New logo for Blanding

by Kara Laws
Blanding City approved a new logo after more than six months of drafts, discussions, and disagreements.
The Blanding City Council approved the new logo at their April 25 meeting. The logo features a simple, straight-lined design that has a just a peek of a mountain peak within the A in Blanding.
Councilman Trevor Olsen headed up the effort to explore a new avenue for the project. The avenue allowed the city to secure draft logo from 50 companies while only paying one fee.
This was an exceptionally cheaper option than the council’s initial plan. It not only potentially saves the city thousands of dollars, but streamlines the process, allowing a completely new logo in far less time.
The City Council went through nearly 100 designs and suggestions before agreeing on the final design. Many members of council are relieved that the decision has finally been made.
Councilman Taylor Harrison said that he likes the clean lines and simplicity. He looks forward to seeing the different ways it can be used, and how it will look on shirts, cards, stamps etc.
The city plans to implement the new design as soon as possible. They are excited for the new facelift for Blanding City.
In other matters at the April 25 meeting, the City Council spoke with County Commissioner Phil Lyman about including the City of Blanding in the new San Juan Public Health Special Service District.
The council was ripe with questions and asked Commissioner Lyman about the benefits of being in the Special Service District.
Mayor Calvin Balch expressed concern about increased taxes. Commissioner Lyman assured the Mayor that the county cannot raise taxes on this particular item without the citizens of the county voting for a tax hike. The county currently taxes a maximum levy tax for public health through the general fund.
Commissioner Lyman encouraged the council to include the city in the Special Service District, explaining that the district will allow the health services to “run without the politics.”
Lyman used San Juan Counseling as an example of what the future of the new Special Service District could look like. The Special Service District will be run more like a business and managed by health professionals.
The State of Utah mandates that every county have a public health system. San Juan County created their own system, independent of other counties, in 2015.
A public health district is the area that a public health system serves. The public health districts throughout the states investigate disease outbreaks, regulate health hazards (such as restaurant health inspections), and provide health education, health screenings, prevention services, and immunizations.
The health districts also support statewide health by reporting communicable diseases and signs and symptoms of exposure to biologic agents of terrorism.
Because the health service districts are state-mandated, they are also state-funded, for the most part. Part of the hope of creating a special service district is that the district will run more efficiently and will function solely off of the state funds, instead of the county funding.
Commissioner Lyman said the special service district will proceed with or without Blanding City. However, if Blanding is not to be a part of the district there could be problems.
Councilman Joe B. Lyman asked if the service district could ethically charge the residents of Blanding more money for services, even though all of the county residents are paying the tax that provides this service, including Blanding residents.
Commissioner Phil Lyman stated, “I am not saying the health district would go through the trouble of the different fee but, they will have to record that they are servicing outside their area.”
This led to concerns from Councilman Olsen about funding. He asked if the district will lose any state funding if they are servicing outside the district.
With all of the questions and apprehension, many due to the past issues with public health districts, the Blanding City Council tabled the issue for further discussion at the next city council meeting.
The Blanding City Council also approved a letter addressing Recapture Canyon’s permanent closure. Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke recently signed a document that gave many the impression that Recapture Canyon would be re-opened. Instead, it re-opens roads that were never closed, and permanently closes the road through the bottom of the canyon.
The Council unanimously agreed to renew the attorney contract with Kendall Laws. No changes were made to the contract and the council said they are pleased with his work.
The City of Blanding has six projects currently underway to help improve the lives of Blanding residents, including the power distribution upgrade, the east side sewer line, fixing the sewer lagoons, updating the storm water master plan, relocating and replacing a natural gas odorizer, and repairing the link to the million gallon water tank.