The future of the Uintah Transportation Special Service District was called into question during Monday’s Uintah County Commission meeting. Following a failed motion by Commissioner Mike McKee to reappoint current board member Stan Gordon to the board, Commissioner Bill Stringer emphasized that the Commission may “need to take into advisement the future of the transportation district.” Stringer stated the Commission should consider everything from expanding the board to perhaps eliminating the district. Commissioner McKee said he is “totally opposed to anything as far as disbanding the transportation district.” McKee also stated that the board, according to law, has the ability to continue to serve and that there are members of the current board that have applied for the open position so it is not as if the district is without a functioning board even if the Commissioners have not yet agreed on appointments. Later, Executive Director of the Transportation District, Adam Massey, stated that to his knowledge, there has not been a time when a current board member that reapplies for their position has not been reappointed, in essence questioning why the motion to reappoint Stan Gordon failed for a second. Massey also said the district stands to lose up to $12.5 million dollars in grant funding if the district is disbanded. Commissioner Stringer followed that he is concerned by the lack of depth on the current board and that this goes back to a need to do a better job of managing county funds. The list of applicants to the board include Mark Raymond, Stan Gordon, David Haslem, Bart Haslem, Gale Rasmussen, Derek Howcroft, Clark Hall, Dan Dilsaver and Kevin VanTassell. Before the discussion closed, Commissioner Horrocks’ wife Susan Horrocks made a plea that Dereck Howcroft be considered, stating that Commissioner Horrocks would have to recuse himself because Howcroft is a family relation. The Commission committed to continue their discussion and approach the topic again at an upcoming Commission meeting.
