Provo ends contract with Downtown Business Alliance

PROVO — The Provo City Council gave the Downtown Business Alliance its walking papers this week along with $25,000 to complete its service contract that runs through Sept. 1.

It also encouraged the alliance to come back with a new proposal. The council reduced its budget for downtown to $100,000 from $150,000 annually, said Joel Wallin, the alliance's executive director. The council also took away some of the duties the business alliance performed — primarily cleaning and maintenance — so the city could bid them out separately.

Wallin received the 60-day advance termination letter dated July 7 right after the contract automatically renewed July 1.

"It was not a big surprise," he said. "We knew it was coming with the city budget cuts."

As part of the budget discussion earlier this summer, Mayor Lewis K. Billings said he wanted to see some of the services assigned to the Downtown Business Alliance put out for bid.

— Rodger L. Hardy