Appointments to Carbon County boards
•Commissioner Bill Krompel, Pace Hansen and Richard Lee retained seats on the Carbon Recreation and Transportation Special Service District board.
•Andrew Urbanik and Karen Templeton replaced Sam Farlaino and Charlie Phillips while Keith Mason retained his seat on the restaurant tax board. •Florence Sealey and Paul Wheeler retained seats on the Scofield Reservoir Special Service District Board. •Lynna Gray and Lynna Topolovec retained seats on the county planning commission. •Joe Mason will remain on the board of adjustments. The county will re-advertise for a vacant alternate position. •George Harmond is now ineligible to serve on the county weed board, as he was appointed as a 7th district judge. The position remains empty and the county plans to advertise for the position again, targeting the agricultural community. •Richard Lee and Commissioner Mike Milovich retained their positions on the Price River Water Conservancy District board. |
Thirteen Carbon residents were appointed to fill or retain seats on six boards in county.
The Dec. 28 decision by the county commission leaves as many as seven positions still vacant, affecting three different boards.
The county restaurant tax board will see the greatest number of new faces.
Board members Sam Farlaino, Charlie Phillips and Keith Mason were all up for reappointment.
The commissioners chose to retain Mason, but selected Karen Templeton and Andrew Urbanik to fill the other two seats.
The restaurant tax panel serves as an advisory board to the commission. The members oversee the distribution of restaurant tax funds. The funds come in the form of a .25 percent sales tax imposed by the county.
The distribution of restaurant taxes is governed by state law, which stipulated that the tax can be used for “financing tourism promotion; and the development, operation, and maintenance of tourist, recreation, cultural and convention facilities.”
The law further clarifies that convention, cultural and recreational facilities include any publicly owned or operated convention center, sports arena, museum, theater, art center, music hall, park, campground, marina, dock, golf course, water park, historic park, monument, planetarium, zoo, bicycle trail or other facility used for conventions, conferences, cultural, art, recreation or tourism-related activities.
Funds are collected from restaurants or local businesses where food is prepared for immediate consumption.
Restaurant taxes are not collected from most theaters, convenience stores, supermarkets and other businesses where food is sold for later consumption.
In keeping with the language of the state law, county officials work to appoint restaurant tax board members who meet the criteria of where the funds are collected or where the revenues are spent.
“Since the board was formed, some of the language has changed and the board hasn’t changed,” said Kathy Hanna-Smith, director of the Castle Country Travel Region.
County officials noted that restaurant owners are well-represented on the tax board, but that the cultural component and other areas are not.
“Karen is a talented artist,” said Commissioner Steve Burge.
Burge added that Templeton should be considered to represent the culture and art communities in the county.
Urbanik is the general manager at Holiday Inn in Price and was chosen to represent the hotel industry on the restaurant tax board.
Mason is the program director of Eastern Utah Broadcasting, which includes radio stations including KOAL, KARB and KRPX.
The commission opted to keep Mason on the board to provide insight in promotional areas.
And while the three appointments last week provide better representation of recipients of tax revenues, Burge noted that it may be appropriate to review whether other members fit the legal requirements of the board.
Burge brought up the example of Pam Miller, who was selected, in part, to represent museums, is no longer affiliated with the College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum. Further, up until this year, there have been at least four representatives of the restaurant industry.
The commission also appointed members to the Carbon County Recreation and Transportation Special Service District, Scofield Reservoir Service District, planning commission, board of adjustments and water conservancy district. All previous members who applied were reappointed.
The historic preservation commission had two applicants to its board. However, the commission noted that the board has not been functional in recent years.
In addition, Burge found two differing definitions of the purpose and function of the board.
The commission voted to assess the need of the board and address the appointment of the board’s five members at a later date.
Due to a lack of applicants, the county still has a vacant alternate seat on the board of adjustments. That position will be advertised a second time.
On the weed board, George Harmond is ineligible to serve because he was appointed as a district judge. His position remains vacant. Commissioner Mike Milovich suggested that the county approach the agricultural community to find applicants and the county will re-advertise the position.