Moving swiftly through the 2018 year, the Carbon County Commissioners tackled a number of items during the regularly scheduled Wednesday evening meeting. One such item was the review and possible approval of a lease agreement with the Carbon County Chamber of Commerce for office space in the county administration building.
Commission chair Casey Hopes explained that there has been discussion about the chamber moving into the building in Suite 2100. He explained that this lease agreement makes sense due to the synergy and harmonious work that the Chamber does with the other entities and departments in Carbon County.
Commissioner Jake Mellor stated that it is opportunistic to have the chamber office in the administration building, as people that are meeting with the Chamber will have a great experience. The lease contract was approved by the commissioners.
Another item tackled was Price City providing prosecution services through the Carbon County Attorney’s office. Attorney Jeremy Humes discussed this with commissioners, stating that the budget cuts from the previous year left the attorney’s office shorthanded. Since then, working with the commissioners and Price City, the office has had to find ways to do more with less.
As of now, Price City prosecutes crimes in the district and justice court through the city attorney, who is retiring at the end of June, leaving a need to fill the position. The idea is to funnel all cases through the county attorney’s office. The county recently made a significant investment in the computer system to handle cases in the courts. Humes stated that currently, defendants can sometimes become confused about which entity is handling the case. This merger will make it more straightforward for all.
$130,000 a year is being requested from Price City, which would carry an increase of 1.5% per year. The contract is a three-year agreement structured to have a 120-day cancel from either party if it is not working for any reason; if it is not a good fit for the city or the county. Humes then stated that based on educated guessing, they would be able to bring on a full-time attorney and support staff.
Humes believes that this will provide a benefit to city cases as well as the overload in office as a result from the cuts. Commissioner Jake Mellor stated that it does make sense to have the cases centralized and the contract, slated to be effective June 1 at the earliest and June 30 at the latest, was approved.