Shelith Jacobson will fill Fountain Green council vacancy

By James Tilson

03-07-2019

FOUNTAIN GREEN—A new council member was chosen by the Fountain Green City Council, and the city continued to inch toward construction of a new fire station.

Shelith Jacobson and Stuart Smith applied to fill the vacant seat on the council, and their applications were taken up by the council Thursday, Feb. 21. Both candidates emphasized their desire to serve their community.

“We know progress is coming,” said Jacobson. “But we have values that we need to protect.” Jacobson told the council she had worked on the city’s planning commission, and her family has a tradition of service. She has just retired as manager of the radiology department in the Central Valley Medical Center in Nephi, and would have plenty of time to devote to the position.

“My goal is that everyone is represented and the community is one,” said Stuart. “Decisions made should be in the best long-term interest of the city.” While Stuart admitted he was a recent “transplant,” he noted his wife was from Spring City. He recalled his youth in South Jordan, when it used to be like Fountain Green, but “now it’s not because growth was not managed properly.”

After all the councils votes were tallied, Jacobson was declared the winner. However, her term will only last through the end of the year. Her seat, and two others will be up for election in November, and Mayor Willard Wood encouraged Stuart to apply again. The registration time-period for the council seats will be June 3-7.

Mayor Wood also reported on the progress being made to fund a new city fire station. While the city is waiting on the decision by the Community Impact Board (CIB) regarding their application, Jones & DeMille Engineering has given the city “preliminary estimates” concerning two potential building methods for the new building.

According to Kendrick Thomas at Jones & DeMille, the two options are new methods being proposed by Eagle Ridge Span in North Dakota. One method would be to use steel framing, which would be pre-fabricated, in order to reduce the building costs and make the finished product stronger. The other method would be to use wood instead of steel, which would still be stronger than traditional methods, but less costly.

“We’re still trying to wrap our heads around all the factors” of how and why the methods might be advisable, Thomas said. The estimate is still preliminary until they can completely analyze the Eagle Ridge proposal. Also, they want to wait for the CIB decision before they finalize their estimate.