News for
June 10, 2026

 

By Myrna Trauntvein
TN Correspondent

A recent letter to the editor in the Times News concerning a possible land exchange between Juab County and Utah County prompted a public reply from Clinton Painter, commission chairman, at Monday’s commission meeting.

The land exchange proposal has been an item of negotiation between Juab and Utah Counties for some time, said Painter.

“It began with a letter from the Utah County Commission informing us that they had grown into our county,” he said.

It was reported in the Desert News on February 16, 2001, that the Juab County Commission had voted to allow Santaquin to annex a parcel of Juab land. The action would move 127 acres inside Juab County one step closer to becoming part of Utah County.

Then on April 27, 2026, in an article published in the Daily Herald, it stated that Utah County was pursuing a land swap with Juab County that would keep a Santaquin City subdivision development from being split between county lines.

Part of the subdivision has been built and there are plans to build more in Juab County.

“The first offer they made to Juab County, in the beginning, was for a land swap of the property west of the freeway and over a small hill from Rocky Ridge, for land at the interchange that leads from I-15 along Old 91 to Mona,” said Painter.

That fell through when an auto dealership wanted to locate there and Utah County did not want to lose that sales tax, Painter said.

Painter became a commissioner in 2015.

“I went to lunch with their commissioner in 2024 for that discussion’” said Painter.

At that point, the Utah County Commission asked if Juab County would accept a monetary exchange, with Utah County paying Juab County for the land.

However, the offer was not acceptable to Juab County because the value should have been higher. Considering land values, the price tag was not acceptable.

“By this point, Marty Palmer, commissioner, had become part of the commission,” said Painter.

At a meeting Palmer also attended, a commissioner from Utah County slammed her hands on the table and threatened to leave.

It is true, he said, that some of the homes being built on the south end of the Santaquin subdivision are on Juab County property. Furthermore, some are half in one county and half in another.

Early on in negotiations that date back 25 years, Utah County Commissioners came to Nephi to discuss the possibility of a land exchange as an agenda item. At that meeting, they were told that, 1. Cities often grow over boundaries. 2. School districts allow the students to go with the majority of residents. 3. Both county assessors meet and draw lines so that no home is in two counties.

For years, nothing more was heard. When negotiations picked up again, Utah County and Santaquin have not been willing to come to mutually beneficial terms with Juab County, said Painter.

The claim that all Santaquin leadership wanted “was to make sure it could just be straightforward, done and over with,” as stated in a Daily Herald article written by Jacob Nielson in the April 27, 2026 issue, was just what Juab County had wanted.

“We want to do this just one time,” said Palmer. “We do not want to keep doing it over.”

“We actually found out during the last legislative session that they were going to draft a bill,” said Painter.

Santaquin area’s legislative representative planned to propose a bill that would annex Juab County property without recompense.

“When we found out that was what was planned,” said Painter, “Brandy Grace, Chief Executive Officer of the Utah Association of Counties, and Travis Kyhl, R6 Regional Council Executive Director reached out.”

Zack Buck, county assessor, had given them extensive information. Painter said that Marvin Kenison, commissioner, had sat with Buck.

Skyler Beltran, Utah County Commission Chairman, said in the Daily Herald article, that Utah State Senator Mike McKell, went to the Utah Association of Counties and set up a meeting between the two sides. Beltran said he and a Juab County commissioner had met twice at the Utah State Capitol to discuss things.

Utah County is proposing a land exchange of 1,200 acres near Eureka as the tradeoff. The new boundaries would extend Juab County east of the city. The current county line is aligned with the city line next to Tintic High School.

Beltran said, in the article, that assessors from each county had planned a meeting but that Juab County had found new information.

Tanielle Callaway, Juab County Clerk/Auditor, and Debbie Zirbes, Juab County Recorder, also discovered that Juab County had mining claims in the area that Utah County had wanted to exchange.

“The law about mining claims is that you cannot split them between counties,” said Painter.

The gravel pit located north of Rocky Ridge and south of the Santaquin subdivision, is actually also half in and half out of both counties. There is also a DNR gun range on the eastern side of I-15 Exit 242.

“For now,” said Painter, “everything is on hold.”