Tooele City received a Healthy Utah Community Designation earlier this month during a ceremony in Salt Lake City. The designation indicates that Tooele City excels in services for mental health, access to healthy food, and active living.

The designation was provided to the city by the Utah League of Cities and Towns, an inter-local government group that works to strengthen the quality of municipal government and administration throughout Utah, during a conference at the Salt Palace Convention Center on Wednesday, September 4.

The process to apply for the award was spearheaded by Tooele City’s Parks and Recreation Department and supported by Tooele City Mayor Debbie Winn and Tooele City Council members.

“The Healthy Utah Community Designation is a big accomplishment and shows our dedication to supporting and improving the health of our residents,” commented Holly Tippetts, community engagement supervisor at Tooele City.

Tooele City applied for the designation earlier this year by submitting a letter from Winn and city council members, indicating a commitment to improve community health. Then, they were required to create a community health coalition to oversee earning and maintaining the designation. They also had to identify health strategies in the community in the categories of active living, access to healthy food, and mental health.

Strategies included a promise to improve physical health by providing new walking and biking trails, building new pickleball courts, offering public skating days, installing new playgrounds, and creating affordable public rental facilities. City officials also created a three-year public health plan that included implementing additional health-centered programs, including building future basketball courts and a ninja course at England Acres Park; continuing to offer rental recreation properties, including future campgrounds at Wigwam Park; and other projects and family activities for the community, Tippetts said. If the three-year plan is carried out, it will help the city retain the designation.

“Tooele City is excited to continue working on our programs that address the needs of the community by developing or modifying services that focus on the wellbeing of our citizens and benefit our growing town,” Tippetts said.

The Healthy Utah Community Designation was created around the year 2013. Around nine other cities in Utah also received a designation or redesignation during the event on Sept. 4. To learn more, visit healthyutah.org.

To follow along with Tooele City’s plans, visit their Facebook page and the Tooele City Community Engagement Division’s Facebook page.

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