Orangeville council hears Valor representatives on water use and planned annexation

Orangeville council members on July 9 discussed a prospective annexation of Valor’s property and heard company representatives explain projected water use and local hiring plans.

The discussion centered on water allocations and the scope of Valor’s planned operations. A company representative introduced as Harry said the water demands Valor may request “are relatively, minor” compared with other industries and that the company wants to be “a community partner and transparent and forthright about everything we’re doing.”

Why it matters: annexation would bring Valor’s site into Orangeville city limits and require the city to create code language for heavy-industry uses, decide how to allocate water rights and consider potential local employment. Council members said they are preparing ordinance language and have sent draft code to planning and zoning and the city attorney for review.

Council member (speaker 8) described the annexation process and timeline, saying the county still owns some property parts and Valor is in the process of purchasing the remainder. He told the council that if the purchase finalizes within one to two weeks, the city intends to move forward with annexation procedures and code revisions.

Council and company representatives also clarified which projects the 1,000 water shares would cover. A council member asked for confirmation that the water shares were not reserved solely for a data center; the council member asked, “Just to verify, the thousand water shares is not just for the data center.” Harry replied, “That’s correct,” and added the shares would also support other manufacturing activities, including triso fuel manufacturing, which the company said requires water for certain production processes.

Harry provided a local-employment estimate: “Our Utah footprint … we hire is around between the 30 and 40 range,” referring to full-time Valor employees in the state. He said other local contractors are not included in that number.

Next steps: the council scheduled a follow-up meeting for Aug. 13 to consider annexation formally; Valor is expected to send two or three representatives to answer detailed questions. Planning and zoning and the city attorney continue reviewing proposed code language to address heavy-industry uses.