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NORTH SALT LAKE — More than a month after remediation was originally expected to begin on the landslide in North Salt Lake, plans to improve the slope are now beginning to materialize.
Engineers and city leaders say design drawings are nearing completion for the top of the hillside. But legal "posturing" by stakeholders has prevented the city from finalizing a plan to fund the project, according to Mayor Len Arave.
"There is significant posturing going on between parties that are potential funding sources," Arave said at a meeting with residents Tuesday. "But the one good thing about this is that this now seems to be a much more manageable plan than it was a month ago."
Arave, who declined to specify what recent cost estimates are, said the total price tag "still raises the hair on my head," but that it is "a whole lot more doable" than earlier estimates.
Monitoring has revealed no movement in the slide for months, but significant groundwater levels adding to the weight and potential instability of the slope have become a deciding factor in how remediation plans develop for the area.
A current proposal includes leveling out the top of the hill, laying the scarp back at a more gradual incline, replacing cracked clay material at the bottom with granular sediment, replanting vegetation, and installing a buttress up against the toe of the slope, according to Tim Thompson, a senior geologist with GeoStrata.
In multiple areas of the slide, engineers plan to build water removal structures to lessen the potential for erosion and water buildup. Permanent monitoring stations will also be installed to measure water content and slope movement, if any.
Streets above the slide will be rerouted to accommodate alterations to the terrain. Some of the remaining plots in the Eaglepointe development will remain eligible for development by Sky Properties, but modification of areas near the slide will not be permitted, Thompson said.
Barring legal complications due to objections from the developer, property owners or utility companies, Thompson said funding and construction plans could be finalized before the end of the year, and construction could be complete by early next year.
"If everybody participates and everybody's on board and we come up with a good solution to move forward, I think we're done by spring," he said.
Apart from a now vacant lot once occupied by the Utrilla family's destroyed home, the scene of the slide has changed very little in recent weeks. For the Eagleridge Tennis and Swim Club on Parkway Drive, things look much the same as they were moments after the mountain collapsed in August. The club has since reopened, but a tennis court tent and an auxiliary building remain crippled, while buckled asphalt still juts from beneath a parking lot's failed retention wall.
"We haven't touched anything because it's holding up the hill," said club owner Brad Ferreira. "We've had people come and look at removing the tent, and no one wants to touch it because they say there's too much of a liability risk.
City leaders say stakeholders have been involved in planning the remediation of the slide, but Ferreira expressed frustration with frequent delays in the process and scarce communication.
"I would assume I'm a stakeholder, but I've never been involved in any meetings," he said. "I just want to know what's going on. I just want to know what their plan is. Whatever happens, at least I know what to do to progress with my business."
Ty Weston, who also lives on Parkway Drive, said he is pleased with planning and research by engineers, and he hopes it will help alleviate the discouragement community members have from repeated delays.
"I think it's been pretty frustrating up until this meeting because it just seemed like things were dragging on and the process was a lot slower than people anticipated," Weston said following Tuesday's meeting. "Coming out of this meeting, I feel that the city is doing the best job they can. I think there are parties that have a lot to do with this landslide happening in the first place, and I would hope that many of those help solve the problem that they may have partially caused."
