Q: Who does the city’s water rate increase affect and why did it happen? 

A: It affects everybody Draper City serves for water, not WaterPro customers. The water infrastructure has to be maintained and reconstructed to deliver water to customers. We don’t have our own water, we’re buying it from Jordan Valley, but we’re in charge of delivery, including the system and maintenance. Water is a commodity and its costs have gone up like everything else. This is likely not the end of the water rate increases. We’re trying to do it in increments. If we don’t pass on the costs of the system to the customers, the General Fund would have to subsidize it, and we’re not going to do that. 

Q: The city held an August Truth in Taxation hearing. What’s the purpose of the tax increase?

A: There’s a bond issuance that we’ve now paid off, about $1 million worth of revenue we were getting. The bond is paid off but we want to keep the revenue stream. It’s going to keep the same level of taxation in place. It goes right into the General Fund for police, fire, roads, etc. We could let the bond expire and stop taxing for it and raise property taxes again, but if we keep this rate everybody’s used to paying, we have a decent chance of balancing our budget going forward without a tax increase. Since it’s a tax we want to keep in place, we’re required to do a hearing.

Q: What happened with the water cross-contamination that led to a 24-hour boil order for 1,300 customers and caused businesses to shut down in June? 

A: This was a WaterPro issue, the system they maintain and provide connections for. One of their customers didn’t have their backflow device working correctly and irrigation water got into the culinary system. They know exactly when and how many gallons. Out of an abundance of caution, they shut the system down, flushed it and tested it. This was not the city’s problem or liability, all we did to assist was get the information out.

Q: What’s the background on the conservation easement with Salt Lake County on land in SunCrest, and what does it mean for residents?

A: That parcel was part of the SunCrest purchase the city made long ago from Zions Bank. That particular part was an area we always intended to sell. We thought it would be more housing because the road on that property has utilities all the way to the top. It was designed and ready for houses, but when we evaluated the geotechnical situation along that road, we found there were only a few spots safe for development. We decided, rather than selling it, we’d put it all in the conservation easement held by the county. Now it’s all open space, probably the only one you can have a dog off-leash while you hike in the mountains. The benefit of a conservation easement is the city keeps ownership of the land and the will of the current city council (for it to be open space) is protected by another entity (the county), otherwise a future council could change its mind and sell it. 

Q: This is the first election since the legislature enacted new laws affecting voting by mail. What are your thoughts?

A: I voted by mail. I love vote by mail. I like to sit at the table with my ballot and my family to talk about it. I like the convenience. The League of Cities and Towns (Walker serves as president) worked hard to keep vote-by-mail viable.

Q: It’s been a busy season for Draper’s Fire Department with two fires on the way to SunCrest and structure fires. What do you know about the fires?

A: We had a fire near Potato Hill and one behind the Draper Heights neighborhood. The Draper Heights fire required air support. They got it out quickly, but it could have been serious. Luckily, the wind was in our favor. The cause of the Draper Heights fire is unknown but it was human caused. The fire near Potato Hill was caused by someone shooting fireworks out of a moving car. The structure fire off 300 East near 13800 South destroyed one home and did significant damage to other houses, but no one got hurt.

Q: Do you wish the state would stop selling fireworks or further restrict their use?

A: Yes, if I had my way, they’d be banned city-wide because of the risk. 

Q: Speaking of fireworks, tell me about the cancellation of Friday’s Draper Days concert and fireworks and the evacuation of Draper Park because of rain and lightning?

A: We had a pretty decent rain storm, but the lightning caused the cancellation. The strikes were closer than eight miles and less than 30 minutes apart. Plus, it rained so hard a lot of the electrical lines at the park were wet and we thought it would be dangerous to fire things up again. It was out of an abundance of caution. We didn’t want anyone to get hurt. Cancelling gave us the chance to dry it out and make it safe. Saturday, we brought Moon Juice back to finish their set and we took our Friday fireworks and integrated them into our Saturday show. It was two 22-minute shows crammed into one 22-minute show. I thought it was awesome!

Q: The Salt Lake Tribune ran an article indicating The Point tweaked plans to add more housing and two other big, private sector projects in Utah are drawing energy away from the project. As a member of The Point’s board, tell me about the housing change, and do you think other projects could hurt The Point? 

A: The planned housing was meant to be rental housing. This shift is the state looking for a way to fund The Point’s development off the sale of land. The legislature funded a $168 million loan to The Point we have to pay back, but we don’t have enough money, so the idea was floated to sell some land for housing. That’s the change. It’s owned housing which also fits with the governor’s push for affordable, owned housing. I support the ownership housing. 

I think The Point is still a viable and attractive project. It’s a clean slate. Instead of redeveloping, like in Salt Lake City, it’s a blank page. I wish we had more funding, but we’re working on that. Those other projects get tax revenue streams we don’t have. We have a loan we have to pay back. But I think The Point can hold its own because we’ve got location, location, location.