The agenda for the December 17 meeting of the Kane County Commission - notably, Commissioner Wade Heaton’s final meeting as Commissioner - hosted a hearty 19 items. Public comment had one citizen of Kane County, who objected to the process by which the commission selected the candidates for the Kane County Planning and Zoning Committee.
Left to right:
(L-R) Commissioners Kubeja and Meyeres; Extra Miler Honorees Bert Harris, Johnny Roundy, Clayton Cutler and Hayden Gant; Commissioner Heaton.
(L-R) Commissioners Kubeja and Meyeres; Planning and Zoning Honorees Gwen Brown and Byard Kershaw; Commissioner Heaton.
Commissioner Heaton and family, taking a photo marking Heaton’s last meeting as Commissioner.
The first item on the regular session agenda was the county’s Extra Miler Award. Said Commissioner Heaton, “This is something we don’t get to do that often and it’s a wonderful part of what we do … we recognize employees who have gone above and beyond. This year we couldn’t narrow it down to just one, so we have selected four we can honor with the extra miler award.” The first employee so honored was Clayton Cutler of the Government Affairs department; the second honoree was Johnny Roundy with County Roads; third was Hayden Gant with the IT department; the fourth and final honor went to Bert Harris. Each employee received a certificate.
The next agenda item was another recognition, this time for Gwen Brown and Byard Kershaw in their service on the Kane County Planning and Zoning Board. Said Commissioner Heaton, “Planning and Zoning is a challenging assignment, and it is always impressive to me when people are willing to stand up to that level of scrutiny.” Kershaw and Brown were presented with sandstone plaques to honor their service on the planning and zoning board.
The following item on the agenda recognized and renewed the cooperative agreement with the Utah State University extension services for 2025. The agreement with the university includes a variety of educational and economic programs within Kane County, and the commissioners expressed their gratitude for the hard work of the representatives of USU and the county.
County Emergency Response Manager Alan Alldredge, along with representatives of various wildland fire fighting personnel, then reported on their budgets and the county’s participation in the local cooperative emergency management agreement. Many counties’ contributions, Kane included, increased this year, owing to the high number of burnt acres and fires that required response from the agreement - the commission voted to approve the continuation of the agreement with the adjusted costs.
The following agenda item appointed Lara Clayson and Juile Millard, and reappointed Mayson Haycock, to the Kane County Planning and Zoning Board. Commissioner Heaton thanked the candidates for their willingness to serve. The motion was made and passed unanimously.
The commission then heard a report from the county’s Center for Education, Business and the Arts (CEBA), which included a proposal for a Cost of Living Adjustment for CEBA board and staff. CEBA director Kelly Stowell thanked the county for their partnership, a sentiment reciprocated by Commissioner Kubeja on behalf of the county. The commission approved the proposed budget by resolution.
The next items on the agenda, which were rearranged to accommodate for time, were a series of zone change requests from the East Zion properties, as presented by County Land Use Authority Shannon McBride. The commission confirmed that the commercial areas would stay confined to a specific area along the major roads, and that much of the land in the area would be kept in conservation. Per McBride, “What I can say about Kevin [McLaws, of East Zion Property], is that he has kept true to his word; he does not want to see this become the next Springdale, he is keeping to his honest intentions to keep business clustered up.”
The following items were property plat confirmations and were approved in short order. In keeping with recent updates to county and state code, these items will be approved or denied by McBride as Land Use Authority, rather than coming before the commission, starting in 2025.
The commission next considered the Kane County Economic Opportunity Board’s recommended grant proposals; these proposals include the Raising Kane Business Summit and Entrepreneur Business Challenge. More information on both are available at raisingkanesummit.com. Further projects include a traffic right of way in Church Wells, the East Zion Transportation shuttle project, grants for the Local Vendors’ Market and Small Business Grants. The commission approved the grants unanimously.
The next item on the agenda was a resolution changing county policy allowing employees to be directly compensated for unused vacation leave on a yearly basis, which the commission approved. The commission, in coordination with County Attorney Rob Van Dyke and HR Director Rhonda Gant, established the language and procedure with a lengthy discussion on the qualifications for the new policies.
The commission then considered a resolution for the privacy policy on the county website, to bring the county more in line with state code regarding personal information. The updated policy is available in a statement on the Kane County website. The meeting then went on to address the upcoming retirement of the County Public Defender, preparing contracts for further public defenders and vesting the authority to select candidates to Commissioner Kubeja. The regular time of commission was rescheduled from 2 p.m. to 10 a.m., with the schedule to be published in the upcoming issue of the paper and online on the county website.
Following a brief report covering the unveiling of the Marsha Hughes Cannon statue in Washington DC and an update on the Alton Coal Road construction beginning, the meeting came to a close.
