Blanding puts water pricing at tier three

by David Boyle
News Director
Members of the Blanding City Council unanimously passed orange tiered pricing for water on the heels of a dry winter, the third highest of four tiers for water pricing in the city.
City Manager Pratt Redd and City Public Works Director Patrick Parsons  recommended the proactive shift due to “bleak” snowpack levels, which recently measured only nine inches compared to a 35-inch average. Recapture Reservoir is at only 29 percent capacity and unlikely to fill this year.
“There is no scenario where we stay in ‘Green’ this year,” Redd told the council, noting that the goal is to curb usage early to avoid “Red” tier restrictions in 2027. 
Despite the higher rates, the council expressed a commitment to keep Pioneer and Centennial parks through Independence Day festivities to provide green space during the drought.
Members of the Blanding city council also denied a zone change request for a property. The applicant Carrie Hughes requested a zone change to property located in the southwest part of town near the corner of 500 south and 200 west.
The request was to make a zone change on the property from R1 residential to R2 residential on a patch of ground described as neighbors as a weed patch.
The zone change was recommended by the planning commission who noted that the lots involved fit an R2 quality, and that it is adjacent to other R2 zones not creating an island, with the commission also referencing precedence for a similar zone change approved last year.
Neighbors to the project however offered resistance to the proposed zone change. Arguments included that the city should encourage lots to conform to their zoning and not the other way around.
Neighbors also expressed concerns about the permitted uses in R2 and the fear of a proposal rental unit could bring neighborhood housing prices down, with concerns of overcrowding a low-density area. With reference in particular to concerns over spot zoning, members of the council denied the request unanimously.
The council approved an ordinance updating the city’s codes around manufactured housing. The code name itself was even changed from the mobile home zone to manufactured home communities. 
The ordinance will guide future developments including required proper drainage, individual utility meters and adequate parking with the developments.
The code also requires manufactured homes be placed on permanent foundations. City officials did explain that existing manufactured homes and developments that are not in compliance will become non-conforming exceptions. Meaning residents will not be displaced by the code. City staff also added the city will work to refine codes regarding repairs and replacements.
Members of the city council also heard a report from San Juan County EMS Director Jeremy Hoggard on the state of county emergency services.
Hoggard reported that EMS is considered an essential service in the state following a bill passed in the 2025 legislative session.
Hoggard reports the result is a heavier mandate on municipalities to ensure its provision.
Hoggard reports the department is struggling with a low call volume relative to high fixed costs with each call costing an estimated $1,671 to facilitate.
About 64 percent of the patients rely on Medicare and Medicaid, which Hoggard says reimburses at 30 to 40 percent of the actual costs totalling nearly $300,000 in projected supplementation from the county’s general fund. Those budgetary concerns, along with aging ambulances that will need to be replaced, has led the county to propose a one percent dedicated sales tax initiative for the November 2026 ballot.
The tax would exclude unprepared food,fuel and prescription medication but would apply to lodging and restaurant services. City council agreed to workshop a formal letter supportive of the initiative.
Members of the council approved a $30 city cleanup voucher program to the county dump for spring and summer months to encourage residents to maintain properties.
Members of the city council also approved a $900 donation to San Juan High School’s National Honor Society to help fund their annual Easter Egg hunt event on April 4.
The Mayor’s youth city council also presented a pickleball tournament fundraiser on April 18 to support local scholarship funds.
The city also opened applications for a six-month leadership internship for residents 18-25 years old.
City staff and city council shared a farewell with City Public Works Director Patrick Parsons, thanking him for his years of service.