[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},"mediaId",6671807,"mediaKeyId","2148080-ebfc39af83cf01d4ae7eeb1ead58e4db","parentId",2148080,"title","Kearns seeks $3.2 million from state for 6200 South sidewalk widening and sound wall","audioSeconds",142,"startMs",8704000,"endMs",8846000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2148080-ebfc39af83cf01d4ae7eeb1ead58e4db&start=8704&end=8846","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2148080-ebfc39af83cf01d4ae7eeb1ead58e4db/thumbnail_8704000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6671807/Utah/Kearns-seeks-32-million-from-state-for-6200-South-sidewalk-widening-and-sound-wall","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6671807-c602a94d5058d757ec04f5dfee3b695b/orig.mp4?Expires=1771157601&Signature=PdiPbrjDpEMxEDsnsWFWuRjx3mNzVqDRjbOBe0oKMIh-fM9oIn-ExsNNHUMjvWVX8vuRULpF2XEDaknzoMuZ4h9AdD7sNGBeKsBLBmD6Lyv8OuIqMeAo3eOktgs9lxOGQVAmE8Mk2zhpCzqhfFSP0kugYJV7zYzXBiuX8-3zTxMHGyH830RnMWYV3KF4ylvKJv~lXaydtwTuNJctX47ZGeLSleaqmuQD4ZGlDkq4-LtIfOgppJrtP992UugrUCa31S4VQB9f5VOtskvXP5JTLRonJaVYzY2eW3uDeueszME5ZCiyD7hJip7UnoLkJu3FsgmbdUk8Xs-QfGrnD24L3g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-01-24T00:00:00Z","article","Kearns city officials asked the Transportation Infrastructure Appropriations Subcommittee on Jan. 24 for $3.2 million in state funds to build a segment of sound wall and widen sidewalks on 6200 South.

Mayor Kelly Bush and Kearns city engineer Chad Anderson told the committee the project would install a durable sound wall with a washable finish to deter and speed removal of graffiti, widen pedestrian sidewalks near a school crossing, and provide a physical buffer between the busy arterial and adjacent backyards. City officials said multiple jurisdictions own sections of 6200 South near the project and that West Jordan and other cities share interest in improvements on the corridor. \"When we do this wall, we're going to put the wall up that actually has a barrier on it so that if there is tagging done ... we can actually wash it off with a sprayer,\" Mayor Bush said.

Why it matters: City officials described the existing sidewalk as narrow and the corridor as busier than in past years; the request is framed as a public‑safety and quality‑of‑life improvement near a school and residential areas. The project team said utility relocation (Rocky Mountain Power poles) and coordination across jurisdictions are part of the cost; Kearns said it has already invested local funds in road reconstruction and seeks state support for the finishing work.

Process and next steps: Committee members asked whether the project had been taken to the regional planning body. The presenters said they had not yet presented this request to the Wasatch Front Regional Council (WFRC) because they had other regional projects in progress, but they welcomed bringing the project to WFRC for prioritization. The subcommittee did not act on the request at the Jan. 24 hearing.

Bottom line: Kearns seeks $3.2 million from the state to construct a sound wall and widen sidewalks along a short, jurisdictionally fragmented segment of 6200 South; the request was presented to the subcommittee for consideration and will require intergovernmental coordination and utility relocation work if funded.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Transportation and Infrastructure Appropriations Subcommittee - January 24, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Kearns city officials on Jan. 24 asked the Transportation Infrastructure Appropriations Subcommittee for $3.2 million in state funding to build a sound wall and widen sidewalks on 6200 South near a school crossing.","taxTitle","2025 Utah Legislature, Utah Legislature, Utah Legislative Branch, Utah","taxId",78171,"location","Utah","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6671815,"Utah Education and Telehealth Network asks Legislature to fund statewide conferencing, boost cybersecurity and classroom software",1492,208000,1700000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2148080-ebfc39af83cf01d4ae7eeb1ead58e4db&start=208&end=1700","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2148080-ebfc39af83cf01d4ae7eeb1ead58e4db/thumbnail_208000.jpg","/articles/6671815/Utah/Utah-Education-and-Telehealth-Network-asks-Legislature-to-fund-statewide-conferencing-boost-cybersecurity-and-classroom-software","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6671815-b034d6f23eeed16990ddba491ba83f4b/orig.mp4?Expires=1771157601&Signature=dqP6TbbDB1kwsiotZEasxDGAhe8Do-P6ytdfIsJ5AIokvEDIGdsoh-kkyuU9aFuosIshXLcm1DWZ8OkTc7FxIuYUNSBpYCJiNdtkRZq2tYF2jqgwOe45ZFLFQnUgo~kGfRQbCHJnhr89Og3gfdJ1r4Usf4uSgFmxV902JgTw3XT2~w87t3ZDmvNYmWV2H0XSnBmPaFMbv8oEW20W3GAgIQMj1vfoNS2J~zY2pLT3LwyVjfxHeitqqib5JsfbZaacwaQznvZv9XoMd~Ika4GlXJJ2jzVWdg7D3TtmsDjJsIdjzRG9ACPjhJocS6GDN9Mu9llFnECDjEYIX5VuJlcvEA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Utah Education and Telehealth Network asked the Transportation Infrastructure Appropriations Subcommittee on Jan. 24 for funding to cover statewide video‑conferencing licenses, add cybersecurity staff serving technical colleges and buy additional instructional software for classrooms.

UETN Executive Director Spencer Jenkins told the panel the network provides Internet, video conferencing and telehealth connectivity to K‑12 districts, higher education, tech colleges, hundreds of libraries and more than 70 telehealth sites. \"We are what we call a lease‑based network,\" Jenkins said. He said UETN contracts with private providers and UDOT for fiber routes and that traffic on the network is growing ‘‘roughly 20% each year.’’

The request includes a proposal to hold enterprise licensing with a specific vendor so all public and higher education institutions could use one statewide license. Jenkins said state procurement and combining K‑12 with higher education volume reduces the per‑seat cost. He described the proposal as UETN’s top priority and called it an attempt to lower per‑seat pricing by negotiating one enterprise agreement for the entire education enterprise. In describing scale, he said the statewide program would cover on the order of 67,000 seats across K‑12 and higher education.

Why it matters: UETN said combining institutional purchases could cut per‑seat costs; Jenkins also argued statewide licensing would simplify local purchasing and provide uniform tools for distance learning, concurrent enrollment, and rural access to advanced classes.

Budget and requests: Jenkins reviewed UETN’s financial snapshot during the presentation. The transcript records an agency base budget figure of about $69,600,000 for FY26 and references $881,000 from the general fund and a large share coming from an \"income tax\" account (a figure of about $35,000,000 was cited during the overview). Earlier in the session staff referenced a UETN request described in administrative materials as $4,800,000 from the income tax fund and $1,500,000 from a public/restricted account (totaling $6,460,000) for video conferencing software for K‑12, tech colleges and higher education. Jenkins later described the highest‑priority request as an ongoing funding request of roughly \"2.154 $1,000,000\" in the transcript (the recording is unclear on the printed figure) and said the governor’s proposal would cover three years of licensing; he said UETN’s preference is an ongoing appropriation.

Cybersecurity and district audits: The panel pressed UETN on student safety and content filtering. Representative Ivory asked whether the network can address access to pornographic or indecent content. Jason Strait, identified as UETN vice chair and a K‑12 regional service director, replied that filtering and federal privacy laws are implemented at the local education agency level and that LEAs maintain active filters on school networks. Strait said many districts block VPNs and that LEAs run logs and audits to detect circumvention. Jenkins added that smaller districts may lack resources to audit and act on logs and that UETN can provide technical support and help standardize cybersecurity practice but does not want to supplant districts’ roles on student discipline or policy. \"We can be a support technologically speaking and technically to help them fill those gaps on the technical side,\" Jenkins said.

Senator Reidy told the committee her district recently experienced a large cyber incident she described as compromising personal information of about 400,000 students, employees and staff. She urged the committee to support additional cybersecurity funding. Jenkins said UETN has completed a statewide assessment of cybersecurity posture for K‑12 and higher education and is discussing ways to standardize processes and provide additional support.

Instructional software and other services: Jenkins also requested funding for additional instructional software such as Nearpod (which he described as a curriculum‑building tool that packages multiple media sources into lessons), and said UETN offers free professional development in ed‑tech to many administrators and teachers across the state.

Committee questions and usage metrics: Committee members asked about vendor selection criteria and utilization metrics. Jenkins said UETN focuses on “infrastructure” software that functions as a backbone across education (Canvas, Zoom) and monitors whether a majority of districts use a tool and how many seats are actively utilized. He cited a recent approach to AI tools where UETN negotiated statewide pricing but left adoption and payment to districts for a testing period.

What the record shows and next steps: UETN presented three main requests to the subcommittee: (1) statewide video‑conferencing licensing; (2) two cybersecurity staff to audit and support technical colleges (with some added capacity for K‑12 audits); and (3) additional instructional software licenses (Nearpod and similar tools). The transcript shows discussion but no final action or vote on those requests during the Jan. 24 meeting.

Bottom line: UETN framed the proposals as cost‑saving at scale and as a way to strengthen cybersecurity and classroom tools across rural and urban districts. Legislators pressed UETN on auditing, implementation metrics and whether statewide purchases would be equitable for districts with differing usage patterns. Several legislators asked UETN to provide further utilization metrics and a clearer reconciliation of the different dollar figures cited in the materials.

","The Utah Education and Telehealth Network asked the Transportation Infrastructure Appropriations Subcommittee on Jan. 24 for funding to cover statewide video‑conferencing licenses, add cybersecurity staff serving technical colleges and buy additional instructional software for classrooms.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6671810,"UDOT outlines FY26 base, fee adjustments and transfers; flags bridge maintenance and Cottonwood Canyon legal issues",3518,2548000,6066000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2148080-ebfc39af83cf01d4ae7eeb1ead58e4db&start=2548&end=6066","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2148080-ebfc39af83cf01d4ae7eeb1ead58e4db/thumbnail_2548000.jpg","/articles/6671810/Utah/UDOT-outlines-FY26-base-fee-adjustments-and-transfers-flags-bridge-maintenance-and-Cottonwood-Canyon-legal-issues","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6671810-5ec675d63298fb2806d41e92277ff684/orig.mp4?Expires=1771157601&Signature=VUrmTxgEkJe7kn~Zaj9OpFQIWcqYwssT~2MCC-yZcm3tgJi0YicjphyaqfijfCqfutHUGt6An3nFClrbh63dwVDtEhp0lQ1OR2YunCIS2AwVTYf5VNvg6zjAulzYFo2pzjqxsIftkI9Q0hzdmPYFioQirRwMS7YjkmNqKZinlm5q0GvAa3ec~OeMDDN1Lz0U6QYUD63MXz9qmrd-ZLMjbzhWcDG2zdysNZC2RedYBJ15Bz966PSJbraXTbNqBcQfg0VE4Vwb3l6IYHg8iLRz-VwG9ob0JjsOzCmx~OIjZmsYSLaNLFLg158o6nBzC~E52DTBjj-BPHM~kaj0P0BGzQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) gave an overview of its FY26 base budget and a package of fee, transfer and project requests at a Transportation Infrastructure Appropriations Subcommittee meeting on Jan. 24.

LFA background and base budget: Rachel Bowe, financial analyst for the Legislative Fiscal Analyst (LFA), said the FY26 base budget contains no new appropriations to UDOT in the operating capital base and noted prior interim work that added line items to display certain sales tax expenditures in the operating and capital budget (for example, the Cottonwood Canyon Transportation Investment Fund, the Commuter Rail Subaccount and the Active Transportation Investment Fund). She also reviewed a list of nonlapsing intent language that IGG approved in October and reported UDOT requested an increase in one nonlapsing intent for highway maintenance equipment purchases because vendor delays prevented expenditure in FY25.

Fee group review and proposed fee changes: Bowe described an interim review of agency fees under the statutory process cited in the transcript (63J‑1‑504 language was referenced). UDOT proposed quantity and rate changes across several fee groups that staff recommended the subcommittee consider approving; the fee groups included access‑management permits (type 1–4 tiers tied to expected average daily trip counts), encroachment permits (landscaping, manhole access, inspection and overtime inspection), utility encroachment fees (low/medium/high/excess impact by duration and traffic impacts), special event permits and express‑lane administrative fees. LFA summarized that some fees historically understated estimated quantities and the agency adjusted quantities based on recent charging history.

Transfers, reductions and LFA recommendation: LFA presented potential reduction options to yield state savings. Among them was a proposed $6.6 million ongoing reduction of general fund appropriation into a TIF capital projects fund; staff said this equaled roughly a 2% reduction of that ongoing appropriation and presented it as an option for the subcommittee to consider. LFA recommended the committee approve the listed nonlapsing intent language and consider the fee and reduction options as they prioritize the subcommittee’s budget recommendations to Executive Appropriations.

UDOT strategic context and condition concerns: UDOT Director Carlos Braceras presented the department’s strategic framework and asset management outlook. He said the department manages about $62 billion in transportation assets and inspects bridges at least once every two years. Braceras noted the age distribution of bridges includes many structures built in the 1960s and 1970s and indicated those assets present a continuing preservation challenge; the department said it was anticipating a need to shift additional funding from pavement work into bridge preservation to hold target conditions.

Key operational and new requests: UDOT asked the committee to approve a range of transfers and new transfers into operations and other line items. Notable items included:
- Lighting technicians: request to add six lighting technicians (about $2.0 million ongoing plus $665,000 one‑time for trucks and equipment), and a proposed statutory change so the department would maintain signal lighting in places where local governments currently hold maintenance responsibility.
- Litter program: a request to restore $1.8 million previously removed in 2021 and add $1.0 million new ongoing funding (total $2.8 million) to expand scheduled litter pickup contracts on key routes.
- Consultant staffing and rotational engineers: requests to convert consultant positions to state employees ($480,000 ongoing) and fund 10 additional rotational engineers ($1.25 million ongoing) to maintain in‑house capacity for design and construction oversight.
- Surplus property sales: one‑time $3.0 million to help prepare and market surplus UDOT parcels for sale (UDOT said it has a backlog of potentially sellable parcels and last year generated roughly $25 million from sales of about 100 parcels).
- Construction inspection training: $1.25 million (combination of ongoing and one‑time funds) to build a training program to replace retiring inspectors and ensure consistent inspector training for consultants and staff.
- Aeronautics items: transfers and one‑time funding to support Civil Air Patrol, aircraft registration staffing, overhaul of a Cessna engine, two to three electric aircraft charging stations ($2.0 million one‑time), and a general‑fund ask for an aeronautics hangar at Salt Lake City International ($9.0 million one‑time requested in the governor’s package; transcript indicates total project cost is about $36.0 million and that future requests would follow).

Cottonwood Canyon Transportation Investment Fund and EIS litigation: Director Braceras explained the Cottonwood Canyon Transportation Investment Fund was created by prior legislation and cited a $200 million package to implement a phase 1 bus option for Little Cottonwood Canyon (the transcript references roughly $150 million general fund plus about $50 million from the fund). He said litigation on the Little Cottonwood Canyon environmental impact statement created several claims and that implementation of phase 1 will require resolving some, but not necessarily all, claims; he said the department and plaintiffs were in continued dialogue about a path forward for the bus stations and tolling components. He also said the appropriation language requires legislative appropriation to spend from the fund and that the department does not have unilateral authority to reallocate those funds.

Federal funding dependency and bridge preservation: Committee members asked how dependent Utah is on federal funding for bridge and pavement work. Braceras said Utah is less dependent than many states but noted the state does rely on federal highway dollars and that changes at the federal level would have budgetary consequences. He said UDOT is monitoring deteriorating bridge conditions and expects to shift resources to bridal preservation when necessary.

Next steps and committee questions: Committee members asked for further documentation on fee units and cost‑per‑unit, details on which projects the proposed reduction would affect, and for UDOT to provide cost or unit metrics for fees (square feet, linear feet, inspections per hour) before the committee votes. LFA said it would add unit‑cost detail to the voting packet. No legislative action was taken at the Jan. 24 meeting; UDOT and staff were asked to provide additional information for subcommittee consideration.

","The Utah Department of Transportation presented its FY26 base budget snapshot, proposed fee changes, nonlapsing intent requests and a set of transfers and operational requests — including staffing for lighting and an expanded litter program — at a Jan. 24 Subcommittee hearing.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Kearns seeks $3.2 million from state for 6200 South sidewalk widening and sound wall

Utah Education and Telehealth Network asks Legislature to fund statewide conferencing, boost cybersecurity and classroom software

UDOT outlines FY26 base, fee adjustments and transfers; flags bridge maintenance and Cottonwood Canyon legal issues