The Cache County Council on Tuesday cleared a string of agenda items: it approved a corrected rezone ordinance to permit a public infrastructure overlay for a telecommunications facility in the Paradise area; advanced an open-space application to Round 1 approval for Vivian Christiansen LLC; adopted a state-template data privacy program policy; awarded the county audit contract following an RFP; and decided two tax-relief hardship applications.

Telecom rezone: Angie Sitterquist (interim director of Dilma Services) explained that an earlier procedural error required resubmission. After a brief public hearing and a proponent comment from Ben Feldman the council suspended rules and adopted Ordinance 2025-28 (SBA UT24138B Paradise rezone) to allow the overlay and enable conditional-use permitting for a telecommunications facility.

Open-space recommendation: Christopher Sands, chair of the Cache Open Space Advisory Committee (COSAC), presented the Round 1 recommendation for the Vivian Christiansen LLC property (roughly 334 acres north of Richmond). COSAC scored the project 71.6 out of 100 and noted existing outside funding applications (LeRay McAllister funds, NRCS pending). The council approved Resolution 2025-48 to advance the property to Round 2 due diligence, where specific dollar requests will be considered.

Privacy program: Bryson presented a state-provided privacy program template the county must adopt; the council approved Resolution 2025-49, with one abstention recorded because a councilmember said they had not yet read the policy.

Audit contract: The Appropriations Committee recommended re-bidding the annual audit; Matthew Funk summarized the RFP process and reported three responses. The committee recommended awarding a five-year engagement to Joan Simpkins (low bid) and council voted to accept that recommendation.

Tax-relief applications: Finance staff recommended denial of one hardship (parcel ending 0045) for failure to provide requested financial disclosures; the council denied that application. A second application (parcel ending 0020) had completed disclosures and met the eligibility threshold for a 29% abatement and the council approved that recommendation.

Votes at a glance: Ordinance 2025-28 (Paradise rezone) — approved; Resolution 2025-48 (Vivian Christiansen LLC, open-space Round 1) — approved; Resolution 2025-49 (privacy program) — approved (1 abstention); audit contract award (five-year) to Joan Simpkins — approved; tax hardship 0045 — denied; tax hardship 0020 — approved for 29% abatement.

Quotation highlights: Blair String (Utah Division of Wildlife Resources) reported the PILT payment to the county: "The amount this year is $19,160 and 27¢." On the open-space proposal, Christopher Sands described the project's scoring and funding prospects: "This project represents the highest scoring project that has come before us, by 0.2 points."

Next steps: the Paradise ordinance enables the applicant to pursue conditional-use permitting for a telecommunications facility; the open-space applicant will return in Round 2 with detailed budgets and matching-fund information; staff will implement the adopted privacy program and complete formal contracting with the selected audit firm.