EVANSTON — The advance agenda for the Uinta County Commissioners for the June 19 regular meeting was fairly light and included a board appointment, grant acceptance approvals, the drug court contract and a WIC agreement. In an item not on the advance agenda, the ongoing concerns and communication problems related to the Uinta County Fair were again addressed. 

Nicole Simmons asked to be added to the agenda, and when she went to the podium she said she was concerned because of advertising saying online entries for the fair would be available June 9; however, they were not actually available until the day of the meeting on June 19. 

Simmons said there had been multiple meetings and discussions since last year’s fair, yet “things aren’t being held to the standards or the agreements we had at the meeting.” 

The specific meeting Simmons referenced was a lengthy meeting between county officials, members of the Uinta County Fair Board and representatives of 4-H held in December, during which a timeline was developed to address some of the concerns about missed deadlines and confusion surrounding fair entries. 

The concerns and tensions surrounding the fair were also involved in the decision by the Uinta County Commissioners earlier this year to discontinue paying a portion of 4-H manager Dawn Sanchez’s salary.

Simmons said the fair website did not have accurate information because the schedule tab was still showing the 2017 schedule instead of a current 2018 one, which had resulted in some people requesting days off from work based on an inaccurate schedule. She said there were also problems with accessing updated vendor applications for the fair. 

“A huge issue has been made of deadlines,” said Simmons, “so why does the fair board get to miss deadlines?” 

“We can’t get things fixed if nobody says anything,” she said, “but nobody wants to stand here and tell you there’s a problem, so that’s why I’m here.” 

The commissioners made notes on Simmons’ concerns and thanked her for bringing them to their attention, and then commissioner Craig Welling asked her about the cancellation of this year’s 4-H camp. 

Simmons confirmed the camp had been cancelled and said 4-H leaders were frustrated with the situation as well. She said the decision had been made by Bridger (Feuz, University of Wyoming extension educator) due to new requirements about chaperones at camp. 

Simmons said the new requirements stipulate that adult chaperones are no longer able to stay in a cabin with youth unless there are two chaperones present. The other option would be to have no chaperones actually staying in youth cabins and instead having adults stay in separate quarters. 

She said Bridger wasn’t comfortable with the idea of adults not staying directly with the kids, and there’s a problem recruiting enough chaperones to have two adults per cabin, so camp was cancelled. She said it’s definitely disappointing and frustrating and a loss for the approximately 100 kids who attend 4H camp. 

The commissioners inquired about chaperone requirements, and Simmons said chaperones must be over 18 and must go through training and pass an exam to be certified to act as a chaperone. She said finding enough male chaperones is especially difficult. 

In relation to other items on the agenda, Kent Williams was appointed to the Healthcare Trust Board, a Volunteers of America grant was accepted, the drug court counseling contract was approved, and a county agreement to pay for business expenses for the WIC office was also approved.