Carbon County Commission approves land leases, grants, ordinances and contract amendments

At a regular meeting of the Carbon County Commission, commissioners approved a land lease with Clean Development International for 20 acres in the county industrial park, authorized staff to pursue several grant applications including a T‑Mobile Hometown Grant and a Community Based Child Abuse Prevention RFGA (No. 91216), accepted the Department of Health and Human Services audit of 4 Corners Behavioral Health for calendar year 2024, approved a land lease with the Utah Communications Authority for a communications tower site, adopted two ordinances (one rezoning and one franchise), approved amendments to the county's solid waste disposal agreement, and authorized the purchase of building inspection software.

The county entered into a three-year lease with Clean Development International with an option to purchase, a move county staff said positions the company to build on-site rail access and could bring 40 to 60 jobs to the area. Jenny (county staff) told commissioners the company is a gasification-to-renewable-natural-gas firm and chose the county site because of the potential to build rail infrastructure. "They will be bringing 40 to 60 jobs to the area," Jenny said, adding the lease includes a three-year option to purchase.

Commissioners approved a separate land-lease agreement with the Utah Communications Authority (UCA) for the county's Four Mile site to allow construction of an additional tower. Barry (county maintenance/communications staff) said the new structure is intended to create a redundant backhaul link to other mountaintop sites, improving reliability for county emergency services including the sheriff's office and ambulance operations. The UCA will cover construction costs and maintain occupancy of existing building space on the site.

The commission also adopted ordinance No. 584, changing zoning on parcel 02-1861-0001 from Mining and Grazing to Commercial 2 to permit a new shop for CJ CG Holdings/CastleGate Engineering, following a positive recommendation from the planning commission and a public hearing with no objections. Commissioners separately approved ordinance No. 585, updating a long-standing franchise agreement to reflect the company name change to Enbridge Gas for construction, operation and maintenance of the gas distribution system in unincorporated parts of the county.

On procurement and contracts, commissioners acknowledged a low bid from Nilsons Construction for an asphalt contract and separately authorized county road department staff to review and award bids for industrial oils and related products after staff evaluation. Commissioners approved a motion to let Daniel and John in the road department review industrial-oil bids and award based on their review.

The commission approved a purchase of CityInspector building-inspection software to streamline permit tracking, plan review notifications and scheduling. Staff described a $5,800 one-time initial setup fee and an annual subscription of $2,500; staff said a five-year contract would include a $1,500 discount, bringing first-year costs to $6,800. County staff said permit and inspection revenues should cover the software costs.

Republic Services (operating as ECDC in East Carbon) asked to amend the county's 2007 solid waste disposal agreement to allow a 3% price increase, citing fuel and cost pressures. Chris Gronklis, operations manager at ECDC, said calendar-year 2024 tonnage delivered to the landfill was roughly 208,000 tons and that the next tier for lower per-ton rates begins above the tier break (as described by Gronklis). The commission approved the amendment.

On human services and grants, the commission accepted the annual audit of 4 Corners Behavioral Health conducted by the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. County staff said the audit was largely clean with a single minor noncompliance: a lower-than-desired mental-health scorecard completion rate tied to difficulty getting some clients to complete surveys. The provider has an action plan to increase survey completion and training for case managers.

Shelly (county staff) asked for approval to submit an application for the Community Based Child Abuse Prevention RFGA (No. 91216). Shelly described a proposed Family Resource and Parent Hub intended to offer drop-in resource coordination, assessments and mobile outreach, complementing existing home-visiting services that serve children birth to 5. Commissioners approved the grant application and signed the required conflict-of-interest certification.

Courtney Cox (county staff) requested approval to apply for a T‑Mobile Hometown Grant seeking slightly more than $20,000 (T‑Mobile funds up to $50,000). Courtney said the requested funds would be used to finish improvements at North Springs park—replacing picnic tables, folding tables, chairs and similar items—complementing about $54,000 earlier awarded by the county tax advisory board for infrastructure repairs.

Finally, the commission approved the county’s continued property-tax-exemption list for 2025 with a few administrative removals and denials noted by staff. County staff said one regular recipient, Carbon Medical, had not yet submitted paperwork; staff will consider additions later in the year if qualifying documentation is provided. The county also noted the Catholic Diocese sold one parcel that was removed from the exemption list.

Votes at a glance: the motions described above were moved and seconded during the meeting and, where recorded in the transcript, were approved by the commission (minutes record "All in favor? Aye. Motion carries" for each listed action). The transcript does not include a roll-call vote tally for those motions.

Ending: Commissioners closed the meeting after finishing items on the published agenda and directed staff to follow up on contracts, grant submissions and any required documentation for property-tax exemptions.