Summit County gets a new jail in the next year or two thanks to voter endorsement Tuesday of a $9 million bond issue.
The proposal passed by a substantial margin, with 4,388 in favor and 3,470 opposed.Sheriff D. Fred Eley said previous studies have pinpointed the area east of U.S. 40 just south of its intersection with U.S. 80 as the best site for a new facility, which is needed to ease overcrowding at the current jail in Coalville and, according to Eley, needs to be closer to Park City to better serve the most populous part of the county.
The U.S. 40 site was picked in part, too, because it is probably the most politically acceptable, situated in an area already designated as a nonresidential industrial park.
Voters on Tuesday also approved by a 3,468-to-3,121 margin a proposal for a study on whether county government might operate better under a different form of government.
Researchers will explore alternatives to the current three-member commission arrangement, which critics say is a too highly concentrated form of administration.
Recommendations for change could include broadening commission membership to five, offering representation according to geographic districts, or bringing in professional administrators to help elected commissioners handle county government's growing list of day-to-day responsibilities.