[0:00] Now,

[0:03] >> uh, we want to welcome everyone out to

[0:04] our meeting this morning. What we'd like

[0:06] to do is, uh, go around the room real

[0:08] quick and introduce yourselves and then

[0:10] we'll go to the people online with them

[0:13] also. So, you guys want to start right

[0:14] down there? You're up first.

[0:17] >> Hi everyone. Rosie Hernandez, Wasach

[0:19] Front Regional Council, and I'm part of

[0:21] the admin team.

[0:24] >> Jordan Chandler, also part of the admin

[0:26] team at Wasach Front Regional Council.

[0:29] Tish Baro, mayor of Riverton.

[0:33] >> Jim Harvey, Weber County, Dustin Guttle,

[0:36] Mayor Midbill.

[0:37] >> Sherry Jackson, mayor of Mil Creek.

[0:39] >> Dan Digazel, city council.

[0:42] >> Carlton Christensen with the Utah

[0:43] Transit Authority.

[0:45] >> Tammy Tran, Keysville, City Mayor.

[0:48] Ariel DeFay, Utah House of

[0:50] Representatives.

[0:52] >> Cal Roberts, Utah House of

[0:53] Representatives.

[0:55] >> Andrea Pearson, WFRC admin. I'm Andrew

[0:58] Guber, executive director here at WFRC.

[1:01] And welcome Bob Stevenson, Davis County.

[1:04] >> Sorry, Miranda Jones Cox, WFRC.

[1:07] >> Mark Shepard, mayor of Clifffield City.

[1:10] >> Amy Winter Newton, Salt Lake County.

[1:13] Railen Blocker, Morgan County.

[1:16] Sher Bingham, Her City Mayor.

[1:19] >> Ben Hwitt with UD do Ivan Morero, Father

[1:22] Highway Administration.

[1:24] Jason Brown with Envision Utah.

[1:28] >> Mag Pageant, WFRC staff.

[1:32] >> Byron Head, WFRC staff.

[1:35] >> Adam Olsson with Midville City.

[1:39] >> Marshia White, WFRC, uh, community and

[1:42] economic development.

[1:43] >> Marian Florence, WFRC Finance.

[1:47] >> Hi, Cottonwood Heights. Council member

[1:49] Ellen Burrell here on behalf of Mayor

[1:51] Gayen Bignyan.

[1:54] Uh, David Brams, mayor, Immigration

[1:57] Canyon.

[1:59] >> John A. Nardone, communications manager

[2:01] with WFRC.

[2:03] >> Ryan Mikum, Sandy City.

[2:07] >> Barry McLaren with Senator John Curtis.

[2:11] Nicole Berdau, UTA.

[2:15] >> Samantha Deil Horst, WFRC, LongRange

[2:18] Planning.

[2:20] >> Ben Wridge, Westfront Regional Council.

[2:24] >> Wayne Benion, WFRC staff.

[2:28] >> Chrissy Dolberg, Community Economic

[2:29] Development, WFRC.

[2:31] >> Paula Guilera, uh, WFRC staff.

[2:35] Joel Temple, WFRC.

[2:38] >> Hugh Wagon and WFRC staff.

[2:41] >> Susie Swim, the analytics group at WFRC.

[2:45] >> Tim Watkins, community planner, WFRC.

[2:48] >> Madison Oilis, WFRC staff.

[2:51] >> Okay,

[2:53] thank you on that. Before we go to

[2:55] online, those that are elected officials

[2:57] that are sitting back there, there's

[2:58] chairs up here if you want to join us at

[3:00] the table. We'd more than appreciate you

[3:02] come on up and sitting at this chair

[3:04] with us. So, uh, with that, we'll turn

[3:07] over to Andrew. He'll go through the

[3:08] guys online.

[3:09] >> Okay. Thank you very much. With hybrid

[3:10] meetings, it's very important that we

[3:12] recognize the folks that are online. We

[3:14] see you. I'm going to just call your

[3:16] names out and just introduce yourself.

[3:18] Uh, Mayor Fatheringham, Mayor Burke, uh,

[3:21] Mayor Manzion.

[3:23] >> Well, Fatheringham, Mayor of Holiday,

[3:25] glad to have glad to be

[3:26] >> Roger Burke, mayor of Ala.

[3:30] >> Mara Manzion, Tilla City mayor. Cameron

[3:33] Deal, Councilman Bordal, Mayor Palmer.

[3:38] >> Cameron Deal, the director of the Utah

[3:40] League cities and towns.

[3:41] >> Scott Wle, Twilla County Council.

[3:44] >> Uh Lauren Palmer, mayor and Haramman.

[3:47] >> Commissioner Kamalu, Mayor Nadski, Mayor

[3:51] Mann,

[3:53] >> Loren Kamalu, Davis County Commissioner

[3:55] and representing Utah Association of

[3:57] Counties

[3:59] and Nadski, Augen City Mayor. Thank you.

[4:06] Mayor Mann,

[4:09] Mayor of Syracuse. He's trying to

[4:11] unmute.

[4:14] We got you, Mayor. Um, Mayor Wampler,

[4:18] Commissioner Bolos, Mayor Perry.

[4:21] >> Uh, Mayor Wampler from Ogden Valley

[4:23] City.

[4:29] Weber County Commissioner Sharon Bolos.

[4:31] I'll do the honors for you.

[4:34] And Alan Perry.

[4:40] Alan.

[4:45] » Okay. Mayor Overson. Mayor Vanderwood.

[4:49] Senator Harper.

[4:52] >> Good afternoon. Christy Overson, Mayor

[4:54] of Taylor'sville.

[4:56] Rob Banderwood, mayor of West Haven

[4:58] City.

[5:01] Senator Wayne Harper.

[5:04] >> Oh, and Mayor Zotansky

[5:08] from Sandy City. She's here. Okay. Thank

[5:10] you very much, everybody. We miss

[5:13] anybody.

[5:14] Okay. Thanks, Mom.

[5:16] >> Okay. We appreciate appreciate the

[5:18] attendance here uh today. It's uh

[5:20] wonderful to see as many people as we

[5:21] have. Uh we do want to welcome uh

[5:24] Senator Harper who's online and also

[5:25] Representatives DeFay and Roberts.

[5:28] Appreciate you guys being here also

[5:29] today. Uh we have one item uh under

[5:32] action item which is going to be to

[5:34] approve the minutes from our January

[5:36] 22nd meeting along with our current

[5:38] financial report and financial

[5:40] statements for December 25 and also for

[5:43] January 26. Could I get a motion of

[5:45] approval on that? So moved and seconded

[5:48] that we approve the Wasatch front

[5:50] meeting minutes from January 22nd along

[5:52] with the financial report from December

[5:54] 25 and also January 26. All in favor

[5:57] please say I.

[5:59] >> I.

[6:00] >> Any opposed? Thank you. That is

[6:02] unanimous. One thing I did forget to

[6:04] mention is that obviously Dawn is not

[6:06] here today. She is back in Washington I

[6:09] think representing South Jordan. Some

[6:12] items of business that they need to do

[6:14] as far as that goes. So the same goes

[6:16] for Carlos Beris also in DC separate

[6:18] missions but both for Utah.

[6:21] >> Welcome Joy Petro here also mayor of

[6:23] Blake. So uh what we'll do at this point

[6:26] in time now is we're going to turn some

[6:28] time over Miranda and then we're going

[6:30] to lead into a discussion with Senator

[6:32] Harper and also Representative Roberts

[6:34] and DeFay to talk a little bit about

[6:36] transportation. We are really really

[6:38] appreciative of all three of these

[6:39] people for everything that includes

[6:41] Miranda, but the representatives and the

[6:43] senators for all that they've done

[6:45] during this past session. So Miranda,

[6:47] take it over.

[6:47] >> All right. Thank you, Commissioner.

[6:50] Well, the legislative session has been

[6:52] wrapped for a few weeks now. Um we're

[6:55] all uh I think we're all still trying to

[6:58] figure out exactly what happened and now

[7:00] what are we doing moving forward? And so

[7:02] want to use this opportunity to

[7:03] highlight a few uh of the the key things

[7:07] that happened this session and then also

[7:09] we're hoping to have a broader

[7:11] discussion amongst this group and then

[7:13] also from our legislators that we have

[7:14] joining us here today um to share some

[7:17] of the key themes that we saw happening

[7:20] this legislative session. So I I'll

[7:23] highlight a few uh key bills, key

[7:26] appropriations. I'm not going to go into

[7:27] a lot of detail. A lot of you have

[7:29] already been involved uh throughout the

[7:31] session, post session. We have a lot of

[7:33] resources that we have shared out

[7:35] regularly, including our bill tracker,

[7:37] appropriations tracker, and then our

[7:39] more comprehensive legislative summary.

[7:42] I will note that in front of you all,

[7:43] and then we'll post this uh in the chat

[7:45] as well, we have this legislative

[7:47] summary postcard. Um, I really love this

[7:51] because it shows very simply and

[7:54] succinctly what the key issues were that

[7:57] we were watching and working on this

[7:59] legislative session. Um, so limited

[8:02] detail, but but it's all the the the top hits that you have right here.

[8:07] So feel free to take a look through

[8:09] that. Um, so I'll I'll run through a few

[8:12] of the key transportation bills and then

[8:15] key housing and economic development

[8:18] bills that we saw this legislative

[8:20] session. Um, again, won't go into too

[8:22] many details, but always happy to chat

[8:24] after if you guys still have some

[8:25] questions. So, Senate Bill 197, this is

[8:28] a Senator Harper bill um that would that

[8:32] will change the UTA governance structure

[8:35] from a three-member uh board to a seven

[8:39] member transit commission. Uh the bill

[8:41] also increases funding to the transit

[8:44] transportation investment fund or the

[8:46] TTIF by taking a portion of future uh

[8:50] state sales tax growth. Um,

[8:54] notably on this one, uh, councils of

[8:57] governments or COGS in your areas are

[8:59] now looking at, uh, proposing, uh, or

[9:03] nominating individuals to the governor

[9:06] for him to appoint for the transit

[9:08] commission. Um, WFRC has provided

[9:11] information to our COGS about that uh,

[9:14] about those nominations. Um, but again,

[9:17] if that's something that uh that you

[9:19] have questions about or you'd like to

[9:21] discuss after, we'd be happy to have a little sidebar about that, those

[9:25] nominations need to be into the governor

[9:27] by May 1st um for for that that next

[9:31] appointment. Uh Senate Bill 242, this is

[9:35] a transportation omnibus from Senator

[9:37] Harper. Amongst many things, some of the

[9:40] key uh things in this bill are that it

[9:43] amends the highway reduction strategies

[9:46] um uh related to Salt Lake City roads in

[9:49] Salt Lake City and then it modifies the

[9:51] fifth fifth local option sales tax

[9:54] distributions in first and secondass

[9:56] counties. Uh you all are likely aware

[9:59] the quarters the the fifth fifth it's a

[10:02] very convoluted

[10:04] uh flow and so WFRC has a lot of

[10:07] resources on the quarters on the fifth and so if you have questions about

[10:10] those local option sales taxes uh we'd

[10:13] be happy to share some more information

[10:14] with you. Uh notably also in that bill,

[10:18] it uh it allows uh active transportation

[10:21] investment funds and transit

[10:23] transportation investment funds to be

[10:25] used for corridor preservation. Uh next

[10:28] we have House Bill 575 by Representative

[10:31] Roberts, which would temporarily reduce

[10:33] the gas tax for 6 months um by 6 cents

[10:38] per gallon. So that will be July through

[10:40] December of this year. Uh and then in

[10:43] addition to that, it would um has

[10:45] provisions in there to help increase

[10:47] supply uh for uh fuel in the state.

[10:52] House Bill 425, local government fee

[10:55] amendments. This is the transportation

[10:57] utility fee bill. TUS uh are the fees

[11:00] that uh municipalities can impose in

[11:02] your cities to pay for transportation

[11:04] needs. What uh Representative Karen

[11:06] Peterson did on this bill uh was provide

[11:10] uh process study requirements and

[11:12] transparency requirements for imposition

[11:15] of those fees. House Bill 481, a

[11:18] transportation uh minibus uh which

[11:22] complements Senator Harper's omnibus,

[11:24] made a number of other transportation

[11:26] changes like um increasing flexibility

[11:29] for certain quarter preservation funds

[11:32] and changing and increasing the road

[11:34] usage charge program fee for greater

[11:36] adoption of vehicles into that program

[11:39] at UD do.

[11:41] Again, sorry we're we're kind of running

[11:43] through these very very quickly, but uh

[11:45] next, housing and economic development

[11:47] bills. I will note something interesting

[11:48] on the slide, which is that all of these

[11:50] four bills are sponsored by

[11:52] Representative Roberts, who we have

[11:54] here. So, this is a Representative

[11:55] Roberts slide. Uh House Bill 492,

[11:59] Transportation, Infrastructure, and

[12:00] Housing Amendments. Um this bill uh

[12:04] increases the state's role in funding uh

[12:07] regional infrastructure um at the local

[12:10] level um by providing a $und00 million

[12:14] statewide revolving loan fund and $150

[12:16] million grant fund specifically for Salt

[12:19] Lake County. Um, I'll I'll note that,

[12:23] you know, moving forward there will be

[12:24] an opportunity obviously for your

[12:26] communities to be applying for these

[12:29] funds. And so, as we have, you know,

[12:31] maybe a cleaner and and clear process,

[12:33] we'll obviously be sharing information

[12:35] out with you all. I know the league um

[12:37] will be doing the same. Uh, House Bill

[12:40] 507, State Coordination of Regional and

[12:43] Local Economic Development. Um this bill

[12:47] uh attempts to or or tries to

[12:49] consolidate existing tax increment

[12:52] financing tools to have greater

[12:54] transparency and accountability uh and

[12:57] consolidates them into a new single tool

[13:00] uh known as regionally significant

[13:02] development zones or RSDZs. So this uh

[13:06] sunsets existing tools like housing and

[13:08] transit reinvestment zones, first home

[13:10] investment zones, home ownership

[13:12] promotion zones um into this this new

[13:16] tool,

[13:17] House Bill 475, development planning

[13:19] amendments. This uh this changes the

[13:22] Governor's Office of Economic

[13:24] Opportunity to the Governor's Office of

[13:26] Economic Development. We're going back

[13:28] to what the original name was of that

[13:30] office. Um

[13:33] and notably it establishes a new council

[13:37] um under god which is the economic

[13:40] development council and there's a number

[13:42] of of um different appointments on that

[13:45] council and local representation from

[13:48] cities and counties. Uh and then lastly,

[13:50] housing and community development

[13:52] amendments. This bill uh consolidates uh

[13:56] housing uh efforts, housing offices um

[14:01] all into the governor's office of

[14:03] economic development. So it moves the

[14:04] division of housing and community

[14:05] development and the governor's um the

[14:10] governor's current cabinet member um

[14:13] Steve Waldrip who is the adviser on

[14:15] housing. Well, that will now be a role

[14:17] that's under GOED as well to coordinate

[14:20] these efforts statewide. again for

[14:23] greater coordination, transparency,

[14:25] accountability. So

[14:27] >> I think Representative Roberts is having

[14:28] PTSD even though the session's only been

[14:30] over for a few weeks.

[14:34] >> Yes, there's there is a lot there was a

[14:36] lot in all of these bills, both the

[14:38] transportation bills, the housing and

[14:39] economic development bills. Obviously, a

[14:42] lot of effort that went in um to getting

[14:45] these changes passed and accomplished.

[14:47] And so want to want to recognize our our

[14:49] great legislators, Senator Harper, who

[14:51] we have online, Representative DeFay,

[14:53] Representative Roberts. Thank you all

[14:54] for your efforts this legislative

[14:56] session. Um we're going to turn to you

[14:58] in a few minutes just to hear some of

[14:59] your key takeaways from the session. But

[15:01] Andrew, maybe you wouldn't mind just

[15:03] kind of jumping in here and sharing some

[15:05] of WFRC's key takeaways from the

[15:08] session. How did how did we kind of

[15:10] observe the changes that happened and

[15:12] what does that mean moving forward?

[15:17] I'd be happy to. Did you want to mention

[15:19] appropriations?

[15:20] >> I jumped too far ahead. I do want to

[15:21] mention appropriations.

[15:22] >> Well, why don't you go ahead and do

[15:23] that?

[15:24] >> Okay. Thanks. Um, notably some of the

[15:27] key appropriations that tied to a lot of

[15:29] the bills that we were just mentioning,

[15:31] new funding for transit through that

[15:33] funding mechanism into the TTIF, that's

[15:35] for statewide transit needs. Um, can

[15:39] also be used on the frontr runner um

[15:41] project. uh new regional infrastructure

[15:44] to unlock housing. Uh another one that

[15:46] we talked about during the session was

[15:49] uh technical assistance programs. So

[15:51] WFRC, our other associations of

[15:54] governments, the uh Utah League of

[15:56] Cities and Towns, all partner in

[15:58] providing technical planning assistance

[16:00] to our communities. Um particularly

[16:02] those that may not have the staff or

[16:05] expertise to do so. Um and while at one

[16:09] point during the session those funds

[16:11] were uh either cut from a previous

[16:12] session or were maybe on the chopping

[16:14] block um those uh those programs are

[16:18] continuing to move forward are funded

[16:20] and we believe the legislature found and

[16:23] saw a lot of value in those technical

[16:25] assistance programs that we provide. So

[16:27] a great win from the session. And then

[16:30] lastly, I want to note that um because

[16:32] of some of the budgetary constraints

[16:34] this legislative session um you know we

[16:37] the state didn't see as much one-time

[16:40] funding uh as it had in years past to

[16:43] spend on various pro new programs or

[16:45] projects. Um the legislature did fund uh

[16:50] fund new projects um partly with

[16:53] existing funds from from transportation

[16:56] programs, existing transportation funds.

[16:58] So, we kind of saw a shift, a

[17:00] significant shift of transportation

[17:02] funds at UD do and with some other

[17:04] programs getting shifted to fund other

[17:06] needs this session. Um, notable because

[17:09] there will be some impacts to UD do's

[17:12] programs um and and the the projects

[17:15] that can be funded and if we're going to

[17:18] see some delaying of certain projects

[17:21] because of those budgetary impacts um to

[17:24] those transportation funds. So, uh

[17:26] Andrew, I

[17:27] >> sure, I'll pick up. right where you left

[17:29] off. Um sometimes when a session ends,

[17:31] people will say, you know, what happened

[17:33] the session? How did you feel about it?

[17:34] And it takes a little while to um

[17:37] digest. And so two themes that we would

[17:41] note uh coming out of the session. One

[17:43] is what Miranda noted already is that

[17:45] there were some funds shifted from

[17:48] transportation,

[17:49] state dollars and local dollars for

[17:52] housing related infrastructure. and the funds provided in HB492 for the

[17:59] state revolving loan fund come from the

[18:02] UD do transportation investment fund.

[18:04] We're super excited about the funds

[18:06] available to unlock housing. Um and then

[18:09] the other local funds, the 150 million

[18:12] for grants that Miranda mentioned in

[18:14] Salt Lake County come out of future

[18:17] local option sales tax funds that would

[18:19] otherwise be available for

[18:20] transportation projects. So this is a

[18:22] balancing of interest. I want to note as

[18:24] you think about that that the state of

[18:27] Utah has put um a huge amounts of

[18:30] revenue into our transportation

[18:32] infrastructure. Our state and Ben I'll

[18:34] talk a little bit later about federal

[18:35] funding. Our state has made a more

[18:38] significant commitment to per capita to

[18:41] investing in transportation than just

[18:43] about any other state in the nation. And

[18:44] so we think it we understand the

[18:46] balancing act that has to occur in terms

[18:48] of priorities. But it's a notable uh um

[18:51] observation coming out of the session.

[18:54] The second one we'll just note is that

[18:57] uh uh the League of Cities and Towns

[18:59] likes to emphasize partnership rather

[19:01] than preeemption. And I think that is

[19:04] what happened this session through a lot

[19:06] of great work and dialogue. New tools

[19:08] were provided and authorized to help

[19:12] local governments address the challenges

[19:14] of growth. We're just mentioning the

[19:16] infrastructure funds. Representative

[19:18] Peterson and the transportation utility

[19:21] fee, some more flexibility on some of

[19:23] the local options

[19:25] rather than unfunded mandates coming

[19:28] from the state requiring locals to do

[19:30] things that they might not um uh be

[19:34] their first choice. Let's just put it

[19:35] that way. So more tools. So I think

[19:37] those are notable things that to uh

[19:39] coming out of the session. Now uh

[19:42] Miranda, if you go to the next slide,

[19:43] these are the questions that we wanted

[19:45] to pose. We are posing. Senator Harper,

[19:48] we can go to you first uh and then to

[19:50] our other uh representatives and then

[19:52] open it up for dialogue if that's that's

[19:54] okay. Mr. Chair, um what you know,

[19:58] Senator, to you uh and really all three

[20:00] of you, what stands out as the most

[20:02] significant actions on transportation,

[20:04] economic development, and housing, and

[20:06] what do you think these changes signal

[20:09] regarding the state's role and

[20:11] priorities relative to the role of local

[20:14] governments? Before I turn to Senator

[20:16] Harper, I'll note he was up until

[20:18] recently also worked for a city for

[20:21] Taylor'sville uh community and economic

[20:23] development. Representative Roberts was

[20:24] a former Draper city council person. Um

[20:27] and so they know of what they speak

[20:30] about the balance between local and

[20:31] state. Senator,

[20:33] >> well, I'm going to correct you on a

[20:35] couple things here first. Uh Andrew, the

[20:38] session is not over until the governor's

[20:40] ability to veto or sign bills is done,

[20:43] which happened oh within the last 60

[20:46] minutes. He vetoed a couple bills and

[20:49] signed everything else. Some of the

[20:51] major bills that you talked about uh you

[20:55] know the omnibus, the minibus, the 507,

[20:58] the 492, the other bills, those were

[21:01] just signed within the last two two and

[21:03] a half days. So now the session is

[21:05] officially over and the work of the

[21:08] agencies begin as they start to

[21:10] implement uh you know what is what we

[21:13] put into code and figure out how to make

[21:16] that uh most effective.

[21:18] So I think uh I think overall there is a

[21:23] you know a shift uh representative

[21:26] Roberts and I talked about this uh uh

[21:28] quite a bit. Uh I and and Senator

[21:32] Filmore and Colmore had put in uh

[21:34] several programs into place for uh

[21:36] housing as tools not mandates uh which

[21:40] the league appreciated and and a lot of

[21:42] other stakeholders. he has uh

[21:46] um he has also gone through and uh you

[21:50] know kind of more of a house push to go

[21:52] through and consolidate those and I

[21:54] think that's good because there are some

[21:56] of those programs which have not been

[21:57] used others which are being used most

[22:00] effectively. We've got a period of time

[22:02] here to go through and and have another

[22:06] session decide which ones are the ones

[22:08] we want to keep and how to uh phase

[22:10] those into this new program and to make

[22:13] sure that we have all stakeholders

[22:15] involved. So I think uh I think you're

[22:17] going to see some good changes there uh

[22:19] with transportation

[22:22] uh the the minibus and the omnibus and

[22:24] things like that. Those are those are

[22:26] great bills that incorporated,

[22:29] you know, you take 242, it had in it the

[22:32] potential for 17 to 18 other bills and

[22:37] uh we decided we wanted to put that

[22:39] together and we uh found some other

[22:42] stuff. So, Representative Kristofferson

[22:44] did his minibus. And then if you take a

[22:46] look at it, some of my other bills that

[22:48] I had on HTRZ in that were uh

[22:52] incorporated and some of the good bills

[22:54] that Representative Roberts did. And we

[22:57] also uh some of the other bills on

[23:00] counties and on Goyo and on the

[23:02] assessing and collecting and property

[23:04] tax reporting. Those five or six bills

[23:07] were rolled into my Senate bill 206.

[23:10] There's a lot of great big bills that

[23:11] have a lot of a lot of impact and import

[23:14] to them. And I just want to thank

[23:16] everybody who uh who were involved, all

[23:20] the mayors, uh all the legislators, the

[23:22] league, and the different stakeholders,

[23:25] state agencies. So, I think Andrew and

[23:27] Miranda going forward, we've got some

[23:29] really good things, but uh this tells us

[23:32] we've got still a lot of work to do. And

[23:35] as we take a look at uh transportation

[23:37] funding, we did adjust and increase the

[23:40] fees for EVs. Uh but we're also uh

[23:44] reduce some of the the uh temporarily

[23:46] some of the revenues for UDOT, which

[23:48] makes them a little bit uncomfortable as

[23:50] they look at construction, maintenance

[23:52] of roads. So, a lot of things to look at

[23:54] over the next u eight months and we'll

[23:58] uh and we'll be keeping everybody

[24:01] involved.

[24:02] Senator, thank you so much.

[24:05] Representatives, what would you like to

[24:07] share?

[24:12] » Well, thank you. Um, I just to note, I

[24:15] do sit on this council and the only bill

[24:16] that I had related to transportation was

[24:18] eliminating the requirement for signals

[24:21] to be used in roundabouts. Um, so

[24:24] >> that's one of my favorite bills of this

[24:25] and that was a wonderful, wonderful

[24:27] bill.

[24:28] >> It's a very popular bill. maybe not as

[24:29] impactful as some of the other ones that

[24:31] Representative Roberts and Senator

[24:32] Harper are doing. Um, however, uh, one

[24:35] of the themes that I saw from the

[24:36] session is the need for transparency and

[24:39] communication with all the legislators.

[24:42] um when it comes to uh in terms of

[24:46] transportation funding, economic

[24:47] development tools, um I think going

[24:50] forward um it will be key to ensure that

[24:53] we're sharing our vision, the WFRC

[24:56] vision and also your vision of your

[24:58] cities and also the needs that they have

[25:00] with your legislators and also probably

[25:03] with the transportation committee. Um so

[25:05] that when we are looking at projects

[25:08] that need to be funded, we talked about

[25:10] funding and and that money getting moved

[25:12] around. Um I think bringing the

[25:14] legislature along with you in the vision

[25:17] that you see and along with the visions

[25:19] WFRC will be key in making sure that we

[25:22] continue to grow responsibly and to

[25:25] fulfill the vision that we have here.

[25:31] » Yeah. Well, I should say first, Senator

[25:33] Harper has led out in this space for I

[25:37] don't want to date you, Senator, but

[25:38] what's it been like 20 years?

[25:40] But it was we worked closely together on

[25:42] a lot of fun bills and it was it was

[25:45] really enjoyable. I'd say there was two

[25:46] themes. One is cost of living. That is

[25:48] something we've heard continually from

[25:51] our residents. I'm sure you've heard

[25:53] from your residents is how do we keep

[25:55] the cost of living competitive here in

[25:56] the state of Utah? How do we drive it

[25:58] down? So, that's where you see the

[25:59] housing bills come into play. the

[26:01] non-controversial gas tax bill that I

[26:04] got to participate in was a part of

[26:05] those discussions. Um, and then two is

[26:08] how do we build that next generation of

[26:10] infrastructure? When I think about

[26:12] infrastructure today, what we build

[26:14] today is what we're going to live with

[26:17] 50 years from now. And I'm I'm in my

[26:20] Well, now I'm in my late 30s. I'm in my

[26:22] late 30s. And when I think about what

[26:24] we're doing at the state capital to

[26:25] build that transportation system, it's

[26:28] something that will be here the rest of

[26:29] my life. That's what gets me excited and

[26:32] I think we we did some good work around

[26:34] transportation especially on the funding

[26:37] side with the the increase in the TTIF.

[26:39] Um, and then I'd say the third thing

[26:42] too, and this is a a probably part of

[26:44] the cost of living question, but there

[26:47] was a lot of economic development

[26:49] property tax increment bills, and we can

[26:52] talk about those if you're interested.

[26:53] But the idea there is

[26:56] you want to broaden your tax base. And

[26:58] we've been narrowing it in a lot of ways

[27:01] with our property tax base by giving,

[27:03] you could argue by giving away too much

[27:05] of the property tax base. and we know

[27:08] the impacts of that on the existing um

[27:10] tax base payers. So I think you'll see

[27:13] in the next year too a lot more work

[27:15] going into that space. What are TIFF

[27:17] tools for? Are we using them the right

[27:19] way? Are they driving economic value

[27:22] back to the people of Utah? Are we doing

[27:24] it in a smart way to protect the tax

[27:26] base? So you saw some a lot of good work

[27:29] on that as well.

[27:30] >> Really notable comments and themes from

[27:33] all of you. Thank you very much. I do

[27:34] have to correct you on one thing,

[27:36] Representative. You said that you think

[27:37] Senator Harper has been doing this work

[27:40] for maybe 20 years. I think he has

[27:42] literally been doing this work longer

[27:44] than you have been alive. Um, which is

[27:47] just a testament to the impacts he's

[27:49] made. Mr. Chair, I just want to give a

[27:52] >> Hey, I'm I'm not sure. I I would say

[27:55] that he's probably older than 30 years.

[27:57] So, you know, let's give him a little

[27:59] bit of slack there.

[28:00] >> Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. But you know

[28:02] who's when you get to that, you know,

[28:04] number of yours who's even counting. Uh

[28:06] thank you so much, Mr. Chair. I want to

[28:09] just give uh two of our partners who are

[28:12] really involved in this just a minute

[28:13] each to to to give their reflections if

[28:16] I may. One is Cameron Deal with the

[28:18] League of Cities and Towns and then also

[28:20] uh Ben Hewitt if you'll let me put him

[28:22] on the spot to comment about the

[28:24] budgetary uh impacts and then we'd love

[28:26] to have some questions or dialogue.

[28:28] Okay.

[28:28] >> And they have more than just one minute.

[28:30] We'll we'll give him a little more time

[28:31] than what

[28:32] >> a chairman's prerogative. Uh whatever

[28:33] you want. Cameron.

[28:36] >> Perfect. Thank you, Mr. Chair and Andrew

[28:38] and every everyone. I want to thank the

[28:40] three legislators who just spoke.

[28:42] Representative DeFay actually predicted

[28:44] back at the December WFRC meeting that

[28:48] the legislature would approach the

[28:50] session in a spirit of collaboration and

[28:52] she was spot on. That's exactly what

[28:54] happened. And I also want to thank her

[28:56] for referencing the need for local

[28:58] governments to tell our story because

[28:59] when we do that at the capital, it does

[29:01] pay dividends because legislators do

[29:04] reflect the spirit of partnership over

[29:06] preeemption. And Andrew pointed out that was a key theme of this session.

[29:10] But I want to also emphasize that is not

[29:13] happening in other states. Utah is very

[29:14] unique that we tackle these challenges

[29:17] through that spirit of partnership and collaboration. Miranda mentioned

[29:22] several key bills and I just want

[29:25] everyone to recognize how much work year

[29:28] round goes into these bills. So for

[29:29] example, House Bill 47,

[29:33] the House Bill uh Representative Karen

[29:35] Peterson's bill that House Bill 425,

[29:37] which was the transportation utility fee

[29:38] bill, that bill passed this year. That

[29:42] was a three-year effort with multiple

[29:45] work groups that the league and WFRC

[29:47] participated on with legislators and

[29:49] other stakeholders. and we we got that

[29:51] bill to a place where it's good policy

[29:53] and is and is respectful the principle

[29:57] principles of all the various

[29:58] stakeholders. Likewise, uh

[30:00] Representative Cal Roberts, he mentioned

[30:03] several bills that he worked on. He came

[30:04] to the league conference in September

[30:07] and said, "We need to partner on

[30:09] infrastructure." And then the

[30:10] legislature delivered on that promise.

[30:12] And that was a multi-year effort to

[30:15] highlight the need for that partnership

[30:17] and have willing builders and willing

[30:19] cities and the state come together to

[30:21] pay for infrastructure that can unlock

[30:23] housing units. Um he also referenced

[30:26] House Bill 68. Well, that bill

[30:30] is the result of more than 60 60

[30:34] meetings last interim where league staff

[30:37] and mayors and council members

[30:38] participated in interim meetings through

[30:40] the commission on housing affordability

[30:42] and elsewhere and and represent Roberts,

[30:44] you didn't mention that your bill killed

[30:45] the commission on housing affordability.

[30:47] Uh but the interim work will continue um

[30:49] this off season. And then Senator

[30:52] Harper, he mentioned the the UTA bill

[30:54] and Senator Harper met with us

[30:56] repeatedly on that bill during the

[30:58] session and accepted multiple amendments

[31:00] to ensure engagement and collaboration

[31:03] with all the stakeholders. Um, and

[31:05] that's just one example of many in

[31:07] Senator Harper's career where he's put

[31:09] forward that principle of collaboration.

[31:10] So, we mentioned a handful of bills.

[31:13] There were over 200 that affected cities

[31:14] and towns in some form or fashion. We

[31:17] appreciate everyone who participated

[31:19] through the league. We had about 400

[31:21] people at every LPC this year and

[31:23] appreciated the opportunity to

[31:24] participate with WFRC and the

[31:26] partnership is is as strong as ever.

[31:29] Even though the session ended three

[31:30] weeks ago, my other reflection is that

[31:34] this is truly a year- round process. We

[31:36] are already in conversations with

[31:37] legislators and the governor's office

[31:40] about what's going to happen this coming

[31:42] interim. Um, and I I mentioned the

[31:44] legislators by name. I also want to

[31:45] thank the governor's office and the

[31:46] executive branch for their spirit of of

[31:48] collaboration on all of these issues and

[31:52] through the leagues Friday facts and our

[31:53] midyear conference in sunny St. George

[31:55] next month. There'll be plenty of ways

[31:57] for you to elevate your voice through

[31:59] the interim process. It's a year-round

[32:00] effort and through WFRC and the league,

[32:04] uh, we do have this great spirit of

[32:05] partnership which I think is the envy of other state leagues around the

[32:08] country. So, thank you for the

[32:10] opportunity to to weigh in on the 2026

[32:12] session.

[32:13] >> Cam, amen to that. You noted the

[32:14] governor's office, Laura Hansen from the governor's office is on with us.

[32:18] I'll just note, Cam, that was a quite

[32:20] cogent uh discussion, which is

[32:23] impressive because Cameron was up for

[32:24] over three hours in the middle of the

[32:26] night with his new baby uh that came

[32:29] after the legislative session, which

[32:30] made all of us happy that Cameron and

[32:32] baby and and his wife Rachel really to

[32:35] the point made it until the end until

[32:37] the end of session. So, just impressed

[32:39] that he got up and must have he's at

[32:41] home obviously.

[32:42] >> Yes.

[32:42] >> And he got up got up and put a shirt and

[32:44] tie on for this meeting.

[32:46] >> I mean what's happening probably in

[32:48] pajamas in the bottom. So

[32:51] >> thanks Kim.

[32:53] >> Yeah. Thanks Andrew. Thanks Mayor.

[32:55] >> Okay Ben.

[32:58] Yeah, I guess first of all just always

[33:00] appreciate the the collaboration like

[33:02] it's it's been mentioned, you know,

[33:03] working with the uh Senator Harper and Representative Roberts and all the

[33:09] legislators. We always appreciate the dialogue and um like Senator Harper

[33:14] mentioned, there was a lot of things in some of those bills that were little

[33:17] fixes and stuff that we work on

[33:18] throughout the year and over the interim

[33:20] period that are super helpful in in

[33:22] doing business. As far as um the you

[33:26] know you talked about the the funding on

[33:28] the the funding side you know just at a

[33:31] high level we manage you know our

[33:33] programs with the available funding that

[33:36] we have. And so

[33:38] like our our transportation investment

[33:40] fund that was mentioned you know once

[33:43] the once projects are approved by the

[33:45] transportation commission then the way

[33:47] that from a financial standpoint the way

[33:49] it's managed is the timing of those

[33:51] projects. And so like in past years when

[33:54] there was additional funding you know

[33:56] then there's an opportunity to maybe

[33:58] accelerate some projects and in in times

[34:01] where you know there's some you know the the transfer of funding for uh

[34:06] housing then we would take that and look

[34:08] at the timing and and possibly delay or

[34:10] not start uh some projects that we had

[34:13] planned. Um it's dynamic. We have

[34:15] projects programmed into 2032 in the in

[34:19] the TIFF. And so there's a lot of moving

[34:21] pieces there because there's projects

[34:23] that are being worked on now that that

[34:24] the timing could change. So some of that

[34:26] just happens organically without any,

[34:29] you know, outside funding adjustments.

[34:31] But yeah, we just we manage those as

[34:33] programs. On the on the transportation

[34:35] fund side, we combine that funding with

[34:37] our federal funding. And that's more of,

[34:40] you know, taking care of what we have

[34:41] operation and maintenance. you know, we ask for transfers each year between

[34:46] the the project side, I'll call it, of

[34:48] that program into the operations and

[34:50] maintenance side. And, you know, we're

[34:52] very appreciative that we, you know, got that funding approved this year to

[34:56] take care of what we have. And and like that, we we adjust the projects

[35:00] that we program for the upcoming years

[35:02] to manage that. So, that's at a high

[35:04] level on what how we how we do things

[35:06] with with the funding.

[35:09] >> And no, thank you. Appreciate it, Ben

[35:10] and Cam for kind of on the spot giving

[35:13] us your answers. You know, one of the

[35:14] things that I think is pretty cool is

[35:16] that not only did the Delta Center

[35:18] become Delta Center again, which we all

[35:20] called it all the time it wasn't, but

[35:22] we've also always called Goyo Gowad and

[35:25] glad to see this go again because that's

[35:27] what we all think of it as far as that

[35:28] goes. Um, we again want to thank Senator

[35:31] Harper. One of the things I will say,

[35:34] uh, you know, Gage Fer and I actually

[35:36] work very closely with Senator Harper

[35:38] and and Christopherson on a couple of

[35:40] things and, um, you know, it's it's

[35:43] pretty cool that we can go in and sit

[35:45] down with these legislators and have

[35:47] them listen to some of the concerns that

[35:48] we have and for them to work with us.

[35:50] And there's some things that took place

[35:52] that deal with the counties that will go

[35:54] a long ways as far as transportation

[35:56] that goes in the future. Um,

[35:58] Representative Roberts, appreciate your

[36:00] enthusiasm and everything that you're

[36:01] doing. There's no question that that is

[36:03] very welcome. And I will say as I let uh

[36:06] Ariel DeFay know that she actually was

[36:08] the most responsive uh legislator in

[36:11] Davis County and told her I was going to

[36:12] give her the award for getting back to

[36:14] me quicker than anybody else as far as

[36:16] that goes. So, we appreciate that goes

[36:19] up in Davis County. Uh, with that, are

[36:21] there any questions anybody would have

[36:22] for these great individuals that are

[36:24] here now?

[36:26] Yes, Car

[36:29] Mora, just a a comment. Um, our thanks

[36:33] uh from the transit authorities

[36:35] perspective on the adjustment for the

[36:38] funds for 5600 West. We often think in

[36:41] transportation of just the capital cost

[36:44] of that, but uh that was going to be a

[36:47] difficult line for us to open up in

[36:50] about a year and a half. um with uh

[36:54] because you add you have to add 50

[36:57] operators and you think about flat sales

[36:59] tax adding 50 fully funded employees and

[37:03] the equipment to maintain and operate it

[37:05] and you sometimes that's the barrier to

[37:08] new operations in transit and so making

[37:11] that adjustment was very helpful.

[37:14] >> Thank you Carlton. Anyone else?

[37:18] Okay, Randa, thank you.

[37:20] >> Oh thanks. Yeah, I think I think we just

[37:22] we also wanted to keep these reflections

[37:24] these questions open to the group as

[37:26] well in case anyone here had any key

[37:29] takeaways from the session that they

[37:30] felt that they wanted to share. So, I

[37:33] guess I'll just give one.

[37:34] >> Was there anything major that was

[37:36] vetoed? I know we said there were a

[37:38] couple.

[37:38] >> I don't know. I didn't see any vetos

[37:39] until today. So, I'm not actually sure

[37:41] what was vetoed. Um,

[37:45] >> okay.

[37:46] >> We're gonna hear from

[37:47] >> Go ahead. If you've seen Did you see the

[37:49] letter already? Go ahead.

[37:51] >> Yeah, she can tell you.

[37:53] >> Well, okay. Go, Amy. Bring bring us the news. Amy,

[37:57] >> I one on the So, if you remember, there

[37:59] was a bill about um adding internet for

[38:01] school buses. He vetoed that. That's one

[38:04] that he feels very strongly kids should

[38:06] not be on screens and should be

[38:07] interacting with each other. Um, and

[38:09] then there was another bill um that was

[38:13] uh Representative Grecious's bill that

[38:15] was similar to a another bill that had

[38:18] passed and I'm sorry I don't know the

[38:19] numbers but um and so he vetoed that. Um

[38:24] and then he did not sign the gold bill.

[38:29] So you can read the letter and see why.

[38:31] >> Okay. Thank you. Appreciate that.

[38:34] >> Thanks. Thanks, Commissioner.

[38:39] Okay, with that we'll move on. Uh, next

[38:41] item is our public comment period. Uh,

[38:44] this is open to anyone who would like to

[38:46] spend a couple of minutes maybe uh,

[38:48] sharing their thoughts with us. We'd

[38:49] appreciate giving your name and address.

[38:51] If there are any online that would like

[38:53] to also make public comment, we need you

[38:55] to raise your hand so we know that you

[38:56] are making comments. So, we'll open that

[38:58] up at this time. Anyone come forward to

[39:00] the mic.

[39:03] Okay. If there's no one in this room,

[39:05] we'll go to online. Uh, Andrew, anybody

[39:07] online? Uh, no one online at this time

[39:09] either. So, uh, we appreciate it. We'll

[39:11] move on to item four, which are re

[39:13] regional growth, uh, committee. Uh,

[39:16] which we'll turn that over to

[39:20] >> Mayor TR.

[39:23] >> Thank you.

[39:23] >> She was over here before.

[39:24] >> Thank you. I've been bopping around the

[39:26] room. Okay. Thank you. We had a great

[39:28] meeting last week. Some of the

[39:30] highlights, we welcomed our new members,

[39:32] generated ideas for the year such as a

[39:33] focus on water availability. We had a

[39:36] discussion about housing capacity

[39:37] analysis from the governor's office of

[39:39] economic development and envision Utah.

[39:42] We previewed key progress indicators for

[39:44] the on the ground implementation of the

[39:46] Wasach choice vision. And then today we

[39:49] have two items to bring to the council.

[39:51] So item 4 A is the station area plan

[39:54] certification. In the past year we made

[39:57] tremendous effort and progress by

[39:59] communities in developing station area

[40:00] plans. And so there are now 108,700

[40:04] new homes planned in station areas along

[40:06] the Wasach front, which is a huge

[40:08] number. Last week, the regional growth

[40:10] committee reviewed the Midvil portion of

[40:12] the Fashion Place West stationary plan,

[40:14] and RGC is making a recommendation to

[40:16] the council for certification. We are

[40:19] joined here by Midville's mayor, Dustin

[40:21] Gtle, and then I will turn the mic over

[40:23] to Byron. Thank you.

[40:25] >> Great. Thank you, Mayor. Uh good

[40:27] afternoon, council. uh Byron Head,

[40:29] community planner and the CED group here

[40:30] at WFRC. Uh and yeah, today we we have a

[40:33] short uh list today. We've we've had

[40:36] multiple cities most of the past

[40:38] meetings, but today just just one

[40:40] station in Midvail. Um so a brief

[40:43] reminder to everyone about the

[40:45] requirements of stationary planning.

[40:47] This applies to the half mile or quarter

[40:50] mile radius around a fixed guideway

[40:52] transit station, whether that's uh rail

[40:54] or bus. And there are a series of

[40:57] objectives and requirements that those

[40:58] plans have to have. You can find more

[41:00] about that on our website. Um but our

[41:04] progress today um so far we've gotten uh

[41:09] us including MAG to the south. We have

[41:12] certified 98 of 127 kind of pieces of

[41:16] station areas. Uh we have one more um

[41:18] being considered for certification today

[41:20] which will would take us to to 99 and we

[41:23] have 14 more that are currently in

[41:25] progress and 14 that either have older

[41:28] plans or have not yet engaged in uh

[41:32] HP462 supported stationary planning. Um

[41:36] so we're we're coming up towards the

[41:39] finish line here. Um,

[41:42] and as as Mayor Tran just mentioned, you

[41:44] know, the certified plans that we've certified to date would support

[41:48] over 108,000 new homes and that's just

[41:50] in these very small concentrated areas,

[41:53] most of them in Wasatch Choice Vision

[41:54] centers. So, this really is implementing

[41:57] and supporting the Wasatch Choice Vision

[41:59] uh that we all know and love. Um so

[42:03] today fashion place west midvail portion

[42:06] is um a very small portion of this

[42:08] station area just kind of in the

[42:10] southwest portion of the station area.

[42:13] Um the midvail portion calls for a mix

[42:16] of housing and jobs. This is currently

[42:17] kind of an industrial area that is

[42:20] transitioning with also the passage uh a

[42:23] couple years ago of the Midville Fort

[42:25] Union station area just to the south of

[42:27] here. You can see I circled on the top

[42:29] like where this kind of overlap happens.

[42:31] Um and also the city is in the final

[42:35] stages of completing a Porter Rockwell

[42:36] extension uh trail extension project to

[42:39] find a new alignment to extend that

[42:41] trail up north from Sandy. And so th

[42:44] this plan would also uh accommodate

[42:46] that. Um maybe on the front run or maybe

[42:49] on the tracks line, maybe on Cottonwood

[42:50] Street yet to be determined, but

[42:53] cognizant of that and there's some some

[42:54] synergy there. Um, I will stop talking

[42:57] now and turn it over to Mayor Ghetto.

[42:59] >> Thank you so much. Um, and I have

[43:01] invited our community uh development

[43:03] director, Adam Olson, to just talk some

[43:05] of the very brief specifics about this

[43:07] one. Uh, but I just wanted to give you

[43:09] for those who don't know Midvil as

[43:10] intimately as I do. Um, we are a 5.9

[43:14] square mile city. We have 36,000 people.

[43:17] That makes us the second most densely

[43:19] populated city in Salt Lake County. Um,

[43:22] and we also have three track stations in

[43:24] our 5.9 square miles. We're very

[43:26] fortunate to have uh that much access to

[43:30] public transportation. Uh, with that, we

[43:32] have three station area plans of our own

[43:34] that are entirely within the Midville

[43:36] city boundaries, which we're very, very

[43:38] proud of. U, but one of the themes of

[43:41] today so far from a lot of the speakers

[43:43] has been collaboration. And

[43:45] collaboration doesn't just end with

[43:47] working with the state legislature. It's

[43:49] one city working with another city. So,

[43:51] this particular uh fashion place west um

[43:54] does touch a a bit on some areas in

[43:58] Midville that we have some plans for,

[43:59] but it essentially completes the part of

[44:03] that Murray had certified. And we always

[44:05] like to say we have four shared borders

[44:08] with different cities in Midbell still

[44:09] tiny city with four shared borders with

[44:11] four different cities. So, we're we're

[44:13] actively working with West Jordan on

[44:15] another Yes. Thank you, Dirk. And we're

[44:18] now working with Murray. Uh we welcome

[44:20] Sandy in Cottonwood Heights too if

[44:22] there's anything we can collaborate on.

[44:24] Um but yeah, if Adam if you want to

[44:26] explain just some of the the details

[44:28] here. This is an area I'll note. Uh we

[44:31] have some difficult geography in Midbell

[44:33] 2. We have a convergence of two major

[44:34] highways around this area which um you

[44:38] know that's great for transportation but

[44:40] it's not great sometimes for businesses

[44:42] that tend to pop up in those areas. um

[44:45] uh motel, which you can still pay cash

[44:48] with some of them, which is an odd thing

[44:50] still. Um but this will hopefully um

[44:54] lean into the development that we have

[44:56] planned all around our 7200 corridor. So

[45:00] with that, Adam, if you have anything

[45:01] else to add, that'd be awesome.

[45:02] >> I'll just note Adam can take a minute.

[45:04] We appreciate that. And we do uh those

[45:07] of you that are on regional growth

[45:08] committee, as Mayor Tran noted, we go

[45:09] into more detail on each stationary plan

[45:11] at regional growth committee. Thanks.

[45:14] >> Uh thank you everyone for the

[45:16] opportunity to be here. Um as I

[45:19] mentioned last week, for those of you

[45:20] that were here, um Midvil is very uh

[45:23] thankful to be able to partner with WFRC

[45:26] and our surrounding neighbors. Uh we did

[45:28] about two years ago um have a station

[45:30] area plan that we uh two stations, one

[45:33] in West Jordan, one in Midville where

[45:35] both of those crossed over into each

[45:36] other. And so it was great working with

[45:38] uh West Jordan on those as well. Um, for

[45:41] this one in particular, the Fashion

[45:43] Place West, although it does contain a

[45:45] small portion of Midvail, um, it does

[45:48] align with our future plans for that

[45:49] area for mixed use and housing

[45:51] opportunities. Uh, this is a prime area

[45:54] for redevelopment and we're hopeful to

[45:55] use some of the tools uh that the state

[45:58] has um provided to uh help kind of spur

[46:01] this development. And just to very

[46:03] briefly touch on our other plans, um,

[46:05] some people wonder, okay, what happens?

[46:07] You now you have a plan, it's approved,

[46:08] it's certified, what's next? Um, our

[46:11] council has been very proactive um in

[46:13] working with um our staff to revise some

[46:17] of our zoning codes and ordinances to

[46:19] allow for greater heights, greater

[46:21] densities, uh some reduced parking and

[46:24] some al also some incentives for those

[46:26] areas for um uh development that chooses

[46:30] to go in. So again, thank you.

[46:33] >> Thank you, Adam. Thank you, Mayor. Uh

[46:35] and so we have uh WFRC staff reviewed

[46:39] the plan. uh made a recommendation to

[46:41] RGC. RGC has made a recommendation to

[46:43] this body. We've also um collaborated

[46:46] with UTA on this and so we have a

[46:48] suggested motion for you. Um but that

[46:51] concludes my remarks. I'll turn it back

[46:53] to Mayor Trent.

[46:55] >> Okay. Thank you. This is exciting. Mr.

[46:58] Chair, if it's okay, I'd like to make a

[46:59] motion. Okay. I would like to make a

[47:01] motion to certify the Midville Fashion

[47:03] Place West area stereia west station

[47:06] area plan.

[47:09] Second

[47:10] >> been moved and seconded. All in favor

[47:12] say I.

[47:13] >> I. I.

[47:15] >> Any opposed? That is unanimous. Thank

[47:18] you.

[47:18] >> Okay. Thank you very much.

[47:19] Congratulations. All right. The next

[47:21] item is transportation and land use

[47:23] connection program 2026 awarded

[47:26] projects. So, we're excited to announce

[47:28] the projects. Um the 2026 transportation

[47:32] and land use connection program awards.

[47:34] All of these awards are in response to

[47:35] requests made by our communities. and

[47:37] I'll turn the mic over to Meg. Thank

[47:39] you.

[47:41] >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Every spring, we

[47:44] get to announce these brand new projects

[47:45] in your communities that have been

[47:47] funded through our transportation and

[47:48] land use connection program. So, this is

[47:50] always a fun meeting for me. Um, we have

[47:53] many ways that we support cities with

[47:55] planning. You heard about one just now,

[47:57] the station area planning work. Um,

[47:59] we've been helping your cities with

[48:00] station area planning for a few years

[48:02] now. The transportation and land use

[48:04] connection program is kind of our our

[48:06] core planning pro technical assistance

[48:08] program. And so this has been um we're

[48:10] on our 13th year of funding here. Um the

[48:14] goals of the program are up there on the

[48:16] screen. So TLC helps cities with land

[48:18] use and transportation plans that

[48:20] maximize the value of investment in

[48:22] public infrastructure, enhance access to

[48:24] opportunities, increase travel options

[48:26] to optimize mobility, and create

[48:28] communities with opportunities to live,

[48:30] work, and play. There's a lot of room

[48:32] here. Um the the purpose is to

[48:34] accomplish what whatever it is your city

[48:36] is is trying to plan for and and to

[48:39] accomplish. And then we also um look to

[48:41] the program to help us help help us help

[48:43] you implement the Wasatchet choice

[48:45] vision. This is a partnership between

[48:47] W4C UD do and UTA. And then we have our

[48:50] partnership with the governor governor's

[48:51] office of planning and budget as well

[48:53] that helps us to provide some of that

[48:54] in-house um planning support to your

[48:56] cities.

[48:59] These are the kind of projects TLC can

[49:01] fund. So, I want you to keep these in

[49:02] mind because as you're having um

[49:04] questions about, you know, maybe we

[49:06] should do a plan for this area, maybe we

[49:08] need to think about design or or our

[49:10] development ordinances for this area. I

[49:12] want you to think of TLC and reach out

[49:13] and see if it might be a fit. So, plans,

[49:15] design, ordinances, and implement

[49:17] implementation strategies beyond that as

[49:19] well. All things that can be funded with

[49:21] TLC.

[49:24] This year, we've funded 15 new projects.

[49:27] Um the total project funds are about 1.7

[49:31] million. Uh 300,000 or so of that is

[49:34] from local match. So there's a small

[49:36] matching requirement. Helps the money go

[49:38] a little further. I want to plug our our

[49:40] online map where you can go see every

[49:42] project ever funded through the program.

[49:45] All of the projects in your city. You

[49:46] might be curious what you've um worked

[49:48] on with TLC in the past. And you can see

[49:50] all of the applications as well as the

[49:52] final products of those projects on

[49:54] there. So, it might um get your gears

[49:55] turning as to what you might work on as

[49:57] a city. Um, as well, I'm going to list

[50:01] all of these projects that we funded

[50:02] this year and dive into just a couple of

[50:04] them so you can get an idea of what um

[50:06] some of our cities are trying to

[50:07] accomplish and how TLC can help. In our

[50:10] Davis and Weber counties, we funded the

[50:13] Davis County Regional Trails Wayfinding

[50:15] Signage Plan.

[50:17] In Far West, we funded a general plan.

[50:19] In Ogden, the Five Points Area Master

[50:21] Plan. I'm going to talk about that one.

[50:23] In Pleasant View, we provided funding

[50:25] for our general plan. Uh, excuse me,

[50:27] it's not funding, it's in-house support.

[50:28] So, we will help Pleasant View in-house

[50:30] with their general plan. Really excited

[50:31] to work with that city on that plan. In

[50:34] West Haven, a transportation master

[50:36] plan. And then in Ogden Valley, a new

[50:38] city in our region. Um, kind of a a a

[50:42] bucket of plans. So, the general plan,

[50:44] the transportation master plan, and a

[50:45] zoning road map to get them uh off to a

[50:48] good start as a new community.

[50:51] I'm going to talk about this Ogden

[50:52] project here. So, this is the five

[50:54] points area in Ogden. Um, in purple is

[50:57] the study area for the project. It's uh

[50:59] about Wall A and Washington Boulevard

[51:02] and then Second Street um is that uh

[51:05] coordinate in the in the center there.

[51:07] So, Ogden's going to take a look at this

[51:09] area. It's in the northern part of

[51:10] Ogden. If uh off to the right there is a

[51:14] screenshot from our Waset choice vision.

[51:16] So, this is a city center in the vision.

[51:18] The study area is comparable to that. um

[51:20] boundary of the center. So, this is a

[51:22] the city taking a deeper dive into this

[51:24] area and and thinking about the

[51:26] implementation of this as a Wasatch

[51:28] Choice Center. It'll be a land use

[51:29] vision and zoning recommendations as

[51:32] well as some infrastructure strategy um

[51:35] conversations. The city's going to look

[51:37] at adding housing and jobs, kind of

[51:39] increasing um the the access the access

[51:43] to opportunities in this area is really

[51:44] good. So, increasing the housing and

[51:46] jobs that are here um gives more people

[51:48] access to all of those opportunities.

[51:50] Um I'm going to flip to zoom out just a

[51:53] little bit. So, I want to show you

[51:54] everything that's surrounding this area

[51:56] and why it's such a great area for a

[51:57] center. So, um just east of the center

[52:00] area is the Ogden Weber Technical

[52:02] College. Downtown Ogden is a couple

[52:06] miles south along with the Front Runner

[52:08] Station. And then um it's tough to see

[52:10] here, but if you were to go to the

[52:12] vision, there's several future active

[52:14] transportation routes shown here in

[52:16] green, including a protected bike lane

[52:18] on um Wall Avenue that goes directly to

[52:22] the Front Runner station. So that's a

[52:23] really wonderful um kind of adjacent

[52:26] center to downtown Ogden. There's also a

[52:29] core route transit that goes into

[52:31] downtown Ogden in the future as well. So

[52:33] a great area for Ogden to think about

[52:34] the future. um think about connectivity,

[52:37] walkability, as well as housing and jobs

[52:39] and just um making this a vibrant

[52:41] neighborhood. Merida Dulski, I think

[52:44] you're online. Would you like to say

[52:46] anything?

[52:48] You still online?

[52:49] >> Yep, I'm still here. Thanks everybody.

[52:51] Um no, I appreciated the summary you

[52:54] provided. Obviously, as you can see from

[52:55] the slides, this uh five points area has

[52:58] a significant regional impact

[52:59] economically. Uh this is area that

[53:02] historically has been kind of a node and

[53:05] a a main connection point for a lot of

[53:07] communities. Um and also a heavy uh

[53:10] retail area and commercial area. Uh

[53:13] we've done a lot of revitalization

[53:14] economically especially around our

[53:16] downtown which was mentioned a couple of

[53:18] miles to the south. This is an area

[53:20] that's been needing attention. Um over

[53:22] the past many decades, we've seen a loss

[53:25] of uh of economic investment in that

[53:27] area. And we're looking to uh start with

[53:30] land use and infrastructure and really

[53:32] put together a good master plan that can

[53:34] help us revitalize this area similar to

[53:36] the way that we have in our uh downtown

[53:38] core. And we thank the the staff and uh

[53:42] the Wasatch Regional Council and our

[53:44] partners for uh hopeful uh support for

[53:47] this effort so that we can uh plan out

[53:50] that revitalization and make sure that

[53:52] we're having the biggest impact not only

[53:53] for Ogden but for the rest of the

[53:54] partners in the region. Thanks.

[53:59] » Okay, thank you. In Salt Lake County, we

[54:02] funded Copperton small area plans. I'm

[54:04] going to talk about that one a little

[54:06] bit. in Draper transportation master

[54:08] plan in Holiday a project to do citywide

[54:11] zoning ordinances ordinances that

[54:13] implement their recent general plan as

[54:15] well as do a little bit of a deep dive

[54:16] into their northwest commercial district

[54:18] um where they also have a west trace

[54:20] center and want to think about the

[54:21] future of that area in Magna

[54:25] the 2011 corridor research park and

[54:27] lifestyle center plan in Midville a

[54:30] general plan land use element that will

[54:31] also be something we um support mid

[54:33] midvil with inhouse

[54:35] in Milk Creek, the Parley's trail

[54:37] feasibility study, and then the town of

[54:39] Elta general plan were all funded this

[54:41] year. So, Copperton is a historic mining

[54:45] town um in the southwest corner of Salt

[54:48] Lake County. Um and they have a desire

[54:50] to look at land use throughout their

[54:51] city, but zoom into a few key areas. One

[54:54] of them is the site of the old Bingham

[54:56] High School um the furthest west and

[54:59] then two areas that include a little bit

[55:01] of or a lot in in one case um of area

[55:05] that is in their future annexation plan.

[55:07] So thinking about the future of their

[55:08] city increasing some community serving

[55:11] commercial out there is something that

[55:13] Copperton is interested in looking at

[55:15] and then as well as looking at the

[55:16] connectivity and walkability of these um

[55:18] highlighted areas. So we're excited to

[55:20] work with Copperton on this one.

[55:23] Finally, some Tilla County projects,

[55:25] Grantsville general plan and Rush Valley

[55:28] general plan and land use code. So, all

[55:30] over our region, we have lots of new

[55:32] projects this year. Our staff loves this

[55:34] time of year, just diving into some new

[55:35] work with you all. Um, I'm happy to

[55:38] answer any questions.

[55:48] » Okay, thank you.

[55:49] >> Thank you so much. These this money is

[55:52] so helpful. Kisville received a grant uh

[55:54] last year and we've been able to work in

[55:56] our small area plan for our downtown

[55:58] area and it's just really nice to be

[55:59] able to have the funds. So, we

[56:00] appreciate this. It's a great program.

[56:02] Encourage all the cities to participate

[56:04] and is there any discussion

[56:06] >> on this? Are we good? Okay.

[56:09] >> If not, there's no action needed on

[56:10] this. We appreciate everything and look

[56:12] forward to seeing these projects put in

[56:14] place. We'll move down to now item five

[56:16] and we'll turn time over to Mayor Mark

[56:18] Shepard.

[56:19] >> Thank you, Chair. We have uh three items

[56:21] today. Okay. The first is the

[56:22] opportunity to ask some questions about

[56:24] the product modifications that were

[56:25] approved by Transcom in February. Uh

[56:28] second is an opportunity to take action

[56:29] on the most recently requested board

[56:31] modifications. And then uh we'll have a

[56:34] brief review of the obligated federal

[56:35] transportation funds during uh fiscal

[56:37] year 2025. And so I will turn the time

[56:40] over to my buddy Ben.

[56:41] >> Thank you, mayor. Thank you. So, as we

[56:44] talk about the transportation

[56:45] improvement program or as a reminder,

[56:47] it's referred to as the tip the top um

[56:52] or the top tip. I like them both.

[56:55] Anyway, here on the as we talk about the

[56:57] transportation improvement program, a

[57:00] reminder that it's a six-year program of

[57:02] highway, transit, and active

[57:04] transportation projects along the

[57:06] Wasatch Front. The transportation

[57:08] improvement program implements the long

[57:11] range plan and it helps us meet the

[57:14] short range needs along the Wasatch

[57:16] front. And then we periodically modify

[57:19] the tip. Actually about every time we

[57:21] meet we modify the tip because of the

[57:24] dynamic nature of the projects, the

[57:26] funding, the scope. And so as the mayor

[57:30] mentioned here, we will be this is the

[57:32] 2026 transportation improvement program

[57:37] and uh three items as mentioned by the

[57:39] mayor. The first being a report. So in

[57:42] your meeting materials is a copy of the

[57:44] resolution as well as a list of the

[57:47] tables that identify those projects that

[57:50] were presented to the re uh to transcom

[57:53] for the review and for their approval

[57:56] and to ask if there's any questions on

[57:58] this. This is an information item for

[58:02] this meeting.

[58:05] Senator, thank you mayor. So then the

[58:08] second item is a board modification

[58:10] before you today. Um again in your

[58:14] meeting materials there's a copy of the

[58:16] resolution and attached to that

[58:17] resolution is a table. It identifies

[58:21] three projects that we will review with

[58:24] you today for your approval uh so that

[58:27] they are included in the transportation

[58:29] improvement program. The very first

[58:31] project there is a project in Salt Lake

[58:34] County. This is a Salt Lake County

[58:37] project. This is for some signal

[58:39] interconnect. Uh this to install fiber

[58:42] or radio connections to various

[58:44] intersections in the county.

[58:48] Back when this project was reviewed and

[58:50] recommended by this body was 2019.

[58:54] As part of that project, it was

[58:56] identified or that was recommended that

[58:58] we would program 900,000 for this

[59:02] project. Estimated cost at 1

[59:05] six plus million dollars. Uh that a

[59:08] project that initially had identified 40

[59:11] intersections that would have either

[59:14] fiber or radio connections to the

[59:16] automated transportation

[59:18] or traffic management system or the ATMS

[59:22] network.

[59:23] Um since that time there's been some

[59:26] changes or um some cost um changes to

[59:31] the request here. We've actually had

[59:34] eight intersections that have been

[59:35] completed with other intersection

[59:38] projects and we've had five

[59:40] intersections that have experienced

[59:42] significant cost increase and that's due

[59:45] to necessary improvements beyond the

[59:47] scope of this project. So the request

[59:50] here before you is from Salt Lake County

[59:52] is to modify the scope down to 27

[59:55] intersections. Uh the estimate was back

[59:58] in 2019. We've had a lot of different

[1:00:01] factors that inflated cost. And so

[1:00:04] currently right now

[1:00:07] we have um 900,000

[1:00:10] programs for that project with the match

[1:00:13] would be 65,000 plus giving us a total

[1:00:16] project cost of 965,300

[1:00:19] plus dollars. Um the county has

[1:00:23] agreements in place with those

[1:00:24] associated cities that uh where those

[1:00:28] intersections and this is strictly a

[1:00:30] scope change. There's no additional

[1:00:32] cost. It's just the number of

[1:00:34] intersections that will be addressed

[1:00:36] with the project. The next project that

[1:00:38] we have before you is also a project in

[1:00:42] Salt Lake County. This is a request from

[1:00:44] MUD. This on Bangar Highway to enhance

[1:00:47] freeway striping. This is phase two

[1:00:50] project.

[1:00:52] Initially the project is was programmed

[1:00:56] to enhance the freeway striping from

[1:00:58] I-15

[1:01:00] um north to 4700 south. The request is

[1:01:03] to extend that to include from 2400

[1:01:06] south north to the airport. And for your

[1:01:09] information, this section in the middle

[1:01:11] between 24th and 47th will actually be

[1:01:16] completed with ongoing um bangador

[1:01:19] intersection projects that are happening

[1:01:21] now. So the request here, well, as many

[1:01:25] as of us have an opportunity as you're

[1:01:27] driving during the day, striping looks

[1:01:30] fine. When you get into the night

[1:01:34] without appropriate striping, it gets a

[1:01:36] little more fuzzy. And then when you add

[1:01:38] some wet weather to that, it gets a lot

[1:01:40] more dangerous. So this project will

[1:01:43] replace the existing striping with

[1:01:45] enhanced striping that'll improve the

[1:01:48] vision and durability especially during

[1:01:51] nights andor during the rainy times. Uh

[1:01:55] we hope we get more rainy times to show

[1:01:57] off these stripes. Um so the enhance or

[1:02:01] this project is to extend the existing

[1:02:04] scope and include the section from 24

[1:02:07] south to the airport.

[1:02:09] Uh the total projects estimated to cost

[1:02:12] 4.7 plus million and the funding

[1:02:15] resources include the surface

[1:02:17] transportation program flexible or any

[1:02:20] area program funds.

[1:02:23] The last project that we have before you

[1:02:25] is a project in Davis County. This is a

[1:02:28] project located in Leighton. This is on

[1:02:30] Cage Creek Trail. This particular

[1:02:33] project when reviewed and approved by

[1:02:35] this committee for funding is for a

[1:02:38] pedestrian bridge or overpass over the

[1:02:41] railroad lines there in Leighton at the

[1:02:43] Front Runner Station.

[1:02:46] As that project was identified, there

[1:02:48] were funds that were awarded and

[1:02:50] programmed from WFRC through the CMAC

[1:02:53] and the carbon reduction program little

[1:02:55] more than $2 million. There was funds

[1:02:58] from the UDOT tiff active 3.6 Davis

[1:03:01] County third quarter 2 million, Leighton

[1:03:04] City 500,000 plus, the outdoor recck

[1:03:07] grant 750,000

[1:03:09] and the Utah Rec trail trails grant at

[1:03:12] 150,000. And that gave us a total

[1:03:14] project cost of a little more than $9

[1:03:16] million. As the design pursued and

[1:03:20] preparations, the engineers cost

[1:03:22] estimate came in at a little over $12.8

[1:03:25] million.

[1:03:27] Lincoln City again went back and from

[1:03:31] request identified additional funds

[1:03:33] because we had a $3.8 million shortfall.

[1:03:37] They were requesting and were

[1:03:40] recommended last year at this time from

[1:03:42] WFRC an additional 510,000

[1:03:46] from UD do active an additional 900,000

[1:03:49] Davis County third quarter an additional

[1:03:52] 677,000

[1:03:54] and then additional funds from Leighton

[1:03:56] City through their Prop 1 and their ramp

[1:03:58] funds 316,000

[1:04:01] that still left us short about $1.4

[1:04:04] million. So late city has come to the

[1:04:08] table in the request today before us is

[1:04:10] to um add the additional funds from

[1:04:14] Lincoln City through the prop one and

[1:04:16] ramp $1.4 plus million dollars to this

[1:04:20] project. Any questions?

[1:04:24] Mayor, that's all those

[1:04:26] >> I I have one question just a comment on

[1:04:29] the signal lights for Salt Lake County.

[1:04:31] I think we should give that the green

[1:04:32] light.

[1:04:36] Thank you, mayor. Any other questions

[1:04:38] for Ben?

[1:04:41] All right.

[1:04:43] Seeing none, then I would, Mr. Chair,

[1:04:45] I'd move that we adopt the resolution to

[1:04:46] modify the 2026 2031 transportation

[1:04:48] improvement program as Ben has

[1:04:50] presented.

[1:04:50] >> There's a motion. Do I hear a second?

[1:04:54] Moved by Carlton. All those in favor say

[1:04:57] I.

[1:04:59] >> Any oppose say nay.

[1:05:02] >> Yes. Uh the mayor of Leighton would like

[1:05:04] to make a comment.

[1:05:06] >> I'd just like to thank everyone here for

[1:05:08] your help and support. Obviously, you

[1:05:10] can see it's been a number of years and

[1:05:13] obviously a number of different uh

[1:05:15] avenues in order to even to collect the

[1:05:17] funds to put this uh pedestrian bridge

[1:05:20] across an area that's part of our

[1:05:23] stationary plan. So, you know, I mean,

[1:05:25] it's very valuable. Every all the work

[1:05:27] that's done here um pays off and we we

[1:05:30] we're just very appreciative of it. And

[1:05:31] I want to say thank you.

[1:05:34] >> There's there's no doubt that it's been quite the cooperative putting this

[1:05:39] all together to make it work. So shows

[1:05:41] you how collaboration which somebody

[1:05:43] used earlier in this meeting uh helps

[1:05:45] makes things work. So I think we took

[1:05:47] the vote and I believe it was unanimous

[1:05:49] on that Ben. So and Mark, we're should

[1:05:51] be set on all those projects.

[1:05:53] >> All right, Ben, you want to talk about

[1:05:54] the obligation to federal transportation

[1:05:56] funds?

[1:05:57] >> Yes. Thank you, mayor, and thank you,

[1:06:00] commissioner, and everybody. So, as

[1:06:02] required by law, each year, the WFRC

[1:06:05] staff, with the help of UDOT and UTA

[1:06:07] prepare an obligation report, which

[1:06:09] includes a list of all the projects that

[1:06:11] receive federal transportation funding

[1:06:14] during this past fiscal year, which

[1:06:16] initiated on October 1 of, 2024, and

[1:06:20] concluded on September 30th of uh 2025.

[1:06:25] Relatively speaking, here in Utah, the

[1:06:27] majority of the transportation funding

[1:06:29] comes from state resources and we do not

[1:06:32] depend on the federal resources as much

[1:06:35] of the other states around us. But

[1:06:37] having said that, the federal funds are

[1:06:39] still very important to meeting the

[1:06:41] transportation needs throughout our

[1:06:43] state and along the Wasatch front. So

[1:06:46] this report real quick will show you

[1:06:47] some of the impacts or the amount of

[1:06:50] funds that were obligated. So statewide,

[1:06:53] if you'll focus there in the corner, we

[1:06:55] silo week all of the benefits into just

[1:06:58] a few silos. There's tens of tens of

[1:07:01] different improvements um for every

[1:07:04] project. But you can see there's a

[1:07:06] federal obligation amount of more than

[1:07:09] $617 million in the state last year. And

[1:07:14] with the local match, that's over 655

[1:07:17] million almost $656 million in

[1:07:20] obligations of federal funds. If we were

[1:07:23] to break that down and bring it just to

[1:07:25] the along the Wasatch front into the MO

[1:07:27] area or Wasatch Front area, we have a

[1:07:31] federal obligation there of over $350

[1:07:34] million.

[1:07:35] And with the added match of 20 million

[1:07:38] there, it gives us about 370.7

[1:07:41] million in obligations along the Wasatch

[1:07:44] Front.

[1:07:46] If we look a little deeper into the

[1:07:48] programs that the Wasatch Front Regional

[1:07:51] Council administers here, we have a

[1:07:55] federal obligation there, including a

[1:07:57] match of more than $55 million. So

[1:08:02] that's a significant amount of money

[1:08:04] that's comes and benefits our area from

[1:08:06] the federal government uh through our

[1:08:09] federal resources. Then on the transit

[1:08:11] side of things, so these are the federal

[1:08:13] highway funds that are obligated. Then

[1:08:17] through the active transit grant or

[1:08:21] grant funds during the year 2025,

[1:08:24] you can see the amount of funds there.

[1:08:26] We have a total amount of over 756

[1:08:30] million. Uh federal share of that is 542

[1:08:34] plus million with the local match of

[1:08:38] more than 214

[1:08:40] plus million. So a very big benefit to

[1:08:43] the state. Any questions on the

[1:08:45] obligation report for 2025?

[1:08:50] » Have a Yeah, I don't have a question for

[1:08:52] Ben. I I do want to just make a comment

[1:08:54] about I want to first of all emphasize

[1:08:56] something that Ben said about the role

[1:08:59] that federal funds play in our overall

[1:09:01] transportation mix. Um in many ways Utah

[1:09:05] is an envy of states around the nation

[1:09:08] because of the really significant

[1:09:11] commitment that the state and local

[1:09:13] governments have made to investing in

[1:09:15] transportation. It's one of the reasons

[1:09:17] that infrastructure investment that we

[1:09:20] have such a strong economy and really

[1:09:21] good mobility and quality of life. Um,

[1:09:24] so relatively speaking, Utah relies less

[1:09:28] on federal transportation dollars than

[1:09:30] almost any other state in the nation.

[1:09:32] Having said that, as Ben said, these

[1:09:34] funds are still critically important.

[1:09:37] It's a significant amount of money. It

[1:09:39] allows us to do roadway maintenance uh

[1:09:41] for UD do transit expansions and the

[1:09:45] funds that WFRC and the other NPOS's

[1:09:49] program that's the term allocate to

[1:09:51] local communities next council meeting

[1:09:55] in May uh you'll have the opportunity to

[1:09:58] approve the this next year's round of

[1:10:01] project awards and it's in the range of

[1:10:04] $65 million this year that we are making

[1:10:08] available in grants to local

[1:10:10] communities. Those are federal dollars.

[1:10:12] So, that's notable resources that um

[1:10:15] that come to you through a datadriven

[1:10:17] selection process. Um in addition to

[1:10:21] that, I'll note that there are

[1:10:24] discretionary grant programs from the

[1:10:26] federal government. What we've been

[1:10:27] talking about to this point is mainly

[1:10:29] federal formula funds. They come based

[1:10:31] on population or lane miles or various

[1:10:34] federal formulas, but they're also

[1:10:36] discretionary grant programs. And um

[1:10:39] while this is not official, we are

[1:10:41] anticipating that there is going to be a

[1:10:44] significant release of what are called

[1:10:47] no, notices of funding opportunities

[1:10:49] from US DOT. Uh the number that I've

[1:10:53] heard is 17 no 17 different

[1:10:57] discretionary grant programs are going

[1:10:59] to release NOFOs in April and there will

[1:11:02] be a short turnaround time to apply for

[1:11:05] those funds. Some of them are focused on

[1:11:07] state DOT, some of them are transit,

[1:11:09] some of them are local. We will share

[1:11:11] that information with all of you. It's

[1:11:14] yet another possible funding source

[1:11:16] that's available to uh invest in our

[1:11:19] infrastructure. Thanks.

[1:11:24] Okay.

[1:11:27] » So, Andrew, what's the word with the

[1:11:29] federal budget process? How is that

[1:11:31] affecting uh state programs and what can

[1:11:34] we do as commission members to help

[1:11:37] advance our regional projects, their

[1:11:39] federal delegation?

[1:11:40] >> Yeah, great great question. Um, what I what you may be referring to is

[1:11:45] the federal surface transportation

[1:11:48] reauthorization process. There you go.

[1:11:51] Um, so every five or six

[1:11:54] years, the Congress authorizes the

[1:11:57] federal transportation program policy

[1:11:59] and funding. That program, the

[1:12:02] infrastructure investment and jobs act,

[1:12:03] it's called, expires September 30th of

[1:12:06] 2026. We have been working, when I say

[1:12:09] we, I mean all of the Utah

[1:12:11] Transportation stakeholders along with

[1:12:13] our congressional delegation who are

[1:12:15] very well represented in the committees

[1:12:16] of jurisdiction. We have been working

[1:12:18] with them looking ahead to the next

[1:12:21] reauthorization to advance Utah

[1:12:24] priorities. Uh we've offered up program

[1:12:27] priorities and principles and emphasize

[1:12:29] certain programs that are really

[1:12:31] important to Utah. Um uh if I was to bet

[1:12:35] I would not bet that the program gets

[1:12:37] reauthorized on time by September 30th.

[1:12:40] oftentimes these programs get extended,

[1:12:43] but the work is happening right now and

[1:12:45] actually we expect within just the next

[1:12:47] month or so to see the first drafts of

[1:12:50] the reauthorization legislation coming

[1:12:53] out of the committees of jurisdiction

[1:12:55] and uh I know Miranda will be reporting

[1:12:57] on that um to all of you. Separate from

[1:13:00] that is the annual appropriations

[1:13:03] process that actually provides the

[1:13:05] annual funding that is authorized in the

[1:13:07] multi-year bill. And separate even from

[1:13:10] that are the uh um community directed

[1:13:13] the community prep earmarks. I can never

[1:13:16] remember what we call them now. Anyway,

[1:13:17] earmarks um that are available for us to

[1:13:20] ask our members of our delegation to

[1:13:23] support. So there's lots of layers on

[1:13:25] this with some notable stuff coming up

[1:13:27] as we as we mentioned.

[1:13:30] >> So stay in close contact with our

[1:13:32] federal delegation.

[1:13:33] >> Yes.

[1:13:34] >> Stay tuned.

[1:13:35] >> Stay in touch with them. share your

[1:13:37] needs and we will keep providing

[1:13:39] information to you about the broad

[1:13:42] reauthorization and also about the

[1:13:44] discretionary grant opportunities as

[1:13:46] they come out. Thanks.

[1:13:49] >> Any other questions or comments for Ben?

[1:13:52] Okay, that concludes our report.

[1:13:55] >> Thank you. Appreciate it. Appreciate

[1:13:56] both of you on that. We'll now move to

[1:13:58] item six. Uh we'll turn the time over to

[1:14:00] Amy Wender Newton. Uh

[1:14:04] >> thank you. Um, in your packets are the

[1:14:06] draft fiscal year 27 WFRC goals, budget,

[1:14:10] and unified planning work program that

[1:14:12] outline the activities that WFRC plans

[1:14:14] to undertake in the year 2027. Um, these

[1:14:17] materials were prepared by staff. It was

[1:14:19] presented to our budget committee on the

[1:14:21] 7 on the 19th and our budget committee

[1:14:24] is recommending that the council approve

[1:14:26] releasing this draft for public comment.

[1:14:30] um they'll do an updated version of this

[1:14:33] so that will be prepared for our May

[1:14:35] 28th council meeting um for final

[1:14:38] approval. Um so we'll go to Andrew who's

[1:14:41] going to briefly summarize the proposed

[1:14:43] fiscal year 27 goals and then our CFO

[1:14:46] Marian Florence will summarize the

[1:14:47] budget.

[1:14:49] >> Thank you very much council member

[1:14:50] madame budget committee chair Newton. um

[1:14:55] three goals that we are proposing for

[1:14:57] WFRC for next year. They're on the

[1:15:00] screen. They were in the materials that

[1:15:01] were sent out to you. What you see on

[1:15:03] the screen now is just the topline

[1:15:05] goals. There is more content, sub goals,

[1:15:09] subcontent under each of these. That

[1:15:12] subcontent

[1:15:14] we're recommending some modest ch and

[1:15:16] the budget committee is recommending

[1:15:17] some modest changes. We sent to you in

[1:15:19] your materials a redline version that

[1:15:22] shows those specific changes. But here

[1:15:24] just in this setting, we just want to

[1:15:26] highlight these three topline goals

[1:15:28] which actually are not changed from the

[1:15:31] current year. This reflects the fact

[1:15:33] that we have a lot of continuity in the

[1:15:35] work we do. Number one, collaboratively

[1:15:38] advancing the Wasatch Choice vision to

[1:15:40] accommodate growth and enhance quality

[1:15:42] of life. Number two, provide subject

[1:15:44] matter expertise to federal, state, and

[1:15:46] local officials and policy makers. And

[1:15:48] number three, strive for organizational

[1:15:52] excellence. Uh we're always happy to

[1:15:54] take questions or comments on any of the

[1:15:56] details, but we figure just in this

[1:15:57] setting, we would just hit the

[1:15:59] highlights and um council member, if

[1:16:02] anybody has any questions or comments

[1:16:03] about these or wants us to dig into the

[1:16:05] details, we're happy to do so.

[1:16:06] >> Thank you.

[1:16:07] >> Okay.

[1:16:09] >> Thanks. Uh we'll go over this initial

[1:16:11] budget again. Um, if you'll go back

[1:16:14] before Ben's presentation, which is

[1:16:16] about lots and lots and lots of millions

[1:16:17] of dollars that we that Ben handles

[1:16:19] through the tip, we I handle the budget

[1:16:22] that we use here at WFRC to fund the

[1:16:26] programs that help you in your

[1:16:28] communities like the TLC, like the

[1:16:30] station area planning. And um you'll see

[1:16:33] I wrote stable budget because the good

[1:16:36] news is that over the last 5 years our

[1:16:38] initial budget which reflects the new

[1:16:40] funding that we have for the coming

[1:16:42] fiscal year has fluctuated between about

[1:16:44] 10 and 13 million. Um and so this time

[1:16:48] from last year to from this current year

[1:16:50] into next year we go from 12.2 down to

[1:16:53] 10.6. And that's really the product of

[1:16:57] having some projects wrap up and having

[1:16:59] some new projects start. Um, as Byron

[1:17:01] mentioned, our stationary planning

[1:17:03] project, for instance, a few years ago

[1:17:06] started with $5 million and between us

[1:17:08] and MAG and we've been using th those

[1:17:11] funds over the years. And so that for

[1:17:13] instance, that piece has diminished and

[1:17:16] that's one of the products, one of the

[1:17:18] reasons this goes down. So our main

[1:17:21] expenditures here at WFRC in our

[1:17:24] organization are our staffing and our

[1:17:27] consulting lines reflecting our

[1:17:29] investment in our staff as well as our

[1:17:31] many projects, initiatives and studies

[1:17:33] that require consultant support. So we

[1:17:36] do um as you saw also in our TLC awards,

[1:17:39] we do in-house work and we also contract

[1:17:42] out with consultants to support us in

[1:17:44] that work. The staffing line includes

[1:17:46] COLA and merit adjustments in line with

[1:17:48] all of our government partners and

[1:17:50] health insurance and retirement costs

[1:17:52] adjustments. This is this is our normal

[1:17:55] staffing line. And then in consulting we

[1:17:58] actually do see a lot of fluctuation

[1:18:00] over the years as we as I said we have

[1:18:03] balance of completed and new work going

[1:18:06] from year to year. Um so here are four

[1:18:10] areas that we have been working on this

[1:18:12] year that we're anticipating either

[1:18:15] completing or completing the first phase

[1:18:18] of this work. One is the green field vis

[1:18:20] visualizations which actually is kicking

[1:18:22] off right now is a small project that

[1:18:25] goes with our mixeduse centers

[1:18:27] visualizations that we have been working

[1:18:29] on. This is an add-on funded by the land

[1:18:32] use um land use training fund out of the

[1:18:36] Utah Department of Commerce. Um we're

[1:18:39] also currently working on roadway safety

[1:18:41] audits in 11 corridors in our community

[1:18:45] and that work is through our safe

[1:18:46] streets for all federal grant program

[1:18:49] and that will conclude by June 30th as

[1:18:51] well. Station area planning and our

[1:18:54] activity- based model development are

[1:18:56] both in process. Um, stationary planning

[1:19:00] has been going for a few years and this

[1:19:02] is the first year that we have kicked

[1:19:04] off, we are currently this month, I

[1:19:06] believe, kicking off the activity- based

[1:19:08] model development that we've been

[1:19:10] talking a lot about. That will be a

[1:19:11] three-year at least three-year project

[1:19:14] um to out of our analytics department.

[1:19:18] Um, so coming up next year, we plan to f

[1:19:22] focus our significant effort on

[1:19:24] strategic communications. John Aardone,

[1:19:27] our communications manager, is working

[1:19:29] with our new communications consultant,

[1:19:31] Wilkinson Ferrari, to enhance our

[1:19:33] engagement and impact. So that will be a kind of a new effort for next year, an

[1:19:39] enhanced effort, not entirely new. We

[1:19:42] will also continue working on our

[1:19:44] station area planning and our activity-

[1:19:47] based model of development as well of

[1:19:49] course as all of the transportation and

[1:19:51] land use connection pro projects that

[1:19:52] you just heard about. So those pro

[1:19:55] projects are all in our budget um as as

[1:19:59] the funding that we use to support you.

[1:20:02] That funding comes from a variety of

[1:20:05] sources here. Um primarily from uh

[1:20:09] federal. You can see here on my graph

[1:20:12] they come from three sources, federal,

[1:20:14] state, and local. Um although most of

[1:20:17] our funds are federal, our terrific

[1:20:19] partnerships with state and local

[1:20:21] entities provide over a quarter of our

[1:20:23] budget every year. Um our federal funds

[1:20:27] come mainly from the US Department of

[1:20:29] Transportation as Andrew was mentioning

[1:20:31] right now from the infrastructure

[1:20:33] investment and jobs act and that will

[1:20:35] continue until the reauthorization

[1:20:38] project process is completed. You can

[1:20:41] see our state partnerships listed here.

[1:20:43] Um, state and local funds support all of

[1:20:46] the collaborative work that we do with

[1:20:48] partners at UT, UTA, MAG, and with all

[1:20:51] of you. Local funds match these federal

[1:20:54] grants and also cover additional work

[1:20:56] outside of our MO boundaries um and our

[1:20:59] MO responsibilities. We're so grateful

[1:21:01] for all of you, for all of our partners

[1:21:03] who support our important work. H I'm

[1:21:05] happy to take any questions um on this

[1:21:09] now or at any time. um always happy to

[1:21:12] dig into more detail and as we mentioned

[1:21:15] this is our initial um proposal and we

[1:21:18] would like to um send this out for

[1:21:21] public comment and then bring it back to

[1:21:23] you in May for formal adoption as our

[1:21:26] initial budget for next year. So this is

[1:21:28] the recommended motion and that is my

[1:21:31] presentation.

[1:21:32] >> And council member just again to note in

[1:21:34] the materials that we send out and we

[1:21:36] make available to the public there's

[1:21:39] lots more detail all the numbers all the

[1:21:42] footnotes transparency

[1:21:45] uh and prudency in the use of funds is

[1:21:47] of public funds is very very important

[1:21:49] to us. Um we didn't want to go over it

[1:21:52] in a lot of detail with you. We do a lot

[1:21:54] of that with the budget committee, but

[1:21:56] all the information is available and we

[1:21:58] are happy to talk with anybody in as

[1:22:00] much detail as anybody would like at any

[1:22:02] point. Thank you.

[1:22:04] >> Before I make a motion, are there

[1:22:06] questions for any of our staff?

[1:22:09] >> Okay, I'll move that um we release the

[1:22:12] draft fiscal year 27 WFRC goals, budget,

[1:22:15] and unified planning work program for

[1:22:17] public comment.

[1:22:18] >> There's a second.

[1:22:21] Uh, Commissioner Harvey, did I hear you

[1:22:23] say second?

[1:22:25] With that, all in favor say I.

[1:22:27] >> I.

[1:22:29] >> Any opposed?

[1:22:31] That is unanimous. Thank you.

[1:22:33] >> Appreciate you. Uh, we'll now move down

[1:22:36] to item number seven, which is reports.

[1:22:39] Turn the time over to

[1:22:42] Andrew.

[1:22:43] >> Sure.

[1:22:46] » We're let we'll turn to, if we can,

[1:22:48] Commissioner Gage Fer. Oh, did I miss

[1:22:51] that?

[1:22:52] >> As Yeah. No. 7A gauge four with the

[1:22:56] Wasatch Front Economic Development

[1:22:58] District update.

[1:22:59] >> Look, when when when Harvey made the

[1:23:01] second, it really threw me off on

[1:23:03] everything as far as that went. So, I

[1:23:06] apologize, Gage, but I know you work

[1:23:07] with him every day and you understand

[1:23:08] exactly what we deal with here.

[1:23:10] >> Yeah, you feel my pain. I'm glad to hear

[1:23:12] that. So, well, he he'll keep you in

[1:23:15] track on track down there, Mr. Chair.

[1:23:17] So, thanks for the opportunity to

[1:23:19] present for the Wasatch Front Economic

[1:23:21] Development District. Uh, we had a

[1:23:23] meeting on March 12th. Very productive.

[1:23:26] We welcome several new members to the

[1:23:28] board, including a new vice chair who I

[1:23:31] believe is uh joining you down there,

[1:23:33] Commissioner Blocker from Morgan County.

[1:23:36] Um, we've got a new vice chair or a new

[1:23:38] co-chair as well. We've gone to a

[1:23:40] private industry for that which I think

[1:23:42] really makes a lot of sense since this u

[1:23:44] economic development district uh depends

[1:23:47] as much on private enterprise as uh we

[1:23:50] do from the government side. So it's great to see the involvement from

[1:23:53] our private partners. Um we started off

[1:23:56] with a discussion with uh Miranda Jones

[1:23:59] Cox, our government affairs manager. She

[1:24:02] provided a report on the 2026

[1:24:04] legislative session talking about bills

[1:24:06] regarding transportation, housing, and

[1:24:09] economic development, which is the three

[1:24:11] things, three big things we deal with in

[1:24:13] the economic development district. Um, I

[1:24:15] want to make a shout out to Miranda and

[1:24:18] Andrew. Uh, I crossed paths with them a

[1:24:22] number of times at the legislature,

[1:24:24] uh, up the capital this session. Uh,

[1:24:26] they did a great job. I've talked to a

[1:24:29] number of my former colleagues and

[1:24:31] nothing but praise for the work they

[1:24:32] did. So, I would just say we can be very

[1:24:35] um very appreciative of their works. Uh

[1:24:38] a number of bills that were fairly

[1:24:41] complicated this year, but at the end of

[1:24:43] the day, uh there were some bills that

[1:24:45] came out u that benefited a lot of our

[1:24:48] counties, a lot of the transportation,

[1:24:50] housing, and obviously economic

[1:24:52] development. So, Andrew Rand, appreciate

[1:24:54] your work there. Uh the other part

[1:24:56] couple other things we did as part of

[1:24:58] our mission statement to help understand

[1:25:01] the available funding in our region. We

[1:25:03] hear Marsha talk about the economic

[1:25:05] development the EDA grants available. Uh

[1:25:08] so we had a gentleman by the name of

[1:25:09] Trent Thompson spend some time with us

[1:25:12] and discuss the current funding

[1:25:13] opportunities. So I would say any of our

[1:25:17] uh city partners, county partners out

[1:25:19] there that are looking for additional

[1:25:20] funding, talk to Marsha. Uh she can get

[1:25:23] you in contact with Mr. Thompson. There

[1:25:25] are fund there are funding opportunities

[1:25:27] available out there. So I'd encourage

[1:25:29] you to use those whenever possible. Uh

[1:25:32] in addition to that, we met with uh

[1:25:34] online Kirsten Swinyard from the Salt

[1:25:36] Lake County and Kate Lucas with the

[1:25:39] Kansas State University and she provided

[1:25:42] a great presentation on brownfield

[1:25:44] funding. again for those communities

[1:25:46] that may have brown brownfield issues in

[1:25:49] their communities. Two great resources

[1:25:52] um that I would encourage anybody in a

[1:25:55] city or county level to reach out to

[1:25:57] either one of these great ladies uh to

[1:26:00] be re-educated or again funding sources

[1:26:03] to help you clean up some of those

[1:26:04] problems. So with that, uh Mr. Chair,

[1:26:07] I'm happy to answer any questions that

[1:26:09] you may have. Andrew,

[1:26:13] >> any questions?

[1:26:15] Okay, appreciate that, Gage. We'll move

[1:26:17] to item 7B.

[1:26:18] >> Thank you.

[1:26:21] >> Turn the time over to Christie.

[1:26:22] >> Hi, thank you, chair. Um, so I will be

[1:26:25] as brief as possible. I'm looking at the

[1:26:26] clock and know we all want to get out of

[1:26:28] here. So, this is just looking at the

[1:26:29] 2026 community development block grant

[1:26:32] projects that were applied for this

[1:26:34] year. I know on your agenda it says

[1:26:35] awarded and in a perfect world, uh, we

[1:26:37] would be able to fully fund all of them.

[1:26:39] However, unfortunately, um with some

[1:26:41] delays at the federal level, we actually

[1:26:43] are still unaware of how much actual

[1:26:46] funding that we will receive this year

[1:26:48] to fund these projects, but um generally

[1:26:50] we are receiving just a little bit over

[1:26:52] a million dollars each year. Um you'll

[1:26:55] notice that that total is much higher

[1:26:57] than a million dollars. A lot of these

[1:26:58] projects come with match associated with

[1:27:01] them. Um, however, if we don't receive

[1:27:05] more than about $1.1 million, we'll be

[1:27:07] able to fully fund these first three

[1:27:10] projects. These are ranked um in order

[1:27:12] of the score that they received. We'll

[1:27:13] be able to fully fund these first three

[1:27:15] projects and partially fund the fourth

[1:27:17] project and unfortunately not be able to

[1:27:19] fund uh this Marriott Slaterville

[1:27:21] project. But as you can see, projects

[1:27:22] range um from emergency rental

[1:27:25] assistance, sewer rehab, waterline

[1:27:27] replacement, main street reconstruction,

[1:27:29] and a restroom purchase. And just as a

[1:27:32] reminder, uh the community development

[1:27:33] block grant program is primarily for low

[1:27:36] to moderate income um residents and for

[1:27:39] the purpose of the Wasatch Front

[1:27:40] Regional Council is eligible in Morgan,

[1:27:41] Towilla, and Weber counties excluding

[1:27:44] Ogden City. Um all of you have access to

[1:27:47] CDBG funds whether it be through WFRC or

[1:27:49] not. Um, so if anyone has any questions

[1:27:51] about CDBG, feel free to reach out to

[1:27:53] me. And that's all I got.

[1:27:55] >> Thank you. Any questions?

[1:27:58] Okay, Chrissy. Thank you. We'll now move

[1:28:02] to item C, executive director's report

[1:28:06] by Andrew Groover.

[1:28:07] >> Thank you, uh, Commissioner Stevenson.

[1:28:10] Now I get to do one of my favorite

[1:28:13] things, which is recognize some of our

[1:28:15] staff. I've got two work anniversaries,

[1:28:18] two new hires, two staff awards, and two

[1:28:23] babies. Okay, so let's start. Let's

[1:28:26] start with uh Marsha White. Where's

[1:28:29] Marsha? Marsha, who's already referenced

[1:28:30] for five years of service with WFRC. You

[1:28:33] know that Marsha leads our economic

[1:28:35] development work. She's our point person

[1:28:36] for the economic development district.

[1:28:39] In her time here, she's really expanded

[1:28:41] and professionalized the work that we do

[1:28:43] and our networks for economic

[1:28:44] development, working with cities and

[1:28:46] counties doing economic development. She

[1:28:49] came from Ogden City Council and she's

[1:28:51] bringing that knowledge about local

[1:28:53] needs to the work that we do,

[1:28:55] collaborating together. So, Marca for

[1:28:57] five years of service. Good job.

[1:29:02] And then also Miranda Jones Cox for her

[1:29:05] five years of service. You all know of

[1:29:07] course that Miranda is our government

[1:29:08] affairs manager. She works on state

[1:29:10] issues and federal issues. She is known

[1:29:12] and trusted by all for her collaborative

[1:29:15] and supportive approach working with

[1:29:17] partners uh and communities and giving

[1:29:19] timely and substantive information. She

[1:29:21] is a real partner to me. Um and in her

[1:29:24] five years, her and her husband Tanner

[1:29:26] have had two kids, Henry and Lucy, uh in

[1:29:29] her five years here and still still

[1:29:31] going. So way to go. I don't mean on

[1:29:33] kids. Well, I don't know. I'm

[1:29:37] Not. Yeah. Anyway, way to go, Miranda.

[1:29:39] Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Never mind.

[1:29:41] Okay.

[1:29:42] >> You're just getting yourself deeper.

[1:29:44] >> Yeah. No. Um, now to now to our to our

[1:29:46] new hires. I want to introduce you to

[1:29:48] two new staff people. We're so excited

[1:29:50] to have them. Uh, Joel Temple. Where's

[1:29:52] Joel? Joel Temple um is joining our long

[1:29:55] range planning team as a transportation

[1:29:58] planner. And as you know, he helps

[1:29:59] support regional transportation planning

[1:30:02] coordination with our state and local

[1:30:04] partners. Joel has a background in

[1:30:06] physics, international development, and

[1:30:08] in planning, a masters in urban and

[1:30:10] regional planning. He's actually worked

[1:30:12] at both the regional and local levels.

[1:30:14] He worked at the Oahu MO. And then most

[1:30:17] recently, he was a planner with Saratoga

[1:30:19] Springs. Um, and he's actually a a um a

[1:30:22] planning commissioner with the city of

[1:30:24] Provo. So, Joel, welcome. And he's a

[1:30:26] competitive cyclist also.

[1:30:31] And then the other new hire is uh Paulo

[1:30:34] Aguilera. Where's Paulo? Where? Oh,

[1:30:36] right next to Joel. Paulo uh is joining

[1:30:38] our community and economic development

[1:30:40] team as a community planner. This is the

[1:30:42] work that we've been talking about. It's

[1:30:43] supporting communities in our region.

[1:30:46] You to achieve your local visions and

[1:30:49] increase mobility and quality of life.

[1:30:51] He has a degree in urban ecology and

[1:30:53] metropolitan planning. He was worked for

[1:30:56] seven years with GSBs architects and

[1:30:58] alta planning, economic development,

[1:31:00] community planning, uh, GIS, datadriven

[1:31:03] design. And, um, he won us over in his

[1:31:06] interview when he referred, well, at

[1:31:07] least me, when he referred to WFRC as

[1:31:10] the north star for regional guidance and

[1:31:13] stewardship. Nice job. Nice job.

[1:31:15] Welcome, Paulo.

[1:31:19] Okay. So, so I gave you two

[1:31:21] anniversaries. I gave you two new hires.

[1:31:23] Here's two awards. Susie Swim from with

[1:31:26] our WFRC analytics team received the

[1:31:29] transportation professional of the year

[1:31:32] award from the Institute for

[1:31:34] Transportation Engineers Utah section.

[1:31:37] This is the lead engineers group. It's

[1:31:39] interestingly though this award is for

[1:31:41] somebody who is not an engineer but

[1:31:43] their work in planning or research or

[1:31:45] technical support has made meaningful

[1:31:48] contributions to the transportation

[1:31:49] field and communities across Utah. The

[1:31:52] award is really cool in part in uh

[1:31:53] particularly because it's peer

[1:31:55] nominated. So it makes it a really

[1:31:57] meaningful recognition. Uh

[1:31:59] transportation professional of the year

[1:32:00] Susie Swim.

[1:32:05] And then here's a fun one. The other

[1:32:07] award uh Bill Hars also from uh our

[1:32:10] analytics team was the inaugural

[1:32:12] recipient of the Golden Cone Award. Tell

[1:32:15] me you've got the cone with you, Bill.

[1:32:17] No, it's in his office. of the Golden

[1:32:20] Cone Award which is a new honor

[1:32:22] presented by the same organization IT.

[1:32:24] recognizes an individual who stands

[1:32:27] out for their leadership, their service

[1:32:29] and overall impact within IT and the

[1:32:32] transportation industry. It celebrates

[1:32:34] people who cons well well it will he's

[1:32:36] the first one who's ever gotten it that

[1:32:37] who that will cons who consistently

[1:32:40] contribute their time and support others

[1:32:42] and help move the field forward. Way to

[1:32:44] go, Bill. Congratulations.

[1:32:49] And to conclude, uh, two babies, uh,

[1:32:52] Faria, is Faribba here? Is Farba here?

[1:32:54] No. Okay. Um, one of our newest

[1:32:56] employees, Fariba, um, just came back

[1:32:59] from, uh, maternity leave after having

[1:33:02] her baby. So, we'll, uh, well, we'll, um, uh, celebrate her and say

[1:33:06] Mazle to her in in her absence, uh,

[1:33:09] here. And then uh we'll say

[1:33:12] congratulations in advance and masleto

[1:33:14] to me um who may not be at our next

[1:33:18] council meeting. Uh she is not planning

[1:33:21] to be here.

[1:33:22] >> Okay. So congratulations to both of them

[1:33:25] on their uh new babies.

[1:33:28] >> So Meg Me I I have a question. If it's a boy, are you going to name it

[1:33:34] Andrew?

[1:33:35] >> Okay.

[1:33:36] I guess I'll just I'll just have to see.

[1:33:41] I did if I Meg, if it's okay for me to

[1:33:43] say this, I um I did officiate Meg's

[1:33:46] wedding at her request. Um and we'll see

[1:33:50] how much she cares about me if in the

[1:33:52] naming. We shall see. We shall see. Uh

[1:33:55] the very last thing I'll note to all of

[1:33:57] you is that if you like riding bikes, uh

[1:34:00] I'm not only looking at Mayor Burton,

[1:34:02] but I am looking at Mayor Burton. Um

[1:34:05] with the the 9th annual Golden Spoke

[1:34:08] ride is on May 16th or Saturday, May

[1:34:12] 16th all over the region. It's a fun

[1:34:14] thing to celebrate that as a mode of

[1:34:16] transportation. More information to come

[1:34:18] on that. Mr. Chair, that concludes my

[1:34:20] report.

[1:34:21] >> Thank you. Any questions for Andrew

[1:34:23] before we move on and out? Okay. If not,

[1:34:27] just a reminder, our next meeting will

[1:34:28] be held on Thursday, May 28th. I'm

[1:34:31] predicting with the way this weather is

[1:34:32] that it will be snowing that day. So, I

[1:34:35] hope

[1:34:36] >> uh again, we want to appreciate

[1:34:38] everybody and uh have a good rest of the

[1:34:41] week. Enjoy the weekend and uh we'll

[1:34:43] adjourn at this time. Thank you.

[1:34:46] >> Thank you everybody.

WFRC Council Meeting - March 26, 2026

Transcript