ALPINE — Despite several "friendly" discussions recently between the mayors of Lehi and Alpine, the two cities appear headed for a court battle over access to Schoolhouse Springs.
Lehi must protect its chief source of clean culinary water, says city administrator Ed Collins. The city gets five-sixths of the spring water — which provides about 40 percent of the city's culinary water — from the Schoolhouse Springs watershed.
Alpine, a neighboring city in north Utah County, receives the remaining one-sixth. Officials there say they, too, are interested in protecting the watershed but are also interested in maintaining public access to a popular hiking and recreation area that's been public domain for 100 years.
But Lehi officials say the their city cannot risk having the springs corrupted again by the vandals suspected of causing the contamination problems that plagued Lehi's drinking-water supply last summer — contamination that turned some of the water brown and showed up as coliform bacterial pollution traced to the springs.
Collins believes vandals who've ground away the dirt above the pipes and disturbed the vegetation near the control boxes are responsible.
"It's a number one priority for us," Collins said.
Alpine Mayor Don Watkins believes the real problem with contamination of the springs lies in having inadequate, outdated collection boxes on the property. He doesn't see where blocking public access to the hillside property will solve Lehi's problems.
Watkins told Lehi Mayor Ken Greenwood and Collins such when they met to try to resolve the situation last week — a situation that was escalating rapidly into a public fray.
Lehi's efforts over the past few weeks to block vehicular access using a locked gate were thwarted when Watkins ordered the hinges cut and the gate removed, Collins said.
The Lehi City Council recently passed a resolution calling for condemnation and the subsequent purchase of Alpine's surface rights — a move that will cost Lehi at least $375,000 but may end years of squabbling over control of the springs which are above Alpine but are under Lehi's control.
Alpine and Lehi have jointly owned the property since 1994 when a condemnation proceeding initiated by the cities took it out of private hands. At that time, it appeared that the cities could work together in protecting the water supply. Greenwood said that does not appear to be possible any longer since the cities disagree on how to control traffic in and out of the area.
"The price for half of the property then (1994) was $375,000," Watkins said. "That's about where the value is to me."
Alpine's Watkins said he isn't generally in favor of using the court system to solve disputes, but "in this case, we may have to rely on the court to tell us what's fair."
Lehi has hired an appraiser and is moving forward on the eminent-domain purchase process, Collins said. He said there are two very different opinions about what is going on, and Lehi cannot afford to wait and see what happens.
"We have an honest difference of opinion," Watkins said. "We think it's runoff causing the problems."
Collins has pictures of debris and destruction in the area that includes not only Schoolhouse Springs but also the Birch Springs and Hamongog Springs.
He said the collection boxes are old — but functional — and have little to do with Lehi's concerns.
"Vehicular traffic into the area is the problem," he said.
Watkins said Alpine will be sorry to lose the springs property to public access because of the vandalism, if that is what a judge decides.
"Schoolhouse Springs is a treasured gem, a beautiful place to hike and walk," Watkins said. "Maybe we should just divide the property up. Most of the springs are in the upper half. Ours is in the lower. I don't think we should punish everybody for the actions of a few."
Greenwood said he hopes the courts recognize that the situation must be resolved fairly quickly.
"We can't wait on it because it involves the health, safety and welfare of our citizens," he said.
E-mail: haddoc@desnews.com