Laela Gaylord emailed me on December 18th telling me about the Wreaths Across America event at the Ivins cemetery funded by Anton Kuhlman. She wanted the City to support this financially. I suggested she make a citizen comment to request funding. After meeting with me and Dennis Mehr, Laela Gaylord and Tiffany Martineau did just that in January.
Last night the Council heard from Anton Kuhlman, who is 91 and a Navy veteran. He has been supporting this event honoring our Ivins veterans for years by funding the cost of the wreaths for Ivins and other cemeteries in Southern Utah and organizing the annual ceremony.
His granddaughter and Ivins resident, Tiffany Martineau, is instrumental in organizing the wreath ceremonies throughout the county. Anton thanked Benny Sorensen, the head of the Ivins Parks & Recreation Department who has spent countless hours with both of them for years, providing a lot of backup support. Dennis Mehr made a motion to approve the request and the Council voted unanimously to provide the financial support in the future.
Next, the Council interviewed seven people who applied to fill the vacant City Council position. After a couple of hours of interviews and deliberations, Adel Murphy was appointed to fill the position, vacated last month by Sue Gordhammer.
But wait, there’s more. A couple of weeks ago Patty Dupre (my wife) presented the Council with seven recommendations to encourage more public involvement and transparency at the council meetings. Staff had already taken action on some of the recommendations and the rest were discussed last night. There’s more work to do, but the City will likely embrace most of the recommendations, in whole or in part, in the coming weeks.
So, in addition to filling the vacant Council seat, there are two positive steps the City took last night, both the result of citizen comments. Ivins residents do have a voice.
A discussion about the City’s five-year financial plan and capital improvements needed as well as a discussion on a proposed ordinance to require water conservation measures for new construction were on the agenda, but the meeting was running long, so they’ll be back on the February 17th agenda. These are important issues. Strike that. These are critical issues, so I’ll update you on them next week.