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Show SCENE. G l i SPORTS, B-1 THE BAD GIRLS WILL BE OUT WHEN COMEDY TROUPE MAKES IT TO PARK CITY WILDCATS CLAW THEIR WAY TO THE TOP OF THE REGION WITH SIXTH STRAIGHT WIN COLUMNS, A-14 THE GREAT SALT LAKE IS A BIRD MAGNET IN THE SPRING The PARK CITY, UTAH PICK A DATE POST YOUR EVENT O N : WWW.PARKRECORD.COM/ EVENTSUBMISSIONFORM BUSINESS, A - 7 rrs VACATION TIME - OR TIAAE TO CLEAN » O N MAIN STREET Park Record. W W W . P A R K R E C 0 R D . C O M Wed/Thurs/Fri, April 20-22, 2011 Serving Summit County since 1880 Daycare site seen as a park VOL. 131 • NO. 21 Sandbags are at the ready Patriotic to the end The cold, wet weather has pushed up the snowpack heightening flood fears The Miss Billys land could be redone by fall possibility UDOT could extend the work into Kamas this year as well, but that work is part of a separate project and it is not yet clear whether it will be done in 2011. He estimated the price at between $2 million and $3 million for the stretch of road between the high school and the Wasatch County line. UDOT expects to open bids at the end of May followed by the award of the contract. S.R. 248 is one of the two year-round entryways into Park City, and it is popular with drivers from parts of the Snyderville Basin, the East Side of Summit County and Wasatch County. There have been widespread complaints about traffic on S.R. 248 as it enters Park City, with the morning commute especially frustrating for drivers. Poulsen said City Hall has asked UDOT to remove the median, marked by plantings, along S.R. 248 just east of Prospector. State transportation officials agreed to the request and pledged to pay for the removal as part of the overall work. City Hall and UDOT are considering longrange plans for the S.R. 248 entryway, with the presence of the median complicating some of the ideas that have been discussed. If the median was removed, several options for S.R. 248 would be made possible, such as, perhaps, the creation of a lane for carpools and buses or the installation of reversible lanes that would offer an additional inbound or outbound traffic lane City Hall's emergency manager said late on Monday officials had been told of one flooding episode inside Park City as the cold, wet weather pattern remained planted in the region, heightening concerns that there could be further flooding later in the spring. -: Hugh Daniels, who manages the munici? pal government's emergency programs, said the Monday episode was minor and involved a section of a parking lot outside the Prospector Hotel. Daniels said willow branches were pulled into the Silver Creek waterway and then swept downstream. The branches eventually became lodged in the waterway, creating the effect of a dam. A crew from the Public Works Department was dispatched to remove the willow branches, Daniels said. Meanwhile, Daniels reported, City Hall received a complaint from someone on Keystone Court, a small street off Payday Drive, who was worried that water in a ditch could overflow. Daniels said there had not been flooding at the location, though. Daniels said city crews had not put out sandbags since there had not been problems other than the parking lot in Prospector. He said the workers had filled 1,500 sandbags. There was enough sand on hand to fill another 3,500 bags if they were needed, Daniels said. The water in Silver Creek, commonly referred to as Poison Creek within Park City, appeared to be at or near its high point of the spring on Monday. The recent weather pattern, which dropped another layer of snow on the area before the rainstorms at the lower elevations on Monday, has increased the snowpack at a time when the snow has typically started to melt. Brian Mclnerney, a National Weather Service hydrologist who closely monitors the snowpack in the region, said a measuring station in the Thaynes Canyon area of Park City Mountain Resort Monday morning recorded a snowpack reading of 150 percent of normal for this time of year. A few weeks ago, the reading was 140 percent of what is normal. The station measures the amount of water contained in the snowpack. Other data in the region early in the week included: • a reading of 144 percent of normal Please see Headaches, A-2 Please see Sandbags, A-2 GRAYSON WEST/PARK RECORD Tony Gill performs a skiing backflip Sunday afternoon at Park City Mountain Resort, wowing revelers during a party in the woods marking the last day of the season at the resort. Headaches expected UDOTplans to tear up section of S.R. 248, put in new asphalt and remove the median BY JAY HAMBURGER Of the Record staff State transportation officials plan to tear up the road surface on a heavily traveled stretch of S.R. 248 this summer and then put down a new layer of asphalt, a project that has received little publicity thus far but one that will likely cause traffic headaches for people heading in and out of Park City from the east. The Utah Department of Transportation wants to start the work in the middle of June and expects the construction will last approximately 60 days, putting the projected completion date in mid-August. Summertime tourism is normally at its heaviest from Independence Day until Labor Day, meaning that the roadwork could be ongoing during much of the busy season. Stephen Poulsen, the UDOT figure who is managing the project, said the work is slated for the stretch of S.R. 248 between Park City High School and the Wasatch County line just outside of Kamas, a section of road measuring just less than nine miles in length. Poulsen said there is a Crafting the budget is not a walk in the park The Legislature took away some of the parks funding, forcing round of cutbacks i Please see Park, A-2 BY ANDREW KIRK Of the Record staff 3 SECTIONS • 44 PAGES Business Classifieds Columns Editorial Events Calendar Legal* Letters to the Editor Movies Restaurant Guide Sports Scene Weather A-7 ...C-9 ..A-14 A-15 C-6 C-11 ...A-15 C-4 C-7 B-1 C-1 B-2 A i^MediaNews Group NEWSPAPER . : -: ; BY JAY HAMBURGER Of the Record staff BY ANDREW KIRK Of the Record staff T\vo years ago today, the long-time Basin daycare Miss Billy's was burned down as part of a Park City Fire District training exercise and planned demolition. Many Park City adults attended the daycare as children, formerly located on S.R. 224 a little north of Canyons. If the plan is approved, children will be able to return to the site to play by the end of this summer. On May 10 at a public hearing, the Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District (SBSRD) will ask the WestSide planning commission for permission to start work on a 10-acre park behind where Miss Billy's was. Summit County used open space funds in partnership with the Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District to purchase the 20-acre parcel, explained county planner Kimber Gabryszak. Half the land will serve as a buffer between the park and roadway. The 10 acres abutting S.R. 224 may be used to create community gardens, she said. The land was purchased a few years ago with the intent to build a park, said Basin Recreation District director Rena Jordan. The demand for more parks has been present for a long time, she said. If approved, work could begin as early as this summer and be finished by autumn, Gabryszak said. The current proposal includes two medium-tosmall-sized playing fields that will be built with natural grass and artificial turf. Providing the Basin with a turn playing field will satisfy a long-term goal, Jordan said. During the shoulder seasons, like now, natural grass fields are too wet for use. The Field House has been strained to accommodate demand in the spring and fall, she said. Artificial turf will also require less water, fertilizer and pesticides, said Bruce Dickers, parks and facilities manager. The new park will have 500 GRAYSON WESVPARK RECORD Kathy Donnell, the naturalist at Jordanelle State Park, will be transferred to Wasatch Mountain State Park as a result of state budget cuts. The Rock Cliff Nature Center in the Jordanelle park will be shuttered this summer. Residents may have a harder time finding a park ranger this summer at state parks. Park City is located less than an hour from East Canyon, Rockport, Echo Reservoir, Jordanelle, Deer Creek and Wasatch Mountain state parks. Last March, the Utah State Legislature reduced the department's budget by $2 million - following a $1.8 million reduction the year before. Park man- VISITOR BUIDE a 9493700001 7 Pony up for the Park City Museum agers are writing budgets now that will begin July 1. Laurie Backus, park manager for Jordanelle State Park, said she's struggling to trim more than about 3 percent from her budget and other parks are in similar situations. The reduction requires parks to trim 10 to 30 percent from their budgets. "We've had cuts, but not this big. This one's really big," she said. When the Utah legislature passed the budget, it also made clear that parks could not close or raise fees to save money. Instead, they recommended trimming staff and reducing law enforcement. Backus said she will give up her peace officer responsibilities, and several positions that are unfilled will be eliminated. "There may not always be a ranger avail; Please see Parks, A-2 Sculptor Peter M. Fillerup and Utah Pony Express Association Historian Pal Hearty team up to present a visual lecture on the Pony Express in l.'tah ;ii the Park Oty Museum, 52.S Main S* eet. at h p.m. While Hearty gives an overview on the history of the Pony Express. Fillerup will sculpt a Pony Exprc. s rider. The event is free with Museum membership or daily admission. For more information visii wwv.parkciiyhiMory.org. \ i |