This is an old news article. The events in this article are from October 2022.
LOA, Utah (October 3, 2022) — Blue Valley land owner Kelly Taylor was on the agenda seeking approval for a development project on his property between Highway 24 and Fremont River to the south. Although Taylor was not in attendance, two developers who have the property under contract (Will Hogan and Sam Lewis) appeared by Zoom. The development seeks to build a handful of geodesic domes in a camping area susceptible to flooding. The county asked the developers to address ownership (or lease) of water, and address an existing right of way.
The right-of-way issue has been a point of contention between Taylor and the county. Running through the property is an easement for the county road crossing the river to the south, and a second easement running west to a property owned by Stan Wood. He, and other cattle permittees use a corral there.
In 2020, Taylor attempted to move the easement to Wood’s property by trenching across the road at the property line. Last winter, Wood returned the road to the original path and improved it with gravel.
“We have lost the freedom of the use of our land by the dictates and bullying practice of a Wayne County Commissioner,” Kelly Taylor wrote in a letter to The Insider.
Taylor acknowledges the existence in the west of a county-owned access easement to Wood’s property, but denies Wood’s right to use it. “It’s a county road. Everybody has a right to it,” Commissioner Roger Brian said.
In other matters, Commissioner Brian reported on discussions with North American Weather Consultants, which hasn’t been paid by Wayne, Piute and Garfield Counties for cloud seeding working in recent years. The bill runs around $8,000, but the company is willing to write down the balance substantially. The commission voted to pay the discounted amount on receipt of an updated invoice, and seek reimbursement from the water conservancy district. The county would like the water conservancy district to pay for this service going forward.
Cloud seeding seeks to increase precipitation over certain areas by emitting substances into the atmosphere that causes clouds to condense and precipitate. Its effectiveness has been debated by some, since it can be difficult to measure its results.
Yet some studies point to success in certain circumstances. In 1998 the American Meteorological Society found that in mountainous areas (with good orographic uplift of clouds), cloud seeding was able to increase precipitation by about 10% over an entire season.
The Commission voted to approve a minor lot subdivision for Daniel Hicks on a parcel just south of the Fremont River on 700 S, Bicknell.
The Commission signed a letter in support of reconstruction of the Loa Fish Hatchery, which projects to bring in six full-time jobs to the county. They also signed a letter of support for Wayne Community Health Center, and recalled an era before WCHC’s arrival, when residents had to drive to Richfield for prescriptions and most medical work.
– The Byway
Read about older commission meetings in Wayne Commission meeting, February 22.
Find the most recent commission meeting in Wayne Commission meeting, December 5.