SALT LAKE CITY — Residents in Salt Lake’s Poplar Grove community are continuing to voice their concerns about a proposed "BioTower" set to be built in their neighborhood.
One week after FOX 13 News first told our viewers about the proposed BioTower, set to go on a vacant lot, there was a community meeting on Monday.
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A few dozen neighbors showed up and they had a lot of questions for city officials.
Jason Brown, the deputy director of Salt Lake City Public Utilities, addressed the crowd.
“We’re out here today to give the community some education and understanding of your concern so we can address them as we move forward," Brown said.
One Poplar Grove resident didn’t mince words.
“We don’t want it!" he said. "At least I don’t believe anybody here wants it, and if they’re so polite that they’re not going to step up and say it, I’m going to say it: We don’t want it!”
Brown explained that the tower is really a biofilter, designed to filter foul air from the hydrogen sulfide generated from nearby sewer lines.
Brown says the location was chosen due to its availability and close proximity to three major sewer lines in the area.
"It’s understandable," he said," I understand having things in your neighborhood of this nature could be seen as a negative thing.”
Ken Funk works for Crossroads Urban Center and is in the neighborhood on a regular basis. He says he remains skeptical.
“We think the west side has, for a long time — forever really — gotten the short end of the stick, and this is probably a good example of that," Funk said.
Rachel Laxner is a Poplar Grove resident who’s done a lot of research on the tower and been vocal in her opposition to it.
“We’d like another chance to ask more questions, get more studies done for sure — air modeling and things like that," she said.
Not all of those questions were able to be answered on Monday. A sign-up sheet was sent around, with city officials gathering names and contact information for the next meeting, which will happen later this month.
And for the time being, the BioTower project is on hold, at least temporarily.
