A change in Vernal City Mayor is approaching and the unopposed Mayoral candidate had a chance to answer questions recently at the Vernal Chamber luncheon. Corey Foley is currently a member of the Vernal City Council. He and his wife Jackie have two children and are lifelong Vernal residents. The questions and his answers focused on the downtown revitalization efforts and his support so far. Foley pointed out the downtown parking issue that has transformed in recent years thanks to the revitalization behind the south side Highway 40 businesses between 100 West and 100 East. Foley emphasized that that area was full of potholes with poor lighting and attracted criminal behavior but thanks to many people, those areas have transformed and are now helping the downtown business scene grow. When asked if tax funded municipalities should be involved in capital projects like this, Foley said that grant funding available to municipalities is able to do what would be very difficult for private businesses. “I don’t see it happening any other way so I’m in support of government stepping in and helping,” said Foley. “I feel it has changed the heartbeat of a big part of downtown.” He explained that the businesses do have to pay into a fund to offset the cost of parking lot maintenance. When asked about water connections needed for local growth, Foley said collaboration between stakeholders is helping open up water connections. Vernal City is actually in great shape for water connections but has the challenge of being land locked so growth is limited in that way. Vernal City took over the sand mine water contract to free up Ashley Valley Water and Sewer to provide more connections in Naples.
