:06:51] property

[2:06:53] um for the same cost at $210 a piece.

[2:07:00] So, trying to get as many people to sign

[2:07:01] on board while it was cheaper like

[2:07:04] we started talking and

[2:07:06] Trish and I had actually been talking

[2:07:08] for a while about starting a like a real

[2:07:10] person program as as money was

[2:07:12] available.

[2:07:14] Um and with this with this opportunity

[2:07:16] we tried to jump on it and see if we get

[2:07:17] as many people to sign up to update

[2:07:19] their lights.

[2:07:21] Um

[2:07:22] just like a rough cost comparison, the

[2:07:25] contract company per hour for in the

[2:07:28] lights installed was like $102 roughly.

[2:07:32] And Rocky Mountain [clears throat] Power

[2:07:33] was 190. So,

[2:07:36] just try to get everyone on board um as

[2:07:38] many people as as possible to try and uh

[2:07:42] help with the astrotourism.

[2:07:44] Just because of I can't remember where

[2:07:46] it was at, but there was somewhere that

[2:07:47] said that that's actually a really big

[2:07:49] push right now for the tourism industry.

[2:07:52] So,

[2:07:53] um there's a total

[2:07:56] » [clears throat]

[2:07:56] >> So, on the agenda

[2:07:58] um the total cost request was six 6,090

[2:08:03] um which would have been a total update

[2:08:05] for 29 lights.

[2:08:07] Currently,

[2:08:09] there were eight residential lights that

[2:08:11] were updated. Um eight additional lights

[2:08:14] if there was an HOA that installed the

[2:08:16] lights was approved.

[2:08:19] And three commercial lights have been

[2:08:20] updated.

[2:08:21] There are three pending residential

[2:08:24] lights

[2:08:25] and four commercial expanding

[2:08:28] um

[2:08:30] installation. And then there's one,

[2:08:32] maybe two

[2:08:34] residential that like are waiting to

[2:08:36] hear if if funding is approved before

[2:08:38] they sign up for it.

[2:08:40] Um [clears throat] and then the last one

[2:08:42] was one of the properties that was

[2:08:44] annexed in by the city down kind of like

[2:08:45] where the new apartments are going in um

[2:08:48] back by Harrison's old shop.

[2:08:50] Um

[2:08:51] So he's trying to look at it and uh

[2:08:55] take advantage of a of a of a better

[2:08:57] time to buy

[2:08:59] upgraded lights. Um

[2:09:04] What questions do you have for me? I

[2:09:06] think Bill had has had it first. Um I've

[2:09:09] got some questions more possibly for the

[2:09:12] commissioner administrator, but

[2:09:15] I know that Commissioner Hadean has

[2:09:17] already dipped into the discretionary

[2:09:20] fund when she was the one that voted to

[2:09:22] reduce it

[2:09:23] in

[2:09:24] um what maybe November, December of last

[2:09:27] year. So my question would be

[2:09:30] considering that the

[2:09:32] funds that you requested previously I be

[2:09:35] believe were for the archery center and

[2:09:37] you now have a grant for the archery

[2:09:39] center, could those discretionary funds

[2:09:42] be

[2:09:43] paid back so that we can allocate them

[2:09:46] here

[2:09:47] because um I I just can't see

[2:09:50] this working out continually dipping

[2:09:53] into a fund that you voted to reduce.

[2:09:56] So I'd like I

[2:09:57] kind of like to see if we can't go

[2:09:59] backwards here a little bit and repay

[2:10:01] that out of your grant.

[2:10:04] Mike, you first, but do you want to pass

[2:10:06] it to Trisha she can consent? Answer the

[2:10:08] question, I'll be next. I put my hand

[2:10:10] up.

[2:10:10] Okay.

[2:10:11] Mary, I'll get to you next.

[2:10:13] >> whenever you say.

[2:10:14] I'll just answer the question then I do

[2:10:16] have some comments later.

[2:10:18] Um

[2:10:18] maybe. Maybe it depends. I mean I I will

[2:10:21] state with the archery range, I've already

[2:10:28] had an individual do approximately

[2:10:32] $17,000 worth of dirt work, which he

[2:10:35] also volunteered also donated all the

[2:10:37] fuel and the transport of the traco.

[2:10:40] I've asked a lot of people.

[2:10:42] Um, and so maybe I mean, with the new

[2:10:45] budget because we were going to

[2:10:47] basically I had asked another contractor

[2:10:49] to do the fencing and we had taken old

[2:10:51] high school fencing we were going to

[2:10:52] reuse that and he was like, let's just pay fencing. So, it depends

[2:10:57] on what that Taylor fencing quote comes

[2:10:59] in at or the other quotes. Um, you know,

[2:11:02] because we did reduce we did reduce this

[2:11:05] the height of the height of the fencing.

[2:11:06] So, it's feasible. I mean, right now my

[2:11:08] budget is, you know, absorbing all of

[2:11:11] that, but it is feasible. But the one

[2:11:12] thing that that grant did do

[2:11:15] is on the capital projects list there

[2:11:17] was an ask of 10 grand for gravel for

[2:11:20] the archery range. So, that grant will

[2:11:22] remove that off that list. Um, so

[2:11:25] Yeah.

[2:11:26] So, I'm I'm feeling pretty good about

[2:11:28] the grant. We got a grant from

[2:11:30] outdoor rec to to work on that range.

[2:11:32] And so, it will take, you know, again

[2:11:34] that off the archery off that list.

[2:11:37] And then I'll I'll have some comments

[2:11:38] later on.

[2:11:39] Okay. So, maybe the the answer is maybe.

[2:11:42] Okay. And then Commissioner

[2:11:44] McCurdy and then Commissioner McGowan.

[2:11:47] Not to speak disparagingly about people,

[2:11:48] but

[2:11:49] some people were slow on that ask to

[2:11:52] replace their light.

[2:11:54] >> [laughter]

[2:11:55] >> Is there any hope for this continued to

[2:11:58] continue in the future? Or is this is is

[2:12:01] dead in the water? So, I mean, if I I

[2:12:03] thought it was a good trade-off, but not

[2:12:05] everyone, including myself,

[2:12:07] knew about it in a timely fashion. Yeah,

[2:12:09] and we were we were pretty rushed cuz by

[2:12:11] the time we the county was brought on

[2:12:12] board, the city had already been working

[2:12:14] with Rocky Mountain Power for a while.

[2:12:16] And so, we had kind of like a last

[2:12:17] minute like, "Hey, let's do this too."

[2:12:19] >> [clears throat]

[2:12:19] >> Um

[2:12:20] Uh so, Cody with County Road jumped in and started on that. Um

[2:12:24] but I talked to Hannah with Rocky

[2:12:27] Mountain Power earlier. I guess it was

[2:12:29] last week. Um we're looking at adding

[2:12:31] some shielding to a few lights in town

[2:12:33] and possibly adding some at the arena

[2:12:35] just due to some complaints for the

[2:12:38] community next door. Um and they wanted

[2:12:40] that deadline by last week for the

[2:12:42] manufacturer of those shields. Okay. Um

[2:12:46] cuz originally they were supposed to

[2:12:47] come down in March for like a second

[2:12:49] wave.

[2:12:50] So, long story short, yes, we can

[2:12:53] probably still get you hooked up. Okay.

[2:12:55] There there I I have a decent size list.

[2:12:57] There's nothing Yeah. Okay. I don't want

[2:12:59] to pay anything extra just because I was

[2:13:00] slow. But uh if they're still in a mount

[2:13:03] I would like to get in on on. Yeah.

[2:13:06] Um Mary's next.

[2:13:08] Mary McGinty. Yes. Uh I have a thought

[2:13:12] with uh

[2:13:15] in our uh Trail to Tomorrow and with the

[2:13:18] push nationally where uh

[2:13:21] we're pushing dark skies and

[2:13:24] astrotourism,

[2:13:26] I'm wondering especially now that like

[2:13:29] it was stated that we have an

[2:13:30] overabundance, we're getting close to

[2:13:33] the max that we can have in saving in

[2:13:35] our promotional

[2:13:36] TRT,

[2:13:38] I I I wonder if we could pay for these

[2:13:42] the sliding

[2:13:44] this shading and such through our

[2:13:46] promotional TRT with it being a

[2:13:51] push with

[2:13:53] uh

[2:13:54] you know, in the uh in the Trail to

[2:13:57] Tomorrow. They said this would be a

[2:13:58] really good way to

[2:14:00] help with especially summer tourism

[2:14:03] because people don't want to be out

[2:14:05] during the day, but they would love to

[2:14:07] be out, you know, in the night in the

[2:14:08] our wonderful evenings in the summer to

[2:14:11] look at the stars and gaze at things.

[2:14:14] I I think this could be a way to help

[2:14:17] offset the cost.

[2:14:21] I I think it would probably be Steven

[2:14:23] that would maybe have to look into that,

[2:14:26] but I would like to consider having it

[2:14:28] paid for out of promotional TRT if we

[2:14:31] can.

[2:14:35] Okay.

[2:14:36] And I have a couple questions on this.

[2:14:38] So, this is

[2:14:40] a light that's already on someone's

[2:14:42] proper private property, but it's

[2:14:43] basically a street light. So, it's not

[2:14:44] like their own like someone's homes.

[2:14:47] Correct. Yeah, so it's basically Yeah,

[2:14:49] basically So, the parking

[2:14:51] lot in the HOA is probably like their

[2:14:53] parking area.

[2:14:54] Um so, the HOA was down Pump Creek

[2:14:57] Drive, which is a private drive still

[2:14:59] maintained by the HOA. And so, they had

[2:15:02] a little bit different expense just

[2:15:04] because they needed to repair and update

[2:15:06] some of the the post themselves. And so,

[2:15:09] um for the most part, they're all

[2:15:12] basically the exact same that the the

[2:15:13] street lights got installed. Or if

[2:15:15] you're out at the arena, like they just

[2:15:17] updated the the tall lights on the north

[2:15:19] end of the parking lot as well.

[2:15:21] Um but yeah, these lights were

[2:15:22] pre-existing. They were the uh I can't

[2:15:25] remember the name of them, but you can

[2:15:26] see them from all the way across the

[2:15:28] valley.

[2:15:29] Um

[2:15:30] so, this kind of gets rid of that and

[2:15:32] just shines it straight down. So,

[2:15:33] there's no like side light. If you go

[2:15:35] above the golf course, there's not as

[2:15:36] much light as you look out across the

[2:15:38] valley. So, the private properties got

[2:15:40] this one-time low cost of only $210, but

[2:15:43] then we're going to you're ask we're

[2:15:44] asking the kind of inverse of those

[2:15:46] individual people for the cost of the

[2:15:48] light.

[2:15:49] Okay, just wanted to make was

[2:15:52] I read it a few times. I just wanted to

[2:15:54] double-check exactly what was happening.

[2:15:56] So,

[2:15:57] Um all right. And I think that uh Trish

[2:15:59] is next. Okay, that's her. Um

[2:16:03] You have it. So, I'm not sure question.

[2:16:04] Sorry.

[2:16:06] Oh, Trish is one. Okay.

[2:16:08] Um you know, we've Brandon and I've been

[2:16:11] talking about dark skies and code

[2:16:12] compliance as far as coming into

[2:16:14] compliance for a long time.

[2:16:17] Um

[2:16:18] this is one little kind of move in that

[2:16:20] direction and I appreciate Brandon for

[2:16:22] working on this with Rocky Mountain

[2:16:24] Power. I think it's a small ask, but it

[2:16:26] is what commission discretionary is for

[2:16:28] or for these little kind of one-offs

[2:16:30] that we didn't really foresee in the

[2:16:32] budget. You're right, I did ask for the

[2:16:35] commission discretionary budget to be

[2:16:38] diminished because

[2:16:39] we we were trying to take it up quite a

[2:16:42] bit. So, I asked that it just be pulled

[2:16:44] back to kind of the status quo. I've

[2:16:46] asked for two very small asks this year

[2:16:49] and I feel that both of them are for

[2:16:52] community [clears throat]

[2:16:53] and for people in the community. One is

[2:16:55] for an archery range for our community.

[2:16:56] We may be able to use the range

[2:16:58] hopefully for events, too, which would

[2:16:59] be very cool.

[2:17:01] Um but it's really for this community

[2:17:03] and this is just to feasibly, if we

[2:17:06] don't pass it, we won't be reimbursing.

[2:17:09] But this is I think a nice way to get

[2:17:11] people compliant and to reimburse them.

[2:17:13] It's a little little ask. These are you

[2:17:16] know, these are community asks that are

[2:17:18] very small.

[2:17:19] Brandon, did you have your hand up? I

[2:17:21] thought I saw it. Yeah, sure. Yeah, just

[2:17:22] wanted to go. So, just just looking over

[2:17:24] that right there uh um going to to

[2:17:26] Mary's comment right there. Um there's

[2:17:29] the 3A, which is the

[2:17:31] loading, right? And then there's the 3B.

[2:17:34] Um when you look at the 3B right there,

[2:17:37] it is furnishing, maintaining, or

[2:17:39] operating. And I think that this would

[2:17:41] probably then fall under the 3B category

[2:17:44] right there. That would be the

[2:17:45] separation of those two.

[2:17:47] Um you know, as far as dark sky tourism

[2:17:49] goes, I think you know that there's a huge there is there there is a

[2:17:53] big push from the state on that and I

[2:17:55] think that it's you know, something that

[2:17:56] we could definitely talk about with the

[2:17:59] tourism board. Um you know, in town, if

[2:18:01] this is something that you guys wanted

[2:18:02] to push as a campaign.

[2:18:04] Um, you know, it might even be something

[2:18:06] that you'd like to bring up in the near

[2:18:07] future as they're pushing that summer

[2:18:09] campaign right there to see if you can't

[2:18:11] get some more astrotourism involved in

[2:18:13] it. I think that's a great idea. Um,

[2:18:15] but as far as using these funds, I I

[2:18:17] think that we would definitely be

[2:18:18] stepping over that line. That's just my

[2:18:20] opinion on it. Um, but yeah, I mean, I'm

[2:18:23] supportive of it.

[2:18:25] Okay, Commissioner Winfield. Mike, have

[2:18:27] you spoke yet? I'd be number two for Go

[2:18:30] ahead and sign in before you.

[2:18:32] I would move to approve the $6,090

[2:18:35] from crew commission discretionary for

[2:18:38] reimbursement for life replacement

[2:18:41] reimbursement with the caveat that if it

[2:18:44] can re be repaid out of the artery grant

[2:18:47] that it be done so.

[2:18:51] Mike, could you second that?

[2:18:53] Uh, TRT promotional if it could come out

[2:18:56] of that.

[2:18:57] Could you add that to your so it could

[2:18:59] come out of those three funds?

[2:19:03] Um, I'd rather not. I think Brian was

[2:19:05] talking about a campaign that they would

[2:19:08] take to the team or to or to the tourism

[2:19:11] board, Mary, not this specific item.

[2:19:14] Was the way I understood it.

[2:19:18] Well, I'm just wondering if it could. I would like to get Steve to look into

[2:19:22] it cuz uh, it makes sense to me since

[2:19:25] it's

[2:19:26] a push by the state and also a push by

[2:19:30] it was mentioned in the trail to

[2:19:31] tomorrow.

[2:19:34] Well, we can always move funds around in

[2:19:36] our budget at the end of the year if

[2:19:39] David and Stephen decide if it's in

[2:19:40] that, but I think currently we're going

[2:19:42] to stick with where it's being asked to

[2:19:44] be pulled out of. Um, Mike, are you

[2:19:46] seconding? I'll second but I still

[2:19:48] >> have a comment. Okay. Mary, I know you

[2:19:49] have your hand up and I'll get to your

[2:19:51] comment after we get around cuz

[2:19:52] everybody else did speak first.

[2:19:55] I'm sorry. I forgot to lower it. I

[2:19:57] apologize.

[2:19:58] Uh Mike, go ahead. And number two,

[2:20:00] uh

[2:20:02] me and another guy in a room that really

[2:20:04] know that dark sky tourism is is a

[2:20:06] moment.

[2:20:07] Uh we

[2:20:10] should get with tourism and push a

[2:20:12] campaign. I think it would be huge. Uh

[2:20:16] with the current push for

[2:20:17] uh

[2:20:19] astro tourism. I I know that term till

[2:20:21] today.

[2:20:22] Uh but uh

[2:20:25] I I'll second Bill's motion in the fact

[2:20:27] that uh it's good that we got some

[2:20:29] people on. I'd like a better campaign

[2:20:31] out next time so more community members

[2:20:33] can take part in this also. Uh

[2:20:38] I I'm not saying that I'm happy that

[2:20:40] some did. I want I want more. If we're

[2:20:43] going to push uh different points of

[2:20:45] tourism including this, I we need to let

[2:20:47] everyone know that it's going on.

[2:20:50] And we can use our county Facebook page

[2:20:52] to do so.

[2:20:54] I'm in. Um so I had it still did anybody

[2:20:57] else want to Mary's hand I thought was

[2:20:59] up. But No. So we are going to go ahead

[2:21:02] and call for a vote. Those in favor of

[2:21:04] the dark sky reimbursement program.

[2:21:06] Those in favor? I.

[2:21:08] Okay.

[2:21:09] >> I. That was 7-0. Thank you. Brandon,

[2:21:12] thanks for coming and sorry I didn't see

[2:21:13] you. No worries. And then I was just

[2:21:15] going to just kind of do a quick little

[2:21:17] update. Um I'm planning on coming back

[2:21:19] in a little while. I know it's been a

[2:21:20] while since I've been here and kind of

[2:21:21] giving an update.

[2:21:24] But just kind of a couple things that

[2:21:25] I'm working on.

[2:21:28] Uh starting to implement the light

[2:21:29] inspections with new business licenses.

[2:21:32] Um just because that's been a

[2:21:33] requirement since the law passed in

[2:21:35] 2019. Um so I'm starting on that. I've

[2:21:38] been working with with Emily at the

[2:21:40] clerk's office. Um

[2:21:42] So that's in progress. The next is going

[2:21:45] to be building permits cuz that's

[2:21:46] another one and then conditional use

[2:21:48] permits as well. Um

[2:21:50] So just some some the I'm working on and

[2:21:52] moving forward. Um

[2:21:55] the short-term rental tracking software,

[2:21:59] we just had the training with um Gov OS,

[2:22:03] which has changed to Numa.

[2:22:05] Um and so, like I'm actually like in the

[2:22:08] process of getting the data That's

[2:22:10] great.

[2:22:10] >> compiled to send to them. They started

[2:22:12] tracking about mid-April, so there's not

[2:22:14] much data for this year just because

[2:22:15] they were trying to get this program up

[2:22:17] and running.

[2:22:19] That's great. Um

[2:22:21] and then we still have access to um

[2:22:23] through the state,

[2:22:25] but it's restricted. It shows the whole

[2:22:27] state, so I can't search just Grand

[2:22:29] County.

[2:22:30] Um

[2:22:31] so I'm I've I've reached out and asking

[2:22:33] for like clarification what it would

[2:22:35] take for that. Um

[2:22:37] Numa?

[2:22:38] What is their acronym or what's their

[2:22:40] Oh, that's just their name. N U M O.

[2:22:42] Yeah. Okay. Yeah, Numa.

[2:22:45] Um

[2:22:47] Thank you.

[2:22:48] Yeah, and so So, that's still work in

[2:22:50] progress. Um I mean, just kind of a

[2:22:52] heads-up like there's been an increase

[2:22:54] in cases regarding shipping containers.

[2:22:57] Um so, I'm reaching out to different

[2:23:00] agencies across the state getting

[2:23:01] information from them on what their

[2:23:03] rules are regarding shipping containers.

[2:23:06] Um

[2:23:07] recently clarified with Mr. Stocks that,

[2:23:09] you know, they are

[2:23:11] considered buildings and can't be in the

[2:23:12] setback.

[2:23:14] Looking to add verbage to our our land

[2:23:16] use code that

[2:23:18] clearly states like where and how they can be used.

[2:23:22] Um looking [clears throat] at color, you

[2:23:23] know, max number of shipping containers,

[2:23:26] uh restricted on the front side of the

[2:23:28] property, just different things like

[2:23:29] that moving forward just for the like

[2:23:30] the quality of life

[2:23:32] for it, so.

[2:23:33] Um it's kind of a rough outline.

[2:23:37] Still doing the the other code

[2:23:38] enforcement cases as well. I've just got

[2:23:40] a like a mix of those. Um

[2:23:43] so.

[2:23:44] Okay. I think Commissioner Martinez has

[2:23:46] another question. Thanks.

[2:23:47] Yeah, question comment. Um when you go

[2:23:49] through that Gov OS, did you guys Were

[2:23:51] you guys aware of 10 8 8 5 that passed

[2:23:55] in 2025?

[2:23:57] No. Okay. Well, maybe we we can have a

[2:23:59] quick chat about that. So, there was a

[2:24:01] new law that passed um in 2025 that

[2:24:05] helped with the um

[2:24:07] well, the uh

[2:24:10] looking after folks that are that are

[2:24:12] advertising on other websites. So,

[2:24:16] rather than just using the Gov OS, you

[2:24:18] can actually now go ahead and look on

[2:24:19] Airbnb or VRBO or Rent-A-Tent or any of

[2:24:23] those types of things. And before that

[2:24:25] wasn't That wasn't enough to actually

[2:24:28] the citation, but that has changed now

[2:24:30] so that you can go ahead and and do the

[2:24:32] citations. We get together and you can

[2:24:34] look at that or you can look at that.

[2:24:35] And so, that was 10 8 is Yes, Kia. 10 8 5. Okay.

[2:24:41] And that was hunting them down via their

[2:24:43] listing. I mean

[2:24:44] >> Yeah, I thought we had that on a

[2:24:45] commission meeting where we all were

[2:24:46] agreeing that that was something that we

[2:24:48] wanted to go ahead and not just have it

[2:24:50] by um

[2:24:51] complaints, but be able to you know,

[2:24:54] proactively Yeah. Yeah, so that is one

[2:24:56] that's proactively enforced. Um

[2:24:59] the band just wasn't there for the the

[2:25:00] Gov OS

[2:25:02] as they started tracking me today.

[2:25:06] The training was last week. And so, I

[2:25:08] just hadn't had the experience out

[2:25:10] there. And then

[2:25:11] for the the Granicus software that's

[2:25:13] provided by the state, like it's

[2:25:14] literally one like I have to zoom in on

[2:25:16] a map and just like scroll and click on

[2:25:18] a little button and see instead of like

[2:25:20] being able to compare like submit a list

[2:25:22] of business licenses and

[2:25:23] cross-references with with these

[2:25:25] listings type of a thing.

[2:25:27] Um so, just

[2:25:29] a tedious way to work um just kind of

[2:25:31] while the other platform was down. So,

[2:25:34] um

[2:25:35] with both of those up and running, then

[2:25:36] you know, we're going to hit the hammer

[2:25:38] hard and and see if we can get like a a

[2:25:40] comparison of apples to apples instead

[2:25:42] of like the state

[2:25:45] site being the entire state that we have

[2:25:47] to sort through, um, see what it would

[2:25:49] cost

[2:25:50] to adjust just to Grant County. Um,

[2:25:53] and look at that. And so, that way we

[2:25:55] can, you know, if we can save money by piggybacking off the state and the

[2:25:59] software that they're using, then I

[2:26:00] think that'd be a a viable option. So.

[2:26:03] Okay.

[2:26:06] Neither.

[2:26:13] All right, number 10 is our STAR Grant

[2:26:15] ABC Tavern.

[2:26:32] All right, so I included a staff report

[2:26:34] in here, so I'm just going to kind of

[2:26:35] give you guys an overview on what has

[2:26:37] happened with this particular, um, grant

[2:26:41] applicant. And Stana is here, she will

[2:26:43] come up to speak after I'm finished. Um,

[2:26:46] so in 2022, we had the STAR Grant, um,

[2:26:50] program. Many people applied.

[2:26:53] This ABC Tavern was one of them. They

[2:26:55] were awarded $100,000, um,

[2:26:58] to open a cafe and some other things.

[2:27:01] Um, there has been work done on since

[2:27:05] then, there's been work done. Um, it's

[2:27:07] sort of stalled out in a

[2:27:11] in the site plan process with within

[2:27:13] planning. Um, and so, we've had a few

[2:27:16] meetings with different members of the

[2:27:17] commission and applicant and, um,

[2:27:20] planning and zoning. And we thought that

[2:27:22] it would probably best to just put it in

[2:27:26] front of you guys and let you decide how

[2:27:28] we should move forward. Whether we

[2:27:30] should,

[2:27:31] um, recall the grant, ask for the money

[2:27:34] back,

[2:27:35] um, or extend sort of the deadline for

[2:27:38] um, forward movement on this. Um,

[2:27:41] the applicant has has provided a lot of

[2:27:45] information to the county on things that

[2:27:48] have been done.

[2:27:50] Um, but there's a disconnect on things

[2:27:52] that actually that the county needs to

[2:27:54] move forward. And that is sort of where

[2:27:56] we've um, come to this impasse is we

[2:27:59] need a site plan. We need to move

[2:28:01] forward with um, the process in planning

[2:28:04] and zoning to get the next steps and

[2:28:07] it's just sort of stalled out for quite

[2:28:09] some time. So, that's why it's in front

[2:28:11] of you.

[2:28:12] Um, did you guys have any specific

[2:28:14] questions for me before I invite Al come

[2:28:16] up and then I think Steven has a couple

[2:28:18] things to say as well.

[2:28:21] Go ahead, Steven. I don't think I don't

[2:28:23] see any questions from us.

[2:28:25] And I can address this at the end. So,

[2:28:27] after Ms. Carey presents.

[2:28:32] And then do you want to come up and

[2:28:33] speak? Sure.

[2:28:41] So, I'd never written a grant before, so

[2:28:43] it was scary and exciting and I was

[2:28:45] really pleased to

[2:28:47] get awarded grant. Um, first thing was

[2:28:51] is they said that I would not receive

[2:28:53] any funds until my water was turned on.

[2:28:56] And so, that took about a year. Uh,

[2:28:59] right then there. Although, I was

[2:29:01] continuously

[2:29:03] doing what I had written on grant. And

[2:29:05] there were three things. Basically was

[2:29:07] to get rid of the uh, update the

[2:29:10] inventory or the product or the the

[2:29:13] stuff in the building. The second one is

[2:29:15] to uh, give a new face lift to the

[2:29:18] property. And the third one what let's

[2:29:21] see, it was um,

[2:29:23] employ um, Thompson Springs people. And

[2:29:27] I've done all three of those things. Um,

[2:29:30] waiting for the architect.

[2:29:34] Um,

[2:29:36] it was definitely a miscommunication

[2:29:38] with Jim Dressler.

[2:29:40] Uh, I told him that I when he went to

[2:29:42] the building department that I wanted to

[2:29:43] be there. He had two meetings without me

[2:29:46] and he used a um, a program that uh,

[2:29:52] surveyor or

[2:29:53] uh, architects use,

[2:29:55] which is a standard form and when I

[2:29:58] started to read over it, I realized

[2:30:00] there were a lot of gross mistakes. One

[2:30:02] of them was that um, he said I needed 56

[2:30:06] parking spaces

[2:30:08] uh, for the cafe that hold like 36

[2:30:11] people.

[2:30:12] He had people down in my basement, which

[2:30:14] means you have to go into the kitchen,

[2:30:16] lift up a

[2:30:17] uh, the floor, climb down a ladder and

[2:30:20] you could serve four people to eat

[2:30:22] there.

[2:30:23] And the same thing with the um, in the

[2:30:26] white house, uh, he had

[2:30:28] one or two people there and and so, you

[2:30:31] know, I started to go over all these

[2:30:33] things that were

[2:30:34] you know, stock standard stuff. The same

[2:30:37] thing with the bathrooms, they weren't

[2:30:39] big enough for ADA.

[2:30:40] I had um, I had taken some uh, um,

[2:30:48] graphic stuff in college.

[2:30:50] Um, I graduated and our college didn't

[2:30:52] even have computer system. That's how

[2:30:54] old I'm 75 years old.

[2:30:56] And so, I learned how to do architect

[2:31:00] by hand and so, I did it in graph paper

[2:31:02] and I gave it to Jim beforehand. He

[2:31:04] goes, "Oh, this is great."

[2:31:06] If you look at his plans, he doesn't

[2:31:07] have any measurements on any of my

[2:31:09] building, any of the buildings. And so,

[2:31:11] that's another graphical error that he

[2:31:14] had made. Um, soon after

[2:31:17] I had talked to him about some of the

[2:31:19] things that we needed to

[2:31:20] uh,

[2:31:22] go over or change, he said he'd just

[2:31:24] gotten hired from a building a company

[2:31:27] in Salt Lake City and that he wouldn't

[2:31:29] be able to continue on.

[2:31:31] So, that was the first architect. The

[2:31:33] second architect, um

[2:31:35] she said, "Well, I'm really busy right

[2:31:37] now. I can't do anything till January."

[2:31:40] And this was in January, February,

[2:31:42] March, April, May. So, I had to wait all

[2:31:44] that time to get the And [clears throat]

[2:31:47] at the same time during this time I

[2:31:49] didn't have the grant money because my

[2:31:51] water wasn't turned on.

[2:31:53] And so, and that was the TSS D decision.

[2:31:57] It wasn't

[2:31:58] my decision.

[2:32:00] Um

[2:32:01] So, in January I called her and she

[2:32:03] said, "I just lost an employee and I've

[2:32:05] got some really big projects, so I can't

[2:32:07] do yours." I went through five different

[2:32:09] architects

[2:32:10] um before

[2:32:12] uh you know, I I started to move forward

[2:32:15] on it. So, it's been I've gone through

[2:32:17] some challenges and some difficultness.

[2:32:19] I could have spent the money

[2:32:22] really quickly on all the products, but

[2:32:24] I kept waiting and waiting and waiting

[2:32:26] to make sure that

[2:32:28] um

[2:32:28] I was going through the process.

[2:32:31] Uh one of the big

[2:32:32] hassles that I had was that

[2:32:34] um

[2:32:35] the planning and zoning said that they

[2:32:37] needed to rezone the property to

[2:32:40] commercial. And it originally was

[2:32:42] commercial and I was paying commercial

[2:32:43] taxes, but it was changed to

[2:32:46] um residential because

[2:32:48] the highway had changed to I-70.

[2:32:51] So, that was another hurdle that um they

[2:32:54] said if you want to wait, it won't cost

[2:32:56] you anything, but it's going to be 2

[2:32:57] years to do it. So, I spent the money on

[2:33:00] a on a um

[2:33:02] to request a zone change even though I

[2:33:05] was paying

[2:33:06] commercial taxes on it.

[2:33:09] Uh so, I've had a lot of different

[2:33:11] things put in front of me that has

[2:33:13] slowed me down. Finally last year I just

[2:33:15] figured, "You know what? I know I need

[2:33:17] this equipment. I've been showing out

[2:33:20] money out of different accounts to pay

[2:33:22] for stuff. I'm just going to start

[2:33:24] buying the big equipment. So I got ADA

[2:33:26] toilets, ADA sinks, ADA

[2:33:28] urinals,

[2:33:30] touchless

[2:33:32] hand wash systems for the employees,

[2:33:35] new ice machine,

[2:33:37] new refrigerator for bottled and and

[2:33:40] canned soda,

[2:33:42] a table, a heat lamp,

[2:33:44] larger sink for

[2:33:47] washing vegetables and pots and pans. A

[2:33:50] lot of this stuff I paid actually cuz I

[2:33:52] knew I had $100,000 left.

[2:33:55] And one of the other things was is I got

[2:33:57] a electrical permit, which was great.

[2:34:00] But within

[2:34:01] a month or so, the guy that owned the

[2:34:03] company died. His wife was going through

[2:34:06] a divorce, so she took all of his

[2:34:08] equipment and put it at a yard sale. So

[2:34:10] they sold all my equipment. So I had to

[2:34:13] call ADA A&E, and they ended up

[2:34:17] finishing up the job for another

[2:34:18] $15,000. So I paid once one time to have

[2:34:22] everything changed over, and now I paid

[2:34:24] it a second time.

[2:34:25] And so I paid that out of my own funds.

[2:34:29] And then

[2:34:32] So I you know you guys have been

[2:34:35] beaten up. I'm not trying to beat you

[2:34:37] up, but it's it's been a struggle for me

[2:34:39] for this. We had

[2:34:42] two county commissioners come to the

[2:34:44] TSSUD meeting with a sheriff and Steve

[2:34:48] Stocks and said, "You need to turn

[2:34:50] Santa's water on." So after turned the

[2:34:52] water on, then I started to move forward

[2:34:54] and continued to buy all the internal

[2:34:57] equipment that I needed. Star Grant,

[2:35:00] like I said,

[2:35:02] issues three different projects, which

[2:35:06] if you look at the grant

[2:35:11] it states

[2:35:13] the different things. And if you look

[2:35:15] and I can email you the photographs of

[2:35:17] the before and after of all the

[2:35:18] buildings, uh

[2:35:20] um, the different

[2:35:22] structures that we've worked on.

[2:35:25] Um, that you know, you know, planting

[2:35:27] flowers and you

[2:35:28] >> [clears throat]

[2:35:29] >> I think it was either 11 or 13 junk cars

[2:35:31] off the property and recycled them and

[2:35:33] we've been just recycling, recycling, And

[2:35:36] you know, um, we have

[2:35:38] um,

[2:35:40] booths that were all ripped and torn and

[2:35:42] cracking and broken and we I replaced

[2:35:44] them and I paid for all that. We have

[2:35:47] ADA tables and chairs. I have 100 500 lb

[2:35:52] chair that I bought because they're once

[2:35:55] in a while you get somebody who's

[2:35:56] really, really big. Um, and there's

[2:35:59] nothing more embarrassing than going

[2:36:01] into a place and having a chair break on

[2:36:02] you. And I've been into meetings where

[2:36:05] that's happened to heavy people. And

[2:36:07] each one of the booths got another

[2:36:09] chair, a big chair in the side of it so

[2:36:12] that if someone can't slide in the

[2:36:14] booth, they've they've got the chair

[2:36:15] right there on the side.

[2:36:18] So, I've been

[2:36:20] um, and then the same thing with uh,

[2:36:22] getting rid of all the junk and some of

[2:36:25] the painting and the different things

[2:36:26] like that. I've hired all um,

[2:36:30] Thompson Springs people. So, you know,

[2:36:32] I'm definitely satisfied. Never once put

[2:36:35] in the um, grant that it was contingent

[2:36:39] on opening.

[2:36:41] It was contingent on

[2:36:43] uh, getting getting the place cleaned

[2:36:45] up, uh, getting it a facelift and

[2:36:48] employing uh, employees. Sure, I do want

[2:36:52] to have it open and I want to I want to

[2:36:54] I put the sign up that we're going to

[2:36:55] open in 2023. But, uh, there's been a

[2:36:58] change of planning and zoning,

[2:37:02] um,

[2:37:02] I think four times since I started this.

[2:37:05] And so, each time it's starting right at

[2:37:07] the beginning or, you know, a

[2:37:09] miscommunication. So, it's been that's

[2:37:12] been another thing that has uh

[2:37:16] been a a hurdle. And every day I'm not

[2:37:18] open and I'm paying for it through my

[2:37:20] own funds, not not the grant funds.

[2:37:23] There's about $30,000

[2:37:25] that I have left through the account,

[2:37:28] which I waited because I need the new

[2:37:30] septic tank. Needs to be pulled out,

[2:37:33] filled in, and a new one put in.

[2:37:35] Um

[2:37:36] need to have a new

[2:37:38] uh hood with a fire suppression system.

[2:37:41] And those are probably going to eat up

[2:37:42] the rest of the

[2:37:44] uh the uh the $30,000 that

[2:37:47] um

[2:37:48] I probably put about 50 or 60,000 of my

[2:37:51] own money into it. And if you need I

[2:37:53] don't want to get you guys in trouble

[2:37:55] because this grant's been going on and on. If you need to call it back, Um

[2:38:00] you know, here's the bank statement. I

[2:38:02] haven't bought anything since um

[2:38:05] January. It's I have $30,000 left. If

[2:38:08] you want the 30, I'll give it. If you

[2:38:10] want the 100, I'll give you the 100. You

[2:38:12] know, I got other places I do get funds

[2:38:14] from, uh other businesses. I'm not

[2:38:16] looking to get you guys in trouble and

[2:38:18] with grant program. But, you know, I'm

[2:38:22] I've had a lot of struggles and that

[2:38:23] that's basically what my problems have

[2:38:26] been. So, if for some reason I don't

[2:38:29] qualify, it doesn't in the grant say it

[2:38:31] has to be done in a certain period of

[2:38:33] time, but I know you want to get it

[2:38:34] done.

[2:38:35] Um

[2:38:36] so, I've done everything the grant has

[2:38:38] that I've written up the grant for that

[2:38:39] I got a proof for. But, the problem is I've just been hitting

[2:38:43] a bunch of um

[2:38:45] you know, blockades. That's basically.

[2:38:47] And I'm going to email each one of you, know, here are the employees

[2:38:52] somewhere in here.

[2:38:54] You get this one.

[2:38:56] Uh the junk that we've had in the the

[2:39:00] different projects that we've been doing

[2:39:02] in planting flowers and mowing lawn.

[2:39:03] Right now, my lawnmower's broken, so I

[2:39:05] need a new lawnmower.

[2:39:06] Um so, we got a few leaks in the front

[2:39:08] of the building.

[2:39:09] Um

[2:39:10] Yeah, I specifically I don't think

[2:39:11] anyone's Okay. I don't think anyone's

[2:39:13] Whatever. um

[2:39:15] concerned that you're not that you've

[2:39:16] done anything illegal. Yeah, we Yeah, we all know it.

[2:39:20] I think we have some Stephen Oh, Stephen

[2:39:23] has his hand up. Stephen was going to

[2:39:24] comment and I think his and Chris's are

[2:39:26] have some questions. Okay, let's go. I'm

[2:39:28] good either way. I know a lot of you.

[2:39:30] It's not going to affect my friendship

[2:39:32] at all, you know, I know you need to do

[2:39:33] what you need to do.

[2:39:35] I've had a lot of black You know, I'm

[2:39:37] not being lazy by any

[2:39:39] means.

[2:39:40] You know, I just um

[2:39:42] You know, I just uh it's just the way it

[2:39:44] is. It's I would rather be open and

[2:39:46] making money instead of not being open

[2:39:48] and costing me more money. There's no

[2:39:50] money revenue coming in, basically.

[2:39:54] So, there you go.

[2:39:58] Okay, Stephen, go ahead. Okay. Um, so we

[2:40:01] had the I think both Commissioner

[2:40:04] McCandless and Commissioner Winfield at

[2:40:05] one point um both attend meetings. One

[2:40:07] of the things that we've we've had a

[2:40:09] little bit of difficulty with

[2:40:11] was getting the paperwork finalized.

[2:40:14] And we brought together Commissioner

[2:40:16] McCandless, as well as the applicant,

[2:40:18] Chrissy Hoffman, and myself, the entire

[2:40:20] building department, the entire uh

[2:40:22] planning department uh to sit down and

[2:40:24] kind of identify where the issues were needed, and what things need to be

[2:40:29] done, site plan, etc. And then we set a

[2:40:32] follow-up date. My difficulty was that

[2:40:35] between those two meetings we didn't get

[2:40:37] the site plan submitted, and we didn't

[2:40:38] get the process continued on.

[2:40:40] I I know this is

[2:40:42] uh

[2:40:43] Thompson's a complex, complicated area.

[2:40:46] I think that it's a unique area. I It is true that um myself and law

[2:40:51] enforcement had to go sit out at the the

[2:40:53] water department meeting. Um, we didn't

[2:40:56] we we encouraged them to make the

[2:40:57] correct appropriate action. Um, and it's

[2:41:00] been difficult. This project contract

[2:41:03] original contract period

[2:41:05] was supposed to originally have ended on

[2:41:07] June 20th of 2024. We're now into 2026

[2:41:11] and we still don't have a site plan. And so those were some of the issues

[2:41:16] that we've been struggling with. We want

[2:41:17] to provide as much support as possible.

[2:41:20] But it's it is difficult when we when we

[2:41:23] do have a meeting, we bring all the

[2:41:24] department heads there that we need to

[2:41:26] have that action and that change that's

[2:41:28] necessary. And then in a follow-up

[2:41:30] meeting

[2:41:31] we don't have that change that's

[2:41:32] necessary.

[2:41:33] And so from from my point, there is some

[2:41:36] paperwork that still needs to be resolved to move the project

[2:41:40] forward. But at a certain point it is

[2:41:42] hard.

[2:41:44] I'll reach out and and then we'll see a

[2:41:45] flurry of action, a flurry of emails,

[2:41:47] and I know the commissioners have

[2:41:48] received those. And then it'll fade into

[2:41:50] the background, and then it'll be

[2:41:52] brought up again in a flurry of emails

[2:41:54] and actions. And and this year was kind

[2:41:56] of another final attempt to try to see

[2:41:59] if we could get all the tools and

[2:42:01] personnel available to help assist it.

[2:42:04] And we just didn't see that that

[2:42:06] finalized. So that was just the

[2:42:08] information I wanted to add.

[2:42:10] There was a site plan delivered by Jim

[2:42:13] Dressler, the very first

[2:42:16] um

[2:42:17] within the first few months before I

[2:42:18] even got my water done. And that's when

[2:42:21] he decided to take this other job. So

[2:42:24] and I have it and the problem is is I'm

[2:42:27] not computer literate. I'm like your

[2:42:30] grandmother.

[2:42:31] >> [clears throat]

[2:42:31] >> And so I have photographs and documents,

[2:42:35] and I've got three things this big that

[2:42:37] I've been, you know, And chair

[2:42:40] work. Yes. And and that site that site

[2:42:42] plan that was delivered by by that

[2:42:44] individual, that was back in 2024,

[2:42:47] right?

[2:42:48] No, it was uh 20 right after I got the

[2:42:50] grant. Okay, even earlier than then. And that's that's kind kind some of the

[2:42:55] issue that we've had is we've we've had

[2:42:57] documents and then they just sit idle.

[2:43:00] And so then when we sat down earlier

[2:43:02] this year to have the meeting to kind of

[2:43:04] see what we needed to identify,

[2:43:06] we listed all those concerns, we

[2:43:07] exchanged contact information, um and they listed out what what we needed

[2:43:12] to see.

[2:43:13] And so it's not about what was

[2:43:15] originally filed, it was just like from

[2:43:17] this year we kind of started with clean

[2:43:18] slate and then saying, "Hey, let's let's

[2:43:20] get the final documents going and and we

[2:43:22] just we didn't achieve that."

[2:43:24] Right. Yeah, and so I have so many

[2:43:27] documents on all this stuff that it

[2:43:29] wouldn't your um computers wouldn't take

[2:43:32] it all. It kept bouncing off cuz you

[2:43:34] gave me a a list of the stuff I needed

[2:43:37] to submit, and I submitted all that

[2:43:39] stuff and it bounced back and I talked

[2:43:42] to the building department and said,

[2:43:45] "This is what This is my problem I'm

[2:43:47] having." So I put it on a thumb drive

[2:43:49] and they said, "No, we couldn't accept

[2:43:51] thumb drives." So they recommended I go

[2:43:53] to the library. So I went to the library

[2:43:56] and they put it all on there and it

[2:43:58] bounced it off again. And so then I went

[2:44:00] to Sean who is the

[2:44:03] I guess the engineer and uh he ended up

[2:44:06] putting it on his computer. So

[2:44:10] um but there's so much there, you know,

[2:44:12] when we were talking, we'd bounce from

[2:44:14] one topic to the other and not really

[2:44:16] open everything up so that you could see

[2:44:18] the information. But yeah, there was a

[2:44:20] site plan. I have a

[2:44:22] site plan for the already completed with

[2:44:25] the um septic, but you can't get into it

[2:44:26] because I can't download it cuz the

[2:44:29] files are too big and the same thing

[2:44:31] with

[2:44:32] um

[2:44:34] I have the information for the the um

[2:44:38] the

[2:44:38] uh hood and the um fire suppression

[2:44:41] system, but it's the same thing. All my

[2:44:44] files are way too big and I even JPEGed

[2:44:46] everything uh thinking that that might

[2:44:48] help because everything was in Word

[2:44:50] document. And so I spent

[2:44:53] almost a month going through all my

[2:44:54] files to change it so it would get into

[2:44:57] the file. So,

[2:44:59] um yeah, no, I'm not there yet. If if

[2:45:02] you know, I could spend the $30,000

[2:45:04] tomorrow,

[2:45:05] you know, on just equipment uh to finish

[2:45:08] up the the thing, but it doesn't mean

[2:45:10] the doors are going to be open. Yeah,

[2:45:12] you know, it's not going to be open

[2:45:14] until this until you have that plan into

[2:45:17] Well, I need a new I need a new site

[2:45:19] plan because the gym's was incorrect,

[2:45:22] and I can send you that and you can see

[2:45:24] 56 parking spots

[2:45:27] on a commercial um property? Yeah, we

[2:45:29] got to start over on that. I think that

[2:45:31] Mike had a had his hand up. I'm going to

[2:45:33] let Mike go.

[2:45:35] Is the property zoned commercial as of

[2:45:37] right now? Yes. Okay. It was zoned that

[2:45:39] way.

[2:45:40] That was the first thing I did.

[2:45:41] >> rezoned So, you couldn't be paying

[2:45:42] commercial taxes.

[2:45:43] >> back in back in '22 before the um grant

[2:45:47] was

[2:45:47] approved or not. If you had to spitball,

[2:45:50] I know I know this is a spitball, how

[2:45:53] long would it take to uh

[2:45:55] in your mind, how long would it take to

[2:45:57] finalize the paperwork if provided a

[2:45:59] list and a clean slate today?

[2:46:01] The paperwork on the spending of the

[2:46:02] grant or the fund work? Uh

[2:46:05] My grant didn't say the doors will be

[2:46:07] you know, I'm doing it to have the doors

[2:46:09] open. It It said three specific things.

[2:46:11] And and that I could probably within a

[2:46:13] week get the rest of the $30,000.

[2:46:17] I mean, I've probably spent I don't

[2:46:19] know,

[2:46:20] 80,000 of my own money.

[2:46:23] I I very I trust me when I say I know

[2:46:25] the cost of opening a restaurant. Yeah.

[2:46:27] Uh I can only say

[2:46:30] uh

[2:46:32] the follow-through on the paperwork, uh

[2:46:34] that's what I was asking on the

[2:46:35] spitball. If you had 3 months more,

[2:46:38] could we could we get to that point

[2:46:39] where a site plan would be As long as I

[2:46:41] can get an you know, I've had um

[2:46:44] uh what's his name, Smith do one for the

[2:46:47] um

[2:46:48] for part of the I I too I too like you

[2:46:51] can

[2:46:52] draft by hand. Yeah. I learned before

[2:46:55] computer taught me. Yeah. Uh

[2:46:58] if it comes to it, we can sit down and

[2:47:01] draft a site plan by hand.

[2:47:04] Right. Well, I I'd be willing to throw

[2:47:06] my time to help you out. But I need to

[2:47:07] know if we could do that work in the

[2:47:09] next couple of

[2:47:09] >> out a site plan

[2:47:11] on PDF. Stop that. This Just really

[2:47:14] quickly. So, because this is a

[2:47:15] commercial space, it's going to require

[2:47:17] a specific kind of site plan that would

[2:47:19] be um

[2:47:21] that would include engineering.

[2:47:23] Like it would be a drafted site plan.

[2:47:25] It's a commercial space. So, it can't be

[2:47:29] a site plan that's just, you know,

[2:47:30] drawn. It does require a little bit

[2:47:32] >> We could get an architectural stamp, I

[2:47:33] understand. But we had a discussion

[2:47:35] I just wanted to make sure that that was

[2:47:37] clear before we I know what you're

[2:47:38] talking about. went down a a path that

[2:47:41] And Jim did do that, and he gave it to

[2:47:44] Bill. You know, and we had multiple

[2:47:47] discussions, and I would start think I'd

[2:47:49] go there and say, "Do I need a permit to

[2:47:52] do a

[2:47:53] ADA ramp on the front of the building?"

[2:47:56] And he goes, "No, he goes, "No, you

[2:47:57] don't." The next day, I I hired some

[2:48:00] people to start drilling the uh steps up

[2:48:03] and getting ready to lay the forms, and

[2:48:06] I get a phone call from planning and

[2:48:07] zoning saying, "Stop what you're doing.

[2:48:09] Um we

[2:48:11] uh we want to talk to you more about

[2:48:13] it." And then that person, you know,

[2:48:15] left, and so we've been walking over

[2:48:17] rubble the whole time. I understand that, and no one I don't

[2:48:20] think anyone's benefiting if we don't

[2:48:23] get those doors open. All right. Return

[2:48:24] back to what Mel was saying. Especially

[2:48:26] me. Especially Thompson, especially you,

[2:48:28] especially

[2:48:29] >> money every day that it's not open. Yeah. I

[2:48:33] get that. I think Bill had a comment. I

[2:48:35] saw Brian's hand. Or Doc. Yeah.

[2:48:38] Um

[2:48:39] my own

[2:48:40] Go Go Okay, thank you.

[2:48:42] Um

[2:48:43] first off, I I've got to

[2:48:45] I've been part of this since the very

[2:48:46] beginning. I was part of that start

[2:48:47] grant

[2:48:49] board that awarded Santa the

[2:48:51] uh grant to begin with. And and when the

[2:48:54] five of us There was a It was a It was a

[2:48:55] great board. There was some good good

[2:48:57] folks on it, but um

[2:48:59] this was This was honestly the project

[2:49:01] that we were absolutely most excited

[2:49:03] about on that on that board. I think it nailed all the all the

[2:49:08] aspects of what we wanted that start

[2:49:10] grant program to be about as far as

[2:49:12] economic development goes and going into

[2:49:13] other parts of the county. Um and and supporting

[2:49:19] So, it was a It was It was a good start.

[2:49:22] I was also on the Thompson Water Board

[2:49:23] when we

[2:49:24] you know, we we Bill came up and that

[2:49:26] was That was great and Stephen as well.

[2:49:28] We made sure that you got this ERUs that

[2:49:31] you were entitled to, Santa. Um

[2:49:34] And it's it's been a long time.

[2:49:37] >> [laughter]

[2:49:38] >> And and I know you've had you've had so

[2:49:40] many headwinds and it's and it's it

[2:49:43] it's like everything that could go wrong

[2:49:45] has gone wrong and I I feel for you.

[2:49:47] It's a really

[2:49:48] tough position to be in and it would be

[2:49:50] really cool to have that cafe open out

[2:49:52] in Thompson. Um but at the same time, I mean I think I think

[2:49:59] Mike was asking the question that I

[2:50:01] really

[2:50:02] wanted to ask too. Like like honestly if

[2:50:04] you really look at this in the process

[2:50:05] and your capacity and everything, like

[2:50:07] how how long do you really think it

[2:50:08] would take you to fulfill the terms of

[2:50:10] the of the grant like going forward? I

[2:50:13] Are we closer or is

[2:50:15] Cuz we we've sat down. Bill and I have

[2:50:17] been on a couple of of calls with

[2:50:19] Stephen and we've talked about it and we

[2:50:21] really like the project, but it's it's

[2:50:23] There there There just comes a time when

[2:50:25] you know, you know what I'm saying, but

[2:50:28] um

[2:50:30] Yeah, so yeah, I mean do you do you do

[2:50:32] you think you're

[2:50:34] that closer or we

[2:50:36] kicking the can down the road again. And I know this is probably really

[2:50:40] stressful for you, too. So, it's Yeah,

[2:50:42] and it's might be better to do it

[2:50:44] >> What you requested from the grant, I

[2:50:45] fulfilled all those things. Everything

[2:50:47] I've written down I need the grant for,

[2:50:49] I've completed.

[2:50:51] As far as the site plan goes, we when I

[2:50:53] first started, we handed in the

[2:50:55] document.

[2:50:57] Um now it has to be downloaded. So, I

[2:50:59] need to have somebody else

[2:51:01] um you know, do it. And that's been a

[2:51:03] really difficult problem because

[2:51:05] everybody says I'm so busy doing hotels,

[2:51:06] I don't have time for that. I can't even

[2:51:08] get new glass that's broke, that's

[2:51:10] shattered

[2:51:12] from Rick's Glass. He said, "Oh, sure.

[2:51:14] I'll I'll um

[2:51:15] get a

[2:51:16] uh order it for you, but I'm not putting

[2:51:17] it in." How am I going to put a 4 by 8

[2:51:19] piece, three 4 by 8 pieces of glass in a

[2:51:24] window?

[2:51:25] Unless you're a professional. So, I've

[2:51:27] either got to go to Price or I've got to

[2:51:28] go to Grand Junction. No, I I I I

[2:51:30] understand, Sayda. We can There's a lot

[2:51:32] of contractors

[2:51:34] that won't even do anything there

[2:51:36] because it's out of it's out of town.

[2:51:38] So, yeah, I've been I've had a lot of

[2:51:40] different varieties of struggles. And

[2:51:42] so, it's kind of to the point I don't

[2:51:44] want to get you guys in trouble. If you

[2:51:46] need to put the money somewhere else, if

[2:51:48] you need to put the balance of the money

[2:51:49] somewhere else, or if you need to put

[2:51:50] the whole thing,

[2:51:52] I have the money to cover it

[2:51:54] um one way or another. I don't I'm not

[2:51:56] going to feel

[2:51:58] any animosity or whatever. You know, um

[2:52:02] I've been

[2:52:04] you know, um

[2:52:05] I mean, every every time I'm up there

[2:52:07] people say, "When are you going to uh

[2:52:08] when are you going to supply and

[2:52:09] coffee?" You know, "When are you going

[2:52:10] to open?" And people, you know, it's a

[2:52:12] truck stop. Well, I don't have a uh

[2:52:13] It'll be It'll be Come and get a meal.

[2:52:15] They don't want to eat They're trucking

[2:52:16] out of the 7-Eleven. So,

[2:52:19] yeah, I've uh you know, they laugh. I

[2:52:21] see the signs that say, "So, can be open

[2:52:23] 2023." We're in 2026. It's like,

[2:52:27] you know,

[2:52:28] Okay, I think I I think that they'll

[2:52:30] have a comment. I see Steven's hand,

[2:52:31] Mary's hand. So, we're going to go move

[2:52:33] around with these Mr. Chairs. Go ahead,

[2:52:36] Bill. So, I'm in agreement with Jacques.

[2:52:38] We've had a lot of meetings about this.

[2:52:40] We've had several with county attorney.

[2:52:43] My interest is not

[2:52:46] in anything other than seeing a

[2:52:47] restaurant open. And I think we need

[2:52:50] some clarification. I know Mike's kind

[2:52:53] of asked around about question and even

[2:52:55] Jacques around about me. I want to know

[2:52:57] when the doors are going to be open.

[2:52:59] That's where I am. And not when you're

[2:53:02] going to get the site plan and all of

[2:53:04] these things. I'm a little bit

[2:53:06] curious and I I wish we would have had

[2:53:09] Mr. Um

[2:53:10] Jackson here to to get his opinion on

[2:53:13] how do we move this through in a more

[2:53:16] timely manner. I want to see a

[2:53:18] restaurant open in Thompson Springs.

[2:53:21] My recommendation is going to be

[2:53:24] that we put a hold on the 30K.

[2:53:27] Or that we have the 30K returned that's

[2:53:30] sitting there.

[2:53:31] Not to take it away, but to

[2:53:34] I I don't know how to motivate you

[2:53:36] saying that to open the restaurant cuz

[2:53:38] that's what I want. That's all I want.

[2:53:40] It's to see a light on and people in

[2:53:42] Thompson Springs. And I think that's as

[2:53:44] he said the board's motivation, too. So,

[2:53:47] it's I I know that you're frustrated and

[2:53:49] you have issues with computers, but

[2:53:52] go to the college and hire somebody and and get this dealt with. I mean

[2:53:58] Well, I I

[2:54:00] had five different

[2:54:03] um architects.

[2:54:04] I I understand all that, but I think

[2:54:07] I'd take a sixth one.

[2:54:09] I was hoping it would happen that first

[2:54:11] year in in January and the site plan.

[2:54:14] And that's what's holding me up is the

[2:54:16] site is finding someone that will

[2:54:18] complete it. Well, and you mentioned

[2:54:21] friendship. I think everybody in here I

[2:54:23] don't I don't know of a commissioner

[2:54:24] that wouldn't say that we want to be

[2:54:26] your friend or that we already are your

[2:54:28] friend, right? But we also have a

[2:54:30] responsibility to the taxpayers and the

[2:54:33] restaurant is 2023 is 6 years behind

[2:54:37] being open or excuse me, 3 years behind

[2:54:39] being open. And I want to help that

[2:54:41] happen, you know.

[2:54:42] And anybody has any suggestions or

[2:54:44] ideas, um I'm open to it, but I think

[2:54:48] we've got to do something. Okay, so you

[2:54:49] need the site plan.

[2:54:52] And you need it by a professional

[2:54:55] architect. I have the site plans.

[2:54:58] Uh I hand drawing and I have Jim's which

[2:55:00] are incorrect.

[2:55:02] Um I need to hire another person to do

[2:55:05] site plans cuz basically to start moving

[2:55:08] forward is is basically what it is.

[2:55:11] I'm at a loss of knowing who

[2:55:14] I'm going to be willing and can do it.

[2:55:16] Belong to Mary. We got a couple more

[2:55:17] hands up. We're going to Mary, Stephen,

[2:55:18] Trish to see what they have to say,

[2:55:21] okay? Go ahead, Mary. I think there's a

[2:55:23] couple things that everybody's concerned

[2:55:25] about. One is getting the restaurant

[2:55:27] open and two is not having

[2:55:30] uh the money

[2:55:31] that the county gets either the

[2:55:34] restaurant opens or we get reimbursed

[2:55:37] the money.

[2:55:38] Could we put a I mean, Stephen, this is

[2:55:41] probably for you uh a lien on the

[2:55:44] property so that that wouldn't stop her,

[2:55:47] wouldn't cost any money for but it would

[2:55:50] say no, but it would

[2:55:53] guarantee us

[2:55:56] that if it ended up being sold or such

[2:55:58] that we would get our money back.

[2:56:03] Theoretically, you you'd need Yeah, you need it needed to be voluntary

[2:56:07] unless we're looking at

[2:56:09] um a different process. But yeah, it's

[2:56:11] theoretically possible. So she could put

[2:56:13] a lien voluntarily put a lien on her

[2:56:15] property to for the $90,000.

[2:56:19] You you theoretically could do that, but

[2:56:22] I

[2:56:22] Yeah, there's some there's some issues

[2:56:24] in that because it then it encumbers the

[2:56:26] property and makes it harder for her to

[2:56:28] utilize

[2:56:30] any of the equity that she has in the

[2:56:31] property to get any additional funding.

[2:56:33] Oh, okay. I was I was just trying to

[2:56:35] find a way to

[2:56:37] move forward cuz I think this is a real

[2:56:40] I think we all want it open, but we also

[2:56:44] are concerned that it's not going to

[2:56:45] open.

[2:56:49] Did you have another comment as well?

[2:56:51] Yep, just super quick. Um

[2:56:53] re- reopening the cafe was was the

[2:56:55] language that was used in the

[2:56:56] application. It has its six different

[2:56:59] locations. The summary in the original

[2:57:01] contract does say that the goal is to

[2:57:02] reopen the cafe in in Thompson.

[2:57:06] Um I just note that but that the

[2:57:08] applicant said otherwise. Um I pulled

[2:57:10] the

[2:57:11] 2023

[2:57:13] agenda summary and it has that

[2:57:15] information there. Um I don't know what

[2:57:17] else we can do to help the applicant. We literally grouped everybody from both

[2:57:21] departments

[2:57:23] in a room, gave all the connections

[2:57:25] possible. So, if the commission wants to

[2:57:27] give a really hard serious deadline, we

[2:57:30] can definitely do that.

[2:57:32] But I I don't know how how else we can

[2:57:34] help the applicant. Um other individuals

[2:57:37] in this community are able to do site

[2:57:39] plans, are able to process that through.

[2:57:42] Um I know Thompson's a unique place, but

[2:57:44] we we do have we do receive site plans

[2:57:46] from Thompson. And so, if that's the

[2:57:48] place the commission wants to go, clear

[2:57:51] direction for the applicant, and she's

[2:57:53] in contact. We've provided the contact

[2:57:56] for everybody in the building

[2:57:56] department, planning department um for

[2:57:58] that to be done. And I've made it clear

[2:58:01] when I attended the meetings, and I

[2:58:03] think the chair, the vice chair, Ms.

[2:58:05] Hoffline, and myself, when all of us

[2:58:06] attended, we expressed that it was our

[2:58:09] goal and support, and we wanted to see

[2:58:11] that this program finalize,

[2:58:13] but I don't know what else the county

[2:58:15] can do to be helpful.

[2:58:18] Patricia had her hand up.

[2:58:20] Um

[2:58:21] and yeah, this is it is not very fun.

[2:58:23] So, the the 30k part of the 90.

[2:58:28] Yeah, well, yes, and I believe that

[2:58:31] there's been 20 withheld or was it only

[2:58:33] 10?

[2:58:34] >> 10 10 10

[2:58:34] >> withheld. So, there's 10 that we have

[2:58:37] not given.

[2:58:38] Um and then um I believe that we've been

[2:58:40] informed that there's 30 in an account.

[2:58:43] Okay. So, um there is a separate Okay.

[2:58:46] in the in the Please bear with me.

[2:58:48] Sorry, sir. January hasn't changed at

[2:58:50] all except for the um uh septic uh

[2:58:55] contractor that's has done that and I

[2:58:57] paid to get it approved by the

[2:58:59] um

[2:59:00] uh Orion. So, it's been paid and paid

[2:59:02] for that.

[2:59:03] You know, the

[2:59:05] So,

[2:59:06] it's the only thing that's been paid for

[2:59:08] out of that account since January.

[2:59:11] So, my recommendation would be to and

[2:59:13] you know, it is what it is, is to revoke

[2:59:15] the remaining 30 and put in lien the

[2:59:17] property for um the other 60. And that

[2:59:22] way if the property is sold, so, you

[2:59:24] know, maybe she I I don't know.

[2:59:25] It's

[2:59:26] I I hate to to put the burden on her to

[2:59:29] give us, you know,

[2:59:31] 90k back.

[2:59:33] But it that in that way liening the

[2:59:36] property, the you know, if the property

[2:59:38] is sold, we will get paid back.

[2:59:41] Are you making a motion?

[2:59:42] >> a motion.

[2:59:44] Well, Sure, I'm going to make a motion,

[2:59:46] but I agree, Stephen, if I guess we can

[2:59:48] ask for a voluntary lien. Well, let's

[2:59:51] maybe if if that's the route the

[2:59:53] commission wants to go, we can talk

[2:59:54] about that. Essentially, the request is

[2:59:56] to return the 90 to return all funds

[2:59:59] provided to the applicant, period.

[3:00:00] However, the county gets that back, we

[3:00:02] can talk with the applicant if that's

[3:00:03] the motion that wins today.

[3:00:05] >> Okay. I can't Okay, I got you.

[3:00:07] >> I have a problem with the brightness,

[3:00:08] so, Andy.

[3:00:12] I do. Okay. Well, I have funds in other places that I've been Okay, got

[3:00:17] you. putting into this. So, no, I can

[3:00:19] write a check tomorrow. Tonight, I don't

[3:00:21] have the the uh print the account here

[3:00:23] with me, but it's this account right

[3:00:25] here, and I will

[3:00:27] write it for 90,000 if that's makes if

[3:00:30] it makes you move on and you know, move

[3:00:33] forward.

[3:00:34] But Like I said, I know grants are a

[3:00:36] little tricky and I'm not trying to

[3:00:40] I don't want to get into I guess I'm in

[3:00:41] your shoes. You want to go ahead and ask

[3:00:42] your trouble here? Did you want to go,

[3:00:43] Mike?

[3:00:44] I had a question, but

[3:00:46] No, but she can make a motion. She can

[3:00:48] make a motion. We can talk about it. I

[3:00:49] can talk I move to revoke the grant

[3:00:51] award to ABC Tavern LLC in the amount of

[3:00:54] $90,000.

[3:00:56] I'll second.

[3:01:01] Keep it Keep it going.

[3:01:03] And um let's see. I mean, Brian,

[3:01:06] go ahead and speak.

[3:01:08] And you said I read that the I I have

[3:01:10] application and um we went out to the uh

[3:01:12] um

[3:01:14] Canyon Spirit, you know, that was out

[3:01:16] there. And that was the first time that

[3:01:17] I actually really saw that Oh, yeah,

[3:01:18] that's where this this restaurant was

[3:01:20] going to be. They have that whole new

[3:01:21] thing. And just reading through your

[3:01:23] application, I was really bummed that we

[3:01:24] don't get to have the bubble gum blowing

[3:01:27] contest. Right? That was the I can

[3:01:29] hardly hear you. I said the bubble gum

[3:01:31] blowing contest that you listed in that.

[3:01:33] I mean, that sounded really fun. I I I

[3:01:35] really do. I think it would be amazing

[3:01:36] to see a restaurant out there. Um So,

[3:01:40] why do you think I invested this kind of

[3:01:41] money in it?

[3:01:42] >> Yeah. And and I just had a couple

[3:01:44] questions real quick. Um this was the

[3:01:46] STAR grant. And I'm I'm not

[3:01:48] I think this was before I was a

[3:01:50] commissioner. Did you write these

[3:01:51] contracts?

[3:01:53] I wrote the STAR contract. Yeah.

[3:01:55] And I I

[3:01:57] did on three

[3:01:58] >> like for all of us. Job

[3:02:00] >> I think he's asking Steven. Steven wrote

[3:02:01] the contract. Steven, were you were you

[3:02:03] the attorney that wrote the contract?

[3:02:06] No.

[3:02:07] Oh, okay. That's what I just was I was

[3:02:09] saying. And this was one that came

[3:02:11] This was This was This came from the TRT

[3:02:14] right here. It came from Monday, but it

[3:02:16] was previous It was the one that got

[3:02:18] canceled by 426. And on economics Yeah,

[3:02:21] the economics verification. Got it. I

[3:02:23] just want to get the background. I was I

[3:02:25] wasn't here when all this went down, so

[3:02:27] I'm just trying to First timeline, it

[3:02:28] was awarded, I believe, they were

[3:02:30] awarded in December. They entered into

[3:02:32] their contracts later, but the contracts

[3:02:34] were

[3:02:35] um written and approved under County

[3:02:37] Attorney, I believe. 202022

[3:02:40] was the year that it was.

[3:02:42] Okay. Thank you for that. But I didn't

[3:02:44] get the I got the grant, but I didn't

[3:02:47] get the funds until 2023.

[3:02:50] May 17th, 2023, the intensive

[3:02:54] TSSG

[3:02:55] uh wouldn't turn my water on.

[3:02:58] And my next question is, you know, if if

[3:03:01] the county had written contract, I would

[3:03:02] just kind of ask, you know, why we

[3:03:04] delivered these types of funds without the um

[3:03:09] you know, the work being done. Why we we

[3:03:10] front-loaded It was much cash out. It

[3:03:12] was 90% the way the way it was

[3:03:14] structured, it was you were giving them

[3:03:16] 90% to to to get a to get a start on

[3:03:18] things. It was to stimulate

[3:03:21] economic development, and then it was

[3:03:22] 10% on the back end.

[3:03:24] Got it.

[3:03:25] Okay. Cool. Thanks, Chuck. Yeah.

[3:03:28] Mike.

[3:03:29] I'd like to make a secondary motion.

[3:03:31] Or a Yeah, secondary motion.

[3:03:34] Uh I'd move to extend the contract by

[3:03:37] uh term by end of year

[3:03:40] 2026 to give the grantee

[3:03:43] additional time to comply with the

[3:03:45] contract with the caveat that the grant

[3:03:48] awarded to ABC Thompson LLC

[3:03:51] in the amount of $90,000 will be

[3:03:52] returned upon failure of contract

[3:03:55] completion.

[3:03:57] Um um the contract completion she keeps

[3:04:00] stating doesn't require her to open her

[3:04:02] doors. So, I think you need to clarify

[3:04:05] that you want the doors open if that's

[3:04:07] what you mean. Steven has said that the

[3:04:10] doors are the business functioning. What

[3:04:12] was the exact term used there, Steve?

[3:04:14] Okay. So, couple couple thoughts. If

[3:04:17] it's the commission's intent to

[3:04:18] re-engage in a contract and extend out

[3:04:20] the period of time, I'm more than happy

[3:04:22] to work with the applicant to get the

[3:04:23] language done if you guys indicate

[3:04:25] that's what you want to see as a

[3:04:26] contract amendment. We can do that.

[3:04:28] However, what I'm what I'm requesting

[3:04:31] that the commission require is that the

[3:04:34] applicant provide a site plan. That's

[3:04:37] we we need to have a date where that is

[3:04:40] due because we keep having these

[3:04:42] meetings and the site plan keeps not

[3:04:43] being

[3:04:44] provided and and that's the thing that

[3:04:47] we originally set the the meeting at the

[3:04:49] beginning of this year to achieve

[3:04:51] even despite our best efforts

[3:04:53] that never happened.

[3:04:55] So, if the commission's intent is to

[3:04:56] say, "Hey, we want you guys to take

[3:04:58] another look at this,

[3:04:59] do an amendment to the contract and and

[3:05:01] sit down and and really set a deadline

[3:05:04] for that

[3:05:05] to be done, we can do that. Um but

[3:05:07] without a hard deadline for that site

[3:05:09] plan

[3:05:11] I think we're going to find ourselves

[3:05:12] back here in

[3:05:14] a handful.

[3:05:15] Question, that site plan is required uh

[3:05:17] for the business to open up according to

[3:05:20] the contract?

[3:05:22] It's the next step in the plan in the

[3:05:24] process that the planning The planning

[3:05:26] has to sign off on it to open the doors.

[3:05:28] Yeah. Yeah, I mean that's the next step.

[3:05:30] It's it's already within that timeline

[3:05:32] of the end of the year. Building

[3:05:34] department has the site plan, but it's

[3:05:37] not on computer.

[3:05:38] >> Then we'll get him another one. I'll

[3:05:39] help you do it. Okay.

[3:05:42] Yeah, because I But we only have to my

[3:05:44] motion, I only have to the end of the

[3:05:46] year.

[3:05:49] It's just that need to have the site

[3:05:52] plan in your motion. It sounds like from

[3:05:55] Steve, Mike.

[3:05:56] You need to mention that say a new site

[3:05:58] plan. has to be done such and such a

[3:06:01] time.

[3:06:05] I thought that was encompassed in the

[3:06:06] year date end date.

[3:06:08] A site plan.

[3:06:10] It's part of the doors opening.

[3:06:13] Be very specific. Here's here's going to

[3:06:15] be the difficulty again. It's part of a

[3:06:17] bigger process. The site plan is just

[3:06:19] the next step. There there are more

[3:06:21] things that will be need to be done

[3:06:22] before this is open. I mean, in a

[3:06:25] perfect world and and Chrissy Chrissy,

[3:06:27] let me know on on my time frame. I'm

[3:06:30] thinking that if she provided the site

[3:06:32] plan,

[3:06:33] you're still going to need

[3:06:36] another 90 to 120 days to finalize

[3:06:38] everything.

[3:06:40] Is that is that too generous on the time

[3:06:42] frame or or too restrictive, Chrissy?

[3:06:45] Well, so a a site plan would would

[3:06:47] be sent and then um I there will be a

[3:06:50] DRT

[3:06:51] um

[3:06:53] a meeting. I mean, I would say

[3:06:56] optimistically, the planning process is

[3:06:59] going to be 3 months.

[3:07:01] Yeah. Um and that is if this happens

[3:07:04] immediately. Like if we get the site The

[3:07:06] site plan that I've seen the site plan

[3:07:07] that has been provided to me

[3:07:10] is not what the planning commission or

[3:07:11] the planning department needs. Um I'm

[3:07:14] assuming that to get that site plan,

[3:07:16] it's going to be 6 weeks. You hire

[3:07:18] someone or or like a month to 6 weeks.

[3:07:21] They're going to draft your site plan.

[3:07:23] It's going to be sent to you know, go

[3:07:25] through DRT. It's going to be sent to

[3:07:26] Shums Coda.

[3:07:28] And then um they can begin to get your

[3:07:30] building permits and etc. etc. Um

[3:07:34] that's going to be

[3:07:37] 3 months very optimistically. Um

[3:07:41] and then it would be, you know, getting

[3:07:43] a septic tank in there, getting I mean I don't think that

[3:07:48] I don't see that there's any way that

[3:07:49] the the restaurant will be to by the end

[3:07:51] of the year. Um maybe, I don't but it to

[3:07:56] me it that seems really optimistic that

[3:07:58] the restaurant would be open by

[3:07:59] December. But if you if that's what you

[3:08:01] guys want to do

[3:08:02] >> I hope it's by March.

[3:08:04] Uh Yeah. I think that I think that maybe

[3:08:07] the contract could include the timeline,

[3:08:09] Steven. Uh the contract amendment could

[3:08:12] include the timeline in that. If the

[3:08:14] commission's okay with us drafting the the contract amendment, then we can

[3:08:18] move forward with the commission in turn

[3:08:21] uh to finalize the document. We'll have

[3:08:22] the chair ratify it and

[3:08:24] uh work work out the logistics with the

[3:08:26] applicant.

[3:08:29] And so Steven, you would just make sure

[3:08:31] that the contract will be having a site

[3:08:34] plan, correct? Yeah, Chris and Chris and

[3:08:37] I would work to set different benchmarks

[3:08:39] to help encourage compliance throughout

[3:08:41] the process to get it moving through the

[3:08:42] end of the year.

[3:08:44] So can I use the same Jim Dressler's

[3:08:47] site plan with an amended amendment of

[3:08:50] stuff that And you need to use

[3:08:53] You have the um

[3:08:55] Okay. So his isn't good anymore.

[3:08:59] That one is good. Yeah.

[3:09:02] I'm going to I'm trying to draft the

[3:09:03] motion. Yeah.

[3:09:05] Okay.

[3:09:07] And if that's the goal of the

[3:09:08] commission, we might be able to just

[3:09:09] move forward with the the vote and move

[3:09:12] it along. I mean, I think we're going to

[3:09:13] have a substantial number of questions

[3:09:15] between the applicant and my office.

[3:09:20] Okay. Did we get a second on yours? I'll

[3:09:23] second all of these stuff. I'll second on the motion. Okay, we're going

[3:09:27] to go ahead and call for a vote. Who

[3:09:29] voted against You um You we state the

[3:09:32] motion.

[3:09:33] All of Steven's stuff.

[3:09:36] End of the year.

[3:09:36] >> It's like what I think the motion says

[3:09:38] is

[3:09:39] from what I'm understanding you're

[3:09:41] wanting us to make uh Steven is to uh

[3:09:45] move forward with a new contract with

[3:09:48] deadlines that have to be made.

[3:09:50] And I think part of that contract will

[3:09:52] be if these things aren't if each

[3:09:55] milestone isn't made, then then the

[3:09:59] money will be asked to be brought given

[3:10:01] back.

[3:10:02] Is that what you're thinking?

[3:10:04] And make sure

[3:10:06] to develop a new contract

[3:10:07] >> He's going to strike this. Yes, so Brian

[3:10:09] going to make substitute motion. We're

[3:10:11] going to see if it fits everything that

[3:10:12] Stephen needs in it, okay?

[3:10:14] I motion to extend the contract for the

[3:10:16] term of December 31st, 2026

[3:10:20] to give the grantee additional time

[3:10:23] to comply with the site plan

[3:10:26] or

[3:10:28] return any

[3:10:30] return

[3:10:32] the grant fund amount of $90,000.

[3:10:37] By a due What do I have a time frame?

[3:10:39] >> You said it's for the for the return of

[3:10:40] the money?

[3:10:42] I think that the return of the money or

[3:10:43] the site plan would be due December

[3:10:45] 31st, 2026.

[3:10:48] Does that Does that hit it?

[3:10:50] No. If it hits it with that,

[3:10:52] guys. The site plan is just another

[3:10:54] step. It doesn't get hurt to the open I

[3:10:57] think we'll have to go ahead and

[3:10:58] drop that.

[3:11:00] I think what we do is say that uh

[3:11:04] we postpone

[3:11:06] until we have a new contract

[3:11:10] written for us to look at and approve.

[3:11:14] That so that

[3:11:15] Can we do that, Stephen? Just postpone

[3:11:17] this.

[3:11:18] And and direct staff to get a contract.

[3:11:22] I think you see most of our intent on

[3:11:24] that one.

[3:11:25] Is that what we wanted to do?

[3:11:27] I I can I can do any of those any of

[3:11:30] those options. I

[3:11:31] Yeah. And the only the only to to come

[3:11:34] up with until you sit down and kind of

[3:11:39] made a map of what's happening, I don't

[3:11:41] think we could make a motion that would

[3:11:42] fit that, but we can make a motion to

[3:11:44] postpone and have a contract back

[3:11:47] brought back to us.

[3:11:48] Would that work?

[3:11:50] I'll second Mary's motion, if that was a

[3:11:52] motion.

[3:11:53] Yes, I make a motion that we postpone

[3:11:55] and have

[3:11:57] a contract brought back to us

[3:11:59] uh

[3:12:01] in a timely fashion.

[3:12:03] This intent Sure, I'll second that.

[3:12:07] He's gone. Okay, all in favor?

[3:12:10] I.

[3:12:12] Opposed?

[3:12:13] Okay.

[3:12:14] That passes 7-6-1 with Michelle

[3:12:17] abstaining. So

[3:12:18] Thank you. You have a list of um site

[3:12:20] plans.

[3:12:21] Good luck writing all this down. I have

[3:12:22] a list of my plans. Bring it back. I'll

[3:12:24] make a phone call tomorrow morning.

[3:12:29] » [clears throat]

[3:12:31] » No, you don't. We're going to move on to

[3:12:36] Mike's going to help you find somebody

[3:12:37] to do your site plan. Yeah. He said he

[3:12:39] was really Thanks.

[3:12:41] That's what I need. I got about three

[3:12:42] people Okay.

[3:12:43] >> I can think of right now that are

[3:12:46] looking for projects

[3:12:47] and

[3:12:48] Utah architectural uh

[3:12:52] Perfect.

[3:12:52] >> qualify. Perfect.

[3:12:53] >> How long dated? I don't know.

[3:12:55] You have to text me in Utah. Okay. Do

[3:12:57] you want my business I have to mean go

[3:12:59] out and give her some My business card.

[3:13:01] I will give you my contact information

[3:13:03] in mere minutes. Okay.

[3:13:05] The next one is the ordinance

[3:13:08] for Grand County's clean energy program.

[3:13:11] And this is something that I've been

[3:13:12] working on for the whole time that I've

[3:13:14] been on the commission and I think that

[3:13:17] I've been updating all of you along the

[3:13:19] way and you already like our

[3:13:21] commissioners that were here prior

[3:13:22] obviously knew what was going on

[3:13:24] with that.

[3:13:25] So I I think I put a really good summary of

[3:13:29] what's going on. Um

[3:13:31] Did I put the slides? I don't know if I

[3:13:32] have the slides in the packet.

[3:13:35] If anyone has any questions, I'm just

[3:13:37] waiting.

[3:13:39] Yes, can I can I speak?

[3:13:42] Yes.

[3:13:44] I want to begin with by saying uh

[3:13:48] Melody, thank you very much for taking

[3:13:49] this on.

[3:13:51] I I was part of it beginning and it was

[3:13:54] a very complicated and and

[3:13:57] involved process and I appreciate that

[3:14:00] you were

[3:14:01] you know, tackled it and I would like to

[3:14:04] make a motion motion to I move to

[3:14:06] approve the ordinance enacting the Grand

[3:14:09] County Community Clean Energy Program.

[3:14:13] Thank you, Mary, and I'll second to

[3:14:14] that.

[3:14:16] Is there any other discussion?

[3:14:18] Brian? [clears throat]

[3:14:19] I just like to reiterate what Mary had

[3:14:22] said.

[3:14:23] Um, I know that that Melody, when you first took this on right here

[3:14:26] that you were you were this was not one

[3:14:29] of your main interest or it was not

[3:14:30] something that you had a lot of

[3:14:32] knowledge in it. And I know that you

[3:14:33] spent a lot of time getting yourself up

[3:14:36] to speed and becoming very knowledgeable

[3:14:37] in this and and and you did great work.

[3:14:41] When we were up

[3:14:42] at the legislature this year speaking

[3:14:44] with both Hankins and Monson, they

[3:14:47] mentioned, you know, the amount of

[3:14:48] communication that you had back and

[3:14:50] forth trying to get this passed with the

[3:14:53] opt out rather than the opt in. I know

[3:14:55] that that was

[3:14:57] one of the sticking points of getting

[3:14:58] this through. So, I just want to

[3:15:00] congratulate you you on all the work

[3:15:02] that you did on that. So, thank you.

[3:15:06] No.

[3:15:07] Yes, also actually I started this,

[3:15:09] passed it off to Melody. When she came

[3:15:12] on as a commissioner still was working

[3:15:14] with Summit County on this. I can't even

[3:15:16] remember the lady's name that was in

[3:15:17] charge of it up there. Emily. Emily,

[3:15:20] there she go. But yes, I think this is a

[3:15:22] good program. I know we've had multiple

[3:15:24] emails that have come in in support of

[3:15:27] this. I think we

[3:15:28] had one person said they were willing to

[3:15:31] pay more

[3:15:32] than they than the allotted amount.

[3:15:35] Um so it's clearly got some interest in

[3:15:37] a good way and I think with the

[3:15:40] option to opt out for people that do not

[3:15:44] want to support it, why that that gives people a way out if they

[3:15:48] don't want to be a part of it. So I'm

[3:15:50] very supportive of it.

[3:15:52] Yes.

[3:15:53] Stephen has his hand up. Stephen, go

[3:15:55] ahead. And chair, just just a quick

[3:15:57] note, these are probably de minimus

[3:16:00] expenses on the contract on 7.2.

[3:16:04] It lists out the obligations for the

[3:16:05] county. It says the county shall pay for

[3:16:08] the third party

[3:16:09] uh

[3:16:11] expertise contracted in connection with

[3:16:13] the program's development and initial

[3:16:15] approval by the commission and then

[3:16:17] proportional costs associated with the

[3:16:20] RMP providing the notices to Grand

[3:16:23] County's customers and then the

[3:16:25] termination costs not paid by a

[3:16:27] participating customer.

[3:16:29] I I don't know if there's an estimate or

[3:16:31] if other counties have seen the costs.

[3:16:33] Again, they might be de minimus or they

[3:16:35] might be smaller amounts. I'm just

[3:16:37] noting those for the commission.

[3:16:39] And I I don't know how much they would

[3:16:40] be.

[3:16:45] That was a lot of word salad there.

[3:16:47] Uh

[3:16:47] does that mean county's going to pay for

[3:16:49] people who opt out? Mhm.

[3:16:52] No. That Okay. Just want to make sure of

[3:16:54] that.

[3:16:55] No, it's just it's in in certain

[3:16:58] circumstances like

[3:16:59] it's on page eight of the contract

[3:17:02] section seven 7.2.3.

[3:17:06] Termination charges not paid by a

[3:17:08] participating customer shall be incurred

[3:17:11] or shall be included in the uh

[3:17:13] participating customer rates. That won't

[3:17:14] be paid by the county, but then the

[3:17:16] items above it, those three items

[3:17:19] um pay proportional costs associated

[3:17:22] with RMP providing the notices to Grand

[3:17:25] County's customers as discussed in

[3:17:27] section two above. But I was just noting

[3:17:29] those things

[3:17:30] for the county. I don't know exactly how

[3:17:32] much those are.

[3:17:34] I think that's the mailer that will go

[3:17:35] out to the customers to notifying them

[3:17:39] when it's that 90-day or the 90-day time

[3:17:43] frame that they're going to be so it's a

[3:17:44] it's going to be a mailing cost.

[3:17:46] And I did see the city's

[3:17:51] mailing cost. I think they figured out

[3:17:53] about $2,000.

[3:17:56] Okay. Yeah, and sometimes sometimes when

[3:17:58] the treasurer or the clerk send out some

[3:18:01] of the notifications, there's a way that

[3:18:03] they've piggybacked them on other items

[3:18:05] to save money as well. And so if there

[3:18:07] is already a notice that that worked out

[3:18:11] that can be sent out.

[3:18:14] Okay. Mary has her hand up, too.

[3:18:17] Okay, I just yeah, want to move the

[3:18:18] meeting on, but I wanted to say this has

[3:18:20] really been a very, very long process.

[3:18:22] It started under Zachariah Levine and

[3:18:25] myself and we worked on it and then when

[3:18:27] Sarah Stocks came on, she with her

[3:18:31] scientific background and such, she

[3:18:34] really started moving it forward. I

[3:18:36] mean, it's taken This is one of those

[3:18:39] things that it's taken a belly gin a

[3:18:43] sense to come to fruition. And Melody,

[3:18:46] thank you for bringing it across the

[3:18:48] finish line.

[3:18:52] So yes, we will have to send out those

[3:18:53] mailers. So we'll figure out how to how

[3:18:55] do you do that?

[3:18:57] And it is opt-out program. So those that

[3:18:59] don't want to be involved with it and it

[3:19:01] is create the purpose of it is to create

[3:19:04] new energy. It's not just like people

[3:19:06] that have solar panels,

[3:19:09] they wouldn't be included in this. So

[3:19:10] they already have their own clean

[3:19:12] energies and they're not on that power

[3:19:14] grid right now. So they wouldn't be

[3:19:16] paying this $4 on their their bill. Just

[3:19:19] regular power customers that don't opt

[3:19:22] out.

[3:19:23] This gives everybody the option. So, all

[3:19:26] right. So, we had a Do we have a motion?

[3:19:29] Yes. [clears throat] Yeah. I got it.

[3:19:31] Motion by Mary and a second by Bill.

[3:19:34] Okay.

[3:19:35] All in favor?

[3:19:38] All right. I.

[3:19:39] It passes 7-0. Thank you.

[3:19:42] And I'm sure there'll be plenty more

[3:19:43] work to do in that group.

[3:19:46] So, the work is not over, but thank you.

[3:19:48] And number 12 is the

[3:19:50] appointment of commissioners to the boat

[3:19:52] ramp working group.

[3:19:53] Yes, this is

[3:19:56] um an item that pertains directly to the

[3:19:59] Moab boat ramp uh close to the

[3:20:01] pedestrian bridge.

[3:20:03] There's a working group that is being

[3:20:06] put together and that group will assess

[3:20:09] the viability and funding sources to

[3:20:11] complete the project. Um

[3:20:14] our recommendation is to appoint two

[3:20:16] commissioners to that board.

[3:20:19] Um it will be

[3:20:22] other partners will be BLM, National

[3:20:24] Park Service, U dot,

[3:20:27] City of Moab, Utah State Parks, just to

[3:20:29] name a few. So,

[3:20:30] this may very well be um

[3:20:34] a little bit of a lengthy process or a

[3:20:36] lot of applicants and

[3:20:39] stakeholders. So, I think it would be

[3:20:41] good to have two commissioners.

[3:20:43] Go ahead, set up and then shock.

[3:20:45] Um

[3:20:47] the motion says to approve the

[3:20:50] assignment of

[3:20:52] commissioner as in singular.

[3:20:56] Um so, I was going to make the motion

[3:20:59] based off of that for Commissioner

[3:21:00] Martinez with his river experience, but

[3:21:03] if there's somebody else that has a

[3:21:05] desire to participate, I'll make the

[3:21:07] motion

[3:21:09] to add a second one. I would love to

[3:21:11] participate. I mean, I feel like I've

[3:21:13] written a couple grants now with um

[3:21:15] outdoor rec and and would be happy to

[3:21:18] help, right? You know, I'd love to be

[3:21:20] involved in this. And was around with Alyssa and John when they, you

[3:21:25] know, put that site plan together and so

[3:21:28] I if you're psyched if you're good with

[3:21:29] that, Brian, I I'd be psyched.

[3:21:32] I move to approve the assignment of

[3:21:34] Commissioner Hadene and Commissioner

[3:21:36] Martinez to the boat ramp working.

[3:21:40] Second. Okay, we have a first And then

[3:21:43] did you have a comment, Zack? No. Okay.

[3:21:45] I was going to make that motion, but

[3:21:47] Bill beat me to it. All right, do we

[3:21:48] have any more discussion? Just real

[3:21:50] quick, I just want to thank

[3:21:51] uh Christian administration for carrying

[3:21:54] this on and getting us here.

[3:21:56] Um I think this is something that that

[3:21:57] folks here in Grand County been wanting

[3:21:59] for a long time. So, it's it's great to

[3:22:01] see some access and I can't think of a

[3:22:03] better timing than right now, especially

[3:22:05] with what's happening up at Flaming

[3:22:07] Gorge. I think there's going to be a lot

[3:22:09] of talk with the funding of that boater

[3:22:11] access

[3:22:12] um for ramps. That's that's going to be

[3:22:14] coming up, so. And and Mr. Hall, our

[3:22:17] associate administrator,

[3:22:19] has been instrumental and and he'll be

[3:22:21] involved as well. So, we appreciate

[3:22:23] >> This meeting's on the 27th and you

[3:22:24] already

[3:22:25] >> Put it down already. Got it. Thank you

[3:22:27] guys.

[3:22:28] >> [clears throat]

[3:22:28] >> All right, all in favor?

[3:22:30] I.

[3:22:31] All right, that passes 7-0. Thank you.

[3:22:33] Okay, now we're going to go back to H

[3:22:35] on our consent agenda, the Moab Office

[3:22:39] of Tourism contract renewal with Camp

[3:22:42] Stories Public Relations. I believe that

[3:22:44] this has not gone through legal, so if

[3:22:46] we pass it, we need to say pending legal

[3:22:49] as well as pending um

[3:22:52] that it's gone through

[3:22:55] our purchasing

[3:22:57] policy.

[3:23:00] Go ahead, Brian.

[3:23:01] I move to approve the Moab Office of

[3:23:03] Tourism's renewal contract with Camp

[3:23:05] Stories pending legal review.

[3:23:08] I'm going to add

[3:23:09] purchasing review. And purchasing policy with you.

[3:23:16] Second, Jacques. So, we have a motion by

[3:23:19] Brian and second by Jacques. All right,

[3:23:21] any more discussion? Yeah, just real

[3:23:22] quick. Camp Stories I think has done a

[3:23:24] really good job.

[3:23:25] Um and I just want to make sure that we

[3:23:26] send their praises. It's uh um it's it's it was a I think a tough decision

[3:23:31] to get a PR firm. Um but it's the first

[3:23:34] time that Grant County is really

[3:23:35] starting to tell its own story rather

[3:23:37] than just have stories told uh about us.

[3:23:40] So.

[3:23:40] I I've

[3:23:42] Chair, if you want me to speak a little

[3:23:44] bit to this, I'm I'm happy to.

[3:23:47] Um Sure, we'll go ahead, Mike and

[3:23:49] Jacques, and then we'll Quick

[3:23:49] clarification, this is just to add legal review and and approve the contract. And

[3:23:57] approve the contract, okay?

[3:23:59] Yeah, that but it had to be pulled off

[3:24:01] of our consent agenda because

[3:24:03] it needed that additional Yeah, it

[3:24:05] required the additional wording.

[3:24:07] All right, that that was my question as why we pulled it off the consent

[3:24:09] agenda. Yeah, that's why it's I feel

[3:24:10] like we've had that kind of day. Okay.

[3:24:12] So, I've listened to

[3:24:14] Well, I can And go ahead.

[3:24:17] There was renewal language in the RFP

[3:24:19] that we put out that it could be

[3:24:20] renewed, but that wasn't

[3:24:22] really clear language. I'd like to firm

[3:24:24] that that up. In talking with the office

[3:24:25] of tourism, we kind of thought, well,

[3:24:27] let's renew this for 1 year and then go

[3:24:29] out to bid. And I think the intent from

[3:24:30] the office of tourism would be to go out

[3:24:32] to bid on this every 2 years to keep it

[3:24:33] competitive, keep it fresh, and get the

[3:24:35] best service as possible. But at this

[3:24:37] point where we're kind of getting into

[3:24:39] the second cycle, I think we're going to

[3:24:40] rely on the renewal language as long as

[3:24:42] Steven's okay with that in the RFP we

[3:24:44] put out in the beginning. So, that's how

[3:24:45] you that's how you write here.

[3:24:48] Okay.

[3:24:50] All right.

[3:24:51] go ahead and call for a vote.

[3:24:53] All in favor?

[3:24:55] I.

[3:24:56] All right, that passes 7-0. Thank you.

[3:24:59] And we'll move on to our

[3:25:03] Um I'm trying infrastructure wish list.

[3:25:06] So, I would be included it in the

[3:25:07] packet. There's been multiple meetings

[3:25:09] on this ultra infrastructure wish list.

[3:25:12] We've gone out there and toured the

[3:25:13] site. We've looked at the

[3:25:15] um all the different

[3:25:19] infrastructure that's out there. I got

[3:25:21] had the site futures list um included in

[3:25:24] there and I think that uh the the site

[3:25:26] put together encompasses all those

[3:25:28] things. That list also encompasses

[3:25:31] things that the city has um recommended

[3:25:33] as well. So, try to just put everybody's

[3:25:35] they just want one list and so that's

[3:25:37] going to be the county's list.

[3:25:39] And that list doesn't mean we'll get it.

[3:25:41] Just because it's on the list doesn't

[3:25:42] mean we'll get it, but if we don't ask

[3:25:44] for it, we won't get it. So, that's it's a little bit bigger than even the

[3:25:47] infrastructure list that they gave us

[3:25:49] saying this is the infrastructure that

[3:25:51] we have, but we added, you know, more

[3:25:53] things. We want to see if they can help

[3:25:55] us get some access to the river or do

[3:25:57] some trail work or, you know, vehicle

[3:25:59] fuel stop and those are just that's

[3:26:01] above and beyond what their kind of

[3:26:02] infrastructure list, but they said that

[3:26:04] go ahead and add it to the list because

[3:26:06] that would keep it on their forefront.

[3:26:07] So, we have completion date of 2029 is

[3:26:11] their completion date and none of this

[3:26:13] will come to us until after they are

[3:26:15] complete, but just getting the word out

[3:26:17] there going to have to go through their

[3:26:19] own um procurement and then make sure

[3:26:21] that this that there's not contaminated.

[3:26:24] So, lots going into this, but um anyway,

[3:26:27] this is the list that we are going to

[3:26:28] give them on June 1st. And I just wanted

[3:26:32] to make sure that everybody knew and it

[3:26:33] was transparent and and um

[3:26:36] we're not trying to do anything crazy

[3:26:37] out there, but we pretty much asked for

[3:26:38] all of it. All of it plus the moon.

[3:26:41] >> [clears throat and laughter]

[3:26:42] >> But was there anything that we didn't

[3:26:43] ask for that was

[3:26:45] presented to us?

[3:26:47] No. Okay.

[3:26:49] There's still a lot more.

[3:26:51] >> [clears throat]

[3:26:53] >> Just a quick question.

[3:26:54] >> Go ahead. So, the um the Alta survey

[3:26:57] summer of 2026 right of way, is that for

[3:27:00] the pipeline?

[3:27:03] Actually, they're paying a company to

[3:27:05] come in and do a

[3:27:08] complete property description.

[3:27:12] That So, a description of the property,

[3:27:14] legal description, and then to

[3:27:17] map out all of the easements. I believe

[3:27:19] there's a power line over against the

[3:27:22] west side. There's the pipeline that you

[3:27:24] just mentioned running through, and I

[3:27:26] think there's some easements up along

[3:27:28] 191 to the north of where their offices

[3:27:31] are. So, that's all it is. But, it would

[3:27:34] include the right of ways on the

[3:27:36] >> The all the survey will show those

[3:27:38] survey That's That's That's what I was

[3:27:39] asking. But, yeah. So, they're going

[3:27:41] They are doing an Alta survey, which is

[3:27:42] a a very intensive survey, more than

[3:27:46] what most people get when they purchase

[3:27:47] land. And so, that Alta survey will go

[3:27:50] and it'll it'll show those things. Um,

[3:27:52] it's a really in-depth survey, and

[3:27:54] they're already doing that. They have

[3:27:55] already put the RFP out for it, and we

[3:27:57] said it should be done this summer. And

[3:27:59] so, that will be something that we'll be

[3:28:00] able to ask for a copy of through the

[3:28:03] FOIA.

[3:28:04] Um,

[3:28:05] government, you know, ask We can ask for

[3:28:07] a copy of that. And I think that the

[3:28:09] city has asked for some other things

[3:28:11] from that FOIA as well. And and I I

[3:28:13] don't know if the whole commission was a

[3:28:14] copy on that, but we have a list of the

[3:28:15] items that city's asked for as well. So,

[3:28:18] that's additional information as far as

[3:28:20] that's up in advance, you know, because

[3:28:22] they already kind of know where that infrastructure that's underground

[3:28:27] is, but um, this Alta will be really

[3:28:30] specific.

[3:28:31] And so, those right-of-ways also

[3:28:34] wouldn't necessarily be given to us.

[3:28:36] We'd have to apply for them. So, some of

[3:28:37] them, like up the road that goes up to

[3:28:39] the tracks,

[3:28:40] and so, if we were going to have, you

[3:28:42] know, some de plane de plane de railing,

[3:28:45] um, it is BLM, and so, we would have to

[3:28:48] um,

[3:28:48] ask [clears throat] We'd have to

[3:28:50] reinstate that in our name and lease it.

[3:28:53] So, and so, it would it would it would

[3:28:55] show where all of those different leases

[3:28:57] are.

[3:28:58] That's all. Perfect. Thank you.

[3:29:03] All right.

[3:29:04] Anyone else? I didn't put it as an

[3:29:05] action item. I just figured we just

[3:29:07] wanted to make sure everybody knew, so.

[3:29:08] We don't have any more further

[3:29:09] discussion on that. Mary, you good with

[3:29:12] that list?

[3:29:13] I was very pleased. Thank you very, very

[3:29:16] much. Thank you, Bill. Thank you,

[3:29:19] uh, Melody, for the people that, you

[3:29:20] know,

[3:29:22] where I've been so absent, I really

[3:29:24] appreciate people taking the reins.

[3:29:27] All right. Thank you. Sean, our, um,

[3:29:30] maintenance also spent a good deal of

[3:29:32] time out there on this, as well. And

[3:29:34] Mark, too. Yeah, he was at our last

[3:29:36] meeting. When I see him, I'll tell him

[3:29:38] thanks. He was very cordial.

[3:29:41] Yes.

[3:29:42] All right. On to number 14, the Kemsley

[3:29:44] Garden financial payments.

[3:29:47] Um, I think we've dealt with this. Okay.

[3:29:49] We're going to skip this one. Yeah. All

[3:29:51] right. So, I'm not going to ask for

[3:29:53] general commissioner reports and

[3:29:54] tonight, but if there's Does anyone have

[3:29:57] anything that they just Go ahead,

[3:29:59] Jacques. Thanks. Um, I it's it's

[3:30:02] interesting cuz the last I gave my

[3:30:03] report and the last 2 weeks I was

[3:30:06] um,

[3:30:07] I I had experience with the two

[3:30:09] different motorized events in town.

[3:30:11] They went very differently. Uh, there

[3:30:14] was one at the the park that, um, our

[3:30:18] sheriff referenced earlier and

[3:30:20] I think I went to that event. We had a

[3:30:22] great time. It was super well put on.

[3:30:24] They gave back to the community. They gave us, uh,

[3:30:27] search and rescue a significant amount

[3:30:29] of money.

[3:30:30] Um,

[3:30:31] it was it was a

[3:30:34] I probably had 400 trucks parading past

[3:30:37] my house at 7:00 in the morning and it

[3:30:40] wasn't a burden at all. We were out in

[3:30:42] the front yard drinking coffee, watching

[3:30:43] them go by and it was it was it was a

[3:30:45] great time. And there was another

[3:30:46] motorized event. I'm not going to name

[3:30:48] it, but, um, I had a very negative

[3:30:51] experience with that event when I was

[3:30:53] out leading a group of um group of kids

[3:30:56] and it I I very much appreciate how that

[3:30:59] was dealt with in the county. But I just

[3:31:02] want to say to people who come to Grand

[3:31:06] County to put on their events that that

[3:31:09] there are folks that live here. There's

[3:31:11] a way to do things and there's a way not

[3:31:12] to do things and treating locals with

[3:31:14] respect and and

[3:31:16] um

[3:31:17] uh

[3:31:18] posing yourself while you are visiting

[3:31:22] our county makes a huge difference.

[3:31:25] Okay, Trish. Um I Thanks. Sorry, did I

[3:31:28] cut you off? Um I just wanted to bring

[3:31:31] this up. So I went to the Planning and

[3:31:32] Zoning 101 Understanding Land Use with

[3:31:35] Craig Call at the library and I was on

[3:31:37] Thursday like I had things on both ends

[3:31:39] so I only got to stay for about an hour,

[3:31:41] but it was phenomenal. And so I did

[3:31:44] bring that up at the Planning Commission

[3:31:46] level like are we interested in having

[3:31:48] some kind of joint joint workshop way

[3:31:51] I'm talking way in the future maybe

[3:31:53] winter-ish um to have Craig come and do

[3:31:56] something again. So I'm just kind of

[3:31:58] throwing that out. It was so good

[3:32:01] um and the the Planning Commission was

[3:32:03] interested. So I'm kind of throwing that

[3:32:04] out. I think it would behoove all of us

[3:32:06] to kind of go through that with Craig

[3:32:08] because he he not only kind of lays out

[3:32:11] some basics of of land use planning our

[3:32:13] planning and zoning, but he also gives

[3:32:15] these cool little scenarios which I

[3:32:18] think kind of brings it to life and

[3:32:19] helps. So Yeah, he he doesn't even know

[3:32:21] that he wrote the

[3:32:22] book. Wrote the book. And then he we've

[3:32:24] definitely dealt with him a few times,

[3:32:26] right, when we appealed to things and he's good. He's really good. So I'm

[3:32:31] just going to throw that out and like I

[3:32:32] said it would be I would think

[3:32:34] winter-ish would be a nice time to do

[3:32:35] it. He might not be able to help us out. The

[3:32:39] reason why is he's our ELJ and we get an

[3:32:42] awesome deal with him. He's only a 100

[3:32:45] bucks an hour. Um if if he gave a

[3:32:48] training and we later relied on his, you

[3:32:50] know, training or did something.

[3:32:53] We've just been really blessed to have

[3:32:55] him as an ALJ for the price that he

[3:32:57] charges. But

[3:32:59] I I think we can discuss it. Yeah. Well,

[3:33:02] I think we can we can discuss it. Okay,

[3:33:04] we can discuss it. So, it could be

[3:33:05] public, but we just make sure that all

[3:33:07] the petitioners know about it. Something

[3:33:08] like that.

[3:33:09] Yeah. Okay. Yeah, it was it was quite

[3:33:12] good.

[3:33:13] I was impressed.

[3:33:15] Okay. And that was it. Stephen, you had

[3:33:17] your hand up. And

[3:33:18] then what about Mark? Do you have any

[3:33:23] Thank you. Okay, I'm going to adjourn

[3:33:25] this meeting at 7:00

5.19.2026 Grand County Commission Meeting

Transcript