IVINS — There has been a changing of the guard in Ivins that hasn’t been seen in a decade or more.
Dale Coulam, who has been Ivins’ city attorney since 2004 and served a duo role as its city manager since 2012, is going to be half the man he used to be after relinquishing the attorney position recently.
“It’s been 20 years as a city attorney, 40 years as an attorney. I think that’s enough,” Coulam, who will remain as Ivins’ city manager, said.
In his place, Mesquite City Attorney Bryan Pack was confirmed unanimously by the Ivins City Council at its meeting Thursday night to switch over to the Red Mountain community.
Pack, an Ivins resident for the last 16 years, is excited that he will no longer need to drive the Virgin River Gorge for his daily commute.
“I’m not going to miss the loss of an hour and a half per day,” Pack said.
Pack isn’t a stranger to the local courthouses, having served as an assistant city attorney for St. George from October 2018 until taking the Mesquite position exactly two years later. Before that, the BYU graduate who was raised in the San Francisco Bay area served in private practice in St. George.
It wasn’t just the legal side of Ivins that saw a change. The city also has a new parks and recreation director.
Marc Christiansen was unanimously selected by the council, replacing Benny Sorensen who retired after serving in the role since 2003.
Christiansen comes to Ivins after a 15-year tenure leading the parks department for the Box Elder County city of Tremonton. Speaking to the Ivins Council by Zoom, he said he is a parks and recreation nut and has family who shares his passion.
“I was graduating from the University of Utah with a parks and recreation degree and my wife also was graduating from parks and recreation (at Dixie State), so we’re parks and recreation family,” Christiansen said.
Coming back to Ivins is also a full-circle move. After he got his degree in 2008, his first internship was in Ivins’ parks department and some of the people working there now worked with him back then.
“I went to Ivins and worked for Benny in 2008 for three months.It’s funny, I was looking back on old texts with Benny and when, when you opened up the recreation coordinator position, I had texted him about it, just kind of testing the water,” Christiansen said. “I’ve told people for so long that this is kind of a dream job to work for Ivins as a parks and recreation director.”
Ivins Mayor Chris Hart said Thursday’s changing of the guard was a momentous occasion for the city.
“Tonight we have taken two huge action. This is more than just bringing someone on board,” Hart said. “These are people who will have a tremendous influence in our community and we couldn’t be more pleased.”
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