One small step for Midway City, one giant leap left for the Lundin family in the effort that would turn their 119 acres of land into a conservation easement.
The Lundins have been working with Utah Open Lands and its executive director, Wendy Fisher, to turn the family’s acreage into a conservation easement since 2023. With a conservation easement, the Lundins’ land would be permanently protected as open space while allowing the family to keep ownership.
In Wasatch County, Utah Open Lands works with landowners, the Wasatch County Council and often Midway City on conservation easement projects. Both Midway and the county have specific open space bond funds that allow them to contribute to funding conservation projects.
Midway City Council approved its portion of the deal on Wednesday, which includes a promised $1 million. The funds come from the $5 million open space bond that was put on the ballot in 2024 and passed with a 3-to-1 margin.
In turn, Wasatch County approved $2 million out of its open space bond fund in November 2024. However, Utah Open Lands has had to backtrack the project due to the legal settlements the Lundin siblings have been wrapped up in.
Last year, siblings Michael Lundin and Nora Lundin were in the midst of settling a legal struggle with their brother regarding the property. The project now rides on the Lundin family’s sorting of that last remaining legal settlement among siblings. Once the settlement is signed and agreed upon, the conservation easement project moves on to the County Council for its approval.
Fisher explained that other aspects of the easement that previously tripped up the Lundin family members’ agreement to the project have now been settled. That includes the issue of water shares, where some members of the Lundin family sought to use their water shares as collateral for a $3 million advance on the open space bond fund payments from the city and county.
“The concepts are what people wanted, in terms of, no, we’re not turning over water shares. We’re just putting them in escrow,” Fisher said.
But Midway City Attorney Corbin Gordon questioned whether the City Council would want him to spend any additional time working through the details. While he said it does not appear the Lundin family has the authority to enter into an agreement at this point, Nora said she would hopefully be able to reach a signed settlement for the lawsuit with her siblings soon.
Then, she and her family can address the conservation easement.
The funds have already been approved on the county side, but the agreement still needs to be reviewed. With this transaction, the conservation easement would need to be put in escrow while the remaining funds are raised by Utah Open Lands. Even with the $2 million from the county and $1 million from Midway, the nonprofit would be required to raise an additional $4 million for the project through private, federal and state sources.
If that money is not raised, the county and city receive all of their money back.
“The intent of all of the parties is the full preservation and this is an incredibly challenging one to see move forward,” Fisher said. “I think the biggest thing is that there’s a lot of work left to do.”