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Show Rotary award Bea Kummer named Citizen of the Year Bea Kummer, Park City's unofficial historian and a local resident for the past 53 years, has been named Citizen of the Year by the Park City Rotary Club. According to Dr. Tom Schwenk. who headed the Rotary's selection committee, Bea was chosen to be the first recipient of the award because of her many years of dedication to the city and its people. Schwenk noted that most other awards go to those people whose achievements parallel their occupations. occupa-tions. "There's minimal acknowledgement of people who volunteer their time," he said. Bea was cited for her years of service to Park City tourists, school children, Girl Scouts, churches and the 4-H Club. The mother of 12 children, she was one of eight finalists for the title of 1980 Utah Mother of the Year. She was active in the early years of the Park City Chamber of Commerce, and belongs to the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. She is also the author of a newspaper column. But Bea is probably best known for her interest in local history. She is the co-author of a book on Park City, "Silver and Snow," published in 1968. She has been published in Mountain West magazine. She is a member of the Park City Historical Society, and is widely known among school children and visitors for her walking tour of Main Street. Bea accepted the award from Schwenk at Tuesday's Rotary meeting, meet-ing, trying her hardest to keep back the tears. "I think my bladder was misplaced behind my eyeballs," she quipped. She said her interest in Park City's history was a product of her interest in its people. "I just got involved in learning all the human-interest stories. Some of them I had lived; others I had heard." Her walking tour of Main Street evolved in the late 60s from an invitation to talk to a group of visitors at the Treasure Mountain Inn. It grew to the point that she was conducting as many as 150 tours a year. It became a part of the curriculum for students in many area school districts. "I guess you could call me the biggest streetwalker in Park City," she laughed. Bea was born in Porterville, Morgan County, and moved to Park City when her father got a job in the mines in 1929. She moved into her present home in Empire Canyon (known locally then as Bohunk Alley) in 1954. She believes that Park City benefitted bene-fitted from the diverse cultures which it has absorbed, especially during the mining heydey. "Park City has been more fortunate than the rest of the county because we're not a clannish little group," she said. "I think this is why it's easier for us to accept what's happening to Park City." Although Bea doesn't conduct as many tours as she once did, she still calls Main Street "the love of my life." And she had these closing words of advice for her Park City audience. "Don't let them make another Aspen or Vail out of it. Park City is Park City. It has its own personality." sty " 1 1 t I I f mi in ' . Bea Kummer ll ACL mm a . mu rri IDCMF Park City, Utah 250 Vol. VII, No. 19 Thursday, January 28, 1982 Three Sections, 36 Pages 1 , - Mrss iff fe'vJjX ''k:S L r I BELL r Frank Bell City selects police chief Frank Bell Francis M. (Frank) Bell, the current commander of investigations in Jackson, Wyoming, has been named the new Park City Chief of Police. Bell, 34, was chosen from among more than 50 candidates. He is due to begin work Feb. 15. ' City Manager Arlene Loble said Bell's experience in a well-organized resort town police department was in his favor. "I think he can do a good deal with internal management in Park City," Ms. Loble said Monday. Bell fills the post vacated by Police Chief Michael Crowley, who resigned last September. Sergeant Joseph Of-fret, Of-fret, the acting chief since Crowley's resignation, was also a candidate. The new chief comes to Park City with 11' 2 years of police experience, including eight years in Jackson. Bell was one of five finalists interviewed inter-viewed in Park City last December. He was also given the chance to read a controversial evaluation of the department depart-ment doe at the request of the city. That study, conducted by University of Utah Chief of Police Wayne Shepherd, was critical of the apparent lack of regulations, training records and leadership in the department. Although reluctant to discuss specific programs, Bell said Monday that he planned to correct those problems. "I'm not necessarily in favor of change for the sake of change," he said. "But I do have a number of things in mind." Bell will inherit a 13-man department, depart-ment, including three newly-hired officers. of-ficers. "One of the initial things I do is manpower assessment," he said. "We're going to make sure everyone is giving 100 percent, and is best suited to what he's doing." 73 would certainly hope that no one w&ild leave," he added. "I think it would be real nice if people would stay and give me a chance." Shepherd's study also pointed out problems with the department's facilities in the Memorial Building on Main Street. "That's another priority item, to get the police department squared away physically, so it will be more accessible ac-cessible to the public," Bell said. Another of Shepherd's recommendations recommen-dations was that the department begin new programs to reduce the amount of "narcotic activity" in the Park City area. "I'm a little new to know how things are being handled now and what the problems are," Bell said. "I know, as in most resorts, people come here to play. Some people play differently than others ... but I expect them to play within the rules of the law. " He said he would do whatever the department's de-partment's resources allowed him to. Bell said he is aware of the strained relationship between the Park City Police Department and the Summit County Sheriff's Department. "One of the first priorities is to straighten that out." He also recognizes that the drive to build a separate dispatch facility has become an issue in Park City. "It certainly is a big enough community, com-munity, so that if the need is not there already, it soon will be," he said. In his application for the Park City position, Bell stressed the importance of training, high employment standards stan-dards and dedication to the office. "Philosophically, I feel law enforcement, enforce-ment, especially in a resort setting, should be a visible yet low-key professional operation," Bell's application ap-plication said. Bell is leaving a department which has 12 officers and four civilian employees. em-ployees. "I'm hoping for a smooth transition," tran-sition," he said. "I'm coming from a resort environment, so it's not like coming to Park City from the dark side of the moon. "Park City is a terrific opportunity. It's something I'm really looking forward for-ward to." Man injured in hit-and-run accident The Park City police are still looking for a hit-and-run driver who left a local man sprawled on Highway 248 in critical condition in the early morning hours of Saturday. Police Detective Lloyd Evans said that 23-year-old Ronald Ancell suffered suf-fered a broken femur in his right leg, a ruptured spleen and fractured skull about 2 a.m. Saturday when he was apparently struck by some type of motor vehicle near the north entrance to the Holiday Inn on Highway 248. Ancell An-cell was found unconscious by a driver who rounded the bend off Park Avenue and spotted him in the road. A number of people stopped to aid the man, placing coats on him to keep him warm. An ambulance with emergency medical technicians and a doctor arrived at the scene and treated Ancell before he was transferred to the Park City Family Clinic, and then to the University of Utah. As of Tuesday morning, Evans said Ancell was conscious, but doctors said he will be unable to withstand an interview inter-view with police until possibly Friday. He is listed in stable but serious condition con-dition in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit of the hospital. Evans said a number of statements have been taken from passersby who stopped to aid the man, but no one actually ac-tually saw the accident. The injuries Ancell sustained seem to indicate that he was struck from the front while standing or walking on the south side of the highway, he said. At least two people said they were driving in the direction of Prospector Square when they saw a man hitchhiking, and when they returned five or six minutes later, a crowd had gathered around the general area. Both witnesses said they could not be sure that Ancell was the hitchhiker. Evans said there were no skid marks located near the accident because of slushy snow on the highway. "All we know is that it appears as though Mr. Ancell was struck by some kind of motor vehicle," said Evans. "We can only surmise that he was on his way home to Prospector when the accident occurred." Evans said that he hoped Ancell would be able to provide some kind of information about the accident. "We'll just have to wait and talk to him when he's able to see us," he said. In the meantime, Evans said he is re-interviewing re-interviewing all witnesses who provided statements about the accident ac-cident in the hope that more details will surface. MeOKT IEEIPfl!T Here are the latest snowfall measurements and ski conditions reported by the three Park City-area resorts. NEW SNOW Deer Park Park Valley City West Thursday, January 21 20" 13" 18" Friday, January 22 5" 9" 11" Saturday, January 23 2" trace 4" Sunday, January 24 t'ace 3" 0 Monday, January 25 0 0 0 Tuesday, January 26 0 0 0 Wednesday, January 27 5" 8" 10" CURRENT CONDITIONS High winds, which gusted to 120 miles per hour at the Park City Summit House, forced all three resorts to curtail their activities Tuesday. At the Park City Ski Area, all of the lifts except First Time were shut down. The other areas limited skiing to the lower areas of the mountains. The high winds were accompanied by soaring temperatures. The thermometer at the Parley's Park Elementary School reached 53 degrees Tuesday. The low for the week was five degrees, recorded during the weekend. On Wednesday, Deer Valley reported 97 inches at the summit, with all lifts and runs open. The Park City Ski Area is reporting all 69 runs open for the first time this year. Jupiter Bowl was closed briefly Wednesday because of avalanche control measures. Total snow depth is 101 inches at Jupiter. ParkWest reports 90 inches total, with five of seven lifts operating during the week. The Tumbleweed and Slaughterhouse lifts are open only on weekends. FORECAST The National Weather Service is predicting periods of snow through Thursday, decreasing Friday. Saturday and Sunday are expected to be mostly dry. Afternoon temperatures will be in the mid to upper 20s through Friday, and in the low 30s on Saturday and Sunday. It costs thousands to move skiers' white by Bettina Moench You know that it costs you time and energy to dig your car out of your driveway after a heavy snowstorm. But did you ever wonder what it costs the city the taxpayers to clear all that fresh powder off the streets? City Manager Arlene Loble said that during one 13-day period early this month, the city spent $60,000 to lease additional snow removal equipment and personnel and pay overtime to Park City's own Streets Department crew. Regular salaries and the maintenance main-tenance of the city's own fleet of equipment is paid for out of the $300,000 Streets Department budget. "It is horrendous, there's no question about it," said Loble of the expense of removing just one storm's worth of snow. But she justified the cost of contracting outside services and authorizing overtime by pointing to what she considers to be a higher level of service than has been offered before. "We're clearing Park Avenue and the sidewalks on Main Street, which we never did before," said Loble. "We're winging back (for better visibility at intersections) and hauling snow away. Why, we've practically got our own bunny hili at the city shops where we're piling up the snow that we're hauling." Loble said that up until now, the Streets Department budget had not been broken down into separate categories, such as snow removal. But because of the extra expenses of this winter, she said she now has a specific snow removal account where there is a tally of money spent on overtime salaries, equipment rental and contracted con-tracted services. She noted that the city has been using the equipment and personnel from the Bank Construction Company during each of the snowstorms since Christmas. And while she admitted that it costs a lot to bring in help, she said she thinks that is the key to providing better service. "I'm convinced that it is more cost effective to contract for those services than it is to own more of our own equipment or to train our guys on some of those bigger pieces we've been using," said Loble. "Our guys would only get to use it when there's a snowstorm, so it's better to have skilled operators on that kind of equipment." Loble said that there are only about five city employees who are trained to operate snow removal equipment, "and there's only so many hours you can work five people, and so Bahk gives us some relief." Loble said during the Christmas storm, some of the city employees worked around the clock for days, some catching only a few hours sleep in the Memorial Building before going to work again. Some of the city's equipment broke down, the men were tired, and the storm continued. It was then it was decided to give everything a rest and get some additional help. "With the extra help, we're still able to go 24 hours a day when there's a storm," said Loble. "I've been real pleased with everyone 's cooperation . ' ' Loble said that residents who have particular problems with snow lemoval in their area should call the city's Snow Watch crew at 649-5912, or the Coalville dispatch at 649-5361. Dispatch can radio the local police, who then can contact the snowplows. If it cost the city $60,000 to clear the snow from its 42 miles of road after one gold storm, what did it cost the county? "No one's ever kept the figures for me," said Summit County Clerk Reed Pace. "It's real difficult for me to tell at this point, but I'll guess that this year we'll go over what was estimated." Pace said that the county has a $1 million streets department budget to take care of its 280 miles of roads. Many of those miles go into uninhabited areas, and he estimated that snowplow crews must maintain about 200 miles during the winter. Like the city, the county found that it was necessary to lease at least one piece of equipment during each of the storms this winter, with one snowcat costing $2,500 for four days. The county also ran into some unexpected expense when one equipment operator neglected neglec-ted to check the oil level in a grader, anu me mistake cost $10,000 in repairs. Pace admitted that there were some complaints about the level of service in this end of the county, but he blamed it on equipment failures and the duration of the Christmas storm, which he said stretched the crew to its physical limits. Pace said the county also does not separate the snowplow expenses away from its streets department budget, and he doesn't anticipate doing it in the future. He added that he does not foresee the necessity of opening the budget to make adjustments for any additional snowplowing expenses, and will instead transfer money from other areas of the budget. "Or, next summer we may not be able to do some projects that we had budgeted," said Pace. "This snow does throw the budget, but I think, it will be aii ni'nt " |