We would like to thank JJ Robinson for his photographs of the pageant and contestants.

The canal company has said they anticipate beginning to fill the canal today, April 23rd. Once water is available to pump to the reservoir Herriman City will begin filling the secondary system. Herriman employees with work diligently to fill the secondary system as quickly as possible. It will take approximately a week to fill the secondary system but residents are free to use it as soon as they have water at their property.

Blackridge Reservoir

Blackridge Reservoir has undergone significant changes in the off-season. We are pleased to announce that concessions, restrooms, landscaping and a playground will be complete in time for the opening this June. Concessions will be open 7 days a week from morning until evening. Having city employees working at this location will help to meet the needs of visitors to this park as well as be an additional resource should emergencies occur. These long-anticipated improvements will make Blackridge Reservoir an even greater amenity in Herriman City.

Construction along 5600 West continues and the roadway will be completely accessible when school starts at Copper Mountain Middle School in the Fall. The completion of 5600 West will help to offload much of the traffic we face along 6000 West.  This will alleviate some of the wait times commuters experience during the peak hours when school is in session.

The upgrades along 13400 South are almost complete, with the city planning to complete the curb and gutter along the section from 5000 West to 5600 West in the westbound lanes. The city will continue to provide multiple lanes along this stretch to accommodate traffic flow. I am frequently asked what Herriman is doing to get things moving along 134th South. There have been so many projects along this corridor, with multiple municipal and utlity projects, that we have all had to find alternative routes in order to avoid the congestion. It has been so great the past few weeks as we have had multiple lanes open along 134th South. We have all had to exercise patience when traversing this stretch of road, and I am very pleased to see a pause in the construction in this area of the city.

The city council appropriated the necessary funding to improve the roadway along Rosecrest Blvd from 13400 South to Juniper Crest Rd. This enhancement is a chip seal that will improve and lengthen the life of this main corridor through the city. I anticipate this improvement taking place in August.

May 27^th, Memorial Day, is a time for us to remember those who have gone before us. The city will have a Memorial Day breakfast at the Main Street Park from 7-11 a.m. with a special Memorial Day ceremony at the Herriman Cemetery at 9 a.m.

Herriman Days will take place Friday and Saturday, June 14-15 at the W&M Butterfield Park. See the city website at Herriman.org for more information.

On July 11-13th, 15-20th and the 22nd the Herriman Arts Council will present Peter Pan. I expect this production to be a great attraction to our city as Disney celebrates the 6oth anniversary of classic story. I encourage everyone to come out and support this, you will not regret it!

With many funding pieces still needed to come into place, the council saw this location as problematic. I have maintained that this location has several problems and have had much dialogue with residents over their safety concerns. I have read literally hundreds of emails from Herriman residents, both for and against this proposed location. I will say that the majority of Herriman residents were in favor of the range, but I also have maintained that for this type of amenity to work we needed to find the right location.

At this time I do not believe we have a location within the city limits that will work. Perhaps in the next 5 years this may be possible. Councilman Robinson stated that it would be right to pursue this timeline. I hope that this may be the case, but right now there are so many moving pieces with respect to land owners on the southern end of Herriman, that this timeline may not work out. I appreciate those residents that have been civil in this dialogue and know that with this and every decision we make in the city, there are always folks who sit on both sides of the issue. I also want to express my appreciation to Erin Preston of Providence Hall, for her remarks and observations. I appreciate her perspective and the manner in which she approached this issue.

I will say to the residents of Juniper Point and Lookout Ridge that I will not vote for this location should it come up for a vote in the future. I do not believe that it will, but also want to state this on my site for the record. I have had much communication with residents who have concerns that this location may come up again in the future. As long as I am your representative, I will not vote for this location.

To the many in Herriman who are disappointed with the decision of the council: know that we are hearing you. We are open to a location that has proper funding, access, and is of a sufficient distance as to mitigate safety concerns.

ABC reports on the proposal

KSL reports on the vote

Salt Lake Tribune article – Mike Day will vote NO in the future as well

Deseret News Article 3/1/13

Goals:

-        Provide a continuous flow of updated information on the progress of shooting range discussions

-        Encourage feedback from residents during the decision-making process

-        Reduce misinformation by provided accurate and timely corrections

Key Messaging:

-        No final decisions have been made or will be made until the council has received all requested information and has done their due diligence on the issue

-        The Council has asked and is interested in looking at alternate locations for the shooting range, as well as alternate uses for the donated land

-        Wise use of taxpayer dollars is paramount and no forward progression will take place unless and until there is a strong business case presented

Tactics:

-        Information website launch. This site was launched on November 15 and has been publicized through social media and news channels. We will continue to direct residents to this site with all messaging released and

        will update the site regularly with new information as applicable. The URL for the site is http://www.herrimancity.net/proposed-shooting-range-2/ .

-        Utility Billing Notification. The December bill will include notification of the December 13 shooting range discussion during city council meeting with both copy on the bill itself and an 8 ½ x 11 insert.

-        Fliers and Posting. Copies of the flier will also be placed on counters and posted in appropriate areas at city hall.

-        HOA Personal Notification. The meeting notification flyer will also be sent to appropriate representatives of the Juniper Point and Lookout Ridge HOAs.

-        Traditional Media. We will continue to work with local media throughout the entire process knowing they are an important amplifier. The South Valley Journal will also have an article on the shooting range in theirDecember issue.

-        Social Media. Our social media channels will continue to be used to reinforce the messaging and for notification of important steps in the process.

-        Decision White Paper. When the Council makes a decision, either for or against a shooting range, we will develop a white paper to help the residents understand the rationale and what, if any steps will be taken in the future.

From my perspective, it is reasonable to conclude that safety and noise are the top issues that need to be addressed.  An alternate location may fix these issues.   I am optimistic that we can work with land owners to find another location.

Of course, there are always those that will oppose this type of amenity no matter where it is located.  To those who take this position, know that I am listening to all residents of Herriman and will do all I can to serve everyone in our community.  This is an issue that I believe the council can work through that can be beneficial to all.  I appreciate all the dialogue and hope to see something put in place that we can be proud of.

Read the Fox 13 story here.

Read the KSL story (with video) here.

While high-powered rifles were firing, we visiting several locations near the range.  Of all the areas I visited (Lookout Ridge, Blackridge Reservoir, Rose Summit, Juniper Point), the only area where we could hear the noise from the range was in Juniper Point.  I am convinced that the noise heard is due primarily to the higher caliber weapons fired at the proposed site.  The residents I met with on Tuesday night generally concurred with this assessment.  After speaking with Herriman City staff, as well as regents from UPD and UFA, my concerns over several safety concerns have been lessened.  Many of the residents from Juniper Point Point (hereafter referred to as JP) related to me that after the tour that their worries over the possible dangers were resolved as well.  This left the majority of JP residents with their main concern being the noise produced by the gun range.

Tuesday night I spent quite a while listening to concerned JP residents talking about ways to mitigate sound issues.  I raised the point with JP residents that a NIMBY (“not in my back yard”) approach to amenities is common among all municipalities.  Historically, many amenities that Herriman City has put in place have caused those who live near them to resist.  This is the nature of almost all amenities: we like to have them, we certainly want to use them, we just don’t want them near our homes.  I have seen stringent resistance to the Blackridge Reservoir, as well as the rodeo grounds, football in our parks, the W&M Butterfield Park, the skate park, and soccer fields, just to name a few.

I want to emphasize that this gun range is a proposal.  I have not had one member of the city council tell me how they will vote on this issue.  We are still examining the nature of the design, the possible costs of upkeep, and the like.  November 8^th at 7:30 pm at city hall we will hear a presentation from staff and allow time for public comment.  Please know that this is the process.  Those who say that this decision has already been made are inaccurate.

After talking through the issue with JP residents, we came to the conclusion that we may gain more headway if we work together collectively to mitigate the noise issue rather than to raise public clamor in an attempt to get three votes on the council to reject the proposal.  We made a list of 8 important items that we all agreed were reasonable requests that we believe the city council would listen to.  Collectively we (JP residents and myself) believe these are doable solutions to reducing if not eliminating the noise problem in JP.  The proposed requests are as follows:

1.  Construct berms that will lessen the sound.  On the east side we were told that 3 foot berms would be constructed.  We think that it would be a reasonable compromise to increase this to 5 feet.

2.  Restrict the hours of operation.  As the small arms fire and shotguns could not be heard, it is our assessment that if we restrict the high caliber weapons fire to 5 pm that would be a significant noise reduction.  Ted Kendrick has stated that limiting the range to small arms fire would be a great solution.  By limiting high caliber weapons to before 5 pm, we ensure that during the evening JP residents would have no noise from the range.  This was something we all thought would solve much of the problem and that we were eager to see implemented.

3.  Limit the type of caliber weapons.  All JP residents want to NOT allow 50 cal weapons.  I am not experienced in this topic, but it was stated that the 30-06 and the  AR rifle Summer Miller fired on Tuesday ought to be the highest caliber allowed.

4.  Plant noise reducing vegetation.  We agreed that the right types of trees planted along the border of the range would lessen the noise nuisance and is a reasonable request to be made to the city.

5.  Examine the design.  Several residents asked that someone qualified in noise reduction look at the design and make recommendations that it maximize noise reduction.

6.  Add more depth to the firing area.  We were told in our tour on the 30^th that when constructed, the firing area will be dug out three feet.  If it would lessen the noise, we would like to see the firing area dug out to a deeper depth, perhaps to 5 feet.

7.  Limit the number of lanes.  JP residents want the number of lanes limited to 50.

8.  Qualified supervison.  We would like the site supervised by qualified personnel at all times.

As we enter into our winter months, Herriman City is encouraging residents to come in and get free leaf bags, which are available at Herriman City Hall and Butterfield Park.  These bags are available through November 30th from our partner agency, Salt Lake County Sanitation. Full bags can be dropped off at a dumpster behind the Main Street fire station.