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Show A-20 Meetings and agendas to publish your public notices and agendas please email classifieds@parkrecord.com SUMMIT COUNTY COUNCIL AMENDED AGENDA SUMMIT COUNTY COUNCIL Wednesday, March 22, 2017 NOTICE is hereby given that the Summit County Council will meet in session Wednesday, March 22, 2017, at the Summit County Courthouse, 60 North Main Street, Coalville, UT 84017 (All times listed are general in nature, and are subject to change by the Council Chair) 1:20 PM Closed Session – Property acquisition (90 min) 2:50 PM – Move into Council Chambers 3:00 PM Work Session Discussion regarding the Canyons Employee Housing Plan; Pat Putt (60 min) 4:00 PM - Discussion regarding the future of septic development in Summit County; Phil Bondurant (50 min) 4:50 PM Convene as the Governing Board of Mountain Regional Water Special Service District Discussion and possible approval of Resolution MRW 2017-03, a Budget Resolution of the Mountain Regional Water Special Service District 2017 Budget Amendments; Scott Green and Lisa Hoffman (20 min) Dismiss as the Governing Board of Mountain Regional Water Special Service District 5:10 PM Consideration of Approval Pledge of Allegiance Discussion and possible approval of Proclamation 20171, Declaring April 2017 “Sexual Assault Awareness Month”; Turner C. Bitton, Executive Director, Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault Discussion and possible approval of Proclamation 20172, Declaring the Month of April 2017 “County Government Month”; Julie Booth Continued discussion and possible approval of Ordinance No. 869, A Temporary Land Use Regulation Creating a Temporary Zoning Ordinance Relating to the Issuance of Grading Permits in the Eastern Summit County and Snyderville Basin Planning Areas; Ray Milliner Appoint member to Summit County Service Area No. 5 Advice and consent of the County Manager’s recommendation to appoint member to Summit County Weed Control Board Council Comments Manager Comments 6:00 PM Public Input Continued Public Hearing and possible adoption of Ordinance No. 868, Amending the Eastern Summit County Development Code, Title 11, Chapter 4: Development Review Processes and Procedures and Appendix A: Definitions; Pat Putt One or more members of the County Council may attend by electronic means, including telephonically or by Skype. Such members may fully participate in the proceedings as if physically present. The anchor location for purposes of the electronic meeting is the Council Chambers and Conference room, Summit County Courthouse, 60 N. Main, Coalville, Utah Individuals with questions, comments, or needing special accommodations pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act regarding this meeting may contact Annette Singleton at (435) 336-3025, (435) 615-3025 or (435) 783-4351 ext. 3025 Posted: March 17, 2017; Amended March 20, 2017 Utah has a court alternative Mental health court helps those with PTSD, other issues BREE BURKITT The Spectrum ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) — David Montoya was beaming as he stood at the podium before Judge John Walton in the 5th District Court. The 31-year-old giddily told Walton about how he’ll be starting a welding program at the Southwest Applied Technical College in a few weeks and he has another laser tattoo removal session scheduled for just a few days after. “I’m doing awesome, man,” Montoya said to both Walton and his fellow Mental Health Court participants seated in the courtroom. “And it’s all because of this program. I didn’t think a program could help me. I’m still sober 90 days this week.” “You’re doing most of the work, David,” Walton said. “There’s a lot of people here to help and support you when you need it, but you’re doing most of the work and we’re proud of you.” The 11 Mental Health Court participants burst into applause as Montoya returned to his seat next to his wife — an uncommon sight in most traditional court rooms. But his future hadn’t looked so bright seven years ago when he was sentenced to prison on multiple felony drug convictions by the very same judge. A troubled past Montoya was only 10 years old the first time he smoked weed with his father. At 15, he was hooked on heroin and running with a local gang, the Varrio Loco Town. Anywhere was better than home where his father would regularly beat him and his siblings. By 22, he was incarcerated in the Utah State Prison after being arrested for a series of controlled drug buys. Being locked up didn’t put an end to Montoya’s downward spiral, though. The VLT still ran strong, even behind bars. He was still able to get heroin and pills while working to earn more “stripes” with the gang. With each crime he’d get more time, but that didn’t matter to Montoya as getting out never seemed like a possibility. With empty days ahead of him, he began covering his face, chest, back and hands with tattoos asserting his allegiance to the gang. His prison nickname, Brown Clown, was inked onto each of his hands, while his face bore his allegiance to the VLT life. His forehead read “My Evil Ways” and “See No Evil” was tattooed underneath both eyes, while “Speak No Evil” was inked below his mouth. Wed/Thurs/Fri, March 22-24, 2017 The Park Record “It’s just like you never tell on nobody or whatever you see you keep to yourself,” he said. “Someone murders someone next to you and you don’t say nothing.” Each time he was before the Utah Board of Pardons, he would be turned down. As other tattoos were added to his body, Montoya grew more and more frustrated with the system he said made him this way. Montoya was released after seven years in prison at the age of 29. In addition to his drug addiction, he had extreme paranoia, post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. He soon began regularly using methamphetamine in an attempt to self-medicate. “I was mental,” he said. “I was hearing voices all the time.” But the drugs he thought would help only made matters worse. New solutions for old problems Fifth District Court Judge John Walton saw there was a problem. Throughout his years as both a prosecutor and then a judge, he saw the same individuals with mental health issues revolving in and out of court. “You see people in court all the time who have probably been found competent in criminal court, but yet everyone would recognize the substantial, real and very serious mental health problems that complicate their ability to live their life, be productive and stay out of the criminal system,” Walton said. Walton traveled to Salt Lake City to observe the first Mental Health Court following its launch in 2001. While the idea of this alternative court was still a relatively new at the time, Walton felt it might be the answer to the lingering question of how to help those in the criminal justice system suffering from mental health problems in southern Utah. According to a 2015 report from the Urban Institute, more than half of all inmates in jails and state prisons suffer from mental illness. Depressive disorder is the most common at 21 percent with bipolar disorder, anxiety, PTSD and schizophrenia closely following, the report details. “Only one in three state prisoners and one in six jail inmates who suffer from mental health problems report having received mental health treatment since admission,” according to the 2015 study. Walton noted the traditional system isn’t always equipped to properly handle these sort of cases. While people may be punished for their crimes, any underlying mental health issues weren’t always being addressed. “In my mind, the system has been recognizing for some time that if you treat someone who is an addict like everyone else, it won’t be successful,” Walton said. “We’ve shown that you have to treat the underlying problem. The Mental Health Court was first implemented in the 5th District Court in Washington County. After seeing its initial success, Walton encouraged county officials to attempt it in Iron County as well. “We rallied together as a community with help from the Cedar City Police Department, Southwest Mental Health, Judge Walton and the court,” Iron County Attorney Scott Garrett said. All they needed was their first participant. Getting help instead of jail time Less than a year out of prison, Montoya was arrested again. “I wasn’t really on my pills anymore,” he recounted. “I quit taking my psychotic pills. I just got off my pills, went in the store and took stuff.” But instead of returning to prison, Montoya was considered for the first Mental Health Court participant in Iron County. Southwest Behavioral Health Center screened the then 29-year-old to determine if he fit the necessary criteria to participate. While Montoya met the criteria, multiple members of law enforcement and the legal community expressed some skepticism about him due to his violent past and repeat offenses. “They really questioned whether he could be successful at this,” Duane Jarvis, Iron County Mental Health Program Manager for the Southwest Behavioral Health Center, said. “Previously, he had been kind of a scary dude.” The Iron County Attorney’s Office had dealt with Montoya multiple times in the past — they even sent him to prison. “What we’ve learned and what numbers suggest is that these courts are designed for high-risk, high-need people and that certainly fits David’s category,” Garrett said. What it takes to rehabilitate Montoya was enrolled in phase one as the inaugural participant in the Iron County Mental Health Court. In the initial phase, he was required to undergo weekly drug tests and comply with a 9 p.m. curfew. He was also required to meet with his mental health counselor, Jarvis, on a regular basis in addition to attending MHC twice a month. Court tries to break PTSDcrime cycle Sobriety didn’t come easily though. Montoya admits that he was still using his first few months in the program. He was even stashing drugs in his house when his baby daughter was born eight months ago. Both Garrett and Walton acknowledged that relapses are an unfortunate part of the rehabilitation process. Instead, the initial focus is on proximal goals, such as showing up to court and treatment. “We tend to sanction those higher than drug use at first because we don’t immediately expect them to be on top of their mental health problems, but we do expect them to show up and be honest,” Walton said. Core Samples By Jay Meehan Taj Mahal “It was love at first sight. The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him. — Joseph Heller, “Catch 22” I first arrived at “the blues” in its more primitive non-jazz form through my brother McGee and the countercultural coterie into which he introduced me upon my return from a three-year hitch in the Army. California during the dawn of the mid-‘60s flaunted a space-time comfort zone to die for and to say we gorged ourselves upon the available nutrients would be a gross understatement. Honing our familiarity with both the music and the behavioral augmentations of the day took place mainly in garages and bungalows with Hi-Fis and PAs. Just ask the neighbors. The music of the era has all been chronicled before, including in this humble space, but every so often an adopted favorite son returns, warranting additional column inches. It was love at first sight. The first time I saw Taj Mahal, I fell madly in love with him. Logic would dictate that the night I first saw him stride onto the intimate stage of the Ash Grove down on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, he carried one of those classic open backed “old timey” banjos like the one Abigail Washburn performed upon at Deer Valley last summer. However, it just as easily could have been his National Steel guitar, a longtime acoustic axe of choice during those years and as iconic a “slide” instrument as has ever felt blues with an attitude gliding up and down its neck. By the time electric guitarwhiz Jesse Ed Davis and the rest of the band had joined him onstage, there was indeed a party going on. Something was happening. Or as Stanley Crouch would put it a few decades later in the opening lines of some compilation liner notes: “When this Columbia recording entitled ‘Taj Mahal’ appeared, it indicated the power of an undeclared movement that had arrived from no place anyone would have predicted.” That’s exactly how it felt at the time. Taj was a monster! Such a beautiful cat! There’s more musicality in his slouch than at a Julliard reunion.” He was on to something. He could do no wrong. Taj was also ubiquitous. He was everywhere at once. I’d move to Utah and there he’d be holding court in a corner chair at “Mama Eddie’s Right On Beanery” down on State Street in Salt Lake City. Then word would reach me that he had relocated to the north shore of Kauai and that his wife and kids were now part of my sister’s bicycle posse and my nieces’ school bands. The “Hula Blues Band” he formed and with whom he recorded would later bring it all back home with shows down at Red Butte Garden. What first brought Taj into my consciousness must have been that classic photo of him in the company of the beautiful Mississippi John Hurt at an early Newport Folk Festival. It became an album cover and remains plastered on a winding wall within my memory lobes. Then there’s the time he headlined in Park City at Main Street’s Cowboy Bar with only his guitar and a piano they hauled in for the occasion. No band. No entourage. No guest performers. Just Taj and a house packed to the rafters in homage to his place in the enormity and blessedness of our musical culture. There were absolutely no vacancies on the dance floor that night. Taj and his muse didn’t need no stinkin’ badges! The same when he became a last-minute replacement opening-act for Stevie Ray Vaughan at Deer Valley back in the day. Arriving with nothing more than a couple of guitars and a mindful of blues, Taj, as a solo act, turned the Stevie Ray crowd completely on its head. Such a beautiful cat! There’s more musicality in his slouch than at a Julliard reunion. Whenever I hear or read the word ‘ethnomusicology,’ Taj immediately comes to mind. An educator by example, he radiates the blues. From the Ash Grove in LA back in the day to the Eccles Center this upcoming Saturday night, this is one dude whose music never gets old. Taj Mahal is joy personified! Can’t wait! Thanks once again, Park City Institute. Jay Meehan is a culture junkie and has been an observer, participant and chronicler of the Park City and Wasatch County social and political scenes for more than 40 years. Red Card Roberts By Amy Roberts Blowing away our chances During my tenure as a Park City resident, I’ve often heard some iteration of the following: “There are too many people in town! Please stop advertising how great Park City is!” It’s usually uttered in a moment of frustration — when the lift lines are long, or making a left hand turn requires Mario Andretti-like skill, or the liquor store is out of a favorite Vodka. And it often comes on the heels of some sought-after recognition — like being voted the best place to live, or the greatest small town on the continent or the top place to raise your dog. I’d venture to guess most locals have felt this way at some point. “Bring us your tourism dollars, give us our tax breaks, donate to our causes, but please, don’t actually show up” seems to be our relatively misguided thought process. We want all the benefits of tourists without all the bother. So the good news is, for what appears to be the first time in history, the Utah State Legislature has heard our concerns and acted upon them. State lawmakers recently gave the nod to HB 155, which would lower the state’s legal limit for blood alcohol content in drivers to .05 — the lowest level in the country. In other words: A DUI at point zero five. It goes without saying that the majority of those who work at the statehouse are in very little danger of being pulled over and given a Breathalyzer test. The bill’s author, Rep. Norm Thurston of Provo, admitted he’s never even been in a liquor store. It’s always amusing to me that a predominately LDS Legislature tasks itself with alcohol legislation. It’s kind of like asking the National Hockey League to come up with new rules for golf. Supporters of the bill argue it’s all about public safety. Which I could rally behind if the state Legislature hadn’t passed HB 76 a few years ago. That bill would have made it possible to carry a concealed It’s always amusing to me that a predominately LDS Legislature tasks itself with alcohol legislation. It’s kind of like asking the National Hockey League to come up with new rules for golf. firearm without a permit, but it was later vetoed by Gov. Gary Herbert. It is also a little difficult to assume public safety is truly the intent when UTA stops running well before the bars close and such little attention is paid to distracted driving. At nearly any intersection in the state you’ll find a frazzled mom trying to control six unruly children in the back of a minivan, all while texting, fiddling with the radio and applying lipstick. We are not a state of focused and attentive motor vehicle operators. Furthermore, in Utah, alcohol is not a leading cause of fatal automobile crashes. According to the Utah Highway Safety Office, drunk driving was a contributing factor in about 13 percent of fatal crashes last year. While speed played a role in 37 percent of deaths, and not wearing a seat belt was a factor in 31 percent. If the state really wanted to crack down on drunk driving, then why not increase the current penalties for those convicted? Lowering the alcohol limit will only result in more stops, arrests and criminal charges of people who use a strong mouthwash. And of course, it will result in fewer people who actually want to vacation in Utah. Between this bill and Utah’s lawmakers asking President Trump to rescind Bears Ears National Monument, which we all know resulted in the loss of the Outdoor Retailer shows, we no longer have to hope people stop coming to Park City. Our legislators will take care of that for us. They’re doing such a good job of making Utah less appealing, I wouldn’t be surprised if they decide to build a wall around our borders and insist Colorado will pay for it. Amy Roberts is a freelance writer, longtime Park City resident, and the proud owner of two rescued Dalmatians, Stanley and Willis. The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer. Follow her on Twitter @amycroberts. Dear Editor, For more details please visit our website. www.parkrecord.com/writealetter |