Draper City legal counsel Bruce Baird called the process of reaching an Interlocal Agreement with The Point of the Mountain State Land Authority (PMSLA) “long and tortured.” The Point is the 600 acres of state-owned land that falls within Draper City limits, where the state prison once stood. Mayor Troy Walker said he “agreed 100%” with Baird’s assessment. 

The agreement was finalized in September after a year of negotiations. “I can’t tell you this agreement is perfect, but I believe this is the best agreement we can get at this time,” Baird told the Draper City Council. He has been representing Draper City in negotiations with PMSLA since before a development agreement for Phase One of The Point was signed in December 2022.

Walker said it’s a “complex situation” and the Interlocal Agreement is all about infrastructure. “The state was trying to put in the backbone infrastructure which it’s required to do under the development agreement, but since the backbone infrastructure gets turned over to the city, we had to make sure we’re getting infrastructure we could maintain and operate,” Walker said. 

According to the mayor, part of the difficulty came because the state hasn’t done anything like this development before. “The visioning, the planning, it’s unprecedented. It’s the rubber meeting the road part that takes time and effort,” Walker said. Additionally, The Point’s plan has different infrastructure than the city would normally approve such as roads and intersections. “Part of it was getting our heads around what they wanted to do, and even though it’s not our standard, it’s a standard that’s safe. It took a while, but we got there,” he said. The agreement also outlines water, parks and public safety. “We kept our standards on culinary water and stormwater. The main purpose was making sure the roads and the under-bones that make them last were done correctly,” Walker said.

At their Sept. 16 meeting, the council approved both the Interlocal Agreement and an accompanying consultant agreement presented by Baird. He told the council the point of the agreement is to make sure the city doesn’t get infrastructure that fails as has happened with other projects and to make sure costs don’t come from the city’s engineering department who has been carrying the load up to this point. 

“Our city engineer, Scott Cooley, did a fantastic job looking out for Draper’s interests,” Walker said. As a result of the negotiations, an independent third-party consultant has been hired to enforce the terms of recognized design and safety standards. “PMSLA is paying for the consultant, but their responsibility is to the integrity of the project and the documents that govern that, including safety and design standards. Draper has had a couple experiences where things were well designed but not well built, and that shouldn’t happen here,” Baird told the council.

According to The Point’s Don Willie, Methods Consulting is the firm retained in accordance with the Interlocal Agreement. “They are under contract and actively supporting our project,” he said.

Walker serves on the seven member PMSLA board made up of state legislators, agency executives, local elected officials and business leaders. He was heavily involved in the negotiations. The mayor said some people wonder if it’s a conflict of interest, but that’s not the case. “I can only make decisions the city council authorizes me to make. On The Point side, I wouldn’t be voting for anything my city wouldn’t authorize me to do. If my city told me not to make the deal, I wouldn’t be voting on it. I think the thing I bring to this the most is I’ve been involved with The Point development my entire 18 years of public service,” he said.

Draper City will also provide public safety for The Point, including fire and police, but specifics have yet to be ironed out. “It commits us to providing public services. It doesn’t define a level, just services we would normally provide. We’ll meet the needs as it goes along,” Walker said. 

The Point held an infrastructure groundbreaking ceremony in December 2024 and that work continues through 2025. Walker expects vertical construction to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026 starting with apartment buildings anchored by retail on the ground level. The Point’s Event Center, one of the first buildings that will come out of the ground, is already funded. “They sold bonds in the commercial market to build that. They sold every dime they wanted to sell and that’s exciting. Private investors believe this has really good potential,” he said. 

According to Walker, The Point is talking about selling 50 acres for ownership housing, something that wasn’t in the state’s original plan, but something he supports. “The goal was for the state to have a revenue stream over time to help pay for the brand-new prison they built. This whole project was done so the state could get a revenue stream from this property, and they wanted to control it and make it big,” he said.

Baird used the words “damn good” in describing the Interlocal Agreement to the city council. “Your mayor has used his trademark style in helping them recognize they needed to fly right on these. As long as you’re willing to play hardball, I think you’re going to get what you need,” Baird said. 

Because Walker has been talking about The Point for nearly two decades, he feels like it’s been slow-going. 

“It’s taking longer than I ever thought it would, but there are so many factors…the economy, interest rates and construction costs,” Walker said. “The Point is the future economic center for the city of Draper. Getting it off the ground and moving forward is to our benefit. It’s our future growth.”