Friends & Neighbors,
September just so happens to be my favorite month of the year. I welcome the cooler temperatures and the changing colors - I’m wishing everyone a wonderful beginning of fall!
This month, our City Council meetings have been productive and informative. It’s of course always easier to get things done when we can find a way to come together and compromise and work toward a common goal: the betterment of Heber City. The council has been doing a great job of that the last several weeks.
Central Heber Water District Project
In our first meeting in September, we authorized the issuance of bonds to help pay for the remaining costs of the central Heber water project. Even as costs were increasing, we decided to get it all done - we must complete the project at some point and it’s better to do it while everything is torn up than come back and tear it up again. As we near the end of construction season, we know that we’ll have one more summer of water, sewer and pressurized irrigation to complete in the downtown blocks. We very much appreciate everyone's patience - we know that these projects have had unexpected turns and delays - so thank you!
500 N should be complete soon.
Heritage Farms parkway should be 100% open by the time you read this.
City Manager Pay Raise
Another item of business that was discussed was the decision, as a council, to raise the pay of the City Manager Matt Brower. This also opened the door for us to examine the pay in all city jobs to ensure that our employees are being compensated in a comparable, if not better, range. Matt Brower has been an amazing asset to Heber City and he has excellent leadership skills. We want to keep him here as long as we can and make sure he is compensated accordingly. I have tremendous respect for him, as well, as he spoke up during the discussion and asked that we split the proposed raise between him and his key staff. This was a very noble gesture and much appreciated. Overall, a big win and a unanimous vote of the council!
Bypass
While we always aim to work together for the betterment of our city, there were some controversial and heated discussions this month pertaining to development, open space, and the bypass road. I learned for the first time that the conservation easements that were approved by the county, and really championed by Mayor Heidi Franco who sits on the open lands board, are why we are now experiencing delays in the UDOT EIS to determine the best route. UDOT is waiting for a response from the federal entity that was supposedly going to be giving most of the money to buy those conservation easements. UDOT had never dealt with conservation easements partially funded with federal monies and did not know how the bypass would move forward with land tied up with Federal Grants. They are still waiting for the official response in writing but we have been told that all of their funding requests at the federal level have been denied and the EIS can now continue. This came back to the council in another way as a developer, Harvest Village, is looking to be annexed into Heber City. The property is on the southwest corner of River Road and HWY 40. After watching what happened with the conservation easements, I was very hesitant to do anything at that corner which is positioned right in the middle of some of the proposed routes. The petitioner actually came to a meeting and we let them know, as all of us agreed not to allow the annexation without an assurance from UDOT, that this would not hinder their studies and further delay the process. Sid and I met with representatives from the City and UDOT as well as the developers just for this reason. UDOT reassured us that they were still working on alternatives and that what the developer had planned would not hinder their study and the annexation would not impede progress on the EIS. I also learned for the first time that the long range transportation plan allows for a diamond intersection at HWY 40 and 32 with a bridge. I am very anxious to hear the results of their study and I am not interested in any more delays. More to come on that next month.
At the end of the meeting on the 17th, Mayor Franco asked if the council would support a letter to the Sewer District supporting an agricultural protection area to be placed on the sewer fields south of town. I suggested that we do a letter in protest and not in support because again, we do not know what these agricultural protection areas mean for a future bypass. I am not willing to do anything to hinder UDOTs studies and I am making it a high priority to ensure that we have all options available when UDOT makes the recommendations for what they think is the best route. Main Street has already failed and we need a solution as we plan for the next 50 years. We must have a bypass.
As always, we are so blessed to be a part of this community and this city! I hope that all of my friends & neighbors have an excellent start to their October.
Sincerely,
D. Scott Phillips
Heber City Council
Comments