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Blanding council appoints Trent Herring mayor and Kendall Laws to a vacant council seat

Minutes in the council's meeting packets show members chose Herring over other applicants 4-1 on Sept. 22 and picked Laws 3-1 to fill a council vacancy on Oct. 13.

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Published Mountain Time · Source / event date: Blanding City Council meeting, Oct. 13, 2026 · 2 min read

Based on reporting by Blanding City. Read the original story →

AI-generated illustration: a tidy municipal office desk with a laptop, folders and a city map on the wall, not a real place or event
AI-generated illustration: The Utah Ledger · Original graphic · The Utah Ledger

Blanding

The Blanding City Council appointed Trent Herring as mayor on Sept. 22 and chose Kendall Laws on Oct. 13 to fill a vacant council seat, according to minutes published in the council's meeting packets. Herring was sworn in at the start of the Oct. 13 work session. The Sept. 22 agenda listed the mayor's seat as "to be appointed." [1][2]

The Sept. 22 minutes say the council interviewed applicants including Herring, Bryce Parker, Talia Hansen, Bret Hosler and Levi Meyers. Rye Wojick was absent and Michael Bradford withdrew. Each was asked the same five questions. The minutes record Herring as describing his background as a former city manager and naming community development, water and utilities as the city's three biggest issues. [2]

Council Members Charlie Taylor, Kellen Nielson, Chad Moses and Jesse Grover voted for Herring, and Council Member Chris Ewald voted for Hansen. [2] Grover was not listed on the Oct. 13 agenda, which showed one council seat vacant. [1]

For that seat, Regan Richmond withdrew, and the council interviewed Bryce Peterson, Hosler and Laws. Taylor, Moses and Nielson voted for Laws, and Ewald voted for Peterson. Laws told the council he was the city's contracted attorney and prosecutor from 2013 to 2021, and he was sworn in and took his seat. [1]

The same meeting approved Resolution 10-13-2026-1, adopting commercial and non-commercial hangar lease agreements at Blanding Municipal Airport. Existing 2026 leases stay in effect until they expire, the new agreements govern lease terms starting in 2027, and prospective commercial operators may submit business plans during 2026 to qualify for the 2026 rate. Taylor, Nielson and Moses voted yes, Ewald voted no and Laws abstained. [1]

Ewald had told the council he is an airport hangar tenant whose business there has been paused while airport issues are resolved. A letter from the Blanding Airport Board supported the contracts and a 10-year rate lock that it said puts Blanding rents near the rural Utah average. The council's Oct. 27 agenda lists a further resolution on airport hangar discount rates. [1]

City Manager Pratt Redd told the council that the B3 housing project's application for Low-Income Housing Tax Credit funding was not awarded, though B3 extended its land contract. He outlined possible road projects, including extending 700 North to Blue Mountain Road, and said he planned to apply for Community Impact Board planning funds. The council also approved splitting two justice court positions into two part-time jobs, which Redd said would save about $30,000 a year. [1]

Sources

  1. Blanding City Council Oct. 13, 2026 minutes, in the Oct. 27 meeting packet (PDF, via Utah Public Notice Website) utah.gov
  2. Blanding City Council Sept. 22, 2026 minutes, in the Oct. 13 meeting packet (PDF) utah.gov

This story was written by AI from the report by Blanding City, which has the full story. How we write stories.

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