Lehi council approves UDOT utility and trail agreements for 2100 North and a Dry Creek flood plan
July 22, 2025, 5:13 p.m. · Council Chamber, Lehi City Hall, 153 N. 100 East
The Lehi City Council approved four agreements with UDOT tied to the 2100 North freeway project, a Rino Excavating contract of about $500,000 for the Lambert Basin storm drain, the Upper Inverness grading permit and an NRCS watershed agreement for Dry Creek flood work. In pre-council the council discussed pressurized irrigation rates and a revised SHAR housing ordinance. All votes were unanimous.
From the approved minutes. Updated October 14, 2026.
Decisions at a glance
Agenda, item by item
Item 2.1 · Taxes and fees
Pressurized irrigation water rates
Discussed
Consultant Fred Philpot reviewed Lehi's rate (charged per connection by lot size), a recent Alpine study that added base rates per acre and tiers by customer class, and Saratoga Springs, Spanish Fork and Springville systems. About half of roughly 14,000 unmetered connections have been metered since the state mandate. Mayor Johnson noted Saratoga Springs' system draws few complaints. Council Member Condie favored a simple tiered system, Council Member Hancock said conservation should not be punitive, and the council favored a slow rollout and giving residents access to usage data.
Item 2.2 · Presentation
Thanksgiving Point economic and fiscal impact study
Discussed
Thanksgiving Point CEO McKay Christensen and consultant Jason Burningham presented a study projecting $8.3 billion in economic impact over 25 years and $403.2 million in fiscal impact, of which Lehi would receive about $53.8 million, or about $2.2 million a year, mostly sales tax. They said Lehi residents made over 300,000 visits last year and PARC days cost $5 instead of $24. Mayor Johnson said an in-house estimate had been about $600,000 a year. The study is by the organization that receives PARC tax funds.
- Budget$2.20 million
Item 2.3 · City code
Draft SHAR overlay ordinance
Discussed
Planner Brittney Harris presented a revised draft with new definitions, attainability standards and setbacks matching planned communities. It is no longer a citywide overlay: council would decide through development agreements. Attainable lots would be deed restricted to owner occupancy in perpetuity, with similar materials as standard homes and a proposed price point of $400,000. Council Member Stallings said the draft devalues landowners' property and saw affordable housing and free-market land pricing as in conflict; Council Member Newall worried that earmarking areas creates entitlements; Mayor Johnson did not want council controlling the market; Council Member Albrecht asked why a similar earlier overlay was denied. City Engineer Brad Kenison said engineering prefers this version.
Item 6 · Development
Upper Inverness grading permit, 693.4 acres
Approved with conditions · 5-0
Landon Larsen of D.R. Horton said the aim is to keep fill on site rather than truck it out and back, and the site is meant to balance. The permit was approved with Development Review Committee and Planning Commission comments; an extension would need to be requested if work runs past the allowed time.
- Acres: 693.4
- Applicant: D.R. Horton
Item 7 · Roads and utilities
Lambert Basin storm drain construction agreement with Rino Excavating (Resolution 2025-49)
Approved · 5-0
City Engineer Lorin Powell said 13 bidders responded and the city chose the low bid from Rino Excavating, with which it has past experience. The bid was about half a million dollars. The project connects retention basins with a 48-inch pipe under the freeway and railroad tracks; work was expected to start in three to four weeks.
- Contract$500,000 to Rino Excavating
Item 8 · Roads and utilities
UDOT master agreement for utility work on the 2100 North project (Resolution 2025-50)
Approved · 5-0
Kenison said the agreement sets design criteria for city utilities within UDOT's project. UDOT's Matt Parker said the current work ends east of Redwood Road in early spring, when the 2100 North project begins; proposals are due just after Labor Day. He said a Pioneer Crossing contractor starts in about a month with completion by the end of next summer. A pedestrian bridge over SR-92 is a standalone project with an estimated cost of $7 million, for which alternative funding is sought.
Item 9 · Roads and utilities
UDOT supplemental agreement for utility stubs across the freeway (Resolution 2025-51)
Approved · 5-0
Kenison and Parker said the agreement lets the city stub master-plan water, sewer, irrigation and storm drain lines across the freeway before surrounding structures are built, by adding bid items to UDOT's original contract rather than change orders. The work will be competitively bid and council can review it.
Item 10 · Parks
UDOT agreement for trail connection through Holbrook Park 2 (Resolution 2025-53)
Approved · 5-0
The asphalt trail would connect the Jordan River pedestrian bridge to Waterbury Drive, replacing trails now on UDOT bridges that are being removed. The project is estimated at $170,000.
- Contract$170,000 to UDOT
Item 11 · Roads and utilities
UDOT agreement for access road from 2100 North and Thanksgiving Way to park-and-ride (Resolution 2025-54)
Approved · 5-0
Under UDOT's current design the Hadco access would become right-in, right-out, so the city and UDOT agreed to an additional access to Thanksgiving Way if that design is selected. Costs would be shared with Hadco as a shared access. The connection would improve park-and-ride access, which the project prioritizes; the project may not happen, depending on the design chosen.
Item 12 · Appointment
Appointment to the Metropolitan Water District of Lehi board (Resolution 2025-52)
Approved · 5-0
Lorin Powell is retiring from the board and will consult for it; Brad Kenison was appointed as his replacement.
Item 13 · Roads and utilities
American Fork Dry Creek Watershed Agreement with the NRCS (Resolution 2025-55)
Approved · 5-0
Kenison and consultant Parker Versimac of Jones and DeMille said the agreement, required by the Natural Resources Conservation Service for funding, amends a 1959 watershed plan to address flooding, studied jointly with American Fork and Saratoga Springs as co-sponsor. Proposed work includes replacing two corrugated metal culverts near Lehi Elementary with box culverts and trash racks. The plan works with a $25 million budget; NRCS pays for design and the city owes nothing until construction, when it may have to buy right of way and fund bridge and culvert improvements after federal funding for them was rescinded.
- Grant$25.0 million to Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA
Item 14 · Other
Closed meeting on pending or imminent litigation
Approved · 5-0
The council voted to go into a closed meeting.
What residents said
SHAR housing ordinanceWater supply and aquifer levelsGraywater useCanal weeds
Several speakers, including James Harrison, Tyson Hodges, Rachel Freeman and LaRell Stephens, raised concerns about the SHAR ordinance, including bonus density, lack of cost control after the first buyer, and neighborhood identity. Hodges also asked the city to address canal weeds by a development. Bradley Anderson raised water sustainability after a natural pond on his property dried up; Lorin Powell said the Murdock Canal lost about 20% of its water in Highland and the city is pursuing aquifer recharge. LaRell Stephens asked about graywater, and Stephen Su'a-Filo asked for more water rights education.