Two Logan residents addressed the Logan City Council during its meeting Tuesday to oppose a waterline project that will remove 14 over 100-year-old trees.
The residents live on Canyon Road in the Island neighborhood, where the proposed project will remove all but three of the historic green ash trees along the road, to be replaced by new trees in the park strip after construction of a curb, gutter and sidewalk is completed.
According to the Logan City website, the project includes installation of a 10-million-gallon water storage tank and transmission waterline from 1500 E to 600 E.
Canyon Road resident Albert Wiebe asked if the council is planning to do a cost comparison for alternate routes for the project, and said he believes many residents would be interested in such a comparison because of their concern about the impact of the project.
Brandon Elwood said they have put together a petition and are in the beginning stages of gathering community support to oppose the current route.
"These trees are vital to the community's aesthetic and the unique character of the Island," Elwood read from the petition.
It said the proposed sidewalk is unnecessary because there is already an underused sidewalk on the other side of the road that serves many more homes.
"There are other options," Elwood read. "This petition isn't about stopping progress but modifying it to respect and uphold the community's distinctive appeal."
Elwood said so far there has been unanimous support for protecting the neighborhood's trees, and they would like to have an open dialogue with the council to work towards a shared resolution.
The project bears some resemblance to a contested project in Providence on 100 E, where residents of the street have fought against and proposed alternatives to a city plan to remove historic trees to make room for a sidewalk.
Logan City's website outlines the waterline project, and links to a tree evaluation commissioned by the city to assess the health of the trees.
According to the assessment, many of the trees show signs of declining health such as fungal infections, decay and fractures. Only a few were labeled to be in good condition, but many were labeled in fair condition.
The city held a neighborhood meeting Oct. 3 to discuss the project with residents.
In her report on the meeting, Councilmember Jeannie Simmonds mentioned part of the reason for the project is it is necessary for fire suppression and to meet state water storage requirements.
Councilmember Mark Anderson also attended the neighborhood meeting.
"And I'm sure we're going to have some more (meetings), is what it sounds like," M. Anderson said.
The council heard a presentation on a petition for annexation of about 59 acres around 1000 E 2200 N by the airport, which will be brought for approval at a later date.
The council unanimously approved the appropriation of $6,750 to the 2024-2025 budget for a Public Works training event.
The council considered a resolution establishing a credit card convenience fee.
Finance Director Richard Anderson said there is currently a $3,000 administrative limit on credit card transactions with the city.
R. Anderson said the resolution would allow those who desire to exceed the $3,000 limit to do so with the addition of a 3% convenience fee for processing.
Councilmember Mike Johnson expressed concern that the wording of the resolution doesn't specify the fee would only be applied to bills over the administrative limit.
Anderson said the finance department would like to have that freedom to decide when to apply the fee.
There will be a public hearing prior to council action on the convenience fee at the next council meeting.
The next meeting will be Nov. 5 at 5:30 p.m. in the Logan Municipal Council Chambers at 290 N 100 W. Council meetings are also televised on Channel 17 and streamed on the City of Logan YouTube channel.