SaveNeffs.org

Please go to SaveNeffs.org for updates and progress
This petition, signed by “Friends of Neffs”, is a follow up to a letter sent in May of this year to FEMA and other government departments describing the waste and abuse of federal dollars promised to a local government project in Utah. As the “Friends of Neffs”, we call for the elimination of promised FEMA funding ($15M supposedly negotiated and now extolled by the mayor of Millcreek City UT. Silvestrini) to design and build a 4+ acre debris basin laying waste to a popular National Forest area in Neffs Canyon UT. 

Although the debris basin project is labeled as flood abatement, after a decade of studies in the earlier years, the non-profit experts could never agree on the need for this debris basin. Only when the for-profit corporations who build dam and debris basins were hired by Millcreek City for consultation, did all parties begin agreeing on the need for the debris basin and their financial stakes in the project. 

 

Several years ago, the previous FEMA administration declared the Salt Lake Olympus Hills area below Neffs a designated flood plain, which imposed building restrictions and flood insurance demands on a handful of homeowners in the area governed by Millcreek City UT. Since that time, Millcreek City management has been negotiating with FEMA to fund this wasteful debris basin effort in exchange for FEMAs agreement to relieve these handful of homeowners of the flood plain restrictions.  

 

By now FEMA has been reorganized under new leadership, and we are hopeful that this waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars will be reviewed, and any funding authorization cancelled. We’re hopeful that the change in management and reorganization at FEMA will recognize this debris basin effort for what it is-an attempt by Millcreek City to relieve a handful of wealthy homeowners in the Salt Lake bench area of building restrictions and the need for flood insurance. 

 We recommend that this NFS area be kept pristine and available for families, hikers and other citizens who use this area daily, and are asking that you eliminate funding for this misguided and wasteful effort. The attached petition and signature list requesting that funding be eliminated for this project has been collected with the help of “Friends of Neffs”. We continue to recruit new “friends of Neffs” and continue to collect signatures on this petition as our numbers grow. We will update your office as to the number of new petition signatures collected.

 

Again, we request that you help prevent this misuse of taxpayer dollars by eliminating any Federal funding for this wasteful debris basin effort and by refusing to support any provision of Federal dollars for this unneeded project. Your support to be noted on our SaveNeffs.org website