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Show Thursday, November 22, 1979 Page 7 Senior Citizens Petition Conversion of Game Room Ttti It p - i Its- 1 1 n H ' ' !, -y f t 01 IPinririi I ill : i Watch for the return of... The game room in the Memorial Building will be moved to the old police rifle range room ! 1 The City Council last week received a petition signed by 98 senior citizens opposing the conversion of the Memorial Memor-ial Building game room to city office space. In the petition, the group noted, "We feel the Memorial Memor-ial Building is needed for community activities, as was intended when it was constructed. We feel more than enough space has been taken from it for other purposes. We hereby ask your cooperation in leaving the now existing space for meeting and activity rooms to be used by the community as a whole, especially the youth." At last Thursday's City Council meeting, Mayor Jack Green remarked the city is converting the game room into office space, and moving the game room into the area used as a rifle range for the police department. "After checking into the use of the room, which is about 1,500 square feet, I found it was open two hours a week on Thursdays," Mayor Green said. "On the first Thursday after we decided to convert the space I watched on and off to see how many people used it. Two boys came in during the two hours. If this was being utilized several hours a day, perhaps the petition would be justified. But it's only used two hours a week by the kids. "A little over a year ago, the county gave the Memorial Memor-ial Building to the city," Green continued. "Had the city not taken it over, it would have been sold, and the youth would have had nothing. We've taken over the entire recreation program; pro-gram; it's a cleaner, more attractive building now. The fact that the city saved the building at all indicates we have an interest in the recreation program." The mayor commented that the cost of operating the Memorial Building is consid erable. The new budget earmarks $46,220 for maintenance, main-tenance, utilities and wages for maintenance crews. An additional $21,764 is set aside for wages for the recreation program personnel. The building now costs the citizens of Park City about $68,000 a year," Green said. "We could use the building for recreation only, and rent space elsewhere for city offices, but that would cost abot $50,000." The mayor said the police currently uses about 1,000 square feet of space in the Memorial Building. If that space were to be rented elsewhere, it would cost the city about $12,500. The space that now will be used for the planning and building office and the judge's office would cost the city about $25,000 elsewhere. , "We have two options," the mayor said. "We utilize the space we have at the Memorial Building and just ify the $68,000 a year, or go out and rent for $50,000 the space we need.. I think what we are doing is the most logical thing. Right now City Hall is a complete disaster as far as space is concerned. It's not our purpose to take anything away from the youth." Councilwoman Eleanor Bennett noted, "I think this (petition) is a tempest in a teapot. The city isn't taking anything away from the youth. ..we're just moving them." Councilman Steve Dering commented that recreation program director Bruce Henderson has agreed to the plan, and said the move actually would be beneficial. "We both stand to gain from this," Dering said. "The city gets needed office space and the youth get more and' better space. I appreciate the concern expressed in the petition, but I bet half of those people don't know that alternate space is being provided." MiiiiillPiiBlil National Ski Patrol Charter Bill Unanimously Passes U.S. Senate By Anne Burnett The U.S. Senate unanimously approved a bill that grants a federal charter to the National Ski Patrol System. Sponsored by Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, Senate Bill S.43 has been sent to the House of Representatives for their approval. The House has numbered the legislation HR 2279 and it's being co-sponsored co-sponsored by several representatives, including Utah's Dan Marriott. Sen. Hatch said the charter char-ter "recognizes what the agency was set up to do, which is to promote safety in skiing and it sets them up as a federal corporation for financial purposes.. .it allows them to borrow money.. .but it doesn't give them any." He said it "requires them to make an annual financial report to Congress verifying their financial solvency and non profit status." Currently, Current-ly, the N.S.P.S. is required to file financial reports in forty-two different states. Most of the states have indicated in-dicated that they would accept ac-cept the same report presented present-ed annually to Congress, thereby saving time and money for the patrol. Most ski patrols are now made up of professional ski patrolers and the volunteer members of N.S.P.S. Park City's Bill Plummer said the National Ski Patrol is "certainly "cer-tainly welcome.. .it allows the pros to have days off... and saves the resorts a lot of money." He noted that the volunteers augment the full-time patrol, allowing them to handle other important impor-tant duties such as blasting for avalanche control. Plummer said they bring excellent first aid and a fresh attitude to the slopes. He noted working with the public can sometimes produce mental stress and the N.S.P.S. provides welcome relief. Plummer says "many of the smaller ski resorts, who rely on marginal profits can't afford thiry full-time pros and would have to close if they didn't have the volunteers." Besides working the slopes, the N.S.P.S. provides free first aid classes sponsored spon-sored by the Red Cross and avalanche classes for the patrolers in addition to avalanche awareness classes for the public, all at little or no cost to the participants. par-ticipants. The local ski patrol head said the classes are excellent and they enable all patrolers to meet their annual qualifications. No cross-country skiers should miss the basic avalanche aval-anche awareness class, he added. In addition to the numbers of professional ski patrolers hired by the individual resorts throughout the country, coun-try, there are 23,000 volunteer volun-teer members of the N.S.P.S. who make up over 95 percent of the nation's ski patrolers. Instead of being paid a regular salary, N.S.P.S. members usually receive skiing privileges for themselves andor their families. Park City's ski resort, for instance, employs , about thirty professional ski patrolers full time. They augment this staff with seventy National Ski Patrolers, thirty on Saturday Satur-day and thirty on Sunday is the usual available breakdown. break-down. Plummer feels the legislation is' necessary for more reasons than saving the N.S.P.S. or the resorts money. He said the N.S.P.S. should get the same exemptions exempt-ions as any non-profit' corporation cor-poration even in a profitable year. This would allow them to put the profits back into equipment and programs. He also feels that "if burdened bur-dened by taxes, goods tend to be shortcutted and people who work for no other thing than the welfare of skiers shouldn't be penalized." He said "They're giving more than we're giving back." Both Utah's Congressmen, Marriott and McKay, are sponsores of the bill in the House but Sen. Hatch said passage depends upon public support. The bill is non-controversial. non-controversial. It doesn't "grab headlines" and therefor tends to be ignored by other members of Congress. Constituents have to call attention to the bill through letters and phone calls to get it out of committee commit-tee and approved by the house, he noted. The House version, HR 2279, has been referred to a subcommittee chaired by Congressman George Danielson of California. Sen. Hatch said it may take up to a year to complete passage, depending upon the degree of public support. If you wish to be listed in our Professional Services please call 649-9014. DENTISTS Park City Dental Associates Dr. Pamela K. Hilbert Dr. Michael W. Erickson Brent C. Hill Building ,: 649-6066 ....... , The Dental Clinic Dr. Richard Barnes North Park Ave. (across from golf course) Call for appointment we're open daily, evenings & Saturdays 649-6332 For emergency call 649-6786 Preventive Dental Service Dr. Dane Q. Robinson 405 Main Street Hours 1 to 9 p.m. daily Call for Appointment 649-6116 m SPHYSICIANS5 Chiropractor Dr. Kelly B. Jarvis 906 South Main, Suite 3 Heber, Utah 654-3032 or 654-4468 Podiatrist Terry P. Smith, D.P.M. 817 Park Avenue (Office of Dr. John Cook) Office hours by appointment 649-9781 or 1-359-4900 Gordon E. Wold, Conductor Salt Lake City, Utah p?'y S. N. Wilson, Auto Truck Operator Salt Lake City, Utah . . 'SO 'ft x ink-. J' i "' Bayne McMillan, Head Claims Clerk Salt Lake City, Utah - fay jLi , v 1 1 ,"- Dorothy Bramwell, P1CL Clerk Ogden, Utah Antonio Rodriguez, Boilermaker Apprentice, Salt Lake City, Utah -J f ? "v I II Raynold P Chnstensen, Conductor Salt Lake City, Utah x 1 "STV worn ir fe 8M hsssssA ite I |