Mount Pleasant project manager says UDOT will grant extension for connector trail; city lists funding sources

City staff told the Mount Pleasant Community Development and Redevelopment Agency (CDRA) on Aug. 12 that the main corridor work between the junction of U.S. Highway 80/State Highway 117 and 400 South will be finished Aug. 31 and that the agency expects a time extension from the Utah Department of Transportation to complete a separate connector trail.

The extension will allow the city to build a short connector that will cross private property owned by Glen Pearl and requires an easement and a memorandum of agreement with a property owner identified in the meeting as Ben Peel, staff said. "Between the junction of Highway 80 U.S. Highway 99, State Highway 117 to 400 South in Spring City will be completed on August 31. Then we'll have to then do the connector trail. The connector trail will go through, Glen Pearl's property," Monks, a city staff member, told the agency.

Why it matters: the connector links the newly completed corridor to 400 South and requires recorded property agreements before UDOT will allow the contract completion date to be extended. Without the easement and recorded memorandum of agreement, the city said it could not secure the time extension from UDOT.

Monks said staff has contacted funding partners and is seeking a time extension that would extend the project schedule to the end of the state fiscal year, listed as June 30, 2026. "We're gonna get the extension, time extension to do that," Monks said. "...for time frame, it'll be extended to the end of the state fiscal year in our procedure, which will be 06/30/2026." The staff presentation tied that extension to filing and recording the easement and agreement with the private property owner so UDOT can approve the schedule change.

Funding and bids: the presenter listed multiple funding sources that staff said together exceed the quoted construction costs. As stated in the meeting, funding sources include $1,389,000 from UDOT, $500,000 from the Governor's Office of Outdoor Recreation, $250,000 from State Parks, and $90,000 from the Heritage Area. "The funding, as I mentioned before, we have $1,389,000 in UDOT. We have $500,000 from the governor's office of outdoor recreation and 250,000 from state parks and 90,000 from the heritage area," Monks said. The speaker also said bids came in favorably and that the city may have surplus funds to apply to other nearby work.

Property agreements and permitting: staff said they have prepared an easement and a memorandum of agreement with the private property owner (identified in the meeting as Ben Peel) and plan to file those documents and provide a copy to UDOT. Monks said once the documents are filed and UDOT receives the materials, UDOT will allow the contract completion date to be extended.

Related concerns raised in the meeting included questions about alternate routing (around Highway 89) and whether that option had been pursued. One CDRA member noted an earlier preference for a different route but staff said UDOT rejected using an existing easement in that alignment and directed staff to the current connector alignment that crosses the private parcel.

Votes at a glance: - Approval of minutes — The agency approved minutes from the July 8, 2025 regular CDRA meeting. Motion to approve was made during the meeting and the chair called for the ayes; the minutes were approved. (Motion details not specified in the transcript excerpt.) - Approval of claims/invoice register — The agency approved the invoice register dated July 1–31, 2025, for $99,899. A motion to approve was recorded as made by Rodney and seconded by Paul; the chair called for votes and several members were recorded as voting yes.

What happens next: staff said they will record the easement and memorandum of agreement, submit the documents to UDOT, and request the contract completion date be extended to June 30, 2026. If UDOT approves the extension, staff will proceed with the connector construction across the private parcel and, if funds remain, may apply surplus funds to a separate nearby project.

Sources and attribution: quotes and factual statements in this article come from statements made during the Aug. 12 CDRA meeting by Monks (city staff) and from motions and votes recorded during the same meeting.