Mantua council approves submitting $60,000 CIB application for well generator

Mantua council voted to approve submitting a $60,000 application to the Utah Community Impact Board (CIB) to buy a backup generator for the town's new well.

Karen Nelson, the presenter at the hearing, told the council the town is seeking $60,000 from the CIB and plans to request an additional $60,000 from the Bear River Water Conservancy; if both awards come through, she said, the generator project would be fully funded. "We are asking in for $60,000," Nelson said during the public hearing.

The council chair opened the hearing and a council member moved to open it; the motion passed. Nelson outlined the CIB program, explaining the board typically blends grant aid with low-interest loans and prioritizes communities with mineral or energy impacts. She said the generator application is due June 1 and a separate, broader application for facility upgrades will be submitted in October.

Nelson described other planned work that would be part of a larger CIB request: roughly $200,000 in fire-station upgrades to add bays, an office and indoor water hookups; relocation of the maintenance shop and police parking to a new maintenance facility (an estimated $400,000 including road and parking); and an overall package she estimated at about $780,000 with Mantua contributing about $180,000 (about 23%). "This displaces Mantua's maintenance department and their police," Nelson said when describing the site plan.

Residents used the public-comment period to raise concerns about the parcel proposed for the new facilities. Nelson read written comments from John Heard that noted the 18-acre parcel was previously part of a larger conveyance and urged protecting existing walking paths and considering cemetery needs; Nelson said the town's cemetery has fewer than 200 lots remaining and is averaging about 17 lots used per year. One resident asked whether grant language "must build" a new facility or whether the town could refurbish existing space; Nelson said the 18-acre parcel was conveyed for public uses and that including police in the application strengthens its public-safety justification.

Tara Lewison, a resident, criticized the short public-comment window before the June 1 generator deadline, saying it felt "too close to that deadline." Nelson acknowledged the timing and noted the town will hold another hearing before any October filing for the broader project.

The council then voted to approve the submission of the $60,000 CIB application for the generator; members answering the chair's call were recorded in favor and the motion passed. The council recorded a second motion approving the formal submission to the CIB for $60,000, and the meeting adjourned.

Next steps: the generator application is due June 1; Nelson said the town will prepare and revise the larger facilities application for the October CIB cycle and hold another public hearing before that submission.