Tooele public works director reviews five years of road, water and wastewater upgrades; council moves to closed meeting on litigation and property

Tooele Public Works Director Jamie Grandpre presented a five-year update to the Tooele City Council on Oct. 15, outlining completed and ongoing projects in streets, water, water reclamation and fleet operations and citing recent investments including an $8,600,000 headworks building at the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

In a summary slide to the council, Grandpre said, "I just wanna take a moment to highlight some of your major accomplishments from the past 5 years." He described street resurfacing and widening projects, new and upgraded traffic signals, well-house work and upgrades at the water reclamation plant that, he said, substantially increased treatment capacity.

The projects matter to residents because they affect safety, service reliability and long-term operating costs, Grandpre said. The presentation covered transportation work (mill-and-overlay, chip-seal and a trial mineral-bond surface), stormwater and culvert work, additions to the city’s traffic-signal inventory, new well infrastructure and larger wastewater-treatment equipment that city staff said lowers regulatory risk and expands capacity.

Key details from the presentation and council discussion:

- Wastewater treatment: Grandpre described a recently completed headworks building at the wastewater treatment facility and said, "This $8,600,000 building is a very nice building and a very nice addition to the city." He said the new headworks brings the plant to approximately 14,000,000 gallons per day (gpd) capacity with a third channel planned that could raise capacity to about 21,000,000 gpd when needed. He also described replacement of three slow sand filters with two disc membrane filters; Grandpre said that change raised the filter capacity from about 3,400,000 gpd (previous sand filters average) to 17,400,000 gpd for the new discs. He noted a clarifier rehabilitation that he characterized as about a $1,000,000 project and other mechanical upgrades.

- Water system and wells: The water division is led by Chris Johnson and Grandpre said the city has deployed or procured generators for multiple wells. He said the city bought nine generators and that five of those have been installed; he added additional wells will have generators added so that an eventual total of 11 wells will have backup power when completed. Grandpre said the city is testing and developing new production wells at Rogers and at the Desert Peak High School site (the latter likely not a production well, he said).

- Streets and traffic signals: Grandpre identified an 11-person streets crew led by Jeff Allred and reviewed recent projects: Drew Bay corridor improvements (grant-funded mill-and-overlay, widening, multiuse trail and storm-water work), Clifford Drive and Smelter Road repairs and realignment, Seventh Street widening and culvert work, 200 West storm-pipe installation, and chip-seal or mill-and-overlay work at 420 South, 2000 North and Nottingham Circle. He said the city owned zero traffic signals when he began in 2021 and now owns four with a fifth (at the Smith’s/Home Depot development on 2400 North) planned.

- Pavement treatments: Grandpre described a trial of a mineral-bond surface on Barra Boulevard and Aaron Drive that he said was holding up better than slurry in his view; he contrasted that with standard chip-seal work used elsewhere.

- Water reclamation operations and staffing: Grandpre said the water-reclamation division is overseen by Troy Meyer and that staff levels and coverage were increased during his tenure. He said the plant moved from roughly 40 hours per week of on-site operator coverage to about 70 hours per week by adding two operators, and he showed several recent capital-works items including a new screening/headworks building, pump and clarifier repairs, replacement of aging pump plates with stainless steel, new polymer feed equipment and other mechanical improvements. He described plans to improve biosolids production (greenhouse upgrades, heated floors and turner replacement) to reduce hauling to Wasatch Regional during colder months.

- Fleet and facilities: Craig Park, fleet manager, was noted as leading a three-mechanic fleet division. Grandpre described repairs and structural and HVAC work on the fleet building and said the city repurposed the former school district bus garage property to create additional public-works campus space, locker rooms and restroom improvements for crews.

Council comments and questions focused on maintenance and customer service: Councilman Hansen raised concerns about trenches and unfinished work left by fiber contractors and asked how residents should report problems; Grandpre asked residents to call city public works with an address and the department will contact the contractor. Multiple council members and Mayor Winn praised the public-works staff for responsiveness and for keeping infrastructure maintained.

After the public-works presentation and follow-up questions, the council voted to move into a closed meeting. Councilwoman Manzanian made a motion "that we, go to a closed meeting to discuss litigation and property acquisition," the motion was seconded by Councilman McCall and the council voted unanimously to approve the closed meeting motion.

Votes at a glance: Motion to move to closed meeting to discuss litigation and property acquisition — moved by Councilwoman Manzanian; seconded by Councilman McCall; outcome: approved (5–0). The roll call recorded "Aye" votes by Councilman McCall, Councilman Hansen, Councilwoman Gochis, Councilwoman Manzion and a final aye recorded by a council member who identified himself as "Councilman Brady"; minutes show the motion passed 5–0 and the meeting recessed at approximately 6:34 p.m.

Grandpre’s presentation included multiple capital and maintenance items with specific project statuses, equipment counts and dollar figures that council members cited when discussing future funding needs. He and other department leaders repeatedly emphasized ongoing maintenance needs and the long-term nature of many system upgrades.