Mayor Holly Daines delivers 2022 State of the City address

Mayor Holly Daines delivered the city's proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2023 at the regularly scheduled meeting of the Logan City Council on Tuesday, May 3.

LOGAN – In her 2022 State of City address, Mayor Holly Daines declared victory in many of her first term of office goals and discussed future challenges facing the city and its residents.

Speaking to members of the city council at their regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday evening, the mayor recalled her first-term goals as exercising fiscal responsibility, revitalizing downtown Logan, upgrading and investing in infrastructure and expanding trails and parks.

Daines was recently overwhelmingly reelected to a second four-year term as Logan’s mayor. In her address, she noted numerous examples that demonstrated accomplishment of her first-term objectives.

“In spite of the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic,” she said, “our local economy has fared well. Our budget is balanced. We have excellent reserves in all critical funds for a rainy day. This current fiscal year, we allocated more money toward capital and infrastructure projects than ever before.”

In terms of downtown revitalization, Daines cited the Center Block Plaza project as the crown jewel of the city’s efforts.

“The Center Block Plaza is underway with the Emporium now demolished,” she explained. “We had wonderful private support from individuals and foundations that saw value in the project.

“Last year, we raised $2.15 million in private funds toward the public plaza. We are so grateful to our generous, community-minded donors, led by the Laub Family Foundation’s $1 million gift.”

The mayor also pointed to the demolition of the old library building, new high-density housing in downtown and the planned removal of dilapidated buildings along Main Street as other examples of revitalization progress.

Infrastructure investments coming to fruition include the city’s recently completed $150 million wastewater treatment plant, according to Daines.

That facility, which is now in a testing phase, will eventually serve seven cities throughout Cache Valley.

“(The wastewater treatment plant) was completed on time and under-budget,” Daines boasted. “That’s a major accomplishment for a massive, multi-year project.”

Other recent infrastructure improvements include replacement of a large section of water line under Canyon Road and the ongoing rebuilding of the Crockett well to ensure culinary water redundancy.

The mayor also cited creating the Kunzler Conservation Easement as a high point in parks and trails improvements.

“(That easement) protects 47 acres of land along the Logan River, provides additional trails and guarantees permanent public access,” she explained. “That was a team effort by our staff from Parks, Public Works, Legal and Community Development, all pitching in along with help from the Logan River Task Force.

“We completed the nearly $1 million easement purchase almost entirely with grant funding,” Daines added.

Long-term recreational projects begun by the city in 2021 include master planning for two new parks.

“One will be a regional legacy park of a 150 acres – a recreational amenity on the site of the landfill which is being closed after 60 years of service,” Daines said.

“The second new master-planned park is the Foothill Park,” she added. “It will be a natural area of open space of about 30 acres with native plants and trails on the East Bench.”

“These are big dreams with big price tags,” the mayor warned. “… We will begin to develop them in phases, over a number of years, as we can allocate funding and leverage grant opportunities.”

Daines credited a “good working relationship” with members of the city council for those achievements. She also thanked the city’s executive team and other employees for making it possible to “ … serve our citizens and manage their tax dollars wisely while accomplishing great things …”

The mayor acknowledged, however, that Logan’s outlook for the future isn’t entirely rosy.

“We are facing some unknowns,” she admitted. “Our unemployment rate is the lowest in the entire country, putting pressure on wages.

“Inflation is also affecting our nation, both in citizens’ pocketbooks and city budgets.

Daines also noted that recent unanticipated changes to the availability of power purchased by the city may affect Logan residents and businesses in the summers of 2022 and 2023.

“Infrastructure is a very important priority,” the mayor emphasized. “But, with inflationary budget pressure and our desire to prioritize wage increases for employees, we will likely see a smaller – though we hope still significant – amount budgeted for capitol projects this year.”

Daines concluded her annual address by promising local residents that the city “will budget cautiously” in response to those unknown factors.

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5 Comments

  • Free Bird February 17, 2022 at 11:56 am Reply

    “The Führer acknowledged, however, that Logan’s outlook for the future isn’t entirely rosy.

    “We are facing some unknowns,” the Führer admitted. “Our unemployment rate is the lowest in the entire country, putting pressure on wages.

    “Inflation is also affecting our nation, both in citizens’ pocketbooks and city budgets.

    The Führer also noted that recent unanticipated changes to the availability of power purchased by the city Will affect Logan residents and businesses in the summers of 2022 and 2023.”

  • Jack February 18, 2022 at 8:04 pm Reply

    Is she actively trying to look like Hillary Clinton or just a crazy coincidence?

  • Blayne February 19, 2022 at 7:15 pm Reply

    Holly “path of destruction” Daines

  • Ruth February 21, 2022 at 10:50 pm Reply

    We can’t keep our power bills from going up, but we can find the money to do whatever Mayor Daines wants to do. I am not a fan of what she has done so far. Center Street is beautiful, but if you have to drive on it, you have to go through a dangerous bottle-neck. I’m also sad to see so many old buildings and homes demolished. Our history is being destroyed.

  • Wickedgander March 10, 2022 at 9:29 am Reply

    I have rentals close to downtown. Holly has made me a rich man, but I would give up every penny to get rid of the growth. If I wanted hustle and bustle, I would live in the SLC metro. Logan because of poor planning is going to be a logistical nightmare in a couple of years. Then why did we back out of the nuclear power deal? Powell and Mead should be hitting dead pool this year.

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