‘Even with the growth’: St. George leaders recap successes, look ahead during State of the City address

ST. GEORGE — Growth, water and quality of life were themes of the 2023 State of the City address given by St. George Mayor Michele Randall and others Tuesday at the Dixie Convention Center.

People attend the 2023 State of the City address at the Dixie Convention Center, St. George, Utah, Feb. 7, 2023 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Before a large crowd seated at the convention center Tuesday afternoon, the mayor, City Manager John Willis and Public Works Director Cameron Cutler each shared recaps of city activity over the previous year followed by highlights of current or near-future projects.

Randall spoke on issues related to water, public safety and the area’s quality of life. Willis addressed the city’s growth and plans for the downtown area. Cutler followed by summarizing current and future transportation projects.

Following the address, Randall told St. George News what she felt people should take from it.

“The takeaway is that we understand we have a lot of growth, and we understand that water is a scarcity,” she said. “We’re doing our best to … manage both of those. And also we’re doing our best to keep our quality of life as excellent as it has always been, even with the growth. I think we’re doing a great job with that.”

“Yes, we’re growing, but we still have an amazing quality of life,” she added.

What follows are highlights from the 2023 St. George State of the City address.

Growth

St. George City Manager John Willis speaks at the 2023 State of the City address at the Dixie Convention Center, St. George, Utah, Feb. 7, 2023 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

“Population-wise, we are hovering at around 100,000,” Willis said. “It’s wild to think about that, but historically St. George has been among the fastest-growing cities in the nation for many years. People want to be here. People want to live here. People want to raise their families here. That’s a reason why our growth and population continues to rise.”

A slide show shared with the audience showed how many building permits had been issued by the city from year-to-year between 2019 and 2022. Permits for single-family homes were just under 1,000 in 2019, then jumped over 1,200 and 1,300 the next two years, then dropped to 836 in 2022. Though not as many single-family homes were being built, multi-family projects, townhomes, commercial, industrial and other projects were up over the previous year.

Despite the drop in overall permits, Willis said the total number and value dollar-wise has “remained stable” over the last four years.

Downtown development and projects

As a part of planning ahead for the city, Willis spoke about the city’s general plan, “St. George 2040,” which he called a blueprint for the city.

“It sets the vision for the future of St. George, includes goals and the policies on how we want the city to look in 20 years,” he said, adding the overall plan is still being produced.

An aspect of the St. George 2040 is a master plan for the downtown area that is the first of its kind for the city. It was approved by the St. George City Council last year.

St. George City Manager John Willis speaks at the 2023 State of the City address at the Dixie Convention Center, St. George, Utah, Feb. 7, 2023 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

“This is a big deal because the downtown is the core of our community,” Willis said. “It’s where we meet. It’s where we gather.”

Willis also shared renderings of the city’s new City Hall set to be built on Main Street across from Town Square Park. The new City Hall is a “dig deal” for downtown St. George and will supply the growing city departments and staff with much-needed space. The current City Offices located on 200 East north of St. George Boulevard are “bursting at the seams” with the various city departments that have grown with the city.

The city hopes to break ground on the new city hall later this year, Willis said.

Another downtown project mentioned by the mayor is the donation of city-owned property on the southern end of Main Street by the old Kmart shopping center. This parcel of land was donated to the St. George Musical Theater for the building of a new arts complex that will serve as a permanent home for the nonprofit theater company while also drawing people to that part of town again.

Water

The perpetual topic of water and its conservation was covered by the mayor who highlighted the city’s prior conservation efforts.

“None of the growth we’ve experienced would be possible without water,” Randall said. “Even though we’ve had a very wet year this year, … we still have a lot of challenges when it still comes to water.”

Randall pointed to the city’s park’s division removing more than 60,000 square feet of non-functional grass over the last two years. The grass has since been replaced with more water-efficient landscaping.

At the 2023 State of the City address at the Dixie Convention Center, St. George, Utah, Feb. 7, 2023 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Non-functional grass removed from park strips, street medians and city buildings, as well as conservation measures implemented at the city’s golf courses, has resulted in saving nearly 400 million gallons of water between 2021 and 2022, the mayor said.

Concerning current and future projects, the mayor pointed to the city’s expansion of its wastewater treatment facility. This includes the building of systems that can turn reuse water into potable water, or drinking-quality water if it comes to that, Randall said. For now, water from the treatment plant is used for the outdoor watering of public facilities.

Work also is underway to bring the plant’s production of treated water from 17 million gallons a day to 24 million gallons a day.

The Grapevine Wash Reservoir project also was mentioned and construction is expected to begin in the fall, Randall said, adding that reuse water will be stored in the reservoir during the winter so it can be used more efficiently during the summer.

Quality of life

Regarding the city’s quality of life, Randall touched on the love locals and visitors have for outdoor recreation, the city’s parks and trail system, the arts, golf and more.

In December 2022, St. George was recognized as a silver-level “bicycle-friendly” community by the League of American Bicyclists.

“The award recognizes our commitment to creating transportation and recreational resources that benefit residents of all ages and abilities while encouraging healthier and more sustainable transportation choices,” Randall said.

In this file photo, members of the St. George City Council, staff and others cut the ribbon for the new Temple Springs Trail in St. George, Utah, July 13, 2022 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

On parks and trails, the mayor mentioned the opening in July 2022 of Fish Rock Park in the Ledges area, as well as the Temple Springs Trail off Red Cliffs Parkway.

Incoming park and trail-related projects include the Fossil Rocks Park along the Virgin River and Broken Mesa Park in the Desert Canyons community. The city hopes to see the parks open sometime in June.

Last year’s Ironman competitions, which impacted not only St. George but also much of the county, also was brought up with the note the events brought an estimated $104 million into the county.

Public safety

Randall shared updates on new and incoming fire stations while also sharing a program rolled out by the St. George Police Department.

Fire Station 9, built in Little Valley, opened in July and now serves an area once covered by four different stations.

Fire Station 1, located on 1000 East, will be replaced with a new Station 1 that will be built on the corner of 400 East where the Flood Street Chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints used to stand. It is anticipated to be built sometime in 2024.

Fire Station 10 has yet to be built but is planned for the Desert Canyons and Southern Parkway area and will also cover Desert Color.

Rolled out last year by the St. George Police Department was the Watch Your Six campaign, which focuses on the six primary causes of automotive crashes and aims to help drivers avoid making them. The six causes are:

Following too closely. Making improper turns. Failure to yield.
Driving impaired. Reckless or distracted driving. Failure to stop at a red light.

Transportation

While the transportation projects undertaken by St. George and its neighboring communities were on display at the Dixie Regional Transportation Expo nearby, Cutler shared details on past and future transportation projects.

In this file photo, the Red Cliffs Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is seen from northbound 3000 East. Along the roadside is heavy equipment and materials that are a part of the 3000 East Corridor project, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2022 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

The 3000 East project has entered its fourth phase. Prior phases have seen the extension of George Washington Boulevard (formerly 2450 South) from 3000 East into Washington City where it will ultimately connect with the Southern Parkway.

South of the Red Cliffs Temple, work on 3000 East continues with an accompanying drainage project beside it. Combined with two additional phases of the project, city officials say they hope the 3000 East project will conclude by the end of the year. 3000 East itself will eventually extend to Southern Hills Drive and tie into the Southern Parkway at Exit 5.

While George Washington Boulevard will tie into the Southern Parkway in Washington City, in St. George, there are plans for it to extend from River Road toward the Dixie Drive/Exit 5 interchange of Interstate 15. This will provide a new east-west corridor for the area. It also will involve the construction of a new bridge over the Virgin River.

Other projects mentioned were the recently built Bluff Street pedestrian underpass and the rebuilding of a segment of Dixie Drive.

The 2023 State of the City address can be viewed below via YouTube.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

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