PUBLIC MEETINGS
Metro Township Council
Next meeting: September 24th
Meeting information
Typically 4th Thursday of each month

Community Council
Next meeting: September 15th
Meeting information
Typically 2nd Tuesday of each month

Community Calendar (subscribe)
 

Emigration Canyon News

Windstorm Cleanup Information

Residents of Emigration Canyon can drop off green waste at the northeast corner of 3800 South Wasatch Boulevard from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. through September 23rd. In addition, the Salt Lake Valley Landfill is accepting storm cleanup debris (green waste only—no garbage) free of charge. Salt Lake County Public Works Operations is working with municipalities to clean up debris on streets, but will not go onto private property. For more information, click here for the full flyer or call 385-468-6101. 

Wasatch Front Waste & Recycling District will deliver a green waste trailer to your home. You can reserve a was trailer here: https://wasatchfrontwaste.org/rent-a-trailer-online/. There are a few dates in October still available. One trailer per year is provided free of charge to Emigration Canyon Residents. 

Bicycle Education Day at Little Mountain Summit

United Police Department will host a Canyon Bicycle Education Day at Little Mountain on Sunday, September 13.  Officers will be at the summit parking area from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. to meet cyclists and motorists and discuss rules of the road and strategies for coexistence. Please stop by and meet the people who help keep the peace on our very busy road.

Vote by Mail in November

The general election on November 3rd will be conducted mainly by mail. Ballots will be mailed to registered voters during the week of October 12th as required under Utah State law. Postage-paid return envelopes will be provided.

If you need your ballot mailed to an address other than the home address where you are registered to vote, please call 385-468-7400 or email got-vote@slco.org. Be aware that the post office does not forward ballots. You may update your address up to eleven days before election day (Oct 23rd at 5:00 p.m.).

If you wish to physically deliver your completed ballot, twenty drive-up drop boxes will be available at locations throughout the county, open 24/7 up through 8:00 p.m. on election day. 

For more information on the vote-by-mail process, including a list of drop box locations, please visit the Salt Lake County Clerk’s elections website at https://slco.org/clerk/elections/vote-by-mail/.

Coming in November: An Election and Opportunities to Serve

The upcoming November election won’t just be a contest for state and national leadership, it will also offer opportunities for meaningful local service, including the Emigration Canyon Community Council. In addition to four current council members who will be running for new terms, we will have two open seats to fill. This is an open invitation to any interested canyon resident to join us. 

The community council serves an important role in the township, managing various programs and services, and providing an additional venue for airing and addressing issues that interest and affect us all. It offers an opportunity to serve the community while observing and learning about municipal governance within Salt Lake County’s Municipal Service District framework. It’s also a great way to meet canyon neighbors from beyond your own neighborhood.

If you’d like to know more about serving on the community council, please feel free to approach any of the current members. If you’d like to add your name to our ballot, please contact Matt Velinder, our Election Officer, at mvelinder@gmail.com.

The community council election will be mail-in process that will be separate from the general election conducted by the Slat Lake County Clerk. Watch your mailbox for more information on how to cast your vote.

Managing Speed and Noise on the New Canyon Road

As the main road repaving project has progressed through the summer, numerous residents have approached the Emigration Canyon Community Council and Metro Township Council (MTC) with concerns about vehicle speed and noise levels when the road reopens. The community council hosted an extended discussion at its August meeting that seems worth recapping for the community at large. Mayor Smolka provided an overview of township plans to revisit speed limits, and Officer Jake Elsasser of the Unified Police Department (UPD) described a new strategy for enforcing motorcycle exhaust noise. 

Speed Limits Will Be Reassessed
Mayor Smolka explained that the Metro Township Council and Municipal Services District (MSD) engineers plan to consider reductions in posted speed limits on some segments of the canyon road, particularly between the fire station and the Pinecrest turnoff where the narrow roadway creates long-understood safety issues. The process will include UPD, the MSD engineering department and the MTC. UPD will continue to collect traffic speed and volume data until a large enough data set is available to derive an understanding of driver behavior across daily and weekly time frames and along the full length of the canyon road. MSD engineers will use this behavioral data to develop a set of recommendations for site-specific changes in posted speed limits and advisory signage. These recommendations will be presented to the MTC for consideration and action. The MTC is also pursuing additional policing resources form UPD to increase enforcement capabilities. 
 
Loud Motorcycles Will Be Ticketed
Officer Elsasser pointed out that our existing noise ordinance has proven to be practically unenforceable because decibel measurements captured in mountainous terrain are easily discredited in court. However, in response to community complaints about road noise—primarily loud motorcycles—and with assistance from riders in the community, UPD has developed another enforcement strategy. Based on a federal requirement for matching EPA labels on both bikes and OEM mufflers (read about the requirement here) and a Salt Lake County Health Department regulation that incorporates that requirement, UPD is stopping and ticketing loud bikes with non-compliant aftermarket exhausts. This is a relatively new initiative that, over time, will hopefully persuade riders to take their modified rides elsewhere.
 
There were also some interesting suggestions from the community about how the township might engage with motorcycle riders to modify riding behavior. One proposed signs at the top and bottom of the canyon, noting the proximity of road and homes and requesting a considerate hand on the throttle. Another suggestion was to deliver similar messaging through social media and outreach to organized riders. Both the community council and MTC are considering these ideas and other as part of an expanded effort to keep the newly improved road from becoming a detriment to community peace and safety. 

Forest Service Team to Study Canyon Wildfire Preparedness 

Emigration Canyon Metro Township has agreed to participate in a research study to be conducted by the Forest Service’s Wildfire Research Team with support from the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands (FFSL) and Unified Fire Authority. The goal of the study is to develop a detailed profile of our community’s current state of wildfire preparedness together with an assessment of our knowledge of and attitudes toward fire risk. The work will combine curbside inspections of all canyon homes with surveys mailed to every household. The resulting data will help the township benchmark its progress in preparing the community to survive a serious wildfire event. It will also help county, state, and federal agencies develop more effective programs to inform, motivate and prepare at-risk communities like ours. 
 
The study team expects that its work will require 8-10 months to complete. They will mail an introductory letter to all canyon homes later this month. Personnel from FFSL will then conduct curbside physical inspections during the month of October, offering interested residents a more in-depth assessment of their homes’ specific fire risk and preparedness. When the on-site inspections have been completed, questionnaires will be distributed by mail. 
 
This research offers Emigration Township an opportunity to better understand our state of readiness for a major fire event while partnering with local, state, and national agencies that are essential to our long-term welfare. We hope every canyon household will welcome and enthusiastically support the effort.

Great Work on Fuels Reduction!

On August 26, Unified Fire Authority’s Fuels Crew was able to process the last remaining brush pile of our annual chipping event. This year, we are happy to report that we had, by far, the greatest number of households participating and the most amount of fuel removed of any year in recent memory. We are very grateful for the crew’s persistence despite the pandemic, the resulting budget meltdown, and a very busy fire season. If you have a brush pile that was overlooked, please notify Bill Tobey via email to firewise84108@gmail.com.  

If you haven’t yet shared your trimming hours and service expenses, please take a moment to send those numbers to Bill at the email address above. The township can claim every hour and dollar spent by canyon residents on fire fuel removal and defensive space creation to help us recertify as a Firewise community. That helps lower our fire insurance premiums and qualifies the township and county for state financial support in the event of a major fire event.

Thank you all for your sweat equity in this important fire preparedness activity, and for your patience through the long hot summer. Fuels reduction is a critical part of Emigration Canyon's wildfire preparedness. Read about a fuels reduction success story in the recent Rosland Road fire in Oregon here: https://oregonlivingwithfire.org/strategic-planning/ 

Stop the Spread!

Urban Habitat, SLCo Noxious Weeds Program and SLC's Trails & Natural Lands are proud to present Stop the Spread - a new online resource to becoming a noxious weed steward. Whether you are a hiker, cyclist, dog-parent, lover of the outdoors, or a Salt Lake County citizen who is looking for new ways to get out of the house and make a difference, your help is needed to keep our natural lands healthy and open for all (human and wildlife) to enjoy. Please visit our website to learn how you can get involved, and help take back our lands from dangerous, invasive weeds.