This is an old news article. The events in this article are from February 2023.
LOA, Utah (February 21, 2023) — The Wayne County commission met in Loa on February 21 for a regularly scheduled meeting.
A bid to chipseal to the road between Highway 24 and the Big Rocks turnoff was awarded to Brown Brothers Construction Co., who presented the lowest bid. The job would also chipseal part of the road to the dump, and would amount to nearly $640,000.
Fremont River Crossing
Kelly Taylor, a resident between Hanksville and Caineville, asked if the county would allow him to use his personal loader to clear the Fremont River crossing of Giles Road, on behalf of the county. He pointed out that after floods, the county usually has to wait a few days before they can clear out the sand and mud. At that crossing the road cuts into the riverbank in order to drop onto the river at a concrete crossing. Floods often eddy in the cutbank, depositing several feet of dirt onto the road.
The county had some concerns about liability in allowing a private citizen to do work for the county, but they acknowledged the problem. They recommended that the county have an agreement with Mr. Taylor releasing the county of liability in the case he incurred some loss, like losing his loader in the river.
Kelly asked if the county would ever entertain putting in a footbridge to cross the river, say, with a simple I-beam member and cable as a handrail. But the county said that if it were done by the county, it would need to be engineered, and they didn’t have the resources to do this. However, he was welcome as a landowner to come up with a solution on his own property.
Maintaining OHV Trails, Roads and Other Infrastructure
Adus Dorsey applied for an OHV grant for the county and obtained a letter of support from the Wayne commission. The expected grant amount would be close to $100,000 and would allow the county to buy equipment to maintain OHV trails. Mr. Dorsey said that it would be good for the county to have its own equipment rather than have to share with others.
Previously Garfield, Wayne and Piute counties had gone in on a single grant to purchase a Sweco trail dozer to handle the OHV trails in the region. Unfortunately the equipment has been in such high demand that Wayne County has hardly been able to pull it from Garfield.
State Senator Derrin Owens is sponsoring SB-175 that would allow rural counties to use more of the state’s Class B and Class C road funds. Such funds are critical to rural counties for maintaining roads used by both residents and tourists. The commissioners are watching to see if the bill passes as it is currently drafted, and then would need to hold a meeting to discuss levying a gas tax.
Last year the county saw 1.5 million visitors, and Commissioner Blackburn stated that it’s important for these visitors to help cover the cost of maintaining these roads. SB-175 would allocate additional funds for counties not part of a large public transit district. It would only be available, however, for counties who levy a local option sales and use tax.
Wayne commission allocated additional COVID funds to the fire department. They also approved the department’s purchase of replacement SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) units since most of the old ones are past certification.
– The Byway
Read about the March 6 county commission meeting here.