Alta seeks petition to keep homecoming football game in town

Alta is asking residents to sign a petition that would force the Alta-Aurelia School Board to vote on whether the annual homecoming football game stays in Alta, escalating a fight that has become about authority, local identity and who gets the last word on a shared school facility.

The draft petition seeks to keep the game in Alta from August 2026 through March 2032, the remaining life of the cities’ more than 50-year-old 28E agreement. It contains 19 rows for signatures and is being reviewed by city attorney Gary Armstrong before it is submitted to board president Marc Olhausen.

The district has already decided to move football games to Aurelia, and Superintendent Denny Olhausen says that shift is aimed at giving students better facilities and directing taxpayer money toward property the district actually owns. He said the district will continue to maintain the Alta field, but he does not read the 28E agreement as requiring contests to be played there.

City leaders are pushing back hard. Mayor Desi Suter said at Tuesday night’s council meeting that Alta will keep pressing the district, while Councilwoman Pam Henderson said residents and council members are furious over the move. The council has also discussed more aggressive options, including a lawsuit, but has stepped away from filing one for now. Armstrong told the council the city might have about a 60 percent chance of winning if it sued, though he warned litigation could be costly and bruising for the community. The city has also considered negotiating for at least one or two games in Alta or seeking a second legal opinion.

The dispute has drawn a strong public response on both sides. About 35 people attended the April 17 board meeting when the relocation plan was discussed, and more than a dozen spoke during public comment, including Alta’s city attorney and several residents. The board then moved forward with shifting high school football games and track meets to Aurelia after months of discussion and a packed meeting.

At stake is more than one homecoming game. City and school representatives say the shared-use arrangement dates to 1962, and the current signed 28E agreement, filed with the state, runs until April 2032. Suter said the city learned of the move through a district newsletter and objected that Alta was not given enough communication before a decision affecting city property and residents. The district’s financial logic is equally clear: last winter, the board bonded against future SAVE revenues for $8.25 million for the athletic performance complex, the low bid came in at $5.1 million, and about $2.5 million in remaining proceeds are still available. Olhausen has said those leftover dollars would first go toward demolishing the north end of the old Alta High School.

The petition is now the city’s latest attempt to turn resident anger into leverage before the district’s decision becomes the new normal, and the outcome could shape how much power local governments still have when school boards reinterpret long-standing agreements.