City postponed truck route vote
The focus of Wednesday’s city council meeting was the public hearing to consider whether or not to make 1000 West a designated truck route.
“We want to hear what you are thinking,” Karen Borg, council chairman, said. “The proposition will neither be passed or disapproved tonight.”
The council entertained concerns of citizens both for and against the proposed route.
Mayor Doug Thompson said the vote will be postponed because suggestions, which were received during the last few weeks, still need to be analyzed for cost and impact.
Some citizens were concerned primarily about the increase of truck traffic on 1000 West because Woodruff Elementary is located on that street.
Other citizens, like Mark Sorensen, who lives in that neighborhood said anything done to make the area safer after designating it as a truck route would be “infinitesimal” in comparison to the impact the truck route will have.
Bill Bond, president of Valley Metals, Inc., a recycling center, said expansion of 1000 West will encroach on his business, forcing the elimination of buildings on his property and relocation of operations and expensive industrial equipment.
Larry Miller, of Miller L. W. Transportation, Inc., said trucks will continue to use 1000 West as a bypass of Main Street whether it is designated as such or not. But, he said, designating 1000 West as a truck route will increase safety for both truck drivers and other drivers on Main Street.
Thompson said he invited members of the Kenyan cross-country ski team to be honorary citizens of Logan.
Thompson said the athletes are all world-class marathon runners and have converted their running talents toward competing in this year’s Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.
The mayor also recommended the appointment of two people to the transportation board. Ron Hornsby, who worked in the mechanical drafting program at Bridgerland Applied Technology College and Joseph Francis, general manager of the Cache Valley Mall, were both unanimously accepted by the council members.
Ron Sims, Utah State University professor and director of the Utah Water Research Laboratory, was also recommended as a member to the water and sewer board. Sims was also unanimously accepted by the council.
Reed McGregor, chairman of the Logan City Golf Course Committee, which is owned by Logan City, reported to the council the golf course grossed approximately $72,000 in revenue during the last year. McGregor said a green-fee increase will be considered for next year. He said an increase of 3 to 5 percent will bring the price of an 18-hole round of golf to similar fees around Cache Valley.
“Currently we are below cost,” McGregor said.
He also said the golf course staff is trying to produce a master plan for the council which will include plans on improvements to the clubhouse and other golf course amenities.
Lisette Miles of the Capitol Arts Alliance also made a quarterly report on arts activities in Logan. She said activity and performance levels have increased since last year. The Ellen Eccles Theatre experienced a 66 percent increase in attendance and a 72 percent increase in performances.
“I don’t think we could have fit another event in the theater,” Miles said. “But that’s what we wanted.”
Miles also said people who attend performances at the theater also pump money into Logan’s economy.
Approximately 43 percent of people dine out before or after shows and 12 percent shop in Logan stores, Miles said.
The next city council meeting will be Feb. 20, beginning at 6:15 p.m. City council meetings are held at City Hall, 255 N. Main St.