Blanding City hears UNHS annex request
by David Boyle
News Director
Blanding city council members adopted an updated fee schedule, held a hearing for annexation of a UNHS property and once again discussed a splash pad at their June 11 meeting.
Members of the Blanding City Council held a public hearing for a request from Utah Navajo Health System (UNHS) to annex 10 acres into Blanding at the June 11 meeting.
The proposed 10-acre area neighbors the current clinic property to the west. UNHS requests to bring the property they own into the city limits with a commercial zone applied to the property.
Among the plans for the property is to construct housing for traveling doctors. City councilors expressed informally that they were in favor of the project.
One public comment was provided during the hearing. Blanding resident Sylvia Stubbs offered her support of the annexation, noting that with a lack of housing options available in the city the construction of temporary housing could free up a few properties in Blanding that are currently housing traveling healthcare workers.
Approval of the annexation was on the agenda for the June 25 meeting of the city council, after the San Juan Record print deadline.
Members of the Blanding city council also heard a report on a proposed splash pad in the city. City Manager Trent Herring shared he had conversations with the communities of Central Valley and Delta about a splash pad.
Both cities reported the amenity was enjoyed by the public. City staff in Central Valley reported their splash pad was a logistic headache particularly related to treatment of the water, as well as cost of maintenance and water usage.
Delta city staff shared that they used treated water that was not recycled through the system which significantly cut down on maintenance issues, the treated water that passed through the splash pad is housed in a water tank that is then used to water a neighboring park.
Still the actual costs of operation of a splash pad was not fully known by city staff and council at the meeting. Council gave advice and consent to revisit the issue at the June 25 meeting which occurred after the SJR print deadline.
At the meeting members of the city council adopted the updated fee schedule for the city of Blanding including a decrease in the rate city pays for users who generate solar power as well as a slight increase in trash pickup from $23.75 a month to $25.
Council also passed a resolution that put landowners in charge of paying for utility grid access fees. The move came after weeks of discussion. Having renters pay grid access fees previously has resulted in sometimes months of the fee not being paid before the city discovers the tenant has left and results in having to go to collections.
Having property owners responsible for the fee means they’ll be able to pass those costs on to tenants, and could also increase motivation to avoid empty homes.