"Salt Lake City is friendly and welcoming and open for business. We extend our appreciation to our neighbors who live in communities up and down the Wasatch Front, Tooele County, Summit County, Wasatch County and throughout the state of Utah for their many contributions to the greatness of Salt Lake City," says the statement, read by Councilman Dave Buhler.

Anderson focused on environmental issues in last week's State of the City speech and said commuters "foul our air, clog our roads and increase our nation's dependence on foreign oil," and he singled out Davis County residents because of their support of the Legacy Highway. On Thursday, he and Buhler publicly sparred over the speech; Buhler said the comments could hurt the city at the Legislature.

Councilwoman Nancy Saxton deemed Tuesday's unanimously approved "Policy Statement on Constructive Relationships with Neighboring Communities" unprecedented and she apologized for Anderson's "disparaging" and "judgmental" remarks.

Anderson, in Washington, D.C., for a mayors conference, said: "All that [policy statement] does is stoke the embers."

The council statement says it supports car-pooling, mass transit and the importance of protecting the environment - but it noted those options "are not always available or practical."

It also noted how people outside Salt Lake City view it as their own and contribute to the city's tax coffers through sales tax and property taxes paid by people who own commercial real estate but don't live in the city. It also singled out Davis County, noting how it has supported light rail and commuter rail.

The city "is successful because of the support of not only city residents, but the support of Utahns throughout the state," says the statement.

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Tribune reporter Robert Gehrke contributed to this story.