Hi everyone! Welcome back to another week of news here on Summit in Six. This week, we kick things off with a preview of an exciting new way residents can get updates from the county. Then, we provide updates on the Summit County Childcare Scholarship Program, Dakota Pacific, and more! 

Text My Gov Launch Announcement

Summit County is launching a new communication platform for residents to connect with county services via TextMyGov. This service enables residents to effortlessly receive important non-emergency notifications and easily find specific information or report issues by texting the county.

Summit County will officially launch the new text messaging system to the public on Wednesday, December 11, 2024. Residents who have a cell phone number listed with the Post Office will likely receive a text message from 91896 from Summit County initiating the service. You can choose to opt-out at any time by texting STOP.

If you don’t receive the initial message, you can choose to opt-in by texting the keyword “SUMMITCOUNTY” to the number 91896. After sending the initial keyword, you will be asked to reply “YES” to confirm opt-in. Residents may receive notifications for events, county service disruptions, and more.

For specific text alerts, text one of the following keywords to the number 91896:

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• For county road construction, snow plowing, and other updates from Public Works: text SCROADS
  
• For health advisories and other Health Department updates: text SCHEALTH
  
• For information on Summit Bike Share: text SCBIKE
  

Additional notification categories will be released in 2025. Beginning Spring 2025 , residents can receive on-demand information 24/7 by texting 1-2 keywords to Summit County’s TextMyGov number, 435-495-4090. You’ll be able to get quick information about county departments and elected offices, and report concerns.

Childcare Scholarship Program Update

At this week’s County Council meeting, Deputy County Manager, Janna Young, gave an update on the county’s Needs-Based Childcare Scholarship Program, which launched in June of 2024.

Since then, 33 families have enrolled in the program, and more than 100 eligible families are on the waitlist. 

Approximately 35% of applicants were from the North Summit area, 24% from South Summit, and just under 22% from the Snyderville Basin. 

Due to a need to secure ongoing funding, program promotion to onboard new families was paused this year, and the requested funding for 2025 would only cover the families currently enrolled in the program.

Council approved $360k to fund the program in 2025, including an increase of $80k from last year to provide an additional three months of coverage next year for the families currently enrolled. Sixty-thousand dollars of the $360k was set aside for county employees who can receive an FSA match for childcare.

Dakota Pacific Update

Also during this week’s Council session, Summit County Council provided a response to redlines from previous meetings with Dakota Pacific Realt Estate (DPRE).

Among this response was an updated proposal on a number of areas concerning DPRE’s proposal at Kimball Junction:

Council proposed 350 market rate units and 350 affordable housing units and determined that building of the affordable and market rate units would happen at a 1:1 ratio as part of Council’s current structure.

To phase the construction of the proposed 700 units… 

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• 170 affordable and 170 market rate would be permitted to be built once the SR 224 project is added to the UDOT Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan, also known as the STIP.
  
• 50 more housing units of market rate and 50 affordable units would be allowed at the start of the Public Private Partnership (P3) project construction, This project includes a potential SR 224 Bridge, the public plaza and landscaping, the Olympic View Park, and ampitheater, all of which DPRE would be require to pay 50% of the costs to build, up to $10 million.
  
• 65 units of market rate of 65 affordable would be allowed at the start of the design for the SR 224 Project, and another 65 of each when the project design is completed by UDOT.
  
• Following that, 125 units of affordable and 125 units of market rate would be approved upon the start of construction on the SR 224 Project.
  
• And the last 250 units (125 affordable and 125 market rate) could begin construction upon the completion of the SR 224 Project.
  

A number of additional details were also discussed. For the full picture of where the project stands, we recommend watching the replay of this agenda item from this week’s Council Meeting via the Agenda & Meeting Minutes section on the County website homepage.

News Roundup:

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2. There is still time to take the Summit Bike Share End-of-Season survey! What do YOU want to see from the Bike Share next season? Your feedback will help us create a service that best reflects YOUR needs & values. You can take the survey at summitcounty.info/season24.
   
3. Need a New Year’s Resolution for 2025? Save our night sky! According to area development codes: by the end of this year, on December 31, 2024, all outdoor light bulbs in Park City and unincorporated Summit County must be 3,000 degrees Kelvin or less, and all outdoor lighting fixtures must be fully shielded and down-directed. Pollution of our natural environment is not limited to daytime hours only. Light pollution hinders access to viewing the starry night sky, and has negative impacts on our area’s beloved wildlife, human health and more. This is why your local leaders at both the city and county level have committed to encouraging dark sky-friendly lighting practices! If you have any questions about this ordinance, visit summitcounty.info/darkskies.