Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the County Commission Update topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
County commissioner reports on dissolution of Thompson Springs Fire District, brine-mining letter and local watershed concerns
Summary
At the March 10 Planning Commission meeting, a county commissioner gave an update on actions taken at the Grand County Commission’s March 4 meeting, including the dissolution of the Thompson Springs Fire District and correspondence about brine-mining legislation.
At the March 10 Planning Commission meeting, a county commissioner gave an update on actions taken at the Grand County Commission’s March 4 meeting, including the dissolution of the Thompson Springs Fire District, a conditional-use-permit (CUP) approval for a Red Rock project, the appointment of a new zoning administrator, and county correspondence regarding state legislation on brine-mining.
The commissioner reported the Thompson Springs Fire District has been dissolved and its station will be integrated into Moab Valley Fire following annexation. She also said the county designated Chrissy Hoffline as the new zoning administrator; that appointment passed unanimously at the county commission meeting.
Regarding a Red Rock conditional use permit, the commissioner said the commission approved it by a 5–2 vote and noted concerns relating to watershed protection. "It had to be a CUP because it's over that Watershed Protection area," she said, and added that she and another commissioner voted against it to signal concern.
The commissioner described county correspondence supporting state-level guardrails on brine-mining activity. She said the county wrote a letter regarding House Bill 478 and that local residents and stakeholders in Green River raised concerns about potential contamination of aquifers and surface-water resources. The commissioner flagged a recent drilling blowout at a brine exploration site and said the flow reached an adjacent property that had been an old uranium tailings site but, according to her remarks, was contained there and did not reach the Green River.
She also told the planning commission the county will revisit local camping ordinances (referred to in the meeting as ordinance 6.31 and 6.22) at a future workshop and invited the planning commission to provide input when that workshop is scheduled in early April. The commissioner noted state statutory language now in effect that defines camping on state lands as overnight occupancy or the intent to occupy overnight, but said that state statute does not directly control unincorporated county lands.
These reports were delivered as updates from the county commission; no formal planning commission action was taken on these items during the March 10 meeting.
