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Member of Utah governor’s Cabinet hired for ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ job overseeing development of former Utah prison site

Utah’s Point of the Mountain Authority Board has hired a member of Gov. Gary Herbert’s Cabinet for a major role in what one official called “one of the largest economic development opportunities in our state’s history.”

The 10-member panel voted unanimously late Tuesday to offer the job of board executive director to Alan Matheson, current executive director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). After two days of negotiations, he accepted the job Thursday and will assume the post July 1.

Matheson has headed the state DEQ, an agency with nearly 390 employees and a yearly budget of about $56 million, since June 2015 and served as Herbert’s senior environmental adviser since October 2011.