A crowd gathered Monday afternoon to celebrate the completed upgrade of the Snyderville Water Reclamation District’s Silver Creek Treatment Plant.
As part of the ceremony, they honored a local who has served on the District Board for over four decades.
The upgrade for the Silver Creek Reclamation Facility has been a four-year effort. Mike Luers, General Manager for the Snyderville District, said the project cost $49 million, it came in on schedule and under budget, and the plant kept operating, even while it was transitioning.
Luers said the project was needed to respond to a growing community, while respecting the environment, treating water that is released down Silver Creek, a system that, he noted, includes a population of Bonneville Cutthroat Trout.
District Board Member Bob Richer said it’s an important step for a utility that most people take for granted.
“As Mike has said many times, and we were discussing earlier, nobody appreciates a good sewer system on a daily basis. But everybody, if something goes wrong, he’ll hear about it, and we will hear about it. But things don’t go wrong, and that’s a tribute to Mike and his team.”
A plaque was installed on the building in honor of Jan Wilking. Richer calculated that Wilking has been on the Snyderville Board for 42 years—probably the longest tenure by one person in the same public-service position in the history of the county.
In addition to that, he noted, Wilking was a Park City Council Member; founder of the Mountain Trails Foundation; founder of The Lodestar (now known as the Park City Magazine); co-founder of The Newspaper, which merged with the Park Record; and an early member of the open space committees COSAC and BOSAC; and a participant in several other activities.
Wilking thanked the crowd for the honor.
“It’s wonderful when you have opportunities to serve our community. Our community is full of people who give so much to benefit our community. And this is one way that I get to do it. And as I’ve said that we have great boards to work with. We have great staff members. We have great employees. And it really has been a treat to make a contribution to this organization, something I’ve very proud of.”
Jan Wilking, Board Chairman for the Snyderville Water Reclamation District.
