Council extends 'vacation' utility rate to two local museums after public comment

After public comment from museum volunteers, the Soda Springs City Council voted to extend the city’s lower "vacation" utility rate to two local museums and to clarify the administration of the rate for residents who request it. Galen Wilson, representing a local historical museum, told the council the facility operates mainly on weekends and relies on donations and small membership fees; staff and volunteers asked the council to keep the museum on the lower vacation rate to reduce operating costs. Wilson described visitor patterns (including school field trips) and said the museum averages roughly 300 visits during summer months. Councilmember Paul moved to provide a vacation-rate concession for the two museums referenced in public comment (the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum and the local historical society museum); the motion was seconded and approved. Council clarified the operational rule in practice: residents or entities may request the vacation rate but will automatically revert to the full residential rate after four months unless they renew their request. Councilmembers noted the rate is roughly 30 percent of the residential rate and warned that the city is reviewing broader utility-rate adjustments; staff said the vacation-rate concession for the museums will reduce monthly utility costs for those facilities by roughly $25–$30 under the current structure. The council approved the motion by voice vote and asked staff to process the rate changes and bring any further proposed rate adjustments back to the council for consideration.