SWEETWATER COUNTY — Tony Valdez, owner of the Buckboard Marina, will be giving a presentation during the Sweetwater County Commission meeting regarding the boundary realignment.

The proposed boundary adjustment would be to the marina’s special use permit which would transfer acreage that currently exists in the water to land surrounding the marina. Tony and Jennifer Valdez are the current permittees.

Some county residents have expressed concerns about this adjustment in fear that it would take away public access to surrounding lands. The Commission has also expressed some concern due to their lack of involvement in the process. Commissioner Island Richards previously critiqued the process of this realignment because it has not gone through a typical National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process.

“Typically, we would be considered a cooperating entity through a NEPA process, but [Ashley National Forest] have kind of forestalled that and jumped ahead of that…I don’t know enough about this plan to say yes or no and it’s because we didn’t go through a discovery process that we would typically go through so we would have the information to make good decisions as a cooperating agency,” Richards said during the last Commission meeting.

According to the United States Department of Energy, “using the NEPA process, agencies are required to determine if their proposed actions have significant environmental effects and to consider the environmental and related social and economic effects of their proposed actions.”

The Commission approved for a letter to be sent to Ashley National Forest requesting that the realignment go through the NEPA process before any final decisions are made. The board will be approving this letter following Valdez’s presentation.

The letter states, “According to 36 CFR 251.54(g)(2)(ii) ‘Federal, State and local government agencies and the public shall receive adequate notice and an opportunity to comment upon a special use proposal accepted as a formal application in accordance with Forest Service NEPA procedures.’ Sweetwater County believes there has been insufficient time for public agencies and public to comment.”

It goes on to say, “at the May 16, 2023 Board of County Commissioners meeting, a motion was made and passed by the Board of County Commissioners to object to the issuance of a special use permit as a CE in favor of an environmental assessment process. In this process, Sweetwater County encourages the Forest Service to schedule public meetings to facilitate public discussion and education of the specific details of the effect of the boundary realignment.”

The Commission believes the lack of notice and communication has caused the public to have concerns that may not even be based in accuracy. More communication could fix those concerns, they said.

The letter can be read in full below.

The Sweetwater County Commission will meet Tuesday, June 6, at 9 a.m. at the Sweetwater County Courthouse. To view the full meeting agenda and packet, click here.