Content about director

Resident asks for ice rink in Mountain Green park

A Morgan County employee since 2009 has moved up the ranks to accept a position as the new planning and development services department director.

At the Sons of Utah Pioneers monthly dinner meeting on Nov. 19, winners of the Favorite Pioneer Ancestor contest were announced and recognized along with their parents.  

Although down a planning and development director, the Morgan County Planning and Development Services department is hopping. 

In the name of public safety, the Morgan County Council is ready to take on pesky address issues, including involving city officials.

Snowbasin Resort is pleased to announce the appointment of Peter Baker as Snowbasin’s new Food & Beverage Director, effective September 4, 2012.
Peter has spent over 12 years in the leadership & planning position for several top rated resorts the most recent being at Grand Targee as their Beverage, Dinning, & Entertainment Director. Prior to that, Peter spent several years at Idaho’s Tamarack and Northern California’s Kirkwood Resorts as director of their food & beverage departments. "With such an extensive background in the resort food & beverage industry, Peter will be a great addition to Snowbasin," said John Loomis General Manager of Snowbasin Resort.

Matthew Godfrey, Morgan City’s economic development consultant, is “very confident” he has found a developer who wants to build a hotel in the area.  However, Godfrey says a letter from the Morgan County Council supporting improvements along the banks of the Weber River near Como Springs and the county fairgrounds would go a long way in bringing a hotel project to fruition.

The Morgan Academy of Dance and Tumbling presented their students from the three studios, in three shows, at one place: Morgan High School Auditorium. The three studios are located in Morgan, Mountain Green, and Coalville.

Each month Morgan County 4-H has hosted a family craft night at the courthouse.  Crafts have varied and reflect the season.  Aprils craft celebrated Earth Day by planting different kinds of seeds in toilet paper containers to grow indoors until it is warm enough for them to survive outside.  Kelly Carter 4-H Assistant has planned and presented the activities.

Barbara Anderson has been at the heart of the Weber State University Morgan Center since the office opened in the summer of 2001.  She has seen incredible growth in the classes and services offered during the time she has been director. She is retiring from her position as the Director of the WSU Morgan Center and as an employee of Weber State University this spring after 11 years.  Pam Carter will be the new director of the center.

The county has been experiencing steady increases in incidents on the county waterways.  County Emergency Management Director Terry Turner reported that on peak summer days there are five hundred individuals on county rivers.  About three years ago the county invested in training and equipment to prepare for any incidents.  The team, called the swift water rescue team is made up of two parts.  The first is called the “hasty team” and is called out initially to assess the situation and to begin operations.  The full team has a little less than twenty members who can be called on for larger operations.  Because the team is made up of volunteers who have other jobs not all members are available for all calls. Last year the team was activated three or four times.   There were two near drowning incidents in the county last year and the issues seem to be trending higher each year. Turner requested pay given to compensate individuals for the time they spend.  Individuals who participate are required to complete extensive training on an annual basis on how to perform water rescues safely. The council approved $6,000 annually for pay to the swift water rescue team unanimously.

This year, each month a Junior or Senior Art Student from Morgan High School will display their art work in the local art gallery. Amy Everhart, gallery director explained, “the students can sign up in their high school art class to have their work displayed for a month.” 

“It’s been great,”said Tracy Kummer, Food Pantry Director with Morgan County Community Services, reflecting on the past two years. She continued, “the support from the community has been wonderful! when the word gets out, the people really dig in there and help.”

Flyers are being distributed.... collection boxes placed..... sounds like a food drive, but more specific than the regular food drive. Ryan Millburn’s Eagle Scout Project is to help provide Thanksgiving for some Morgan County families. Ryan is working with Morgan County Food Pantry to accomplish this goal.

Mr. Mills is our new choral director at Morgan Middle School and Morgan High School this year. At the middle school he teaches Mixed Choir and Advanced Choir and at the high school he directs Concert Choir, Millennial Choir, and Ovation!, the school’s chamber choir. Mr. Mills graduated from Cottonwood High School and went on to graduate from the University of Utah. His fun, happy personality fits right in with his students and when asked why he chose to teach choir he replied, “Because I’ll never grow up.” He loves spending time with the kids at school. Mr. Mills is a fabulous pianist and a wonderful asset to the schools’ choral program. 

On Sunday, October 9, Renn and Valeri Hoopes had their twenty-ninth wedding anniversary. Both make important contributions to our community as educators at Morgan High School.  Mrs. Hoopes teaches Biology and Mr. Hoopes is the Assistant Principal and Athletic Director. The couple has worked here all fourteen years that they have lived in Morgan. They both grew up in Star Valley, Wyoming although they weren’t high school sweethearts. Mr. Hoopes’ sister encouraged him to take her friend Valeri on a date, and the rest is history! They were married in Star Valley, Wyoming and sealed in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. 

Recently, it was decided in a meeting with Morgan School District Superintendent Ken Adams and Special Education Director, Steven Wood, what to do with the money that was raised from the community theatre’s production of “Annie”.

 Morgan has recently had a taste of cultural with the performance of Annie. The Morgan Community Theatre sang and danced their way into the hearts of all attendees, this past week. 

The return of warmer weather has resulted in the dams in the area flowing over their spillways.  This week Lost Creek, Echo, and East Canyon all began flowing over their spillways.  The cooler temperatures of the last several weeks have, so far, moderated the flooding effects and the rivers are below the peak levels of a few weeks ago.  There remains significant snow pack in the mountains, however, so continued warm weather or significant rainfall could cause flooding again in the county.  Emergency management director, Terry Turner commented that many in the county feel that the danger of flooding is past, but that concern still remains for the next several weeks as the snow continues to melt.

By Mike Shope, Transportation Director and Robert Kilmer, District Transportation

For more than half a century the Morgan School district bus facility has been located on State Street between Larry’s Spring Chicken Inn and Steph’s Drive-in.  Before dawn each morning, you see the parking lot full of buses warming up and getting ready for a day of transporting students. There is a precession of buses leaving in every direction alerting citizens that school will soon be in session. 

With a nip in the air, a cup of hot cocoa in hand, and a quiet evening to reflect on the beginning of this school year, I pause to revel in gratitude for a moment at being in this time and place. 

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.

Robert Kilmer is a teacher at Morgan High School.  He came to Morgan fifteen years ago to teach and to live in the beautiful rural environment that is Morgan County.  He currently teaches welding and machine tools, and is the CTE (Career Technology Education) director at Morgan High School.