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Show Tribe way I see Sit The Newspaper Thursday, September 16, 1982 Page A3 State should restrict volume of motorboat An expression of personal opinion on issues of interest to the local residents. By Nan Chalat Five summers ago I took a part-time job at Rockport State Park. Living in a landlocked state made me nervous so I sought out the nearest body of water I could find. It could never replace the ocean or the Great Lakes but it was nice. That was the summer of '78. Almost no one had ever heard of windsurfing. There was talk of a fuel crisis but it was just getting underway. People were still rushing to get in their long distance vacations before it got worse. Salt Lakers barely thought twice about hauling their yachts down to Lake Powell. Kamas Valley residents ignored ig-nored Rockport except for an occasional occa-sional fishing foray or family picnic. Very few Parkites knew there was a reservoir only 20 minutes away in Wanship. It was sort of a family park. Certain old timers knew all the good fishing spots and when they caught more than they could eat I'd come home from work with a bag of fresh trout filets. The Osborne family ran the concession stand like it was an informal country club, opening the season each year with warm welcomes for returning visitors. And the rangers seemed to enjoy their work maintaining the park, helping campers and only occasionally having to discipline lawbreakers. But then the fuel crisis got serious and the whole Salt Lake Valley started looking for recreation areas closer to home. They brought their high-powered high-powered ski boats, their jet skis, Winnebagos, radios, dirt bikes, children child-ren and the family dog up to Rockport. At about the same time the trendsetters trend-setters in Park City were getting into Hobies and sailboards. They established estab-lished themselves along the shoreline at a spot thereafter known as Hobie Beach. Officer fired A probationary officer in the Park City Police Department was fired Wednesday, and a second officer disciplined as the result of an incident Tuesday night at Mileti's bar. Police Chief Frank Bell said Officer Jeff Rahn was released from duty. "Officers in our department are expected ex-pected to live up to a certain perfor (Copimitfiiminiedl fiirmm . Silver from 1 Anderson, director of engineering for J. J. Johnson. "It's unrealistic that you'll have 25 trucks up there every second." While construction is disruptive, said Hal Joseph, it's only a one-time occurrence, and the impact can be eased. "There are ways to get mufflers for those grunting, groaning trucks. We can wash tires to keep the dirt off the road." Summing up the traffic question, Ligety told The Newspaper he was skeptical about the slow rate of traffic on the video tape. "If you are trying to talk, or eat, or sleep that frequency will feel different than if you're just looking at a TV screen." Other areas were discussed, including in-cluding the following: King Road, which begins at the south end of town to wind up into the Silver Mountain area. Resident Nina Macheel said King Road would bring too much traffic through Old Town. And Rusty Davidson said the road is practically impassable in winter. (King Road will be used as a secondary secon-dary fire access, said city planners. ) Basing the funicular on the Bamberger parcel between the resort and Nastar. This is difficult, said Martin, Mar-tin, because the site, unlike Lowell-Empire Lowell-Empire land, is owned by another developer, and the funicular will be more visible. Basing a tram in the Swede Alley area. Planner Martin said a tram over Main Street would be too intrusive. And the tram would have to change grades on the route, requiring in effect three funicular systems. The city had suggested tunnelling the tram under Old Town, but Joseph said that would be very expensive and would have a large impact on Swede Alley. However, Commissioner Cal Cowher said a Swede Alley tram is possible, if jjcu-Jie-inuvei . n any nam, sum, runs on a cable instead of being pulled by a cable. It can run on a zig-zag path, thus avoiding grade problems. Swede Alley rests at the end of Highway 224, and is already expecting impact from developments like the Doilney Main Street project, he pointed out. "The cost of the tram would be about 40 percent of the funicular," he said. The sky tram is not all-weather, he conceded, but is no big problem, with Utah's mild winters. "There were only-two only-two occasions last year when the snow stopped the lifts." The discussion also touched on these features of the Silver Mountain A tr.1.i. ti.or " ha C'lt"1 K traffic on During the next three summers the rangers were very busy but happy. The State recognized Rockport's growing popularity and granted the park additional funds for development. YCC crews worked like eager beavers to expand the camping facilities. The concession stand was hopping and earned the nickname "Rockapulco." But troubles were brewing in paradise. The way I see it, Rockport maxed out this summer. It just got too crowded, not just during one or two holiday weekends but all summer. People forgot that it is just a little reservoir and even the expanded campgrounds can't make the lake any bigger. Rockport became dirty and dangerous. As much as gross overuse, Rock-port's Rock-port's problem is that many of the recreational uses are in direct conflict with one another. Motorboats and sailboats don't mix in close quarters. In heavy traffic, rights of way go out the window. It is dog eat dog on the high seas. Hobie skippers hold their tack with a stern glint in their eyes which is meant to warn approaching waterskiers to move out of the way. The captain of the skiboat nails the skipper with a maniacal leer which is to say "Make me, buddy." And it becomes a game of chicken. The skipper ends up dropping his sail at the last second and the helpless skier ends up with an ulcer. This is recreation? I am not exaggerating. Three weeks ago a water skier was run over and killed by another boat pulling a skier at Rockport. The same sort of territorial warfare has begun flaring up on the beaches. The shoreline is crowded with first-come-first-servers jealously guarding their bit of beach. The out-of-the-way coves are taken by boaters and the only places left to swim are rocky or silty. Even finding a parking place is tough. Psychologists call it over-density over-density behavior. Granted, Rockport has quiet days during the week. But the scars of overuse are still apparent. The beaches are eroding and littered. The after shoving mance standard. There was more to his release than just this incident," Bell said. "If employees don't live up to the conditions set forth by the department, depart-ment, we let them go." The second officer, whom Bell declined de-clined to identify, was disciplined in an inter-departmental action, Bell said. The chief said the incident involved a development: The parking structure, set into the mountain slope, at the intersection of Lowell-Empire. Silver Mountain engineer Mike Walker calculated the parking would need 587 spaces to meet code and customer needs. And use would probably never reach that capacity, even at heaviest day use. Ligety questioned that figure, however, saying it was based upon code requirements from the RC zone. ( The base is in Estate. ) The base layout was presented by Tony Jay, speaking for the project's structural engineers, A E Design Group Utah. (The firm consists con-sists of British partners Jay and Brian Lamprell, Roy Reynolds, and structural struc-tural engineer, Ken Karren, Another partner is Commissioner Bill Mam-men, Mam-men, who abstained from the Silver Mountain discussion.) Jay said a driver will exit off Lowell into a tunnel, set back 50 feet from the center of the road. The exit points the driver back onto Lowell, not down the tight curve into Empire. With a 50-foot right-of-way, Jay said, Lowell can be an effective two-way street. (Parked cars will not clog the street, said Joseph, if city police enforce current restrictions.) After entering the tunnel, continued Jay, the driver goes around a turning circle suitable for both cars and buses and gets off in front of a reception recep-tion area. (Valets will park the car.) In back of reception is a freight area, which transports luggage up to the second floor the funicular take-off point. Customers will ride escalators up to the second floor. Skylights will be positioned above them. Birthday Stars September Hi Dusty Orrell Stella Redondo Kathlene Harrington September 17 September IS Brad Marden September 19 Kris Anderson September 20 Kari Olsen '"hris Sproul Karen Warren Bernie Fry Mike Snyder Rockport water near the shoreline smells of motor oil. The fishing isn't what it used to be. And those friendly rangers find themselves more and more cast in the role of disciplinarians. For all its problems though, I'm not ready to give up on Rockport. I still remember my first summer swimming swim-ming across the coves, watching the sunset against the West Hills and eating pizza at Rockapulco til dark. I do think that, given the current trend, another summer could ruin Rockport. Something must change. Restricting motorboat traffic would do a great deal toward improving the ecology of the lake. Imposing a 30-horsepower maximum would allow fishermen the luxury of trolling at Rockport but would send the speed-boaters speed-boaters on to other and hopefully more distant shores. I recommend leaving Rockport with its flukey winds to the sailors, kayakers, canoeists and swimmers. Let the reservoir rest for a year. It hardly sounds fair, I know, but there is a perfectly good reservoir just around the corner which boasts excellent conditions for waterskiing and speedboating Echo. It is as underused as Rockport is overcrowded. over-crowded. If there is anyone who questions the legality of restricting use at a state park, he should remember that sailboats are banned the opening weekend of fishing season. I'm told that restricting motor traffic on small lakes is nothing new around the population centers on either coast. And it works well. Although most of us are already trying to escape from a world of too many regulations, something should be done to preserve the beauty of Rockport. And if it saves a few lives too, wouldn't it be worth it? Nan Chalat, a resident of Marion, is the former editor of Focus, a weekly supplement to the Park Record. She is now working as a freelance writer and photographer. incident verbal disagreement among some patrons of the bar and the two officers. During the fracas one of the officers shoved the other and tried to get him to leave the bar. The shoving was the only physical contact that occurred, Bell said. "As far as I'm concerned, the incident in-cident is closed," the chief said. . These areas hug the east side of the building. On the other side of the reception area, a trucking lane will run the length of the building. This allows vehicles to back into the first-floor freight area, to drop off household furniture fur-niture or pick up garbage, Jay said. Beyond the truck lane is the first floor of parking. Even if the parking is multi-level, Jay said, it will not sink into in-to the ground. It will rise from the level of Lowell Avenue, concealed by the rising grade of the mountain. The funicular. The tram will be practically noiseless, said developers, and will be 5,000 feet from any house. Jay said it is being developed by von-Roll-Habegger, a firm which has built funiculars for 100 years. There are no fatal accidents in the history of the device, he added. The funicular will not be visible on the mountainside as it goes up its track, said Hal Joseph. And its system if foolproof against failure. "If all else fails, we have 270 horsepower auxiliary motor," he added 'in Europe, the funicular is often the only access for villages that are larger than Silver Mountain." Supplies flown in by helicopter. The construction materials for the mountain will be flown in from a base at Summit County Lumber. Joseph said he has flown the expected route, which would be entirely over the mountains. He has consulted helicopter helicop-ter companies and construction firms that have used the method. "Those who have used it swear by it," said Joseph. Bill Ligety offered a word of caution. "The technology is possible, but exotic methods are often prone to changes." Steve Nipkow Marion Lintner Stephanie Tighe September 21 Alan Jones Carolyn Meyer September 22 Robbie Flatt Bill Coonev SGly ODD Li a M 614 Main Street rr Park City, Utah 649-9066 a . mfADOWS HOME K I S I I K N at Prospector Square 649-8060 If you are having a party, Please call us for Catering 649-8060 ask for Sue 649-8060 Prospector Square, Highway Park City Sue Haygood, Chef at the Grub Steak Restaurant, invites you to Sunday Brunch, every Sunday April through November ... Adults $7.95 Children $4.95 10:00 a.m. -2:00 p.m. LUNCH SERVED 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday - Saturday BeautW tor bedroom JaCUZZroTspous 1400sq.otsP2catgata3c . uurhooa 3S31 248, I. Will, nHMIHw,!,!!-.... A t: . 4 I r ' T" '".',: 1 i , T .1 |