Water use and forecast plan required for county

by David Boyle
News Director
The San Juan County commission heard a report on county plan updates, approved the rural county grant budget, and received an audit report at their latest meeting.
Members of the county commission received a report from County Administrator Mack McDonald on the efforts to update the county general plan at the September 2 meeting. 
The partial update to the county plan is a prerequisite to the county’s update to the land use plan.
The county is using help from state departments to complete the update. 
McDonald explained that based on conversations with those state departments the plan requires a thorough water use and forecast planning. 
That planning needs to consider water availability as part of land use plans.
The county will need to coordinate with special service districts to gather information to create a comprehensive water management plan.
The expanded scope of the update gave county commissioners concerns about how this aspect of the update could lengthen the timeline on the planning update.
McDonald confirmed that while the expanded scope would add time to the update it is a state mandate and essential for land use.
“In Spanish Valley for example, if we’re out of water in the aquifer and we start to draw that down, we’ve got to stop development. So that land use and water availability is critical to go hand in hand because that stops your growth if you don’t have the water. But if you have plenty of water and you can show that we’re developing additional wells and that water resource management plan anticipates developing another spring further so it can handle additional capacity and development to meet a 20-year growth cycle.”
While McDonald used Spanish Valley as an example he noted that plan would be essential for all of the county, adding one proposed subdivision in Eastland that would’ve hauled water to a large development of homes resulted in that project stopping with concerns about water usage.
While the proposed water management plan will be a part of the general plan update, the discussion around water management in the county will also be part of the county’s land use plan update as well, which will require more work, albeit supported by departments from the state.
Members of the commission requested to review proposed changes and a timeline at their next meeting.
Members of the county commission also approved the 2026 rural county grant budget. Each year the county receives $200,000 from the State of Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity. County Economic Development Manager Talia Hansen proposed a similar split to previous years with $140,000 in business support grants with San Juan County based businesses applying for the funds every year to spur growth. An additional $30,000 will be allocated for the county economic development staffing capacity and operations. The county also is allocating $27,000 for the annual San Juan County Base Camp economic development event, with $2,000 for event sponsorships and $1,000 in contributions for the Eastern Utah Economic Summit.
The largest share of the grant will go towards funding local businesses with the county noting requests from local businesses totaled over $1 million. The county is also aiming to try and find matches for those grant monies with particular hope to have more funds available for businesses affected by summer fires.
Members of the county commission also received the 2024 fiscal year audit report delivering a clean opinion on the county’s financial statements.
Jon Haderlie of Larson and Company presented the opinion with no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies identified. The audit also confirmed the county’s compliance with state requirements and federal award programs including the American Rescue Plan Act.
Members of the commission also approved participation in two large settlement agreements related to the nationwide opioid crisis. The settlement with secondary manufacturers is anticipated to award around $186,000 to San Juan County.
Members of the commission also approved a resolution to place a ZAP tax review on the municipal ballot this november for the city of Monticello.
The approval will allow the city to ask an opinion of voters during November’s municipal elections related to a Zoo, Arts and Parks (ZAP) tax.
The city started the tax in 2008 to help fund the long-term costs of the newly built swimming pool. The tax collects an additional one-tenth of one percent on sales tax to fund publicly owned and operated recreation facilities, with the swimming pool being the main catalyst for originally passing the tax.
Renewal of the tax is required every ten years, with city staff reporting the tax brings in about $30-40,000 annually to help offset the $45,000 long-term debt payments the city makes on the pool.
Members of the county commission approved putting the question on the ballot. The county also declared its non-intent to impose its own “ZAP” tax which is a requirement of the state for cities asking the ZAP tax ballot question.
In other Monticello related news the commission approved an interlocal agreement with Monticello city for building inspection services. The move further formalizes a practice for the past several years with the county building department providing inspection services in the city. The agreement makes modifications to improve flexibility, with the city budgeting $3,000 every six months with the payment fluctuating based on usage.
Members of the commission also approved a resolution to reclassify Emergency Medical Service (EMS) employees into the Utah Retirement System’s firefighter lane. The change, required by state legislation, will increase the county’s contribution to retirement by 6.34-percent for three eligible employees with county staff noting that the move is critical for recruitment and retention of EMS personnel.
Members of the county commission also approved a 20-year franchise agreement with Questar Gas Company for the construction, operations and maintenance of a gas distribution system in San Juan County. The previous agreement recently expired and similarly an agreement was recently approved for Rocky Mountain Power.
County staff explained the agreement is part of coordination efforts including appropriate easements, and recognition that the company does provide a utility throughout the county and that the county departments including road and planning will coordinate with the utility company.
Members of the commission also approved a $1.9 million construction contract with Kilgore Company for taxi lane and rehabilitation at Cal Black Airport, with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the state of Utah covering 95-percent of the project cost.
The commission also approved a $6,000 predator control management contract with the Utah Department of Agriculture reimbursing up to $3,000 on the project. The work will go to fund state trappers to deal with predation in the county, most often aimed at coyotes.