The Clearfield City Council has voted 3-2 to acquire a $4.5 million bond to move the location of a commuter rail station planned for the city.

Much of the money will be used to purchase land for the station and build a parking structure, said Kay Chandler, interim city manager. Additional dollars will go to hire Denver-based Parsons Transportation Group Inc. to assist with engineering studies of the move.

While the Utah Transit Authority has not agreed to the deal and will need to complete an environmental study before anything is moved, Chandler says city officials are confident it can happen.

The station had been planned to be built on UTA property at 1250 South State. Moving the station is a key part of a plan to redevelop Clearfield's downtown. City officials want the station to be across from City Hall, at about 55 S. State. They plan to build a high-end office park around the site, with small retail shops.

"We have a very old downtown area and would like to redo that," said Chandler.

Clearfield Councilwoman Kathryn Murray voted against the bond. She said council members did not have sufficient information to approve the bond.

"In all of my research of where to put the rail stop, there are positive reasons for both areas and there are negative areas," she said. "I feel we don't have enough information that it will be a positive redevelopment to put us into debt of $4.5 million dollars."

Clearfield currently has about $28 million in debt, according to Murray. She says the city will likely have to bond in the future to assist with rehabilitation of buildings at the Freeport Center, a manufacturing, distribution and warehouse center in Clearfield.

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com