A little-known state panel Thursday approved spending more than $17 million to cover the increased costs of building the Quitchupah Road, which would primarily serve hundreds of coal trucks that make the trip between the SUFCO mine near Salina and the power plants in Emery County. The 2.5 percent, 15-year loan was approved by the state’s Permanent Community Impact Fund Board, which doles out money earned through mineral leases on federal lands. The newest chunk of money supplements previous loans and grants of $12.5 million, and brought the board’s participation in the road project to nearly $30 million. Conceived around 15 years ago, the road will save about 300 coal trucks an extra 46-mile trek over Interstate-70 to State Route 10 and to the power plants, which take about 60 percent of the coal from the state’s largest mine.
Among the board’s other actions Thursday was reconsidering a $7 million low-interest loan to help build a new water system in a northwestern Kane County vacation community, Zion View Estates.
The project would help owners of 250 homes and lots after state regulators ordered the community to correct its water safety problems immediately or face a system shutdown. Salt Lake Tribune
