SWEETWATER COUNTY — The Sweetwater County Board of County Commissioners unanimously directed staff Tuesday to start converting three county park leases from federal Recreation and Public Purpose leases into land patents.

The affected properties are the Sweetwater County Trap Club and Crossroads Park, Archery Complex, and Shooting Complex. All are currently managed through leases with the Bureau of Land Management, which require the county to submit detailed development plans for even minor improvements. When the county added storage at the Justice Center, staff had to go through a full development review just to add a parking lot.

“What this would allow us to do is basically control our destiny on those lands,” Sweetwater County Public Works Director Gene Legerski. “Not that we would break any federal laws or do anything like that, but there is some very ambiguous language in those R&PP leases.”

Legerski said converting the leases to land patents would also help clarify whether the county can generate revenue from events at the facilities. Current rules allow revenue sufficient to sustain operations but do not clearly address whether outside entities hosting events may earn money.

“The federal government’s language is ambiguous at best,” Legerski said.

Commissioners were quick to signal their support and directed Legerski to start the process.

The board also approved a renewal of the mutual aid agreement between Carbon County Fire Protection District and Sweetwater County, a contract that had not been updated since 2014. The agreement remains largely the same, with one key amendment allowing Carbon County to bill for responses that extend west of Creston Junction into Sweetwater County at rates consistent with the state mutual aid guide. 

Amanda Chetterbock was unanimously appointed as the new Sweetwater County Clerk of District Court, filling a vacancy. Chetterbock was sworn in during the meeting by the District Court Judge Suzannah Robinson.