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Show A-2 77)e Park Record Wednesday, July 12, 2000 County loosens water rule Summit Water receives an exemption on concurrency rule for new treatment plant by Tim Westby OF THE RECORD STAFF It is becoming a common place quesiion. Ever since the Summit County Commission enacted an emergency water concurrency ordinance in May. more than a few developers or their attorneys have pleaded with the county's leaders for exemptions to the new rule. Most are flatly turned down. On Monday, however, a water company asked for an exemption so it can build a water treatment plant the company says will allow new weils to come on line. A divided and reluctant Commission said OK. Summit Water Distribution Co. went before the Commission Monday to ask for the exemption so it can build a treatment plant near Jeremy Ranch approv ed last spring. The treatment plant must comply with the ordinance because the facility is required to have a restroom. Otherwise, it will not use any water. However, the plant will allow Summit Water to brine new wells into production. John Anderson. Summit Water's attornev. told the Commission. The county's water consultant is currently reviewing Summit Water's concurrency tests and has yet to sign off and it could be another week before he does. If the consultant approves the test results. Summit Water's request becomes moot. Building in Chief building official predicting Park City will not break the record it set last year by Jay Hamburger OF THE RECORD STAFF Six months into 2000, Park City's builders have the city on a record pace. According to the Park City Building Department, the value of construction in Park City through June was $36.6 million. The figure is far ahead of the $25.9 million that wan reported-m. June 1W for thefirst 'Six months of last vear. In 1W. Park City finished the year with $HS.S96.05b in building valuation, which was an all-time record. "We're still ahead of last year." Chief Building Official Ron Ivie said. "We have a few phased projects proj-ects that are still beina constructed." construct-ed." Ivie adds that construction has not seen any valleys. "If you look at trends, construction con-struction trends up and down . . . We haven't seen that cycle. We've been strong." he said. He cites the Chateaux in Deer Water situation in city Continued from A-1 Lind is urging Parkites to adhere to w atering rules. "We need (residents), down here in the lower areas, to cut back on their outdoor irrigation use and stay with the odd-even watering times," Lind said. He also wants residents to cut back on watering by 10 percent per station. Under that rule, residences with odd-numbered addresses are limited to odd-numbered days and residences with even-numbered addresses are limited to watering on even-numbered days. Outside watering is prohibited between 10 UrCofer Chiropractic An Important Piece of the Puzzle 4. Zx- Specializing Neck, and Injuries of 1777 Sun Peak 649 i Massage f Therapy The concurrency ordinance requires all water companies in the Snyderville Basin to do extensive testing to prove they have adequate water supplies before adding any development hookups to their systems. Anderson said there was little doubt that Summit Water has the wet water the new ordinance requires. However, it will take at least 15 months before the treatment treat-ment plant is operational and Summit Water needs to get started start-ed on the project as soon as possible. pos-sible. "We want to make sure we have the backup sources." said Anderson. Summit Water, he said, is committed to deliver water to the Olympic venues. The Canyons Resort and the commercial centers at Kimball Junction. In addition. Summit Water has stepped in to provide back up for smaller water systems sys-tems when they fail, he added. But the Commission, which votes unanimously on most matters, mat-ters, was divided on this one. Commissioner Eric Schifferii said he was comfortable granting the exemption. If the water woes of the Snyderville Basin turn out to be worse than anyone expected, expect-ed, he said, "i want as many solutions solu-tions as possible going." Commission Chair Pat Cone was against granting the exemption. exemp-tion. He questioned why Summit Water needed the exemption if it was so close to approval. "The ideal wav to eet around the ordi city is outpacing 1999 Valley and a project in lower Deer Valley as the two that are pushing up the 2000 figures. Still. Ivie said he does not expect Park City to break the 1W record this year. He said several sev-eral projects in late 1999 broke the record. "I don't think we're going to see the revenue at the end of the year like last year," Ivie said. Beskies-the Two larger projects. Ivie does not see other' bigger developments. He said smaller buildings would have to pace the city's numbers through the rest of the year. Those, he said, do not have the same value, which means the record pace probably won't continue. "The main thing that figures is single-family dwellings. I think that wiil have to sustain it. We don't have any more large projects proj-ects coming in this year," Ivie said. Park City's transit center, now under construction in lower Swede Alley, is reflected in the figures. Ivie said. a.m. and 7 p.m. Park City has approached its daily water capacity of 9.3 million gallons in the past week. On Wednesday. July 5, the city used ov er 8.4 million gallons, on Thursday, July 6, over 8.3 million gallons were used and on Sunday, July 9 just over 8.1 million gallons were used. Lind says citizens were using less water for a little while but w ater use is rising. Meanwhile Lind said the 9.3 million-gallon w ater capacity is decreasing decreas-ing because sources are yielding less. "We're expecting the Judge source to start tapering off. We expect Thiriot Springs to start dropping drop-ping off," he said. err in all Back, Non-Surgica the Extremities nerapy Zi'fP Ml Donald A. Cofer, D.C. r Chiropractic Orthopedist CANYONS CLINIC Drive Ste. 140 - 1542 nance is to go through the ordinance," ordi-nance," he said. Cone also worried wor-ried about the precedent an exemption could set. That left Commissioner Sheldon Richins who was clearly on the fence. "I've never had one that had me on both sides of the fence like this one," said Richins. Anderson said that while his client supported the ordinance, he believed Summit Water was simply doing what the ordinance encourages "The ordinance encourages water systems to stay ahead of the game. That's what we're trying to do," Anderson argued. The Commission had Deputy County Attorney Dave Thomas draft an exemption that was narrow nar-row and specific enough not to allow other exemptions. "The intent of the ordinance was not to make any water situation situa-tion worse." said Schifferii. "Since this will take 15 months, I'd just as soon allow them to start as soon as possible." If the exemption sets a precedent, he said, it would be the kind of precedent the county wants. That argument and Summit Water's assertion that it would use excess water to recharge Basin aquifers eventually persuaded per-suaded Richins. In the end. Schifferii put forth a resolution that followed Thomas' exemption. exemp-tion. But as a concession to his colleagues' discomfort, he stipulated stipu-lated that it not go in effect for 10 days to give the county's consultant consult-ant time to finish Summit Water's review. Schifferii and Richins voted for the resolution; Cone aeainst it. "It's a big project." he said about the transit center. Ivie said his department is being hurt by budget cuts that were demanded of all city departments depart-ments last spring. Over two years. Ivie said the Building Department has cut its budget by 12 percent. "It hurts. Our budget was cut and our workload hasn't lessened. Our inspections are up. our activity activ-ity is up but our budget's down . . . ," Ivie said. "We're struggling. It always is a struggle when we get activ ity at our lev el." - Inspections in June. ere up, with the exception of plastering. The department reports 860 building inspections last month, compared to 800 in May and 813 in June 1999. Total inspections -building, electrical, plumbing, heating and plastering - totaled 1.894 in June 2000. compared to 1.594 in June 1999. Building permits issued in June, though, dropped from May and from June 1999. The department depart-ment issued 66 permits worth just over $7.5 million last month. In May. 94 permits valued approximately approxi-mately $10 million were issued. In June 1999. 105 permits worth $5.3 million were issued. worsening A Monday update to the Park City Council from Lind indicates the Spiro water source and the middle school well are holding steady. The city has put out a fact sheet about water use that includes figures about wasting water. A running toilet can waste as much as 4,000 gallons of water per day. A slow-dripping faucet, the city says, can use up to 5,000 gallons of w ater per month. A steady stream of water dripping from a faucet can drain up to 21.000 gallons per monih. For more information about water, call the Public Works Department at 615-5306 or 615-5305. There are many factors to consider when preparing your home for sale. Renovations may be necessary, but before you attempt any major projects, let's talk about what kind of changes may be appropriate. It is not a good idea to remodel your kitchen or bathroom just before selling your home. These renovations are usually expensive and time consuming. The most relevant interior renovations include replacing worn-out carpet repainting with neutral tones, and repairing anything in vour home that is not in good working condition. Exterior renovations could include replacing the roof, fixing gutters, painting, or repairing broken steps, windows and doors. When you are getting ready to sell your home, look for renovations that will cost a small amount in relationship to the increase they will have on the value and salability of your home. I can help you decide if you should go aliead with the changes you are considering. For rock solid advke on buying or selling real estate, call Craig Reece at 801-647-8017 or toll free at 1-800-5534666. Craig has been a full time Park Gty resident since 1973 and a full time real estate agent since 1978. www.craigrcce.com (435) 647-8017 (435) 649-7171 (800) 553-4666 ( Prudential CZ. IIM'lltMl It Saddllew Otlict Park 2200 rark Ano. tldg rark City , UT MOM IMOI J5)-4M ()) m-7171 Tta Pnrfiflftaji and p v ipFtd aamot ot Tha. PiuOantal tnouftnot Company oJ iauhotia nmnnaamiy una ttn iw Dolly's Bookstore owner Kathy Pederson and son Beau celebrated the release of the newest Harry Potter book last Saturday in style. Young readers lined up outside out-side the store on Main Street at 8 a.m. last Saturday to nab reserved copies of the book. Inside they were treated to Sirius Black coffee, Dumbledore donut holes, iced pumpkin juice, and assorted Harry Potter souvenirs. Several readers were scattered around the store, already engrossed in the young wizards' latest adventures. Pederson also said Dollys is donating two full sets of the popular pop-ular Harry Potter series to The Park Record's book drive for the Summit County Library. The Spring Creek Library at Kimball Junction is scheduled to open this fall and the Record is helping to stock the shelves by collecting new and (gently used) books. Anyone interested in donating donat-ing to the book drive may bring books or bookstore gift certificates certifi-cates to the Park Record offices, 1670 Bonanza Drive. Council talking trash to Continued from A-1 BFI." From pullout fees the discussion discus-sion went to complaints over BFT's customer service. Complaints in Old Town dominated domi-nated that part of the discussion. City Council member Fred Jones told the Commission that Old Town was "particularly frustrating" frus-trating" because solutions have been worked out but not implemented. imple-mented. "It's particularly frustrating for the council because we have no say whatsoever," said Jones. One Old Town resident took BFI to task over bringing in large containers that blow over in the wind. "Old Town is a mess because of BFI," she said. The county is starting a test program in Old Town that allows residents to use a rubber latch to keep the lids of their bins closed if they blow over in the w ind. said Summit County's Public Works Director LaMar Richins. John Plunkett of the Upper Park Avenue Property-Association Property-Association said it was a mistake to ever allow the 95-gallon blue trash bins into Old Town. He said Sydney Games attract Park City Continued from A-1 feel for the sponsor village and how the sponsors are present elsewhere in town." Jones said. Jones, w ho has never been to an Olympics, also says he's interested in observ ing how Sydney handles commercialism com-mercialism and if the city is successful success-ful in avoiding becoming too tacky. "I want to see how they handle it." Jones said. Olch. who has studied four Olympics for Park City, said the athletic ath-letic events will not be as important to him during the trip as in other visits vis-its to Olympics. "We want to look at a lot of the stuff behind the scenes rather than going to events. I need to focus more on what's more specific to what we're doing," Olch said. Jones, who chairs the local Olympic celebrations committee, also anticipates studying the celebrations celebra-tions in Sydney. He wants to see if IT Craig Reece, CRS APPROPRIATE RENOVATIONS WHEN SELLING YOUR HOME Kathy Pederson and son Beau all those bins should be replaced with smaller brown containers. Commissioner Eric Schifferii said he repeatedly voiced his opinion that automated service would not work in Old Tow n during dur-ing contract negotiations, but BFI insisted it would. "I'm really annoyed to be sitting sit-ting here in July dealing with this," he said. "People need to feel like their concerns are getting addressed." he added. BFI officials defended themselves them-selves and said changes were being made to improve customer service. "Obviously we want your community com-munity to look as good as possible. possi-ble. We're more than willing to work with you to find solutions to these problems," said Chad Hardy. BFI's new general manager manag-er for Utah and Wyoming. BFI also recently brought in a new manager from Ogden to oversee operations in Summit County. Bill' Green told the Commission and the audience that BFI was in the process of opening an office at Quinn's Junction. That office, he said. spontaneous celebrations occur or if the parties need formal planning. "I want to see how people interact. inter-act. Does it take (formulated) entertainment enter-tainment or is it the people." Jones said. Jones said research into general Olympic topics are also important parts of the trip, such as Sydney's transportation system and how residents resi-dents handle the Games. "I would like to go into the neighborhoods neigh-borhoods and see how it works w ith access," Jones said. Erickson, who also has never been to an Olympics, said she's most interested in the business climate in the Sydney Olympic region and the logis'ics of ensuring visitors can explore the area. She said using the transportation system will give her an idea of how Park City can try to keep visitors in town after events. "I want to get on the train from the outlying area, get off the train, see how they herd you to the event," -a-WpaB. , v mm mm o 7' . NAN CMALAT-NOAKER PARK RECORD get into the magical spirit. county, BFI will allow BFI to run its Summit County operations locally rather from Salt Lake City. "This isn't rocket science. This is picking up garbage." he said. "We didn't get to be the second largest waste company without being able to walk and chew gum at the same time." He assured the audience that BFI was aware of the problems and moving to fix them. BFI's spokesperson said that his company had addressed many of the problems in Old Town, but few residents had taken the company com-pany up on its offer to replace the large blue bins with smaller brown bins or manual service. "I'm at a lost that we have had this going since February and so few people have taken us up on it." said Brad Mertz. At the end of the nearly two-hour two-hour meeting, the Commission said it would come up with a firm definition for "normal and routine" rou-tine" service. The Commission also said it wanted to give Hardy and Green a chance to improve BFI's service. "I want to get this thing resolved before it snows again." said Cone. she said, adding. "I want to see if something is 20 minutes or 30 minutes min-utes away, are people taking the . tram. I want to go to something a little lit-tle further away, like we are." Erickson said she wants to study how v endors and retailers inside the venues and outside relate. That, she said, might teach her how Park City businesses can better plan. "How does this affect Jans, the T-shirt T-shirt shops. Cole, all the retnilers outside the fence," she said. 'I think our retailers need to be prepared and know what they're up against, how much is going on inside. Is what's going on inside going to preclude pre-clude any sales outside?" Bell says a Summer Oly mpics is a worthwhile trip for Winter Olympic cities. "There isnl a lot of difference between a row ing venue and a skiing venue. There isnt a lot of difference between the beach volleyball venue and the freestyle venue." he said. ,i Poor Coj |