This is an old news article. The events in this article are from October 2022.
All three commissioners were present for the Garfield Commission Meeting held in Panguitch on October 10.
Concerning GSENM Leadership
Commissioner David Tebbs stated that the GSENM Monument Advisory Committee meeting is coming up on October 18. Tebbs and other locals involved in that committee are concerned that land managers and special interest groups are working hand in hand to fast-track public comments and steamroll local wishes.
Commissioner Leland Pollock stated that monument leadership has the mindset that they just “tell us how it’s going to be” without regard for local input and that the current administration’s Dept. of the Interior has an agenda for the monument that is friendly to neither locals nor tourists.
Pollock stressed the need to protect traditional uses of the land, which has significant resources, since most of it does not have the same scenic qualities of a national park. His concern is that the DOI wants to “lock it up and turn it into wilderness.”
He noted that Garfield County and associates have excellent resources with a consultant and two full-time attorneys working on this. They intend to make the cooperating agency meetings more cooperative.
Commissioner Jerry Taylor added that the public needs to get involved in the process of planning for public lands, and if they don’t, we are going to lose access to those lands.
Congrats Baseball!
In other reports, Commissioner Tebbs congratulated the Panguitch High School and Bryce Valley High School boys for taking second and third respectively, in State 1A baseball last week at Snow Canyon. Piute High School took first place.
Permanent Community Impact Fund Board
Commissioner Taylor reported attending a Permanent Community Impact Fund Board, CIB, meeting which recently funded a new fire truck for Panguitch City.
The CIB is a state program that provides loans and grants funded by royalties from the mining and extraction industries.
Commissioners from Wayne, Garfield and Piute counties, among others, have all lamented in recent years about the dwindling funds produced by the program. And the commissioners try to help the public understand where that funding comes from.
Praise for County Jail and Construction News
Commissioner Pollock praised the county jail, which will get a spotlight from State Senator Derrin Owens, as a model for how other state jails could work.
The jail, located on the west side of Panguitch, employs 26 staff. He drew some laughs from the room when he said that the jail is so good, there is a waiting list to get into it.
Public Works Director Dave Dodds reported that the bridge out River Lane just north of Panguitch has now been paved, but it will take 21 days for the concrete to cure (it will open around October 18).
After receiving a bid from another contractor to do the concrete work (for a price around $90k), the county road crew decided to do the job themselves.
Dodds also reported that the asphalt paving of a section of damaged bike trail just east of Red Canyon is now complete.
Commissioner Pollock and Sheriff Danny Perkins spoke briefly about the need to raise up a cofferdam ahead of the Panguitch Lake Dam while lake levels are low.
The gate at the lake’s dam is damaged and its repair has been complicated by availability of gate equipment. The coffer dam will keep lake water away from the dam during the repair as the lake level rises.
Henrieville Town State of Emergency
Earlier, the Town of Henrieville declared a state of emergency seeking help recovering from floods during this summer’s monsoon season. Henrieville received more than their fair share of rain on several days during August.
After Henrieville’s declaration, NRCS has been involved in doing work on a few of the drainages there. Garfield County was also asked to be the sponsor for the EWP (Emergency Watershed Protection) project.
Adopting Ordinance 2022-12
The Commission adopted Ordinance 2022-12, governing standards for underground wastewater disposal systems (septic systems) around Panguitch Lake, and the Emery and Johns Valley areas north and west of Bryce Canyon City.
Emery and Johns Valleys are a special case: a couple years ago, Utah’s Department of Environmental Quality declared the aquifer under these valleys to be a “pristine aquifer,” meaning that its concentration of dissolved nitrogen compounds is less than 2.5 m/L. The County’s new ordinance requires septic systems there to meet that standard.
Gauging Interest in Winter Tourism
Honey Communications, which the County contracted to do a tourism market capacity study, presented results of their study.
The goal is to increase tourism in the area, and the County had assumed that doing so would require a heavier focus on promoting tourism during winter months.
Honey surveyed 39 business owners and 170 other residents. They found that only 38% of Boulder respondents supported the idea of promoting winter tourism. Other supporters included 58% of respondents in Escalante, 71% in Tropic and 86% in Panguitch.
Honey Communications recommended a different approach. Rather than focusing on winter travel per se, they suggested working on filling occupancies in July and August (when some areas experience a minor slump) and increasing the length of the season itself by promoting travel during March and November.
They agreed with the commissioners that both public and state politicians need to be educated to see that our national parks (particularly Bryce) are not overcrowded, combating a narrative frequently shared by park staff and media.
– The Byway
Find more Commission Meetings: Garfield Commission Meeting, February 28.