Utah County public works outlines 2020 accomplishments, 2021 priorities and COVID-era duties

Richard Nielsen, Utah County public works director, presented the department—s 2020 annual report to the county commission, reviewing staffing, divisional functions, key performance metrics and plans for 2021. He highlighted emergency watershed projects responding to 2018 fires and described how the department—s work expanded during 2020 to support COVID responses and the June primary.

Nielsen told commissioners the department has eight divisions covering community development, the fire marshal—s office, planning and building inspection, administration, engineering, roads, parks and trails, and three internal service funds for telecommunications, fleet and buildings and grounds. "If you—d told me back in January that my department would be involved in elections, I—d have told you it was crazy, but we were heavily involved," Nielsen said, describing logistical support for drive-through voting sites, including power and traffic control.

Why it matters: Public works manages a mix of routine services and large capital/maintenance responsibilities that affect county roads, parks, public safety equipment and building operations. The department—s shifting workload in 2020 — from pandemic cleaning to election logistics and emergency watershed work — has implications for budgeting and staffing priorities in the coming year.

Key takeaways from the presentation

- Emergency watershed projects: Nielsen said seven projects in the county—s south end, stemming from 2018 wildfires, are under way with contractors in place and a federal-program deadline to complete work by Dec. 7. He noted the work relies on interlocal agreements the commission approved previously.

- Fire marshal and inspections: County figures presented cover a five-year average of about 730 business fire inspections and roughly 239 fire-related responses annually, with the fire marshal—s office issuing about 499 permits. The office—s stated goal is to inspect 80% of registered businesses in unincorporated areas each year, with plan-review targets of seven business days for commercial plans and hydrant inspections on 80% of private water systems.

- Permits, revenue and trend data: Planning and building staff processed 257 building permits in a typical year and about 1,684 inspections associated with those permits; in 2020 they had handled 37 subdivision applications to date versus a five-year average of 12. Nielsen said year-to-date revenue in 2020 already reached about 113% of the anticipated annual total.

- Roads and maintenance: The roads division reported chip-sealing roughly 41 miles in 2020 and plowing about 300 center-line miles during winter; staffing sits at 16 full-time operators. The county plans to provide LTAP equipment training for two operators annually and to field a road-construction trailer stocked with work-zone signage and traffic-control materials.

- Parks and trails: Parks are funded from TRCC operations; parks staffing is seven full-time and seven seasonal employees. Nielsen noted the county transferred Willow Park to Lehi City earlier in 2020 and said other parks (Spanish Fork River Park, Lincoln Beach) saw improvements. Trail use and events have grown: staff reported 31 events with about 26,000 participants across trail systems last year and said MAG infrared counters showed Murdoch Trail has reached approximately 3,000,000 users since it opened in 2013. Glenn Tanner, associate director of public works, said the department will add barcoded signs to solicit user feedback and asked the new parks division manager to prepare a five-year parks vision. "Over this next year, our goal, one of the visions we have is to get more involvement from the public," Tanner said.

- Telecommunications, fleet and buildings: The county completed telephone and radio inventories in 2020 and is implementing a new VoIP phone system (planned switchovers timed around election operations). Fiber-miles increased about 26% over a decade; radios and phones are being scheduled for replacement with lifecycle budgeting. Fleet inventory shows about 367 vehicles and 387 pieces of equipment; buildings and grounds manage roughly one million square feet of space and completed about 12,100 work orders in 2019.

Commissioner questions and next steps

Commissioners asked for clarifications on targets and baselines (the presentation repeatedly compared current figures to 2009). Staff clarified the 80% inspection target is an annual goal applied to unincorporated businesses and noted some variation from year to year depending on fire season or other demands. Nielsen said the capital projects committee (he, Rudy and Patrick) is preparing longer-term budget planning material for high-cost building projects and will bring those recommendations forward for commissioner review. The commission adjourned and scheduled a budget work session for 10 a.m. the following day.