"I have the paperwork on my desk," Mayor Doug Thompson said Wednesday, and his veto pen is poised over it.

The council voted 3-2 this week to allow the city to tap up to $1 million a year to buy "open meadows, verdant farmland, unobstructed mountain vistas and natural water features along gateways and corridors."

The money would come from prospective sales taxes generated by retailers with properties larger than 60,000 square feet in south Logan. No such stores currently exist in that area, but city officials are trying to woo a big-box retailer - perhaps Target - to the intersection of Highway 89/91 and Highway 165 to replace Macey's Food and Drug, which is moving to nearby Providence.

Council Chairwoman Laraine Swenson proposed the open-space ordinance. "Everyone I've talked to has said this is important to us," she said.

But opponents argue the city faces more pressing needs. ÂThompson, for one, said most residents probably would rather see improved roads and more firefighters and police officers. "I'm concerned about the fiscal responsibility of putting this all into open space when we have so many other needs," the mayor said. Swenson counters that Logan must act now on open space before development gobbles up more of it.

"We're always, always going to have a problem with our roads, with our infrastructure. We're never going to be on top of it," she said. "Our budget is probably never going to be in a comfortable position and, if we're really going to put our money where our mouth is, and make this [open-space preservation] a priority, this is the way."

Thompson has 10 days to decide whether to veto the ordinance.

ajbrunson@comcast.net