Ogden mayor and council weigh options as Weber Housing Authority project faces funding and legal timing hurdles

Mayor Ben Nadalski told the Ogden City Council on Feb. 18 that he and housing partners have developed several options to move forward with a Weber Housing Authority permanent supportive housing project after legal and funding complications emerged.

The options presented to the council included keeping the project at its current site, finding ways to make the housing authority “whole” for expenditures and preserved grants, or relocating the project to another jurisdiction. Nadalski said a third option — transferring the project to a different organization to avoid state statute constraints — was described to him as “a hostile option” and not preferred by the authority.

The mayor framed speed as a priority. “Whatever you decide, just do it quick,” Nadalski told the council, saying partners at the county and state want a clear, fast signal. He added that the housing authority has an ARPA-related grant of about $590,000 that must be spent by June and that the city would need to coordinate with the legislature if an extension is sought.

Why this matters: Council members and members of the public said the project is time-sensitive because of the grant deadline and the need to house people quickly. Public speakers pressed the council for clearer direction and faster action; several said the mayor’s update did not include sufficient detail.

Council Chair White and members suggested the next step should be a public work session for staff to present the options in detail. Council and staff agreed to schedule an update in a work session on March 11, with possible formal action at the council meeting on March 18 if documents and noticing requirements can be met. The council did not take a formal vote on the project itself on Feb. 18.

Public comments at the meeting reflected sharply different perspectives. Brooke Berrigan, an Ogden resident, urged immediate action and said delay is harming disabled homeless people who need housing, saying, “Inaction is action ... you're actively leaving these disabled homeless folks out in the cold.” Kevin Londell, an Ogden resident, asked whether the city intended to buy property from the Weber Housing Authority merely to prevent permanent supportive housing from being located there: “Is the plan really that we are going to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to purchase property from Weber Housing Authority simply so that we can prevent disabled homeless individuals from being housed in permanent supportive housing that the neighborhood supports?”

Other commenters said timelines presented to the council earlier were insufficient or late, and some urged allowing county or outside partners to move faster. Mayor Nadalski acknowledged both the urgency and neighborhood concerns and said he believed outright rejection would not be productive: “I don't think just saying no is a good conclusion.”

What happens next: Staff and the mayor said they will return to a work session March 11 with the options they have developed; the council set March 18 as a possible date for action if required documents and public-notice requirements are met.

Ending: Council members and the mayor emphasized the need to coordinate with county and state partners to preserve grants and to act quickly if the council decides to support acquisition or other actions that would enable the project to proceed.