It appears the American Fork Riding Club will move to new stables just east of where their present ones are located, near Fox Hollow Golf Course.

The club built the original stables more than 60 years ago east of 100 East and south of where 1500 North would be.

The group had a long-term lease for the property from American Fork city, but the city gave notice that as of Jan. 1 the horses would need to be moved in order to make space for a reservoir for the pressurized irrigation system under construction.

The city offered to fund some replacement stalls for the club at the Utah County Equestrian Center, but some club members expressed a wish to remain close to the race track. They proposed two areas for the stalls and the City Council on Dec. 11 tentatively selected one at the north end of the track.

Councilman Dale Gunther said the vote was not meaningful until the city and the club have a lease agreement in place.

"This motion isn't worth anything until we come up with a lease," he said.

Because the next regularly scheduled council meeting would fall on Christmas Day, the council was not planning on meeting until January. However, they agreed to have a special session to approve a lease agreement as soon as it could be negotiated. No date has yet been set.

There has been some concern about granting a 20-year lease to the club because of the possibility of an east-west road being constructed in the vicinity, but Mayor Heber Thompson said he thought the road was far in the future.

"I think that is a long ways in the future," he said. "It is low on the priority lists of planning I have seen. I think 15 years [for the lease] would not be too far out of reason."

The stables that would be built are portable and could be moved to another location if needed. They cost about $1,900 each and need to be ordered.

Since it takes four to six weeks for them to be delivered, the equestrians would have to find some place to put their horses temporarily until the new stables can be put in place.

Council members expressed support for the club, along with reluctance to have a special interest group have too much influence.

"I don't want to see this niche in our community disappear," said Councilwoman Sherry Kramer.

Councilman Shirl LeBaron had similar comments.

"I want to accommodate you folks," said LeBaron. "We value the equestrian art in our community. If this were a private corporation you would be given 30 days and there would be no compensation. We have no obligation other than good will to help you here. We want to help you. At the same time we need you to be reasonable."