Planning for growth isn’t always glamorous. That’s why the Summit County Council is looking at sewer policy.
Councilmember Tonja Hanson, who’s been attending city council meetings across the county’s east side, has said sewers are a common concern among local officials.
“Every meeting, they're talking about developments that are coming, water issues in the municipalities, as well as having to extend their sewer because of the development that is coming,” Hanson said last Wednesday. “That has been the conversation everywhere.”
On Wednesday, the county council may take another step toward putting the Eastern Summit County Water Conservancy Special Service District to work to help municipalities plan for the sewer expansions development will require.
The item up for a vote is the revised county code empowering the water district and county health department to handle applications for wastewater treatment systems.
After that, there’s a work session to talk paperwork and to speak more broadly about the centralized septic systems the water district would like to implement. The so-called Large Underground Wastewater Disposal systems route individual buildings’ waste to a central treatment machine.
At the March 15 council meeting, Environmental Health Director Nate Brooks explained why routing multiple septic tanks to one treatment tank is a good idea. It makes it easier to connect buildings to a public sewer system after the fact.
Folding buildings with septic tanks into the public sewer system has been a real issue in the Silver Creek area, Brooks said. Individual septic systems have required lots of extra work to make that happen.
“We would rather prepare for that problem ahead of time, rather than being in the midst of the problem and trying to devise a plan,” he said.
Another potential advantage the county’s staff report touts is that the special water district would have direct oversight over the facilities that treat the wastewater before it goes back into the ground.
Preserving the water quality is particularly important in Eastern Summit County, where the headwaters of the Weber River are.
Other items up for approval at the meeting include recognizing this week as National Library Week and thanking Summit County librarians. The council needs to define lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams in the county code as well.
Lastly, there’s a public hearing on a special exception to allow multifamily residential units attached to a future climbing gym at the northeast corner of Quinn’s Junction.
Snyderville Basin planners favor the exception, especially because the residential component would be 100% deed-restricted affordable housing.
Planning staff have sent this item to the council so its members can provide them with direction. It’s not formally up for a vote.
Wednesday’s meeting starts at 4 p.m., and the public input and public hearing are at 6 p.m. It’s at the Sheldon Richins Building in Kimball Junction, and on Zoom.
