EVANSTON — Uinta County Sheriff Andy Kopp was first to address the county commission during its April 2 meeting.

“I have several things to bring to you today,” Kopp said. “First is an agreement we have been working on since we came into office to supplement the law enforcement in the town of Mountain View. We now have a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to bring to you for approval.”

Kopp said they had reached an agreement to provide a patrol officer in the town of Mountain View for 24 hours per week which amounted to approximately 3.5 hours daily for $50 per hour with a maximum salary of $120,000 a year. Kopp said there would be no need to hire additional deputies at this time.

Commissioner Brent Hatch asked if the county would be paid monthly, and Kopp affirmed it would. The hours will be spread out over the year, Kopp said, as there will be a stronger need in the summer months and  he wants to spread the $120,000 out over the year. The MOU was approved.

Kopp then asked for approval of a modification to the grant agreement with the U.S. Forest Service for forest patrol assistance. There is an additional $2,000 for this fiscal year. This is the same agreement the county has had in the past, and the county attorney has looked it over, Kopp said.

He said there was a carryover of funds from last year of $8,193, which brings the total amount in this year’s operating budget up to $10,193. Kopp’s office is reimbursed for mileage and hours whenever they go into a forest while on duty. From this grant last year, the sheriff’s office was able to purchase two vests for officers. The modification to the grant was approved.

The third request from Kopp was for approval of an affiliation agreement with a nursing school in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, for a local young woman who works at the Wyoming State Hospital, and needs to do intern hours in a correctional facility, in order to work at the jail. The affiliation agreement was approved.

Lastly, Kopp asked for approval of a contract with AT&T First Net, for a two-year commitment, to provide radios in the jail. The commissioners approved the contract with AT&T First Net Uinta County for jail radios pending legal oversight.

Saralee Gross with Uinta County Road and Bridge asked the commissioners to approve two water agreements: one million gallons of water for Kelly Guild at Piedmont Reservoir and three million gallons of water for a two-year term for the Sulphur Creek Reservoir Company. The commissioners approved both water agreements.

A contract with Best Inc. to replace the spectator chairs in the commission chambers and conference room for a bid of $21,922, as requested by Jeff Breininger, maintenance, was approved by the commission.

Breininger next asked the commission to approve concrete work at the fairgrounds.

“Ellingford Brothers gave the low bid of $210 per yard for supply and delivery of concrete for the grandstand and the pig barn. They will also waive all fuel charges as long as all the concrete is off the truck in a two-hour period,” Breininger said. “For the concrete work, labor and prep on the pig barn floor, the low bidder was Norris Construction at $123,549.”

The third agreement Breininger brought is for the low bidder for the concrete work, labor and prep at the grandstands, which was Maxfield Construction at $369,900.”

All three bids requested by Breininger for concrete work at the fairgrounds were approved by the commission.

The commission approved a request made by Clerk of District Court Kerri Wright to approve the two-year child support agreement with the Department of Family Services (DFS) that allows people to make their child support payment in cash or check at the district court office. She explained this is the same agreement they have had for the last two years and it allows the checks to be processed faster locally, rather than the DFS having to send the check through the state office, which prolongs the time of remittance.

Uinta County Library Director Claire Francis asked the commission to approve the acceptance of a grant for $647,000 to the Library from the Wyoming Department of Administration and Information State Library Division.

She said the grant will be used to upgrade the heating and air conditioning systems in the Evanston building, replace some of the carpet and upgrade the bathrooms. They will also set up a dedicated recording studio with equipment they have already had for over a year. The commission approved the acceptance of the grant.

Uinta County Public Health Nurse Manager ReaAnn Peltier’s request to extend the timeline for COVID grant monies for Public Health to administer the COVID vaccine to cover supplies and labor to June of 2025 was approved.