The Price Business Improvement District Committee met on February 19 and those attending discussed both the improvement committee’s direction and the upcoming bridge rebuild that will be taking place on one of the main traffic feeders into the downtown area.

Recently the Utah Department of Transportation announced that they are going to close the bridge on 100 North that crosses over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks for 120 days starting about the middle of March. The closure is to repair the 40 plus year old structure where it is beginning to show signs of failure.

While the Improvement District has little to do with the actual work that is being done the discussion among members was how the construction is going to impact the city and the downtown area. An open house for people to learn about the closure will take place on Thursday, February 28 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the Price City Hall in the downstairs open space.

The committee also took a little time to review the Improvement District’s proposed boundaries, discussed the improvements that have been talked about and where the money for those improvements would come from. No decisions have been made concerning how improvements could be funded. There was also discussion about the fact that tax bills people get in the late summer reflect all the property taxes that owners are assessed based on many agencies. Some people look at those notices and think it all goes to the city. For those that live in Price only about 14 percent of the bill is from the city itself.

In last month’s meeting, some members of the Youth City Council came and one of the things they talked about was the possibility of a scooter rental for people to use to get around town and particularly from the University campus to the downtown area. Apparently, the company that was going to do that has decided not to move into Price. However, a bike rental service called Blue Bike is starting up with both transit bikes and mountain bikes available. Initially, the program will be for University students, but it could expand later. An open house to kick off the bike share program will take place on Tuesday, February 26 at noon on the USU Eastern Campus just north of the Jennifer Leavitt Student Center.

There was also a presentation from Dave Mathis of USU Eastern who is helping to collect and break down the data from a recent survey conducted by Carbon County’s Economic Council. The survey closed the end of January and those reviewing it are beginning to digest the results. While there were about 700 responses to the survey from the entire area, around 320 came from Price itself. The largest responses per age group in the city came from those that are between 35-44 and 55-64. The majority who responded were natives of the area. The largest employers for those that responded are government and school employers, and almost as many people are retired compared to each category. The surveys from Price had a lot of comments concerning that many citizens do not know about events until after they happen and that available good housing is too expensive.  Many said that housing in the city was either of poor quality or new and high cost.

The survey, while not broken completely down yet, and not interpreted based on all factors, gave many on the committee food for thought. One of the main subcommittees on the improvement district committee has to do with events and so the comments concerning getting the word out about events was of interest.

The Price City Business Improvement District Committee meets monthly.