Public lands bill deadline nears for Commission

The San Juan County Commission continues to make slow progress on a recommendation for the Public Lands Bill being sponsored in Congress by Representative Rob Bishop.
Commissioners acknowledge that they are close to the deadline for input into the Bishop plan. Several years of work, from a variety of sources, has resulted in the development of several options. However, a final recommendation from the county has not been finalized.
Rep. Bishop has stated that he plans to rollout the proposed legislation this week. The Commission meeting on March 24 (after the press deadline) was the last opportunity for the county to finalize a recommendation before the deadline.
Reps Bishop and Jason Chaffetz have been working on the public lands bill for several years. A wide range of parties, including industry groups, environmental organizations, and local governments, have submitted recommendations for the bill. The bill is an attempt to solve many of the entrenched challenges relating to public lands in southeastern Utah.
While San Juan County has been involved in the process since day one, it has bogged down in recent months. A public lands council, made up of representatives of various local interest groups, created three options for the Commission to consider. However, Dine Bikeyah (supported by a variety of Navajo Tribal interests) and Ute Tribal representatives, developed separate recommendations.
Now, with the deadline looming, Commissioners seem at odds with how to proceed.
In other matters at the March 17 Commission meeting, there is hope on the horizon for some funding for much-needed road work on B-roads on the reservation. The Utah State legislature passed SB90, which makes the State of Utah the trustee for the Utah Navajo Trust Fund.
The legislation, sponsored by Senator Van Tassell, could result in Trust Funds being used for road maintenance.
Approximately 86 miles of dirt roads are used as school bus routes in San Juan County. Recent storms, which resulted in closed schools for eight days in some areas, showed what weather can do to school attendance in the San Juan School District.
Commissioner Rebecca Benally is seeking priority lists from each of the chapters and help to identify possible gravel pits on the reservation. She said that the storms highlight the need to at least add gravel to the road base on many of the roads.
The Ute Tribe notified the commissioners that they would like to donate a tribal flag to be displayed in the commission chambers. They will have a ceremony and present the flag to the commission in the future.
Worthy Glover, Administrator of San Juan Public Health, gave an update to the commission of the progress in providing services. The public health office is already providing service to women, infants and children through the WIC program. Glover said that he hopes to have the contracts in place to begin receiving payment for those services by April 1.
The new public health office was created on January 1 after the county determined that it would leave the Southeast Utah District Health Department (SEUDHD). The office was working on a July 1 date to assume services, but SEUDHD stopped providing services on March 1. This sudden change left Glover, and his office, scrambling to meet the ongoing need of the public health services.
The vital records process was in place as of March 17. Glover is working on the Medicaid contracts and must have those completed before the district can open up the immunization program.
Two billing companies have been contacted and will be presenting their products to the public health board next week. The commission requested that Glover contact San Juan Hospital and see if there is a possibility the health district could piggy-back on the hospital billing system as another option.
As the health district gets up and running, it was recommended that Glover check with the San Juan School District to see if they could reestablish the relationship that previously existed where the health district provided school nurses.
A variety of groups, including the Monticello Senior Citizen programs and Hideout Golf Club, are planning to move into the new Monticello community center soon. San Juan County plans to have the first commission meeting in the new building on April 14. They stated that if everything continues to go as planned, that date may be a real possibility.
A big event is planned on June 20 for a grand opening of the new community center, which is a joint project between San Juan County and the City of Monticello.
Details about the event will be released soon. Commissioners have toured the building and state that it is beautiful and in a beautiful setting.