MANTI-- County Sheriff Kevin Holman and Lieutenant Robert Braithwaite had some unexpected new costs to the new jail project at the May 6 Commission meeting.

The cost, Braithwaite said would be $4,000 for two doors and that included the door controls wired into the main control room.

Another unexpected cost Holman and Braithwaite presented was bulletproof glass for the outside sheriff's office facing the highway.

Holman said there was a recent case in the country where officers were fired on in their own office and several officers were killed. The cost for the glass was estimated to be around $11,000.

The commissioners mulled over the new requests, mostly worrying about where the money would come from, since they were not sure they could get it from the contingency fund. They discussed several funding ideas, but allowed the sheriff to go ahead with the requests.

The commissioners also finally allowed Sheriff Holman to fill his new jail captain's position. Holman put up another persuasive argument why he needed the position.

He said the department is expanding from 25 employees to 60 employees and he needed a command structure in place.

He said what personnel problems he has now would be magnified without a command structure. He also argued that filling the position takes about three months and the jail would be ready soon.

Holman reported that the department is looking for jail employees and needs to have staff in place by February 2009. He said he has had 10 applications but needs more officers. For example, he said that strip searches would need a full time person.

Holman said hiring time had to be now because officers have to have background checks, pass by the review board and be trained. He said it was a three-and-half month process.

The commissioners approved of the COLA retirement for Sheriff employees, and Jace Peterson as a full-time employee and Eric Pratt as a part-time employee.

They also approved the building costs. The sum of $3,933 was approved to pay Central Utah Testing and Inspection. Commissioner Jarrett said these are the county's independent inspection contractors from Centerfield.

The commissioners approved $7,229.90 to Sunrise Engineering for sewer and water work, $76,093.62 for Johansen Construction and $1,732.50 to Applied Geo-Technical Engineering Consultants for welding inspections.

Fire department funding

The Commissioners convened a Municipal Building Authority (MBA) Meeting 1 to approve the Indianola Valley Fire Department United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant application. The approval had been tabled at the last meeting to get building break down costs for the applications.

David Taylor, a resident and retired certified engineer presented the figures. He said the department had four bids, which two of the firms didn't supply a project manager, but he could fulfill that position and would do so volunteering his time.

Jason Justesen, representative for the USDA, said that they only give $100,000 grants but could make loans at 4% interest.

The other $400,000 required to construct the building, the county intends to apply for CIB grant money. Jarrett said the building would cost double what they had thought.

Subdivision concerns

Several County residents calling themselves "Concerned property owners of Hideaway Valley" approached the commission to enforce ordinances being violated in their subdivision, but became clear it was one resident in particular they were concerned with.

Several residents, with sheriff deputies concurring, testified that the man has an estimated 70 dogs. A Sheriff deputy said there was one tied behind every tree, but the landowners were most concerned about 12 to 14 dogs that come off the property out into the road when someone passes by, which the residents say are mostly children. Resident Brian Cook said it was a safety issue.

The problem the commission ran into, the county doesn't have a countywide dog ordinance.

Most of these problems are left to the subdivisions under what is called CCNR, a mandatory agreement signed when people purchase property in a subdivision. This subdivision appears to have unlimited animals, but does provide for landowners to take animals into custody if they become a nuisance. There were at least two problems with enforcing. Sheriff's deputies said that there isn't enough kennel space in the county to house that many dogs and residents can't shoot any of the dogs, not even the ones leaving the property because of Humane Society and gun laws.

County legal advisor, Brody Keisel told the residents they would have to first work through their CCNR and document what they've done and take pictures.

Resident Shelly Marshal said they have tried talking to the man and he has threatened them with suits and even has filed suits against them.

She said he is a dangerous man and has several complaints in other states. She said he has a simple assault charge and three other charges against him now in this county.

She said she gets dozens of threatening emails from him now. She said he keeps "drowning us in appeals."

The residents also said they are just neighbors and his property is private property, after all.

One of the other problems is the subdivision has 453 lots and only 50 full time residents. The CCNR requires a majority to do anything with the excessive animals.

Cook said the man lives in a 30-foot travel trailer and doesn't have any method of disposing of waste. He said the residents have contacted the health department and that is being looked into.

Commissioner Anderson said that would be a key into solving the issue.

Keisel said that is being handled by the health department and the county has red tagged a building on the man's property. He said the county couldn't continue with the assault charge until other charges are finalized in the court.

Commissioner Jarrett asked Holmstead to investigate and Holmstead said he had. He said there was a lot of dogs and the one building had been red-tagged.

Keisel and the commissioner have promised to continue to work on the problem. Jarrett said they would have the zoning board work on a countywide dog ordinance. The residents expressed worry that someone might get hurt in the mean time but thanked the commission for their support.

The commission also had to deal with another subdivision problem, a non-functioning Water Conservancy District Board for Indian Ridge Subdivision. The board has been functioning with expired member terms for some time and the commissioners have been working on fixing the problem. Several members of the subdivision and one current board member met with commission.

Keisel, standing in for Ross Blackham, told them the best solution was to have the two current board members to resign and start over with all new appointments. Keisel explained that Judge Tibbs decreed the Water Conservancy District in 1996 and the residents could continue with that or go back to court and bring the district up to current laws and standards. The subdivision members saw no reason to go to the extra expense and thought starting over under the 1996 decree was the best solution.

Just when the commission figured there was a solution, they learned during explanations that the water district does not have any water. They learned that the decree was made under a lease of water rights that had since expired. The water rights had been sold to another person but had fallen into dispute and were tied up in court.

The commissioners were about ready to wash their hands of it, when members said that the board has the right to go after water and that there were water and grants available, but they had to have a functioning board in order to do that. The board was legal but the commissioners had to make the appointments.

The one board member present, Dave Tanner, said he had no problem resigning as board member and Jay Barlow, a former board member, promised to get hold of the other current member and get his resignation. The commissioners gave them time to publish and get applicants ready so they could make the appointments. The subdivision members left with a possible resolution to their main problem.

In other subdivision problems, the commissioners tabled appointments of board members to the Skyline Mountain Resort Special Service District. The two members being considered were unable to make the meeting and the commissioners wanted to talk with them before they made their decision. Appointment of the SSD board member was set for the May 20 meeting. Being considered is Edward Collins and Will Sommerfelt for a three-year term.

In another subdivision, Emery Patten made a request for the county to do maintenance on Clements Lane, which he said was a county road. He explained that Ed Morrow and him had been taking care of the road for many years. The two men use their tractors to plow snow during the winter and grade during the summer. He said he is planning to retire and sell his land interest, but the road needs to be maintained.

Commissioner Jarrett promised to discuss the matter with road supervisor Steve Keller.

General plan

Economic Director Kevin Christensen brought the commission a list of companies that did general plans for government entities. He said he went through and ranked them according to how much community involvement, education of the public, their growth models, experience and implementation plans. He said costs ranged from $20,000 to $100,000. He recommended the commission review and choose what they thought were the best three and have them come and make a presentation.

Christensen said the county's current general plan was made in 1997 and was poorly written. He said it tells us where we were in 1997 and little else. He said we need a good plan for guidance. Jarrett said the county could possibly get a grant for half of the cost and she suggested a work meeting to hear the companies' proposals.

County fair concerns

Former Sheriff Claude Pickett and Jerald Christiansen met with the commission expressing concerns that the county fair board hasn't had a meeting yet. Picket said he has been a member for about 14 years and he was getting concerned because time is getting short. He said there is always a lot of planning to be done.

Commissioner Anderson explained that the 20-year chairman has resigned, although he is willing to help a new chairman learn the ropes. Anderson said he has contacted many of the organizers and none of them were willing to take on the responsibility.

Pickett asked if they could have a meeting anyway. He said that all the board members are chairman of various parts of the fair. Pickett said he has been over the derby and works with his co-chair Christiansen. He asked if he could call a meeting for Monday night and agreed to 7:30 p.m., in the East Courtroom.

Anderson said maybe at that meeting they could find a chairman too. Pickett thanked the commissioners, happy that there was at least a meeting scheduled.

Miscellaneous

The commissioners hired a new custodian. Anderson said a four-person panel selected Jeff Anderson from nine applications. He said Jeff Anderson currently works for Moroni Feed Company and would start at $13.69 an hour.

The commissioners appointed Ed Schoppe to the county weed board. Anderson said he has worked with the forest department and was now retired. Schoppe is an alternate for the board.

County Clerk Sandy Neill explained that poll workers have been reduced to two people for Sterling and Fayette and cost for elections is a $100 a day for workers plus training costs. She said that many of the workers would volunteer their time but the law requires the county pays them. The commissioners approved of the poll workers expenditures.

The commissioners endorsed U.S. House Of Representatives Resolution HR 308 dealing with RS 277 road issues. Jarrett said that in 1866 and open ended grant for counties to have roads in the federal lands called RS 277 and continued until it was repealed in 1976, which has provided for the current dispute over closures with the Federal Government.

Commissioner Inouye said he had checked into the Gunnison Valley Hospital Tax Exempt property claim and said it was valid, so the commissioners approved the tax-exempt status for the hospital.

On the zoning front, a request by Dennis and Debra Ward to rezone 33 acres of property from SL to A zone, permitting five-acre lots went forward. After hearing from a State Lands Trust representative who said they had no problem with zoning 640 acres of state land from SL to A zone. The commission had previously rejected the zone change because of spot zoning issues but with the state willing to go along with the change, it took it out of the spot-zoning problem. The commission set June 3, starting at 2:30 p.m., for a public hearing on the issue. Those interested should attend.

The commission also scheduled a public hearing for Aspen Grove subdivision whose representatives were requesting county services, but because of closeness to Mt. Pleasant, the commission wants it held at the Mt. Pleasant City Hall on May 29 at 7 p.m.