Willing or not, a few hundred residents living in an isolated area of Cedar Valley took a step toward becoming residents of Eagle Mountain on Tuesday. After hearing big promises of 5,000 jobs, big-box stores and a windfall of tax revenue, Eagle Mountain City Council members voted unanimously on Tuesday to consider annexation of White Hills.

Located west of Eagle Mountain between Fairfield and Cedar Fort, White Hills is a tiny burg of 118 families that was once supposed to be the beginning of a large city. Today those residents face a failing sewer system and massive expenses. Developers wanting to build many more homes in the area have already failed to convince both Cedar Fort and Fairfield to annex White Hills and a surrounding 3,000 acres called the Pole Canyon area.

Meeting to discuss the proposed annexation earlier in the afternoon on Tuesday, Eagle Mountain officials were quick to say what Tuesday’s vote meant, and did not mean.

“It is what could be annexed, not what will be,” said Councilman Ryan Ireland.

“We are not saying we are annexing the Pole Canyon area,” said Mayor Heather Jackson. “We are just saying we are willing to look at annexing property within our new amended plan that adds approximately 3,000 acres within the Pole Canyon area.”

Only one White Hills resident spoke against the proposed annexation on Tuesday. The resident said the majority of residents were opposed to annexation, and cautioned the city about being enticed by ambitious plans from developers filled with “fancy things,” especially in light of the national economy.

A vote on annexation could be months away, but that did not stop developers on Tuesday from unveiling to Eagle Mountain a sweeping plan for the 3,000 acres in question.

Developer Nathan Shipp of DAI said they are proposing a large industrial/commercial area within the 3,000 acres that they believe would bring 5,000 jobs to Cedar Valley. They also said they would build the city a new rodeo grounds, boasting “warm-up rings, grandstands and chutes” to be open for the 150th anniversary of the Pony Express in 2010.

“That would be fun,” Jackson said.

Developers showed maps of proposed public trails through the land and a link to a proposed ATV trail in the city. They said they would reserve space for five schools, including a junior high, and said they have already talked to Associated Foods about eventually bringing a grocery store to the White Hills area, as well as “a big-box store — a Home Depot, a Lowe’s, Olive Garden. We don’t anticipate that happening immediately.”

All told, this would bring a wealth of tax revenue to Eagle Mountain, council members were told.

“We really believe we will be bringing you industry as our first phase,” Shipp said.

Never once did the developer mention how many homes their plan would build, or how many people it would add to Eagle Mountain when fully built out.

The development would solve some of the most pressing problems facing White Hills, where options are narrowing, developers said. White Hills has collected $100,000 in impact fees for its failing sewer lagoon system, while the system supporting just over 100 homes needs up to $500,000 worth of work.

Being annexed into Eagle Mountain would allow the city to abandon the existing sewer lagoons by using the $100,000 to connect residents to Eagle Mountain’s sewer system, developers said.

Jackson said the city would be able to fix road problems in the White Hills area because Eagle Mountain would get more state road funds if the annexation went through. In addition, the county has already done work to fix intermittent flooding problems.

Some Council members said they feared annexation would saddle Eagle Mountain with White Hills’ bills.

“My concern is how much is it going to cost us to fix their problems,” said Councilwoman Donna Burnham.

White Hills residents would have to pay for their own upgrades, and new growth would be required to pay for itself in undeveloped areas across the rest of the annexation, developers said.

“They need to handle their issues without taking money from other areas,” Shipp said of White Hills.

When asked about other potential expenses to the city if the annexation is approved, Jackson said Eagle Mountain is already paying for fire and law enforcement services for the White Hills area.

“We provide their fire protection and don’t get paid for it,” she said. “Basically we respond to their law needs, so basically we have been footing the bill for them for some time.”

Burnham asked developers to respond to a petition from White Hills residents protesting the proposed annexation.

Calling the petition informal and biased, Shipp said developers have tried to work with residents, saying they are battling rumors among residents that utility rates will increase.

“I’m not sure what else we can do to help them believe that their taxes will go down if they are annexed,” Shipp said. “We really do believe their taxes would go down.”

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