Grantsville council adopts 2025 impact-fee and capital-facilities updates after presentation on water, sewer and public-safety fees

Grantsville — The Grantsville City Council voted May 21 to adopt Ordinance 2025-25, approving the 2025 amendments to the city’s Capital Facilities Plan and to its impact-fee schedules for water, wastewater, public safety, parks/recreation/open space and transportation.

The council’s decision followed a presentation from Connor Donkel of Ensign Engineering, who reviewed the three-year service-level assessment and proposed fee changes tied to a new wastewater treatment plant under construction. Donkel said the study keeps the city’s planning period at 10 years and uses a 5% demographic growth assumption. He summarized proposed per-unit changes, saying, “For drinking water, it would go down $935. And then for wastewater, it would go up $828. For public safety, it would go up $41. For parks, recreation, facilities, open space, and trails impact fee, that would go up $183. For water-rights acquisition, that would go up $872. Transportation would go up $395.81.”

Why it matters: the wastewater increase is driven largely by the new treatment plant the city is building; Donkel said the plant is a major driver of wastewater costs in the updated calculations. The council and members of the public also discussed how the new fees compare with neighboring cities and how the changes might affect different housing types.

Council questions and public input: Council members pressed engineers on the methodology and asked for comparison charts; Donkel said comparison tables had been shown at earlier work meetings. One councilor asked why the city’s public-safety fee for multiunit housing is lower than for single-family units; the consultant said that difference reflects how the study calculates Equivalent Residential Connections (ERCs) and proximity and coverage factors for emergency services. Donkel did not present a precise technical justification on the record for that variance and offered to follow up with Robert, the consultant who prepared the full study.

A councilor also asked how the fee changes would affect a typical half-acre lot; Donkel offered an example: combining the proposed increases would raise a prior example half-acre impact-fee total from $21,706 to $23,092 — a difference of $1,385. He noted that some components vary by irrigation/indoor vs. outdoor water-right treatment and lot irrigation method.

Implementation and appeals: Donkel told the council there is a 90-day delay between ordinance adoption and the fees taking effect, a standard period that gives the city time to publish final rates and provide notice. Council members discussed the city’s authority to grant waivers or reductions in special cases and confirmed the council can amend fee sections later if warranted.

Outcome: A motion to adopt Ordinance 2025-25 carried unanimously. The council asked staff to provide follow-up materials about methodology and unit conversions and to supply the comparative tables used in the study.

What’s next: Staff will publish the final fee tables and supporting documents and will return with any requested clarifications. The council also asked staff to supply the detailed methodology and comparisons used for the public-safety fee differential between housing types.