SITLA shouldn’t imperil residents’ health and safety

Dear Editor,

SITLA’s greed and intimidation of Moab City is not acceptable to the residents of Moab and should not be acceptable to the council.

The city can control greed and intimidation by SITLA and its associates by the control of infrastructure, water and sewer in Moab. SITLA cannot endanger the health and welfare of Moab residents.

1. All sewer lines on Sand Flats Road down to at least the cemetery need to be paid for by SITLA.

2. Sewer connections should not be guaranteed until the new plant is completed in the next 25 months.

3. Access between Moab and Sand Flats is not safe. The road is used by families on bicycles that cannot safely compete with 80,000-pound cement trucks. SITLA needs to improve access. Weight limits are needed to reduce load sizes.

4. Traffic at the stop sign by Dave’s Corner Market is congested with over 20 cars in line on busy weekends, and bicycles and ATVs are crossing Dave’s parking lot at high speeds trying to bypass the congestion. SITLA needs to pay for a traffic light at the intersection.

5. Stormwater from large developments with large parking lots is considered by Utah to be a source of pollution for drinking water. Mill Creek is classified as drinking water by the state of Utah. All storm runoff needs to be processed by SITLA by separating the oils from the water prior to being discharged into Mill Creek. All pollution from parking areas will either end up in people’s gardens or in the Colorado River.

6. The USGS water study did not find the 13,000-acre-foot underground river from the Glen Canyon Aquifer that was to provide future growth for Moab. Large developments need to finance alternative sources of water. Moab should not jeopardize the USU-Moab campus by using our remaining cheap water for greedy developers.

7. Access across county or city lands should be denied.

Moab residents need to picket any business on opening day that does not respect county or city safety codes.