The Seven County Infrastructure Coalition (SCIC) was created to help the counties of eastern Utah get complicated projects done. At least that was how it was framed.
Instead, the SCIC is taking money away from our rural towns and counties and accomplishing very little. The SCIC has been funded almost exclusively by $34 million in Community Impact Board grants. This money would otherwise go directly to our rural communities for fire stations, road work, libraries, and water projects.
Instead, the SCIC has completed studies — studied roads, rail lines and pipelines — and poured money into engineering firms, legal services, and six-figure salaries. Most of their projects have stalled out or have been deemed inappropriate.
The SCIC did actually help support an important but relatively small broadband project in Daggett County, though they contributed no funds for actual construction. Other than that? We’ve got nothing to show for the public money spent by the SCIC so far.
The SCIC is taking money away from all of our rural communities and squandering it on unnecessary, unwanted projects that have historically failed to come to fruition. We should all be alarmed at their misuse and waste of public funds. We should be using this money to build projects that our communities actually need.
Sarah Stock, Moab