Forest Service proposes creekside trail in Providence
February 11th, 2010 Posted in OpinionBy Bonnie Phelps
PROVIDENCE—Erik Skabelund of the U.S. Forest Service Logan Ranger District presented plans for a walking trail in Providence during Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.
According to the plans, the trail will be on the south side of the creek, on the north aspect of the slope and be about 5,000 feet long. The new trail will meet the existing trail. Some areas will be several feet wide, and others will only be 2 feet wide. A 2-foot-wide trail is standard and will accommodate a single-file line and a bicycle.
The reason the trail will only be 2 feet wide in certain areas is partly because of the landscape, but mostly because it will have to be created by hand. When asked about the necessity of such a narrow trail, Skabelund said that because the trail is created by hand, it is a lot of work to ask of someone, so they don’t want to make it wider than necessary. If they were to create the trail with equipment, it would have to be equipment that would leave too big of a footprint and do “far more harm than good,” Skabelund said.
There will be maintenance on the trail every spring. “It ought to be pretty easy maintenance,” Skabelund said. The council said that the cost of maintenance is within the budget, and they didn’t seem the least bit worried about that.
The council was excited about this plan, but didn’t adopt it because of wording technicalities in the contract. This matter will be readdressed after the wording is adjusted.
RAPZ taxes were also discussed. Applications for RAPZ taxes are approaching, and the council has some ideas of improvements they would like to see. RAPZ taxes are designed to improve recreation and tourism in the community. The most discussed idea was to redo the tennis courts. It will cost about $160,000 to redo both of the tennis courts because the courts will be torn up and completely redone. The new materials used for tennis courts today are designed to last several years with maintenance every five to 10 years. They plan to install lights for night play as well.
“The mosquito abatement program is moving forward and doing well,” Deon Johnson, Providence trustee for the Cache Mosquito Abatement District (CMAD) said. There is a concern about the fogging of mosquitoes killing other insects, especially bees. Johnson said that so far things have been OK, and the fogging mostly just kills mosquitoes. They do try to address that issue.
If you prefer not to have your property fogged, you need to mail a form to CMAD informing them that you would like to be excluded. If you have a special event, such as an outdoor party, and want to be fogged for mosquitoes before then, you can contact CMAD and let them know that you wish to be fogged prior to the event. They will try to work with your schedule. Visit their Webs ite at www.cachemosquito.com for more information.
As another matter of business, Councilman Dale Astle was appointed as mayor pro-tem. Mayor pro-tem acts as mayor when the mayor is absent. Mayor pro-tem does not forfeit his right to vote as a council member when acting as mayor.
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Tags: creek, Providence, RAPZ, trail
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