Eagle Mountain's founding family sues the city over land disputes

EAGLE MOUNTAIN — Disputes between the city of Eagle Mountain and the family that founded what used to be a small town have led the family to sue the city over alleged misuse of the rodeo grounds.

One of the city's founders was John Walden, who, along with two associates and his company, Monte Vista Ranch, bought 8,000 acres of land in Cedar Valley in 1994. Eagle Mountain was incorporated as a town in 1996 and became a city in 2001.

The Walden family has been heavily involved in the development of what is now one of the fastest-growing cities in the state.

In the last few months, however, the Walden family has become embroiled in disputes with the city government. The latest move from the Walden family caused a disruption in the March 3 City Council meeting when Tiffany Walden announced a lawsuit requesting the rodeo grounds be given back to the Walden family due to alleged misuse.

According to the lawsuit, Monte Vista Ranch and Eagle Mountain Properties executed a special warranty deed in January 2002 that conveyed 56.5 acres of property to the city "exclusively (to) be used for the purposes of a public recreation park and ancillary municipal use."

If the property "ceased to be used for the purposes specified in the deed," the companies have the right to have the property reverted back to them from the city, the lawsuit states.

By 2010, the city started using a portion of the grounds to host rodeos and created a rodeo committee that was run by Jared Gray, who is now the mayor of Eagle Mountain after being elected last November.

While city-sponsored events qualified for "ancillary municipal use" on the rodeo grounds, the lawsuit alleges the property owners "just discovered that Mayor Gray's entities have a lease that controls the rodeo parcel and confers a private benefit to the entities."

The rodeo committee became a nonprofit organization in 2014 and signed a lease agreement with the city for operation and management of the rodeo grounds, according to the lawsuit.

"Gray represented that because the committee was now a nonprofit, the city could 'approach it for donations to community improvement projects' if the rodeo resulted in revenues," the lawsuit says.

The lease gave the committee "broad discretion" to use the rodeo grounds for "virtually any lawful purpose, subject only to limited oversight by the city," the lawsuit claims, adding that the nonprofit was directed to advertise events as being hosted by them and not the city.

But the companies allege in their lawsuit that the lease provided "a private company, controlled by the mayor, with a lucrative commercial opportunity" and revenue never went to the city.

The lawsuit claims the events of nonprofit Pony Express Events are "plainly not" public recreation or ancillary municipal uses and so, according to the deed, the property should be reverted back to the owners.

When Walden announced the lawsuit at the meeting, she said she had to "defend myself against the outright lies the city projects onto me."

While speaking about city spending regarding the police force, Walden said to the mayor, "Jared, since you control the checkbook, maybe you can help the public understand where the money is actually going, or are you too busy making sure the rodeo is profitable for you?"

She said she would make it easier for him to focus on the city's money rather than his own through the lawsuit she filed to "take the rodeo grounds back from the city so we can put the land to good use for the citizens."

Walden proceeded to make claims aimed at multiple council members before focusing on the city attorney. But she was interrupted by the mayor, who turned off her microphone.

"The mic isn't on so that's enough of that," he said as Walden kept speaking. "That's enough, Tiffany. I don't care if you talk about elected officials, but you will not talk about our staff."

A Utah County sheriff's deputy then walked up to the podium and escorted Walden out of the room.

"There's some claims there that probably need to be addressed," Gray said after Walden had left.

A statement from Eagle Mountain said the city is aware of the lawsuit and is taking all legal claims "seriously."

"At this time, however, the city formally denies the allegations and claims set forth in the complaint," the statement said, adding that further details will not be shared while the city is involved in active litigation.

"The city remains committed to addressing the matter through the appropriate legal channels and will respond to the claims in court filings as required by the judicial process," the city statement said.

A subset of Monte Vista Ranch called the EM Founders Group released a statement saying the lease arrangement is "improper and raises serious concerns regarding conflicts of interest and the city's lack of oversight of nonprofit activities conducted on public property."

The group does not wish for the rodeo to be discontinued, and explained that it is fine with Gray still running the rodeo, as long as the proceeds benefit the city and community with "oversight and full transparency." The group also suggested improvements to the grounds, such as extending the bleachers, adding concessions, and developing an RV park and campground.

A month before the Waldens' suit, the city sued another Walden organization over water rights. That suit, filed on Feb. 5, alleges the Cedar Valley Water Company has incorrectly taken ownership of water rights that it had already given to the city.

On an Eagle Mountain community Facebook page, Walden called the city's water rights lawsuit "frivolous" and said she is "positive citizens won't be happy with our countersuit." She said the end result of the suits will make the city the "bad guy in all these stories, not the Waldens."

"Residents deserve to know the truth about their local leaders, thinking they can bully my family with their tax dollars," she said.

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