About 30 leaders from across the Heber Valley gathered near Southfield Park Monday morning, April 13, to break ground on a new county government building.
Project manager Richard Breitenbeker said construction should take about a year and a half.
The building will cost around $47.5 million, roughly half of which will come from savings and development fees generated by growth in the Jordanelle area.
The other half of the project will be financed with a bond.
“Because that bond will largely be repaid with future revenues from the development also happening up near the Jordanelle, we’re anticipating no property tax associated with the construction of this building, which is fantastic news,” Breitenbeker said.
The building will house most county services. Public works, the health department and legal services will stay in their existing homes.
Breitenbeker said the new facility will make it more convenient for county residents to get help with taxes, driver’s licenses and other common services.
“We’re bringing the county-run Department of Motor Vehicles into the building; we’ve also invited the state-run driver’s license division to come as well,” he said. “It’s been a regular inconvenience for the community to have those in separate locations.”
Wasatch County Councilmember Erik Rowland said he’s excited to see construction get underway.
“We’re excited that we’ll probably get this built before the temple is done, which says a lot for our staff and how quick they are to get this completed,” he said. “It’s desperately needed.”
The site is at the southwest corner of Southfield Road and state Route 113.
The finished facility will be about 63,000 square feet. It will sit on about 20 acres of land across from the rodeo grounds.
The rest of the bond will be used to refinance renovations of the Wasatch County Justice Center. That project includes new courtrooms and expanded staff spaces in the building south of downtown Heber City.
