CEDAR HILLS — The mudslide area in Cedar Hills is causing headaches for city officials again — and it's not even active.
City officials have been busy dealing with a landslide of questions and concerns from residents since last week when news reports indicated there had been recent movement at the slide.
City Councilman Jim Perry says those reports are inaccurate. Any visible changes to the slide area in recent weeks are a result of excavation work to improve runoff and draining, he said.
"There have been a bunch of residents who were alarmed to know that this mudslide was once again threatening their homes when in fact no such thing was the case," Perry said.
Four families were forced out of their homes in April 2005 when a chunk of earth slid down the mountain into the backs of a four-unit building of townhouses at Falcon Ridge.
The slide has moved only a few centimeters since last year, Perry said, and there is no immediate threat to any homes in the area.
"Given that it's a known active slide site that slid in '83 and again last year, I would never say there is no danger," he said. "However, (the news reports were) a gross mischaracterization of the status of the mudslide."
David Bunker, public works director/city engineer, said the city hasn't received any information to suggest that significant reactivation of the slide has occurred.
"If data is gathered to suggest otherwise, the city will present that information," Bunker said.
Gordon Jones, president of Highland Homes, sent a letter to Falcon Ridge homeowners this week to clarify the reported information and update them on the mitigation process.
"We wanted to tell them what's happened and what they should expect to happen over the next couple months," Jones said.
AMEC Earth and Environmental Inc. has been heading up the mitigation efforts, which thus far has included preliminary grading and the installation of a drain system.
Demolition of the damaged building will take place within the next two months, Jones said. The cleanup is expected to be complete by early summer.
The Utah Geological Survey continues to monitor the groundwater levels in the mudslide using wells installed last year by AMEC, said UGS geologist Francis Ashland.
AMEC officials were not immediately available for comment.
Perry said AMEC also is measuring the effects of the mitigation work to determine if it has been effective.
"(AMEC is) doing all the right things," he said, "and no one's homes are in immediate danger."
Perry, who lives across the street from the slide, said residents in the area were confused by the reports but weren't too alarmed because they had seen the heavy equipment digging the drains and trenches.
"However, there were residents elsewhere in the city who didn't have that perspective and didn't see it firsthand," he said. "They didn't know what was going on, and they got a very incorrect understanding what the status was."
Bunker said the safety of the residents is the city's top priority, and if the mudslide poses any imminent danger they will be notified immediately.
E-mail: jpage@desnews.com