County to study Fairfield options

PROVO — There may be room in Utah County's heart for another town, but is there money in the county pocketbook to fund it?

That's the question left dangling Tuesday after the Utah County Commission voted to conduct a study that will determine the feasibility of incorporating Fairfield into a formal town.

"The question would be whether or not — and I'm inclined to say you can — under some kind of procedure given the money generated in that geographical area," Utah County Commissioner Gary Herbert said. "The question for me is, 'Are there options?' "

Located west of Lehi, the Utah County area is home to a small but growing population — 79 percent of which signed a petition in favor of incorporation.

Among the petition's signatures was that of a representative for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Previously the LDS Church — which has a meetinghouse that falls on the town's proposed border — hesitated to side one way or the other on the incorporation issue for fear that it would divide the community, Herbert said.

With nearly 10,000 names signed to the petition, however, Herbert said there is a high level of local support, which swayed the church representative to make the meetinghouse part of the future Fairfield town.

Enthusiastic support, Commissioner Jerry Grover said, will help move the incorporation process along, despite legal deadlines that could possibly prevent Fairfield from becoming a town until 2005.

According to Grover, the county typically doesn't accept requests for incorporation after August, since feasibility studies need to be finished by December in order for town-imposed tax revenues to be segregated at the start of the year.

"We have no ability to collect taxes because the town didn't exist Jan. 1," Grover said. "I'm not all that inclined to have a town that has no money to operate for basically two years."

As part of the feasibility study, the commission plans to look for ways to fund Fairfield, which doesn't even have its own fire station. Contracting out services and returning property taxes to the 13,871-acre area are just a few ideas, Herbert said.

The commission will also address concerns about a local landfill, which lies within the town's proposed boundaries.

"What we don't want to have is another Soldier Summit," Grover said, referring to the failed subdivision in Spanish Fork Canyon. "You want to have everything prepared before you walk the plank and jump off."

Fairfield resident Michael Burch said he is in no rush to incorporate his community. He is interested, however, in controlling development in the area and the rate of growth.

By presenting the petition, Grover said, Fairfield residents have essentially frozen the area's boundaries and prevented annexation by Tooele County.

That's all that Burch said he could want for now. In fact, he thinks that incorporation will create new issues for Fairfield's population, along with demanding additional services for its residents, who must now find candidates for mayor and town council.

"We actually think it's going to cause more problems," Burch said. "It's just a town thing."

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E-mail: lwarner@desnews.com