Washington City Mayor Kress Staheli Says Big Things Coming

Washington City Mayor Kress Staheli offered his "State of The City" address Tuesday and the first-term mayor said big things are in the works.

Staheli addressed a packed house in the reception hall at the Washington City Community Center.

"Ara (an Armenian word meaning - make it rain) Logistics Center will be a 276 acre development with 700,000 square feet of buildings developed by Freeport West," Staheli said. "They are investing $400 Million for this project. They will create thousands of job over the next 15 years as the project develops."

The industrial park will be out near the airport, inside the Washington City borders.

Staheli also touted the future businesses that have already committed to opening up in Washington City, including Solente (a community similar to Desert Color which will have public access trailheads, a resort hotel, high-density housing, retail office space and many other features), an Auto Mall (Exit 13 - there will eventually be about 10 auto dealerships coming. Findlay Hyundai will be the first), Washington Fields Office Building (near Riverside Elementary), Best Western Plus, Settler's RV Luxury Resort, several new restaurants, Stucki Farms, and Quentin's Corner (a temporary food truck park on the corner of Telegraph and Main -- Future development will come there eventually).

If you navigate on the internet to  washingtoncity.org/ECOD you will see a map showing the many things happening within Washington City.  If you hover over the map there are hyperlinks that will give you pictures and plats and information about upcoming projects.

Staheli cited the rich history of Washington City and also honored several Washington City residents, including the American Trail Blazer Award to Jean Arbuckle and the Mayor's Public Service Award to Dennis Bailey.

"The city has also hired an architect and landscaper to work with new businesses that are coming to our area to assist them in making their projects aesthetically pleasing," Staheli said.

Thye city is also fully engaged in water conservation, sponsoring the "Flip Blitz" project. The city removed 22,000 sq ft of non-functional turf in 2021 and 34,000 sq ft of turf in 2022 to help preserve water.

Washington City has passed local legislation requiring that new homes have no more eight percent turf based on their lot size up to a maximum of 1,500 sq ft around their home.

There is a turf rebate program through the Washington County Water Conservancy District where $2/sq ft will be paid to a consumer upon removal of existing turf: https://www.wcwcd.org/conservation/rebates/

Also, Staheli said Smart Meters have been installed which will track water usage in real time. Citizens can download an app to track progress. These meters have helped the city detect many leaks much faster and notify homeowners to reduce waste.

Staheli summed it all up in one sentence:

"In Washington City, we think Big."

You can watch the entire speech here.