The board members from each county involved in the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition met on Friday for their first monthly meeting.
The first item on the agenda was a public hearing regarding the CIB’s (Community Impact Board) decision at a recent meeting to award an allocation of $55 million to the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition.
The coalition requested $5 million in funding from the CIB to start the planning and survey process of a potential rail line from Uintah County to Duchesne and Carbon counties. The CIB granted the request for the $5 million and for reasons unknown to the coalition at the time, they granted an additional $50 million.
Jeff Holt, Utah Department of Transportation Commission Chairman and Community Impact Board member, explained at Friday’s meeting that the CIB set aside a second allocation of $50 million to help fund a down payment for a future loan that would fund the rail line.
During a discussion at a board meeting earlier this month, it was determined that the CIB had $56 million at the end of the last funding cycle. The board agreed that $50 million of the funds would be allocated and suspended for the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition. They also agreed that any funds remaining at the end of each funding cycle would also be allocated to the coalition until the down payment amount is met.
As a result, certain project applications throughout the state submitted to the CIB may be deferred to a later funding cycle. The board came to the decision that any non-emergent projects can be put on hold without being detrimental to cities and counties. Projects will not be cancelled, but may be deferred.