Fountain Green library seeks state certification

FOUNTAIN GREEN—Fountain Green City formally organized its city library at a council meeting Wednesday Feb. 19.

Library Director Taryn Collard brought several issues before the council for approval, including a resolution to establish the library as a department within Fountain Green City.

Another resolution established the library board of directors, and appointed the board chair, vice chair and three members to serve specific terms.

Although the library has operated with city support for decades, and already had a board and directors, the official action will help Fountain Green move toward certification as a public library in the Utah State Library system. That will open the door to funding sources and opportunities not available to independent libraries.

To align with Utah State Library standards, Fountain Green will join the Utah integrated library computer systems. This will give patrons the ability to check out books from the state library. Further, the Beehive Library Consortium will make a vast library of eBooks, audiobooks and online magazines available to Fountain Green patrons.

The systems come at a small cost, which will be paid by the various fundraisers each year.

The Messenger spoke with Library Director Taryn Collard. She said the steps to become a certified public library are moving quickly. The timeframe had been almost two years, but she believes the process could be complete in as soon as eight months.

At the Feb. 19 meeting, Curt Nielsen, superintendent of water and sewer, presented bids for the new outbuilding at the city cemetery. The council approved funds and gave the go-ahead for construction.

The new shed will be 24-by-35 feet and will hold all the equipment needed for cemetery maintenance. The bids accepted for the cement pad and the structure came to $36,030, much lower than the next bids, which came to $58,000.

After the council approved the building, Nielsen presented a map showing where the city could find up to an additional 461 plots.

There have been discussions about purchasing more land to expand the cemetery. Currently, only a few dozen plots are available for purchase. Finding more space for gravesites on existing land would buy the city some time.

In other council news, Roger and Denise Aagard told the council that they were seeking funds to help renew the “FG” located on a hillside facing the highway at the north end of town. They said they had received a bid for $7,500 and had raised $1,750 in donations.

Roger Aagard said their son, Justin, put in the letters for his Eagle Scout project 25 years ago. They hope to remove the rocks that form the letters and replace them with white cement. “The reason is,” Aagard said, “when we’re no longer here, it’s maintenance free.”

Jerime Ivory, representing the Lion’s Club, said the club also hopes to renew the site, including fixing up the landscaping and adding solar lights. He said the club also hopes to get the community involved.

After some discussion, Mayor Willard Wood asked the Aagards and the Lion’s Club to work together and reach out to the community for donations, and he invited them to return once that was done. “We might find out there’s a lot more people who would love to get involved,” the mayor said.

Lastly, the council adopted the Wildlife- Urban Interface code. The Utah Legislature passed a law in 2025 requiring all counties and cities who participate in the Cooperative Wildfire System to adopt the International WUI Code effective Jan. 1, 2026.

Fountain Green participates in the Cooperative Wildfire System, which guarantees state help if wildfire from outside city limits encroaches on Fountain Green.

This code establishes certain rules about building materials, and proximities of dry brush and trees to new structures in the city considered by the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands to be at risk of wildfire.

Fountain Green currently doesn’t have any areas deemed to be WUI, but there is land adjacent to city limits that is considered at risk, and in future years, it is possible the city will have such land. The map of WUI sites can be re-evaluated annually.