Crystal Muellstein said Orem’s recent park investments have improved neighborhood quality and praised examples such as Hillcrest Park, where a closed school site was converted into a park with library pickup and an event center.

“I live by Windsor Park ... we just got new basketball courts that were partnered with Utah Jazz ... Orem's doing some amazing things with its parks,” Muellstein said, adding that parks are central to family life in Orem. She cited the city parks plan, saying a city of Orem’s size needs “upwards of 30 more acres of parks and open space.”

On land-use, Muellstein criticized plans to convert Wilkerson Farms into housing because the site backs up to railroad tracks and, she said, would be noisy for future residents. She said that property would have been a better candidate for open space or a park where a buffer could mitigate rail noise.