Author Archives: Fairpark Community

Fairpark Community Council Hosts SLC Mayoral Candidate Forum

The Fairpark Community Council hosted a Candidate Forum for Salt Lake City Mayor to a packed house at its meeting on June 25 at the Northwest Community Center in Fairpark. All 5 candidates, or their representatives, participated in the brief introduction and overview of their races, followed by a group Q&A session. Good4Utah.com (Channel 4) recorded the session and posted their piece here.

The following is a recap of the candidate presentations.

Mayor Ralph Becker

Ralph Becker – Mayor Becker is has been in office for 8 years. His administration has rejuvenated the downtown, made significant improvements in transportation and has implemented equal rights policies in housing and employment. The city boasts #1 status in the U.S. for job creation and is in the top 10 cities for sustainability and livability. The city has initiatives in place that have decreased the carbon footprint, but there is much work still to be done, according to the Mayor. While the city has increased prosperity, the city has initiated a “5,000 Doors” campaign due to the increasing disparity with people regarding income and housing.

Jackie Biskupski

Jackie Biskupski – Jackie Biskupski’s representative was on hand as she was at a scheduled campaign event. “She will listen” was the prevailing theme of her platform. Biskupski was a legislator for 13 years and enjoyed a close working relationship with the city during her tenure on many issues. She understands the West Side issues, including resources for things like infrastructure, street lights, clean river, a safe community, protected bike lanes, safe crosswalks, and economic development.

George Chapman

George Chapman – According to Chapman, issues have been ignored with regards to transportation, homelessness, safety and many other city issues. Chapman’s platform is based on the need for more police, more transit service, protection of open space and better air quality.

City Council Chair Luke Garrott

Luke Garrott – Currently a Salt Lake City Council Chair, Garrott’s campaign is focusing on public transit, clean energy production and affordable housing options in all neighborhoods. All neighborhoods should have better resources and be engaged in “participating budgeting” to have a voice in what is funded in their areas.

Dave Robinson

Dave Robinson – Robinson is a first time candidate for office in the political system. An owner of multiple businesses, he has a strong interest in building and development. Robinson’s platform will focus on better public transportation, homelessness, the rights of property owners, issues that affect the housing market and affordable housing.

Q & A (Ms. Biskupski was not represented in the formal Q&A due to her prior commitment)

Continue reading →

Salt Lake County Offers Free “Lead Safe Housing” Program

If your home was built before 1978, you may want to look into the “Lead Safe Housing” program with free services from Salt Lake County. Services are free if you
qualify (see eligibility requirements here).

Salt Lake County administers grant funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to qualifying homeowners, renters, and landlords to make homes lead safe for children. All services are free.

The focus of the program is to remediate lead hazards in homes built before 1978, where children under the age of six reside or visit frequently.

NOTE: The Salt Lake County Health Department recommends all children under the age of six be tested for lead exposure. The Salt Lake Lead Safe Housing Program provides testing for children under the age of six who live in qualifying properties.

For more information, contact:

Lead Safe Housing
2001 S State Street S2-810
Salt Lake City, UT 84114
Phone: 385 468-4892
Fax: 385 468-4894/ Email

Dirt2Table: When the Cure is Worse than the Disease

Don’t make the cure worse than the disease when dealing with pests in the garden. There are a variety of ways to keep pests from totally destroying our gardens without having to apply poisons that will harm ourselves and our natural friends the predatory and pollinating insects.

The first thing that one should do is become more tolerant. Learn to tolerate some level of damage to our plants and produce. If we do this, we find that we aren’t so eager to reach for the chemical warfare agents at the first sign of aphids or snails. Combine this more tolerant attitude with regular monitoring of your plants to see if they are being attacked by anything. Quite often our vegetable plants will not be bothered by pests. If they are being eaten by something, try to determine what is eating them before taking any steps to protect them. Tomatoes aren’t usually bothered by pests, except for the tomato horn worm, and while these can do a lot of damage in a short period of time, it is usually only one or two of them at a time and they are pretty easy to locate and destroy by hand. Each of the so called cut-worms is about as big as an adult man’s index finger, and though they are green they are pretty easy to spot, catch and smash.

Earwigs and snails are two other types of pests that can do some damage to our vegetable plants.

Snails are the biggest threat as plants are just emerging from the ground. For the last five years or so every time I plant a hill of cucumbers, squash or melons I cover the hill with a little cage I made out of ¼ inch hardware cloth. That is like window screen but with bigger holes. The cages are about 6-8 inches tall and about 8-10 inches in diamater. They can be used year of after year to keep your little seedlings safe from snails until they are big enough to survive without protection. You can also put out a bowl with a little beer or sugar water for the snails to drown in. Putting the rinds from halved cantaloupes with the open side down where snails are a problem will cause snails to gather inside, making it easy to dispose of them.

Earwigs can cause significant damage to some crops. One non toxic way to keep them under control is to put soup cans with about an inch of cooking oil in the bottom so that the earwigs can crawl in and be trapped. I have had a small soup can get half full with earwigs within two months.

For more information regarding pesticides and alternatives, visit: http://www.beyondpesticides.org/

SLC Transit Master Plan

As Councilman Lamalfa mentioned in the May Community,Council meeting, Salt Lake City is currently working on developing a SLC Transit Master Plan (TMP). The TMP is a city effort to document SLC’s short, medium and long-term public transportation needs, goals, and implementation strategies to improve transit. The Plan will include an in-depth analysis of how people are traveling today,
the strengths and weaknesses of the current mass transit system, and projections for future growth to identify a network of corridors for investment. A survey effort will be conducted in Summer of 2015. For more information, visit slcrides.org

Education Corner: Charter Schools in West Salt Lake City

The charter school movement in Utah is 15 years old and continuing to grow. There are now over 100 public charter schools in Utah, with more than a dozen opening the next two years. The State Office of Education has a charter school department and there are two charter school associations that exist to support charter schools. Read all about charter schools in Utah here.

There are two non-profit organizations that support charter schools by providing technical assistance, advocacy, events and numerous resources to members:

The Utah Association of Public Charter Schools

The Utah Charter Network

Salt Lake City has several charter schools within its city boundaries, some which are on the west side of the city. Continue reading →

Summer Crime Prevention in Fairpark

As the temperatures begin to rise, so does the opportunity for criminals to commit acts against Fairpark. Protecting our neighborhood is very important, so
we wanted to provide you with some tips and resources for keeping you, your family and your property safe this summer. Did you know that you can research crime in your area through the Salt Lake City Crime Statistic page? http://slcpd.com/crimes-tatistics/ From this site, you can search crime data going back to 2009 in order to see the ebb and flow of criminal activity and other public safety issues based on data contained in the department’s records. Use the crime map to view the latest incidents near you. You may also choose toreceive email crime alerts to stay informed and help improve the safety of our neighborhood and community.

To reduce our neighborhood’s crime rate, it’s important to get to know your neighbors, or come to meet our Community Intelligence Officer at our monthly Community Council meeting.

Did you know that the SLPD has a special unit devoted to grass-roots problem-solving within our community? The Community Intelligence Unit has 8 officers who attend monthly community council meetings within the City’s 7 Council Districts. While CIU officers share and receive a lot of information at these meetings, it is daily interaction with residents that fosters the trust necessary to tackle public safety issues together.

If you notice a problem on your street – from graffiti to loud parties, drug dealers to gangs – our CIU officer is ready to connect you with the law enforcement and community resources necessary to address the issue. Feel free to contact him directly. For District 2, Detective Dustin Marshall can be reached through email at district1@slcgov.com or by phone at 801-799-3626.

Here are some specific tips to help keep your home safe this summer. Continue reading →

Red Cross Home Fire Campaign: Free Smoke Alarms and Volunteer Opportunity

The American Red Cross has launched a new national program that has the goal of reducing death and injuries due to home fire by 25% over the next 5 years across the nation. The Red Cross is offering FREE smoke alarms and fire safety information.

The Red Cross is asking citizens to distribute information advertising the service so that they can contact the Red Cross to schedule an installation appointment if they do not have working smoke alarms. You can print out the flyer here.

The Red Cross is also in constant need for volunteers to help them fulfill these appointments to go out and install these alarms. This is a great volunteer opportunity for community members to get involved in a national campaign.

To volunteer, or for more information,contact

American Red Cross

Utah Region

555 East 300 South, Suite 200

Salt Lake City, UT 84102

(801) 323-7004 (p)

rebecca.jones2@redcross.org

USU FREE Water Check Program

Did you know that about two-thirds of Utah’s pristine drinking water is used to water lawns? Want to save money on your water bill? Utah State University Cooperative Extension, the Central Utah Water Conservancy District and the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake and Sandy, and have once again teamed up to bring you the USU Free Water Check Program (now in its 17^th season), offering free sprinkler system and landscape evaluations to residents of participating counties.

A team of Water Check employees will visit your home to conduct an on-site analysis of your in-ground, automatic sprinkler system. A customized watering schedule and a specific list of sprinkler system and landscape recommendations will be created, as well as other valuable tips for water conservation.

Interested homeowners should visit www.SlowTheFlow.org/watercheck or call 1-877-728-3420 to sign up for a free Water Check, and a representative will contact you to schedule an appointment. The program is currently running and continues until late August. Appointments are available Monday–Friday, 8am to 5pm.

You can also visit the facebook page.

Open House for Homeless Services Site Evaluation Commission

The Homeless Services Site Selection Evaluation Committee sponsored the Open House event on April 29 at the Salt Lake City and County Building.The purpose was to gather public feedback regarding the Community Commitments and Values. Additionally, the committee was seeking input regarding the identified Factors for Success. These values and factors, when combined, will help the committee determine the most appropriate location and configuration of day-to-day homeless services.

Additionally, the committee was seeking input regarding the identified Factors for Success. These values and factors, when combined, will help the committee determine the most appropriate location and configuration of day-to-day homeless services. Continue reading →

Dirt2Table: Simple Practices to Enhance Plant Growth

At last! The growing season is here! Although we had an extra early start for cold hardy crops like lettuce, spinach, peas, carrots, onions and more, the safe time to put out tender annuals like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash and cucumbers started about the first of May for most of us here in Fairpark Community.

I wanted to focus on a simple practice that increases the size and yield of some of our garden plants. If you are a gardener in this area you probably grow a lot of tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. These three types of plants, which each have an enormous range of varieties, along with a lots of other agricultural plants including potato and tobacco, are all in the large plant family of Solanaceae or the Nightshade family. The practice that helps speed growth and increase yields consists of removing the side branches that form above each leaf. Not on the whole plant or all season long, but during the first month to six weeks it is a good idea to remove any branches from the stem as they form.

For tomato plants, it helps to keep the plant branch free for the first 18 to 24 inches of stem, and allow the plant to keep the branches above that. For peppers it is 6 to 18 inches depending on the variety. For eggplant keeping the plant branch free to a height of 12 to 18 inches seems about right. Continue reading →