The last commission meeting of 2023 would have been a busy one even without the debut of new chambers. Sheriff Tracy Glover oversaw the project at the courthouse, along with Kane County Head of Building & Grounds Kris Ramsey. Iron Rock Engineering of Kanab and Maxwell Construction of Glendale did the work, and the new space is both attractive and impressive. There’s plenty of room for the public, a proper dais for the commissioners and county officials, and a podium for the public to address the commission. Commissioner Meyeres said, “We are so appreciative of the consideration and patience of all involved [in this project]! It’s a bonus that we were able to draw on local talent to get this important project completed. This also allowed us to get a beneficial result while keeping expenses down.”
Left to right, photos by Don Jennings:
Commissioners and board/committee appointees: Wade Heaton, Celeste Meyeres, Kelly Stowell, Pat Guerrero, Mike Noel, Bart Battista and Patty Kubeja.
The new commission chambers at the Kane County Courthouse.
The Commission met on Tuesday, December 19, 2023 in its new chambers at the Kane County Courthouse. Commissioners Heaton, Kubeja, and Meyeres were in attendance. The meeting was called to order at 2:00 PM. Wendy Allan provided the invocation and Ryan Maddux led the room in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Two attendees stood for the public comment period, one speaking in support of the proposed Vermillion Cliffs Special Service District and one against.
With an agenda consisting of 38 separate items, including 14 committee appointments, the commissioners unanimously approved the consent agenda items and previous meeting minutes and settled in for the long haul.
The commission first heard a summary of adjustments needed for the 2023 budget presented by Clerk Auditor Chameil Lamb. The meeting was then opened to public hearing, but there were no comments from attendees. Moving out of public hearing, the commission unanimously approved a resolution adopting the changes.
The third agenda item was a decision regarding the adoption of the 2024 Fiscal Year County Budget. About 90 minutes of the meeting was spent on this topic, including a detailed summary review by Chameil Lamb and extensive discussion amongst the commissioners. In the end the resolution was unanimously approved, as was the transfer of funds in the budget to cover overtime and payroll expenses incurred in 2023.
Next, Tyce Palmer made his annual report for the Kane County Conservation District.
The commission next considered appointing and/or reappointing members of the Kane County Planning Commission, the Kane County Economic Opportunity Board, the Church Wells Special Service District Control Board, the Long Valley Sewer Improvement District Control Board, the Kane County Recreation & Transportation Special Service District Control Board, the Kane County Resource Development Committee, the East Zion Special Service District Control Board, the Kane County Water Conservancy Board of Trustees, the Western Kane County Special Service District Control Board and the Kane County Economic Opportunity Board. All appointments were unanimously approved.
The 2024 Wildland Fire Participation Agreement, the Multi-County Appraisal Trust’s User Agreement and the Municipal Economic Opportunity Infrastructure Development Fund were also unanimously approved.
A request from the Kane County Water Conservancy District for infrastructure funding was denied by a two to one vote, with Commissioner Kubeja voting against the denial. Funding for the Grand-to-Grand Ultra and local IMPACT Utah training with the chamber of commerce and Southwest Tech were unanimously approved.
Next, three lot joinders and one zone change were unanimously approved. Ordinance 2023-40, a zone change for Willis, was denied. A discussion of street light maintenance on county roads, as well as the challenges of winter travel and maintenance, with the commission agreeing to let the Sheriff and county employees work on a solution.
Tabled were a discussion on parking on county roads and review of the legislative session and commissioner assignments.
The last item was unanimous approval of the Proposed memorandum of Understanding between Kanab City and Kane County Regarding Operation of the Future Recreation Facility.
Kane County Commission meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at 2 p.m. in the Commission Chambers at the Kane County Courthouse. Agendas and meeting minutes can be found on Utah’s Public Notice website at utah.gov/pmn/ and at the county’s website at kane.utah.gov.
