Growth seemed to be a recurring theme in Heber City in 2025, whether it be in media coverage or casual conversation between citizens. From the city’s efforts to create a walkable, bustling Main Street to the construction of the valley’s second-ever high school, Heber City is bracing for an ongoing boom in population.

In November, residents chose the mayor and two city councilors they thought were best-suited to lead the city through the next four years of proposed developments, affordable housing struggles and, most pressingly, the approaching announcement of a route for the Heber Valley bypass.

Five stories highlight just how much the once-tiny pioneer town has continued to change in 2025.

5. No Kings protests

About 62% of Wasatch County residents voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, but not all are happy with the current administration. Heber City residents joined the nationwide “No Kings” protests in June and October, with more than 1,000 people attending the latter.

The protests attracted costumed unicorns and bald eagles, people holding signs reading “Make America Kind Again” and even Midway mayor Celeste Johnson wearing a homemade protest dress.

There were also some counter-protesters, such as James Ross, who wore a MAGA hat and waved an American flag at the protest in June. 

As we come up on the one year milestone of Trump’s inauguration, majority-red communities like Heber City will continue to find ways to respond to developments from the White House over the remainder of the president’s second term.

4. School nearly in session

An only child since 1908, Wasatch High School is expecting a little sibling next year in the new Deer Creek High School, which is under construction.

Some would argue that a second high school is long overdue. When former superintendent Paul Sweat was the high school’s principal in 2006, there were 1,350 students. Now, that number has doubled to nearly 2,700.

This year, Deer Creek High School made further strides toward its August 2026 opening. 

In January, the school board chose the high school name and mascot, the Riverhawks.

The district finalized school boundaries in November after an over six-month process of surveys, data collection and public feedback. The district wanted to be thorough in order to ensure transportation safety, even enrollment numbers and keeping peers together though middle and high school.

School choice has begun for those who don’t want to attend their boundary school, with the final open enrollment period beginning in late February or early March.

Now, only one thing remains to be seen: whether the Wasps’ sports teams have enough of a sting to fend off birds of prey.

3. Ranked-choice veto

Although Heber City used ranked-choice voting in its 2021 and 2023 municipal elections, the City Council voted unanimously in April to drop the practice for this year’s election. 

Detractors, like Mayor Heidi Franco, argued that confusion around how to fill out a ranked-choice voting ballot could lead to lower voter turnout. 

Meanwhile, Heber City recorder Trina Cooke said that a ranked-choice ballot provided 50% cost savings to the city and promoted “camaraderie and politeness” among candidates.

The city put out a community survey in March that found that nearly 80% of Heber City residents spoke in opposition to ranked choice voting. This led even councilors favorable to the system, like Scott Phillips and Aaron Cheatwood, to vote against continuing the controversial voting practice.

2. Bypass becomes even more polarizing

Longtime Heber City residents will say the legend of the Heber Valley bypass goes back decades, but only as a fleeting concept. That concept became real — and all the more controversial — in 2019 when UDOT conducted a study to determine the best ways to divert traffic from Highway 40 off of Heber City’s bustling Main Street. 

A whopping 23 concepts were whittled down to five in 2022, then two in March. Alternative A keeps traffic on Highway 40 between Potters Lane and 900 North, while Alternative B cuts through the North Fields.

Proponents of Alternative B have argued for its lower cost and fewer required property acquisitions. Meanwhile, Alternative A’s supporters have decried its impacts to wetlands and open space. 

With only two options remaining, discussion around the bypass has never been so polarized. During the 2025 municipal election, which route each candidate supported was a key point of debate, despite the fact that Heber City officials will have no say in the decision.

With UDOT set to announce its preferred route on Jan. 7, there’s no doubt the bypass will remain the talk of the town in 2026, with many residents set to be disappointed either way.

1. Mayor re-elected

This year’s mayoral election proved anything but mundane. Three candidates — incumbent Heidi Franco, City Councilor Scott Phillips and health insurance salesman Mike Hewlett — declared candidacy in June. 

Franco had served 12 years in public office, eight as city councilor and four as mayor. She ran on a platform of protecting open space while tackling downtown revitalization and traffic issues. 

Phillips, who had served on the city council for the past four years, ran due to dissatisfaction with Franco’s leadership. He ran on a platform of downtown revitalization and infrastructure improvements, as well collaboration and communication, whether that be with city staff, UDOT or developers. 

Hewlett aimed to put checks on growth and give the mayor more executive power. He ran while in the midst of legal trouble, as did his wife, Jami, who ran an unsuccessful bid for the City Council. In June, Jami was charged with misdemeanor child abuse, and Mike was charged with alleged retaliation against a witness of said abuse. 

Hewlett was eliminated from the race after he received about 7% of votes in the early primary election. Phillips received about 43%, and Franco received almost 50%.

Tensions grew between Phillips and Franco in debates and city council meetings. After Franco was re-elected with 53% of the vote, Phillips introduced the drafting of a city communications policy as an agenda item for the City Council, which led to conflict through Phillips’ final meeting.

Election turnout was high this year at 48%, as opposed to the typical 30%. City public information officer Ryan Bunnell attributed the turnout to increased spending by candidates and “incendiary” campaigning variables in the mayoral race.

The post Top 5 Heber City headlines in 2025 appeared first on Park Record.

Park City officials on Thursday formalized the move to ranked-choice voting for the municipal election in November, a departure from the traditional method that often includes primary elections Parkites have grown accustomed to over the decades.

The approval was a split vote, though, that reflected concerns from some Parkites about the alteration. City Councilors Tana Toly, Bill Ciraco and Ryan Dickey cast the votes in favor of ranked-choice voting, while City Councilor Ed Parigian dissented.

Nobody testified prior to the vote in the week after the elected officials received disparate comments from the public.

Ciraco indicated he had mixed opinions about the decision, particularly regarding the timing with a City Hall election approaching.

“Do I feel comfortable changing, kind of, the election process in an election year when I’m not one of the persons up, running up, for office?” he said as he explained his considerations.

Ciraco said he also studied Heber City, which in the past has employed ranked-choice voting, as he readied for the meeting on Thursday and said the city in Wasatch County is debating the future of the system.

“I’m willing to try. I’m willing to give it a shot,” he said.

Parigian expressed concerns, saying he did not “think anybody knows, despite what they claim, that this is a better or worse choice than what we have now.”

He said there could be benefits to ranked-choice voting when an election results in one winner rather than multiple ones like a City Council contest in Park City, as well as during a partisan election rather than the nonpartisan contests in the city. Parigian also inferred that the traditional voting method could result in a more robust campaign than one employing ranked-choice voting.

“I don’t buy the argument that it would be easier to campaign because I don’t think it should be easy to campaign. I think this job’s important enough that you should take it seriously and put in the full effort and strive to win. That’s the way it’s always been,” he said.

The vote was an approval of a resolution that formally requests Park City be included in a pilot program in the state. The Park City recorder before May 1 will notify the lieutenant governor and the Summit County clerk that the municipal election will move to ranked-choice voting.

The decision to move to ranked-choice voting significantly alters the election calendar this year since a primary election is not required. Under the traditional voting method, a primary would have been held in August had there been more than two mayoral candidates or more than four competitors for the City Council. The primary would have reduced the mayoral field to two and the City Council field to four for Election Day in November.

The filing period for candidates, meanwhile, will move by more than two months. It would have been in early June under the traditional method. Ranked-choice voting delays the filing period until Aug. 12-19.

Some supporters of ranked-choice voting have noted what they see as benefits from a condensed election season. A primary election, as an example, typically would have extended a campaign by several months.

The City Hall election in November involves the mayor’s office and two City Council seats, now held by Tana Toly and Jeremy Rubell.

The post Park City formally opts for ranked-choice voting, with one dissenter appeared first on Park Record.