The Green River City Council met Tuesday evening. It was proposed by Dan Cybulski that a new hotel, Holiday Inn Express & Suites, be built on the west end of town.
This project would bring in a four-story hotel with 81 rooms, 20 new jobs to the Green River community and would be the largest hotel in the city. It would be the first hotel built since 2002 in Green River.
Some pros that were brought up during the discussion were the potential jobs being brought to the small city, the potential to bring in more visitors, a spur of development on the west side and an increase in property values.
With that being said, there were still many concerns by the council and citizens of Green River. Some concerns voiced by councilwoman Kathy Ryan were the kind of pay these new jobs would bring, the concern of becoming crowded like Moab and the TIF (Tax Increment Financing) that was being asked for by Cybulski to approve the loan for the project.
Other concerns brought up by citizens of Green River were the potential wear and tear of the roads and parks, and the lack of a fire station big enough to put out a fire in a four-story building in the case of a fire.
After a two-hour discussion, a motion was made by council member Penney Riches to move forward and reevaluate the TIF. With only three members of the council present, two votes were needed to move forward. The vote stood as follows with two yays and one nay.
Other items on the agenda included a proposal to create a public works supervisory position, which was approved, and a proposal to appoint a city administrator, which was also approved.
