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An Ogden environmentalist has called into question a consultant's analysis of Ogden's proposed streetcar routes because the study's underpinnings have not been released to the public.
Dan Schroeder, conservation chairman of Ogden's Sierra Club, put his concerns in writing in a letter recently posted on the Weber County Forum blog.
On Thursday, Karen Wikstrom, president of Wikstrom Economic Planning Consultants, asked Schroeder to remove the letter and said she would contact her attorney if he did not.
"He wrote some things that weren't accurate," Wikstrom said. "I asked him to remove it and said that if he chooses not to, I would need to have it reviewed."
"I stand behind our analysis," Wikstrom added. "Our report is a very straightforward evaluation of three alternatives using existing public policy and data. People are always free to disagree."
Schroeder said his frustration stems from data Wikstrom used to reach her conclusions — numbers he said he has tried to acquire from the Utah Transit Authority since mid-August. However, it appears that some details must remain off-limits.
"I had to sign confidentiality agreements on sales tax records," Wikstrom said. "We routinely sign those with commercial businesses."
In a Tuesday e-mail to UTA's Mick Crandall, Schroeder said he wasn't interested in sales tax records.
"I just want to see the parcel-by-parcel breakdown of land values, improvement values, and assumed redeveloped values," Schroeder said. "This should be all that's needed to come up with the quoted 'estimated investment' totals."
Wikstrom's analysis, based on current land uses, predicted that a 36th Street route for the $157 million streetcar project would stimulate $8.5 million in economic development by 2015; a 30th Street route $4.75 million; and a 25th Street option only $1.5 million.
The final route will be selected by UTA and several stakeholders, including officials from Ogden, nearby cities, area businesses, the Utah Department of Transportation and Weber State University, which will be served by the streetcar.
Crandall, UTA's deputy chief for planning and programming, said he has had several conversations with Schroeder.
"I told him we'd help him get that information," Crandall said, "but the way the confidentiality agreements go, you can only use it in the aggregate sense and not give it to anybody."
Schroeder's letter outlined concerns and urged people to ignore Wikstrom's study until they get resolved.
Her redevelopment projections were based on current land values and zoning, Schroeder said, and seemed subjective.
"In short, it appears that the Economic Development Opportunities Analysis is actually an analysis of what might happen without a new transit project, rather than with one," Schroeder said.
UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter said the agency has not yet received a request under the Government Records Access Management Act from Schroeder.
"We are asking that he submit a GRAMA request . . . and we can provide that," Carpenter said, "while redacting information we cannot release."
However, Schroeder believes that action would yield nothing.
"UTA is telling me they don't have the information themselves," Schroeder said, "so GRAMA would not be the way to go here."
Ogden streetcar route alternatives
Stakeholder-preferred • Washington Boulevard south to 36th Street, then east to Harrison Boulevard
Secondary • Washington Boulevard south to 30th Street, east to Harrison Boulevard, then south to 36th Street
Scrapped • East on 25th Street to Harrison Boulevard, then south to 36th Street
O Read the Wikstrom analysis • tinyurl.com/streetcarstudy
Read Dan Schroeder's letter • tinyurl.com/schroederletter