Morgan County

MORGAN — After beating out 22 other applicants, Blaine Gehring officially got his start as Morgan County’s new planning and development services department director on March 12.

ROY -- Mormon Battalion, Company C will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Weber County Roy Library, 1900 W. 4800 South.

Calvin Stevens, noted scholar on Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints history, will be the guest speaker. Stevens is a retired institute teacher at Weber State University and will discuss the life of Willard G. Smith, a musician in Company D in the original Battalion. Smith settled and is buried in Morgan County.

MORGAN — All three candidates for the Morgan County Council will be unopposed, and none of the incumbents is running for his or her current seat.

But one face won’t be new. Robert Kilmer, who has filled an at-large council seat since 2011, filed for the four-year District 3 seat. He will be replacing Howard Hansen, who has served on the board for four years.

MORGAN -- Morgan County Councilwoman Ronda Kippen seems to be balancing her legislative duties with her employment as a full-time office assistant in the county's planning and development services department.

As Kippen sat in county budget work sessions that stretched as long as 10 hours for several days in November, some county residents wondered if she was still officially on the clock for her planning job.

A review of Kippen's time card obtained by the Standard-Examiner shows Kippen logged 4.5 hours on Nov. 7 and 2.5 hours on Nov. 8, the same days as lengthy county council budget work sessions.

MORGAN -- The county's latest audit cost more than double what the Morgan County Council had counted on.

"(The audit) took longer than originally identified," Councilman Lyle Nelson said. "I'm concerned it took as long as it did. The cost was extreme."

MORGAN -- The federal government's official verdict regarding Morgan County flooding this year is in, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has agreed to pitch in $98,000 to reimburse Morgan County for flood repairs.

MORGAN -- The Morgan County Council is hanging on to its public parks despite resident interest in taking over maintenance of one of its newest parks.

The council denied a request from the Rose Hill Homeowners' Association to take over ownership and care of Cottonwood Park. Residents there would like to direct future development of the park, which now is simply a 2-acre field of grass.