The Wasatch County Council discussed COVID vaccines, regional transportation, and a preliminary county restructuring plan in Wednesday's meeting.
Wasatch County has vaccinated their first responders, medical caregivers, and teachers, but getting only 300 vaccines a week will be a slow rollout for the 4,000 county residents who over 75. Wasatch County Manager Mike Davis said he feels confident that the state is managing distribution as well as can be.
"We could use more doses. We just don't get enough. But we get about 1% of what the state gets. They get about 30,000 doses. The program to do it is a CDC program called VAMS. It's awkward, particularly for some that aren't as familiar with computers. I went on the governor announced that we would start administering the vaccine to 75 and older. The infrastructure and the vaccine itself aren't quite up to snuff to handle that request. And so, as people called, they're a little bit frustrated. We have a drive-through vaccination clinic down at our Event Center. It seems to be working very well. We tried it out with the flu vaccinations in the fall."
A memorandum of understanding between the Summit and Wasatch County councils will address some preliminary transportation planning concepts. A joint meeting of both Councils is scheduled for February. Davis said the growth around the Jordanelle reservoir, combined with the tourism-driven MIDA / Mayflower development, portends a need for regional transportation planning.
"Through MIDA, they have hired a transportation consultant, and they're becoming part of the mix as well. And it appears that MIDA is pushing for some state dollars to help with some of the transit design and so forth within Wasatch County. So, we have several efforts that we're doing. We need to be looking on a regional basis as we look to people who work in different areas of this region, not just within our County."
The Wasatch County council discussed a potential restructuring plan with the Fire, Solid Waste, and Parks and Recreation special services districts that could change oversight.
"Quite preliminary now, but they're looking at several different options that may be a Control Board, Advisory Control Board. There is more involvement from some of the local municipalities on those boards and some additional services and oversight from the county to help in HR and insurance issues and financial systems, as far as budgeting and so forth. So I think what they're trying to do is provide an opportunity to help these county-wide districts out and a little input from the region."
Wasatch County Council meets again on Feb 2 at 3 P.M. A link to the virtual meeting and agenda can be found here.