EVANSTON — Plenty of light-hearted jokes about emotional attachment were made at the Oct. 3 county commission meeting among county commissioners, Sheriff Andy Kopp, and Jeff Breininger of Uinta County Maintenance regarding requests for money to trade in old vehicles for new patrol vehicles, and the recent county surplus sale.

Kopp requested the approval of $20,200 and permission to trade in six current fleet vehicles for used vehicles at the local Yeti dealership. He listed numerous issues with the vehicles to be upgraded such as: high miles, brake issues, “knocking,” etc.  He mentioned that it’d be more cost-effective to trade them in as opposed to trying to offload them at a future surplus sale.

Commissioner Mark Anderson recused himself from voting, citing a conflict of interest as he is attached to the Yeti Group, and commissioners Eric South and Brett Hatch both approved the proposal.

Breininger presented the outcome of the recent county surplus sales and requested permission to clear the items out of county storage. The grand total was $29,386, while non-vehicular sales totaled $1,732.  Furniture and other sales tallied $880. The motion was approved.

County planner Kent Williams and Fred Coles with Wasatch Surveying spoke about the Warren Hales subdivision regarding a map amendment, which was approved. Williams also requested the correction of two resolution descriptions of the Brinton 3rd  subdivisions.

The relocation and expansion of the Bear River Veterinarian Clinic, to Hwy. 89 N. was revisited after having been postponed previously. Williams, along with Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) Sam Nielsen, requested a conditional use permit for a 13-acre parcel of land currently zoned as Agricultural and Regenerative Development (ARD) property to have two structures built on it to serve as the future site of the clinic. One structure would be a small-animal clinic; the second proposed structure would be a barn to tend to larger animals, such as horses and cows.

Williams said that while the proposed business is commercial in nature, “it is a good location with no foreseeable negative drawbacks, and only a positive contribution to the community.”  Williams added that the planning and zoning commission unanimously and favorably approved the proposal earlier in August.

“This will allow all sorts of things to better serve Evanston, and hopefully expand [in] southwest Wyoming,” Nielsen said.

He described how difficult it is to find equine vets, and that most of the higher-end equine and large animal medicine is in Utah, requiring locals to travel, which isn’t ideal in the case of emergency situations. Nielsen also hoped that a new, high-end facility would not only help recruit other vets to relocate to the area, but that in turn would make 24-hour emergency services available, allowing more vets to alternate on-call shifts. 

Adding more vets to their current operation would offer residents better round-the-clock care, he said, in addition to a better work-life balance for the four current vets currently employed at the clinic.

The future vet clinic will be easily accessible by many future clients via I-80, he said. Nielsen was also quick to note that with such close proximity to the College of Veterinary Medicine at Utah State in Logan, Utah, there was hope to contract with the school for student training. 

Williams said it’s not necessary to change the zoning code and a conditional use permit would allow the clinic to operate as a business on ARD land in perpetuity, with any caveats or restrictions to be at the commissioners’ discretion. Commissioners unanimously approved the conditional use permit.