Members of the Grand County Economic Opportunity Advisory Board spent substantial time discussing the board's purpose, proposed bylaw changes and the need for stronger city-county coordination on economic development.

Corey (City of Moab staff) presented a case for closer implementation alignment between county and city strategic plans and suggested the community might need a separate interjurisdictional economic task force similar to the housing task force. "When we see these two very robust elements ... I never separate those two items," Corey said, arguing that housing and economic strategy are intertwined and that a jointly governed implementation body could help move plans off the shelf and into action.

Debate among board members and elected officials highlighted three recurring positions: (1) some members urged the board to focus on administering RCG/RCOG grants and improving the grant-check process; (2) others argued the county needs a standing venue for ongoing economic intelligence and cross-jurisdictional coordination to advise the commission and planning staff; and (3) several members stressed execution and the need for staff and elected leaders to drive implementation. Commissioner Melody said the state code names the board the County Economic Opportunity Advisory Board ("state code 63N4-803"), and reiterated that elected officials must lead city-county collaboration.

The board reviewed a proposed bylaws revision that would reduce membership from nine to seven and clarified state-mandated representation categories (county staff representative, a municipal representative, a chamber representative, a workforce development representative, private-sector seats, and public residents). Members discussed appointment mechanics for the municipal seat and whether municipality staff or elected officials should be the designees.

To make near-term progress on how the county will run its RCG and RCOG programs next year, the board voted unanimously to create a small subcommittee to draft options and recommend processes. The subcommittee members named in the motion are Chris Wilson (board member), Aaron (surname not specified in the transcript), Ashley Toma (board member), and Grand County staff Melissa Jeffers. The board asked that the subcommittee present options for whether to run a focused subgrant program, pursue larger coordinated projects that leverage multiple funding sources, or combine approaches.

The board also discussed outreach and accountability practices, including annual or quarterly check-ins with grantees, clearer disbursement schedules (staged payments versus upfront advances), and building replicable procedures so future boards can execute decisions without re-inventing the process.

Next steps: subcommittee to meet with staff and return recommendations on RCG/RCOG program design and bylaws language. The board also agreed to wait for the commission to act on bylaw changes before conducting interviews to fill the municipal representative seat.