The Salt Lake City Council is taking a closer look at Mayor Ralph Becker’s plan to allow more bars into neighborhoods after more than a dozen residents showed up to protest the proposal at Tuesday’s council meeting. Councilman Charlie Luke, who represents the city’s east side, says too many residential areas are being considered OK for bars and pubs.
An audit reviewing the practices and policies of the Salt Lake City Library calls for more management changes. The 53-page report says decision-making needs to be more streamlined, something Amy Cohen Paul of Management Partners, which conducted the audit, says wasn’t happening under the plan implemented by former Library Director Beth Elder.
Residents and business owners in the area surrounding Salt Lake City’s North Temple street continue to endure heavy construction as the thoroughfare is upgraded, not only to accommodate a new TRAX line to the airport, but bike lanes and pedestrian improvements. Now, a University of Utah study will look at just how much these long-awaited upgrades make the neighborhood healthier.
Salt Lake City is expanding a program aimed at increasing use of alternative transportation and making residents more confident in it. Sustainability and Environment Director Vicki Bennett says the city’s SmartTrips pilot program launched in the East Liberty Park neighborhood has been a success, with residents taking advantage of free seven-day bus passes, kits with pedometers and bicycle tail lights, and customized biking and transit maps.
Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker says he’s not disappointed the U.S. Olympic Committee won’t submit a bid for the 2022 Winter Games, even though Utah was considering one. He says it gives the state’s exploratory committee time to get its work done well for a potential 2026 bid, adding it’s a good thing the U.S.O.C. announced its decision now.
Hoping to avert further contamination, Salt Lake City wants the federal Environmental Protection Agency to get more involved in investigating groundwater contaminated with the chemical PCE. The contamination at 700 South and 1600 East was first discovered in the 1990s. But a new report links it to more recent contamination found in surface water springs.
Organizers of the anti-corporate personhood Move to Amend initiative have taken their quest to get on the ballot in Salt Lake City this year to the Utah Supreme Court. Despite having more than enough signatures, the city recorder’s office rejected the initiative, because state law doesn’t allow for local initiatives that don’t create actual legislation to appear on the ballot. The city council had planned to circumvent that law by voting to place the initiative on the ballot directly, but Utah code apparently doesn’t allow that, either.
Salt Lake City’s $205 million budget is now in place for the next year, after being approved by the city council last night. City Council Chairman Soren Simonsen says it came in about $1.5 million more than Mayor Ralph Becker’s proposal.
This fall, Millcreek voters will decide if the east-side suburb should remain a township or incorporate as the county’s 17th city. What would this mean for taxpayers and businesses? And how would becoming a full-fledged city affect Salt Lake County’s already-thin budget?
The Salt Lake City Library has started a nationwide search for a new executive director, following Beth Elder’s resignation last fall. Transitional Director Linda Hamilton is helping with the process.
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