EVANSTON — On Tuesday, Jan. 2, the Uinta County Commissioners dealt with the salary contribution agreement between Uinta County and the University of Wyoming Extension Office of $18,135 semi-annually for 4-H Youth Development Educator Dawn Sanchez.

Commissioner Fraughton made a motion not to accept this agreement, which was seconded by Commissioner Craig Welling. The motion to no longer contribute funds toward Sanchez’s salary passed unanimously.

Uinta County Clerk Amanda Hutchinson, in an email to the Herald, declined to comment on the situation other than to say, “The Commissioners chose not to accept the salary contribution agreement, meaning they won’t be paying the University of Wyoming Extension for a portion of Dawn’s salary as they have in the past. The University of Wyoming is her employer, so I would not be comfortable speculating on their plans.” 

Extension Office Agriculture and Horticulture Educator Bridger Feuz, said he was unable to answer specific questions regarding Sanchez’s position as it is a confidential personnel matter. He said he could state with certainty that the UW Extension Office is committed to 4-H in Uinta County and he believes county officials are as well. 

Multiple vacancies but few applicants describes the situation facing the commissioners in appointing individuals to several county boards. 

The Healthcare Trust and Veterans boards both had three open positions. Patricia Arnold, the only applicant, was reappointed to the Healthcare Trust Board. The Veterans Board had two applicants; Candice Carroll and Robin Smith were both reappointed. 

The Economic Development, Fair, and Planning and Zoning boards each had two open positions. Only one person applied for the Economic Development Board, and Brent Hatch was appointed to that position. Mark McGurn and Curtis Rex, the only two applicants, were appointed to the Planning and Zoning Commission. 

The Fair Board — the only board for which there were more applicants than available positions — had three applicants for two open positions. However, the decision was made that one of the commissioners themselves should serve in one spot, so Eric South will serve with Wendell Fraughton stepping in if South is unable to attend. Robin Whitmore was appointed to the second position. 

Nita Duncan, the sole applicant for one open position, was reappointed to the Library Board. Chet Alexander, also the sole applicant, was appointed to the one open position on the Predatory Animal Control Board. 

There were no applications received for either the Human Services Tri-Partite Board or the Lincoln-Uinta Revolving Loan Fund Board. 

In other business, Uinta County Drug Court Officer Aaron Hutchinson approached the commissioners for acceptance of a contracted sum of $3,850 from the Department of Health to be used to drug test program participants. 

Hutchinson said this is actually only about a quarter of what is needed for the testing that is required at least twice weekly. He said he is quite frustrated with the situation because this is a decrease in funding for the program, with a new separation of testing funds from other program funds. 

“We used to get test kits from the Department of Health, but they don’t want to do that anymore,” he said.

There is a huge range in costs for purchasing test kits elsewhere, said Hutchinson. He said he has found kits as low as about $5 and as high as around $100. 

He said they are looking into all available options to get the best bulk rate for purchasing the spot test kits. Any positive results on the spot tests must be sent off to a lab for confirmation of the results.

Although Hutchinson was obviously unhappy with the situation, he requested the commissioners accept the contract and the limited funding, which they did. 

The commissioners also made the decision to request cooperative agency status with the Bureau of Land Management for purposes of sage grouse resource management. The three men agreed it was best to pursue this status in order to secure “a seat at the table” in future discussions on sage grouse management and planning. 

Uinta County Public Health Manager Kim Proffit presented the commissioners with a request for a signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the county and Bear Lake Community Health Centers. Proffit said the MOU really didn’t obligate either party, but was to formalize an agreement to work together to improve community health.

“Due to our poor ranking in the county health rankings, we’ve pursued a coalition to try to improve,” said Proffit. Bear Lake Community Health Centers operates in the region and the agency is an approved provider of low-cost services to lower-income individuals. The two agencies are working together to improve overall health in Uinta County.

Proffit also told the commissioners that Public Health is working with the Evanston Rec Center to start offering a track-only pass, to provide a lower-cost option for people who only want to use the track for walking or running as opposed to paying for a full general-use pass to the recreation center.