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Show A-20 The Park Record Meetings and agendas Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, August 11-14, 2018 More Dogs on Main By Tom Clyde TO PUBLISH YOUR PUBLIC NOTICES AND AGENDAS, PLEASE EMAIL CLASSIFIEDS@PARKRECORD.COM Victory in the bat wars Notice is hereby given that the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission will meet in regular session Tuesday, August 14, 2018 Location: Sheldon Richins Building (Library), 1885 West Ute Boulevard, Park City, UT 84098 AGENDA Agenda items may or may not be discussed in the order listed. 4:30 p.m. Regular Session 1. Public input for items not on the agenda or pending applications. 2. Discussion and possible action regarding the RC14 Condominiums Condominium Plat; 2670 West Canyons Resort Drive, Canyons Village; RCDA-14-15-14; Gary Raymond, authorized representative for applicant.– Tiffanie Northrup-Robinson, Senior Planner 3. Public hearing and possible action regarding a Condominium Plat Amendment to the Park East II Business Community Condominium Plat; 4554 N Forestdale Drive; PEIIBCC-1 through 48; Jared Higgins, applicant. – Sean Lewis, County Planner 4. Public Hearing and possible action regarding a Preliminary Subdivision Plat to divide Parcel SCVC-6 & SCVC7 into fifty-five lots for single family dwellings and townhomes; SCVC-6 & SCVC-7; Matt Lowe, applicant. – Jennifer Strader, Senior Planner 5. Public Hearing and possible action regarding a Final Site Plan for 26 townhomes, located on lots 1-8, 15-24, & 31-38 of Silver Creek Village lots 6 & 7 Subdivision; SCVC-6 & SCVC-7; Matt Lowe, applicant. – Jennifer Strader, Senior Planner Work Session 1. Discussion regarding possible code changes including Neighborhood Mixed Use Zones and Master Planned Developments. – Patrick Putt, Community Development Director DRC Updates Commission Comments Director Items Adjourn A majority of Snyderville Basin Planning Commission members may meet socially after the meeting. If so, the location will be announced by the Chair or Vice-Chair. County business will not be conducted. To view staff reports available after Friday, August 10, 2018 please visit: www.summitcounty.org Individuals needing special accommodations pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act regarding this meeting may contact Melissa Hardy, Summit County Community Development Department, at (435) 6153157. Posted: August 10, 2018 Published: August 11, 2018 – The Park Record 6. Approval of minutes: May 22, 2018 Continued from A-18 Mountain Town vices in local businesses. But the proposal to offer Amazon gift certificates got some push back. Any travel recorded by the app will be rewarded with points, including driving your own car into the city. However, those who use alternative modes will be awarded more points. Big Sky Resort joins the Mountain Collective pass ASPEN, Colo. – The buddy ski pass program called the Mountain Collective continues to grow. The Aspen Skiing Co. announced this week that Montana’s Big Sky Resort and the Niseko United Resort in northern Japan have been added. The latter was an affiliate but this coming ski season will become a full partner. The alliance now has 17 destinations. the passes include two days of skiing or riding at each and 50 percent discount on all additional days. Prices run $499. Price points keep rising for mountain real estate JACKSON, Wyo. – Average price of single-family homes in Jackson Hole during the first half of the year rose 31 percent, hitting $ 2.33 million. David Viehman, a real estate agent who curates real estate data, tells the Jackson Hole News&Guide that 37 homes sold for more than $3 million and two of them for more than $10 million. The cheapest home in the single-family category was a two-bedroom cabin that went for $565,000. Fueling the rising prices is the continued rise of the stock market. Real estate agents say Wyoming, with its low taxes, is a favorite place to stow wealth. And, of course, Jackson Hole is a lovely place in every season. Aspen and Jackson Hole at top of another national list ASPEN, Colo. – The average age of first-time mothers in the United States is now at 26, up from 21 in 1972, reports the New York Times. For fathers it’s 31, up from 27. But in some places the age for a parenthood is higher yet. Pitkin County, where Aspen is located, is No. 3 in the nation with an average age for firsttime mothers of 31.1 years, and Teton County, more familiarly known as Jackson Hole, is No. 7 at 30.6 years of age. Adjoining areas to the ski towns, such as Teton County, Idaho, for Jackson Hole and Garfield County, for Aspen, had more traditional statistics. But all the ski counties, such as Idaho’s Blaine County (Ketchum and Sun Valley) and Utah’s Summit County (Park City) stood out on the New York Times map. San Francisco leads the nation at 31.9 years, followed by Manhattan. In general, firsttime mothers in large cities were older, and those in more rural places, such as the Great Plains, much younger. The numbers were derived from a study of birth certificates conducted by Caitlin Myers, a Middlebury economist who studies reproductive policy. The Times reports that researchers believe the differences in when women start families is a symptom of the nation’s inequality. The age of motherhood is correlated with education. Women with college degrees have children an average of seven years later than those without—and often use those years in between to finish school and build their careers and incomes. The Times also points to research by law professors June Carbone and Naomi Cahn. In a 2010 book they studied how red and blue, or Republican and Democratic, families were living different lives. Young mothers are more likely to be conservative and religious, to value traditional gender roles and to reject abortion. Older mothers tend to be liberal, and to split breadwinning and caregiving responsibilities more equally with men, they found. Money for early childhood help would top tax benefits FRISCO, Colo. – Voters in Colorado’s Summit County will be asked in November to increase property taxes to a rate of $340 per million dollars of assessed valuation. County commissioners want to deliver $2.5 million for affordable early childhood care and learning, among other purposes. In addition to new child-care centers, the money would go toward a sliding-scale tuition assistance program for 4-yearsolds in the county. Breckenridge is the largest of the county’s six towns. “There are three major factors that really put the financial squeeze on our local working facilities: housing, child care and health care,” said Commissioner Tom Davidson. “This proposal would lift some of that burden. And just as importantly, it would also help to ensure that each Summit county child who steps into a kindergarten classroom is ready to learn, because he or she has been part of a quality preschool program during that critical stage of development.” Another $2 million would be allocated annually for improved mental health services, while $1.7 million will go for a recycling and waste diversion project. The county has a goal of “zero waste” but only recycles about 20 percent of its water. It hopes to double the diversion rate, points out the Summit Daily News. Also sharing in the pie of money would be $1.6 million for county infrastructure maintenance and improvements and $1 million for work to reduce wildfire dangers by further increasing the fuel breaks around neighborhoods. Another solar farm as co-op pushes for all renewables EAGLES NEST, N.M. – Another 4,000 solar panels have been erected in the service territory of Taos-based Kit Carson Electric, part of a determined push by the electrical co-op to harness solar power in sunny northern New Mexico. With this latest installation near the Angel Fire ski area, Kit Carson now has nine megawatts of solar capacity, enough to supply 24 percent of the daytime load of the cooperative members. More than twice that amount of solar energy is scheduled to be completed yet this year. In 2016, Kit Carson broke from its long-time electrical supplier, Tri-State Generation & Transmission. Tri-State provides power to a broad swath of New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming, including Durango, Telluride, and Crested Butte. It has been expanding its ownership of renewable generation but still remains heavily invested in coal-fired generation. In breaking with Tri-State, Kit Carson aligned with Guzman Energy, which purchases power on the wholesale market to supply the needs of Taos and outlying areas. It also committed Kit Carson to investing heavily in solar energy. Kit Carson and Guzman say that hitching their wagon to solar, instead of coal, will save the co-op’s 30,000 members $50 million to $70 million during the next decade. With Guzman as financier, Kit Carson plans to develop up to 35 megawatts of small solar arrays by 2020. That will meet 34 percent of all electrical demand and 100 percent during daylight hours on sunny days. In coming months, Kit Carson also plans to implement a battery technology demonstration project. Kit Carson was chosen by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for a study of how solar energy can be used to improve the affordability, reliability, and resilience of the electrical grid serving rural areas. The study will embrace tools of the Solar Energy Innovation Network. Luis Reyes, chief executive of Kit Carson, says the goal of the project is to “demonstrate that renewable energy can be technically integrated into a rural grid in a way that allows all members access to renewable energy, rather than only a few members. This project will provide a pathway for other rural cooperatives, municipalities and communities to enter into the deployment of distributed energy resources given the fast pace of the changing market and member desires.” This has a been a strange summer. There have been all the usual summer activities: bike rides, hikes, barbecues, and good times with friends and family. There have been all the usual ranch things, too: beaver dams in canals, equipment breakdowns, cattle making a jailbreak in the middle of the night, trees blowing over and blocking the road to my house. On the surface, it all seems pretty normal. But in the background, there has been a sense of unease all season long. Most of it is the drought. We’ve been on water restrictions since mid-June this year, and by now, it’s down to some pretty tight rationing. The water rights in Park City aren’t materially different from what I have on the farm. But where I have pastures that are as crunchy as corn flakes, the urban areas of the county have lush green lawns. In a year with paltry water supplies, I haven’t heard anybody from Park City talking about water conservation this year. That doesn’t make any sense. There’s something wrong with a swampy green lawn when it’s this dry. The drought has the side effect of the West being on fire. It’s been smoky all summer. Some nights it has been so bad that it smelled like the yard was on fire. Most of the time it’s just a thick haze, and irritated eyes and throat. There is usually a layer of ash on the hood of the truck in the morning. With the exception of the Tollgate Canyon fire, they have mostly been distant, disrupting somebody else’s life. The forest surrounding us isn’t healthy. It’s packed with standing dead trees, just waiting for the next lightning strike. There have been a couple of spectacular lightning storms. They were so good that I’d sit on the deck where I could get a broad view of it. Sometimes it seemed like the sky was lit up for a minute at a time. Of course that’s supposed to be followed by an equally spectacular rain. That hasn’t happened. I don’t think the cumulative total since May has been half an inch at my house. The trails and farm roads are just moon dust. The river is down to a trickle. It’s not all dark. This week, I celebrated the bounteous harvest from the new raspberry patch. The single berry looked pretty lonely atop a scoop of ice There’s something wrong with a swampy green lawn when it’s this dry.” cream. There are buds on some of the other bushes that are a different variety that is supposed to produce berries in the fall. So there might be 5 or 6 more. The peas never took off. Something ate the first planting, and the second planting has some scrubby little bushes. There was one pod that looked like it might be worth eating if it had a couple more days. Apparently a rabbit decided it was ready that night, and beat me to it. The corn is persevering. It’s getting down to about 40 degrees some nights at my place, and nothing much grows once that happens. I might get a couple more weeks out of the growing season, and I guess could resort to covering things at night. As farmers everywhere say, there’s always next year. On the plus side, I’m winning in the battle of the bats. It’s a little early to declare unconditional surrender and roll out the “Mission Accomplished” banner, but it’s been several days since there has been a pile of bat poop left on the deck in the morning. The mothballs did it. After a couple of weeks of trying to roost in their traditional spot, the bats decided that the mothballs were too odious even for them. They still fly around under the gable end of the roof every night, vacuuming insects out of the air. But they aren’t messing up the patio furniture every night any more. Of course that raises the question of where they’ve moved to. So far I haven’t seen signs of roosting in the garage. Mothballs are a cheap and apparently effective way of disposing of all kinds of pests and vermin. I’ve driven skunks out of barns and from underneath the front porch with them. And now I’ve persuaded the bats to move on. I wonder if we should put a ring of mothballs around Congress and the White House? They’re all on vacation — now’s the time to keep them from coming back. Summer is winding down. There is a field across the street from my house that is writhing with potguts all summer. It’s like an anthill of them. In the last week, the potguts have mostly hibernated. There are a few stragglers still around, but you have to look for them. Summer has gone by so quickly this year. Between the drought and the fire risk, maybe that’s OK. Tom Clyde practiced law in Park City for many years. He lives on a working ranch in Woodland and has been writing this column since 1986. Sunday in the Park By Teri Orr Moose and squirrel alert! There have been no recorded sightings of Natasha and Boris but it is only a matter of time now. Things are pretty wild in my little neighborhood and the terrorists are clearly afoot. They exist in the nocturnal hours -as all sinister characters do- but lately the fight appears have all become so bold as to appear in the middle of the day. The simple backstory starts like this…I feed the birds from bird feeders all over my yard. As an offering- for years- I have left dried corn out for the squirrels. On occasion- in years past -I have heard scratches of the squirrels in my attic but they always disappear so I have let bygones be what they should be. My small, close neighborhood has a group text system to alert us to important happenings -like “meet at the fire pit in the circle of the cul de sac after dark. Bring your own beverages.” If we are out of season there will be a fire- if we are in season there will be just great conversation. And kids circling us on bikes and skateboards and dogs weaving between our legs and the laughter that comes from shared stories and even time for concerns about our community and the dismay over the rapid growth none of us (knowingly) signed up for. This time of year the group text alerts us to The Hazards of the Hood. A repaving schedule causing a change in traffic patterns. A neighbor who had surgery and needs some attention. A possible VRBO rental with wild folks hot tubbing late into the night. And of course Moose Alerts. We live about one big city block away from a creek that runs all year long. It is home to creatures large and small - four legged and winged and those that slither silently underfoot. The moose and their babies have summered there for years. And when they start their walkabouts with the kids, they venture into our yards. They eat from my crabapple trees. They sleep in the shade in our backyards and stand in our driveways just as we were walking back out to unload the groceries from the car trunk. They are moose. They are creatures grand and magnificent and fierce. We give them space. This week the texted Moose Alert detailed an encounter one cul de sac over where a moose had entered the zone of the backyard badminton game and took with him …the net. He reportedly still had it between his antlers and was none too happy about it. I laughed at the visual in my head of the angry netted moose and then slammed the front door as I walked to my car to head out for dinner. The slamming of the door probably saved me. I heard a crashing sound in the side yard. And in front of me I But right now moose and squirrel seem harbingers ... When Boris and Natasha show up in shiny cars with designer children and start buying up neighborhoods and businesses and land and too late, we discover their disguises.” saw freshly-snapped branches off my tiny crabapple tree and an upturned piece of yard art. And there, laying on the grass… the remains of a badminton net. I looked around quickly and jumped into my car and saw on the other side of the driveway branches broken off the aspen trees. Moose had been loose in my yard. I sent my own text out to the group and detailed the destruction and went to dinner. I returned tired but happy after a great conversation with old friends. I was ready to sleep. But the squirrels would have none of that. They had been all achatter earlier and I understood in hindsight they were probably sending their own group text about the Moose Alert. But now they decided to have a dance party… in my attic. They were racing about and I was NOT sleeping. I remembered my neighbors had said they used a basketball thrown at the ceiling to annoy the squirrels in their attic and eventually they went away. I no longer have children or basketballs in my home. I searched for a substitute. And then I remembered a ball thingy I had several of-dryer balls of soft wool about the size of a tennis ball but without the solid whack-able constitution. I went downstairs and retrieved a few and started throwing them against the ceiling in my room. I’m pretty sure I heard the squirrels laughing. I looked down and saw a wooden coat hanger and started pounding the ceiling with one end of it. It immediately broke up the dancers like a parent’s car pulling into the driveway of an unsupervised teenage party. The scattering was wild. And then the quiet. I loved those Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons of my youth when Communism was always the obvious enemy and we needed -in the 50 and 60’s- to be On Alert. I watched the same cartoons later when my children were young; the cartoons had a resurgence because a goofy moose and a flying squirrel seemed wise and funny all at once and the fears of an Evil Empire we thought were… distant. But right now moose and squirrel seem harbingers of the return of something just beyond the ability to name it. When Boris and Natasha show up in shiny cars with designer children and start buying up neighborhoods and businesses and land and too late, we discover their disguises. I am on Moose Alert this week as we all should be since the grand creatures need their space to start their children with their own back to school lessons. Squirrel maybe trying to send coded messages through the floorboards- maybe I shouldn’t have been so quick to dismiss him. As for Boris and Natasha I will not be surprised by their reveal , just disappointed we didn’t see them coming this time. Which is enough to consider this Sunday in the Park… Teri Orr is a former editor of The Park Record. She is the director of the Park City Institute, which provides programming for the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Center for the Performing Arts. |