Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Affordable Housing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
County discusses purchase of 34-acre school district parcel for affordable housing; vote not recorded in transcript
Summary
Commissioners discussed purchasing a roughly 34–35 acre parcel from the Uinta School District near the high school to support low-income housing but the transcript does not record a final vote on ratification at the Jan. 14 meeting.
Commission leaders discussed the county—s recent purchase agreement for a 34–35 acre parcel owned by the Uinta School District, describing the site as adjacent to the high school—s football and baseball fields and north of Highway 121.
One commissioner described the county—s intent to use the parcel for affordable housing and said the county now owns the property. The speaker said the parcel includes "3.5 shares of water" and an irrigation wheel line. He described an intention to work with UBAG (Uinta Basin Association of Governments) and other partners to support housing development on the site and said the county is exploring federal grant opportunities that could provide as much as $5,000,000 if awarded.
During the discussion staff clarified that the commission had signed purchase paperwork but had not yet completed recording and closing. The recorder—s office partial parcel numbers cited in the meeting were 040880091 and 040880068. A motion to approve the purchase was made during the meeting; a formal roll-call vote is not recorded in the transcript provided.
The speaker reported the purchase price as spoken in the meeting as "615, but 620,000," which the commission characterized in discussion as roughly the mid-$600,000s; meeting participants discussed that the county expects to recoup some purchase and infrastructure costs as homes are built and sold.
Commissioners noted the county and Vernal City surveys that identified affordable housing as a top resident concern and described the project as one strategy to increase local housing supply. Staff said other county-owned property also connects to municipal water systems and that the county continues to pursue grants and partnerships to develop multiple housing sites.
A commissioner asked for the approval to be formally ratified; staff said the purchase required approval before closing. The meeting record shows the motion to approve the purchase but does not include the outcome of that motion in the provided transcript.
