San Juan plans admin building updates, Spanish Valley bike trail agreement

by David Boyle
News Director
Members of the San Juan County Commission approved help for prosecuting homicide cases in the county, moved forward on improvements at the administrative building and updated agreements for bike trails in northern San Juan at their latest meeting.
Members of the San Juan County Commission approved several contracts with local companies to make repairs on the county administration building at their August 6 meeting.
Tri-Hurst was awarded contracts to repair deteriorating concrete at the building entrance as well as the replacement and refinishing of the roof and exterior trim.
A contract was also approved with Redd Mechanical to replace the boiler, HVAC piping and water piping in the administration building.
The commission also approved a contract with Lyle Northern Electric for the installation of a back-up generator for the county emergency operations center.
Members of the board also updated an interlocal agreement between San Juan and Grand Counties for trail systems in the region, including trails connecting Spanish Valley and Grand County including the Mud Springs trail.
San Juan County was also the recipient of a state grant for the building of the Mud Springs mountain biking trail. At the meeting the commission also approved a transfer of the reporting of the grant program and the required monetary match to Grand County.
While San Juan will provide the required funds, San Juan County Adminstrator Mack McDonald explained that Grand County’s capacity for monitoring trail construction and reporting to the state is higher than San Juan Counties.
McDonald added that the agreement between the counties is an example of the two counties agreeing and working together.
“When they say that we don’t get along with Grand County and they don’t get along with us, this is one of those that proves them wrong, that we do come together to make sure on a regional basis that we’re taking care of the citizens and we’re mindful of these opportunities.”
Members of the San Juan County Commission also approved bylaws for the newly established advisory board for the San Juan Children’s Justice Center (CJC). Robert Nieman, the director of the center presented the by-laws for the commission’s approval.
San Juan County recently began operating it’s own CJC separate from Grand County.
The Utah Children’s Justice Center program is administered in the state by the Attorney General’s Office. With locations throughout the state, CJC offices offer a space for trained individuals to respond to allegations of child abuse.
Children’s Justice Centers provide a place for children who are alleged to have been victims or witnesses of violent or sexual crimes to be interviewed in a child-focused location aimed at minimizing trauma for children. Those interviews are conducted by trained experts in a quiet safe area and are recorded to prevent children from having to share traumatic experiences repeatedly. The necessary information from those interviews is then shared between responding agencies including child protective services, law enforcement, prosecutors, and victim advocates among other entities.
The commission also approved an agreement with the Utah Attorney General’s (AG) office to provide prosecutorial assistance on two separate ongoing murder prosecutions in the county.
County Attorney Brittney Ivins explained that the county and the AG’s office had come to an agreement to help the county for one homicide case at the cost of $10,000.
“Since then we’ve had another homicide case, I was able to negotiate with the AG’s office and they were so generous in offering their services without additional compensation.”
Those cases include the charges against Sage Jennings Daves related to the death of Lemuel Prion in August 202. The updated agreement will aid the county with its case against Charles Younkuom Yoo related to the deaths of William Drew Bull, and Christopher Alan Owens in February 2024.
Commissioners also approved receipt of a grant applied for by the historic commission for $5,000 to perform a structurual assessment and possible repairs at the historic St. Christopher’s Mission Clinicin Bluff.
Commissioners also approved a four-year contract with the Utah Department of Health to continue to develop, sustain, and demonstrate progress toward achieving 15 public health preparedness capabilities in the local health department purview.
A 2024 jurisdiction risk assessment looked at 52 hazards to identify preparedness gaps and determine hazard-specific planning for San Juan County.
The top five hazards for San Juan were identified as supply shortage, cyber attack, wildfire, flood, and electrical failure. Members of the commission also approved the receipt of a grant for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) from the State of Utah.
The county applies annually for the funds and received $84,105 this year to go toward career path training, personnel costs, and equipment. The county was awarded $64,000 last year.
Members of the San Juan County Commission also received a presentation of a 2023 fiscal year audit report, and appointed Mitch Maughan to serve as the county attorney as reported in the August 7, 2024 edition of the San Juan Record.