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Show i .- , , v ; ill la I 1 : ; HDCBIr Li Park City, Utah Volume Five Jam Sylvester A jury found Park City Transportation Transpor-tation Supervisor Jan Sylvester not guilty of misuse of public funds Tuesday after a two-day trial in Third District Court in Coalville. The verdict came shortly after 6 p.m. following nearly three hours of deliberation. As 'the foreman announced announ-ced the unanimous decision of the eight-person eight-person jury, Miss Sylvester burst into tears. She thanked the jury profusely, then left the courtroom to call her stepfather step-father with the news. "It feels like I've got a new lease on life," Miss Sylvester said, smiling. Third-degree felony charges were signed May 28 after it was brought to the attention of Assistant County Attorney Attor-ney Terry Christiansen that Miss Sylvester had failed to deposit funds collected from the city buses for a 54-day 54-day period between Dec. 28, 1979 and Feb. 20, 1980. Under Utah law, public funds must be deposited within three business days from the date they are collected. The case was first brought to trial in Third District Court July 28. However, a mistrial was declared by Judge David B. Lee late July 30 after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision. Members of that jury confirmed later that the vote was 7-1 in favor of conviction. convic-tion. The trial was rescheduled for Monday, Aug. 11. In light of the sentiment expressed by the jury in the first trial, Tuesday's "not guilty" verdict came as somewhat of a surprise to some of the participants. partici-pants. "There was no difference in the two cases," Prosecuting Attorney Terry Christiansen said when asked to com- They Call But What Where have all the flowers gone? Certainly not to Prospector Park. The facts are yet to be melted down by the City Council, but there appears to be a large ball of wax being burned at several ends in the three-phase subdivision. sub-division. In question is who is responsible respon-sible for the fdct that utility and street improvements and landscaping have not been completed to the satisfaction of the city. City Councilwoman Helen Alvarez broached the subject at last Thursday night's meeting. She noted that in going through council and Planning Commission Com-mission minutes for the past several years, there appear to be inconsistencies inconsisten-cies between what was promised and what was delivered by the developer. "I don't know what the process is for making certain that conditions are . . j ' t , ' ; inn ' rV C "V '''' ff"' ? ' i . ', . - J, ' ' . " Jan Sylvester pare the two trials. "I think the arguments were basically the same and the evidence that was presented was the same in both trials . " Christiansen said he had no plans to contest the verdict. As spelled out by the attorneys in their closing arguments Tuesday, the case against Miss Sylvester revolved around the meaning of the word "willfully:" Did she wi!!u!Iy omit to transfer' public monies to Park City It Prospector Park, Did They Do With the luci, ant; said. As part of the 1973 city ordinance, subdivisions seeking final approval were required to dedicate six percent of the total land area to the city for public use, as well as complete other improvements im-provements to the city's satisfaction. In response to that stipulation, Prospector "Park agreed in 1976 to dedicate a 10-acre 10-acre site to the city, which was to be used for park space and maintained for a period of three years, at which time it would be dedicated to the city. To help the city maintain that strip after dedication, a $20,000 perpetual maintenance main-tenance fund was established, which would accrue approximately $1,000 per year. That fund apparently exists, and the interest has been accruing for the past two years, but to date, the buffer strip has not been landscaped. At the City Council meeting Thursday Thursday, August 14, 1980 Not within three business days after collection? collec-tion? Christiansen warned the jury not to equate willful with malicious. He said that a willful act, as defined by the judge's instructions, is an act done on one's own volition. "The state of mind of the defendant is what you look at to determine what is willful," he agured. "She was the one who decided she was not going to make , the deposits." night, Councilman Bob Wells pointed out that the responsibility for the improvements im-provements will be difficult to place, since several individuals and corporations cor-porations seem to have interest in the area. Among them are Keith Garner of K & M Inc., and the Prospector Park Associates. In minutes of meetings pulled from city files by Mrs. Alvarez, there are several references made to the dedication of the park and the landscaping land-scaping of the buffer strip. In January, 1977, engineer Jack Johnson appeared on behalf of the developer and noted that the buffer strip and a five-acre five-acre space were to be allocated for a park on the east end of the project. He reiterated that the maintenance of those two areas would be handled by the developer for three years, and that the perpetual maintenance fund would be established. A month later, the City Council moved to approve Phase I of Prospector Park provided that the landscaping land-scaping be completed and that the park be dedicated to the city. In October of that same year, Planning Plan-ning Commission minutes noted that Prospector Park III be given final approval, ap-proval, provided the buffer strip be completed before approval was given to Phase II. In May of 1978, final approval was given to Phase II of the project, provided the strip be completed "during this planting season." The condition was not met. Mrs. Alvarez said Tuesday that it appears ap-pears a half-hearted attempt was made to install a sprinkler system on the buffer buf-fer strip. That installation has been abandoned, and the lone tree that stands on the strip is dead. She did note, however, that the city has three checks in its possession totaling $31,500. She said she believes $25,000 of that was to be used for development of the park, although it is unclear what the remaining $6,500 was to be used for. Mrs. Alvarez said an added concern are improvements to the curb, gutter and asphalt in Prospector Park. City Engineer John Probasco said Monday that there are several problems left unresolved concerning those improvements. im-provements. He said a ballpark figure to bring the area up to standard was between $5,000 and $10,000, "although that could be way out of line either way," he commented. Mrs. Alvarez said she intends to pursue pur-sue the problem and commented, "I hope we can attach the assets of the developers in sufficient amounts to landscape land-scape the buffer strip, complete the sprinkler system, and complete all of the other improvements to Bush and Gudgell's specifications. "Those improvements were He reminded the jurors that it was their duty to uphold the law, whether or not they agreed with it. "I can't think of a stronger case for this law than what you have heard in the last two days," he said. Defense Attorney Ken Brown, in his summary, substituted the word "purposely" "pur-posely" for "willfully." He noted that, according to the testimony provided ' during the trial, Miss Sylvester had j asked for help in counting the bus revenues. j ' 'Would a person who purposely omits (to deposit the funds) call for help in terms of asking for counters and asking for help in counting the money?" he asked. "I submit that if anyone is on trial it is the Park City Municipal Corporation Cor-poration for not responding to those calls for help. "We're not considering negligent conduct," Brown continued. "When you get to the area of willful conduct, you've , got to prove a purpose to commit that crime. "I submit that she has been guilty of, if anything, an error in judgement in taking the money home. " In his rebuttal, Christiansen accused the defense of throwing smokescreens to confuse the jurors. He repeated his assertion that Miss Sylvester had made up her own mind not to deposit the money. "It was certainly her own , decision," he said. Christiansen argued that Miss Sylvester could have reordered her , priorities to find time to count and deposit the money. In reference to Brown's closing statement, he told the jury that an error jn judgement was not grounds for Park? promised to the City Council, and it was asked that those improvements be made in Phase I before the other phases were approved. Those improvements were never made." City Attorney Mike McCoy said Tuesday that he had not had the opportunity oppor-tunity to research the situation. He said he did not feel comfortable discussing what the city's course of action might be to enforce the subdivision approval stipulations. Miss Summit County Carrie Lee Morecraft, a recent graduate of Park City High School, was crowned Miss Summit County in ceremonies held in the school multipurpose multi-purpose room Saturday evening. Miss Morecraft, 18, was chosen by a panel of judges from among 10 young women competing for the title. She also was named the winner of the swimsuit, evening gown and talent competitions. As the winner of the crown, Miss Morecraft becomes eligible to com-' com-' pete in the Miss Utah Pageant next June and the Miss Utah State Fair competition the following September. While at Park City High School she was involved in gymnastics and cheerleading. The yearbook listed her interests as swimming, jogging and collecting hats. She was also listed as the school flirt. Carrie was the second attendant to Miss Miners Day, 1979. She plans to attend the University of Utah this fall. First attendant in the contest was Gena Blonquist of Coalville, a 1980 graduate of North Summit High School. She was Miss High School Rodeo for Utah in 1979, and represented represen-ted Utah in the national finals in Fargo, North Dakota. She will attend Utah State University this fall. Second attendant was Tree Brown of Park City, a sophomore at the University of Utah. While in high school she won a number of awards for diama, debate and gymnastics. She was listed in Who's Who among American Students for 1978-79. According to Pageant Director Mike Pelton, this marked the first time in recent years that the competition com-petition had been held in Park City. acquittal. "Do you think that there's ever a criminal convicted in our courts who isn't guilty of an error in judgement?" he asked. During the first day of the trial, Christiansen called on a series of witnesses wit-nesses to establish that the bus revenues had not been deposited during the 54-day period in question. City Treasurer LuAnn Antonio told the court that she first discovered that no deposits had been made when she prepared a summary of January's cash-in sheets. She said she immediately im-mediately notified then-City Manager Wayne Matthews. In response to questions from Prosecuting Attorney Terry Christian Cable Contracts Confound Council One cable television company came to ask the city to grant a second nonexclusive non-exclusive franchise, and the other came to get the first one again, because they never really had it to begin with. A few problems concerning a cable television system in Park City were aired at the City Council meeting last Thursday night. Park City CATV was granted a franchise (or so they thought) in 1978, and the system currently is under construction. But a second company, Community Cable of Utah, Inc., has asked the city to grant them a non-exclusive agreement. Community Cable appeared at a City Council meeting in June, claiming that their competitors were financially unsound, un-sound, and questioned their ability to complete the job. Mayor Jack Green subsequently asked Community Wireless board president Blair Feulner to research the situation and offer some insight to the council. On Thursday night, Feulner appeared ap-peared with a six-page letter of information infor-mation and recommendation. He pointed poin-ted out that at the September 7, 1978 City Council meeting, Norwalk TV (now Park City CATV) was awarded a non-exclusive franchise. City Attorney Mike McCoy was to draw up the agreement and present it to the councilf for review and adoption at their next meeting. The document inadvertently did not reappear before the council, however was signed by Mayor Green, Carrie Lee I r .::,: : ""' . f 1 )m v-'T j ii i Number Forty-Eight sen, Matthews testified that, upon learning learn-ing of the missing deposits, he called Park City's public works supervisor, super-visor, Leon Uriarte. Uriarte said he had no idea the bus revenues were not being deposited until notified by Matthews. He recalled that he immediately got in touch with Miss Sylvester. "I asked her: Jan, where is the money? What did you do with it? She said: 'It's in a safe place'." That safe place, according to testimony supplied by Police Lieutenant Rob Berry, was Miss Sylvester's home in Highland Estates Sylvester to 3 but was not published in-the newspaper as required by law. Feulner concluded that "by reason of error by the city, Park City CATV was never issued a valid franchise by the city. " In regard to the claim that Park City CATV is in financial trouble and unable to complete the job, Feulner commented commen-ted that after examining legal proceedings between general partner John Galanis and the Securities and Exchange Commission and Chase Manhattan Bank, that he did not feel he had the expertise to determine the affect af-fect on the city. He added, however, that CATV partner Dale Garner and at torney Scott Zimmerman have assured that Galanis' situation has no bearing on their ability to complete the system . Feulner told the council that in his research, he discovered that other cities that had granted a duplicate franchise had run into legal problems, with the two companies fighting over customers. He commented that "all agree that Park City cannot support more than one cable TV system." He suggested that if the city decided to work with CATV, that another franchise fran-chise be drawn up, incorporating specific dates of service and financial ability assurances. Following Feulner's presentation, Garner reiterated assurances that CATV has the money to complete the Cable to 3 Morecraft |