Utah County Commission appoints Amelia Powers Gardner, approves policy changes and sets May 12 budget hearing

Amelia Powers Gardner, who had served as Utah County clerk-auditor, was appointed as the interim replacement to fill a county commission vacancy and announced her resignation as clerk-auditor after accepting the appointment. "It is with the acceptance of me as being appointed to fill the vacancy on the county commission. I do resign my seat as the county clerk auditor," she said, praising county staff for recent election administration work.

The commission approved the appointment and scheduled the oath of office for the appointee to be administered the following day "at 04:00" at the Old Historical Courthouse. Commissioners recorded voice votes on the formal motions; the meeting transcript records the routine voice tallies as "That passes 2 0."

In other formal actions, the commission adopted a resolution amending the county policy on food and gifts for county business after staff and commissioners said the draft addressed prior concerns. The body also approved a small intra-departmental budget transfer of $2,000 to cover mid-year contract costs for printers and copiers; a separate $50,000 civil attorney item discussed earlier had been addressed in a prior action.

County staff briefed commissioners on a proposed text amendment to the Utah County land use ordinance (chapter 6.04) prompted by concerns from the state engineer's office about general adjudication of water rights; the commission referred that draft to the Planning Commission for public hearings and further vetting.

Finally, the commission set a public hearing on revisions to the county's 2021 budgets and revenue estimates for Wednesday, May 12 at 3:00 p.m. in Room 14 of the Utah County Administration Building. The meeting concluded after a closed-session item and an adjournment vote.