PROVO — A cleaner, more usable Utah Lake may be a bit closer to reality.

Board members of the Utah Lake Commission signed a contract with URS Corp. to outline in a master plan the vision the commission has for Utah Lake.

Reed Price, executive director for the Utah Lake Commission, which started work in March 2007, said URS and the commission's attorneys had negotiated the contract to make the contract and the subsequent master plan the best it could be.

URS will work on the master plan "aggressively," believing that the commission wants the plan to be done quickly, said Rick Cox, a URS representative who answered questions and worked with the commission on the contract.

The company will also have open houses for the public to receive information about the planning process, Cox said.

"This is meant to be a policy development, what provisions the commission has for Utah Lake," he said. "(We'll have) open houses to the public to describe the master plan process and show the public what, as a commission, we have developed."

The commission also voted on a steering committee, including Price and members of the commission's technical committee, along with Lindon Mayor Jim Dane. The steering committee will meet with those writing the master plan and help with the direction of the plan. Although there is a specific committee, any member of the commission can attend meetings for the planning process, Price said.

Lewis Billings, Provo mayor and chairman of the Utah Lake Commission, said the public outreach is a positive for the planning process.

"The executive committee shares that sense that the public is engaged in this conversation," he said.

The Utah Lake Commission chose URS' proposal in a November meeting. Three companies had submitted proposals.

"(They were) chosen for several reasons," Price said in the November meeting when URS' selection was announced. "Their overall approach to the planning process was clear, an expertise in design with lake management plans and good recommendations from people who have used them before. (There's) an excellent team put together with different areas of expertise to guide them through the planning process."

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