More ‘sketchy crap’! Another Utah Inland Port Authority boondoggle:
The proposed Tooele County Inland Port is not in the public interest
What’s happening:
The Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA) is actively engaged in promoting creation of a
UIPA Project Area in Tooele County. Creation of a project area enables UIPA to offer significant tax breaks and other financial help to developers.
On April 11, in a 4-1 vote the Tooele County Council passed a resolution supporting creation of an inland port project area. Very few details were discussed in the meeting.
The proposed project area is owned by a company called Zenith Bolinder LLC (recently incorporated in Delaware). The “Zenith” of Zenith Bolinder seems to be Zenith Development and the “Bolinder” appears to be the family of State Representative Bridger Bolinder (it looks like he might have sold his ownership stake in the property last year, but it appears his family is still involved).
The other property owner in this “phase” of project area designation is the State Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA). SITLA’s property contains a significant portion of high-functioning Great Salt Lake wetlands.
Creation of the UIPA Tooele Inland Port Project Area would provide significant tax breaks and other taxpayer funded assistance to profit seeking developers.
In addition to the proposed UIPA Tooele Inland Port Project Area, Josh Romney (son of US Senator Mitt Romney) is developing the Lakeview Business Park, a warehouse facility with approximately 18 million square feet of new warehouse space planned. He is also seeking a rail connection to the development and has partnered with Savage Tooele Rail a subsidiary of Savage Services. They have been seeking approval to rebuild an old rail line that connects to the property from the mainline of the Union Pacific. The old rail line also connects to the proposed Tooele Inland Port Project Area.
Two of the developers seeking to make a profit from industrial development in Tooele County have relatives who are elected officials - State Representative Bridger Bolinder, and Josh Romney, son of US Senator Mitt Romney.
No business case for why the proposed Tooele County Inland Port should be subsidized by the taxpayers has been presented to the taxpayers.
If built, the proposed Tooele Inland Port would destroy high functioning wetlands and put more pressure on the dying Great Salt Lake. It would damage air quality, increase traffic congestion, destroy roads and create danger from heavy trucks. In short it would destroy quality of life in Tooele County. Taxpayer money should not be used to benefit a few developers at the expense of public health.
Not only would residents of Tooele County be hurt by this, but so would people throughout northern Utah who would suffer from the degradation of our air shed, destruction of critical wildlife habitat increasing the stress on migratory birds, and increased polluting and dangerous truck traffic.
What happens next and how you can help stop this destructive boondoggle:
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Attend the Tooele County of Government (COG) meeting on May 18, 6 pm, 47 South Main Street in Tooele, UT and tell the members of the Tooele COG that you don’t support the proposed Tooele Inland Port.