On Oct. 5, Snarr and Murray School District Superintendent Richard Tranter met with Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon to explore the district's purchase of 15 acres south of Murray Park for a new Hillcrest Junior High School.
"I'm not sure Murray residents know anything about this," Wilde said. "And I'm not sure they would agree the city needs a new junior high school, especially if the end result takes away open space in order to create another commercial area."
The land, formerly used for county fairs, is now home to a rugby stadium and soccer fields, a cooperative use Snarr says he achieved during his first term.
Wilde heard of the meeting through an unnamed source and said he suspects a commercial developer showed interest in Hillcrest's current location at State Street and 5300 South.
"I can't imagine they'd consider this without some buyer lined up," Wilde said.
But Snarr, a two-term incumbent, says Wilde's concerns are politically motivated. "He's grasping at straws to get people to say I screwed up."
Tranter described their discussion as exploratory.
"I had one 10-minute meeting with Mayor Corroon just to see if this would be of interest to the county," he said. "We're thinking about Hillcrest's future. It [now] sits in what could be the busiest intersection up and down State Street."
Nearby, the new Intermountain Health Care campus is under construction. When finished, it could draw an extra 6,000 people each day to the already traffic-clogged area.
The district has looked at other possible sites as well, Tranter said.
"There aren't many options, and we haven't yet made the decision to rebuild Hillcrest," Tranter said, adding any action might take several years.
Corroon said they were "thinking out loud" about future locations for the junior high and whether it should stay on State Street. The intent was to retain the playing fields and share use and costs. Corroon forwarded the idea to the county's parks and recreation department.
Snarr is peeved by Wilde's jabs and says he is only planning ahead.
"Prior planning prevents pathetically poor performance," Snarr said.
cmckitrick@sltrib.com
