This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
North Salt Lake • The North Salt Lake City Council approved a remediation plan Friday for a hillside that collapsed last year.
The remediation will cost $2 million and will take about three months to complete. Besides the city's contribution to the bill, Questar Gas, Kern River Gas Transmission and the land's developer, Sky Properties, will help pay for the costs. The council also voted in favor of awarding the remediation contract to CraCar Construction.
The slide devastated Eaglepointe Estates, destroying one home and damaging a tennis club. Homeowner Paul Evans also lost about 60 feet of his backyard in the slide, and in the past year, he lost faith at times that all of the parties involved would reach this deal.
"We've been waiting a long time for this to happen, so we're thrilled,"Evans said.
Friday's deal does not resolve who is to blame for the slide that devastated Eaglepointe Estates, destroying one home and damaging a tennis club. No one has been willing to admit fault.
"The courts are going to handle litigation [in that matter]," said Mayor Len Arave. "These are agreements on how to clean up the mess, not agreements about whose fault it is."
The tennis club has sued the developer and the city for the damage that shut down three of its courts.
A 2003 geotechnical report commissioned by Sky Properties warned of a potential slide because of the clay bedrock. The company issued another report in 2013 that said there were no concerns, and the city issued the building permits.
Sky Properties spent $1 million housing the affected residents and hiring experts to study the slide. At a city meeting last month, Sky Properties Vice President Scott Kjar placed blame on the Eagleridge Tennis and Swim Club for removing part of the base of the hill, and he also suggested Questar may have some fault, because gas lines run through the area.
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