Happy Thursday, Eagle Mountain. Colten here.
There was quite a bit of content to go through this week, so this one is longer than normal. If you’re using Gmail, the newsletter will most likely be clipped at the end. To read the entire newsletter, visit the web version here.
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UTILITY BOX
☀️ Thu 6: 100°/63° — Sunny (0%), wind 13 mph ESE
⛅ Fri 7: 101°/66° — Mostly Sunny (0%), wind 13 mph ESE
⛅ Sat 8: 100°/69° — Mostly Sunny (2%), wind 10 mph ESE
☁️ Sun 9: 97°/67° — Partly Cloudy (24%), wind 10 mph SE
☁️ Mon 10: 96°/66° — Partly Cloudy (24%), wind 9 mph SE
☁️ Tue 11: 93°/66° — Partly Cloudy (21%), wind 9 mph SE
⚠️ The Utah Food Bank's summer lunch program for kids ends tomorrow, August 7.
🔗 Eagle Mountain City's Linktree.
📱 The Eagle Mountain City App: App Store or Google Play.
CIVIC HIGHLIGHTS
Truth-in-Taxation public hearing is tonight
Eagle Mountain's Truth-in-Taxation public hearing on the proposed property tax increase is tonight, August 6, at 6 PM in the City Council Chambers. The final vote on the budget and tax rate follows on August 18 at 7 PM.
If you're heading in, the city has published what to expect during public comment. For the full sequence of council work sessions and resolutions that led here, see the city's timeline.
I’ll be there. Hope to see you there. (Feel free to say hi if you happen to recognize me.)
The Master Road Plan was approved
The Transportation Master Plan and Impact Fee Facilities Plan passed unanimously on August 4.
Out of all the projects listed in the 500+ page document, there are two road projects that I want to highlight because of how many safety issues have been reported on these roads:
At Golden Eagle Road and Silverlake Parkway, the existing roundabout will be removed and replaced with a traffic signal. The traffic analysis confirmed the intersection meets the standard threshold for one. A few residents who live in the area specifically praised this change during public comment.
A related change is coming to Woodhaven Boulevard and Silverlake Parkway. That intersection didn't actually meet the same standard threshold, but city staff recommended a signal there anyway, because of a documented history of pedestrian safety incidents at the existing roundabout.
Here's the city's full list of top-10 priority road projects, highest to lowest priority:
Ranches Parkway & Campus Drive — a new signal, $3,320,000, fully city-funded.
Ranches Parkway widening, SR-73 to Pony Express Parkway, plus two new signals — $14,476,000, fully city-funded.
Pony Express Parkway & Eagle Park Entry Road — a new signal, $620,000, fully city-funded. Its target year is 2050, so despite the ranking, this one isn't happening soon.
New Silverlake Parkway and the Woodhaven Boulevard improvements described above — $3,897,326, fully city-funded.
Pony Express Parkway widening, near Eagle Mountain Boulevard, plus two new signals — $21,497,000, fully city-funded.
A new, not-yet-named north-south road near SR-73 — $5,350,000, fully city-funded.
Pony Express Parkway widening to 7 lanes, near Ranches Parkway — $13,387,000, fully city-funded.
Pony Express Parkway widening to 7 lanes, from Ranches Parkway to the eastern city boundary — $4,708,000, fully city-funded.
A new East Expressway, connecting Pony Express Parkway to the Lake Mountain Corridor — $8,620,000 total. Eagle Mountain's share is $584,000; the rest comes from the Mountainland Association of Governments.
A new road connecting the Lake Mountain Corridor to the East Expressway — $6,407,000 total. Eagle Mountain's share is $434,000, again with MAG covering the rest.
The last two projects are also the only two not fully paid for by the city, and both depend on where the Lake Mountain Corridor actually ends up, the same question that's still unresolved from the July 30 meeting with Saratoga Springs.
The source of the above information can be found in the Agenda Packet from Tuesday’s City Council meeting here. It’s a very long document, so you’ll have to take some time navigating it.
Community funding and a plan to help families in need
The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), a federal program that funds local community development projects, will be voted on next Monday, August 10, at 3:30 PM. A public comment at the August 4 hearing came from a resident working with Cedar Valley High School to turn one of the school's portable buildings into a community center to support local families in need. If you'd like to learn more, reach out to the city at [email protected].
Healthy Utah Community Designation
Eagle Mountain is pursuing the Healthy Utah Community designation, a recognition the city is pursuing because it wants to focus on improving residents' health. To understand where things currently stand, officials presented two kinds of data: state public health records for Eagle Mountain, and a direct survey of Eagle Mountain residents conducted in partnership with Utah State University.
Here are some of the results of that survey:
Physical health and preventive care
Measure | Eagle Mountain | Statewide |
|---|---|---|
General health rated fair or poor | 16.6% | 13.8% |
High cholesterol | 33.3% | 24.9% |
High blood pressure | 32.3% | 27.3% |
Meet recommended activity levels | 56.2% | 65.4% |
Eat vegetables 3+ times daily | 10.3% | 14.6% |
Adult obesity | 37.3% | 30.8% |
Overweight or obese, combined | 67.7% | 66.0% |
Mammograms in the past 2 years | 37.3% | 63.2% |
Pap tests in the past 3 years | 40.8% | 60.9% |
Mental health
Measure | Eagle Mountain | Statewide |
|---|---|---|
7+ days of poor mental health, past month | 21.3% | 24.2% |
Depression | 22.9% | 24.5% |
Suicide rate (per 100,000) | 16.5 | 21.6 |
How residents rate their own wellbeing, 2020 vs. now
Measure | 2020 | Now |
|---|---|---|
Personal wellbeing (1–5 scale) | 4.14 | 3.92 |
Community wellbeing (1–5 scale) | 3.79 | 3.29 |
What residents say matters most to them
Priority | % who rate it important |
|---|---|
Mental health | 96% |
Safety and security | 96% |
Living standards | 92% |
Family life | 92% |
Physical health | 90% |
Local environmental quality | 87% |
Leisure time | 85% |
Connection with nature | 78% |
Transportation | 76% |
Education | 66% |
Social connections | 60% |
Cultural opportunities | 47% |
How connected residents feel to the community (1 = not at all, 5 = a great deal)
Rating | % of respondents |
|---|---|
1 | 13% |
2 | 26% |
3 | 38% |
4 | 14% |
5 | 9% |
How well the community includes people with disabilities
Rating | % of respondents |
|---|---|
Not at all | 6% |
Somewhat | 20% |
Quite well | 20% |
Fully | 10% |
No opinion | 43% |
Also from the August 4 meeting:
Scenic Mountain rezone approved 5-0, bringing outdated zoning in the expired Scenic Mountain master development area in line with the city's current land use plans. This doesn't authorize any new construction on its own.
Eagle Mountain Chapel and Recreation Building's site plan and development agreement approved 5-0 as part of the Consent Agenda.
LOCAL SPOTLIGHT: American Preparatory Academy
If you have a kindergartner through 6th grader, American Preparatory Academy's (APA) temporary Cedar Fort campus opens for its first day on Wednesday, August 19. A permanent Eagle Mountain campus is planned for 2028.
APA’s education model is built around what they call a classical approach: strong core academics, direct instruction from teachers rather than self-paced screen time, and an explicit focus on character. Since 2023, APA campuses have also kept student phones out of the school day entirely, a policy the rest of Utah's public schools are only now catching up to, after the state's new bell-to-bell cellphone law took effect this July.
Enrollment for the 2026–27 school year is open now. APA has had a booth at the Eagle Mountain Farmers Market before, so it's worth keeping an eye out for them there too. To learn more, visit their webpage or attend their weekly virtual meetings.
THIS WEEK'S EVENTS
Thursday, August 6, 6:00 PM: Truth-in-Taxation Public Hearing, City Council Chambers (full details in Civic Highlights, above)
Saturday, August 8, 9:00 AM–1:00 PM: Eagle Mountain Farmers Market, Cory B. Wride Memorial Park
Monday, August 10, 3:30 PM: CDBG special meeting and vote, City Council Chambers
Tuesday, August 11, 5:30 PM / 6:30 PM: Planning Commission Meeting, City Council Chambers
Tuesday, August 11, 6:00–7:00 PM: Homeschool Networking & Info Session, Eagle Mountain City Library
Wednesday, August 12, 6:00–7:30 PM: Adult Book Bedazzling, City Council Chambers (ages 18+, registration required)
Thursday, August 13, 6:00–9:00 PM: Food Truck Rally, Cory B. Wride Memorial Park, also hosting the Back to School Clothing Drive starting at 6 PM. Donate or pick up clean, gently used kids' clothing, shoes, and backpacks. Questions: [email protected]
WORTH THE DRIVE
Saturday, August 8, 10:00 AM: Bluffdale Old West Days Parade, Bluffdale City Park
Saturday, August 8: Alpine Days Festival & Activities, Alpine
Saturday, August 8, 8:00 PM: Free Sunset Pilates in the Park, Electric Park at Thanksgiving Point, Lehi
Saturday, August 8, 1:00–3:00 PM: Picnic with Heather B. Moore, American Fork Library
Monday, August 10, 7:30 PM: Lehi Arts in the Park Concert Series featuring the Wasatch Show Band, Wines Park, Lehi
LOOK AHEAD
Saturday, August 15: Farmers Market. Also, Ties & Tiaras Dance, registration is already closed, but email [email protected] to get on the waitlist
Monday, August 17: UTA On Demand microtransit launches, serving Eagle Mountain, Saratoga Springs, Lehi, and American Fork
Tuesday, August 18, 7:00 PM: Final property tax vote
Tuesday–Wednesday, August 25–26, 11:00 AM–7:30 PM: Produce Swap, Eagle Mountain Public Library
Saturday, October 3: Half marathon benefiting the Cedar Valley and Cedar Fort fire departments
COMMUNITY NOTES
The 2026 Eagle Mountain Bingo Challenge is still going. Complete activities on the card, get them stamped at City Hall or the Valley Crossroads Chamber Welcome Center, and turn in a full row or blackout card for a prize.
That’s all for today.
See you around,
— Colten
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