Patience is a virtue, especially for Herriman City. For the last three years, Herriman Mayor Lorin Palmer and the city council have worked toward an agreement with the Utah Soccer Federation Legacy Fields program to construct athletic fields near Mountain Ridge Park. The two parties have finally reached a compromise, and at the recommendation of city staff, Palmer and all council members voted to greenlight the agreement at the Jan. 14 city council meeting.

“The council approved a 25-year property use agreement with the Utah Soccer Federation for two multi-use athletic fields and related amenities at 14002 S. Sentinel Ridge Blvd.,” the city’s website says. 

In return for priority in scheduling, the federation will foot the bill for the design and installation of the fields, landscaping, parking lots, irrigation and a maintenance facility. “Utah youth soccer has a Legacy Fields program, which collects money from their players to invest in facilities such as this,” Herriman Assistant City Manager Wendy Thomas said. “As part of that, they get priority use every year. They've asked for 12 weeks in the spring and 12 weeks in the fall.”

The federation will also maintain the fields and facilities. “The [federation] agrees to perform or compensate the city for… maintenance duties… at its sole cost and expense,” the seven-page agreement states. These duties include the upkeep of fields, restrooms, trash, landscaping and other general maintenance needs involving fixtures, such as benches, goals or fences.

Currently an empty field, five acres at 14002 S. Sentinel Ridge Blvd. will be the home of two new athletic fields. (Photo Courtesy Google Maps)

 In addition to providing use of the five-acre property, which was given to the city as part of a master development agreement, Herriman’s responsibilities include installing a small section of park strip landscaping, supplying utility access and addressing facility and infrastructure repair or replacement beyond ordinary maintenance. 

“The Utah Soccer Federation is… requesting that the city complete an unfinished section of sidewalk located along Sentinel Ridge Blvd., which the city engineering department estimates to cost approximately $20,000,” a Dec. 16 staff report says. 

Including the sidewalk segment, the total price tag for the city’s portion of the agreement will be around $100,000, which will be paid from the park impact fees fund. “Normally, the city just builds a park… In this case, we own the property, and they're going to spend the money to build the park,” Herriman Communications Manager Jonathan La Follette said. “We'll do a little bit of work, but it’s a joint partnership there… [It will be] just west of Mountain Ridge Park, accessible from 13800 South.”

The agreement helps further the city’s strategic plan to leverage Herriman’s natural resources by creating more parks and trails, addressing needs for more facilities and generating sports tourism. The Utah Soccer Federation has three years to complete the fields.

“I’m [very] happy to have that [agreement] completed… It's going to be great to have… more fields as an asset to our community,” new Councilman Matt Basham said. “The city is limited in what we can do with the funds that we have for parks, and this is a way for us to have a fantastic amenity [without] the capital expenditure.”

“I drove by [the property] today,” Councilwoman Terrah Anderson said at the Jan. 14 meeting. “It's neat to think about something being there instead of what it looks like now.”

The Utah Soccer Federation will build two new sports fields between 13800 South, Monument Peak Drive, 4600 West and Sentinel Ridge Blvd. (Image courtesy Google Maps)