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Downtown plans, budget priorities on agenda for annual Heber government retreat

Part of Heber City's plan for how to evolve its downtown includes building height limits and architectural styles specific to zones within city limits.
Heber City
Envision Central Heber plans are on the agenda for this year's city council retreat.

The Heber City Council has its annual retreat this weekend. City leaders will discuss downtown revitalization plans, budget and policy priorities, and more.

Councilmembers will meet Thursday evening, Jan. 16, and Saturday, Jan. 18, in the Heber City Police Department’s community room. Heber City Manager Matt Brower said the retreat gives leaders time to focus on the city’s finances and top-priority projects for the year ahead.

The retreat will kick off with a guest speaker from Meeder Investments, who will talk about how the local and national economic outlook for 2025 may affect the city.

“This is part of assisting Council in understanding the operating environment, so as they make their budget and policy priorities, they’re as informed as they possibly can be in doing so,” Brower said.

Also Thursday, Brower will present the council with a “state of the administration” review that highlights the city’s work in 2024 and looks ahead to 2025.

“Some of the things that I intend to do is talk about artificial intelligence and the city needing to embark on utilization of artificial intelligence in delivery of services and improving productivity in the organization,” he said.

He will also review last year’s priorities and how well staff achieved those goals. And he’ll give recommendations for possible priorities for 2025.

On Saturday, councilmembers will spend the morning diving into plans for Envision Central Heber, the city’s program to revitalize downtown.

That includes infrastructure improvements, an overhaul of City Park, and zoning changes that would support the Envision plans.

The council will also talk about the proposed “C Street” pedestrian alleyway that would run parallel to Main Street and discuss how all these downtown improvements will be funded.

Saturday afternoon’s conversation will turn to the future of the arts in Heber. Arts Advisory Committee member Phil Jordan will join the council to talk about the planned Heber Valley Arts Center, which will be constructed east of the Utah Valley University Wasatch campus along north U.S. 40. Plans for the arts district include an amphitheater, sculpture park, and rehearsal and classroom spaces.

The retreat will end with a discussion of budget and policy priorities for the 2026 fiscal year, which begins in July. That conversation will inform the budget process later this spring.

“That’s really the meat and potatoes, if you will, of the retreat – getting those top policy and budget priorities,” Brower said. “So then we can turn around and give staff instructions as to how they’re to incorporate those priorities into their departmental budgets.”

The retreat will also include opportunities for public comment at the beginning of each day. Thursday’s session starts at 5 p.m., and Saturday’s discussion begins at 8:30.

For the full agenda for this year’s city council retreat, visit the Heber City website.