Eagle Mountain City Council, 28 April 2026

In short: This was a budget work session, where staff walked the council through the big-ticket projects they want money for next year — new wells and water pipelines, a sewer plant expansion, parks, and a possible ice rink. The council took only one vote, to go into a closed session. Everything else ended in informal direction: keep researching whether Meta must pay for the Steeplechase lift station, prioritize the city center streetscape, and study whether an ice rink pencils out.

Present: Mayor Jared Gray; Councilmembers Melissa Clark, Brett Wright, Craig Whiting, Rich Wood, and Zac Huish (all five recorded voting in the closing roll call).

Staff: Vince (City Engineer, water/wastewater/stormwater); Ben (city administrator/manager — role inferred); Kimberly (Finance); Zach Hilton (Parks & Recreation); Steve (recreation/facilities projects); Marcus (City Attorney); and "Steph" and "Natalie" (staff). Kimberly, "Mac," "Brad," "Jeff Weber," and "David" were referenced but not all present.

Decisions

#	Agenda ref	Motion	Moved / Seconded	Vote	Result
1	3	Adjourn into closed session, per Utah Code §52-4-205(1)	Wright / Wood	5-0 (Huish, Wood, Whiting, Wright, Clark)	Passed

Everything else the council settled that afternoon — the Steeplechase lift station, the streetscape priority, and the ice rink feasibility study — was informal direction rather than a recorded vote. See below.

Settled without a vote:

• On the Steeplechase lift station, council reached a working direction (not a formal vote) that staff — Marcus and Vince — will research the Meta development agreement and return with whether the upgrade is Meta's obligation before the item is funded.
• Council gave informal consensus to prioritize city center streetscape (shoulder) work, potentially redirecting the separate $500,000 median budget toward it.
• Council informally authorized proceeding with the $30,000 ice rink / field house feasibility study, contingent on obtaining a firm funding commitment from the county (at least two members, and apparently a majority, voiced "yes").

Meeting map

Agenda ref	Topic	~Start (elapsed)	One-line note
1	Call to order	0:00	Budget work session opened at 3:02 PM Tuesday, April 28
2.A	Water capital projects	~0:02	4M-gallon tank, Wells 5/7/9, SR-73 & Airport Road pipelines — all impact-fee funded
2.A	Wastewater capital projects	~0:15	Ox ditch upgrade, 6 MGD MBR plant, East Trunk Line, effluent disposal, RO study, lift station, pond liners
2.A	Stormwater project	~0:30	Single item: bank reinforcement near Silver Lake Village
—	Church master plan north of Lone Tree	~0:33	Off-agenda; council frustration that a large parcel is being planned without their involvement
—	Birthday recognition for "Zach"	~0:36	Cake served; singing waived to save time
2.A	Parks projects (current + FY27 requests)	~0:37	Trails, observatory, Eagle Monument, parking lots, streetscapes, bike park, Nolan Park, park designs, land acquisition
—	Parks/trails planning & Community Services Board tasking	~0:44	Extended discussion on inventorying deficiencies vs. prioritizing
2.A	Facilities: WWTP admin building	~0:52	21,000 sq ft office building in value engineering
2.A	Administration projects (FY27)	~0:53	Civic campus, land acquisition, rodeo relocation, field house/ice rink
—	Ice rink / county funding opportunity	~0:56	Deep dive on Commissioner Beltran offer; Eagle Mountain vs. Orem
2.A	Finance wrap-up (Kimberly)	~1:05	Uncommitted utility-cell proceeds ($3M) and capital fund ($8.3M)
3	Adjournment into closed session	~1:12	Motion carried 5–0; meeting to adjourn from hallway after closed session

Discussed but NOT on the agenda: the LDS Church's master planning of a large parcel between Lone Tree and Sage Valley; a birthday recognition; extended policy discussion about tasking the Community Services Board; and a county-funded ice-rink opportunity.

On agenda but little/no discussion: The agenda itself was minimal ("2.A Budget Discussion Item"), so nearly everything was elaborated; no listed item was skipped.

What was discussed

2.A — Water Capital Projects

City Engineer Vince opened by explaining that the water, wastewater, and stormwater slides were all capital projects proposed for next fiscal year. Many are continuations of work already budgeted, whose prior budgets would "roll into the current fiscal year," so the figures on screen were additional money to finish them.

The 4-million-gallon tank at Scarlet Ridge is under construction — floor poured, wall sections being poured every one to two weeks — with roughly $2.5 million already budgeted and an added $700,000 requested "just to wrap up construction," for a total near $3.2 million, which a councilmember noted was better than "the last one we did." The Well 5 upgrade (up Hidden Hollow behind the elementary school) involves larger pumps, upgraded electrical, and a new backup generator — all long-lead items ordered roughly 18 months earlier. Ben said capacity is expected to rise from about 2,000–2,500 gallons per minute to 3,000–3,500 gallons per minute (gpm), adding roughly 1,000 gpm.

Most discussion centered on Well 7 on Unity Pass near Pony Express. The driller never reached the 1,500-foot target depth, stopping near 1,000 feet after losing drilling heads down the hole; staff said they negotiated a reduced payment on the per-foot contract, came in under budget, and that a pump test still yielded over 3,000 gpm. The risk, staff explained, is long-term: in a multi-year drought the aquifer could drop below the drilled depth, and "for this well, it is what it is" — the remedy is redundancy from other wells, so Well 7 "will be the first one that comes offline." Total cost was estimated around $4–4.5 million, with completion hoped for by the end of 2027.

Well 9, near the airport at the end of Lone Tree, is a redundant well for Well 7; a driller is hired to start in July, and $3.5 million this cycle would cover engineering, well house, pumps, electrical, and an added pipeline section. Kimberly offered public-facing context that wells typically run about $3.5 million to drill and another $2.5–3 million for the pump house and line — "sometimes $5 to $7 million to put in a well" — with Unity Pass drilling alone exceeding $5 million. Staff confirmed rising costs would require updating the Impact Fee Facilities Plan (IFFP) and IFA, with more frequent updates planned.

Vince then covered new pipeline projects: three sections of the SR-73 pipeline (broken out that way in the master plan but intended to be built as one continuous project for cheaper mobilization) that would connect to Central Utah's North Terminal Reservoir above Saratoga Springs and run down to Airport Road, ideally before SR-73 road construction begins; a Sage Valley to Mid-Valley Road waterline paralleling the new Airport Road; and a Pony Express Parkway to Airport Road pipeline creating a system loop.

Staff confirmed the loop is being designed to draw the city's full Central Utah Water contract capacity and would also tie into Well 9. All water funding, Vince told a new councilmember, comes from growth-driven impact fees; SR-73 specifically is being funded through a bond repaid by impact fees. A related exchange clarified that the recently installed 16-inch sewer trunk line along the airport currently ties temporarily into an 8-inch line at the Overland subdivision — an undesirable downsizing to be corrected by a later project.

2.A — Wastewater Capital Projects

The wastewater slate included both continuing and new projects. The oxidation ("ox") ditch upgrade is the first phase of expanding the treatment plant — a biological process using bacteria, augmented by a recycling system and an existing on-site tank — described as "a band-aid" to bridge to full build-out of the 6-million-gallon membrane bioreactor (MBR) plant, newer technology that fits a smaller footprint and produces higher-quality, more reusable effluent. Staff noted the master plan envisions roughly 14 million gallons per day (MGD) at full build-out, with this step reaching about 8 MGD.

The East Trunk Line ($5.9 million) would connect to the end of the 16-inch airport line and run down Airport Road and a power corridor to the treatment plant, relieving the Pony Express trunk line — currently at "about a C" level of service — back down to a B and opening capacity for the Smiths development and City Hall–area growth.

The most substantive debate was over effluent disposal upgrades (figures around $10 million referenced) and the state's refusal to permit water reuse. Staff described three disposal options — piping to Tickville Wash, spreading at "the sinks"/wetlands, or expanding rapid infiltration basins (RIBs) — all constrained because the valley's clay layer makes infiltration slow. Councilmember Clark and others pressed a "philosophical" point: rather than "dumping money" into disposal that mostly evaporates, the city should invest in reuse or direct aquifer injection, and should produce a one-page fact sheet quantifying the waste to share with state legislators and the Home Builders Association.

Ben and the mayor argued the budget item should be approved anyway — because a plan showing water disposal is legally required to obtain the sewer-processing permit, and because funding it creates "a story to share of money that's wasted" to pressure the state. A councilmember reported meeting a state water official ("Sandal") who was unaware the effluent was simply evaporating and became "on board." The related tertiary treatment Phase 2 / reverse osmosis item is only a $300,000 study to design a reverse-osmosis (RO) train that would lower salinity enough for direct aquifer injection or better reuse — "not a wasted study" regardless of which disposal path is chosen.

Two remaining items drew scrutiny. The Steeplechase lift station upgrade (near Meta, at the south end) prompted a pointed discussion about whether the city can recoup study and upgrade costs from the single large user driving the need. Kimberly cautioned the city cannot single out one lift station or target data centers specifically under existing agreements, but could establish a broader lift-station fee or use previously paid wastewater impact fees if the work adds capacity. Marcus (City Attorney) said that if the upgrade is necessitated by Meta's expansion, the development agreement contains a "meet and confer" provision requiring them to pay a portion; council directed staff to research the agreement and bring it back before funding. Councilmembers Clark, Wright, and Huish all stated citizens should not subsidize infrastructure serving one company.

Finally, the effluent pond storage liner replacement ($4 million) would replace two worn liners on ponds holding reusable return water from Meta's secondary system. Asked about estimate accuracy across all projects, staff said figures are within about 25% (with contingencies built in, ideally trending down) until the request-for-proposals (RFP) process, and the mayor emphasized these are pre-design staff estimates, not bids.

2.A — Stormwater Project

The lone stormwater request was bank reinforcement drawn from the 2020 stormwater master plan, using riprap or rock-filled gabion baskets to protect backyards and structures from natural bank erosion, concentrated on the Silver Lake Village side where homes sit close to a wash that "ping-pongs back and forth" cutting the banks. A councilmember asked whether design review would protect critical habitat given the lack of an in-house biologist or environmental planner; staff said an engineer hired for design would handle that.

Another councilmember confirmed this work is downstream of and unrelated to prior Flagship/Army Corps–permitted work, and is not a repair of something done incorrectly. The discussion tied back to the wastewater debate — placing effluent in Tickville Wash would create "these types of mitigation problems... regularly," so it "is not free to do that." A follow-up confirmed a wash wall compromised by an earlier Silver Creek water-main leak had been repaired.

2.A — Parks Projects (Zach Hilton)

Parks & Recreation staffer Zach Hilton walked through mostly funded, in-progress projects that will roll into FY27, clarifying that a single "additional budget requested" header had caused confusion — these were already allocated. Items included the MAG-funded Pony Express-to-SR-73 trail (city share only ~6%, awaiting reallocated federal funding), the donation-dependent observatory (with Meta and possibly QTS as prospective donors and county grant efforts underway), the Eagle Monument ($80,000 approved in the last budget amendment, targeted for installation around end of May, including a rebuilt retaining wall), Quarry Ride parking-lot expansion and festival-of-lights, an approved digital sign that will return to council over size questions, a cemetery master plan, and city center streetscapes.

On the streetscapes, the mayor and council agreed to prioritize the shoulder/streetscape side — especially given the relocated parade route — potentially redirecting a separate $500,000 median allocation, while coordinating with "David" so improvements aren't installed and torn out.

FY27 requests included a Mountain Ranch bike park addition (a pump track and parking under the power corridor between Golden Eagle and Ranches Parkway), Nolan Park improvements ($750,000, focused on converting a non-recycling splash pad), Pony Express Regional Park design ($150,000), Silver Lake Community Park design ($150,000, the "Woodhaven"/Tickville Wash L-shaped parcel), and a $3 million property-acquisition placeholder for 2028 (impact-fee money earmarked toward another baseball quad). This launched a lengthy planning discussion (see Notable moments) about inventorying deficiencies across parks, trails, and open space, and about the maintenance burden every new amenity creates — "we have to commit to maintaining them."

2.A — Facilities & Administration Projects

The only facilities item was a wastewater treatment plant admin building — a roughly 21,000-square-foot office with 16 offices and 22 cubicles, currently in value engineering. Under "administration projects" for FY27, staff proposed $500,000 for a civic campus (concept architecture, programming, and feasibility as a first step after the downtown master plan, informed by a St. George architect who quoted ~$50,000 for programming and concept design so future bidders can bid "apples to apples"), $2.5 million for land acquisition (including property near the future satellite public works campus), $1 million toward rodeo-grounds relocation (potentially matched by ACUB/Sentinel Landscape funding), and $30,000 to study feasibility for a combined field house / ice rink / offices. The mayor noted a five-year capital plan is in development, with larger construction dollars projected in 2028–2029.

The ice rink dominated. A county opportunity — described via Commissioner Beltran and county staffer "Skyler" — would combine state funds, Ryan Smith Group money (~$500,000 per sheet), and county TRCC (transient room tax) funds, offering perhaps $7–9 million total. A single sheet was estimated near $10–11 million, a double sheet $16–18 million. Councilmembers noted the same offer had been declined by Lehi, Saratoga Springs, Orem, and others, leaving Eagle Mountain and Orem "racing to this."

Council authorized the $30,000 feasibility study but conditioned enthusiasm on a firm county commitment — Councilmember Clark cautioned that a ~$2 million local share against a $10–20 million project "isn't really a match," and that the city should not build field space while existing fields remain "hard mud... kids are getting hurt on it." Multiple members wanted a scientific resident survey (via "On Point Insights") before committing design dollars.

2.A — Finance Wrap-Up (Kimberly)

Finance Director Kimberly closed by previewing a five-year capital list to be emailed to council and explaining available balances. Of roughly $13 million in original utility-cell proceeds, most was programmed, but about $3 million is now uncommitted — largely from a $2.6 million rec-center allocation that was pulled back and about $900,000 from a neighborhood-park match program that didn't progress. Separately, the capital project fund (Fund 47) holds about $8.3–8.4 million uncommitted.

She flagged one stalled item: ~$1 million committed for public-works-yard paving and drainage that council had held pending a facilities master plan (the diesel storage tank portion was completed). She stressed impact fees must be spent within six years on projects identified in the Impact Fee Facilities Plan, and that the only way to grow these general capital funds is excess general-fund reserves — underscoring why building reserves matters for "quality of life" projects lacking impact-fee sources.

Notable moments

• Reuse permit frustration. Councilmember Clark and others sharply criticized the state for forcing the city to spend heavily on effluent disposal that "just evaporates" while withholding a reuse permit — proposing a one-page fact sheet quantifying the waste to send to legislators and homebuilders. Staff reframed the budget approval as a way to build a documented "story of money that's wasted" to pressure the state.
• Landowner collaboration dispute (off-agenda). Learning that the LDS Church is master-planning a large parcel between Lone Tree and Sage Valley without council involvement, Councilmembers Whiting and Wood expressed frustration that "landowners and developers should come to us first." The mayor said only planning staff had heard the church was "looking at this area," that no decisions exist, and agreed to request a meeting; a councilmember "volunteer[ed] as tribute" for a small-group discussion.
• A tour of governance philosophy on trails and parks. Councilmember Wood proposed three separate future meetings — one each on trails, parks, and open space — plus a financial-plan discussion, arguing "you can't eat the whole elephant at one time." Council coalesced on tasking the Community Services Board (meeting the next day) to inventory deficiencies rather than prioritize, reserving prioritization for the council.
• Saver-vs-spender exchange. Prompted by a Zach Hilton question about whether to invest funds or spend them, the mayor — self-described as "a saver" who lives "on a ton less than what I generate" — argued that public money (RAP tax, impact fees) should be put to timely public use rather than sitting and losing value, citing utility-cell funds "worth half what it was."
• Ice rink skepticism. Councilmember Clark warned it "would be a huge travesty" to build new field space while existing fields are unplayable, and pushed for a firm county commitment and a scientific resident survey before spending design money — echoed by Councilmember Huish on being "mindful where that rest of the money is coming from."
• Birthday cake. The mayor recognized "Zach's" birthday; staff (Natalie) cut cake and the council waived singing to preserve their one-hour hard stop, agreeing to "keep our mouths full" and get through more business.
• The asphalt paver. A councilmember, referencing a Facebook comment, likened the city's own asphalt machine to "a baby grand piano you never play," wanting it running "365" — prompting a staff reminder that the streets department, not a dedicated crew, operates it and has competing maintenance duties.

About this transcript

The recording was not split by speaker, so who said what is inferred from context and is often uncertain — especially among the councilmembers, who could only be told apart confidently in the closing roll call ("Hughes"=Huish, "White"=Whiting, plus Wood, Wright, Clark). Both "Hewish" and "Hughes" in the transcript mean Councilmember Zac Huish. The staffer who presented parks is Zach Hilton, a different person from Councilmember Huish; the "Zach" whose birthday was celebrated is unclear in the audio and could be either.

Names the speech-to-text likely got wrong include: "Benz" (= Ben, city administrator/manager); "Metta"/"Mehta" (= Meta, the data center); "Cory Ride" (= likely Quarry Ride); "Silver Creek"/"Silver Parkway" and "Woodhaven" (park/road names, spellings unverified); "Tickbill Gulf"/"tickle wash" (= Tickville Wash); "Sandal" (a state water official, name uncertain); "Skyler" and "Commissioner Beltran" (county contacts); and "SOMAS engineering," "Bowen and Collins," "On Point Insights," "TRCC," and "ACUB/Sentinel Landscape" (organizations, spellings approximate). "Steph" and "Steve" may or may not be the same person.

Several dollar figures were spoken as round numbers and are staff estimates (±25%), not final costs. The audio was sometimes unclear when speakers pointed at maps or slides ("that very bottom road that goes north-south"), and those references cannot be reconstructed from audio alone.