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Show Ttteirs tLcD (tDn DMnttdDn0 The Park Record Section A Thursday; August 19, 1993D Page A13 Bothered by balloons Editor I It's time to get hot air balloons out of residential neighborhoods. They've always been an annoyance when they roar over the house at 6:30 a.m., especially on weekends when you'd like to sleep in. But now we discover that they're also a fire hazard. Imagine what that burning propane would do to your shake roof! : We've called the police, who Say there's nothing they can do, Since no laws are being broken. It seems to me that the noise constitutes disturbing the peace and that landing on private property constitutes trespassing. Last Saturday morning at 7:13, 1 had to chase a balloon away from my backyard where they were about to come down. The pilot ''apologized" and proceeded to land in my neighbor's yard across the street. Nice! A couple of weeks ago I spoke directly to Jim Hunter, president of cine of the commercial operations in Park City, when one of his balloons had landed nearby just after 7 a.m. to drop off passengers and pick up others. He stated, "We don't start until 7:15." Not true! Many mornings they're inflating soon after 6 a.m. ; If you're as annoyed as we are by these noisy monsters outside your bedroom windows at ridiculously early hours, please call your City Council members. It's time for an ordinance banning balloons from residential areas in Park City. There is plenty of space in the county for them to fly where they won't disturb sleeping people or be potential fire hazards to private homes. Dave Hanscom Vandalism is no answer Editor In response to last week's editorial from Shawn Emery condoning the vandalism in Deer Valley ...I too have read many of Edward Abbey's novels and consider myself an environmentally aware human. However, what you are supporting jThis winter over a bazillion skiers will visit Park City. How can your business reach all bazillion of these skiers? : We don't know how you can reach ALL of them, but we know what : reaches wellover 100,000 of them - The Park Record's Guide to Park City. FACT: The Park Record's Guide to Park City is distributed at over 45 lodging, retail and restaurant locations in Park City and 30 locations in Salt Lake. FACT: The Park Record's Guide to Park City is FREE to visitors and fits in their pockets. It follows their vacation every step of the way. FACT: Over 1,000 Guides were mailed out last year thanks to Chamber Bureau referrals. Ski groups coming into town love to have this beforehand. FACT: 55,000 Guides will be printed and distributed this winter. It is a great value for your advertising dollar. And you can get discounts on newspaper advertising as well. FACT: The Park Record will telling visitors where they can find the Guide. So, if you would like to hear more facts about how The Park Record's Guide to Park City can increase your dollar volume, call us. 649-9014 Space and copy deadline is October 13 111 IPark MecoM is purely idiotic. Those who decided it was permissible to "speak out" against the construction on Deer Valley property are not only cowards, but also fools who do more harm than good. . We, who would like to protect the ecosystems around us are hindered by people who group us together with hot headed individuals like the saboteurs of the heavy machinery. I am glad to say that Mr. Abbey's message has been heard. The environmentally aware are soon to be the majority. In other words "the tide is turning." Do not support actions that are detrimental to the cause. Be constructive, not destructive. Wake up buddy, Hayduke is retired. Joseph Schnerr An epitaph for Julie Editor Last week our neighbors Julie and Matt Culberson were doing on vacation what they do professionally other times of the year, climbing mountains, monster mountains. Nature apparently unleashed a surprise challenge on them, fatal to Julie. I heard someone remark yesterday, "Why would an athlete choose such a dangerous sport?" Being a nonclimber, I cannot comment on that issue; but the Julie I knew was a concerned pro, working to control risk, not tempt it. I met our new neighbor at 5 a.m. on a blizzard morning me riding a warm snowplow doing our drive, she off to her winter job of professional avalanche controller at ParkWest. Later in the day it occurred to me that we powder buffs getting "first run" thrills were oblivious that she had been up above us much earlier checking the real risk. When our young son, inspired by feature photo articles of Julie, tried to climb the rock face of our house, she had Matt send him over some professional shoes to help neutralize his recklessness. Once safely "off the wall" they recommended a climbing school for Luke, which has helped him develop a new exciting sport. run promotions all winter long in the newspaper Hearing that son Seth was planning a trip to the Reservation this summer and a like down the Grand Canyon with his Navajo friend, Julie brought over the proper equipment from her inventory and insisted they take it Julie's love of rocks were not all above timberline either. On the hillside beside her garage she created a beautiful rock garden of wildflowers, a quiet tribute to her work with nature. We will all miss this unusual and striking lady but certainly never forget what she taught us. Adrian Bradford Rugby fund-raiser Editor: Over-Art Festival weekend, the Park City Rugby Club held their annual Beer Garden at the south end of City Park. The fund-raiser was both fun and successful as the Muckers were able to replenish their coffers for future union play, tournament costs, and other financial necessities. Our temporary relocation to City Park worked out adequately, but we are looking forward to returning to our traditional location on Main Street next year. We would like to thank all the locals and visitors for their support. Special thanks to Police Chief Frank Ball and the other city officials who allowed our major source of operating funds to continue. As Mucker fans are no doubt aware we are about to embark on our fall season. We will be defending our Ten-A-Side championship in BrianheadParawan on Sept. 11, before going for the three-peat of our own Challenge Cup Sept. 25-26. 25-26. We have been invited to Phoenix, Ariz. Oct. 2-3 for our first appearance at that yearly tournament. As always, the Muckers are grateful to our fans, and we would be honored with everyone's-presence everyone's-presence at City Park Sept. 25-26 ' for the Challenge Cup. See you then and thanks to one and all. Cris Fellows P.C.R.F.C. Increased grazing fees Editor As an economist at Utah State University who has studied grazing fees on public lands since 1966, I am alarmed by many aspects of the changes proposed by the Clinton Administration. Study after study shows that permittees incur high non-fee costs to graze livestock on public lands. In 1992, these other non-fee costs (fences, water supplies, etc.) were estimated at $13.28 per AUM, which means that ranchers must pay about $17.56 per AUM under the proposed fee system. Many ranchers will find that this is not economically feasible. Moreover, there is not enough private land for ranchers who decide that they cannot afford to use public lands. The result will be the end of livestock production in many areas and another blow to beleaguered rural communities. The concept of applying a single fee to all public lands is seriously flawed and should be reexamined. The proposed fees are a step in the wrong direction and seem to be motivated by political expediency rather than economic rationality. There are alternative methods to equitably assess grazing fees, including a proposal developed by the Western Livestock Producers Alliance. Ranchers are willing to pay their fair share for the right to graze public lands. The proposed grazing fees do not give them that opportunity. Sincerely, Darwin B. Nielsen, Professor Department of Economics Utah State University Community cooperation Editor: On behalf of the Board of Trustees and the staff of the Kimball Art Center, we would like to express our sincere thanks to all of the people of Park City for hosting another Park City Art Festival. The 24th Annual Park City Art Festival was very successful as a result of the assistance we received from many people. We extend our thanks to the volunteers, all departments of the City for their cooperation, the Main Street merchants, Park City School District, Park City Ski Area, Deer Valley Ski Area, Prospector Square merchants and numerous other individual businesses. Most of all, we thank the residents of Old Town for their patience. Sincerely, George Noel Festival Coordinator Debate over public lands Editor The Clinton Administration has demonstrated some ambivalence concerning agriculture. While acknowledging that agriculture is The Park Record welcomes letters to the editor on any subject. We ask that the letters adhere to the gollowing guidelines: They should be submitted to the Park Record offices at 1670 Bonanza Drive or received in the mail (P.O. Box 3688, Park City, UT 84060) no later than 5 p.m. on Monday before publication. They must be signed and include address and telephone number of author. No letter will be published under an assumed name. They must not contain libelous material. Writers are limited to one letter every 28 days. Letters must not be longer than 350 words and should, if possible, be typed. We reserve the right to edit letters if they are too long for the space available or if they contain statements we consider unnecessarily offensive or obscene. "America's number one industry," providing 21 million jobs and the "single largest contributor to our net trade balance" (Presidential proclamation, March 20, 1993), some actions, including the recent proposal to more than double grazing fees, are less supportive of agriculture. The proposed increases in grazing fees and the proposed controls on water rights could deliver a devastating blow to Utah's economy. About one-fourth of the state's income is derived from agriculture, and 45 percent of that is due to beef and sheep production. The grazing fees and other proposed changes threaten much of this income. President Clinton recently called Western grazing fees "nickel-and-dime stuff" Newsweek, Aug. 9, 1993). That simply is not true. These actions of the federal government affect the lives of tens of thousands of citizens, particularly in Utah where the federal government owns 69 percent of the land. As John Kenneth Galbraith said, "...the public lands of the United States exceed the combined areas of Germany. France. Italy. Beleium. Holland, Switzerland, Denmark, Hungary and Albania. Where socialized ownership of land is concerned, only the U.S.S.R. and China can claim company with the United States." Government ownership of land is accompanied by enormous power. This authority should be exercised judiciously. In the interest of fairness and economic good sense, grazing fees should give our farmers and ranchers an opportunity to make productive use of public lands. All of us will benefit. Sincerely, Rodney J. Brown Dean of Agriculture H. Paul Rasmussen, Director Agriculture Experiment Station Utah State University Guilty with an explanation Editor: As President Clinton's "do not ask don't volunteer" policy goes into effect, I will be the first local symbolic violator and step up to the mike. I write in response to last week's letter entitled "Lawyer above the law." I step up to affirm that I am the shadowy mystery figure, not so subtly described in the letter of L. McDill. I also step forward to claim mea culpa my responsibility but with reservations. I did in fact park between two handicapped parking spots at Albertsons last week. By parking between the two marked spots, I therefore parked in an unmarked parking space. Having never seen any three of those parking spaces in use, I did not know, as Ms. McDill so indignantly did, that the middle space, although only striped and not marked, was also restricted. Had Ms. McDill taken the brief time to point this out in any manner, I would certainly have learned something that day. I leave it to each reader to ascertain how you might wish to be treated in these circumstances spoken with or written about. Of course, had Ms. McDill taken that time, we would have been able to discuss the fact that I am currently recovering from two recent hospitalizations, one involving knee surgery and a follow up hospital stay of over a week to treat the resulting blood clots. Since then, I have been totally restricted; no skiing, no water skiing, no biking, no hiking, and as anyone on my staff could have told her, for the last three months I have been alternating in the use of crutches, canes, and sometimes a simple limping gait. Despite Ms. McDiil's ardor to find fault with others, she may well have considered these factors had she the simple courtesy of discussing her observation first. But she didn't, so now the matter becomes an item in our little town. I feel sorry for Ms. McDill as she goes for arbitrarily telling people not only how to behave, no matter how mistaken she may be, but also telling them how to look. Apparently I do not measure up to Ms. McDiil's unannounced scale of appearance for the general public. Beware readers if she doesn't like my weight of today, she may not like your appearance tomorrow. Soon, all of Park City might be passing judgement on you too, regardless of how much discomfort or pain you may also experience from the harsh words of a Ms. McDill. Thank you to all of my friends and associates who have humorously contacted me to express support and to gratuitously advise Ms. McDill to get a life. Sincerely, J. Bruce Savage A different view Editor: August 14, 6:50 a.m I am again awakened by the flame-throwing sound of a hot air balloon. If I am fortunate enough to have the balloon come directly over the house, I (and anyone else in the house) will be able to FEEL the burner noise shake the windows. This balloon must not be right outside the window because I can't hear the passengers talking in between the propane bursts. Well, I'm sure I'll get to hear them sometime, if not today, then tomorrow, if not tomorrow, then next weekend about this time. Last week there was an article, in the Salt Lake Tribune "Hot air balloon safe way to fly, Utah Dilots say." In this article John Ware (immediate past president of Utah Aeronauts, the local affiliate of the Balloon Federation of America) says, "...start with the premise a balloon is an aircraft, balloons are registered on the same basis as a 747...A11 of the safety obligations of a pilot in the traditional sense are the same obligations of a balloon pilot, they go through a similar (training) process that any regulated pilot goes through..." OK, so let's start with the first premise. Balloons are registered on the same basis as a 747. Would a 747 be allowed (if it could) to take off or land on a parking lot, street, football field, yard, or school unless it were an emergency? Would FAA regulations let a 747 fly 20 feet above residential areas at 6:50 a.m. or any other time? Let's move to the second part. The balloon pilots "...must go through a similar (training) process that any regulated pilot goes through." Does any of this training include common courtesy to the people who live directly below the flight path? Regulated seems to be the key word. There is no regulation of when or where these balloons can or will fly. Why not? Because you and I on the ground, whose homes these balloons fly over have no say in what they do. If I lived on a golf course it would be foolish to complain of golf balls, or golfers. If I lived next to a ski run it would be foolhardy to complain about-snowmaking about-snowmaking or snowcats or skiers' noise. If I lived next to an airport the same could be said, however, I don't live next to an airport because of the noise. Here the airport has come to me. If balloons are considered aircraft, let them be-' where other aircraft are, and let them do what other aircraft can and cannot do! There are traffic noise ordinances in town: why not regulate balloon noise? How long would it take to get some regulations if the Stein Eriksen Lodge's sponsored balloon was to float over said lodge early in the morning every weekend? It seems to me that the people who fly in these aircraft don't live in the balloon's flight path, otherwise they would have a different view! Sincerely, Nancy Papineau Don Cook Tour of homes fund-raiser Editor: The Park City Chapter of the Women's Council of Realtors would like to thank the residents, visitors, sponsors, and the many volunteers who generously supported the Luxury Home Tour last weekend. We especially extend our gratitude to the owners who so graciously opened their homes for this worthy cause. We sincerely regret &n inconvenience caused by the unanticipated transportation difficulties and hope that the beauty of the homes will remain in your memory. Net proceeds from this event will benefit the Women ia. Jeopardy program and the new Park City shelter. Sincerely, , The Women's Council of Realtors y |
