Changes in Blanding City

by Kara Laws
In the first Blanding City Council meeting of 2018 on January 9, newly elected city council members joined the remaining council members for the first time.
Taking the oath of office after the recent election are Mayor Joe B. Lyman and council members Cheryl Bowers, Robert Turk, and Logan Shumway.
Their first item of business after assuming their positions was to appoint a final council member.
Logan Monson was chosen to fill the vacant council seat left vacant when Joe B Lyman moved from a council chair to the Mayor chair.
Taylor Harrison, Trent Herring, and Logan Monson all applied for the vacancy.
A new council member is appointed when a sitting council member is unable to fulfill their job for any reason.
The remaining council members are tasked with replacing the council member or members until the next city election.
In the past, council members could nominate the applicant they see most fit for the position and then vote yes or no on the appointment.
This year, Mayor Lyman changed the situation a little bit by allowing council member a personal vote, which would then be read out loud.
In a three to one vote, Logan Monson won the council seat.
Each applicant for the seat submitted a letter to council and was then allowed some time to speak to council before the vote.
Monson addressed the following goals:
First, Monson addressed tourism, stating Blanding has already seen an increase in visitors. He suggested that Blanding City help with tourism by supporting the small businesses that are already in town and helping prepare these businesses for the influx.
Monson said his goal is to “support and help build a strong local economy that does not have to rely on large corporations and small business.”
He added that he does not think Blanding should change things to make the town more comfortable for those passing through, but rather focus on finding things that will benefit Blanding residents first.
Second, Monson talked about his love for recreation and expressed a desire to continue to grow the recreation department.
Third, Monson would like to have more information and resources available, and easily accessible to the public. He suggested more opportunities for small businesses to learn and resource together, as well as more information readily available to the public online.
“I want to see the City of Blanding continue to grow and be successful together,” he stated.
Finally, Monson hopes for community unity. He said he would like to see the community work together more often, have more organized service projects, have beautification contests, and have small community gatherings to help promote community unity.
Including the appointment of Monson, five council seats and the mayor changed in the past year.
KD Perkins remains the only elected council member from years passed. Many are eager to see what this council will set out to accomplish.
In other news, David Palmer reported that the pickleball tournaments would be starting soon at the Blanding Wellness Center. Members of the community have been asking for pickleball to be available at the Wellness Center for some time now.
Pickleball is a sport similar to tennis. The game requires two to four players but is played with a restricted ball that does not fly as far as a tennis ball will.
Palmer was happy to announce that the city now has all of the necessary equipment for this “new craze”. He reminded council that participants will need to have a wellness membership, but as memberships have been continually on the rise for the past few months, he does not seem concerned with lack of participation.