Hi everybody, welcome to this week's
episode of The County Seat. I'll bet
you cannot guess where we are if you
have lived in the state of Utah for any
time at all you probably have been
here at Bridal vail falls. Wel today on
The County Seat our entire focus of
the show is going to be about Utah
County. We have not done this in the
past we are going to a series of shows
this year highlighting counties. You
know that the pioneers one of the
first place that they expanded to out
of Salt Lake was to move South with
the fresh water Utah Lake and the big
fertile soil along the shores it was a
perfect place for vineyards and
orchards and agricultural pursuits.
Little communities started to dot up
they have expanded to become
Utah's 2nd most populous county and
one of the fastest most dependable
growing places. That brings with it a
lot of challenges and these are the
sorts of things that we will cover
today on our show. Let's start with
the history of the county.
Utah County calls itself the heart of Utah. The
reason for it could be two fold. The first and
most obvious is that it is located near the center
or heart of Utah. The second reason is less
obvious but if you get to know the culture and
economy, you'll see Utah County is at the heart
of what makes Utah, Utah.
To understand what makes Utah County a
unique place in the state you have to
understand how the county got its start.
It is speculated that the first non-native
americans to visit were Father Dominquez and
Father Escalante, when their party arrived in
the area on September 23, 1776.
The explorers didn't stay long and it would be
over 70 years before settlers would come to put
down permanent roots.
"Provo's history is different in several ways
from other places in Utah, other counties in
Utah, the people actually wanted to come to
Provo, Brigham did not have to call them to
come here. They were pestering him to come
here and when he finally relented in 1849, they
moved down and started their colony on the
Provo River."
The settlers began to move and build their new
home but a struggle for the land was right
around the corner.
"The only problem being this is where the Utes
like it too, the Timpanogos Utes liked it here. So
there was a sort of head butting experience
right from the very first."
Despite these early issues, the settlers persisted
and went on to form towns like Provo,
American Fork, Lehi, and Pleasant Grove, and
the county was officially founded in 1850.
It has been more than 160 years and people are
still clamoring to come live there.
In 2010 there were 448,000 people living in the
county and in 2015 that number grew to over
575,000. That is a 28.3 percent increase in just
five years.
The county features a thriving education system
with two Universities, BYU and Utah Valley
University. 93.3 percent of the county
population over 25 has a high school diploma
and 37.3% have a bachelor's degree or higher. It
is statistics like this that have made Utah
County a destination for businesses.
Over the last 15 years Utah County has
experienced explosive job growth as more new
businesses arrive. What once was a nearly
vacant hillside area is now the Silicon Slopes
filled with high end businesses like Adobe. This
new growth isn't surprising considering the
county history with technology.
"When you think of Utah County specifically
kind of the reason a lot of the energy is here,
why there is so much tech companies popping
up, why entrepreneurship is supported in such
a big way, you really have to look back at Utah's
history right, when it comes to tech. Two of the
three biggest tech companies in the world, in
the early 90's, were based in Utah with Word
Perfect and Novell and I think we just have this
strong rich tech history in Utah County."
Utah County isn't just a great place to work; it's
a great place to live. Which is why some
businesses choose to be there despite most of
their work being done out of the county.
"Then it came time to build a new building, to
grow and people said, 'Surely you're going to
build in Salt Lake, because that's where 90% of
your business is.' So I thought about it for a long
time, we talked to our employees and said if we
build in Salt Lake, what's going to happen? Will
you move? Will you commute and a large
portion of them said 'Geez Mary I don't think
we will. We want to stay in Utah County', and
that's when I realized, I did too, I wanted to stay
here."
And why wouldn't you want to live there? Utah
County has safe communites
"I love this lifestyle down here. I love the nature
of the people, their kindness, their community
oriented natures. I wanted to live in place
where I could send my kids to the baseball
fields on their bikes and not have to worry
about them."
.excellent education opportunites, and access
to wonderful recreation opportunities like
Bridal Veil Falls, Utah Lake and of course
"Sundance is an amazing assest. You can see
amazing plays there, you've got skiing and in
the summer it's one of the better places to go
mountain biking in the whole state."
For the County Seat, I'm Malia Stringham.
We are going to take a break we will
return to the studio with the
commissioners of Utah County to find
out more on The County Seat.
Welcome back to The County Seat
our highlight this week is focused on
Utah County we are spending the
entire half hour talking about the
county, its history its challenges
joining us for the conversation
Commissioners Nathan Ivy and Bill
Lee, gentlemen thank you for joining
us today. It's really good to see both
of you fellas. So obviously we see
from the story that Utah County is
poised for and has done a great job of
growing it's currently growing and
what is the vision you all see for the
future laying out 10-20 years.
The first future is we are going to
move that monument from this is the
place up there in Salt Lake area down
here to Utah county. Because
through studies and models and
everything we know there is a lot of
people coming here to Utah County
or projected to come this direction
and so that puts pressures on us to
make sure that we do police and law
enforcement transportation is
appropriate recreation as well that
we have in there and that we keep
the quality of life that we have right
now and maintain that as we are
going forward.
Is that a juggling act Nathan?
Yes, it's a very big juggling act to try
and find the proper balance
especially when you face with
growth. In Utah County has a very
unique balance to keep because we
have an amazing tech hub around the
point of the mountain the silicone
slopes we are attracting major world
companies like Adobe and others and
then in the South end of our county
we have actually lead the nation in
things like tart cherry production and
we lead the state in agricultural
receipt production and so as a county
we have a major diversity and so
finding the proper balance to make
sure that growth happens and we
promote our businesses and all those
wonderful things happen being our
technology hub our financial hubs but
stay true to our roots and agriculture
is a challenge.
Do you feel like when you come into
commission meetings sometimes it's
like a Dr. Jackal and Mr. Hyde you
have these hats you have to switch.
We always have to do that. We go
from issue to issue and they are wide
ranged in what we try to accomplish
and what we try to do so yes it is it's
a back and forth it's a balancing act.
Why do you think there is such an
appeal to Utah County? I am sure
part of it is what you just mentioned
Nathan that within one county you
can come here for good urban
business but you can go pick cherries
right off the tree. What do you think
the general appeal is that is drawing
all this growth?
I think one of the things that is the
great appeal is our taxes. Utah
County is the lowest tax county in the
entire state of Utah. We live by the
philosophy of small limited
government and allowing the people
to what the people do best. As a
result we have created an
atmosphere where we attract
wonderful people who do wonderful
things.
Have anything to add to that.
The greatest resource we have here
in Utah county is the people and they
are willing to go out and take chances
in businesses and willing to be
entrepreneurs and say let's try this
and willing to say this is what we do
not want and we are willing to stay
where we are. So I applaud that.
ago there were a whole bunch of
models of what your future looks like
would there be one you would like to
pick and just kind of paint in a broad
brush what 10 years down the road
looks like for Utah county.
The Gardner Institute I sat on a panel
up in Salt Lake they went through a
whole bunch of different models of
which they take all the factors and
they put them in place and they say
how is Utah County going to grow
and why and they went through
about 48 different models and picked
the average on that and they are
saying that by 2065 we are going to
be 1.2 million people in this valley
and so right now we are a little over
600,000 so we are going to grow
rapidly.
If you stop to think about that I was
an adult but the time Utah crossed
that kind of a number as far as a
million people just within my lifetime
I can see that happen to one county
that is just phenomenal. Do you
think you are going to carry a lot of
the population growth for the state in
the coming years?
Absolutely as you look at one of the
factors is geography, right. Salt Lake
County is getting pretty dang full they
don't have much more of the land
space in Utah County we do have
some land space available and
especially looking west in our Eagle
Mountain area and southwest in our
little places like Goshen. There is
land there and so when you look at
those particular areas we have some
land capacity to have more people
whereas a lot of the other more
urban areas of the Wasatch Front are
becoming a fairly built out we still
have some room to grow.
We are going to take a quick break
when we come back we are going to
turn our attention to some of the
challenges that all this growth is
going to bring and how the counties
and Utah county in particular will
need help achieving their goals we
will be right back with The County
Seat.
Welcome back to The County Seat we
are talking to the Commissioners of
Utah County as we highlight Utah
County for the entire half hour of the
county seat this week we talked
growth what are your concerns what
do you see as the biggest challenge
facing the county?
Well I think transportation is always
going to be one where we have
concerns and infrastructure because
although we have a lot of land it's not
developed land in the way of growth
that is coming there is going to be
infrastructure challenges
transportation challenges and then
finding the right blend between what
we have in our county which is urban
and rural and how that interfaces
between the two. We are seeing
some of those buffers hit right now
that are causing problems with
perceptions and what is going on so
those are the challenges that we
have.
Along with some of those challenges
and I think it touches on what
Commissioner Lee mentioned here
one of the things that is beautiful
about Utah County is our recreational
opportunities we have places like
American Fork Canyon Provo Canyon
Payson Canyon Spanish Fork these
are amazing places to go and recreate
and mountain bike ski hike do those
types of things that Utahans like to
do as we see a ginormous influx of
people those recreation areas face
increased pressure from usage and so
what are we doing now to make sure
that we are preserving large diverse
recreational opportunities so that in
50 years from now when we have 1.6
million living here that we still have
those diverse recreational
opportunities to go to because today
we look to the future and created
vision to protect those areas that
once you lose you never get back.
So is part of that equation looking for
new place to set aside as you expand
out for recreational opportunities like
west mountain or something like
that.
Sure you know I remember years ago
and I know that Salt Lake County still
kind of going through the changes of
this but when we were laid out every
15 miles there was a city there was a
lot a of space in between but as you
grow together you lose that space in
between and if you do not do
something or if communities do not
do something to have open space
then you wind up with everything
melted together and then your start
going the other direction and try to
buy stuff to get spaces in between
and that is what Salt Lake County has
been trying to do and so if we can
look now and say why don't we have
areas that are set aside cities and
counties make those areas available
we can have that richness that we
want.
Is that sometimes an unpopular
thing?
From my perspective my interaction
with the community it has not been
unpopular its actually very supported
because the people have come here
because they love those types of
activities and when they see elected
officials working with the various
mayors or other entities to try and
accomplish those goals that we have
as a broad county they are very
supportive of those ideas. Now they
are challenging because they are
expensive what is the right area how
do you build the right infrastructure
to it how do you find the money to
pay for some of those things but
those are the challenges that come
with it but there is general broad
support for that forward looking
vision from the county people from
my perspective.
If most of your growth is out west so
looking Provo Orem Spanish Fork we
are kind of filled in here so seems to
me that it's going to be out west that
you have that expansion and before
the show you were mentioning the
extension of water out there.
We are looking to trying to bring
water particularly to the southwest
end of the county it is a more dry
area what can we do to have
agriculture and residential water
usage out there and making sure that
its northwest Saratoga Springs area
they have good water now but that is
now what do we have down the road
for that future population and what
do we do to make sure we put the
proper infrastructure in place now so
that again when we get to those
critical points it is there and
deliverable instead of being reactor
to a problem and we had forward
thinking on all those issues.
Transportation is one of those things
I see a huge challenge in Utah County
because you have a lake right in the
middle of the county while its only 8
feet deep it's still a lake in the middle
of the county.
Like you said its right in the middle of
the county sour our Northwest
corridors are important to us we
have to have to move people back
and forth you look at other counties
like Salt Lake County they are east
and west of what they are dealing
with now trying to get people out like
our north and west so we have those
in place there are models out there
that we are looking at we are trying
to do preservation corridors so we
can purchase the lands now so when
its available for us to put the
transportation out there we will have
that land already purchased and
ready to go and that is one of the
things we are looking at.
In touching on that and this is what
Commissioner Lee lead out on and
was fantastic with is trying to build a
better working relationship with our
federal agencies like most counties in
Utah we have a large amount of
federally owned land and periodically
we get a small chunk of federally
owned land when we are trying to
put a sewer line through or a road
through and then in becomes very
cumbersome so we are trying now to
work through those challenge with
our federal land issues make sure
when growth hits partially again in
that west side where we have a lot of
federal land that those are handled in
a manner that allows us to efficiently
and quickly put in those sewer lines
and roads and other infrastructure
needs that come along with that
growth.
When you have a smaller county like
Utah County that has a fair chunk of
federal land in it does this seem like a
logical places where maybe the
transfer which has been a very
controversial issue would make
sense?
It absolutely will we went through
our resource management plan and
we just adopted that this year and
like Commissioner Ivy mentioned
there are areas where the federal
land comes down and it does not
make sense at all for them to have or
hold that. And like we all know on a
federal basis that will take years to
get something passed and to the
ground and on a disposal basis and it
may take ten years but we have to
start now because we cannot allow
for growth to hit that and then cause
problematic areas for us. So the
transfer of federal lands is very
important to us not just to our county
but for other counties as well but we
need to be on the forefront of going
forward with that.
It would almost seem it's a bigger
issue here potentially be a bigger
issue here than in the counties that
are still grazing a lot. They may find
peace with their federal partners and
continue their lifestyle but as you
organize it seems like it could be a
really big problem.
As you urbanize you run into a lot of
conflict take forest management for
example. We have a lot of our cities
that are now abutting forest land and
the forest service is doing a poor job
of managing that and keeping things
like beetle kill out and then we run
into serious fire issues that
immediate threaten homes and so it
is critical that we have those good
management practices honed in on a
local level so we can control and
protect our citizens from those types
of natural disasters that are
preventable.
That would also have an impact on
your watersheds too I suppose.
You bet, absolutely.
Wow we are going to take a quick
break and we will come back with the
County Seat and continue our
conversation we will wrap things up
here on our highlighting of Utah
County and been a great
conversation so far we invite you to
return with us right after this quick
commercial break.
Welcome back to the County Seat we
have been talking about Utah County
the plusses, minuses, the challenges
the benefits of living here with a
great bunch of people that run the
county the Commissioners have been
a lot of fun to talk to today just in a
wrap up anything that you feel is
really important that you should tell
the people of Utah about Utah
County.
I think for me it is the heart of Utah
County that is our story but I truly
believe that. Everything that
happens here affects Utah the good
things we do here are part of why
Utah is so successful. We create a
model of government and a culture in
a society that is truly reflective of the
American spirit and dream and that
dream and spirit lives here in Utah
County and because we help push
the blood to the rest of the state
Utah has become the shining
example to the nation of what can
happen when you live by good
principals and those are the
principals and ideal that we embrace
here in Utah County being a good
neighbor and keeping government
small and limited and allowing the
people to have freedom.
What are your thoughts on that?
A lot along the similar lines that
Commissioner Ivy has there. Again
our greatest resource is the people
that we have here in the county and
again they do phenomenal jobs in
keeping government under its proper
role I believe give the county greater
flexibility and greater opportunity
and there is a lot going on here from
Sundance to Bridal Vail Falls to out at
the lake to shooting at other side of
the lake there are so many things
that are happening here in Utah
County it's just fun to be a part of it
and see the good things that are
happening.
You just have a really good working
relationship I get the sense that you
guys have a united front and there a
good unified motion forward with
your leadership. Is that a fair
statement?
I think so and actually within the
commission we are striving very hard
to have good communication and be
on the same page and work together
and within the whole entire Utah
county government from our
assessor's office to our recorder and
treasurer our sheriff's department we
are all committed to helping this
place be a wonderful place to live and
I think that spirit of cooperation not
within our commission office but
county wide.
My hope is by the end of this I can
ride a horse half as good as you do.
That would be an accomplishment.
Well he's getting closer we are
working on it.
Gentlemen thank you so much for
taking so much time from your busy
schedules to talk to us about Utah
County it has been a great
conversation appreciate it immensely
thank you for tuning in for watching
the county seat each week these
programs are important they
highlight the most important level of
government that you will encounter
in life local government county
government is where your life
happens check out our social media
we love your engagement there talk
to us what you think about things and
we will see you next week on The
County Seat.
For more infomation >> ThaBone - Tay K (Remix)
For more infomation >> Huge crowd seen on first day of The Big E - Duration: 0:45. 
For more infomation >> Rock in Rio 2017 começa com Gisele Bündchen e Ivete Sangalo grávida - Duration: 4:54. 
For more infomation >> PES è tornato e veste la maglia dell'Inter.HD - Duration: 2:27. 
For more infomation >> Volkswagen Polo € 4.584,- Demo voordeel 1.2 TSI 90pk 5drs R-Line/Comfortline/Airco - Duration: 1:00. 
For more infomation >> Ta-Nehisi Coates: 'You Might Be A White Supremacist' | All In | MSNBC - Duration: 9:04. 
For more infomation >> Donald Trump Jr. Send Massive Message Calls Whoopi Goldberg To Leave America!!! - Duration: 3:21. 
For more infomation >> 인교진 소이현 결혼, 인교진 아버지, 소이현 아버지 집안 - Duration: 6:22. 
For more infomation >> ENTRANDO A CASA EMBRUJADA!! 👻 Explorando San Lorenzo, Salta | MochiLeandro #34 🌎 - Duration: 9:04. 
For more infomation >> Ducey calls AG's lawsuit over university tuition unnecessary - Duration: 0:29. 
For more infomation >> 이민영 남편 이찬 재혼, 이민영 이찬 이혼스토리 - Duration: 6:40. 
For more infomation >> XSMB | Dự đoán xổ số Miền Bắc hôm nay 16/9/2017 | BTL xổ số MB thứ 7 13-9-2017 - Duration: 3:52. 
No comments:
Post a Comment