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Show Page 1? A2 (Timfs-3nbrprnbf- Thursday, August 24, 2000 nt Johnsons Up On Top may become 'Cloudrock' Continued from Page A 1 locals on Johnsons Up On Top ixill soon be mov mg out to make room for tourists and homebuyers Late last week. The Timet I rule , (m nJent learned about a development planned for the small plateau sandwiched n the South Fork of Miil Creek and Spanish Valley Going by the wealth large-scale- high-en- d be-tw- name Cloudrotk Desert Lodge, the hush hu-- h plana for the resort several "batkcountry" lodges and approximately 70 plush ranch-tpe" residences spread across the top of the mesa The property is part of the vast state Trust Lands system set up by the federal government to fund Utah si hool systems The Trust Lands are administered by the School and Institutional Trust lainds Administration Under a new program initiated in 1994, S1TLA began targeting numerous tracts around the state to lie sold at auction to build up its investment fund In some cases, rather than selling the land outright or simply issuing a long term lease, SITLA instead has chosen to become active partners in certain developments SITLA Assistant Director of Real Kstate Development Kic McBrier said in the case of Cloudrock, he will lie projiosing something in the nav ture of a participating venture," (though it will not be a partnership in the legal sensei The other partner in the deal is a newly forming private firm, Moah Mesa Land Company Both principles in Moab Mesa have connections to Butterfield and Hohinson, a tour company based in Toronto, Canada Butterfield and Robinson Butterfield and Robinson cur- tours rently operates 94 high-end- " on five continents. Think hiking and McBrier biking and think high-end,- " said If you want to do something like walking through Province, France tasting wines, these are the guys to talk to." Prices for B&R tours range from $6,750 for nine days in Japan, to $5,375 for nine days in the Bordeaux and Burgundy regions of France, to $2,495 for six days rafting and kayaking in the U.S. Ninety la rcent of their clients are American. Until last September when he resigned his post to tackle the Cloudrock project full time, Michael Liss was the managing director of B&K. For the past six years Liss has been searching the entire American Southwest, gradually focusing on the Four Corners region, for an ideal spot to set up a base of operations for B&R-typhiking and biking tours. Two years ago he settled on e Johnsons Lp On Top He and B&R founder George Butterfield plan to set up a new firm called Moab Mesa Land Company On Monday Liss acknowledged he has been working on the Cloudrock development plan for several years Two years ago he approached SITLA with the idea McBrier and Liss are scheduled to make a formal presentation to the full SITLA board on Sept 12 in Salt Lake City If they meet with approval there, they plan to begin working with the Grand County Planning Commission sometime soon thereafter On Monday, the developers were holding informal discussions with individual Grand County council members and county council candidates in preparation for their Sept 12 presentation Public input When asked if the Moab Mesa Land CoTSITLA participating venture would allow public input on their development plans, McBrier and Liss affirmed that they intend to follow standard Grand County procedures It will be going through the planning commission," McBrier said He pointed to examples of similar deals around the state in which SITLA remained an active partner in a development, such as the Coral Canyon project near St George. In all cases, he added, the state agency has abided by county zoning laws Johnsons Up On Top is currently zoned RanchingGrazing The first phase of Cloudrock will involve a $10 million investment by Moab Mesa Land Co. and will entail road improvements, utilities and the construction of the first lodge Approximately 70 homesites will eventually be sold, with each situated so that none can see any of the other homes or lodges. Only a few" will be sold during phase one. McBrier said the homesites would be more like ranches., none of the roads will be paved There will be a homeowners' association with rules intended to 43-be- d protect the backcountry" atmo- sphere. Prices will be expensive," the developers said, the most expensive in Grand County" The Cloudrock proposal envis sions using water and sewer to the currently planned Grand Wa tie-in- Man sentenced in bomb threat incident Moab resident Chris Harris was sentenced Wednesday, Aug. 16 on charges stemming from a bomb threat incident that occurred at tlje Grand County Courthouse in March. Harris had pleaded guilty to a third-degrefelony charge of Threat Against LifeProporty and a class B misdemeanor of Interfering with a Public Servant. Seventh District Court Judge Lyle R. Anderson sentenced Harris to 0 to 5 years in the Utah State Prison with probation. The terms of probation are that Harris enter a residential mental health treatment center in the Wasatch Front area. Until such time as the center has space for him, Harris can be released if he takes medication as long as Four Corners Mental Health certifies that they will monitor him. e ter arid Sewer Agency system An expansion of Grand s water system currently under construction includes a new water well and storage tank at the 5,000 foot elevation on the flank of Johnsons Up On Top. Cloudrock will pump the water uphill some 200 feet or more to reach the top of the mesa Conservation cones Also envisioned are several collateral deals that would ensure the surrounding hiking and biking areas are placed under permanent protected status Liss and McBrier said they want to ensure that all development occurs away from the Spanish Valley side of the plateau so that the view shed from down in the valley remains unchanged Also, a Rim Conservation Zone would be created. In addition McBrier will be proposing d land in the Mill that the Creek riparian area and on its northeast flank be traded to the BLM for incorporation into wilderness study areas Were totally committed to working with the BLM," McBrier said. state-owne- Environmentalists and hikers g will likely welcome such proposals, but other aspects of the development may raise cries of protest from them and other users of the mesa Access to the mesa top itself will be restricted, with only green-soundin- clients and guests allowed onto Johnsons Up On Top and a gate blocking access below. SITLA to make millions McBrier says SITLA, and therefore all Utah schools will make millions and millions out of the deal, though both developers refused to discuss specifics. Indeed, SITLA has raised a bundle of cash in the past ten years by selling off trust lands and other real estate developments: Lisa Schneider, SITLA financial director, ,ays the permanent fund balance has risen $196 6 million since the program began, from $76 8 million in 1994 to $273.4 million in 1999. Projections for this year have the fund reaching $314 million. But if you ask the local school district how much they have received from the trust fund to date, the answer youre more likely to get is zero. We havent gotten anything yet," said Doug Cannon, Grand County School District financial officer. Schneider says that's because in previous years, SITLAs contributions have gone into the Uniform School Fund directly local districts had no way to tell how much of what they got from the state came from SITLA. Beginning this year, SITLAs contribution is being handled separately. McBrier explains that, until now , most of the cash raised by the new SITLA real estate program has gone into building up the fund. But this year the cash flow began: the legislature allocated $4,775,000 to be spread between all 40 Utah school districts. Cannon says that money has not yet been divided between the different districts but he expects it will amount to $16,000 to $20,000 for the entire district. City votes to trade Spanish VaUey land for old middle school by Ken Davey staff writer Though they aren't sure w hat they w ill do ith the land, Moab City Council memtiers voted Tuesday evening to trade almost 18 acres of city owned property near Old City Park m Spanformer Middle ish Valley for the Si hixil site on Center Street. Voting in favor of the land swap were Joseph Lekarczyk, Rob Sweeten, Kirstin Peterson, and Gregg Stucki Voting against was Kvle Bailey The Middle School land, owned by the school district, ha been a topic of governmental discussion over the past year The school district tried for months to sell the land, receiving interest but no offers. Then last summer a group of local investors offered $742,000 for the site, and announced they hoped to renovate the building into a combination of shops and offices. At that point the library board, laced with their own facility they judged to be too small for current library demand, suggested a partnership between the city, county and library. Under the proposal the three entities would purchase the site, renovate the building, and house city hall, county offices, and a new library. Rather than purchase the property outright, the city proposed tradd land in the ing for the school board and the agreed. valley, The idea was that the library and county would then pay the city for their share of the purchase, based on pricing the two properties at $700,000, as well as splitting the renovation expenses. But earlier this year the library withdrew from the proposed partcity-owne- nership, saying its architectural consultant advised against going into the renovated building, and that the library would be better off constructing a new library instead. That left the city with a decision, go ahead with the land trade or puli back. The vote was to go ahead. Bailey did not agree. Im uncomfortable voting for this at this time because of a kit of unanswered questions," said Bailey. Id like to know how much it will cost for demolition of the site, salvage cost, how much the renovation might take when we plan what to do with this." "The building could very well turn out to be a lemon," said Stucki, but 1 dont think in any way that makes the property a lemon. 1 think we got a really good piece of property." Then, jokingly, he added, unless we find something toxic on it." If we pick up the property and we did come up with some finding that said it wasn't fiscally responsible to renovate or even demolish or whatever for our needs, we just put it up on the open market and sell it," stated Sweeten. County rejects election changes Continued from Page A 1 limits, and that he originally supported the other issues as a way of giving voters an opportunity to vote them up or down. When citizens of this county ask me to bring something up, I am going to do it whether I agree or not, he added. I ultimately voted against the changes because there did not seem to be a great overwhelming desire to change them, Billantyne stated For Ieavitt, the key point seemed to be that the amendments might lead to problems that had not been adequately addressed. I did not have a problem with any of the changes that were put before us," said Leavitt, noting that many local residents including a number of other county officials had asked the council to consider the changes. I did, however, have a problem with the fact that there is no plan in place that would accommodate the changes. I would like to see the people in favor of the changes present us with that kind of a plan. Mayberry said, I don't think the changes are well thought out enough to put them before the voters at this point. If there really is a good reason for some of these changes, I think we probably have enough people in this community who are concerned about this now, and perhaps they will go out and take some action." She was referring to county law allowing residents to gather petitions to place changes to the government plan on the ballot. McLeod spoke forcefully in favor of leaving things as they are, pointing to the effort made eight years ago to change from a commission form of county rule to a council. The reason that government was changed was because it wasnt representing all the people in the county, McLeod opined. Special interest groups got most of the county work, and the direction of the former county commission was not acceptable to a lot of the people in the county." Saying residents in 1992 had it up to their eyebrows," McLeod continued, What they did was they took matters into their own hands, with petitions, and they changed the government into an optional form of government that I consider is working really, really well... Each of these suggested changes is a mine in a minefield." Speaking just as forcefully, Merrell defended council efforts to enact, with voter approval, the proposed alterations. "Im glad we came up seven and a half years ago," he said sarcastically, with a perfect form of government that cannot be changed anymore... It seems to me even the Constitution of the United States had to have a few amendments to get it sort of on track. But here were saying, it was put in there, dont touch it, dont let the voters even have a chance. Salvageing film commission is county goal Continued from Page A1 film commission to go the way of the dinosaur." Tuesday five council members attended the emergency meeting: Ballantyne, Bart Leavitt, Susanne Mayberry, Harvey Merrell and Kim Schappert. Others present included Grand County Clerk Fran Townsend, Holyoak, von der Esch, and Huts. Some of the council members asked the supporters hard questions about the funding, structure and operations of the film commission to date; some remained quiet on the question of moving forward with steps to save it. It was unclear at the end of the meeting which further measures might be taken on behalf of the film commission. Possibilities discussed included paying upcoming rent payments on the film commissions office space, moving boxes of brochures and filing cabinets into the county building, and working to develop more permanent solutions to funding and structuring film commission work. Ballantyne suggested converting the film commission board from a policy-makin- g group into a purely advisory one. the discussion, During Schappert stressed that the council, in creating and hiring for the economic development position, had decided specifically to make no allocation for film commission-typ- e work. She reminded Huts that during her interview for the position Huts had promised not to engage in film commission-typ- e work, but in stead had promised to devote her time to the broader goals set by the Economic Development Board. Schappert asked Huts if she thought she could d confine the work to only five hours per week and Huts said she would try, but admitted that the ind work varies tensity of from week to week, and some weeks it might demand more than five hours. At one point late in the discussion, Mayberry raised the point that the problems besetting the film commission primarily boil down to some people in the community feeling that the work of the film commission benefits only a small handful of film workers, at least directly. Most of those present agreed that this perception exists, but also said it is just a perception, not the reality. film-relate- film-relate- City joins $100K bypass study Continued from Page A 1 new road or bridge or whatever they have to do is going to benefit the community. And I think this could move them along in their process." Im against this completely. I recognize the fact that we have a problem with trucks going down Main Street, but I dont see any reason why the city or the county should spend $10,000 each to study what we pretty much already know," said Lekarczyk, who noted the council is considering reducing or eliminating contributions in the future to community organizations. If you were going to ask any of the groups were going to cut off at the knees next year how they would feel about getting some of that $10,000, they would all say, we can G N non-prof- RANCH HOUSE RESTAURANT Open Nightly serving regional ranch cuisine featuring Buffalo Ribeye Steak Lamb Chops Country Style BBQ Pork Ribs CLUB UTAH RESERVATIONS RECOMMENDED 259-575- tyo I t, 3 wvAv.ciubutah.com . Cannon to speak at Chamber lunch Aug. 29 is scheduled to be the featured guest Rep. Chris Cannon, and speaker at the Moab Area Chamber of Commerces weekly chamber luncheon meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 29. The luncheon will start at noon and will be held at the Gravel Pit Lanes bowling alley, 1078 Millcreek Drive. Chamber members and their friends and associates are invited to attend. Space station will pass above Utah Sept. 25, planetarium says Fried Ranch Steak Medallions of Elk Colorado it really use this." Sweeten also raised some questions about the west-sid- e alternative. Its got three pipelines in it. Its got massive utility corridors in it, phone cable corridors in it. I know right now the agencies that administer that land arent going to let anything also go through it, because its full." But Sweeten said he supports funding the study because it will provide some engineering numbers from the state on whether this is feasible and what its going to cost." "Ten thousand dollars is a lot of money, but this is such a significant thing," concluded Stucki. "The door is closing fast (on Moabg alternatives and 20 years from now that door will be totally closed, and we wont have any options... Im surprised we havent had more trouble with trucks on Main Street, and we will have a significant impact if we have some tourists mowed down on Main Street." The newly enlarged and even brighter than before International Space Station is due to make a very observable pass above Utah this coming Friday night, the 25th. From Utah look for it to rise, looking like a slow moving point of light, in the northwest about 9:47 p.m. Growing brighter the higher in the sky it gets it should pass almost directly overhead just before 9:52. Less than a minute later the station will pass into the shadow of the Earth and fade from view high in the southeast. Currently judged to be the third brightest object in the nighttime sky (behind the Moon and Venus), ISS can be easily seen with the naked eye even from light polluted urban areas. ISS is currently vacant with its first full time crew set to arrive in a few weeks. Hansen Planetariums Starline information service has more information at (SMUImm tt ; ' s irmaviTi ri.iljjn s - |