Hey everyone! Welcome back to another week of news here on Summit in Six. Today, we recap this week’s County Council meeting, which included an affordable housing update and the latest on the County’s facilities planning process. Then, we wrap things up with some fun community engagement opportunities you won’t want to miss out on. Alright, let’s get into the news! 

– TOPIC 1: Affordable Housing Update 

This week’s County Council meeting kicked off with an exciting update on affordable housing in Summit County. Economic Development and Housing Manager, Maddy McDonough, presented a beta version of a brand new tool her team is calling the Land Use Prioritization Map. 

The tool comes on the heels of the creation of a local Housing Authority and the drafting of a Housing Authority Strategic Plan. With a clearly identified need for affordable housing, the question becomes, as McDounough stated, “where do we put the housing?” 

The Land Prioritization Map can be used to answer that question. It will help identify lots and parcels that are most suitable for affordable housing in Summit County. It can be used to inform Future Land Use Maps, regional and neighborhood level planning, and help the County prioritize land acquisition. 

The tool is not available for public use yet, but this is a great example of really innovative, informative and useful work happening inside the county organization right now. We’ll be sure to keep our listeners updated as the Land Use Map continues to take shape! 

– TOPIC 2: County Facilities Planning 

Next, County Manager Shayne Scott provided the latest information on the county’s facilities master planning process. 

For some background, the county has been going through this process since January of 2025. A study was conducted to better understand the current condition of the county’s facilities and their ability to respond to things like workforce needs, service delivery, and growth, giving the county a road map for the next 25 years. It involved interviews with county leadership, elected officials, department directors, an employee survey, and a physical evaluation of each county building looking at safety, space, condition, and ability to meet county purposes. 

Now, a Master Plan has been proposed including recommendations for facility upgrades, renovations, and new construction. The Maste Plan will be broken into three phases, each with a specific timeline for improvements, as well as estimated costs of such improvements. At this week’s meeting, Councilmembers wanted to reiterate and make clear that the county seat will NOT be moving from Coalville at any point during this planning process. 

Further discussion about facilities upgrades and renovations specifically for next year, 2026,

will occur as the 2026 budget discussions continue. Those budget discussions are important for our community to tune into beyond learning about this facility’s process. It is in those conversations that decisions about how taxpayer dollars are spent get made, so tune in! We’ll make sure to provide details on budget discussions as they begin to occur.  

A recommendation for how to utilize the former Skullcandy facility will be a separate conversation with the Council in two weeks on October 8, 2025. 

– TOPIC 3: Air We Share

The Summit County Health Department’s latest installment of their Public Health Speaker Series is happening NEXT WEEK! This session, called the “Air We Share”, will allow attendees to hear from local air quality and healthcare experts and learn practical tips to protect their health, including how to monitor local conditions and learning to build a DIY box fan filter.

Representatives from local and state agencies will also be present for conversation and connection. These speakers include: Seth Arens from Western Water Assessment; Kerry Kelly, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Utah; and Dr. Wing Province, Chief Medical Officer and Emergency Medicine Physician at Intermountain Health. 

This is a don’t miss event! Join the Summit County Health Department at the “Air We Share” event on Tuesday, September 30 from 5:30 – 8pm at Kamas City Event Center. More information can be found at summitcounty.info/speakerseries. 

– TOPIC 4: Book signing at Kamas Library

Summit County Library invites you to join authors Heather B. Moore and Allison Hong Merrill at the Kamas Valley Branch as they discuss “The Paper Daughters of Chinatown” (Young Readers Edition).

Their book, based on a true story, relates the experience of two friends who unite to help rescue immigrant women in the most dangerous corners of San Francisco’s Chinatown in the late 1890s. Come hear from the authors as they share how they combine their love for historical research with storytelling.

DATE: October 3

TIME: 5:00 p.m.

LOCATION: Kamas Valley Library

Ages 12+ are welcome. Refreshments will be served, and Dolly’s Bookstore will be on hand during the signing with books available for purchase. This event is made possible through partnership with the Utah Humanities Book Festival.

If you plan to attend, please register at the link in our show notes.