TODAY WE COVER…
- Historic Union Pacific Rail Trail
- Deadlines for Restaurant Grant and Cultural Grant applications
- Subsidized rain barrel sale
- Kimball Junction EIS public comment period
- UofU Work/Life Balance Survey
HISTORIC UNION PACIFIC RAIL TRAIL
This Monday, March 18, Summit County Manager Shayne Scott submitted a Letter of Intent to potentially assume ownership of the Historic Union Pacific Rail Trail from Utah Division of State Parks. This is a non-binding commitment and jump-starts a process to study the feasibility of acquiring the property and next steps if we do.
We want to be clear: there are no costs associated with Summit County acquiring the Rail Trail from Utah State Parks. the county is, however, assessing funding options and details related to management and maintenance that would come into play if we did assume ownership.
Follow along for updates at summitcounty.org about this exciting potential acquisition.
RAP TAX INFO
The Summit County Recreation, Arts and Parks (RAP) Grant and The Summit County Restaurant Tax Grant applications are still available online.
The deadline for the RAP cultural grant applications is Thursday, March 28, 2024, at 5:00 PM. The deadline for the Restaurant grant application is Friday, March 29, 2024, at 5 PM.
RAP Cultural Tax requirements must be a private nonprofit organization or institution registered with the State of Utah OR A municipal or a county cultural council – any other agency of the state or a political subdivision of the state is not a cultural organization – IN ADDITION: THE APPLICANT’S main purpose must relate to the themes of: Natural History, History, Art, Music, Theatre, Dance or, for (private nonprofits only) cultural arts.
Restaurant Tax Grant applicants must be a governmental entity, governmental subdivision, or nonprofit and use grant funds for the primary purpose of bringing new tourism from outside Summit County, preferably overnight visitors.
Applications must be submitted online. If you have any questions, contact Amy Jones at 435-336-3042.
You can find the Restaurant Tax Grant application at summitcounty.info/restaurantgrant
You can find the RAP Cultural Grant application at summitcounty.info/RAPcultural
RAINHARVEST PROGRAM 2024
Summit County is partnering with the Utah Rivers Council to bring our residents a limited number of heavily discounted American-made rain barrels as part of the Rain Harvest program. Rain Harvest is a program that distributes rain barrels to Utah residents for the purpose of collecting rainwater that falls on rooftops for later use on lawns and gardens. This program offers residents the opportunity to affordably conserve water through rainwater collection. Residents of Summit County are invited to order these $55 rain barrels a rainbarrelprogram.org/urc, while supplies last.
Once the subsidized barrels run out, $83 rain barrels are available for purchase by any member of the public. The sale window will remain open until late April 2024.
The barrels will be distributed at a one-day, in-person event, on May 5 from 12-2pm at the Park City Sports Complex at Quinn’s Junction. Rain barrels will not be shipped to residents, so you really need to come to this in person pick up day.
KIMBALL JUNCTION ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
This is the last week for the Kimball Junction EIS comment period, which closes March 27.
For some context, UDOT has reached the next milestone for the environmental study they’re working on for the I-80 and SR-224 area.
They published the Alternatives Development and Screening Report, which identifies criteria and measures to evaluate each multi-modal alternative such as potential transportation improvements, details for the screening process– such as how options move forward or are eliminated, and identifies which alternatives are carried forward for detailed evaluation in the Draft EIS.
They evaluated three alternatives–these were presented to you last year based on the Kimball Junction Area Plan–and two are moving forward for further consideration in the EIS process.
Alternative A: a new split-diamond interchange that directs local traffic off of Interstate 80 prior to Kimball Junction, a pedestrian underpass at state Route 224
And Alternative C, extended turn lanes, lane widening, and a pedestrian underpass at SR-224.
UDOT is looking for feedback on all characteristics presented in each alternative for the final design and evaluation.
UDOT is asking for Summit County residents’ help to find transportation solutions for our community by taking some time to review their report. They are looking for your input on the alternative screening process, the initial impacts analysis, the alternatives they’ll evaluate in the Draft EIS, and any new ideas you might have.
As mentioned before, there are only a few more days left to give your feedback! The comment period closes March 27, 2024. To give comment and learn more, you can visit the project website: kimballjunctioneis.udot.utah.gov/
You can also share your ideas with UDOT by emailing kimballjunctioneis@utah.gov or calling 435-255-3186.
WORK/LIFE BALANCE SURVEY
The Social Research Institute at the University of Utah is still looking for about 200 more responses for their Work/Life Balance Survey. The purpose is to gather information to help employers know what they can do to better support low to moderate-income families to retain employment.
Participants are paid $25 for a 25-30-minute interview that can be done over the phone. They hope to have respondents from all across the state so you are welcome to forward this info to anyone in Utah – staff, clients, community partners, anyone!
To participate a person must be:
- A caregiver of a child under age 12, or a caregiver to a child 12 and older with a disability;
- Middle to low income (annual household income of $50,000 or less);
- English speaking
Visit bit.ly/uofuwlbs to sign up to participate.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND PUBLIC HEALTH SPEAKER SERIES
The Climate Change and Public Health speaker series planning team has been putting in a lot of work to bring some awesome events in 2024! If you are interested in receiving updates about this year’s events, visit summitcountyhealth.org/speakerseries.
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