During the regular City Council meeting on Tuesday, October 24, councilmembers discussed the Manti-La Sal National Forest’s draft land management plan environmental impact statement, the Mill Creek emergency watershed protection project, and the Moab Area Affordable Housing Plan.
Mary O’Brien, a Moab resident, attended the meeting during the public comments period asking the council to table its approval of a comment letter to the Forest Service regarding the environmental impact statement. The current Manti-La Sal National Forest land management plan is from 1986; the Forest Service has been working on an update since 2016. In 2021, the city said it favored a “conservation alternative” to the land management plan. The most recent step in creating the new plan is a draft Environmental Impact Statement (a comment period for this step will end on November 16, 2023); that statement outlines four alternatives, none of which match the “conservation alternative,” O’Brien argued.
Councilmember Rani Derasary also asked for more time to review and edit the letter; her motion to table the approval until the council’s next meeting was approved unanimously. Councilmember Jason Taylor added that he would not vote for this letter since it expressed support for an alternative that would limit motorized recreation; one of his main passions, he said, is winter motorized recreation in the La Sals.
“We do need to protect the watershed, I think we can protect the watershed, while still allowing people the recreation which they choose in the La Sal mountains,” Taylor said. Councilmember Luke Wojciechowksi said the letter should highlight what the council supports, instead of what they oppose, in the management plan.
Department updates
Finance Department
- David Everitt, the city’s interim finance director, said revenues are “looking pretty solid,” and the city’s spending and revenues have been steady for the past few months.
- Discussion began at 9:07
Police Department
- Police Chief Lex Bell said the City Police Department will regularly collect and share statistics such as crime reports and traffic citations. The data is broken down into various categories; in September, the most common incident officers responded to were traffic stops (450). Speeding was the most common traffic citation. There were 1,078 total incidents last month.
- “We’ve been waiting for this information for a long time, and it’s great that now we have technology that can give it to us,” Mayor Joette Langianese said.
- Discussion began at 11:27
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Consent agenda
Red Ribbon Week Proclamation
- The Red Ribbon organization advocates to prevent youth drug use
Approval of minutes from the October 10 and 11 meetings
Approval of bills against the City of Moab in the amount of $589,894.10
Discussion began at 26:02, passed unanimously
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General business
Consideration of approval of a comment letter for the U.S. Forest Service Manti-La Sal National Forest draft revised land management plan environmental impact statement
- The letter states that the city supports Alternatives B and C, which prioritize watershed health and mitigating fire risk.
- Discussion began at 27:09, motion to table until the next meeting approved unanimously
Consideration of approval of a task order with Hansen, Allen & Luce for the Mill Creek emergency watershed protection project
- Following a destructive flood in August 2022, the City of Moab applied for and was awarded funding from the National Resource Conservation Service’s Emergency Watershed Protection program. The funding would build gabion walls along Dream Drive, Shield Lane, and 400 East; repair creek banks near Rotary Park; clean debris along 500 West; and repair structures between 400 E. and 300 S. The project budget is $1,481,625; the city would pay $279,000 to Hansen, Allen & Luce.
- Discussion began at 40:03, passed unanimously
Consideration of adoption of the 2023 Moab Area Affordable Housing Plan update
- The plan was created by the Moab Area Housing Task Force; the first plan was made in 2009, then updated in 2017. This plan is the newest update, and will become an advisory document in the city’s master plan.
- Mayor Joette Langianese requested that the council table this ordinance, to give everyone more time to review the plan. They agreed to discuss it during a workshop on November 28.
- Discussion began at 1:08:30, motion to table passed unanimously
