This is an old news article. The events in this article are from February 2022.
All three commissioners met in Panguitch for commission meeting on Monday, February 28.
Commissioner David Tebbs reported first. He has been working with Piute County on the installation of a cell tower in the Otter Creek Reservoir area near Antimony. He stated that fiber is already installed in the vicinity.
Commissioner Tebbs also reported that all three of Garfield’s Prevention Coalitions traveled to Washington D.C. earlier in the month. He said that the youth and leaders who attended meetings there found that the federal government’s idea of drug prevention is very different than the goal of local coalitions: coalitions focus efforts on preventing drug use from starting while the federal government is mostly concerned about how to deal with addictions and overdoses after they’ve already occurred.
Commissioner Jerry Taylor reported on the progress of three projects building affordable housing. NeighborWorks is constructing two houses in Tropic and a fourplex of apartments in Escalante, and Beaver Housing Authority will soon finish several homes on 200 N. in Panguitch.
Both Commissioner Taylor and Commissioner Leland Pollock stressed the importance of commissioners being present on Capitol Hill during the legislative season, since rural areas like Garfield County do not have adequate representation there. Legislation on Concentrated Animal Feed Operations (CAFO) and the desire of some state legislators to move rural planning and zoning authority to the state level, is still a primary concern for Mr. Pollock. He also talked about efforts to increase Class B Road funding since the county has a substantial burden to maintain roads across 5,000 square miles, and not just for use by the county’s 5,000 residents.
Commissioner Pollock reiterated the importance of the county staying out of debt. Success on this goal in past years has been a huge blessing, he said.
Former Recorder Les Barker invited the commissioners down to the table to discuss two separate land issues. The first was a proposal to shift the county’s property line 60 feet to the west to match the location of the existing road, which is 300 W Escalante, on the north side of the river through Danny Reid’s property. The road drives south to ford the river, entering Escalante’s city limits.
The second issue had to do with three parcels on the east side of Cannonville, which each overlap Paria River. The Town of Cannonville as well as residents had always assumed that the three parcels belonged to the county and Cannonville had asked for one of them to be deeded to them so they could extend 100 E Street north to Center Street. Yet there is no ownership data for the three parcels and the only document that even suggested an owner (Garfield County), was a hand-drawn plat map of town from around 1940.
The county was opposed to deeding any property to Cannonville, first because they don’t feel they have title to it, and second, they reasoned that if the parcels really did belong to the county, it would enable them to fulfill one of the roles they play in that area — which is flood control along the Paria. Still, quieting title on the three parcels seems to be the major issue leading to indecision on how to handle it.
The lease on the building currently housing Joe’s Market on Center and Main in Panguitch is almost up. Rather than renewing, Joe’s has presented a plan to build a new, $8.7 million, 20,000 square-foot building at 500 E Center. The county became involved in the development when Panguitch City requested help in providing labor for improvements to extend 100 S behind the new store. The commissioners stated that they normally do help municipalities with labor on road improvements.
– The Byway
Read about Wayne’s County Commission meeting here.