On Thursday night, the Hideout Town Council took another step toward preparing for a June 22 referendum on the town’s proposed annexation of 350 acres that extends into Summit County.
The council of the Wasatch County town authorized Mayor Phil Rubin to launch agreements that will have four different consulting firms study a segment of the proposed development on the acreage.
The council in October approved the annexation into an area by Richardson Flat and authorized the mayor to enter into an agreement with developer Nate Brockbank, who wants to create a town center on the land.
About a month following that, citizens had gathered enough signatures to put a referendum on the ballot.
On Thursday, Rubin said a citizens’ committee had chosen four consultants to study aspects of the proposed Silver Meadows project.
He said the finances will be studied by Zions Bank. A traffic study will be conducted by Fehr & Peers. Environmental factors will be reviewed by Geo-Syntec. And the chair lift connection in the plan will be studied by SE Group.
The council was meeting in a special session because the agreements need to be launched by the end of the month. Rubin said comments are being accepted until March 31.
“Your comments are welcome,” he said. “And, again, I’m not going to sign anything until I get feedback from you or until the 31st, whichever comes first. So the sooner you get me input, the sooner I can adjust any comments. But if I don’t have authorization, I can’t go forward.”
The mayor noted the studies will be paid for by developer Brockbank. The city’s resolution said the cost for each review will be no more than 15% greater than the bids submitted by the consultants.
The referendum is just three months away. The mayor said they anticipate holding some informational meetings by mid-May, and hope that at least some of the studies will be available by then.
