Meeting Minutes — July 14, 2010 – 7:00 PM
Call to Order and Quorum — DeWitt Smith, Chairman
Officers and Board Members present: Jeff Bair, Holly
Christmas, Jim Fisher, Chris Herman, Wayne Howcroft, Wayne Howcroft Jr., Steve
Hunt, Marilyn Oblad, Devin Howells: Quorum Present
Welcome – DeWitt Smith
McDonough.
Jill Remington-Love – City Council
Report on Oil Spill in Red Butte Creek
Dan Johnson – Chevron Oil Co.
Initial presentation – Jeff
Liberty Park pond worked as a natural oil skimmer. The water
comes in from Red Butte and Parleys creek and then drains from the bottom. The
oil naturally raises in the water so the bottom drain carried mostly water
leaving the oil to be skimmed.
The oil from the pipeline leak got into Red Butte creek and
from the intersection of drains at 500 East and 1300 South some of it went down
the 1300 South storm drain and some down the 900 South storm drain. Some of it
also came through the Mt. Olivet cemetery irrigation system to the 800 South
storm drain. Oil got into the Jordan river at 1300 South, 900 South, and 800
South.
The big question everyone is asking is how much longer will
it take?
Quite a while.
Remaining tasks: Containment, Remediation, and Restoration
Flush the lines and clean up the pond.
Assess how clean the corridor is
Test the pond sediment for contamination.
Re-establish the concrete ring and vegetation around the pond. One idea is to put a sidewalk around the pond.
There doesn’t appear to be much oil in the conduits.
Should we be concerned about the air quality?
Short term: The city and Chevron tested the air and determined that it is okay now.
Long Term: The city has hired an environmental firm to do air testing. There were high levels of vapors at
first. It is very low now. The air tested below EPA guidelines. Some people may
be sensitive and feel some irritation.
The lake is still cordoned of for the workers safety and to keep people and kids out. It is not because of poor air quality.
Water tests are being conducted by the State Water Quality division and the County Health Department.
City Goal: All contamination to be removed to protect the watershed. Chevron will remove the contaminated soil around the spill area so it will not contaminate the city wells.
Did Chevron have sensors that should have detected this spill?
The system did not fail. The normal sensors would not detect this type of leak.
They walk the pipeline route regularly and fly over it weekly
They do other tests to ensure that the pipe is in good condition. It was not a faulty pipe it was an electrical charge the passed through a steel fence pipe into the pipe that blew a hole the size of a
quarter.
Are you expecting the fence company to have some liability?
Chevron it totally focused on collecting the oil and cleaning up the spill at this time. After that is completed they will review the cause.
There are 4 groups organized to approve the future course. Environmental, health, property, and prevention.
Web sites to learn more:
Redbuttecanyonspill.com
Slcgov.com
What is the status of the birds caught in the spill?
300 plus were saved with the help of Tracy Aviary and Hoogle Zoo staff. Approximately 17 died.
Candidate Introduction: Sinama Mele – candidate for State House of Representatives
With an engineering firm for 20 years where she is now a partner and principal.
She can be reached on Facebook.
Minutes
Officers’ Reports
- Chairman, DeWitt Smith DeWitt
- Mayor’s breakfast items:
- Gang reduction task force is moving ahead. Working on Graffiti and gang related crime.
- Unable to attend the Salt Lake Community Network meeting.
- Criminal Activity report – DeWitt
- Problem with bike thefts. Please record your bicycle serial number so they can be returned if found. Also provides a way for
the police to track the thefts and solve them. - Treasurer’s Report – Steven Hunt
- Current balance: $214.40
- Encampment Park – Marilyn Oblad and Betty Etchel
- Saturday, July 17, Come and enjoy it.
- Setup starts at 7:15 a.m.. (They cannot set up the barricades until 7:15 a.m.)
- Waterloo ward will provide people to set up chairs and tables.
- Helpers will work two shifts – 7:30 – 9:00 and 9:00 until it is cleaned up around 11:00 a.m.
- Breakfast is served 8:30 – 10:30 a.m.
- Hike starts at 7:00 a.m.
- Walking tour of historic homes during the day. You can only go into the Woodruff farm house, not the rest.
- Friday and Saturday evening there will be a play at the Woodruff farm house.
- Safety Committee – Chris Herrmann
- Mobile watch met this month and conducted a lost child drill. – 40 people participated.
- We should record the serial numbers of all of our valuables and also take pictures of them.
- Neighborhood watch meets at 6:00 p.m. before each council meeting.
- Communication – Devin Howells
- 2,700 newsletters sent out
- Congratulations to Devin and those who worked on the newsletter
- Facilities – Jeff Bair
- We have new neighbor packets available
- We have a new banner designed by Devin. The display stand was built by Jeff
- Community Garden – Currently no director, reported by Holly Christmas
- No news
- Emergency Preparedness – Jim Fisher
- Planning an open house with displays for September.
Old Business
- Council Secretary
- Larry Simpson has accepted the position. (There was a discussion about whether a vote was required. It was decided that because
it was not a part of the normal elections it would not need a vote.) - Thanks to Holly for all her work as secretary
New Business
Report from the Mayor’s Office: Joyce Valdez
Salt Lake County Watershed Watch Newsletter is available.
The county is sponsoring a Watershed Symposium on August 4th
and 5th. More details at www.waterresources.slco.org
Congratulations on the newsletter it had a lot of good information. Good to see the Spanish translation of some of the
information.
Hispanics: Utah is in 7th place nationwide in Hispanic
businesses
If you have complaints or concerns contact Shawn McDonough or send an email to mayor@slcgov.com
Report from City Council; District 5: Jill Remington Love
Panhandling ordinance
Dogs off leash in parks
Alcohol ordinance
Historic Preservation
Northwest Quadrant
Budget is done
Public Safety Building: a)Plans in progress, b)Contractor will be selected by the end of the year
Projects:
Hot pedestrian light at 600 East and 1300 South will be
the third one in the city. It cost $100,000. When a pedestrian pushes the
button the lights will flash yellow then red.
Repair restrooms and playground at the park
Some street work in our area is on the list but they may
not have enough money to do them. Someone suggested that if they redo
1700 South they should look at running the irrigation water underground.
Flooding the gutters each Tuesday may be causing the curb and gutter to
settle and become uneven.
Any comment on allowing the homeless to sleep in the
parks? Not aware of anything.
Final Items – DeWitt
July 17, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Proceeds will go to the Salt Lake
Community Network. We are part of the network so we could get some of the
money for mailing, etc. If anyone is available to volunteer to help them
contact DeWitt.
The Ballpark Community Council is holding a barbeque on
Aug 11 and has invited up to 20 people from our council to join them. The
mayor will also attend. If anyone is interested contact DeWitt
Announcements/Reminders
Next LWCC Meeting—Wednesday, August 11, 2010, 7:00 p.m. The location will be announced when it is finalized
Comments on this entry are closed.