SHCC May 2023 Minutes

07 Jun SHCC May 2023 Minutes

SUGAR HOUSE COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Board of Trustees Meeting

Wednesday, May 3, 2023

7:00 P.M.

In Person at The Neighborhood Hive and Streaming on YouTube

MINUTES

1)         Welcome, Reports, and Updates

• Sally Barraclough welcomed everyone to the meeting.
• No secretary’s report this month. As to the treasurer’s report, the US Bank account balance is $5,911.16. No expenses for the month. Income $5.0 from a small deposit and interest. PayPal balance is $968.33 with no activity. All these funds are for glass recycle mural.
• We have the Heart and Soul Music Stroll on June 10. Lots of bands and food trucks, too. They do a lot for assisted living throughout the state. If the Council sponsored to the tune of $750.00 we can sponsor the event and have our name on the banner. XXX made a motion to approve the expenditure and Judy seconded. 16 members of the Council voted in favor of the motion with no opposed and the motion thus passed unanimously.
• Chief Boden from the SLCFD gave a flood response update. We did have some flooding on 1700 S. The City continued to work on flood control and stay on top of the situation. Sugar House Park is doing exactly what it is meant to do right now. It is designed to work as a detention basis. About the same amount of water that is coming into the park is going out. It is designed to take the “peak” off of Parley’s Creek. Sandbags have been staged in Hidden Hollow in case water rises. The City has crews inspecting potential problems areas around the clock to make sure they can respond rapidly if necessary.
• If you see something (like backed up storm drains), call SL Public Utilities to report it: 801-483-6700. If you see something that is life threatening or threatening a home, call 911. Go also to bereadyslc on Twitter for updates.
• Firefighter Curtis from Station 3 gave the fire department update. They have a monthly newsletter; people can sign up on the website. The fire department offers CPR classes. They are not for certification but just for people’s personal knowledge. You can call 799-FIRE to get details. The fire department has changed its hiring model. The test is now given every 6 months instead of every 2 years. You can find out more details on their website. The wildland fire season will soon be upon use. There are things you can do to prepare; you can visit the website to learn more. Make sure you make an evacuation plan, have a 96-hour kit prepared, have a hose that can reach your home, and keep important documents in a fireproof container. As to calls, the trend is that the fire department is getting busier.
• Det. Fallows cannot be here but he recorded a YouTube.  It will be posted to the YouTube channel.
• Sugar House Rocks will be on the Sugar House plaza on the third Friday of every month.
• Lori gave a report about the Art Walk. It will be the second Friday of every month. Walk or bike if you can. The glass recycle mural will begin in mid-May and be done by the end of June; there will be “reveal” party on June 28.

2)         D.A. Sim Gill

• Mr. Gill spoke. The D.A.’s office is reaching out to every community council this year. It is about neighborhoods. At the end of the year, the D.A. will ask each community council to send two members to a summit at the officer. Mr. Gill has been a prosecutor for about 28 years. He was the chief city prosecutor for SLC before becoming the D.A. Now, his entire jurisdiction in SL County; they prosecute Class A misdemeanors and all felonies. He is also the SL County attorney; the “in house” counsel for the County from the civil side. They defend litigation as well as sue on behalf of SL County; for example, opioid litigation. They also sue on environmental issues, like Volkswagen’s emissions. They have a big office with lots of lawyers. He is a supporter of “therapeutic justice” and that the justice system should be focused on violent offenders and those that present risk to the community, but that those with mental health and substance abuse problems should have access to treatment. The office has partnered with the VA for a Veterans’ Court. They look for innovative ways to reform the criminal justice system. The office also supports survivors. They have a program in the office staffed entirely by victim advocates, no attorneys. They also focus on children of trauma. That helps to address intergenerational trauma. The program is supported through asset forfeiture money and they send kids to summer camp for three summers. The office also focuses on environmental justice issues. Mr. Gill then took some questions from the attendees.

3)         Tim Cosgrove, Salt Lake City

• The mayor presented her budget. There are monies for the environment and housing. There are also monies for the Great Salt Lake Shoreline Preservation project. You can share points of view online or during city council meetings. Every second Friday of the month there will be a Homeless Resource fair. This month it will be at the library. The City is encouraging people to monitor the health of their trees. The City’s Urban Forestry program can help. The City has incentives for affordable housing through RDA and through tax incentives.
• Mr. Gill made one more announcement: every Friday he holds community hours at the DA’s Office. Anyone can attend; Mr. Gill will make time to meet with community members personally.

4)         Highland Drive and 2100 South Construction Update

• We have a lot of growth in the valley but traffic has not been increasing as quicky; many people walk and take transit. The presenter acknowledged, however, that traffic is frustrating. As to Highland Drive, on Monday the one way restriction will extend to 2100 S. As to 2100 S., the City is ready to replace the street. The pavement has reached the end of its life. The City expects construction to start next spring and the project will last for two years. The community has been very involved; there have been a number of workshops. The vision is to accommodate various modes of travel on 2100 S.: vehicles, bikes, cars, buses. Much of the traffic moving along the street actually stop in Sugar House. There are a lot of left turn accidents; the City wants to address that. The new design will help to avoid that. The new design, with the new center turn lanes, is meant to accommodate the same amount of traffic. The speaker then shared some renderings of the project and took questions from the attendees. Responding to questions, there will be plenty of rooms for bikes along the road. There may be problems at merge points (two lanes one); however, there are other areas in Sugar House (1300 E) with this type alignment. It will work given there will be lots of room to zipper merge. An attendee expressed concerned the elimination of some parking would cause more parking the neighborhood. All of the crosswalks will have some sort of protection, although due to the design many will be shorter.

5)         Brett from Utah Wildlife Federation/Adrienne White/Sprague Library/Julia Wall with Summer Concert Series

• UWF created a celebration of wildlife around the mural at the Hive. There will be other murals throughout Utah. There is a Celebrating Wildlife contest folks can enter. Go to celebratingutahwildlife.org for more information.
• Adrienne White presented. She works for House Genealogy, an organization that focuses on historic buildings. If you have a historic home and want to know more about it you can contact her. She works with various historic preservations organization and the Wasatch Mountain Club. She’s a new trustee for SHCC. Please contact her if you’d like to know the history of your home.
• The library is celebrating 126 years of service this year. Please drop by and celebrate! They are gearing up for the summer reading challenge. That starts on May 27; it is an all-ages event.
• The summer concert will be second and fourth Thursdays from June to September.

NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, June 7, 2023, at 7 p.m.