Salt Lake City Council shares conerns about public safety site

SALT LAKE CITY (Deseret News) — Voters have given city leaders the go-ahead, but Mayor Ralph Becker and company must still navigate an array of concerns from the City Council before a new public safety complex gets built downtown.

Council members Tuesday said they intend to release funds for the project incrementally, maintaining oversight on the building, rather than giving the mayor's office carte blanche on the $125 million project.

"For all intents and purposes, our only real hammer … is the budget side," said Councilman Carlton Christensen. "(But) I don't want to be micromanaging them and saying that color should be purple or this one should be pink."

The administration has asked for the council to release $25 million during the first phase of funding to cover project management and design costs, as well as property acquisition along 300 East.

"Any time you take on a project … there are construction draws and you have to go to the bank," Council Chairman JT Martin said. "We basically are the bank. We're using our constituents' money."

Council members expressed a number of concerns about the project Tuesday.

Councilman Soren Simonsen said city planners must update the master plan for the area before he would feel comfortable appropriating funds.

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