Council approves military reserve utilities waiver
The Logan City Municipal Council approved a military reserve utility waiver Wednesday. Soldiers on active duty in the military reserve will now have a partial waiver of utilities fees.
Council member Tami Pyfer said she knew it was the right decision to vote for it; however, councilman Alan Allred questioned the situation for a short time.
“When individuals join the Reserve or the National Guard, they do it knowing that sometime this [war] might happen and fall into that category. I can speak as one having that authority because I had to make the decision also,” Allred said.
Allred said Reserve members get paid for their time while they’re at home to help care for their families.
“When they leave the service they have to make the decision whether they’re going to stay in the Reserves or whether they’re going to get out of the Reserves,” Allred said.
The council concurred that there are many people who need the waiver. The vote was unanimous in favor of the resolution.
The recommendation for “The Future for Downtown Logan” was not accepted by the council, which had a few questions and doubts. Pyfer said she completely agrees with the proposition except for two minor details in the paperwork. Pyfer said she disliked the truck route and landscape medians. Pyfer said the truck route would completely take a step backward because of previous arguments concerning it. The Homecoming Parade and other Main Street events may be affected by a median, Pyfer said.
Council member Steven Thompson voted against the proposed recommendation, saying he had a problem with the inter-block pedestrian crossing as well as a mid-block crossing discussed in the plans.
Two Logan City policemen presented a citizen commendation award to Curtis Knight, who was a great source to police in helping find the perpetrator for a storage unit burglary. Knight said he and his family worked hard and stayed up late into the night to catch the burglar.
A local business owner expressed concerns over the actions of the mayor and council.
Steve Bower, owner of Logo It in Logan, claimed Mayor Doug Thompson and the municipal council are devoting their every effort to shut down Bower’s business. Bower said he was confronted about business problems but was never specifically advised what the problems were. Bower said Doug Thompson would not reveal why Bower’s business was in jeopardy of losing its license.
“The mayor made it very clear that I’m not worthy of dignity and respect,” Bower said.
Doug Thompson said if he were Bower’s best friend, he would have given him the same advanced warning.
Pyfer said the council did not have time to thoroughly discuss Bower’s complaint or watch a video tape Bower brought which Bower said depicted an argument between himself and Doug Thompson.
The next meeting will be held on Nov. 19.
-amysueh@cc.usu.edu