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Show Page A4 Thursday, March 19, 1987 Park Record Will industrial park spell an end to the exodus of seasonal workers? Main Street Deli So alright, Summit County's industrial park won't look like this. by HEIDI WEST Record staff writer Editor's note: This is the second in a series of stories on the long-term plans decision-makers have for Summit County, Park City and its environs. This segment deals with the outlook for an industrial park and airport. In a good year, Park City businesses are flush for four months. Like magic, the town is showered with tourists at the same time it is showered with dry, fluffy powder. But a dose of black magic strikes when the snow stops falling, and tourist numbers and the sustaining manna of their dollars begins to shrink. The cycle is repeated every season, and it, along with declining prices for oil and gas, has serious consequences for the economic health of Park City and most of the rest of Summit County. "I know five families that are moving out of here and up to Evanston because they can't find a job," says a worried Summit County Commissioner, Jim Soter. "South Summit is becoming an economic disaster area." Although a bevy of ideas have been suggested to plug this flow of job seekers out of Summit County, the commissioners have latched on to the notion of an industrial park to keep residents here and employed. Although the exact form an industrial in-dustrial park might take is still nebulous, the commission is making contacts with businesses, funding sources, and land and water owners in the Silver Creek area (at the junction junc-tion of Hwy. 40 and 1-80), where the park will most likely be located. So far, they have spoken with private land owners around Silver Creek and the LDS Church to try and secure options on land suitable for the industrial park. All three commissioners com-missioners are adamant that tax dollars are not the way to pay for the park, and Commissioner Tom Flinders says donations of land or water are a definite possibility. A land trade is also not out of reach, and this commission has already PRIME MAIN STREET SHOP For Lease 523 Main - Next to the Deli Across From Old City Hall Call Nick at 649-6465 China Ridge Restaurant Open daily 11:30 a.m.-ll:00 p.m. Sat., Sun 5-10:30 p.m. Park City ; m m A LUNCH SPECIAL Egg Roll, Chicken Chow Mrin, Pork Fried Rice $2,95 Monday-Friday 11:30 a.mu 3:30 p.m. tried to negotiate a trade with the U.S. Forest Service for a parcel closer to 1-80 than theirs deep in the Uinta Mountains. Federal funds to help bring water and sewer to a piece of government-owned government-owned land designated for industrial park development are also available, although there are conditions condi-tions on those funds. For instance, the area has to be zoned for light industry, in-dustry, it must be at least 50 acres, and a major tenant must be on line to occupy the industrial park before federal financial help is available. Even then, the county would have to come up with matching funds to create the park. Other localities, including the city of Heber, have applied for and received federal industrial park dollars. But the park itself is not always successful. "You can't just put a sign up that says Summit County industrial park," notes Bill dinger, executive director of the Park City ChamberBureau. Competition Com-petition for industries that are clean and offer employment for county residents is fierce. "We've got to be as competitive as possible," says Cl-inger. Cl-inger. That means different things to different dif-ferent people. For Flinders, it spells "not giving away the shop, but letting let-ting developers know they're welcome." Commissioner Jim Soter notes that, in the face of an 8.64 percent unemployment rate, foregoing taxes or rent for five or ten years in exchange ex-change for hiring Summit County workers may be necessary. But Commissioner Ron Robinson is a little more cautious. "You have to be careful what you do bring in," he says, noting it has to be at least ' compatible with the ski industry in Park City, if not actually in direct support of it. "The thing we always have to keep in mind is we already have the ski industry," he says. "I'd like to try to tie in with that with the Park City recreation idea. For instance, bringing in snowmobiling in Kamas. If it's anything to do with the ski industry, we should support that first if it's at all possible." All three commissioners agree the industrial park would have to at least be visually compatible with other Park City development. The buildings should be low profile and nicely landscaped to present a "park-like image" says Soter. Flinders and Soter, though, are a little more open to business which is not directly ski-related than Robinson, Robin-son, and so far Flinders has chatted seriously with a gear-manufacturing firm and a "very large" food processing pro-cessing company. All the players think Summit County is one up on other Utah locations loca-tions as a place for industry to settle. According to the Grant Thornton (formerly Alexander Grant Co.) annual an-nual survey of general manufacturing manufactur-ing climates nationwide, Utah is second se-cond only to South Dakota as an attractive at-tractive spot to do business. Although it appears businesses haven't exactly caught on to that statistic yet, it doesn't dim the hopes of city and county leaders here. "We've got some of the greatest tourist areas in the mountainous west. We've got water, mountains, scenic beauty and the facilities," says Park City Councilman Jim San-ty. San-ty. Clinger adds the attraction of a big city close by is a help. "We're an eastern suburb of Salt Lake," he notes. "Park City offers a tremendous tremen-dous alternative to being down in the valley." Clinger says valley businesses are often "intrigued" with the idea of locating their facilities in a resort community, where life would include scenic beauty and fresh air. Flinders agrees, and adds, "People "Peo-ple feel relaxed here. Even while they're working they feel like they're playing." In addition to Park City's proximity to Salt Lake, its "vivacous" atmosphere, as Flinders refers to it, and its scenic beauty, being be-ing right next to an interstate highway and a railroad, adds to the attractiveness of Silver Creek as an industrial site. "It's location, location, loca-tion, location," stresses Flinders. This particular location is something Summit County has been pushing as an industrial site for years. In 1980, the Summit County Planning Commission gave its approval ap-proval to a plan which showed an industrial in-dustrial area in the vicinity of Silver Creek. And to the south along Hwy. 40, the same plan illustrated an airport. air-port. Although the location of that proposed airport might change with time, most of those involved with plans for an industrial park agree an airport is a necessary component for its success. "An airport will not help the 'Summit' 'Sum-mit' part of Summit County, that is the north and south part of Summit County," says Soter, a former aviation avia-tion official for the U.S. Forest Service. Ser-vice. "Where the help really comes to those people is through the industrial in-dustrial park." Soter stresses an airport just for the sake of having an airport in Summit Sum-mit County is a bad idea. But, he says a reliever-type facility which could handle corporate executives jetting to and from the west county industrial site is something he does support. Salt Lake City International Airport Air-port was at one time considering Summit County and other Utah locations loca-tions for an adjunct to the valley airport, air-port, so during busy times or when it was shrouded in fog, planes could use the reliever site. But when increasingly in-creasingly fewer private planes used us-ed the Salt Lake airport over time, it alleviated the immediate need for a reliever. The plan is considered only temporarily tem-porarily on hold, though, and Summit Sum-mit County Commissioners are ready and waiting if and when it is revived. Financing for a reliever airport would be picked up almost completely by the federal government, govern-ment, says Soter, and even the maintenance would be a Federal Aviation Administration responsibility. respon-sibility. Of course, an airport close to Park City would not only serve industrial moguls, it could mean a boon to the area's recreation life. Several other resort towns not so close to a major metropolitan airport have tried their , own landing strips this year with varying success. But in Jackson Hole, a twice-daily flight from Chicago is considered responsible for a $5 to $8 million boost in sales there this winter. The seasonal benefits to Park City are just a pleasant side effect, though, as commissioners strive to create a stable economy in Summit County. If an industrial park is to be successful here, it has to be "full-service." "full-service." Water, sewer, tax-free space, clean industry, rail and truck transportation of goods out of the park, and air service to bring clients to and from Silver Creek are all components of the first-class facility these leaders want to create. When it's up and running, though, the county wants to turn the industrial in-dustrial park over to private industry. in-dustry. It could leave it up to private business to initiate and get rolling themselves, but, says Flinders, "we could wait, and here still ten years down the line see nothing." Despite all the "grandiose projects" pro-jects" which have been completed in Park City and its environs, no industrial in-dustrial park has come to fruition, says Flinders. Yet, its jobs, its year-round year-round employment, and its signal to lending firms that Summit County is a good place to loan money are needed. need-ed. "We feel we need to give it a shot in the arm," says Flinders, "and that this would be one way to do it." DOES YOUR AUTO POLICY NEED A TUNE-UP? I can check out your auto policy to help you make sure you're getting the most for your money. 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