Spring City has funds in hand for

spring development, vet memorial

 

By James Tilson

Staff writer

Jan. 11, 2018

 

SPRING CITY—Spring City announced it has in hand funds for spring redevelopment and approved a military memorial and began raising funds for it at the city council’s meeting Thursday, Jan. 4.

Newly elected Spring City councilmen Chris Anderson and Tom Brunner were sworn in to office at the meeting also, along with the unopposed incumbent mayor Jack Monnett.

Councilman Neil Sorensen informed the city council at the meeting that when he had met with Utah’s Permanent Community Impact Fund Board (CIB), it had approved the city for a $400,000 loan for spring redevelopment, instead of the $200,000 grant/$200,000 loan that it had requested.

Sorensen told the council, “We’re not running out of water, but we need to manage our mountain water resource.”

Former councilwoman Kimberly Stewart, who had worked with Sorensen on the CIB application and was on hand to discuss the spring redevelopment issue, told the council of a few factors that might change the CIB’s mind on the grant application.

Stewart suggested that the price of the project had come in too high and that if the city requested new bids on the project, it could impact the availability of grant money.

She said the CIB also told the city that the loan payments might begin in three years, after the city had paid off a different loan. Thus, the amount of money the city paid would not change from year to year.

Stewart also mentioned that the CIB looked at the low water rates that Spring City residents paid as a factor, noting that their rates were among the lowest in their area.

Sorensen told the council that it must decide whether to accept the CIB approval or try to go back for more grant money, because the city must redevelop the springs now. It cannot wait any longer.

Since the last time the springs were redeveloped in the 1980s, the springs have shifted, tree roots have invaded the pipes and the amount of gallons per minute available from the springs has dropped dramatically.

Sorensen was asked how much improvement in gallons per minute he expected the redevelopment to make. He answered that when he was a boy, the springs produced 300 gallons per minute, and he hoped to get back to that level.

Sorensen reassured those in attendance that he and the council did not want to raise water rates in Spring City in order to redevelop the springs: “We’re going to do our best to preserve our water rates where they are.”

Courtney Syme, Vietnam War veteran, and his son, also named Courtney Syme and also a veteran, addressed the council to inform them of a committee of Spring City residents working to ensure veterans of Spring City are not forgotten or ignored.

The older Syme said the Spring City Veterans Memorial Association was begun to pursue funding for, and erection of, a bronze and granite memorial to “honor the brave men and courageous women of Spring City who served in the Armed Forces of the Territory of Utah and the United States of America.”

He asked the council to approve of the concept, which would place the memorial on city property, and asked for use of the city newsletter for publicity of their fundraising efforts. The city would not be asked for any funding, as the association planned on using grant funds along with donations to build the memorial.

He and the council all agreed that the appropriate location is on the property off of 100 East and Center Street, near the City Hall. The older Syme also said electricity would be needed for lighting of the memorial.

The older Syme estimated that the association would need to raise approximately $20K as matching funds for $30K in grant money, in order to pay between $35-40K for the memorial.

He told the council he had a goal to raise $10-15K by this spring to use with grant money to order the monument. He planned to break ground on the memorial this summer, to set the monument in September or October and to have a dedication of the memorial on Veterans Day 2018.

The council unanimously approved the project, and Councilman Cody Harmar promised a $500 donation on the spot, followed by Councilmen Sorensen and Anderson.