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Show County deficit Where has all the money gone? 11 H Park City, Utah 250 Vol. VII, No. 29 Thursday, April 8, 1982 Three Sections, 36 Pages fllfll Clowns without a day Results are back ' 'torn. '" . I V V&N '-'ttM'n- H A J' The party responsible for Park Avenue's problems is ... What went wrong with Park Avenue, and who's responsible for fixing it? That's what the City Council wanted to know when they hired Montana consultant con-sultant Ed Nurse to do an "autopsy" of the road back in early February. The battery of tests performed on-site and in the Helena, Mont, laboratory took over a month and cost $14,500, which was paid by Park Avenue design engineers Bush and Gudgell of Salt Lake. The test results are back, and the 10-page 10-page report points the finger at ... Sorry, wish we could tell you, but that information is being kept confidential until the City Council discusses it in executive session this afternoon. City Manager Arlene Loble said Monday that a copy of the technical report has been given to one of the 'Interconnect' Alpine skiing from by David Hampshire Imagine starting the day at Deer Valley and ending it at Snowbird, stopping stop-ping at Park City, Brighton, and Alta along the way, without ever taking off your ski boots. All the Wasatch Front ski resorts, connected to form one massive ski area. "Sure, sure," you say. "Those stories have been circulating since the '60s. All that's needed is $5 million or so for some form of exotic aerial tram." Would you believe the job could be done with four chairlifts? That's right, four lifts. Nobody's quite ready to pour the footings, but the idea, code-named "Interconnect," "In-terconnect," is getting some serious attention from resort owners in Northern Nor-thern Utah. "If you know anything about marketing, this is some trump card," said Raivo Puusemp, president of Ski Utah, Inc. "It's probably the most exciting ex-citing thing to happen in skiing since Sun Valley built their (first) lift." Ski Utah is a marketing arm of the Utah Ski Association, made up of representatives of ski areas, hotels, airlines and ground transportation systems. Puusemp was in town Liz Heimos (left) decorates Leslie Miller in anticipation of a Clown Day that never happened. High winds caused the Park City Ski Area to close all but one of its lifts last Thursday. prime suspects, Bush and Gudgell, and to city engineer Mike Vance for review. The report apparently determines whether the $285,000 project was badly engineered by Bush and Gudgell, poorly constructed by Bahk Ltd., or both. Further, it apparently shows what went wrong, and what needs to be done to correct the problem. The frustration and criticism aimed at the condition of the city's main thorofare has been constant since the repaying project was completed in October. Oc-tober. Almost immediately, chunks of asphalt began to break away from the road, leaving potholes that had to be patched. In some cases, the patches had to be patched. By February, the condition was so disasterous that Loble commented, "As anyone can see, what Tuesday to discuss the Interconnect concept with the Park City Rotary Club. Puusemp pointed out that the framework for the system is already in place: six ski areas with contiguous boundaries within seven miles of each other. The proximity of one area to the next is hardly secrt among back-country back-country skiers, he said. "All those ' 'This is not something that is a huge engineering feat. " routes are now feasible." In his presentation to the Rotary, Puusemp used a map of the ski areas witn tnree overlays: one showing the present development, one depicting the planned expansion, and one spelling out the location of the lifts needed to make Interconnect work. According to Puusemp's first set of figures, Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude, ParkWest, Park City and Deer Valley now have 48 lifts with a total uphill capacity of 57,000 skiers The county has found itself short of money in the general fund because of bookkeeping problems, according to County Clerk Reed Pace. "We're always short of money this time of year, but it's a little more this year than we had anticipated,'' Pace said Wednesday. The difference between be-tween the computer's balance and what the county actually has in the bank is about $500,000, he said. Pace explained that in January, we have is a total road failure." The road obviously will have to be repaved. Once the city determines who will pay for it and how it will be repaired, it must decide when the project will begin. One major consideration con-sideration is the new state highway that will parallel Park Avenue to the east. Construction of the new highway is due to begin at the first sign of good weather. Will the roads undergo construction simultaneously? Will Park Avenue go first, or wait until late fall? Those questions and a good number more will be discussed at today's session, said Loble. She said she is well aware that residents are anxious for information. The test results will be revealed after the council as a whole discusses it, she said. Park City to Alta per hour. Planned expansion (including 10 lifts at White Pine) will incrase that capacity to 84 lifts and 94,270 skiers per hour. "And that's conservative," he said. The Interconnect itself would add as many as five more lifts and increase the uphill capacity to almost 100,000 skiers per hour. "It would be the single largest ski capacity in the world." To connect the resorts would involve running one lift from Snowbird up to Alta, two others to connect Alta with Brighton and Solitude, and one from the Brighton-Solitude area to the Park City Ski Area. "This is not something that is a huge engineering feat," he stressed. Puusemp said the system could extend ex-tend to ParkWest, but only if the White Pine area is developed as planned. He acknowledged that the plan 1981, the county went to a computer bookkeeping system and "we tried hard to get the auditor to make sure the balance that went into the computer at that time was correct... We plugged into in-to the computer what we thought we had. We were wrong," he said. The county has asked auditors for a complete cash audit for 1981. "We knew we were out of balance, but didn't know it was that much," Pace said. He added that the fault lies partly with the auditors, but "I can take some New local film company features familiar faces Charles E. Sellier Jr., former head of Sunn Classic Pictures, announced the formation of a new Utah-based movie company this week. The new firm, Comworld Pictures, is a partnership partner-ship between Sellier, film star Burt Reynolds, and Comworld Group, a UtahCalifornia entertainment conglomerate. Headquartered in Midway, Utah, the company plans to produce ' and distribute motion pictures for domestic and foreign markets, as well as TV and cable markets. "Our primary purpose now is to get up and going," said Sellier, who told The Newspaper that Comworld would begin filming in late summer on an outdoor TV series to star Brian Keith. NBC, he said, is negotiating for the program as a mid-season replacement. replace-ment. Comworld will produce the first motion picture ever planned for release directly to cassette and videodisc sales. The company also has "'acquired four films for distribution and has 12 in development. Besides being the firm's chairman of the board, Burt Reynolds will provide creative services for every aspect of production, from acquisition through post-production and distribution. Sellier called the partnership "a terrific marriage" between his experience ex-perience as a producer and Reynolds' expertise. "Burt likes to do what an audience wants, yet he does it with quality," said the producer. "His story sense is unbelievable." Sellier is the firm's president and chiei executive officer. Sellier's interview with The Newspaper was interrupted by a call from Reynolds. "He's on stage now shooting 'Best Friends' with Goldie Hawn, and we discuss business between bet-ween takes." In a press release, Reynolds said he is excited by the chance to make good films with reasonable budgets. "And I'm equally excited by the opportunity to fully explore (Sellier's) brilliant and innovative methods of market research re-search and distrubution ..." At this point, there are two motion picture companies in the Heber Valley. Last fall, Sellier moved his Sunn Classic headquarters from Park City to Heber. Sellier said he left the company shortly shor-tly after because of creative differences differen-ces with the Taft entertainment combine, com-bine, which acquired Sunn in 1980. "I would require the cooperation of the U.S. Forest Service, which administers ad-ministers much of the land covered by the ski areas, as well as the various resort owners. "It's very difficult to get a bunch of competitive people in a room and get them to cooperate," he said. "The key is, when somebody sees a benefit to participate, then he'll participate." One Rotary member wondered whether the interconnect system would be in conflict with the nordic skier who deliberately avoids developed areas. But Puusemp argued that the two disciplines, as reflected by changes in equipment, are starting to converge. "The difference between the two is diminishing, as are the skiers." Another observer wondered whether there would be enough skier demand for such an optimistic plan. Puusemp said it would be up to his organization and other agencies to become more sophisticated in their marketing as the area develops. One other roadblock appears to lie in the way of the Interconnect concept: the absence of a direct ground link between the resorts. But Puusemp said that, too, is being studied. of the blame because I'm the county clerk. But I'm not an accountant." Pace went on to explain that auditors were not able to reconcile the 1980 audit with 1981, and the 1981 auditors gave no reason for that lack of reconciliation. recon-ciliation. The county now has a new auditor, Bruce Hyman of Salt Lake City, and "we hope he will be able to straighten things out and tie the accounts ac-counts together." At this time of year, Pace said, the didn't like the direction they were going in," he said. He also disagreed with Taft because they did not have an arm for distribution. "Without it, you have too many things unresolved," he said. "Now, we've got the same distribution team that worked with us for 8 years before Taft." Sellier said he still has a small ownership in Sunn and the companies are friendly. "You know, the motion picture business is very incestuous," he added. "We intend to help each other out." Comworld already plans to release two films this summer. The first, "Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker" is a horror film, said Sellier. "Goldrunner" is about a man who turns into a Chuck Norris-style hero after his daughter is kidnapped by villains seeking the hero's smuggled gold. Two other films, also acquired by the company, are in post-production. "One City surplus Don't expect relief The city has extra money. As a matter of fact, said City Manager Arlene Loble, it has two separate surpluses. So, asks the hard-pressed taxpayer, tax-payer, why is the city talking about business license increases instead of tax relief? The reason, she said, is because both surpluses fall into specific fiscal categories that cannot be plowed back into general city operations. Loble said the first surplus arose when a state government audit of fiscal 1981 showed an extra $700,000 in the city's budget. Initially, it was reported these were general funds, and a surplus here calls for a reduction of the mill levy. But the money was actually part of a capital outlay fund, said Loble, and the state has acknowledged in a letter it is not Here are the latest snowfall measurement and ski conditions reported by the three Park City-area resorts. Thursday, April i Friday, April 2 Saturday, April 3 Sunday, April 4 Monday, April 3 Tuesday, April 6 Wednesday, April 7 CrnUETCODITIO'VS The sun was hardly in evidence the last week with ski areas reporting one of the biggest snowfalls of the season. The Park City 8k! Area, which had to close down all lifts but First Time on April 1 because of high winds, reported a 'otal of 38 inches of new snow for the week with a current base of 144 inches. Deer Valley, which close on Sunday, April It, for the season, has a snow depth of 154 inches on top. ParkWest Resort closed April 4 for the season. FORECAST The National Weather Service said temperatures would continue to be cool, with a chance of snow showers continuing through Saturday night. The existing low pressure system should begin to break up sometime Sunday, producing a warming trend. Highs through Sunday will be In the 30$ and 40s, with lows about 20. county always is in the position of borrowing money, which this year may be around $700,000. Tax anticipation an-ticipation notes are sold, which amounts to borrowing money until taxes are collected in the fall. "We are almost required to be broke at the beginning of a fiscal year, and I'm not in favor of that. I don't think the county should be borrowing money from the taxpayer and keeping it in the bank," Pace said. Dark Night" involves three girls stalked by the living dead. And "Revenge Squad" focuses on a man seeking vengeance for his wife's death in a car crashand eventually getting the aid of an army of New York cabbies. cab-bies. Future projects to be made by Comworld, Com-world, he said, include a take-off on Hollywood. "And we're going to do a comedy romp with a lot of the old faces from Burt's pictures." Sellier said he and Reynolds had long talked about a partnership, and decided to make the move last fall. Both worry that big-budget pictures are hurting the industry. "The philosophy now is, the more you spend, the better your chances for success," he added. "But this year there were fewer starts on movies than in any year in their history." Reynolds' services for Comworld Film to A9 part of a general surplus. The city manager said the surplus has been spent on last fall's Park Avenue repaying project, a storm drain project on the same street, and work on Bonanza Drive. The second surplus, she said, comes from collected impact fees to the city. Loble said they are expected to be $550,000 over previous projections for the year. By law, she said, these fees can only be used for capital improvements im-provements or one-time-only projects that will directly benefit the developments paying impact fees. Several Parkites, Loble said, are suggesting the money go to arts organizations on the grounds that cultural activities increase real estate values. This brought arts groups to City Council last week to plead their cases. (See related story on Page A5. Deer Valley o . r. ., l" 3" 3" trace 3" Park City 10" 2" S" 10" 1" 9" |