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Show Business news and commentary wssam Your bad luck City will hold developers to contract payment date Salt Lake City commis sioners, acting as directors of the city redevelopment agency, last week rejected a request for a time extension on payment of $2.25 million for 5.4 acres of land at Second South and West Temple. The payment is due Sept. 12. The land had been planned as the site of a $39 million complex to be developed by hotel-office-shoppi- dentist-develope- ng Burton rs Todd and Keith Lignell (see related story, page 21). But Todd and Lignell asked for the time extension after First Security State Bank changed the terms under which it would be willing to finance the project. 'Die developers claim the financing picture changed once plans were announced for the Crossroad Plaza complex. Lignell told the Enterprise last week First Security had never committed itself firmly in writing to the financing arrangement, but the partners had been fairly certain of getting the money until the Crossroads announcement was made, just after Todd and Lignell had contracted to buy the land. blem as it had not informed them of the Crossroads situation before selling them the land. Can't live with the terms Just an occupational hazard The new terms, Lignell told the agency directors, wrould make it very difficult to get the money by the Sept. 12 We feel this is deadline. really a rejection, he said. The terms Lignell described included: a "strong liquid partner approved by First Security; a written statement from Redevelopment that restrictions on the property would be removed if the mortgagee repossesses the land; an audited financial statement prior to Sept. 12; and annual payments on principal with monthly interest payments as opposed to the original terms of only interest being payable quarterly for We cant live three years. with the offer theyve given us at this time, he said. Lignell blamed agency for the financing the are more than double those used in conventional construction. Recently, the Utah Energy Conservation Building Code Committee claimed his insulation statistics and proposals, submitted to the board Carl Olson's radical notion that massive insulation cuts fuel consumption, an argument long deemed by local building officials and fuel companies, is one of 20 ideas accepted for study and possible implementation by the Brookhaven National Laboratory. For more than 20 years, Olson has contended insulation is the key to energy self-indulge-nt for implementation, were spawned by self-interes- t, since he owns an insulation company. But vanFrank and As- sociates, an architectural firm, is not so skeptical. The son of an insulation installer, Roger vanFrank claims fibers, whether rockwool, fiberglas or cellulose, are vital in energy savings, and has installed massive doses of cellulose in more than 5,000 homes in Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and Nevada. As president of Intermountain Solar Inc., Olson says these homes have saved up to 80 percent of their projected fuel costs through insulation. savings and that current and proposed standards grossly underestimate their value. He has designed many totally, electric homes implementing Olson's standards and says the results are staggering. 1 Double normal standards Olson prescribes in roofs and w-all- which denied any prior knowledge of Crossroads plans aside from unofficial rumors. Commissioner Jennings Phillips told Todd and Lignell that competition from other developments was one of the hazards of being a developer. This is your bad luck. You made a deal with us and youve got to stick with it, Phillips said. He also noted that developers w ho had competed with Todd and Lignell for the property already felt the agency had unfairly favored them by allowing the partners to amend their conIn order to struction plans. maintain some semblance of fairness, weve got to hold you to your contract. Unfair press coverage pro- - Utahn gets chance to prove energy savings by Sheri Poe Enterprise Staff Writer But commissioners Emperical authority The fuel consumption is (See ENERGY, page 20) Lignell also complained about the manner in which the Crossroads consideration by Redevelopment had appeared in the media in statements from agency officials that, he said, made the project seem fairly certain and convinced property owners at the Crossroads site their land would be condemned if they did not come to terms with developers. But Phillips explained the Crossroads information came from agency executive director Mike Chitwood only because the Crossroads developers wouldn't tell the press about it. Thus, they had to go to the agency for the news. Redevelopment couldn't keep it secret or it would have been liable to accusations of hiding something, said commissioner Jess Agraz. Phillips also said approval of the Crossroads plan was by no means certain as yet. Agraz told Todd and Lignell their market researchers should have been aware of the possibility of a competing development such as Crossroads. (See DENIAL, page 19) Consumers , assuming the drought has eliminated the possibility of riding the waves of the Colorado and Green Rivers , are avoiding the river running expeditions in Utah . But waters are still raging in some parts of the state , Dee Holiday of Holiday River Expeditions says. Rivers are low, but profits are lower Using the media as a rudder to guide their summer recreation activities, many sports enthusiasts arc avoiding the river running expedition companies, assuming drought has taken the snap out of the white waters. Actually, some waters are pretty good, Dee Holiday of Holiday River Expeditions, says. But even though he hiked fees by 20 percent. Holiday says gross sales this year slipped 15 percent. The number of runners also dtopped about 33 percent. Only 400 people signed up for the Holiday expeditions on the Colorado and Green Rivers this year. Last year, 600 adventurers donned life jackets for the white water joy ride. And despite a daily fee hike from $37.50 to $45, Holidays gross dropped from $160,000 last season to $140,000 this year. Bad publicity from the media has left people a little leery about river running, Holiday says. "With the Green River dams situated where they arc though, those waters arc actually in good shape, much higher than anticipated. some of his tours in Holiday has been forced to order to take boaters where the white water chums. As the Green River's Dinosaur and Desolation Canyons' still harbour frothing Green River currents, Holiday has doubled the number of expeditions to these areas. But trips down the Colorado, which is low and calm, have been made less frequently. Holiday claims inflation forced his price, boost the beginning of this year. Gasoline, food and plane costs have increased to the point where I had to increase my daily fee, he says. In previous years, he says. National Parks charged next to nothing for the u se of the river and land; this year the rate was hiked to one percent of gross revenue. Next year, Holiday will pay the parks three percent of his gross. But Holiday believes next year should be better. Even w'ith the drought, wc experienced normal or near normal flow, he says.' And the dammed rivers offer insurance lowr year, he adds. against an re-rou- te all-arou- WV5 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 9 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31. 1977 UTAH EDITION 50 CENTS |