Fillmore plans new city park

The city over many years has built up a reserve of about $13.5 million in unrestricted cash— money that can legally be used for discretionary spending—in its electric, sewer and water enterprise funds. Council members said the city has saved so much money that now is a good time to give it back to citizens in the form of a project that would benefit the community — a city park.


The new park would be built on city land near the current baseball field. It would feature two pavilions, a new sand volleyball court, pickle ball courts, a splash pad, bathroom facilities, a playground and parking for a bit more than 50 vehicles.


The added expense to the city for upkeep on the new park would most likely be covered by the $50,000 in new annual revenues generated by the city’s RAP tax, approved by voters in the city’s most recent municipal election.


After hearing multiple public comments, the city council eventually voted unanimously to move the $1 million for the park project from the electric enterprise fund into the city’s capital projects fund. Millard County Chronicle Progress

Sanpete County Water projects funded

Two small towns have started construction on big culinary water projects. Both Sterling and Mayfield are redeveloping their culinary springs with funding from Emergency Community Water Assistance Grants (ECWAG).


Sterling is redeveloping two springs, replacing a pipeline between the springs and burying a pipe that carries water from both springs to the town water tank. The total project cost is $900,000. ECWAG is covering $828,000. The town got a Community Development Block Grant for $42,000 and put up $30,000 of its own money.


Mayfield is working on five springs, two near the mouth of 12-Mile Canyon, two about a mile up the canyon and one in a side canyon called South Hollow. The total projected cost of the Mayfield work is $720,000. The town got a planning grant for $13,500 from the Utah Division of Drinking Water and $700,000 from ECWAG. The town itself is covering the rest. Sanpete Messenger

Delta council OKs sewer contract

Delta City Council members approved a $145,000 contract last Wednesday for work on the city’s aging sewer system. Val Kotter & Sons, a Brigham City company was awarded the project. The sewer project is the first step in repairing the city’s sewer system. A master sewer plan created by Sunrise and submitted to the city in April estimated the city could spend as much as $19 million to overhaul the entire system. Millard County Chronicle Progress

Delta City airport construction nears finish

Construction to repave the runway, build more accessible ground approaches to the strip of asphalt as well as install new lighting and new stripes should be completed in December. The city received a $4.16 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration this past summer to make the improvements. Geneva Rock is the main contractor on the project. Millard County Chronicle Progress

Sevier Playa potash project gets planning nod

County planning commissioners approved a conditional use permit for the Crystal Peak Minerals Sevier Playa potash mining project last week. Construction on the project is expected to begin sometime next year. Operations are expected to commence three to four years after construction starts, commissioners were told. Potash, or potassium sulfate, is a mineral deposit used in premium fertilizer. The Sevier Playa project is expected to mine the mineral for the next 35 years. Millard County Chronicle Progress

Ephraim issues permit for condos at old Travel Inn site

The Ephraim city council approved a conditional use permit for a new condominium project on the site of the Travel Inn. The condos will have 39 units: 30 with two bedrooms and nine with three bedrooms. There will be 96 parking spaces total, with 43 covered. The units will be constructed with vinyl siding for “a good look and low maintenance.” Sanpete Messenger

Bridge Replacement north of Austin

Traffic north of Austin on Utah State Route 118 is limited to one lane as crews are working to replace a bridge. The new bridge will be a single span using a pre-stressed concrete slab 63-feet long by 44-feet wide. In the early phases of the project the contractor — W.W. Clyde — relocated water lines and built a bypass road at the bridge where SR 118 crosses over the Sevier River. This is so traffic can still travel through the area as the bridge is torn down and replaced. The project is approximately a $3 million investment in the road’s infrastructure. Richfield Reaper

Construction begins on Salina pool

The Salina City pool repair project has begun and includes the demolition of the interior walls, plumbing, electrical and a remodel of the interior components, as well as a 10-foot addition to the pool with upgrades to mechanical components of the pool system, which includes filtration, pumping and chlorination systems. It also includes expanding the pool deck area, relining the pool and upgrading the exterior lighting system.


Funding for the project has been procured by personal and business donations, various fundraising efforts and events organized by the Salina City Swimming Pool Fundraising committee, as well as a 20-year loan of $1 million at 1 percent interest from the Utah Permanent Community Impact Fund Board. Richfield Reaper

Wales will receive $602K grant to improve culinary water system

The town of Wales was notified will receive a $602,500 Emergency Community Water Assistance Grant (ECWAG) through the USDA Rural Development program to improve its culinary water system. Funds will be used to drill a replacement well because the existing well pulls in silt during peak use in summer. The work will also include development of additional springs near the existing lime kiln springs in Wales Canyon. The well and springs currently provide culinary water for the community of Wales for both indoor and outdoor uses. Sanpete Messenger

Richfield City embarks on a $4 million roads project

Crews began work on a roads project in Richfield City that will refurbish and repair the majority of the streets on the east side of town. The project also includes repairs on the west side of town. Much of the project will focus on a microseal process, Creamer said. Instead of the traditional chip seal, where a layer of oil is put down and then covered with gravel, the microseal incorporates the oil with the gravel.


The city is also improving Flying J Drive on the north side of town as part of the project. Several intersections are also due to be reconstructed as part of the project including two along 800 South at Cove View Road and 300 West and another at 600 North and Upland Drive. Richfield Reaper

Massive transmission project gets green light

Millard County commissioners approved two conditional use permits last week for an ambitious power transmission project that could deliver $477 million in tax receipts to the county over the life of the endeavor.

TransWest Express (TWE), a subsidiary of Denver-based, privately-held Anschutz Corporation, is planning to start construction next year on a 730-mile power transmission project stretching from wind farms in Wyoming, crossing portions of Colorado and Utah, to a sub-station in Nevada, potentially delivering 3,000 megawatts of renewable energy to customers throughout the Southwest. That amount of electricity is enough to power 1.8 million homes annually. About 93 miles of new transmission line as well as an electric converter station would be located in Millard County. The converter station would be used to convert high voltage direct current electricity into alternating current power. The new power lines would be built mostly on federal lands inside the county. Three percent would stretch across state land and 6 percent would cross private land, according to a permit application on file with the county. Millard County Chronicle Progress

Observatory adds 260 new detectors; to quadruple search area in cosmic ray quest

The Telescope Array Project—the multinational cosmic ray observatory that calls Delta home—is undergoing an expansion with the placement of double the current number of surface detectors over a wider area. New telescopes are planned for observation posts on Middle Drum and Black Rock Mesa as well.


Starting last month, scientists from the University of Utah and the University of Tokyo began monitoring the placement of about 260 new ground detectors, ping-pong table-sized devices called scintillators. The detectors are being placed by helicopter in the desert north and south of Delta. A couple of hundred more detectors will be placed in the fall, effectively doubling the number of detectors currently in operation.


The expansion, will cost about $4.5 million, most of that funding coming from Japan. Expansion work was slated to begin in January, but was stalled by the recent federal government shutdown. Millard County Chronicle Progress

Wales awarded $600K for new station

Wales has the green light to move forward with a much-needed new fire station after hearing the town will receive more than $600,000 in funding. At a recent town council meeting, leaders discussed the Utah Community Impact Board (CIB) approval of a $500,000 grant and a 20-year loan of $104,000 at 2.5 percent interest.


The new building is planned as an 80-foot by 85-foot (6,800-square-foot) steel structure with three drive-through bays and a concrete floor. The location will be the half-acre lot immediately north of the existing fire station. (The current station is at 150 N. State St.) There are plans for storage space over the office and possibly some rock work on the front of the building facing 200 North. Sanpete Messenger

Deseret canal gets lining update

Built in 1885, the Deseret low-lying canal was dug by horse and plow teams. The Millard County canal is now getting a needed update with water and financial conservation in mind. The canal is receiving a more modern touch with bolstered sides and pond liner along the bottom.


Approximately 8,000 feet of the 24-foot bottomed canal is being dug and lined, from an output near Gunnison Bend Reservoir at the north end to the Old Mill at the south. The project costs an estimated $940,000 and is funded through the Board of Water Resources, through a 12-year payback plan in order to keep level estimate costs. Millard County Chronicle Progress

Mt. Pleasant wins grant for flood control, irrigation

What may be the largest infrastructure grant in Sanpete County history has been awarded to Mt. Pleasant City to rehabilitate its irrigation water and flood control systems. The city council announced the award of a $15 million grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) of USDA. J-U-B Engineering, the city’s consultant on the project, must still complete an Environmental Assessment (EA) as well as design and engineering.

The award was made possible by the new federal budget approved on March 23, which allotted $895 million to USDA for rural water and waste disposal projects. While exact details will have to wait for design and engineering, the overarching goals of the project will be to improve flood protection for the city, separate agricultural and residential irrigation users and completely replace the city’s irrigation system. Sanpete Messenger

Sevier Valley Hospital celebrates completion of construction

Since 2012, one part or another of Sevier Valley Hospital has been under construction. Last week, a pair of ribbon cutting ceremonies was hosted to celebrate the official end of major construction on the hospital’s campus. The final two pieces of the hospital construction were the emergency center and the women and infants center. The expansion of the emergency room and the construction of the women and infants center represents a $10.1 million investment into the hospital’s infrastructure. This is in addition to the $16 million expansion and renovation project that was completed in 2014. The Richfield Reaper

Richfield approves 1300 South project

The Richfield City Council awarded a bid to Rasmussen Construction for a project that will include improvements on 1300 South and 800 South during a meeting Aug. 28. The construction on 1300 South will included the widening of the road, and installation of turn lanes so that a traffic signal can be installed. The signal, Richfield’s sixth, will be the first one not located on the city’s Main Street. Instead, it will be at the intersection of 1300 South and College Avenue. The construction will affect between one and three blocks worth of roadway. The low bid on the project, submitted by Rasmussen Construction, was $564,295. While construction could start this fall, Creamer said it will depend on schedules and the weather. Richfield Reaper

Wasatch Academy to build new addition

Wasatch Academy has begun construction for a new addition to their expansive campus by removing two old buildings. The new building will be specialized for housing the academy’s growing engineering department. The new, Wasatch Academy Engineering Building is estimated to be completed by late May 2019. These spaces will allow students to explore deeper into the sciences of robotics and engineering while being guided by experienced teachers. Larger projects, such as student-made solar heaters, will now be able to be stored whereas in past years, they often had to be disassembled so other classes could share the same space. Sanpete Pyramid

Regents give Snow College OK to pursue student housing in Richfield

The Utah State Board of Regents on Friday authorized Snow College to participate in a public-private partnership to develop 100 units of student housing on its Richfield campus.

The housing will be developed on college property. The campus is landlocked by I-70, Richfield High School and well-established residential neighborhoods to the north and south. Under the agreement, a private developer will build and maintain the housing units and parking lots. Snow College will lease the land to the developer at low cost and provide lease payments to the winning bidder from housing fees paid by students. The facility would become college property at the end of the 40-year agreement. Deseret News

Glenwood nabs $1 million grant

The Utah Permanent Community Impact Fund Board voted June 14, to award the Town of Glenwood a $1 million grant for pedestrian crossings to the town hall, post office, retirement home and religious buildings as part of a flood control improvement plan.

In addition, Sigurd was awarded a $121,000 grant for installation of chip seal and crack seal to multiple town streets and Annabella was awarded a $30,000 grant to complete a roadway and infrastructure analysis to assist with maintenance, preservation and planning. Richfield Reaper