Happy Monday! Colten here.
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Let’s see what’s going on this week.
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UTILITY BOX
🌤️ Mon 20: 99°/69° — Mostly Sunny (15%), wind 9 mph SE
🌩️ Tue 21: 94°/67° — Isolated Thunderstorms (47%), wind 10 mph SE
🌩️ Wed 22: 87°/67° — PM Thunderstorms (53%), wind 8 mph SSE
🌤️ Thu 23: 91°/68° — Mostly Sunny (24%), wind 7 mph ESE
🌤️ Fri 24: 96°/69° — Mostly Sunny (24%), wind 8 mph SSE
🌤️ Sat 25: 95°/69° — Mostly Sunny (21%), wind 8 mph S
🌤️ Sun 26: 97°/69° — Mostly Sunny (15%), wind 8 mph S
🔥 The Stookey Fire, burning in Tooele County's West Desert, has grown to roughly 10,300 acres and is 40 percent contained. It is not threatening any structures, and is a likely contributor to this week's air quality, which stays good early in the week before shifting into the moderate range by Wednesday and holding there through the weekend.
Utah Fire Update here
Predicted Air Quality here
🎉 City offices and the Eagle Mountain Public Library close July 24 for Pioneer Day, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The library also closes July 25, same hours.
💧 Lawn watering this week should follow the state's watering guide.
🔗 Eagle Mountain City's Linktree gathers its most-used resources in one place, including the public comment form, emergency alerts, and the resident portal.
CIVIC HIGHLIGHTS
Affordable homes, a new bike park, and a discussion over fire prevention rules
The Eagle Mountain City Council meets July 21, work session at 4 p.m., regular meeting at 7 p.m. Full agenda here. Here's what's actually worth knowing.
Affordable homes coming to the Triumph neighborhood off Lake Mountain Road. A developer wants to build four small pockets of homes there, priced around $350,000, on smaller lots with narrower streets to keep costs down. Buyers can't turn them into rentals or flip them for a big profit. The Planning Commission already recommended it. Council votes Tuesday.
What this means: if it passes, Eagle Mountain gets more affordable housing options in the future.
A new bike park could get the green light. Council votes on the city's updated trails plan, which adds a bike park at Mountain Ranch, a youth mountain biking course, and better trail signs around town.
What this means: if approved, this becomes the city's plan for where trail money goes next.
Screenshot of page 20 from the Eagle Mountain Off-street Trails Master Plan - April 2026. Source: Agenda Packet for July 21, 2026 City Council Meeting, page 129.
Round two on fire-safety building rules. In May, Council rejected new rules that would have required extra open space around homes near wildland areas, over concerns they restricted what residents could do with their own property. Staff returns Tuesday with a revised version for Council to consider. No vote yet, just a fresh look at the tradeoffs.
Deciding where $466,000 in federal money goes. Eagle Mountain receives federal funding each year for housing and community projects, about $247,000 new this year plus $220,000 left over from past years. Council gives staff direction on priorities Tuesday, ahead of a public hearing August 4. More on the city's CDBG page.
Also on the agenda:
Meta data center agreement update. A small landscaping and boundary change to the existing agreement, plus removing a strip of land already sold to Rocky Mountain Power.
Brylee Townhomes changes. The developer is asking for credit toward the townhomes still required under their agreement, since some were already built, and more time to finish shared open space near those units. Planning Commission already recommended approval, 4 to 0.
Ranches Golf Course land request. A resident wants to buy a small, 0.13-acre piece of the golf course. Council is just discussing it Tuesday, not voting.
Property tax hearing and vote dates ahead
Eagle Mountain's proposed 220.88% property tax increase moves toward its final steps in August. Public hearing August 6 at 6 p.m., final vote August 18. The roughly $6.74 million in new revenue goes to the Sheriff's Office contract and additional deputies. I covered the full breakdown in my July 3 deep-dive. I also moderated a podcast with Mayor Gray, Councilmember Huish, Councilmember Whiting. You can watch the podcast on YouTube or listen to it on Apple Podcasts. If you want the city to know your thoughts, then share them directly through the city's public comment form.
LOCAL SPOTLIGHT: Falter Media
Austin Falters lives in Eagle Mountain and runs Falter Media, a short-form video marketing agency. He started the business after a period when his son was in the NICU 25 miles from where his wife was recovering. Austin began filming short videos on his visits to share with her, and that turned into freelance video work, then a business.
Falter Media now helps other businesses with video editing, ad creation, and content strategy for platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Austin has spoken at TEDx Bountiful on the creator economy, and his following across platforms has grown past 150,000.
Local business owners interested in video content can find him at falter.media.
THIS WEEK
Monday, July 20
BINGO, 5 to 6 p.m., Eagle Mountain Senior Center.
Tuesday, July 21
Scales & Tails Utah: Care of Mystical Creatures, 10:15 to 11:15 a.m., Cory B. Wride Memorial Park. Meet reptiles and amphibians with a presenter dressed as a "wizarding professor." Kids are welcome to come in their own magical attire.
City Council Meeting, 4 to 9 p.m., City Hall.
Wednesday, July 22
Yoga, 9:30 to 10 a.m., Nolen Park.
Arts, Crafts, & Lunch, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Senior Center.
Craft Day Open House, 3 to 5 p.m., Eagle Mountain Library.
Eagle Crest Storage Grand Opening, 4 to 6 p.m., with a ribbon cutting.
Thursday, July 23
Arts, Crafts, & Lunch, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Senior Center.
Sunrise Networking, 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., Chamber Business Resource Center, hosted by the Valley Crossroads Chamber.
Friday, July 24
Pioneer Day. City offices and the library are closed.
Saturday, July 25
Farmers Market, 4 to 8 p.m., Cory B. Wride Memorial Park.
Summer Bash & Laser Show, 4 to 10 p.m., Cory B. Wride Memorial Park, with a watermelon contest and laser show.
WORTH THE DRIVE
Wednesday, July 23 (evening)
Cedar Fort Pioneer Day Water Fight, town-wide. (If you know more about this event, please let me know. I couldn’t find online sources besides the one hyperlinked above.)
Thursday, July 24
Cedar Fort Pioneer Day Celebration, all day, Cedar Fort Park and Rodeo Grounds. (Same as the Cedar Fort water fight item above: If you know more about this event, let me know. Online info is scarce for this.)
Saturday, July 25
American Fork Steel Days closes out, Grand Parade at 9 a.m., Big Show and fireworks that night.
Hadestown: Teen Edition closes its run at The Ruth in Pleasant Grove.
Fairfield's Pioneers Celebration, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Camp Floyd State Park.
Tuesday, July 28
Mind Matters: A Dementia Information Series, 7 to 8 p.m., American Fork Library. Presented by the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.
Thursday, July 30
American Fork Memories Project Writing Workshop, 7 to 8:30 p.m., American Fork Library. Teen and adult writers get help crafting their own American Fork memory.
Bluffdale Arts presents The Lightning Thief, running through August 1.
Saturday, August 1 through Friday, August 7
Thanksgiving Point's Grandparent's Week, free child admission ticket with the purchase of an adult or senior ticket.
Ongoing
The Scarlet Pimpernel plays at The Ruth through August 22.
Dinos After Dark, Every Monday through July, 6 to 8 p.m., Museum of Ancient Life.
Lehi's Arts in the Park Concert series continues Sunday evenings through September.
LOOK AHEAD
July 27–31: Snapology Summer Camp: Robotics. Registration.
August 1: Back to School Night.
August 4: CDBG public comment period deadline.
August 6: Truth in Taxation public hearing, 6 p.m.
August 7: John Hancock Charter School's ribbon cutting for its new Lake Mountain Campus, 9 a.m., 2948 N Lake Mountain Rd. The tuition-free K through 6 charter school is celebrating the opening of its new Eagle Mountain campus. More at johnhancockcs.org.
August 7: Utah Food Bank's summer meal program for kids ends. Find a site.
August 18: Final Council vote on the property tax increase.
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See you around,
— Colten
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