By Amanda Nichols During last week’s Taylor Town Council meeting the subject of upcoming events was discussed by the council; specifically, Trapper Days, which usually happens at the end of May. The matter of cancelling the veteran’s memorial celebration and Trapper Days due to the novel coronavirus pandemic was discussed at length, with Mayor David Smith hesitant to call off the event prematurely. “I don’t feel like handing out any assignments right now and asking people to participate in something that might take their life,” said Councilman Fay Hatch. “Whether we act prematurely or not, we’re talking about individuals’ lives here. So, even if we act prematurely and we cancel things, so what? We’re still preventing the spread and saving the lives of individuals that very well could be infected at one of these events. I don’t want to take that chance,” argued Councilman Kyle Peck. Ultimately, the council voted to postpone the Trapper Days celebration until next year with the possibility of blending some events with the Taylor Sweet Corn Festival which usually takes place in September. The Fourth of July celebration was also discussed but the council decided to discuss the summer celebration at next month’s meeting. The council ran into some challenging deliberation over an event happening later this month. A youth junior rodeo of around 75-100 contestants, plus their parents has booked the Taylor Rodeo Grounds and has asked the mayor if he would allow the rodeo to be held at the end of the month since it is an outside venue. Councilwoman Sherry Cosper voiced concerns over the amount of people that would be invited into the town but Smith and Councilman Shawn Palmer were in favor of holding the event, despite Governor Doug Ducey’s executive order to stay at home and recommendations to keep gatherings to fewer than 10 people. The city manager brought up the concern of shared restrooms, with a councilmember mentioning that they could be closed. “Can we legally shutdown a restroom facility when their using the rodeo grounds?” asked Brubaker, to which Lundberg stated that it goes with the usage contract. Brubaker then suggested a cleaning fee could be attached and Palmer suggested porta-potties be set up so someone else could clean them. Smith believed they could “practice safe procedures” themselves. “I just don’t see this as being a big deal when dealing with that few of people.” “The last four weekends I have been in competitions that had that concentration or higher and they’ve been absolutely fine,” countered Palmer. After questioning if it is the wise choice to host more than 75 people from a different county, Councilwoman Cosper was met with a sharp rebuttal from Mayor Smith. “No, but we’ve got to live. I mean, I can understand your point right up until the point where I see people shopping at Walmart. At what point do you tell Walmart, you have to start letting people in one at a time? I mean, really?” Following the debate, Chief of Police Bobby Martin suggested that the decision be delayed until the council reaches out to county health officials and the council agreed to follow his advice. Prior to the discussion Smith had declared a state of emergency for the Town of Taylor at the April 4 town council meeting due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The declaration was passed unanimously by the council. Further discussed at the meeting was the consideration of bids for paving and sidewalk installation following flood mitigation efforts on 700 West. The bid was awarded to the lowest bidder, Hatch Construction, which was passed unanimously by the council.
