Logan residents want dogs in parks

By Mark Rosa

On Nov. 17, during the Logan City Municipal Council meeting discussion on the Parks and Recreation Master Plan update set to pass in 2016, Councilwoman Holly Daines voiced her concern that despite resident demand, the new plan update made no provisions to change city policy to allow dogs in public parks. Although Recreation, Arts, Parks and Zoos tax support was given to the Cache Valley Humane Society to open a dog park on-site to help address the demand, some Logan residents believe their needs are not being met.

Councilwoman Daines said the dog policy is one of the categories that gets the highest percentage of comments in the yearly resident satisfaction survey, so she was surprised to see there was no specific mention of the policy in the newly finalized departmental plan update. Due to the number of resident comments and concerns she believes it’s time to have a discussion about where the city is going concerning this issue.

“We should have a little bit more of a conversation and maybe address that in the plan,” said Daines.

According to Cath Manrique, the fundraiser and volunteer organizer for the humane society, the Valley View Dog Park which is about five acres and cost over half a million dollars, will help address the needs of dog owners yet more space is required to accommodate them.

“Logan as a whole is not a very friendly city for dog owners,” Manrique said. “There probably needs to be more space offered to them.”

“If every person with a social dog was to go out to a dog park, we wouldn’t have enough space,” said Amber Huggins, a volunteer at the humane society.

Despite support to change the plans policy on dogs in parks, Russ Akina, the director of parks and recreation said it’s not that simple.

Akina said that the main issue with allowing dogs in parks is that owners are not always responsible when it comes to removing their pet’s waste, which causes problems for maintenance and landscape crews who work in the parks. If pet owners could prove that they could responsibly use the parks, more consideration would be given to allowing dogs in more public spaces.

Although the policy is not set to change, Akina said that over time he sees the city moving towards the allowance of dogs in parks.

Logan approves 400 north corridor plan

By Mark Rosa

On Oct. 20 the Logan City Municipal Council approved the 400 North corridor plan, a long-term design and development concept plan to re-tool and beautify the stretch of 400 North from the mouth of Logan canyon to 100 West. According to Mike DeSimone, Director of Community Development for Logan, we may see the construction of some low-cost, low-impact improvement projects including updating light fixtures and median construction, begin over the next year.

DeSimone said the plan’s main goal is to create a visual focal point between Utah State University and greater Logan by replicating the streetscape design of the downtown area along the corridor. The plan also aims to improve the corridor’s function as a residential street and a high-volume transportation conduit with sidewalk improvement and road enhancing projects.

“I hope that it has a significant impact visually on that corridor and on the folks that live there,” DeSimone said. “It’s kind of a quaint little street, but the reality is that it’s a major state highway, it connects the Wasatch front with Idaho and Wyoming.”

DeSimone said that although 400 North is a residential street, it is managed by the Utah Department of Transportation whose goals sometimes overshadow the concerns of area residents on safety and visual aesthetics.

“Their goal is to move traffic, they want to move people as efficiently and quickly as possible, which is not a bad thing but if you live there it’s not necessarily the greatest thing,” said DeSimone.

“We want to recognize that it’s a state highway,” Desimone said. “But what we can do is slow the traffic down a little bit.”

Logan Municipal Councilwoman Jeannie Simmonds, who served on the steering commission that guided the project, expects that implementation of the plan will improve drive aspects while having a traffic culling but not eliminating effect, which will improve the safety of the corridor.

“It will become more of a gateway because we have a lot of traffic that flows in both of those directions,” Simmonds said. “Traffic flow will be improved.”

Star Coulbrooke’s term extended as Logan poet laureate

By Mark Rosa

On Nov. 3 Star Coulbrooke, stood in her 20th appearance as poet laureate of Logan before the Logan Municipal Council to recite a few lines written by her friend and mentor, the late Ken Brewer. Coulbrooke, Logan’s first poet laureate, recently received a fine arts grant from Logan City which was matched by Utah State University’s Department of English that allowed her to extend her term as poet laureate one calendar year.

According to Coulbrooke, who is also the director of USU’s writing center, her job description as poet laureate is to share and spread poetry in Cache Valley by opening city council meetings, visiting schools and making other appearances with the intent to bring poetry to valley residents.

During the meeting, Councilwoman Jeanie Simmonds said of Coulbrooke, “She has made poetry accessible to anyone who has any interest in having it be so.”

Coulbrooke also organizes poetry walkabouts and founded Helicon West, a bi-monthly platform for poets and amateurs to perform their work.

“What really matters to me as poet laureate is the idea that anyone can write poetic lines,” said Coulbrooke. “They don’t even realize when they’re speaking that they’re saying something highly poetic.”

Coulbrooke encourages everyone to use words to release emotionally and share those words with others.

“She brings an enthusiasm and an expertise to each and every event,” Simmonds said. “She has introduced poetry to young people, middle-aged people and old people and she just has a great idea of how to engage people in writing poetry and experiencing poetry.”

County funding approved, leaders hope pickleball is here to stay

By Mark Rosa

After winning approval for a $100,000 investment into an emerging sport with an interesting name — pickleball — local leaders are hoping they haven’t bought into a passing fad.

On Oct. 20, the Cache County Council approved the reallocation of $100,000 in tax dollars based on a personal request by Craig Peterson, the mayor of Logan, to build a sports complex at Bridger Park that will give Logan and Cache Valley residents a chance to get in on the game, which is played on a court with the dimensions and layout of a badminton court and with rules similar to tennis.

According to Peterson, the council made a unanimous and unprecedented decision to channel the funds from the Recreation, Arts, Parks, and Zoo tax, which were already designated to build basketball and tennis courts as well as a “splash pad” at Bridger Park, to build eight unlit pickleball courts. Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring.

“The reason I’m excited about it is that it will fulfill a recreational need that we’ve never met here in Logan,” Peterson said. “I think it will appeal to a wide range of ages and abilities.”

Despite his excitement and belief in the project, though, Peterson said he worries that pickleball might proves to be nothing more than a fad.

But Peterson said he’s inclined to believe the sport — which was invented in the 1960s — will be around for a long time, because “it’s a very social game.”

“I think the fact that you can do it as a family works and I think the fact that you can learn it very quickly works,” he said.

Russ Akina, the director of the Logan City Parks and Recreation Department, said he shared the mayor’s concern about the project but was hopeful that pickleball would not be just another “flash in the pan.”

“When you put in an investment to facilitate that sport then it becomes a serious question in terms of ‘is it really just a fad, or is this something that would be considered?’” Akina said. “Having talked with other professionals around the state and looking at what other facilities for pickleball are doing around the county, I think it’s here to stay.”

-mdl