South Weber to pour more study funds into gravel pit
Dak Maxfield, Real Estate Manager at Staker-Parsons, discusses plans for the South Weber gravel pit Friday, June 12, 2015 at the site in Ogden. Some ideas for the property once it's been mined include a fishing pond or ballparks.
Miners dig into the canyon Friday, June 12, 2015 the South Weber gravel pit. The site ranges in depth from 80 feet to 180 feet and is located immediately west of the mouth of Weber Canyon.
Dak Maxfield, Real Estate Manager at Staker-Parsons, at the South Weber gravel pit Friday, June 12, 2015 in Ogden. Mining is scheduled for completion around 2025, and the county and Staker-Parsons are partnering to do a concept study to determine viable usages for the property.
Miners dig into the canyon Friday, June 12, 2015 the South Weber gravel pit. The site ranges in depth from 80 feet to 180 feet and is located immediately west of the mouth of Weber Canyon.
Dak Maxfield, Real Estate Manager at Staker-Parsons, discusses plans for the South Weber gravel pit Friday, June 12, 2015 at the site in Ogden. Some ideas for the property once it's been mined include a fishing pond or ballparks.
SOUTH WEBER — What was once proposed to be a lake resort may now be a smaller pond, or even a park.
For the second time in a year, South Weber City officials have approved partnering in a concept study, this one for up to $50,000, to recommend what to do with the 200-acre Staker-Parson Cos. gravel pit upon its projected 2025 mining completion date.
The pit, with depths ranging from 80 feet to 180 feet, is west of the mouth of Weber Canyon at about 7425 S. 2700 East, South Weber.
The city council last week approved a resolution to move forward in a joint effort with Staker-Parson to retain a consulting firm to create concept plans for the future of the pit.
The partnership could save the city a significant amount of money when it comes to “moving dirt around,” with Staker-Parson, prior to abandoning its mining operation, could begin now to help slope the property in a manner that would meet favorably with a planned future development, South Weber City Recorder Tom Smith said.
Since the 1960s, the company has been excavating the pit for rock product used in road base, according to Dak Maxfield, Staker-Parsons real estate manager.
The city and the company will evenly split the cost of the $50,000 study, each contributing $25,000 toward it, according to Maxfield.
An earlier $39,000 study in which the city participated with the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District revealed in January that a $17 million to $47 million lake resort could be developed on the pit property upon the completion of the gravel pits in South Weber being mined.
The study indicated the extensive dig could technically be utilized as a water reservoir, three times the size of Causey Reservoir. But based on what water rights are currently available to the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, and the hurdles due to cost, there would be major economic challenges associated with transforming the gravel pit into a water storage reservoir or a recreational body of water, and that federal and state agencies would need to make an investment in the project, according to the first study.
South Weber officials now want to take a look at what other possibly less-ambitious uses the pit property may hold.
“It would certainly give us different options. We have been looking at this lake thing for years,” Councilman Randy Hilton said.
Some ideas for the property could include ball fields, a park, commercial space or possibly a body of water on a much smaller scale, like a pond, Councilman Dave Thomas said.
“We need to get a handle on what it is,” Thomas said.
One of the main questions he gets from the public has been “What is the city going to do with that pit?” City Manager Duncan Murray said.
“Our goal is to (have the mining operation) wrapped up by the 2025 date,” Maxfield said of the property. But because of the 2007 recession, pit operations for a few years were slowed based on demand, so the company could mine the pit beyond the 2025 excavation completion date.
If the timeline of pit excavation work is to be extended beyond 2025, Maxfield said, it would have to be mutually agreed to by South Weber City officials.
The first concept study was performed by Bowen Collins & Associates of Draper. The city will send out requests for proposals to find a firm to conduct the second study.
Contact reporter Bryon Saxton at 801-625-4244 or bsaxton@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @BryonSaxton.
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