TREMONTON CITY CORPORATION
TOWN HALL MEETING
MAY 16, 2024

Members Present:
Wes Estep—excused
Jeff Hoedt
Bret Rohde
Lyle Vance
Blair Westergard
Lyle Holmgren, Mayor
Marc Christensen, City Manager—excused
Zach LeFevre, Parks and Recreation Director
Linsey Nessen, City Recorder

Mayor Holmgren called the May 16, 2024 Town Hall Meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. The meeting was held at the Bear River Valley Senior Center, located at 510 West 1000 North Tremonton, Utah. Those in attendance were Mayor Holmgren, Councilmembers Hoedt, Rohde, Vance, and Westergard, and City Recorder Nessen. Parks and Recreation Director Zach LeFevre was also in attendance. Councilmember Estep and City Manager Christensen were excused.

1. Welcome and Introductions – Lyle Holmgren, Mayor

Mayor Holmgren said thank you for coming and showing interest in revitalizing our Main Street. This is going to be a big project. We applied for a sizable grant for revitalizing Main Street. That, along with the RDA money we already have, would provide us with a sizable amount of money to start doing something for revitalization.

2. Discussion of Main Street/Midland Square prioritization led by Councilmembers Bret Rohde and Lyle Vance

Councilmember Vance said we are trying to prioritize ideas. Councilmember Rohde said the categories we have are amenities and vibrancy, parking, visibility, buildings and facades, vacancies and underutilization. We should vote on where we think we need to put our efforts to start. What is going to bring more business and people downtown to help our economy grow? We will then decide which one is going to be the highest priority. We plan to put together a steering committee to come up with ideas on how to get businesses here and possible incentives.

Councilmember Vance reviewed what was discussed at the last meeting. There needs to be events and a place for the community to gather. There were some people who wanted to keep the trees, while others wanted them gone. We need benches and someone suggested a trolley system. We also discussed passive attractions. There could be a historical trail and advertising on signs to pull people off the freeway. Identify a map of places to eat and things to do, especially activities to bring people downtown. Directional signs and advertising the veterans’ memorial. There could be a walking trail for art and historical content in Tremonton. We need more parking, including striping and identifying those parking spaces. Parking lot repairs was another suggestion, along with Main Street and traffic congestion. We need to better advertise what Tremonton has to offer. We need to bring buildings up to code, possibly with the help of facade grants. More discussion on affordable rent and vacancies, as well as underutilization and clean up.

Councilmember Vance suggested doing what other cities have done and adding solar lights with planters to add greenery and lighting to help unify and tie Main Street in. Councilmember Rohde said we need to identify businesses to recruit. We do want more restaurants along Main Street. Maybe we can come up with incentives to get them here. If we get people walking Main Street and going to restaurants, I think that would be a big help. One resident suggested adding flags for a Veterans’ Memorial to the streetlights. Veterans could be featured on flags or banners. Councilmember Vance said in Logan they do that for their high school graduates.

Resident Connie Archibald said we want to bring people downtown and have economic development. I think people love to be in beautiful places. The Council has discussed new lampposts, which could house banners and flowerpots. Lighting up Main Street is important. It would be nice to have sidewalk sales and electricity that allows for more to be done. Electricity allows for more vendors and activity. Nancy Nicholas suggested new Christmas lights. Councilmember Vance said we could add any seasonal decoration on the streetlights.

Mayor Holmgren addressed gateway signs saying, there needs to be a reason for people to come to Tremonton. We need to feature the things that are unique. Councilmember Vance said that could be done with historical trails and identification maps or advertising. Mayor Holmgren said we are a city of murals. A resident suggested incorporating the Golden Spike. Another individual said all these suggestions go along with what we discussed last time, which is advertisement. We need billboards and gateway signs.

A man said most things are closed or closing when he gets off work. Maybe we can motivate or help businesses to stay open longer. Councilmember Rohde said I read a study saying that for downtowns to be successful, the businesses need to stay open past 7 p.m. Someone suggested having things open later on a Friday night, once a month, called Friday Night Lights. Councilmember Rohde said that is why restaurants would help.

Those in attendance voted on the items they feel are a priority. Councilmember Rohde said the first priority would be amenities and vibrancy. We need to take this information and get it to a steering committee so they can work with the ideas and come up with priorities for where we need to go. A steering committee with the right people is going to be vital to this success. Councilmember Hoedt said with a steering committee, you want to conduct a set of evaluations. You need a balanced group with different perspectives. We need a variety of people so they can provide diverse input. That group will need clear direction and expectations. They should stick to the goal and not keep changing. You may amend or add a second set of jobs later on but stay controlled and focused. They need to stay on task and get through that as quickly as possible. Getting low-hanging fruit and early successes can generate motivation. That can generate more involvement and support.

Mayor Holmgren said we have a fair amount of money that could allow us to start on some low-hanging fruit. The committee could help with passing the final budget in June. If we have ideas, we will want to add it to the budget so we can move. It was suggested that benches would be a good start. Trees and lighting were also discussed. Another suggestion was to start on bathrooms at Midland Square to improve gatherings. Someone said the Farmer’s Market is a fabulous, small version of the fair. You run into everybody and can buy stuff. People need bathrooms though.

Councilmember Rohde said we will put together a steering committee and let them start to run with this. We want to put some priority behind this and see things start to happen. Mayor Holmgren said if you would like to volunteer to be on that steering committee, come sign up. Councilmember Rohde said we will define some clear objectives and get this committee moving forward on Main Street. On our website we will advertise things that are going on and continue to communicate.

3. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 6:56 p.m., by consensus of the Council.

The undersigned duly acting and appointed Recorder for Tremonton City Corporation hereby certifies that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the minutes for the City Council Meeting held on the above referenced date. Minutes were prepared by Jessica Tanner.

Dated this 18 day of June, 2024.

Linsey Nessen, City Recorder