Residents of Richfield City are letting city and county leaders know of their support for a proposed Community Development Center.
Over 100 people attended a public hearing Tuesday night in Richfield. All those who shared their thoughts, spoke in favor of the development.
The rec center would include an indoor and outdoor pool, fitness rooms and classrooms. It would be built on the Snow College Richfield Campus.
City leaders called for the public hearing after Sevier County Commissioners decided not to vote Monday to hold a bond election. That election would have asked voters if they would support using bond money currently used to pay for the Sevier Valley Center to be redirected to the rec center once the SVC bond was complete.
Many in attendance spoke about their frustration with the county commissioners.
County commissioners were at a previously scheduled event with state leaders, but sent Malcolm Nash, director of Sevier County Economic Development, as a representative.
Nash said the commissioners were not comfortable moving forward on a bond question with the vague details they were given on the proposal.
City council leaders said no architectural plan has been made because of the estimated half a million dollar cost. Mayor Dave Ogden also said the council wanted to know if the community supported the project.
Nash says a survey sent via email to Sevier County residents returned with 92 percent support. But he also dismissed the survey as unscientific.
The estimated cost of the entire rec center is $24 million. The city council is hoping to pay $7 million, have the county pay $7 million and the Utah State Legislature pay $7 million. Private donors would pay the rest and Snow College would donate the land.
Any kind of bond proposal would have to be written and approved before the August 21st deadline to have it on the November ballot.
State Senator Carl Albrecht was in attendance and said the time is right for the pool development.
“Let’s not come back a year or five years from now and say we should have done it,” Albrecht said.
UPDATE:
Commissioner Ralph Brown returned calls for comment Wednesday morning saying the commissioners are in favor of the rec center, but need to be fiscally responsible with taxpayer money. The details of the plan have not been given to them besides a few photos of a possible design, according to Brown.
“We’ve had at least 12 meetings with the city” Brown says. “We’ve told them we require more information to go forward.”
