| Improvements have been made at the Millsite Golf course. |
On March 23, Ferron City held three public hearings with regards to applying for grant funds for three separate projects in the town. The first of the public hearings dealt with the community development block grant application for funds to improve the pavilion and the park at the city fairgrounds. This project would entail reroofing the pavilion, installation of a sprinkling system and adding an ADA compliant drinking fountain.
The only comment or question concerned the building materials to be used in the reroofing of the pavilion. It was stated that the pavilion would be reroofed with metal roofing material and aluminum siding type material for the fascia. Bids will be let out if the funding is obtained.
The second public hearing was to take comments concerning seeking funds from the permanent community impact board to construct a special event center at the city fairgrounds. A Ferron resident asked the question that if the event center is built, can this area support it along with the center currently being built in Castle Dale? Councilman Joe Trenery explained the differences in the building that is being constructed in Castle Dale and the one being considered for Ferron. “These are two totally different situations,” said Trenery.
“In Castle Dale, there is little or no parking around their building. We have a race track and parking,” said another resident. This resident also added that in speaking with the Panguitch events center, they said that they are booked most of the time.
Another resident spoke and expressed her opinion that there are more urgent needs of the town. “Although I am not against the special event center, I am just wondering if there are more critical needs at the present time for the youth of Ferron, such as a skate park,” she asked.
More comments included were: Ferron needs more infrastructure such as restaurants and hotels to serve the people who will come into the area for events at this center; will there be an events coordinator to oversee the scheduling of the building; number of seats for spectators; size of the arena; and the amount of work that needs to be done to the existing barns.
Paul Crawford said, “I have served on the committee that has been looking into the possibility of the special event center. Things like this are good for a city and help build up the city, but this project should only be done if the amount of money received from the CIB is enough so it will not require a tax burden on Ferron. This project won’t be easy, but the key will be how much money we get. I have every confidence in Joe, he has done a lot at the fairgrounds already.”
Mike McCandless, “The biggest asset this special event center would bring is what it would do for your livestock show. To become a profitable situation, Ferron will need to get local users in and develop a workable fee schedule. In terms of promotion, the travel bureau will be available to help.”
Additional comments from residents were: keep in mind the expenses of running a building of this type; the easiest part is getting the money to build; this will be a good asset to the community; this will have the ability to pull people in; needs advertising and promotion; think about the future, where will this be in five-10 years; are there any groups that have committed to use the facility; will the building be multi-functional; and how many events are needed to be held to pay the expenses.
The third and final public hearing was to take comments about seeking funding from the PCIB to construct nine additional holes at Millsite Golf Course.
One resident asked if water was available for maintenance of an additional nine holes. He was informed that the city has enough water shares to take care of the needs.
McCandless addressed the group, “The reason for considering this addition now is the availability of funding. The CIB had $20 million left at the end of last year. Their goal is to distribute 100 percent of that money. We don’t know how long this current boom will last, so it’s best to do it now. We have looked at other courses which have expanded from nine to 18 holes and are of similar conditions as Millsite. As a result of going from nine to 18, most have turned it around financially.
“The golf course committee has been working with Kris Abegglen and he thinks this is a workable project. Long term water rights will be an important part. By locating some of the new holes near Millsite Reservoir, we can be one of the top three or four courses in the state,” added McCandless.
Another Ferron resident stated that he had worked at the golf course for a short time and the comment he had heard from out of town golfers most was, “This would be a great place if you only had nine more holes.”
Course superintendent Ryan Winn stated that if this money is secured, and the project moves forward, a new sprinkling system will be installed on the current nine holes. This will be a more efficient system and the water saved from that can be used on the new nine holes. “We have had a lot of volunteer workers lately. Magnuson Lumber has donated all the materials to fix up the restroom building on hole number five. The mens association and the seniors have donated the hours and manpower to do the project. With another nine holes, we can draw in more senior tournaments,” said Winn.
Following a lenghty discussion concerning water and the needs of the city, along with the needs of the golf course, the public hearing was closed.
During the regular city council meeting, the council approved to seek funding for the three projects named in the public hearing.