Spanish Fork Council vocalizes support for Growth and Prosperity Compact
Courtesy Spanish Fork City
The Spanish Fork City Council. Back row from left: Shane Marshall, Brandon Gordon, Chad Argyle, Kevin Oyler. Front row from left: Mayor Mike Mendenhall, Stacy Beck.Members of thee Spanish Fork City Council pledged their support for the principles of the Growth and Prosperity Compact of Utah Valley during Tuesday’s meeting.
The compact aligns with the Association of Utah Valley Chambers’ vision plan for Utah Valley as it plans for the year 2050. With the presumption that Utah County’s population will double by 2050, the plan is supposed to outline a way for the area to handle the growth.
According to the resolution document, Envision Utah surveyed Utah County residents in 2018 to understand the public’s views on growth, and the principles of prosperity. Between 2018 and fall 2020, completion of the document occurred in three phases to understand residents’ desires, understanding and predicting growth patterns — then drafting vision statements and ideas into one final vision.
The six focus areas are business environment, education and workforce development, healthcare, natural resources, attainable housing and transportation and infrastructure.
The vision plan document outlines recommendations of how government officials, business owners and Utah Valley citizens can do their part in making the document a reality.
“The Utah Valley Vision is a publicly supported strategic plan to improve quality of life in the region even in the face of dramatic growth,” reads the document. “The goals and strategies in the vision represent concrete steps and road marks to reach that vision. The Valley Vision provides Utah County residents, businesses, and local leaders with a target and guidance for how to get there.”
Councilwoman Stacy Beck recommended adding the documents to the city website for easy access to the public. All members agreed with Beck’s suggestion.
Spanish Fork Councilman Shane Marshall said he was very supportive of the vision plan.
“You hear often ‘Stop the growth. Stop the growth.’ but that fact is that we are growing,” Marshall said. “We are growing our community within our community. I have three kids and hopefully they have six to eight kids each someday. This lays out a framework for how to grow responsibly. This is a plan to do it as a county, and not just the city. I think this is a great document. It’s something everyone should read, and you can’t bury your head in the sand and say don’t grow.”
