The Utah County Commission on Wednesday approved county participation in Eagle Mountain's Sweetwater community reinvestment agreement (CRA) tied to an expansion of the Meta data-center campus, including a third-party on-site power generation facility intended to serve the project rather than the public grid.

Evan Barrett, identified in the record as the director of legislative affairs for Yvonne City, described the Sweetwater expansion as an addition to roughly 450 acres already developed; he said the project plans to expand by about 560 acres and that the on-site generation component would add about $350 million in value on top of more than $1 billion in total expansion investment. Barrett said the on-site generation "is specifically for the meta project" and that the tax-increment revenue tied to that component was not included in the CRA boundary and that the city would receive those financial benefits.

Commissioners pressed staff and the presenter on public benefits and the intended uses of tax increment. Staff said CRA funds are typically used to offset infrastructure costs and listed likely items tied to the project: water-line extensions, a new natural-gas line to the site to support the internal power facility, and extension of Pony Express Parkway to the south. Staff also said the county receives an administrative fee from CRAs to help support tax-increment administration and technology, and that the county's role includes distributing tax increment and ensuring agreements' percentages and obligations are followed.

A commissioner disclosed a perceived conflict of interest: they said Meta had pledged a donation to a nonprofit prior to their joining that nonprofit's board, that they learned of the pledge only last night, and that they would recuse themself from the vote. The commissioner recorded their willingness to recuse but said the project had broad local support (city, school district, fire district) and that those factors and infrastructure benefits informed their decision to allow the county to move forward.

After discussion, an unidentified commissioner moved to approve item 4; another seconded the motion and the commission approved the county's participation by voice vote.

The record shows staff said the CRA would support infrastructure work and affordable-housing efforts the city will administer; staff said Eagle Mountain has hired an affordable-housing coordinator to manage mortgage assistance and down-payment programs and that CRA funds would be used in part for those initiatives.

The approving motion passed by voice vote; a commissioner who disclosed the pledge recused themself from participating in the vote, per the public remarks in the record.