LYMAN — “We cannot undo what has been done, but we can come together and grieve in solidarity and in resolve,” Uinta County Commission Chair Mark Anderson said during the opening of last week’s commission meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 16. Anderson was speaking in response to recent, nationwide tragedies including the unprovoked stabbing of a young Ukranian woman, Iryna Zarutska, on public transit in North Carolina in late August, the assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk in Orem, Utah, on Sept. 10 and the same-day public school shooting at Evergreen High School in Colorado, that left two students injured and the alleged perpetrator dead.
“To honor what has been lost, to hold space for those suffering and to recommit ourselves to peace, compassion and meaningful action,” Anderson said. “Martin Luther King Jr. once said, ‘Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.’”
“In our debate and conversation, let us listen to understand rather than when we only listen to respond, “ he said before calling for a moment of silence.
The meeting was held in the Lyman Town Hall chambers for the first time since the commission signed a resolution allowing them to hold occasional meetings in the Bridger Valley.
The first order of business was the approval of a Union underground right-of-way easement. The location in question is the Evanston east site regarding an easement that overlaps with existing power sources in place.
Uinta County Maintenance technician Jeff Breininger requested and received the approval of a three-year contract renewal for automated weather observation system (AWOS) maintenance at the Fort Bridger Airport with the Wyoming Department of Transportation.
Breininger further received approval for a progress payment of $19,169.57 for the county’s portion of an American Road Maintenance contract.
Uinta County Clerk Amanda Hutchinson had a bookkeeping maintenance request and received subsequent approval to update the signers of a First Bank health plan account to herself, Anderson and Uinta County Treasurer Terry Brimhall.
Uinta County Fire Chief Eric Quinney requested the discontinuation of this summer’s fire ban, particularly in light of the beginning of hunting season, “so the hunters have the ability to keep warm if it’s safe to do so.”
“The last couple of weeks, we have received some moisture,” Quinney said. “Not necessarily widespread county moisture ... but good amounts of moisture.”
“Are we all the way out of the danger zone?” he rhetorically asked. “No, but we are getting to a state where our overnight temperatures are lower, which increases our relative humidity levels overnight,” he said, adding that it’s more difficult for fires to thrive in such conditions. Quinney encouraged continued diligence in safe outdoor recreating.
“We do want to reserve our fire restrictions for the most critical times in our county so people respect those restrictions,” he said. The commission lifted the ban beginning at midnight on Wednesday, Sept. 17.
