S.L. County buying Jordan River land

The Salt Lake County Council unanimously approved the purchase of a parcel of Jordan River open-space property Tuesday but could not find consensus on backing proposed state legislation aimed at quelling the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

In a land-swap deal with Wasatch Homes, currently developing a residential project in Bluffdale, the county acquired 65 park-like acres on the Jordan River near the project for $3.75 million and, in a bonus brokered by the developer, will also acquire property that could close the final link in a "Lake-to-Lake" trail system connecting Utah Lake with the Great Salt Lake.

The land purchase was ranked at the top of a priority list called for by the council as the balance of $24 million in 2006 bond money slated for open-space land purchases. Its current balance is just under $10 million.

— Arthur Raymond