This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Thhe boundary between Cottonwood Heights and the unincorporated area of Salt Lake County known as Willow Creek goes right down the middle of Creek Road.
The south half of the road is in the county. The north half is in Cottonwood Heights.
Only the county's half was recently repaved, and Cottonwood Heights officials wonder if politics is behind the discrepancy.
Typically, says Cottonwood Heights Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore, when a road is shared by two governmental entities, they collaborate on improvement projects and share the cost. But a few weeks ago, Cullimore says, county crews repaved the county side without telling Cottonwood Heights.
And just like clockwork, some residents fired off emails to their neighbors in the unincorporated area crowing about how good the county's slice of the road looks compared to the city-owned portion and why those folks should remain under county governance.
There is an election coming up, you see, in which the Willow Creek folks will decide whether to remain in the unincorporated county and continue to receive county services, or be annexed into Sandy, to the south.
The road repaving shows it's a no-brainer, wrote Willow Creek resident David Green.
"Nowhere is there a bigger example of county government clout versus city government than is currently visible on Creek Road," he wrote. "They [the county] not only milled the surface, they laid down sealer, laid down about four inches of new asphalt and finished it off with nice reflective stripping."
And the crews completed South Willow Creek Drive and East Willow Creek Drive all the way to the end at the same time, Green noted. The county, he added, has more taxing power than the city and therefore is better able to complete such projects.
He then said Cottonwood Heights "was supposed to resurface [its] half and the median at the same time."
Not true, Cullimore counters.
Cottonwood Heights and the county, he said, had discussed working together on the project when they could budget for it in the next fiscal year.
The mayor wonders about the surprise project just before the Nov. 3 election, and whether the timing made it a prudent investment or a political ploy to sway the election.
If residents vote to join Sandy, Cullimore says, the county will have spent several hundred thousand dollars on a road for which they no longer would be responsible.
Alyson Heyrend, spokeswoman for Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams, says the county and Cottonwood Heights have discussed a joint project next year to chip-seal the entire road. But the street had developed such deep ruts, creating an unsafe environment, county officials decided they needed to do enough work now to make it more drivable.
Why, then, didn't the county repave the entire road, down to 1300 East, Cullimore asks, rather than just the part that borders the area subject to next month's vote?
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A baggy 'scarlet letter' • If Highland High administrators determine a student is dressed too immodestly, that boy or girl will spend the entire day at the east Salt Lake City school looking like a giant pea pod.
A freshman recently was sent to the office for wearing shorts that officials deemed too short. Rather than send the girl home to change or have her parents bring different clothes, she was ordered to wear a large, baggy sweatshirt and equally cumbersome sweatpants.
Printed on the shirt and the pants are the words: "I love my administrator."
Highland Principal Chris Jenson said the intent is to ensure students adhere to a modest dress code — and, when a violation occurs, to keep it lighthearted.
The girl's parents were not amused, however, wanting instead to bring her a change of clothes so she wouldn't stand out during the school day.
Jenson says if parents feel strongly about it, the school would allow them to bring different clothes. But he said he hasn't heard a lot of criticism from parents about the policy.
He also said administrators are watching to ensure the strange wardrobe does not lead to any harassment or bullying of the student.