Payson Council to vote on traffic circle

PAYSON — The Daley family has owned the ground at Main Street and 800 South for more than a century, but they may lose a chunk of it to a controversial roundabout.

That decision could come as early as Wednesday night when the City Council meets to consider a condemnation order.

"Nobody around here wants it (the roundabout)," Don Daley, 76, said.

"I'm not in favor of it," added neighbor John Ryan.

City leaders say the roundabout will make traffic from nearby Payson High School flow more safely. It's all part of a city plan to build a sports park on the site of the now demolished Payson Downs race track.

Daley and his ailing wife have lived for 38 years on what is now a park-like half-acre created from land that has been in his family for at least three generations. In the 1960s, Daley restored the adobe house with its 14-foot thick walls that his great grandfather built in 1862.

The home was on the verge of being torn down when Daley bought it from his siblings, who had inherited it from their father. The house had no windows and no functioning doors before he restored it, he said. Now in pristine condition, it's surrounded by tall, mature trees, all of which Daley planted from saplings.

"My great-grandfather had a blacksmith shop and a set of dentist tools right over there," Daley said, pointing to the middle of Main Street just outside his yard.

Councilwoman Colleen Jacobson said condemnation is definitely an option that the council will consider.

The regular meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. in City Hall, 439 W. Utah Ave. The council plans an executive session starting at 5 p.m. to discuss land acquisition.

The city has offered $8,000 for the corner, Daley said. He said that isn't enough for him to consider giving up the land, some trees and one leg of his U-shaped driveway where friends and relatives park when they come to visit.

"I don't know the position of the council," Mayor Bernell Evans said. "I would vote against it."

Evans doesn't get a vote unless he needs to break a tie. That's unlikely unless one of the council members fails to attend the meeting.

Earlier decisions to to raze the race track, extend 800 South through the area and to build a sports park have passed on a series of 3-2 votes, with Jacobson, Councilwoman Jan Tanner and Councilman Max Roberts in the majority. Councilmen Bertis Bills and Brad Daley have opposed the plans.