Streetcar Project To Be Discussed Tonight By Ogden City Council - Updated

3/29/11 City Council Notes

By: Brandon Chase Bell
Trolley District Community Advisory Network

A City Council Work Session is scheduled for tonight immediately following the Special City Council Meeting at 6:00 p.m. (there is not a set time for the Work Session, rather it begins immediately after the Special Council Meeting ends, which based on past experience has been approximately 7:00-7:15 or so).

In addition to discussing the Open Space Plan, the City Council will discuss the Streetcar Project and “options regarding the “preferred alternative” for the Ogden/Weber Transit Corridor Alternatives Analysis. Also, Council member Van Hooser will give a presentation on transit issues based on a recent Rail-volution Conference she attended.

Meeting Information:

Ogden City Council Work Session

March 29, 2011 – immediately following the Special Council

Meeting that begins at 6:00 p.m.

City Council Chambers – Third Floor

Municipal Building, 2549 Washington Boulevard

Streetcar Project Update and Issues to Be Discussed:

Important City Council Letter Sent on February 14^th, 2011 to WFRC, UDOT, and UTA

The information packet for the meeting contains a lengthy review of the Streetcar Project and efforts to bring a modern transit system to the Ogden area. It states that, most recently the city council sent a letter to the Wasatch Front Regional Council, Utah Department of Transportation and Utah Transit Authority on February 14^th, shortly following the City Council meeting in January with the WFRC where UTA, and UDOT representatives were also present.

The text from the City Council’s letter relating to Harrison Boulevard and the Streetcar Project are as follows (as contained in the information packet for tonight’s meeting):

Harrison Boulevard

1. We [the Ogden City Council] are interested in pursuing a corridor study for Harrison Boulevard with UDOT as the lead agency and are willing to contribute 50% of the funding required for the study (contingent upon the Mayor agreeing). We request that this study commence as soon as possible.This corridor study will assist the City with decisions that need to be made relative to the Transit Alternatives Analysis and needed operational improvements can be clearly defined.

2. We have concerns with the proposed expansion of US 89 south of Harrison Blvd. and how this increased traffic would be handled by either Harrison or Washington. Further information would be helpful.

Transit Alternatives Analysis

3. We feel strongly that 25th Street should be an alternative route in the Transit Alternatives Analysis and be shown as such in the 2040 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). We were surprised that the mode for the “Ogden Streetcar Project” was changed from streetcar to bus rapid transit in the plan. We look forward to receiving a recommendation from the project’s stakeholder group and considering the options further. (Emphasis added)

This letter is significant news in the streetcar project and it’s long history. Many Ogden residents feel that a 25^th-Harrison alignment has been needlessly ruled-out as an option. There has been longstanding, consistent, and overwhelming public support voiced in Ogden for a 25^th-Harrison streetcar alignment. Our City Council has now taken the opportunity to formally request that it not be ruled out as an alternative, and that a 25^th-Harrison alignment be taken forward as a potential alignment in the final Alternatives Analysis, that will eventually be finalized and released by UTA.

We are glad that the City Council has acknowledged this public support of a 25^th-Harrison alignment and given voice to the will of Ogden residents in writing this letter to the Wasatch Front Regional Council, Utah Department of Transportation, and the Utah Transit Authority. Additionally, the City Council has also responded in this letter to UTA’s sudden change of plans in suggesting a Bus-Rapid Transit as the transit mode, when for quite some time now, the general consensus and discussion has revolved primarily around a streetcar system.

Tonight’s meeting is an important moment in the process of bringing a modern transit system to Ogden, hopefully along the right route, and the right mode of transit. As the meeting is a City Council Work Session, public comment is not allowed. However, attendance tonight is important to show continued public support for a 25^th-Harrison Streetcar alignment, and a streetcar system, as opposed to UTA’s recent suggestion of a Bus Rapid Transit project. Please attend tonight’s meeting and be sure to express your support, in person, to members of the City Council for a 25^th- Harrison alignment, and for a streetcar transit system specifically, both before and after the meeting.

Update 3/30/11 9:00 a.m.: For those following the Street Car Topic discussion, one of our gentle readers who attended last night's council meeting provides the following meeting summary concerning the council's posture on the 25^th- Harrison alignment:

• Summary of 3/29/11 City Council Meeting

Standard-Examiner: UTA Says Weber Transit Service Would Have Many Riders

We'll be keeping our eyes peeled, and fingers crossed, of course, as the UTA plods forward within the bureaucratic constraints of  this this ridiculously tedious Ogden Transit Study process

There's encouraging news for Ogden City streetcar fanciers this morning, as the Standard-Examiner's Mitch Shaw reports on the results of Tuesday's Ogden City Council Joint Work Session, wherein the Council received a a Transit Study update from Utah Transit Authority officials. Here's Mr. Shaw's lede:

OGDEN — If a public transit service between downtown Ogden, Weber State University and McKay-Dee Hospital ever becomes a reality, the Utah Transit Authority says it won’t be hurting for riders.
UTA officials met with the Ogden City Council Tuesday night to discuss progress on a nearly $900,000 transit study that is measuring the merits of a new transit system that would connect downtown Ogden to the campuses of WSU and McKay-Dee.

Here's the full story, folks:

• UTA says Weber transit service would have many riders

And here's the "kicker":

Jim McNulty, a strategic planner with UTA, told council members that by the year 2040, ridership numbers on the system could ultimately reach 8,000 per day. Ridership estimates for when the service initially begins aren’t available yet.
“We’re finding that we would have the ridership there when we open it up,” McNulty said. “We’ll have more precise information (on early ridership numbers) in about a month, but it’s looking good so far.”
McNulty said UTA’s new Sugar House streetcar system, which opened in December, is seeing about 1,000 riders each day.
“So obviously, seven to eight thousand (daily riders on the Ogden line) is a great number,” he said.

“We keep hearing streetcar, streetcar, streetcar.” “Weber State has indicated that that’s what they want, and we’ve heard that from (the public) as well,” Mr. McNulty adds.

We'll therefore be keeping our eyes peeled, and fingers crossed, of course, as the UTA plods forward within the bureaucratic constraints of  this ridiculously tedious Ogden Transit Study process.

Standard-Examiner: Garcia Pledges to Remain Advocate For Minorities

A well-deserved tribute with an added bonus: A little trip down memory lane

Uplifting Scott Schwebke story in this morning's Standard-Examiner, wherein a number of city officials (Boss Godfrey included) pay well-deserved tribute to Ogden City political heavyweight Jesse Garcia, who's now departing the city council, after sixteen years' dedicated service, zealously representing the interests of the citizens of Ogden City's Municipal Ward 1:

• Garcia pledges to remain advocate for minorities

In addition to a series of stirring tributes, Mr. Schwebke also significantly devotes two brief paragraphs to at least one "striking" instance where Councilman Garcia had been seriously "at odds" with the now-complimentary Mayor Godfrey:

A striking example of Garcia's differences with Godfrey came in 2007 when he opposed efforts by the mayor's administration to have Utah Transit Authority earmark $247,500 in federal grant funds for engineering, planning and other studies for an urban gondola system.
Those funds have been designated to the city for a street car transit alternative analysis but the gondola project aimed at linking downtown and Weber State University has not come to fruition.

Regular readers will recall the developing story in 2007, all of which we've assembled here in our Weber County Forum Secret Gondola Study Collection.

To refresh our readers' recollection, and for a little trip down memory lane, here's the Secret Gondola Study story story in a nutshell:

At some point in 2006, Mayor Godfrey's Washington lobbyist finessed a $247 federal public transportation grant, which, as per custom, was turned over to the Utah Transit Authority, as local funds administrator. Godfrey did not report to the council the allocation of these funds; and they were only inadvertently revealed to the council months later.

Although these funds were designated with Ogden City as the intended beneficiary, Boss Godfrey adopted the preposterous position that these funds did not belong to Emerald City, that they were not subject to the authority of the Ogden City Council, but that they were instead placed at UTA's sole disposal, and for disposition at its sole discretion, toward a previously commissioned gondola engineering study.

Godfrey's mendacious words still ring in our ears: "It's not our money!" said Boss Godfrey, (with his fingers crossed behind his back, and his toes crossed inside his shoes). Ultimately, when the smoke cleared, after at least one citizen GRAMA request, a blistering Std-Ex article... or two, and the public release of a series of incriminating emails establishing that the Godfrey Administration (and possibly the UTA) had attempted (and colluded) to hide the true material facts from the city council, it turned out that these funds were indeed subject to disposition by the Ogden City; and (thanks in large part to Councilman Garcia's efforts), Godfrey and the UTA quietly backed down, and the heretofore disputed funds were ultimately earmarked by the council for the now ongoing street car transit alternative analysis, (as the Standard now reports with undue modesty).

(For the full un-abridged story, we again urge our readers again to check out our previously linked Secret Gondola Study Collection.)

As Councilman Garcia vacates his Ward 1 Council seat, we join in his tribute. As Councilwoman Gochnour says, "He will be missed."

"Sorely missed" we'll add: "Don't it always seem to go... you don't know what you got til it's gone?"

Weber County Forum Friday Morning News Roundup

A few notable news stories which have been languishing on our WCF back burner

In the interest of kicking off any possible Friday Weber County Forum discusssion (on an otherwise sl-o-o-o-w news day), we're reeling out for your perusal a few notable news stories which have been languishing on our WCF back burner

1) With 10 felony charges hanging over his head, we'll guess that opportunities in the legal profession are a mite thin.  Nevertheless we learn that former Attorney General Mark Shurtleff isn't letting any grass grow under his feet, as the Salt Lake Tribune reports on Shurtleff's latest legal representation venture:

Former Attorney General Mark Shurtleff attended Tuesday’s state liquor commission meeting, working as legal counsel for a new Orem-based business he owns with his brother.
Shurtleff and younger brother Kevin Shurtleff were requesting a special manufacturing permit for Now Neutraceuticals, which plans to make small aerosol inhalers that can quickly introduce different compounds — such as caffeine — into the lungs.
The inhaling solution includes a negligible amount of alcohol but still requires a special alcohol-use permit, which was unanimously approved by the five-member commission.

Read up, peeps;

• Mark Shurtleff working with brother in Orem start-up

Caffeine inhalers: Instant heart attack?

One Trib reader wryly sums it up: "Wow, from attorney general to general counsel for a 'huffing' enterprise'".

2) We've been relatively harsh critics of the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) for many years; so we're now pleased to observe that one Weber County Commissioner (Kerry Gibson) is jumping on the bandwagon, in the wake of the full Commission's unanimous decision "to bump [one] Utah Transit Authority request off the list before approving this year’s round of local transportation funding for a dozen other projects":

• Weber official rips UTA as 'a hungry, hungry beast'

Check out the above story to learn about the other twelve road-building boondoggles which the commission did unanimously approve.

Seems the Weber County Commission never stumbled upon a transportation project they didn't fall in love with... well, almost.

3) With the 2014 Utah General Election rolling out in exactly a month, we're delighted to put the spotlight on this strong Salt Lake Trib editorial, which pulls no punches concerning Northern Utah's pending 1st District Congressional race:

• Editorial: Utah’s 1st District should send McAleer to Congress

"A new poll from UtahPolicy.com shows that 81 percent of Utahns polled rated the job performance of the legislative branch as either somewhat or highly unfavorable. Nationally, 14 percent of voters approve of the job Congress is doing[...].Voters in Utah’s 1st Congressional District can do something about that in this election. They can send Donna McAleer to Washington," says the Tribune.

We'll be standing by with abated breath to find out whether strong editorials like this will aid in pulling Northern Utahns out of their paradoxical elective stupor.

4) To put a close to today's news roundup, we'll lodge, for our readers' attention, this truly remarkable Trib story, shining the spotlight on our truly remarkable Utah Lieutenant Governor,  Ya gotta admire Cox's boldness and candor:

• Utah’s Cox calls politics a ‘Dumpster fire,’ dings Romney for saying ‘stupid things’

We'll assume that Lt. Governor Cox may be unfamiliar with that oft-cited Ronald Reagan Eleventh Commandment, "Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican." We'll also presume that Lt. Governor Cox won't be receiving GOP backing for any other elective office any time soon. One thing's for sure: politics-wise, LT. Governor Cox is a true breath of fresh air.

Salt Lake Tribune: UTA Pay High? Real Numbers Are Higher Yet

Utah: the best managed state?

Hold onto your hats, folks. IT'S OFFICIAL! Thanks to the re-juggling of Utah Transit Authority reported data, we learn from the Salt Lake Tribune that the heads of the UTA are now making DOUBLE the salary of the heads of both New York's and Boston's public transportation systems. And that's merely the tip of the iceberg.

Read the "good" news here:

• UTA pay high? Real numbers are higher yet

Sodden Queries:

• Utah Transit Authority: Transit System of the Year?
• Utah: the best managed state?

A Weber County Forum Tip O' the Hat to Utah political watchdog eric Etherington for the mind-bending heads-up.

Comments anyone?

Ogden Streetcar Study Reaches the Next Milestone

With luck, all the preliminary spadework will be completed before the Federal Government goes broke

The Standard-Examiner reports that Ogden City has reached the next important milestone in its effort to initiate our city's street car study project, which has been creeping forward on the city agenda since May of this year. We incorporate Scott Schwebke's pertinent paragraphs to provide the gist:

OGDEN — The city council will consider tonight an agreement that defines the scope of a $750,000 study that may lead to a streetcar system along the downtown to Weber State University-McKay Dee Hospital corridor.
The agreement with the Utah Transit Authority calls for the city’s share of the study, which will include a transit-alternatives analysis and draft environmental impact review, to total $290,000.
Funding will come from $231,250 in Utah Transit Authority federal money pledged for local transportation studies and $58,750 is set aside in the city’s fiscal 2009 budget.
In addition, Weber State University will contribute $140,000.
Intermountain Health Care, which is the parent company of McKay-Dee Hospital, will provide $30,000.
The remaining $290,000 needed for the study will come from UTA.[...]
The UTA has hired Wilbur Smith Associates Inc., which has an office in Salt Lake City, to complete the transit-alternatives analysis and draft an environmental impact review.
Work should begin in the next few weeks and will be completed in June 2010, said Greg Scott, a transportation planner for the Wasatch Front Regional Council and co-project manager for the study.
“It (work) is always a little slower than you would hope, but it’s coming together well,” Scott said Monday

So let's see now. It's been a little over three years since the release of the 2005 Baker Study, which identified possible Intermodal Hub/McKay Dee transit corridors and recommended street cars as a best form of cross town public transit. And it's been almost a full four months since the city counsel passed a resolution joining with all the other aforementioned stakeholders to select a consultant and to fund the study, using that secret federal transportation grant money that our mendacious mayor had concealed from the council for over nine months. (We're assuming, by the way, that the council will vote to move forward tonight, now that we've reached this next milestone -- not an entirely safe assumption with Councilwoman Jeske out of action while she recuperates from her recent back surgery.)

"Slower than we hoped" is right. And then Ace Reporter Schwebke provides this encouraging information, leaving us to wonder just how many additional years all this preliminary spade-work will actually take:

A second, separate phase of the study will include the completion of a final environmental impact statement and preliminary engineering.
The cost and scope of work for that phase hasn’t been determined, said Bill Cook, the city council’s executive director.

Hoo boy! We suppose the best we can hope is that the U.S. government (Uncle Sugar - from whom we all hope to soak up substantial funding,) won't be broke by the time we get all our ducks lined up and enter the long queue, along with all the other cities looking for federal monies to fund their own street car systems.

And just as an aside... according to the most recent report, Boss Godfrey returns tomorrow from his European Street Car Study Junket. Anybody want to make a side bet on whether or not our Emerald City Mayor will return to town raving about street cars?

Don't let the cat get your tongues.

Ogden Transportation Study: Currently On Track

The only real apparent obstacle? Boss "Gondola Boy" Godfrey

Interesting article in this morning's Salt Lake Tribune, regarding the tantalizing possibility that Sugar House may be the first community in Utah to adopt a "modern" street car system. We incorporate Brandon Loomis's introductory paragraphs below:

The view from a Sugar House front porch is homey: narrow streets, tree-canopied sidewalks, stroller-pushing moms.
Paint in the kind of slow-moving streetcars that rumbled over urban Utah rails decades ago and you'd think it was the 1950s. It soon will be, in a sense, if a joint study by Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake and the Utah Transit Authority leads where planners hope - to Utah's first modern streetcar line.

(And alas... here we were hoping Ogden City would be "the first." It appears these forward thinking Salt Lake County entities "somehow" got the jump on us, however.)

Toward the middle of the article Mr. Loomis describes the proposed route:

The Sugar House route stretches for two miles behind dozens of warehouses and tire shops from the Granite Block's south edge around 2200 South to TRAX light rail at 2100 South. The two cities and UTA are splitting the cost of a $300,000 study, and the line ultimately could cost $37 million and serve 2,300 people a day. Construction would come after the three parties find funding.

According to the article, not only is this a joint study by Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake and the Utah Transit Authority that's already underway, but Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker stands solidly behind it:

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker has pushed to expedite the link, and city planners see it as just the start of a web connecting denser neighborhoods with TRAX.

Being the curious type, after reading this SLTrib article, we wondered what's happened to Ogden's pending combination transportation and alternative analysis which we last discussed in mid-May of this year.

We spoke with Council Chair Amy Wicks this morning; and she kindly provided this information update:

1) Shortly following the council's above-referenced council work session, a meeting was convened with representatives of all the major "stakeholders." Representatives from the following public and private entities were in in attendance, among others: The UTA, UDOT, WSU, McKay Dee Hospital, Weber County and the Ogden Mayor's Office. In the course of this meeting the UTA agreed to draft an interlocal agreement for a joint study, apportioning the obligations of each of these stakeholders with respect to the pursuit of the subject transportation study analysis. Although this draft agreement has not yet been yet received from the UTA, it's expected to be completed any day now.

2) UTA's Mick Crandall has already confirmed that the $200 thousand in federal transportation study funds, which were stealthily granted to UTA for Ogden City's benefit last year, would be fully applicable, as at least a portion Ogden City's share of the costs of the combo transportation alternative/EIR analysis.

We'll consider this to be good news, evidence that the process of adopting a "modern streetcar system" in Ogden is generally "on track."

The bad news?

We have a lingering sensation that Boss Godfrey might not share Mayor Becker's commitment to reasonable transportation alternatives -- such as streetcars. In truth, Ogden citizens have every reason to remain gun-shy. Hopefully our city council can continue to keep his feet to the fire on this -- and disabuse Boss Godfrey of his gondola obsession.

That's our update. We thought our gentle readers would want to know about this.

Who will be the first to comment?

Ace Reporter Schwebke Catches UTA and Godfrey Administration Officials with Their Pants Down

A sad testimony to the lack of candor of state and city government officials

The Standard-Examiner's Ace Reporter Scott Schwebke has done a yeoman's job these past few weeks, doggedly digging up the truth regarding what we've been referring to on these pages as Boss Godfrey's Secret Gondola Study. As our readers will recall, Utah Transit Authority (UTA) officials have steadfastly denied making any legal commitment for the funding of further gondola studies. Similarly, Emerald City administrative officials have also denied knowing much of anything about such a study (or studies,) notwithstanding the administration's voluntary production of this Lewis, Young, Robertson & Burningham Inc. study (they call it a "fiscal analysis,") commissioned by an un-named "somebody" in May of 2006, and delivered (and billed) to Boss Godfrey's administration in November of that year. For those readers who'd like to review the body of Mr. Schwebke's reporting to date, we have assembled (in reverse chronological order) our previous Secret Gondola Study articles in this special WCF collection, within which each of Mr. Schwebke's articles is thoroughly discussed and dissected.

This morning however, Ace Reporter Schwebke breaks entirely new investigative ground, revealing in this morning's front-page headline article that a $247 thousand federal grant was actually funded to the UTA last year, not merely to pay for a gondola study, but rather to fund a gondola plan. We duly incorporate Mr. Schwebke's lead paragraphs here:

OGDEN — An unanticipated $247,500 federal grant to the Utah Transit Authority obtained by a lobbyist for Ogden will allow the agency to fund a gondola plan for the city.

UTA has money set aside for the plan but has not disbursed any because it hasn’t reached an agreement with the city, UTA spokesman Chad Saley said. UTA sent a draft management agreement in December to Ogden’s Chief Administrative Officer John Patterson, but hasn’t received a written response, Saley said.

The city is working on a response to the draft agreement, Patterson said.

The money for the finance-and implementation plan for a gondola system would be provided to the city in exchange for a $247,500 Federal Transit Administration allocation awarded to UTA last year, according to a July 20, 2006, letter from Mick Crandall, UTA’s deputy chief for planning and programming, to John Arrington, the city’s finance manager.

"Ogden city has determined that its preferred use of the funds would be to refine the proposal for the aerial cableway which the city is pursuing as part of a public-private cooperative endeavor," the letter says.

Crandall could not be reached for comment regarding the letter, obtained by the Standard-Examiner from the city through a public records request.

In 2006, unbeknownst to UTA, the city secured the Federal Transit Administration funds which were approved as part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s annual appropriations budget, Saley said.

Ken Lee, the city’s Washington, D.C., lobbyist, sought the federal funds on his own without direction from Ogden’s administration, Patterson said.

"He seeks funds when he sees that they are available," Patterson said.

Mayor Matthew Godfrey said he is unsure what led to the Federal Transit Administration allocation. “I don’t know how it came around,” he said.

The funds were allocated to UTA, which applied the money toward the purchase of a new bus already on order for the Ogden area, Saley said.

As a result of the federal allocation, UTA has been able to free up $247,500 from its general fund budget for the gondola plan, he said.

In view of these most recently revealed facts, it becomes painfully clear that both UTA officials and Boss Godfrey henchmen have played it very cagily in their press responses re this story until now. UTA had consistently taken the position that it had never agreed to expend, nor had it actually expended any of its own funds on further gondola study projects. Nevertheless, we now learn that UTA officials plainly knew very well about the substantial chunk of federal cash which was rattling around in a UTA account -- earmarked for a gondola plan -- but they inexplicably elected to keep mum about it.

Likewise the administration had fairly consistently taken the position, preposterous as it is, that it had been basically "in the dark" about the entire matter. (The ever-truthful Boss Godfrey should be reminded, by the way, that his administration is legally-chargeable with any knowledge that his Washington lobbyist/agent possessed regarding this federal grant.)

Now that this new information is out in full public view, it will be interesting to hear the explanations of UTA and Godfrey administration officials about the earmarked federal grant that both governmental entities "forgot" to mention.

Another Weber County Forum Tip O' the Hat to Standard-Examiner reporter Scott Schwebke this morning. He deserves his community's hearty thanks for his recent great work on this story. This new information ought to have been readily and voluntarily provided to him upon initial inquiry. It's truly shameful that he had to pry it loose via a GRAMA request.

Update 6/25/07 11:45 a.m. MT: For the benefit of our North Ogden City readers, who are being called upon to vote on the North Ogden $2.5 million "swimming tax" bonding proposal TOMORROW, we link this excellent Reach Upward Blog article, providing what we think to be an intelligent analysis of the issues at stake for the citizens of our neighboring city, along with a gentle reminder to be sure to get out to the polls tomorrow.

Searching for Solutions to the Public-transit Scuffle

Weber County Forum enlists its readership to find solutions

Excellent and thoughtful Wasatch Rambler column in this morning's Standard-Examiner, in which Charles Trentelman examines the simmering public transportation problem which the Std-Ex editors last week labeled the"(UTA) Public-transit scuffle".

Trentelman digs right in and allocates blame among and between all entities responsible for this inelegant political log-jam, namely the State Legislature, the Utah Transit Authority, and the Davis and Weber County Commissions. Although Trentelman lays a glove on each of these entities, each in its turn, we particularly appreciated the following Trentelman broadside, mercilessly directed at the august Senators and House Reps on Utah's Capital Hill:

Start with the Legislature.

Last year it felt a need to cut taxes. Why it felt that need is anyone’s guess. There were huge demands for basic government services, teacher salaries, dental care for the poor, roads, mass transit, and more.

Ignoring massive opposition, the Legislature cut taxes.

One of the taxes it cut was the sales tax on some food. Part of that sales tax goes to UTA, which uses the money to pay for things like FrontRunner.

Would cutting UTA’s funds be a problem? The Legislature either didn’t think so or didn’t care. Either way, it said the counties could make up the difference for UTA by raising the sales tax again.

Get that? The Legislature cut taxes to make itself look good, but let someone else clean up the mess. Not exactly a profile in courage.

Further down the article, Trentelman does go on to lambaste the UTA and both county councils with equal vigor, as we said; but one thing remains clear after we get through with playing "the blame game," we think:

The UTA has set a January 31 deadline for somebody to get off the dime; and from that time forward, it will likely be "the little people," those who rely daily upon existing public transit, who may bear at least the short-term burden of this intra-agency quarrel, unless somebody involved in this ridiculous public standoff stands down.

And we'll highlight another element of this squabble where we think Trentelman gets it particularly "right": "So there you have them: The three groups we expect to make FrontRunner a success. Thousands of commuters, and every city hoping to revitalize because of mass transit, depend on their foresight, leadership and wisdom."

There are several proposed "solutions" floating about:

The Utah Rattler blog registered its "conservative" take on the issue a couple of days ago, i.e., that the quasi-public UTA should simply raise user fees. That's what real businesses do in the real world, after all; and subsidizing UTA operations with public tax revenue only benefits another special interest group, the Utah Rattler reminds us.

Others, we imagine, would argue the contrary -- that the Davis and Weber County councils should simply "bite the bullet," raise the sales tax a measly 0.05% and continue with UTA rider subsidies. We suppose some would strongly argue that such subsidies confer an over-riding general public benefit, such as urban revitalization, which Trentelman mentions above.

What your blogmeister would like to know is what out gentle readers think about this issue; and it's in that connection that we invite you to chime in and opine here. We'd be particularly interested in hearing alternative solutions to this dilemma, aside from raising more taxes or increasing transit fares. Who knows... perhaps our readers can come up with a proposed solution which will allow all of these warring public agencies to save face.

Hopefully the cat won't get your tongues.

Write It Down So You Don't Forget It

The Emerald City council again finds itself "out of the loop"

There is a story that's been rattling around the Emerald City rumor-mill for over a month, concerning a purported $2o0 thousand Utah Transit Authority study (we've heard the figure $250 thousand,) aimed at studying the feasibility of gondolas for Emerald City.

This story has finally emerged on the public radar screen this morning however, thanks to this morning's Ace Reporter Schwebke Magnum Opus. We incorporate here the lead paragraphs from this morning's Standard-Examiner article:

OGDEN — The city council is looking into a claim from the city’s administration that Utah Transit Authority has agreed to spend up to $200,000 to study the feasibility of a controversial gondola proposal.

Council Chairman Jesse Garcia said the board wants to verify Mayor Matthew Godfrey’s promise that no municipal money is being used to finance the analysis. “We are being told that UTA is behind it,” he said. “There are just things we need to find out.” The council learned about the study from the administration last week, Garcia said. John Patterson, the city’s chief administrative officer, said UTA agreed more than a year ago to fund the study. “It’s old news,” he said. Godfrey said there was no reason to inform the council earlier about the study, which is designed to determine if a gondola is compatible with UTA’s mass-transit objectives.

"It is UTA’s component and doesn’t involve us," he said. "All of this (the study’s findings) … has to come before the council before it makes a final decision (on the gondola proposal). It’s not like it’s secret. The city council has also said it doesn’t want piecemeal information."

Godfrey said he and UTA General Manager John Inglish mutually decided the study should be undertaken.

UTA spokesman Kyle Bennett said it is his understanding that the study is being managed by the city.

He referred questions about funding and the status of the study to UTA Deputy Operations Director Mick Crandell, who could not be reached for comment.

Godfrey said he has received a draft of the study’s financial analysis, but declined to provide a copy to the Standard-Examiner because he isn’t sure if it has been finalized by UTA.

The most troubling aspect of this story, to us, is that there seem to be two opposite versions of the facts, depending upon who's telling the story:

Whereas the city council says it learned of this study only recently, administration spokesman Patterson says it's "old news" -- despite the fact that the Godfrey administration apparently didn't tell anybody about it.

Whereas Boss Godfrey seems to maintain, with a completely straight face, that "it's UTA's component" (whatever that means,) UTA's spokesman insists the study is being "managed by the city."

We especially loved the part of the story where the Boss Godfrey administration admittedly kept the whole situation under wraps -- because the council doesn't like to receive "piecemeal" information. We're betting Boss Godfrey's pinocchio nose grew a full couple of centimeters when the little dissembler suddenly blurted out that tall tale.

We thank Standard-Examiner reporter Schwebke for finally bringing this story out in the open, even though today's report leaves many questions unanswered. And we offer kudos to the city council, for drawing a line in the sand. Additionally, we agree generally with councilman Safsten's possibly prophetic take:

Councilman Rick Safsten said it is troubling that the council has been kept out of the loop regarding the study and predicted it will provide ammunition for gondola opponents.

“Those who are most opposed to this will go nuts,” he said.

What may not have occurred to councilman Safsten is this fundamental rule which operates in the twisted, inverted MattGodfreyUniverse:

THE EMERALD CITY COUNCIL IS ALWAYS OUT OF THE "GODFREY LOOP."
We sincerely hope Mr. Safsten (and indeed all other council members) will write this down so they don't forget it again. We lumpencitizens, of course, already have the concept down pat. And Mr. Safsten is right: it drives rational and honest people "nuts." Whether it drives delusional gondolist Godfrey-lackeys like Mr. Safsten any more "nuts" than they already are... that's an entirely different question, of course.

There are other interesting aspects to this story; but we'll leave the full analysis to our wise and gentle readers.

The floor is officially open, this rainy Monday morning.

We'd be most interested to hear what our readers have to say about this.

Overpaid Bureaucrats of The Utah Transit Authority Hold a Community Open House

Good news for Ogden Streetcar fanciers!

The insipid and highly overpaid bureaucrats of The Utah Transit Authority will hold a community open house from 5 to 7 p.m. June 25 at Ogden High School, 2828 Harrison Blvd. UTA spokesman Remi Barron said the meeting will serve as a “public kickoff” for a plan that aims to shuttle people between downtown Ogden and Weber State University and McKay-Dee Hospital. Formal public comments will be collected at the open house and integrated into the study.

• $845K Ogden Transit Project study hearing set

Mark your calenders. peeps!

Standard-Examiner Editorial: OUR VIEW: UTA Misses the Bus

Crony government conducted in the dark: it's how we do things here in Boss Godfrey's Ogden

Fine editorial in this morning's Standard-Examiner, lambasting Utah Transit Authority (UTA) officials for their secretive rerouting of Ogden's downtown bus routes. Here's the lede:

This week the Utah Transit Authority rerouted bus service that used to travel and stop along Historic 25th Street.
And how did UTA notify the public of this change? By posting flyers on the buses and at the affected stops.
That may be a good way to advertise for a lost pet, but not for a transit organization to notify the public of a change in service.

Read the full editorial here:

• OUR VIEW: UTA misses the bus

And the SE editorial board hits the nail squarely on the head, we believe, with this:

Considering the bad publicity UTA has received of late regarding executive pay, you would think the agency might want to bend over backwards to improve its public relations. A simple meeting to give people the opportunity to raise their concerns could have gone a long way. Such a meeting could have brought up issues that UTA, the city and the merchants hadn't even considered. Even if no one showed up, UTA would have shown they were willing to do more than what was required.

As SE reader Bob Becker aptly notes in a comment beneath todays SE story, "Crony government conducted in the dark: it's how we do things here in Matt Godfrey's Ogden. And, apparently, at UTA too."

Have at it, O Gentle Ones...

Standard-Examiner: Ogden OKs Transit System Study From Intermodal Hub to WSU to McKay-Dee

Dare we ask the question? Is an Ogden Streetcar system finally in our future?

At risk of coming off as a mite late to the party, we'll shine the spotlight on a story from yesterday's Standard-Examiner, reporting on the result of one agenda item on Tuesday night's Ogden City Council calender, representing what we believe to be a most significant and too-long-coming milestone in Ogden City public transit advocates' effort to establish a high-quality transit system between Ogden’s downtown corridor and the campuses of WSU and the Dee-McKay Hospital.  Here's the gist:

OGDEN — The once-stalled Ogden streetcar project is now gaining some major forward momentum.
The city council adopted a joint resolution Tuesday night, authorizing a study for a transit system connecting the Utah Transit Authority Intermodal Hub, Weber State University and McKay-Dee Hospital.
Officials said that, ideally, the study will result in a high-quality transit system between Ogden’s downtown corridor and the campuses of WSU and the hospital.
“Ultimately, we want to identify a project that can be taken to construction and built,” said Hal Johnson, UTA manager of project development.

Read the full story here, folks:

• Ogden OKs transit system study from intermodal hub to WSU to McKay-Dee

Yes, it's been a long haul. Except for one dismal and knuckle-headed distraction which took this project off-track for at least half a decade, Ogden City lumpencitizens and Northern Utah commuters might have been otherwise on the verge of enjoying the comfort and convenience of a cross-town public transit system amenity years ago.

We've sat on our collective thumbs here in Ogden for years, whilst our more aggressive and better-focused neighbors to the south now put the finishing touches on their own cross-town, high-quality transit system project, even as we speak.

A Weber County Forum Tip "O the Hat to the Ogden City Council for at last placing this project on the front burner, where it clearly belongs.

Dare we ask the question?  Is an Ogden Streetcar System finally in our future?

Standard-Examiner: Ogden Transit Project Talk Revving Up - Updated

The city needs to step forward and commit.” “That’s an important move.” - Council Director Bill Cook

In the aftermath of this encouraging 3/15/13 Standard-Examiner story, and notwithstanding the Standard's nay-saying 3/27/13 thumbs-down, the Standard again carries another timely Ogden Streetcar project-related story which might rekindle the time-dimmed hopes of Ogden City street car advocates, on the heels of  Tuesday's (4/9/13) Ogden City Council work session:

"After a long period of inactivity, discussion on the possible Ogden streetcar is heating up again. Officials from Utah Transit Authority, Wasatch Front Regional Council and Utah Department of Transportation participated in an Ogden City Council work session Tuesday night, discussing the future of the Ogden Transit Project," reports S-E reporter Mitch Shaw, in yesterday's online story.

• Ogden Transit Project talk revving up

$745,000 Study

Despite the daunting estimated $745,000 cost of yet another UTA-sponsored study, which would intricately delve into projected cost, ridership, alignment and mode parameters, we're hearing noises from some in Ogden City government that it's time to get moving on this project:

“The city needs to step forward and commit.” “That’s an important move,” says Council Director Bill Cook.

"Whatever the outcome may be, the need to develop a transit corridor to WSU is not just an Ogden city need, it’s a regional need." “There so many people tied to Weber State,“and they aren’t all just living in Ogden," says Ogden Mayor mike Caldwell, who also hedges a bit, street-car-wise, with the cautionary proviso that "the city is [also] looking to find out the cost-per-mile difference between a streetcar and a modified Bus Rapid Transit system, which has also been discussed as a potential outcome."

Cook adds that "a joint resolution between the city administration and the council, indicating the city’s intention to move forward with the study, would need to be adopted by May 21," in which connection we'll be keeping a close eye out in the event that such a proposed resolution agenda item does suddenly pop up.

Meanwhile, Mr. Cook and others will be apparently doing some frantic deep dredging of possible "Ogden Streetcar White-Knight donors," such as the Wasatch Front Regional Council, the Utah Department of Transportation and the ever-cash-flush Weber Area Council of Governments (WACOG), to find out who might be willing to help raise another measly 745 thousand bucks, we guess.

Update 4/12/13 12:10 p.m.: There's more on this story from ABC Channel 4, emphasizing Weber State University student passenger demand:


Don't let the cat get your tongues..

Godfrey's Twisted Gondola Obsession Arises Again

The sociopathic monster from Boss Godfrey's id again lurches to the forefront and into this morning's news

Like the Hollywood "B" grade horror-movie monster that never has "the stake" quite driven cleanly through its evil heart until the end of the last reel, Boss Godfrey's strange gondola obsession arises once again as headline news this morning, with this Scott Schwebke story, reporting that the Godfrey administration and the Utah Transit Authority have reached agreement for disposition of the $247 thousand in Federal Transportation Administration grant funds that have been languishing on the UTA books for over a year.

Yes, gentle readers, the secret gondola study is once again back on the WCF discussion front burner, right back where it belongs, with a municipal election approaching in a mere 46 days.

As is the usual circumstance in anything involving Boss Godfrey obsessions, opinions differ about the operative facts. Whereas Boss Godfrey contends that the expenditure of these funds will be for the benefit of the UTA, rational spokesmen for the Utah Transit Authority have previously expressed a drastically differing opinion on the subject:

Godfrey said transportation information from studies funded through the contract will benefit UTA, not Ogden, because the city wouldn’t own, operate or maintain the urban gondola.

“They (UTA) requested the contract,” he said. “They need to find out if it (the urban gondola) is viable to get people from point A to point B.”

However, a July 20, 2006, letter from Mick Crandall, UTA’s deputy chief for planning and programming, to John Arrington, the city’s finance manager, indicates at the time the municipality was interested in using the $247,500 allocation to further study the gondola proposal.

“Ogden city has determined that its preferred use of the funds would be to refine the proposal for the aerial cableway which the city is pursuing as part of a public-private cooperative endeavor,” the letter says.

Boss Godfrey of course resides in his own private gondolist universe, and is no stranger to drastic differences of opinion, especially among rational, non-sociopathic people.

Among the details nailed down in the UTA/Godfrey agreement are these, according to this morning's Ace Reporter Schwebke story:

"UTA will allocate a portion of the funds to pay Salt Lake City-based Lewis, Young, Robertson & Burningham $16,250 for a gondola fiscal impact study completed in November 2006...

"With the exception of the Lewis, Young, Robertson & Burningham bill, UTA will be responsible for all contracts financed in connection with the agreement...

In addition, the city and UTA will jointly develop a “scope of work” for gondola studies that maximizes “benefits to the constituents” of both entities, the agreement says...

The city and UTA will also designate an equal number of representatives to a committee that will review gondola-related study proposals, according to the agreement...

In addition, UTA will review all invoices submitted by each consultant to determine eligibility for payment.

And there's also one additional element of the story that we find curious:

"After UTA pays Lewis, Young, Robertson & Burningham, the balance of the funds available through the contract won’t likely be expended, unless Peterson finds a way to fund the urban gondola, said John Patterson, the city’s chief administrative officer."

We're not sure what the above language means, although it might suggest that UTA will not be required to disburse any funds under express terms of the agreement, until Chris Peterson comes up with a viable mechanism to fund the whole crackpot scheme.

Is the production of a viable financing plan a condition precedent to the implementation of this UTA/Godfrey agreement under its own written terms? Will the UTA be legally required to hold off on wasting these grant monies, until the gondolists produce a plan on paper that passes the "sniff test" -- or is Mr. Patterson merely suggesting that this probably won't happen as a practical matter? There remains a large hanging question in the possible interpretation of Patterson's above statement.

Frankly we do not know. Unfortunately Ace reporter Schwebke apparently didn't ask the obvious followup question. This, buy the way is not intended as a slam on Scott Schwebke, who played perhaps the key role in publicly exposing the Godfrey administration's earlier devious misbehavior in connection with this matter, and whose article today is otherwise very revealing.

We'll attempt to reach a UTA spokesman this morning. If we can get some clarification on this, we'll put it up by way of an article update.

And what say our gentle readers about all this?

Update 9/20/07 11:45 a.m. MT: One of our gentle readers has kindly forwarded to us a full text pdf version of the above-mentioned 8/29/07 UTA/Godfrey Administration agreement, which we've uploaded to our storage site and now make available for our readers' inspection here.

Update 9/21/07 9:05 a.m. MT: Scott Schwebke provides a followup story in this morning's Standard-Examiner, fleshing out yesterday's story with the added information that UTA officials are also dealing directly with the city council and its legal representatives, regarding the ultimate disposition of the Federal Transportation Administration funds.

Ogden Streetcar Study Moves Forward

UTA begins its search for a contracted study consultant next month

Good news for fanciers of an Ogden streetcar system, gentle readers. Scott Schwebke reports this morning that stakeholder pledges have been rounded up, and that the UTA will be hiring a study consultant very soon:

OGDEN — A search will get under way next month for a consultant to undertake a $750,000 study that may lead to a streetcar system along the busy downtown to Weber State University-McKay-Dee Hospital corridor.
Mick Crandall, deputy chief of planning and programming for the Utah Transit Authority, reviewed with the city council during a Thursday night work session a memo detailing a timeline for completing the study.
Funding for the study will come from $231,250 in Utah Transit Authority federal money pledged for local transportation analysis and $58,750 set aside in the city’s fiscal 2009 budget.
In addition, Weber State University has been asked to contribute $140,000, and Intermountain Health Care, which is the parent company of McKay-Dee Hospital, has been asked to provide $30,000.
Efforts to advertise for a consultant for the study will begin in early October, according to the UTA memo.

For those of us who've felt that this project has been moving like molasses, it's encouraging to observe that the project is approaching another important milestone.

The Emerald City Council Talks Transit Tonight

All conceivable modes of public transit remain "on the table"

For those Emerald City readers interested in transit alternatives, don't miss tonight's 5:00 p.m. Council work session. Details of this event are disclosed via this morning's Scott Schwebke story, from which we incorporate the lead and closing paragraphs:

"OGDEN — Mayor Matthew Godfrey will present a proposal to the city council tonight detailing eight possible transit corridor destinations that could be linked with the downtown intermodal hub.
The presentation may lead to further efforts by the council and administration to prioritize possible corridor destinations to connect with the FrontRunner commuter rail system that will begin operating next year at the intermodal hub.
“The idea is that we want to formulate a plan that the city administration and council are excited about,” said Godfrey.
City Councilwoman Dorrene Jeske said she is hopeful an agreement can be reached to study all modes of mass transit.
Funding for a detailed analysis may come from a $231,250 Federal Transit Administration appropriation awarded to the Utah Transit Authority last year, Godfrey said. ...
"Potential modes of transit along the corridors could include buses, streetcars or an urban gondola." [Emphasis & link added]

That's right, folks. Boss Godfrey's crackpot urban gondola scheme remains alive, and will continue to clog council agendas right up until the city hall screen door whacks the anal-retentive little guy in the backside, as he exits the public arena in January.

And the question occurred to us: so long as the council is still wasting time and money on discussions and studies relating to an urban gondola, (right along with serious public transit alternatives), why shouldn't the council put still another knuckle headed transit idea on the table?

For our readers' enlightenment -- we reprise Ozboy's SASYMASTS public transit system.

OK... Chalk it up to a slow news day.

If anyone amongst our readership decides to attend tonight's work session, we'd love to have you share your notes with us.

Take it away, gentle readers. Feel free, if you like, to treat this as an open-topic thread.

Article Spotlight: Two Public Transit Oriented Stories From This Morning's SL-Trib

Utah Rail Transit priorities -- Present and Future

By Curmudgeon

Two interesting stories in this morning's Salt Lake Tribune, on Frontrunner and the impact it's had already, and the future of rail transit in Utah.

The first article discusses the surprising Saturday traffic Frontrunner carries between Ogden and Salt Lake City. Just about the same number of people as it carries on Monday through Friday [commuter heavy days]. This in particular caught my eye:

Saturday trains carried an average of 7,113 people in June, compared with 7,809 on weekdays. FrontRunner does not run on Sundays.
The train has inspired a wave of intrastate tourism, and as many day-trippers are heading north to Ogden as are riding south to the bigger city, said Paul O'Brien, Utah Transit Authority rail general manager. "People get off the train [in Ogden] and ask, 'Where's a good place to eat lunch around here?' " O'Brien said.

The question is, is Ogden doing anything actively to promote, tap, assist the pleasure travelers riding the rails north?

The second article discusses the Wasatch Front's need to invest a great deal more in rail infrastructure over the next decades than in road construction, or we will find ourselves in a competitive disadvantage of significant size. Here's a taste:

The Salt Lake region and the other burgeoning "megapolitan" areas of the Intermountain West need renewed federal cooperation to build more such connections, the Washington-based Brookings Institution finds in its latest metropolitan study, "Mountain Megas: America's Newest Metropolitan Places and a Federal Partnership to Help Them Prosper." If Congress continues to shrink from infrastructure spending and to insist its money go mostly to roads, Brookings scholars predict Utah could sprawl in ways that choke productivity. The Salt Lake region must keep up with 1.5 million newcomers over 30 years.

Comments?

Public Transit Returns to the Ogden City Discussion Front-burner

Boss Godfrey digs in his heels for "further alternatives"

As warm weather arrives in Emerald City, the local political climate warms up right along with it. This morning's Salt Lake Tribune reports on yesterday's Weber County Council of Governments meeting:

OGDEN - Weber State University students asked the Weber Area Council of Governments to kick in money - and kick-start - a study to determine whether a streetcar or Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) should be the transit system linking downtown Ogden to WSU and the nearby McKay Dee Hospital Center.
The WACOG, composed of Weber County commissioners, mayors and city council members of various communities, made no promises at its Monday meeting.
But the group did get a glimpse of how contentious the proposed transit project, suggested by a 2005 feasibility study, has become in Ogden.
Mayor Matthew Godfrey blasted the proposal to build a streetcar or BRT from the downtown transit center - and FrontRunner commuter rail - east along 26th Street to Harrison Boulevard as "fatally flawed" and no longer an option.
"It's out. There is no way to pay for it," said Godfrey. "Why would you pay for a study if there is no way to pay for it?" [...].
Godfrey assured other members of COG that he's not opposed to transit between downtown and the university. "I believe other corridors and methods need to be studied." [...].
Chris Bentley, legislative vice president of the Weber State University Student Association, said Ogden has missed a chance by failing to move on its 2005 feasibility study, funded jointly by the city, WSU and the Utah Transit Authority.
Bentley said a transit system beyond the existing UTA buses would be a boon to students and faculty who travel to campus, and to the county's economy. "It's actually a regional issue, not just an Ogden City issue."

As the price of gasoline soars, and sensible Ogden citizens cast about for viable transportation alternatives (see this morning's Charlie Trentelman article), Boss Godfrey appears to remain fixated on the same debilitating mayoral obsession which has stymied coherent Ogden public transportation discussion and planning since 2005.

As reported in this morning's story, Godfrey will be taking his bad act back to a city council work session on May 15, to discuss unspecified "transit options." According to Godfrey, "Ogden City needs a plan where the administration and council are on the same page." The lumpencitizens of Ogden of course know exactly what that means:

Gondolas to nowhere, anyone?

This May 15 meeting may well turn out to be one that nobody will want to miss. As everyone knows, Godfrey's always at his most entertaining best when pitching his knuckleheaded Godfrey schemes. Fashion accessories like torches and pitchforks are optional as always at city council work sessions; but steely-eyed stares are mandatory, of course.

Comments, anyone?

Transit Project Detours Washington Improvements

Boss Godfrey's dilatory tactics delay important safety-oriented street repair project

Interesting front page story in this morning's Standard-Examiner, reporting that a $10 million UDOT road improvement project, which had been planned "to improve safety and travel along Washington Boulevard from 26th to 36th streets," has been put on indefinite hold. From this morning's Scott Schwebke story:

OGDEN — A Washington Boulevard road improvement project costing at least $10 million that was slated to start next month has been delayed pending a decision on a possible streetcar or bus route from downtown to Weber State University and McKay-Dee Hospital Center.
The Utah Department of Transportation project was scheduled for completion in October to improve safety and travel along Washington Boulevard from 26th to 36th streets. But UDOT has decided to put the project on hold until a combined alternatives analysis and environmental impact study is completed by the Utah Transit Authority, the city and others to determine the preferred mode of transit and location of a route between the intermodal hub at 23rd Street and Wall Avenue and Weber State and McKay-Dee on Harrison Boulevard. [...]
It’s prudent to delay the road improvements until after the selection in July of a transit mode and route for the five-mile corridor between the intermodal hub and Weber State and McKay-Dee, said Randy Park, a special projects manager for UTA.

The impediment? Boss Godfrey's proposed 30th and 36th street east-west public transit corridor "legs." “Rather than put it (the improvements) in and then have to undo it and tear up the street, we have decided to let Ogden decide where the streetcar or bus rapid-transit system should go,” Vic Saunders, a UDOT spokesman remarked.

So in addition to the 3-1/2-year delay on the street car project that Boss Godfrey caused by his foot-dragging after the 2005 release of the Baker Study, (which already picked a 26th Street east-west corridor as the preferred route,) important safety-related Washington Boulevard repairs are also now being put on the back burner because of the further dilatory actions of Ogden City's gondola-obsessed mayor.

Nice work, Boss Godfrey!

Special thanks to the 7,247 Ogden citizens who voted for the little feller in the 2007 election.

Reader comment are invited as always.