Rhonda Kippen is the newest member of the Morgan County Council. Kippen was appointed by the council to finish the term of Rodney Haslam after he resigned for health reasons.
The votes are all tallied and winners declared in the county races. Don Mathews will continue his service on the council representing district five. Mathews beat opponent Austin Turner by forty six votes with 53.4% of the vote. This race had been too close to call until the absentee and provisional ballots were counted.
We recently completed ‘mid-term’ elections. As usual Morgan citizens responded well with a relatively high percentage turn out. As a community we, like the rest of the nation, were mostly focused on the national scene. It is, after all, what we see and hear in the news. Unfortunately, sometimes we do not pay as close attention to what is going on in our own county as we should.
At the finish line of the 2010 Morgan County Elections on Tuesday night, there were many incumbents that crossed the finish line ahead of their competition and will remain in their positions with the county. Two of those incumbents that voters chose to return to office included Jann Farris as Morgan County’s Attorney who received 67% of the vote and Brenda Nelson as Morgan County Recorder with 58% of the vote.
The council met on Wednesday morning and appointed Rhonda Kippen to the county council. Member Karen Sunday moved that Kippen be appointed and Member Al Lundgren seconded the motion. Kippen was appointed with Member Sunday, Lundgren, Kelley, and Hansen voting in favor and Member Mathews and Chairman Creager opposing.
For the last several years the county has been considering a new building for county services. The county currently leases space for the animal shelter from a local veterinarian, Dr Lott. The cost of this contract could pay for a bond of approximately $350,000. The county is also hopeful that they can obtain a grant from the NRA for $50,000 for a classroom in the building that could be used for many different applications, including hunter’s safety and other training programs.
There will be four proposals on the ballot for constitutional amendments. The first two were covered last week. This week the other two will be reviewed.
There was some debate on Tuesday night in council meeting about what is likely a relatively innocuous contract. The debate, however, may be a reflection of challenges the county will continue to face when approving contracts.
Council Members Attending: Tina Kelley, Sid Creager, Al Lundgren, Howard Hansen, Karen Sunday, Don Mathews
Public Hearing for Lease Revenue Bonds
See Article A New Building for the County
In the county council meeting on Tuesday night, the council considered applicants for the district four council position. This position was recently vacated by Member Rod Haslam, who is suffering with health problems. The applicants were Fred Jacobson, Jim Jones, and Ronda Kippen.
Jacobson, Jones and Kippen appeared together before the council and answered questions. The candidates began with a summary of themselves and their qualifications.
Cottonwood area of Mountain Green.
Malan was sited for driving under the influence (DUI), leaving the scene of an injury accident, unsafe lane travel, expired registration, carrying a concealed weapon while intoxicated, and open container.
Kimlyn Porter is a candidate for County Recorder. The recorder tracks land ownership and changes as well as providing information for the county assessor for taxing. Porter is running against the current county recorder, Brenda Nelson.
Last Tuesday night a debate was held between the candidates for County Attorney, Al Lundgren and Jann Farris. The debate was moderated by Brent Bowman.
The Morgan 2nd District Court gallery was filled to near capacity at Monday’s arraignment for Garth Day as he and his attorneys, Brad Smith and Amy Hugie, entered the courtroom. Day stood beside his defense lawyers and listened as the presiding judge, Judge Michael DiReda read the long list of charges against him. Day then confirmed for the judge that he had received a copy of the list of 43 charges against him.
Jim Montgomery is a candidate for county council district 2. District 2 runs from the Garnet Drive intersection up to the Peterson Overpass; this includes all of Peterson up to Smith Creek and through Enterprise, to and including the West side of Stoddard Lane.
Montgomery is running against Lyle Nelson.
Rod Haslam was elected to the Morgan County Council in the county’s 2008 election. He began serving his term in office at the beginning of 2009. In this week’s county council meeting, Haslam resigned from his position after serving for two of the four years in his elected term.
In a night that began with conflict and accusations, Chairman Sid Creager took center stage at the council meeting on behalf of the council to explain, to the extent they are able with the investigation continuing, the events that led up to the charges being filed against Garth Day. Chairman Creager also explained the decision process that brought about the council administrator position to be posted on the county website.
In the last council meeting the council made the decision to inform Rollins Ranch that they are in default. Over the past year there has been contact on many occasions between the residents of Rollins Ranch and the county. The subdivision has received neither conditional nor final acceptance since the developer has not completed the required improvements. Because of this the county is not in a position to offer services to these residents.
Emotions were running high and rhetoric was strong during the public comment period in the county council meeting on Tuesday. There were many more attendees at the council meeting than usual, and outbursts from the group attending were common. All of the comments related to the recent events surrounding the charges filed against former council administrator Garth Day.
Garth Day, former County Council Administrator has been charged with forty three criminal charges. Day has been being investigated for the past few months, and the investigation has finally reached the point at which charges are being filed. Day has been served with 38 felony and 5 misdemeanors. He has been subpeonaed to appear in the Second District Court in Morgan on Monday, October 4, 2010 at 9:00 a.m.
Last week The Morgan County News reported on a Meet the Candidate night. County Attorney Jann Farris was unable to attend. Many of the questions were directed to Al Lundgren, candidate for Morgan County Attorney.
The race for the Morgan County Sheriff seems to be decided as Neil Porter has withdrawn from the race. Porter contacted the county office on Tuesday and informed them he would be withdrawing from the election, and removed all of his political signs.
It was a divided discussion in the work meeting at the county building on Tuesday night. The meeting included most department heads in the county as well as nearly all of the elected officials.
Council Members Attending: Rodney Haslam, Tina Kelley, Sid Creager, Al Lundgren, Howard Hansen, Karen Sunday, David Mathews
Public Comment
A citizen commented on the new roads. The citizen appreciates the quality of the new roads, but would like to see lines striped on the roads more quickly.
The Morgan County News is spotlighting the new teachers in The Morgan County Schools. This is the second of three weeks of the profiles. We hope you get to know the people that teach your children.
In a statement at the Morgan County Council meeting on Tuesday, Chairman Sid Creager announced that Morgan County Council Administrator Garth Day had been placed on unpaid administrative leave while an investigation is completed into improprieties with financial accounts.
Ned Mecham is a candidate for the County Council at Large B Seat. He is running against Jeremy Barker. The entire county votes for the candidates running for the at large seats. This is the seat currently held by Council Chairman Sid Creager.
Photo - Back Row: Tom Rogers, Allen Rust, Ward Winchester, Al Morgan, Phil Castel, Mark Wilkinson, Tony Hassel, Robert Poll, Frank Bohman, Fred Bohman, Gene Ercanbrack, Vaughn Carter, Bud Olson, Keith Carrigan, George Hopkins, Bruce Widdison, Wayne Carter, Eddie Morgan Dean Duncan, (Missing Bruce Giles)
Middle Row: Carolyn (Porter) Morgan, Linda (Jensen) Roberts, Ann (Carrigan) Miller, Stephanie (Hopkins) Nance, Marsha Ann (Turner) Martin, Connie (Clark), Shannon (Reed) Croft, Mary Beth (Bates) Edwards, Arlene (Head) Taylor, Judy (Olsen) Barker, Sue (Allen) Brooks
Front Row: Sheila (Redden) Wilkinson, Maria (Chard) Neville, Joan (Simmons) Mortensen, Karel Mae (Butters) Dickson, Nell (Thurston) Nickerson, Cleo Mortensen) Stuart, Happy (Hulet) Fry
Contributed by
Happy (Hap) Hulet Fry
On August 6 and 7 of 2010. Our High School years started when we were in the 7th Grade 1955 through the 12th Grade 1960. So the committee started looking for all class mates from the time we started our High School Years.
The County’s independent auditor reported in his findings in the council meeting on Tuesday. The first item he reported upon was the Stoddard Bridge project. Some questions had been raised about whether money had been appropriately handled and the council had asked for a special audit of these funds.
Anna Tibbits of Morgan won an essay contest put on by the Morgan County Library. Librarian Valarie Hancok gives the award to Anna that a recent council meeting. Looking on is County Attorney Jann Farris. The Morgan County News is proud to bring it to our readers ...
Fire Chief Dave Rich presented at the County Council meeting on Tuesday night at the request of Council Chairman Creager. Rich reported to the council that the fire department had responded to a fire near the county’s television antennae. As they were travelling to the site, one of the county’s brush trucks repeatedly slipped out of gear causing delays and a safety hazard.
At the council meeting on Tuesday night, the Clark family presented to the council about a proposal brought to them from UDOT (the Utah Department of Transportation). UDOT has been working with the Clarks and Morgan City to arrange to trade land in the city’s industrial park to build a new facility to house the State’s road maintenance vehicles and supplies.
Chairman Creager took about an hour to review the state of the county’s finances in the council meeting on Tuesday night. The information he shared was intended to prepare the council for the presentation by the independent auditor scheduled for the next council meeting. It also provided background for the mid year review of the budget where the Council makes adjustments to account for unexpected expenditures and to take into account grants awarded to the county.
Garth Day, County Council Administrator tendered his resignation today. He is required under his employment contract to give ninety days notice. Day indicated that his last day will be November 1, 2010. He expressed that he is resigning to “pursue other interests.” He is giving more notice than required to help the county have time to find a replacement and have a smooth transition.
Blaine Breshears is a long time Morgan resident. His family moved from West Valley to Morgan in 1979. Breshears attended school in Morgan and graduated from Morgan High in 1987.
When one gets involved in politics in Morgan County it is only a matter of minutes before encountering Larry Hatch. Hatch is easily the most active person in the County in politics. He serves as the Chairman for the Republican Party. Although Hatch clearly communicates conservative values, he has been diligent in ensuring that all voices and all viewpoints be heard, whenever possible.
Morgan County officially has a new council member as of 9:00 am Monday morning. Don Matthews was sworn in as the replacement for David Gardiner for District Five by Stacy Lafitte, county clerk. Gardiner recently resigned from the position when he moved out of the county.
Monday night in a special session of the county council the applicants for County Council District Five were reviewed. There were two applicants, Donald Matthews and Austin Turner; both are candidates for this position on the council in the fall election.
The following items were discussed:
Scott Gardner/Gardner Development – Proposal to have permits remain valid and transfer of fees paid previously to a new building permit request
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