Council hears drought outlook, settles on asking residents to cut lawn watering by a third

Decisions at a glance

Agenda, item by item

1. Item 1 · Parks

   PARC Tax Advisory Board second-round allocations

   Discussed

   PARC board chair Brian Thompson presented a second round of about $250,000, money returned to the fund after the school district backed out of sharing junior high tennis/pickleball courts. The board stopped funding capital equipment and declined land purchases, saying land is the city's job. Councilmember Shelton, TAF's council liaison, raised funding for TAF's new auditioned Timpanogos Singers choir, which the board declined in favor of the established Timpanogos Chorale; TAF executive director Reggie Walker argued the area can support both. Formal approval came June 22.

   • Grant$10,000 to Harrington Center for the Arts Eric Dowdle mural (second $10,000; total $20,000). PARC Tax Advisory Board recommendation. Paid from PARC sales tax
   • Grant$30,000 to Timpanogos Chorale Adult choir operations. PARC Tax Advisory Board recommendation. Paid from PARC sales tax
   • Grant$17,720 to Friends of the American Fork Library Rotunda performing arts series ($15,220) and Board Books for Babies ($2,500). PARC Tax Advisory Board recommendation. Paid from PARC sales tax
   • Grant$50,000 to American Fork Parks and Recreation Evergreen and Hunter park playground improvements. PARC Tax Advisory Board recommendation. Paid from PARC sales tax
   • Grant$100,000 to American Fork Parks and Recreation Three pickleball courts at Hindley Park. PARC Tax Advisory Board recommendation. Paid from PARC sales tax
   • Harrington Center: additional $10,000 (total $20,000) for an Eric Dowdle American Fork mural
   • Timpanogos Chorale (now under the Harrington Center): $30,000
   • Friends of the Library: $15,220 for a rotunda performing arts series and $2,500 for Board Books for Babies
   • Parks and Recreation: $50,000 for Evergreen and Hunter park playgrounds; $100,000 for three pickleball courts at Hindley Park; plus park tables, benches and trash cans
   • Not funded: Timpanogos Singers (TAF), Alpine Community Theater ($14,000 equipment request), Highland Arts Council ($20,000 bells request; based in Highland)

   Follow Hindley Park pickleball courts in the development tracker →

2. Item 2 · Roads and utilities

   Drought water conservation plan for pressurized irrigation

   Discussed

   Water Superintendent Jay Brems said the city had used 3,091 acre-feet of secondary water since April 15, about 848 acre-feet (276 million gallons) less than the same period of 2020, but is drawing 60 acre-feet a day and will have to run culinary wells around the clock next month; the Central Utah Project banked water (about 400 extra acre-feet) is untouched. Councilmember Shelton questioned spending about $100,000 a year in electricity pumping culinary well water into the irrigation system; Public Works Director Scott Sensanbaugher recommended a policy goal of never using culinary water for irrigation once meters and the recycled water project (at least two years out) are in place. The council debated watering stages, a two-day schedule urged by the governor, a religious exemption for Sunday watering and part-time non-police enforcement (current fines: warning, then $50, $100, $200 and possible lockout). Consensus: keep the three-day schedule and ask residents to cut watering 33%.

   • Budget$100,000 Approximate yearly electricity cost to pump culinary well water into the pressurized irrigation system (figure cited by Councilmember Shelton)
   • Spring line now delivers about 2,300 gallons a minute, up from 1,600; spring supplies about half of culinary water
   • City has seven water sources; river peaked at 17,000 gpm against 25,000 gpm night demand
   • Northern Utah County Aquifer Council hired consultant Hansen Allen & Luce to study the aquifer
   • Fox Hollow Golf Course is the only place the racetrack well can pump to

   Follow Pressurized irrigation meters in the development tracker →

What residents said

Funding for a second community adult choirWatering enforcement and neighbors who overwaterSunday watering and religious objections

Reggie Walker, executive director of the Timpanogos Arts Foundation, asked the council to reconsider funding TAF's new semi-professional Timpanogos Singers, saying the area's growth can support a second adult choir. Wes Huggins, a new resident, praised the community and supported using non-police employees for watering enforcement.