Emery County Travel Board ratifies MOU with Farrin City to fund agriculture center rebuild

Emery County’s Travel Board ratified a memorandum of understanding with Farrin City on Nov. 12 to apply a previously committed $25,000 in transient room tax (TRT) funds toward rebuilding Farrin’s agriculture center, described in the meeting as the community’s stock show barn.

Staff told the board the travel bureau and the county commission had approved committing funds in September and that a letter of intent and the MOU had since been drafted and signed. “Back in September, we made a motion and approved, committing funds towards Farrin’s agriculture center rebuild, which is the rebuild of the stock show barn,” an agency staff member said, asking the board to ratify the executed agreement so the invoice could be processed.

Larry Johansson moved to ratify the MOU and an unidentified board member seconded. Several members voiced their approval during the roll call: the chair recorded affirmative votes by Ren, Cathy Gardner, Larry Johansson and Lacey Hardman. The chair noted the invoice had been sent for processing following signature.

Staff said the MOU was prepared to align with end‑of‑year spending and that the item had already been routed for commission review and signature. The staff presentation also described the earlier approval as a commitment made in September and explained the operational need to expedite the agreement so the funds could be spent before year‑end.

Next steps noted by staff included processing the invoice and drafting a longer‑term agreement option. Staff suggested exploring a three‑ or five‑year arrangement for EMS and similar recurring allocations to avoid the annual rush to reauthorize one‑time funding.

The board’s ratification was procedural; no amendment or additional funding was proposed during the Nov. 12 motion. The board moved on to scheduled reports after the vote.