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Show Fall 2001 period of several months, representatives from these organizations have worked together to help children create art that reflects the way they identify with their neighborhood. A total of 19 beautiful, refrigeratorsized banners have been hung from light poles along 400 South, better known as Poplar Grove Boulevard. These banners beautify one of the main thoroughfares in our neighborhood, create some neighborhood identity and pride, act as a traffic calming device, photo Leon Thompson Pacificorp proposes new gasfired electrical generation units at Gadsby At the October 24, 2001 Poplar installation of three new permanent gas-fired electrical generation units at the Gadsby site. This site is located along North Temple between the Jordan River and Redwood Road and is in the Poplar Grove neighborhood. The three 40 Megawatt (Mw) units will replace the temporary 100 Mw units at the site. Total electrical generation capacity of the new permanent units will be 120 Mw. According to representatives, etetelelelele sfetetelet ete eter ete "ate etereteretetens Tabet eetat ete ete’ ste a 8s ae RK OOO eae aroe ye sratate clotatateres stats Ritmo Caliente provides salsa rhythyms for the crowd welcome the world as the 2002 Winter Olympics approach, and showcase our youth's impressive artistic talents. Hopefully, this will send a message to our youth that we recognize them as a very essential part of this community. This project has been made possible with the help of many generous sponsors such as Pacificorp, The United Way, SLC Arts Council, Utah Federation for Youth, and the Utah Family Center. So, watch for these bright, colorful banners as you commute along Poplar Grove Boulevard, and note all of the effort and cooperation it took to make the project a reality! + the technology for the proposed new generation facilities represents the best available technology. The new permanent facilities would operate close to full time, in contrast to the six-month limit placed on the previous temporary gas-fired facilities. However, the newer units emit less polluting gases per Mw hour than the tempo- rary units did. Pacificorp representatives Hunter, Greg Rutledge, Carol and Ian Andrews presented the proposal to the Poplar Grove Community Council as a first step in the proposal for the Gadsby site. As spokespersons for Pacificorp, they emphasized their involvement in neighborhood volunteer efforts, including their corporate sponsorship of Franklin Elementary and their financial support for the Poplar Grove Olympic Banner project. No Bus Route Changes Slated at This Time by Edie Trimmer At the October 24, 2001 Poplar Grove Community Council meeting, Utah Transit Authority (UTA) representatives presented plans for bus route changes that will take effect December 15, 2001 when the new light rail extension to the University of Utah begins operation. Steve Swan, Marti Money and Theresa Onstott presented new route changes to routes 3, 6 and 54. No route adjustments are proposed for the Poplar Grove or Glendale neighborhoods at this time. In deciding on route changes or improvements, Steve Swan explained that UTA looked at market assessment (how much demand for service in a neighborhood), existing route performance (how much existing routes are used) and financial constraints (how much money UTA can spend on commuter, light rail and last of all bus improvements). The new quarter cent sale tax has provided UTA with much needed funds but there has been an even greater demand for light rail, commuter and bus service by several communities along the Wasatch Front. The cost of the demands in service exceeds the increase technology available. Members of the Poplar Grove Community Council had the following questions: Is Pacificorp working on rate charges which would recognize the careful use of power by residents in our neighborhood in contrast to other more affluent neigh- by Edie Trimmer Grove Community Council meeting, representatives from Pacificorp presented the utility's proposal for the (See related article.) Carol Hunter of Pacificorp, stated borhoods who have much larger needs per capita than we do? Would that the company's desire was to work with the neighborhoods the adjoining Pacificorp property to assure that they would be the best possible excludes route 43, Redwood Road). which goes However, down UTA neighbors efforts for the Gadsby in planning site. In the long term (possibly ten to twelve years away) this would include the replacement of the 50 year-old Gadsby generation facility. This facility originally burned coal to generate electricity but was later converted to gas-fired generation. This represented cleaner technology for the old Gadsby plant, but the plant emits significantly more air pollutants than the latest gas fired increased generation capacity benefit the city in terms of more reasonable electricity rates? How does Pacificorp plan to be a good neighbor to Poplar Grove, so that as a neighborhood, we do not pay disproportionately in environmental and property value impacts as the rest of the city enjoys rate savings? Is Pacificorp willing to partner with Poplar Grove and other adjoining neighborhoods to plan for the best possible site at Gadsby in terms of neighborhood improvements and impacts? What impacts, concerning air quality and noise, we can expect? + The following is an open letter written by Edie Trimmer. It was sent to politicians, The National Surface Transportation Board, Union Pacific and SLOC: Mayor Rocky Anderson has courageously stood up for our west side neighborhoods. We ask that you also consider our plight caused by Union Pacific Railroad's proposal to reactivate its 900 South Passenger Main line through our west Salt Lake City neighborhoods. The first argument against reactivation of the tracks is the agreement that Union Pacific signed with Salt Lake City in 1989. This agreement states that if the tracks were not used for 9 consecutive months, Salt Lake City could revoke the franchise agreement, which allowed Union Pacific to cross city streets on this line. So on one level, this is an issue of honoring in tax revenues and fares. UTA must balance its business interests as represented by paying customers against social needs. Some of UTA's most heavily used routes are in our neighborhood. Many Poplar Grove residents believe that the times between on the two buses in the neighborhood are 40 minutes. (This The West View page 7 == contracts. Union Pacific replies that it has used the rails for repair vehicles but we know that is not in the spirit of the agreement. Residents have in fact cleaned up the right of way on several occasions, because Union Pacific as property owner would not. We believe this is also an issue for the greater good of the City of Salt Lake and the state of Utah. Salt Lake City is the sum of its neighborhoods and depends as well their home or endure noise, safe- ty issues, vibrations and disruption of traffic. In our neighborhood, the investment in our homes is our wealth. If you assume that by reactivating the tracks, 1,000 homeowners lose 40% of their investment, that approaches $40 to $50 million in losses. This is a conservative estimate, because our neighborhood has closer to 8,000 homes. Compare that loss to people of modest means with the amount Union Pacific refuses to spend on a less intrusive route or on upgrading Grant's Tower. Our neighborhood first heard of this plan by Union Pacific in August. Union Pacific wants to complete the repairs and upgrade of the tracks by November to accommodate the Olympics. Not once have they met with neighborhood residents. When asked why not, they say that such meetings are too hard for them because people are unreasonable and upset. On the Olympic security issue, we may have realized that the Olympics would not benefit us, but we did not speaking out for neighborhoods that are already carved up with more than their dream that the Olympic demands for two weeks would cause us such permanent harm. How could we have guessed that those in power weigh their own temporary interests so much higher than our lifelong interests? Besides environmental and social justice, there are very practical reasons for every citizen of Utah to oppose the reactivation of these tracks. I believe that we fair share of rail, interstates, and industri- see Open Letter (oage on all its neighborhoods for its vitality and sustainability. There is the tendency to think that when Union Pacific reactivates its passenger main on 900 South for heavy rail, it has nothing to do the rest of the city or state. There are, of believes that with the 16-17 bus route the times between buses is 20 minutes. How this is calculated depends on whether you are a bus planner or standing at a bus stop waiting for the next bus. Planners acknowledge that the Poplar Grove neighborhood is under-served. They state that this is being addressed, but cannot predict when increased bus service might take place. UTA representative Marti Money advised the Poplar Grove Community Council that the UTA Board of Directors Union Pacific, under oath, whether they approved a rate increase from $1 to plan to carry hazardous wastes on these $1.25 for regular and paratransit rates. For more information about future rate increases, call UTA at 287-2667. + lines? course, fundamental issues of justice and al properties. | We have rail lines and interstate highways on our northern and eastern boundaries, as well as power plants (the largest is over fifty years old and converted from a coal burning plant to gas burning). Has anyone asked Many homeowners rightly believe that they will not be able to sell their homes and either must abandon their investment 10) |
