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Show .nDCBEP -JL Park City, Utah 250 Vol. VI, No. 34 Thursday, May 14, 1981 2 Sections, 20 Pages School District nears property purchase Park City School Board President Nancy McComb has been authorized to sign an agreement for the purchase of a 40-acre school site north of Highway 248 and east of the district's bus garage. The board voted Tuesday to authorize the purchase of the site after being told that the current owner of the land, Dr. D.A. Osguthorpe, was in basic agreement agree-ment with the terms of the sale. "The only question that was still being considered was the fencing (around the property)," School Superintendent Super-intendent Richard Goodworth told the board. "It appears that it (the sale) is imminent at this point." Under the terms of the agreement, the land is to be sold to the district for $40,000 per acre, or for a total of $1.6 million. The sale would include the water rights, which in turn would be transferred to the Park City Municipal Corp. Board President Nancy McComb said she had been assured that the city would move quickly to annex the property. The city is now working on a new annexation policy, but Mrs. McComb said no policy was needed to annex land that was contiguous to property already within the city limits. The board also has agreed to write a letter to the city on behalf of Dr. Osguthorpe, asking that the rest of his property in the same area (an additional 200 acres) be considered for annexation. The district's plans call for a new middle school to be built using the portion of the 40-acre parcel closest to Highway 248. According to the most recent timetable presented by architect Keith Stepan, construction on the project should begin by July 1, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 1, 1982. Stepan has proposed that the site preparation work be offered for bids ahead of time to cut about three weeks off the schedule. However, the slow pace of the property negotiations has prevented the district from ordering soils surveys on the site. "Lack of this information is now holding up proper progress of structural struc-tural design of the footings and foundation walls," Stepan said. Developers What is three miles long, has a price tag of more than $600,000, and has the same name as Richard Nixon's infamous in-famous running mate? Give up? It's the Spiro Tunnel pipeline. "What's that? "you say. Well, it's a long story. As City Engineer John Probasco remembers it, a project to draw culinary water out of the Spiro Tunnel first was discussed in the early 1970s as part of the city's plans to upgrade the water system. (The Spiro Tunnel, which once housed the Silver King Mine Train, empties out west of the Park City Municipal Golf Course. ) Council to vote on bond resolution The City Council is expected to vote tonight on a proposed resolution to hold a special election June 16 to issue up to $8 million in general obligation bonds. As has been discussed at length at two public hearings, the bonds would finance the construction of a field house, a multi-purpose arena, the renovation of the Miners' Hospital, and improvements to City Park. In response to sentiments expressed at those public hearings, all of the projects will be separated on the ballot for individual votes. At the April 23 hearing, residents were concerned that the hospital, which is proposed to be renovated into a public library, was planned to appear on the ballot with the park improvements. The overwhelming overwhelm-ing response at the meeting was to separate all of the projects so that residents could vote for each one individually. At last Thursday's City Council work session, the members discussed the construction costs of each project and the bond issue that would result if all of - u' P -if V fAs&ss.. ' : I' ip V fit I ' - rt;v f '.'J ,' )'" ; . .... . WHS. ; S - 4 -. -.- asked to share water Probasco says the plan has always been essentially the same: to run a pipe about three miles into the tunnel to pick up a flow of water pure enough to be used for culinary purposes (after chlorination). "We've talked about everything from a 10-inch to a 16-inch pipe." What has changed over the past decade is the price. According to City Councilman Bob Wells, the first rough estimate, made in 1974, placed the price tag at $206,000. By 1977, that price had risen to $370,000. By the time work on the project actually began last fall, the price was up to $610,000. Wells says that part of the price in- the projects did not pass. It was pointed out that a fee is charged by the bond counsel for arranging the bond, and generally is a percentage of the total bond issue. On Wednesday morning. City Manager Man-ager Arlene Loble said ;he still had not heard from the coi tl what the fees might be. 1 ne l llo g figures represent only the i . iini d construction construc-tion cor oferhpr-jec B tonight's meet' Loblt -: . to have more c-ncretefigur t:,e bond counsel. '. ,e resolution , ore the counsel tonight therefore may reflect slightly different amounts to include the bond fee. As proposed, the improvements to the 15-acre City Park would be $1.3 million; the renovation of the Miners' Hospital, $700,000; the field house, $1.5 million; and the multi-purpose arena, $4.3 million. It is expected that the resolution will call fm iiii election for Tuesday, June 16. crease is a result of the city's decision to increase the size of the pipe. But he adds that the biggest expense has been the price of labor. "The wage rate for people qualified to work in mine tunnels went from $7 (per hour) in 1974 ro $22 in 1981." 'Probasco points out that the current project does not include a pumping station inside the tunnel, which would increase the flow from about three cubic feet per second to about five-and-a-half cubic feet per second. If that pumping station is built, and a line is run across the golf course to the new Cemetery Hill reservoir, the price is expected to increase to more than $1 million. According to Wells, the decision to go ahead with the Spiro Tunnel line was made in 1978, but the project was not put out for bid until last fall. The decision to postpone construction, he says, was made primarily because the water wasn't needed at the time. There is little question now that the water is needed, especially in light of last summer's shortages. "That source is double all the other city sources put together," Wells says. What the city doesn't need is the price tag. So several of the larger developers in the area were approached to share the costs of construction. "We said we need a supplementary type of fee structure to recover that (investment)," Wells recalls. Weather No matter that it's May, there's a chance of snow Friday and Saturday. High of 55, lows in the 30s. Dry and warmer Sunday, with temperatures in the mid-60s. costs As Wells describes it, the proposal generated some objections from the developers, not because they were being asked to contribute, but because they felt the fee structure was not equitable. He says the developers told the city: "Show us that you're going to charge others the same kind of fees on an equitable basis." Wells has been working with Bob Harrington, developer of the McLeod Creek subdivision, and with engineer Jack Johnson, to find a solution. "I'm not a developer, but I've held the meetings in my office because I represent a few of them," Johnson explains. ex-plains. Johnson says he worked with Probasco on the original design, and that Royal Street Land Company had agreed to pay a percentage of the costs. However, he points out that inflation and the city's decision to install a larger line have caused costs to soar. In turn, the city has approached other developers. "Now the developers are saying, 'Will someone tell us the total picture'." According to Probasco, the Cemetery Hill reservoir is now on line, and work on the Spiro Tunnel line is 98 percent complete. But the city, at this writing, has yet to reach an agreement with the Summit County Developer's Association on a method to share the costs. City wel ' Jaws of Jaws. The word evokes images of a monster shark devouring swimmers and shredding shred-ding fishing boats, leaving death and destruction in its wake. So what's this Jaws of Life stuff? A Walt Disney remake of the original flick with Flipper in the title role? Not really. Actually, Jaws of Life is the name of a tool designed to save the lives of people in automobile accidents. The original "Jaws" tool was a hydraulic spreading device, powered by a small gasoline engine, designed to extract people from damaged vehicles. The tool has since been modified to include a cutting tool, like a giant pair of tin snips, and a hydraulic ram designed to spread the door posts of a car. Until last Saturday, there was no such tool in the Park City area. "Last year, we could have used it five times very nicely," said Emergency Medical Technician Suzanne Shellen-berger. Shellen-berger. "It would have been very helpful." One such situation occurred last September, when Heber resident Steve Florio was trapped underneath the cab of a 10-wheel dump truck on Ontario Avenue for almost an hour. Mrs. Shellenberger said the tool could have Left: 'Jaws' in action. Looking back City couldn't cope with growth When a diver surfaces too fast, he gets the "bends." And the same thing happens when a sleepy community suddenly becomes a "boom town." "The economy was either too slow or too fast," said Mayor Jack Green. Last year it was obviously too fast. City government was understaffed, overworked, over-worked, and was the focus of a criminal investigation. Observers wondered why city officials did not see the boom coming. Green remembered the year 1977, when the economy was too slow, and a boom was apparently the last thing people expected. Merchants on Main Street, he said, cried for development and yelled "We're dying on the vine." Businesses couldn't pay their water bills. The city looked into low-interest loans and credits to stimulate the economy. "We got $2'2 million Area Redevelopment Loan because we were a depressed area," he said. Residents of old town were worried that all the development was going into the north end of the city. Prospector Square was under construction and the plans for Deer Valley were being drawn, said Green. "We formed the Redevelopment Agency to keep Main Street viable." It was felt that the authentic thoroughfare of an old-West mining town was the most unique attraction in Park City. Despite the construction north of Oldtown, Green said the whole city was not getting investment money or loans. "I used to go down to Salt Lake and ask the bankers why they wouldn't lend money to projects up here," he recalled. Park City obtained loans from the federal government for street, sewer and water projects. Just as the city started reparis, "we were discovered and this boom started," Green said. "The city was torn up the year things broke loose." The result was a lot of inconvenience and disenchantment. The city prided itself on keeping municipal costs as low as possible. Green said he was criticized for bringing in Van Martin as the city's first planner. "People said a city of 2,500 didn't need a planner." But soon it became apparent that one city planner wasn't enough. The present planning department has a director and four staffers. Two years ago, it was one man. For five months, Green recalled, the city didn't even have a planner. "The Planning Commission functioned as the planning department," he said. The building inspection department was one person. Workers in City Hall became used to wearing an assortment of hats, Green said. City Manager, Wayne Mathews also worked as the city engineer, reviewed plans and building permits, acted as finance manager until Ric Jentzsch was hired, and even operated the city snowplows! City councilmen spread themselves over 12 depart men tal committees "one of them wouir1 chair a committee, then sit on several comes Life been used to help lift the truck. "That's the kind of situation we're getting into." A fund-raising campaign was launched to buy such a tool for the use of Park City emergency crews. Donations came from Summit Savings and Loan, Associated Title, Park City Municipal Corporation, the Park City Fire Department, Holy Cross Hospital, and several private individuals including includ-ing Raye Ringholz and Diane Reed. Another donation came from Steve Florio, the victim of the truck accident. According to Shellenberger, about $5,000 has been raised to date. "We've got about $2,000 to go," she said. However, the EMTs felt confident that the rest of the money was forthcoming, and placed an order with Hurst for the tool. It arrived Saturday, and was immediately taken out to the city dump for a trial run. EMTs and members of the Fire Department took turns on an old car, popping doors off their hinges, clipping off the steering wheel, then peeling back the roof of the passenger compartment. According to the literature, the Jaws device is capable of squeezitig or ' spreading with a force up to 12,000 pounds. "It looks like a two-foot hedge-clipper hedge-clipper designed for the Jolly Green Giant," says one brochure. In Shellenberger's words, "it doesn't mess around." others," he recalled. The most controversial aspect of that period was a county attorney's investigation investi-gation of City Hall. When the dust settled, there were no convictions in court. Transportation supervisor Jan Sylvester was found innocent of misusing funds. But Manager Wayne Matthews resigned and Building Inspector In-spector Bob Skanter pleaded guilty to official misconduct charges. A year later, Mayor Green declined to point the finger at anyone. He said the city's biggest problem was its understaffing and its lack of expertise. The county investigation served a purpose, he said, by pointing out that problem. The new city manager is working on the understaffing problem. Arlene Loble, who told reporters when she first arrived that the city was under "crisis management," told The Newspaper that that is no longer the case. "We have a new public works director, two new policemen, and I'm authorized to hire another two new planners, two new building officials, and I have the authorization to hire a city engineer." Tina Lewis also sees a change from her position on City Council. "The council spends more time attacking the problems of the city. We have long, exhaustive work sessions," she said. "There's also a better feeling of comaraderie among the city employees," employ-ees," The city didn't make long-range plans in the past, Green remembered, except for a master plan in the '60s and another formed around 1974. But today Loble bubbles with plans for the future, for storm sewers, a water master pian, and a capital improvement improve-ment scheme. "I've got a three-year plan now, and I'm hoping to get a six-year plan in the future." There are unpredictable factors that no master plan can predict. One is the size of the federal budget. Green also said citizens should keep heir eyes on the state legislature, where a proposal to finance school districts with sales tax instead of property tax has been discussed, and could have a profound impact on the city. The idea to distribute sales ta' by population instead of point of origin could also be revived, he said. A minor controversy has developed over credit for the city's "recovery." After a "Tribune" article lauded City Manager Loble and the new city councilmen, a group of city employees complained in a letter to local newspapers that their contributions were overlooked. Both Mayor Green and Arlene Loble say the employees are right. "They certainly performed above and beyond the call of duty," Green said. "Assigning credit or blame has nothing to do with our situation now," said Loble. "What we must do now is say, 'This is where we are now and these are the choices we've got to make!" |