Kane Commission establishes assignments for 2026

The meeting of the Kane County Com­mission held on Janu­ary 13, opened with a series of recognitions for outgoing county and service district board members for their service to the com­munity. Said Commis­sioner Meyeres, “We just wanted to formally recognize all of the community members who have given their time and expertise to be part of a district board, a county board, a committee … all of those things in a rural community where, if we don’t just roll up our sleeves and get it done, it doesn’t get done.” Each commissioner read off their list of out­going volunteers and presented certificates to those present.

The Commission presented certificates of recognition to outgoing county and service district board members. Photo by Ty Gant.

Continuing the busi­ness of terms and board appointments, the com­mission then opened a public hearing for the reappointing of board members to the Kane County Tourism Tax Advisory Board; with no public comment, the commission reap­pointed Paul Gagner and newly appoint­ed Joseph Sorensen and Nancy Seelie to the board. Said Com­missioner Kubeja, “It wasn’t an easy decision, we had a lot of great ap­plicants … we encour­age those who applied and were not selected to continue applying.”

The commission then considered a resolution of support for a policy update to allow septic systems in water-haul­ing subdivisions. There is a restriction against septic systems making use of hauled water in some rural counties like Kane, and Kane County leadership are pushing for local, case-based decision mak­ing. The Commission passed the resolution unanimously.

The first-meeting-of-the-year procedures continued with the appointment of the Commission Chair and the distribution of in­dividual assignments for each commissioner. Most of the assign­ments carried over from last year; the full list of ninety-plus indi­vidual assignments is available in the meet­ing packet. Commis­sioner Gwen Brown accepted the position of Commission Chair for 2026.

Following the re­newal of a coopera­tive road maintenance agreement with Gar­field County, the Com­mission proceeded to review legislative is­sues. With the legis­lative session coming up, county leadership is preparing to attend the capitol building and push the county’s key issues before the legislature. Commis­sioner Meyeres iden­tified grazing rights, especially on federal allotments, emergency response districts and liability and the pre­liminary municipality statutes as primary points of concern. The county is also in the process of preparing for the Wilderness Urban Interface policy change that could impose fees on rural landowners.

The meeting con­cluded with some com­mission reports, with Commissioner Brown expressing apprecia­tion for the commu­nity participation in the Willow Feasibility public hearing the first week of January - in­cluding the presence of House Representative Logan Monson. Said Brown, “It’s nice to see we have representa­tives that care about what’s going on.”

Commissioner Kube­ja praised the hard work of the Office of Tourism and County Events teams prepar­ing for the Balloons and Tunes program, as well as the ongoing efforts of the county election teams working with candidates and preparing for the 2026 voting cycle.

Following the re­ports, the commission proceeded into closed session, concluding the public portion of the meeting.