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Uintah County Commission adopts animal-tethering and cemetery rules, approves procurements and policy updates
Summary
The commission approved a new dog-tethering ordinance and amendments to cemetery rules, authorized purchases including 15 landfill wind fences, updated HR safety policy 5-50, and awarded master-plan contracts for two parks. Warrants totaling $1.2 million were also approved.
The Uintah County Commission met in Vernal in March 2026 and moved forward on several ordinances, procurement awards and administrative items.
Devin Cobb presented ordinance O-03-11-2026-01 establishing standards for outdoor tethering of dogs, including minimum access to food and water, winter shelter/insulation requirements and mandatory swivel attachments to reduce entanglement. The county attorney raised concerns that some provisions overlap with existing cruelty-to-animals rules; Cobb said the ordinance provides specific standards where cruelty statutes are general. A commissioner moved to adopt the ordinance and the measure passed on verbal 'Aye' votes.
James Sharp, county cemetery manager, presented ordinance O-03-11-2026-02 to amend countywide cemetery rules. The changes impose structural standards for metal headstones, limit decorations nailed to trees, and set a clear Memorial Day timeline: public notices are posted at cemetery exits and decorations are removed the Monday after Memorial Day to enable maintenance. Commissioners asked whether cemetery contracts already require compliance; Sharp said interment contracts include adherence to county ordinances. The commission approved the amendments.
Human resources director Jen Garcia outlined updates to Policy 5-50 (Safety and Vehicle Operations). Key changes move bodily-injury reporting to Human Resources and property-incident reporting to the clerk/auditor's office (within five days), add the clerk/auditor or their delegate to the safety committee, and require employees who use personal vehicles for county business to maintain continuous liability insurance. Commissioners adopted the policy updates.
On procurement, Purchasing and Grants lead Trina Gardner reported three responsive bids for landfill wind (litter) fences. Meta Technologies submitted the lowest overall price; the commission authorized purchase of 15 units from Meta for a total of $121,800 and approved the purchase.
The Municipal Building Authority presented RFP results for master plans for Buckskin Hills Recreation Complex and Western Park. An evaluation committee recommended Sunrise Engineering and SE Group based on experience, approach and cost; the commission authorized issuing the contract to Sunrise for the combined projects.
County staff presented warrants dated March 12 totaling $1,200,039.15. Notable line items included a remodel payment to Brett Woods, a $32,000 annual landfill building payment and a $692,716 federal pass-through amount (the county said it is holding payment pending receipt of federal funds). Commissioners approved the warrants.
All motions recorded in the transcript were accepted by voice vote on the record (verbal 'Aye' responses). Individual roll-call tallies were not listed in the transcript.
