San Juan County Commission addresses maps, landfill, contracts

by David Boyle
News Director
Members of the San Juan County Commission approved a contract for mapping services, got an update on the landfill and a grant for emergency services as part of their latest meeting.
Members of the commission approved a $219,000 contract to ProWest for county mapping and GIS redevelopment at the September 1 meeting.
County recorder Cindi Holyoak explained the project goes beyond simple mapping of the county and establishes a comprehensive “parcel fabric” to accurately map the history, dimensions and ownership of 9,000 parcels in the county.
Holyoak said the county’s mapping data has had inconsistencies for years, with hand-drawn maps and incomplete digital data.
The 13-month contract will have engineers redraw every parcel directly from legal deed descriptions. Staff says the overhaul will improve efficiency in all county departments.
One example given was during the recent Babylon fire, when three staff took three hours to properly identify owners for evacuation notices. Staff said the new system can perform that search in under a minute. Members of the commission approved the contract.
San Juan County Landfill Superintendent Jed Tate also presented two budgeted items to the commission. One is a skid steer magnet attachment to extract metal from trash, with an expected return on that investment within two years.
The other is a budgeted plumb-in work for a buried fire-protection water tank, which will allow water trucks to fill in minutes rather than three hours and speed landfill dirt work.
Tate also shared the county plan to partner with Blanding City to open the local transfer station on Saturdays, with part-time employees minimizing staffing required to open the main landfill.
Members of the commission approved Kim Henderson to represent Monticello on the San Juan County Public Health Board.
County Emergency Management Director Tammy Gallegos reported on securing a 2025 State Homeland Security Grant that will help in three areas.
1)- Pay for Emergency Software, including alerting and evacuation software.
2)- Pay for Sheriff’s office Starlink subscriptions sponsoring ongoing satellite connectivity for deputies.
3)- Purchase of a generator for the La Sal Senior Center, which serves as a designated heating and cooling shelter during power outages.