Naples council backs sidewalks on both sides of 2000 East and weighs fishing ponds

The Naples City Council voted on Oct. 8 to move the 2000 East road project into final design with a sidewalk on both the west and east sides of the road, according to the council's approved minutes. Under the motion, the city will negotiate with the two affected families, and the design can still change. Council Member Nate Zilles made the motion and Council Member Ross Morton seconded it. It passed with every member in attendance voting yes. Council Member Kenneth Reynolds was absent. ^[1]

Micheal Davis told the council the options were a sidewalk on the west side from the park parking lot to the corner of 2000 South, plus a full or partial sidewalk on the east side. He said the Utah Department of Transportation had asked why the west-side sidewalk had a gap and prefers that the city fill it in, and that some residents had also asked for a continuous sidewalk there. ^[1]

Ryan Richens said the project budget is about $1.8 million without the section under discussion. He put the extra sidewalk at about $100,000 and said leaving the existing east-side sidewalk untouched would save about $61,000. Davis said a firm price was not possible until the council chose a design, because the cost would shift with each choice. ^[1]

Mayor Arnold said the city had tried to talk with one affected family, who said they did not want a sidewalk in front of their home. He said the city is willing to keep talking and wants the result to be fair. Richens said the estimate includes costs for temporary access for right-of-way, which UDOT would negotiate, and that an option with a wider shoulder, curb and gutter, and an inlet box could control runoff in front of one home. ^[1]

Zilles also reported on a state Department of Natural Resources proposal for fishing ponds at the Naples nature park. He said he met with city staff and a Division of Water Rights specialist, who told him a spring at the site could supply the water lost to evaporation from two ponds. The city can apply for 4.73 acre-feet from the spring, he said, and evaporation from two ponds would need 4.06 acre-feet a year. ^[1]

To fill the ponds the first time would take 9.3 and 9.93 acre-feet. Zilles said the water shares tied to the city's 1998 water application, ten shares of Steinaker and one share of Ashley irrigation water, should cover the initial fill and the spring should then keep the ponds supplied. If the state denies the application, he said, the city would lose only the $150 application fee. ^[1]

Mayor Arnold said the $150 fee is within administrative approval. Morton said he would tell the recreation board about the plan, and the mayor asked him to report its response. Zilles suggested forming a committee and looking at the Utah Outdoor Recreation Grant. Commissioner Willis LeFevre, who attended, offered to look into a one-time lease of water for the initial fill. The mayor asked that the DWR return to a future meeting. ^[1]

Davis also told the council that work on the empty lot next to the school would begin the following week. The council adjourned at 8:15 p.m. ^[1]