- Commission hears from Six County on CIB (Community Impact Board) for the upcoming year
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By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
It is time, once again, to update the permanent Community Impact Fund Board (CIB) consolidated local capital improvement list.
On hand to discuss the program with Juab County Commissioners was Emery Polelonema, Six County’s Procurement Specialist and Planning Director.
“This is our initial meeting in Juab County to receive authorization to visit the cities in the county,” said Polelonema. “We just need your blessing to continue as we have done in the past.”
“The Six County AOG is the only one who goes out and meets with the various communities in the area,” he said.
He said the Six County Executive Director had been diligent in being concerned about keeping projects for CIB funding on a list.
Polelonema said he was not certain what funding will be available for next year and thinks, because of the economy, that, most likely, available funds will decrease.
Meeting with the various communities, he said, was a “daunting task” but the task is completed each year. Communities planning projects should make certain that their requests are found on the priority list.
Applications can be printed from the Six County website where they are found under the Planning link. However, he said, he will be making certain that each community receives a visit to discuss the program and to make certain that their needed projects are on the priority list.
Val Jones, commission chairman, said that the mayor of Eureka was concerned about whether the funding they had received for ballpark development was lost to them because they were taking so long to complete the project.
Polelonema said he would make certain that he talked to them. The city had received a grant for the purpose and he would find out what the grant status was.
“We would be willing to jump in and help them,” said Jones.
In 2009, said Jones, Juab County had received money, both in the form of a grant and a non-interest loan, to construct the new section of bleachers at the county fair grounds.
“We received a $1 million no-interest loan and a $250,000 grant,” said Jones.
One project which remains on the county list is an addition to the county jail facility. That had been placed on the list, he said, when the state was considering remodeling the court room upstairs and adding to the building in order to accomplish that goal.
Polelonema said he wondered if that project should be removed from the list since the state had not done anything to promote the building.
Jared Eldridge, county attorney, said he thought it should be left on the list.
“The jail is constantly full,” he said.
“I think we need to keep the plan to add to the jail on the priority list,” said LuWayne Walker, commissioner. “We could add a pod on the back of the building.”
Polelonema said that the Six County organization had paid back $1,300 worth of stimulus funds.
Nevertheless, he said, he was encouraging communities to put their projects and the estimated costs of the project on the priority list. Only if the project appears on the list can it be considered for funding, he said. “Your commission has always been receptive to this idea,” he said.
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