Transcript — Eagle Mountain City Council, 26 August 2026
Produced by speech recognition from the meeting recording, so it mis-hears names and technical terms. It is a searchable aid to the recording, not a record of equal standing to the approved minutes.
Who is speaking
Identified by comparing each voice against recordings of people named in earlier meetings. That is an acoustic match, not something said out loud here, so it cannot be checked against the transcript below. Treat these as probable, not certain.
| Label | Probably | On what basis |
|---|---|---|
| Speaker A | Melissa Clark | Voice match. This label's audio scores 0.96 cosine similarity against the voiceprint for Melissa Clark, built from 78 sampled turns across 6 other meetings, versus 0.33 for the next-closest person, Jessie Southworth. Sampled from 11 turns spread through this meeting. This is an acoustic match only — nothing said in the transcript was read to reach it. |
| Speaker B | Rich Wood | Voice match. This label's audio scores 0.61 cosine similarity against the voiceprint for Rich Wood, built from 70 sampled turns across 5 other meetings, versus 0.36 for the next-closest person, Zac Huish. Sampled from 5 turns spread through this meeting. This is an acoustic match only — nothing said in the transcript was read to reach it. |
| Speaker C | Marcus Draper | Voice match. This label's audio scores 0.90 cosine similarity against the voiceprint for Marcus Draper, built from 23 sampled turns across 3 other meetings, versus 0.32 for the next-closest person, Eric Knutson. Sampled from 7 turns spread through this meeting. This is an acoustic match only — nothing said in the transcript was read to reach it. |
| Speaker D | Steve Mumford | Voice match. This label's audio scores 0.73 cosine similarity against the voiceprint for Steve Mumford, built from 20 sampled turns across 2 other meetings, versus 0.38 for the next-closest person, Melissa Clark. Sampled from 3 turns spread through this meeting. This is an acoustic match only — nothing said in the transcript was read to reach it. |
Full transcript
Speaker A: And we're going to excuse Mayor Gray and Ben Reeves, our city manager, because they are in New York right now attending to some city business to help us with some things that we're working on. We're going to move into the Pledge of Allegiance, and I will lead you in that. Please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay, so this afternoon's meeting is going to be short and sweet. It was something that we needed to call a special meeting for because of some timelines and deadlines. So we will be looking at a resolution of Eagle Mountain City, Utah, protesting The Red Cedar Corporation annexation petition filed with the Town of Cedar Fort on July 27th, 2026. And I'll invite Marcus to present the item.
Speaker C: Yes, so we became aware of this, I believe yesterday, that the petition for annexation was filed under state code. Prior to even filing the petition, the petitioner should have sent a notice of intent to file a petition with us. Because we are an affected entity, and that is one of the procedural problems with their petition. So we drafted a protest letter because this overlaps with our annexation policy plan expansion area, and and we have some interest in potentially annexing a portion of that proposed annexation into Eagle Mountain City. Additionally, we've had contact with. the representatives of several of the landowners that are proposed to be annexed into Cedar Fort, and they do not desire to be annexed into Cedar Fort and are very troubled by this petition. So we are filing as an affected entity. We have standing to file a protest, and that's what this would be, a resolution to do that.
Speaker A: Thank you. Just— and I'd like to recognize that Mayor Gray and Ben Reeves are both online, but because they're remote, I'll continue to conduct the meeting unless the mayor tells me otherwise. Um, does council have any questions about the item that is at hand? This is Craig.
Speaker B: I have no questions.
Speaker A: Okay. Council Member Hewish, do you have any questions?
Speaker C: I think, uh, this, this is just a procedural step in a protest. What, what is the next step after the protest is filed? Yeah, so we'll file the protest with the Utah County Clerk, after which the Boundary Commission would have to set a date for a public hearing, and we would have the opportunity to present at that hearing. And then they would make a decision on how to recommend, you know, what Cedar Fort does. My reading of the laws is not actually binding on the town of Cedar Fort, but it would certainly bear a lot of persuasive weight. We would have, if they went forth with the annexation, then we would have to look at other legal recourse if they chose not to follow the Boundary Commission's recommendation.
Speaker A: Okay. Councilmember Wood, do you have anything that you'd like to share?
Speaker B: Nope.
Speaker A: All right. So with that, if no one else has any other items— oh, okay. Steve.
Speaker D: Just, uh, Marcus can clarify for me, but it appears unless Cedar Fort changes their mind, on September 15th they will still have a public hearing on this.
Speaker C: They can't move forward with the public hearing while there's a pending protest.
Speaker D: Okay, what I read in state code was that they can have the public hearing, they can deny the application, but they can't approve it.
Speaker C: Yes, I mean, that's a little bit more, I guess, precise. Yes, they could deny the annexation petition without waiting for the protest to play out, and that would moot the protest, but they can't approve it until the protest plays out.
Speaker B: Marcus, maybe I have one question. How is it that they can, Force a landowner to be part of an annexation application against their will?
Speaker C: That is one of the problems with the petition. Under state law, you need to have landowners covering at least 50% of the total area within the annexation, proposed annexation area, that signed the petition. And my understanding is that did not occur here, that it was only the Red Cedar Corporation who was the petitioner. They're the only ones that signed it, and they own approximately a third of the land area, and none of the other landowners, most of which are associated with the Holbrooks, And they none of them signed it. It's my is my understanding, and so that is one of the procedural problems is that it's the petition's invalid because it doesn't have the adequate signatures. That being said, my reading of state law is if you do meet the requirements and have 50% of the landowners sign, say the landowner is covering 50% of the total area, and that covers one third of the total value. If you meet both those requirements and a couple other minor procedural requirements, you could force other landowners into an annexation into a municipality that they don't want to be annexed into. So that is something that is allowable under state law, but not under these circumstances.
Speaker B: Is the reason that they're being included in this is because their property lies between the applicant and the city that they want to annex to?
Speaker C: So in this area, there is a, I guess, a corridor, if you will, of parcels that are between Cedar Fort and Eagle Mountain and within unincorporated Utah County. The Red Cedar Corporation parcels are actually just to the north of this corridor. And all the ones to the south are, again, most of them are associated with the Holbrook family. And I can't, I mean, I have ideas, but I don't know what their motives are for including them.
Speaker B: Thank you. Okay, no further questions.
Speaker A: Thank you. Does, does anyone else on council have any more questions or any more comments from those that are present? All right, so then I'll call for a motion.
Speaker B: Mayor Pro Tempore, I'll make a motion. I move that the city council adopt a resolution of Eagle Mountain City, Utah, protesting the Red Cedar Corporation annexation petition filed with the town of Cedar Fort on July 27th, 2026.
Speaker A: Second. All right, we have a motion from Council Member Wood and a second from Council Member Wright. Let's begin the vote with me. Yes. Council Member?
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: Council Member Whiting?
Speaker C: Yes.
Speaker A: Council Member Wood?
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: Council Member Hewish?
Speaker C: Yes.
Speaker A: Good job, you guys. I had a real hard time because we don't have our name plaques up. Thank you all for that. I'll call for a motion to adjourn.
Speaker B: You need to announce that it's been, uh, what the vote was.
Speaker A: Um, the, the vote, uh, was 5 to 0, passes.
Speaker B: Will you entertain a motion, Mayor Pro Tem?
Speaker A: I sure will.
Speaker C: Motion to adjourn.
Speaker A: Oh, second. We have a motion from Council Member Wood and a motion, a second from Council Member Wright. All in favor, please say aye.
Speaker D: Aye. Aye.
Speaker A: All right, we're adjourned at 5:23 PM. Thank you.