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Show $THEp Thursday, February 14, 1980 Page 6 Police Expand Arsenal To Control Dog Problem c I mm r - r Tar j.-v . r r i New Look For Mid-Mtn. For the get-auay-from it-all it-all ski vacation, it may be in the ideal place. But its highest asset also may be its greatest liability. The Mid-Mountain Lodge, situated high on the Park City resort slopes within a stone's throw of the Gondola Angle Station, can honestly boast great skiing from its front door. But its remote location contributed to a 33 percent occupancy rate last winter. John Stephens and Loren Weiss are hoping to promote the assets and reduce the liabilities. In fact, they're banking on it. Stephens and Weiss, doing business as Mid-Mountain Lodge, Inc., are in the process of taking over the lease to the property from Mountain Food Services. According to Stephens, the new company is close to an agreement with the Greater Park City Company, which owns the property. "We've discussed most of the basic terms and it doesn't look like there's any problem," Stephens said Friday. The Mid-Mountain Lodge comprises three buildings which once housed. employ ees of the Silver King Mine. The buildings also have served as the national training train-ing center for the U.S. Ski Team. The facilities retain the same basic configuration as they did when they housed the miners years ago. The rooms are small, containing little more than a closet, washbasin and, in some cases, bunk beds. The bathrooms, bath-rooms, in what Stephens likes to call the European style, are at the end of the hall. "It's not a bad thing because it will keep the prices down," Stephens argued. (The lodge now charges $29 per person per day, based on double occupancy. occu-pancy. The price includes breakfast and dinner.) In the past, the lodge has catered largely to groups ranging from high school students to ski instructors. City Discusses Sidewalk Plow Despite construction of a new sidewalk on lower Park Avenue this summer, snow forces pedestrians onto the street, creating a dangerous situation for walkers and drivers. The city currently is considering the purchase of a small tractor to plow the sidewalk, alleviating some of the hazard. "When we have a major snow, we have a major problem," Councilman Tom Shellenberger said of the Park Avenue sidewalk. He noted there is a city ordinance that specifies sidewalks side-walks are to be cleared by individual property owners, but added many residents are elderly and can't keep up with the snowfall, while others don't know or comply with the law. Mayor Jack Green commented, com-mented, "In many instances the ordinance isn't being complied with for good reason: the city and the state come through with the snow-plows snow-plows and push the snow from the streets up onto the sidewalk. A tractor might be the answer to that." Shellenberger said the small frontend loader is equipped with a scraper and a hitch and could double in , I IMI IIIWWIIW I i Stephens pointed out with a grin that one recent tour was composed of Lake Tahoe residents who had come to Park City because the snow was better. Alpine Meadows, Park City's sister resort, overlooks the California lake. Although Mid-Mountain will continue to encourage group bookings, the company plans to make the lodge more convenient for individuals. "It's being operated as a full-service hotel now, so one person can check in and stay one night," he said. Double beds have replaced the bunks in some of the rooms. A game room with pool tables and pinball machines has been added, and another room has been adapted for use as a video facility, complete with a seven-foot TV screen. Stephens Steph-ens is also trying to get a mini-bottle license. "Since people are isolated a little, we try to entertain them more than a regular hotel," he said. He discussed the possibility of converting the cafeteria into a restaurant, and serving serv-ing the fast food on the decks. "Everybody's needs aren't met by hamburgers and hot dogs," he pointed out. Two hot tubs have been installed, and a second sauna is planned. Stephens indicated indi-cated that, if he can get a club license, those facilities will be available to other skiers as well as hotel guests. He hopes by improving the facilities, the company will be able to offer a summer season. "We're going to try to keep it open from mid-June mid-June to mid-September," he said. "It's never been open in the summer before, so I don't know how it's going to work." Mid-Mountain faces a major challenge in providing better transportation to the facility. It can be reached by skiers until the Payday lift closes at 10 p.m. "Otherwise we have to use vehicles, and we're still working that out," Stephens said. The only road up to the lodge is owned and main- the summer for park maintenance main-tenance on the playing fields. He said the tractor costs about $5,600. Councilman Richard Martinez Mar-tinez said he didn't think the price of the tractor worth its useful ness to the city, noting "I don't think those little tractors are great. ..they don't always work." Police Chief Mike Crowley said the same problem with snow-covered sidewalks exists on Main Sreet, where many property owners don't live in the state. He called the problem on Park Avenue "severe" and suggested people use the public transportation trans-portation system rather than walk on the increasingly congested streets. Councilwoman Helen Alvarez Al-varez said the city should investigate alternate walking walk-ing routes to Main Street, noting "the Depot project is a natural," for a safe and quick alternative access from Park Avenue. Shellenberger said he would further investigate the usefulness use-fulness of the tractor for Park City's usually heavy snows, and present information informa-tion at a later date for further discussion. it J tained by the resort, and is accessible only by four-wheel-drive vehicles during much of the winter. The company is working to provide better scheduled service between the lodge and Park City. Stephens practiced law for to years in La Jolla, Calif. But he is not a newcomer to the lodging trade, having owned hotels in that state. " 3 t, 1 Lodge "Most of the problems I've encountered here are things I've met at those hotels," he said. He said he believes by keeping his customers happy and doing a little advertising in the right places, he can't go wrong. ' "That's the amazing thing ; about this place, if you want a ski vacation, you can't do much better." You're Invited to the Grand Opening of Park City's Newest Shoppins Experience . Now thru February 18th you'll find Storeivide Saving throughout the Mall Demonstrations Free Refreshments Video Replays of Olympic Highlights Come in and Register to win one of 15 Great Prizes Drawings held daily Visit the Village today & meet these fine merchants Soap Opera Holiday Tops Park City Furniture Company Karlynn's Women Wear P.C. Printink Travel House Capson, Morris, McComb The Finishing Touch Property Services Western Art Classics Holiday Village Cinemas 3 Wolfe's Tony's Pizza Alpha Beta Grocery Store Status GalleryPark City Photo Castleberry's Radio Shack Tommy Knockers McWilly's Ice Cream GRAND OPENING NOW olMay Village Mall located behind the beautiful Holiday Inn Despite repeated pleas for citizen cooperation, the number num-ber of dogs roaming the Park City streets is on the rise. Attacks by vicious dogs are reported weekly, necessitating necessitat-ing the city to last week hire a part-time animal control officer to assist the full time olficer now patrolling the streets. But even that may not be enough, and the city now is looking into buying a tranquilizer gun. Park City Police Chief Mike Crowley appeared before the City Council last Thursday noting, "The dog problem now is astronomical. It is only one aspect of the total police picture, yet it seems to take more and more time and money to deal with." Crowley commented that one animal control officer could not effectively deal with the growing dog problem, prob-lem, since Park City does not have a dog pound, and strays , must be driven to a veterinarian veteri-narian clinic in Salt Lake City. The police chief said in a 30-day month, the officer is on duty 22 days, with only about UK) hours a month spent actually patrolling the streets, with the rest of the time spent in transit to the dog pound. "We've hired a part time animal control olficer, which adds about four hours a day to the patrol picture," Crowley Crow-ley said. "But the officers don't have the tools to deal with vicious animals. The potential for being attacked while trying to do the job is very high and we're looking into providing the officers witha tranquilizer gun." Crowley said the gun would cost about $200, and because the tranquilizer is a controlled con-trolled substance, the officers of-ficers would be required to take 40 hours of training in the use of the gun. The police chief said there are risks involved in using the gun. He noted it can either shoot a tranquilizer dart or a .22 caliber cartridge. car-tridge. If the officer should miss the target, it's possible children could come across the pellet or dart and hurt themselves. Crowley said thP tr?nnrilizer is relatively THRU FEBRUARY 18th mild, however, and only temporarily subdues the animal ani-mal until it can be put into the truck. other steps taken to help alleviate the dog problem include enlisting the help of all Park ( it police olficer in issuing citations to dog owners, and equipping the animal control officers with mobile radios so they can respond to a report faster. "People are willing to complain about the problem, but thev aren't willing to help." Crowley said. "There was an article in The Newspaper two weeks ago that said it takes citizen participation to control the problem, and there has been no response. Dog owners let their animals roam, and neighbors who complain about stray dogs don't help by calling in the offender." Mayor Jack Green commented com-mented a dog problem exists throughout the county, and one suggestion has been to cooperate with animal control con-trol by enlisting an officer to patrol the whole area. He better be the Lord himself or Superman." Crowley quipped. He added that in a crisis, one way to handle the problem might be to offer a bounty to citizens who capture stray dogs. The police chief said a lot of time spent in travel to -ilt Lake City could be eliminated elim-inated if Park City had its own kennel, but said an acceptable shelter could cost upwards of $30,000. Council-woman Council-woman Tina Lewis suggested sug-gested the city and-or county might consider funding a wing on a proposed animal clinic at Kimball Junction for a pound. She said she would discuss the problem and possible solutions with other county officials at the Council of Governments meeting scheduled yesterday. yester-day. Mayor Green said while the dog situation "is a minor part of the police activities, it is a major problem." and encouraged citizen participation parti-cipation to offer solutions while city officials continue to look for answers. i |