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Show Wed/Thurs/Fri, January 23-25, 2019 A-3 The Park Record County Seat YourParkCityAgent.com COUNTY EDITOR: ANGELIQUE McNAUGHTON 649–9014 EXT. 15712 | Countynews@parkrecord.com WHAT MY CLIENTS ARE SAYING CONNECT seeks a leader Organization continues to grow, add staffers “Sheila has gone above and beyond to help us with the sale of our Park City home. She is an extremely diligent, hardworking, honest, patient, and courteous agent who has given us the recommendations and advice on how to market our property to achieve the greatest number of showings and highest offer prices. Sheila follows through thoroughly with all the details and keeps the process moving along. I would HIGHLY recommend Sheila to any seller or buyer in the Park City, UT area. Thank you Sheila, for making the selling process easy for us!” - Trulia ANGELIQUE MCNAUGHTON The Park Record When Shauna Wiest became involved with CONNECT Summit County in 2016, the organization was in its infancy and had just received its nonprofit status. But, Wiest quickly gravitated to the work the organization was doing to raise awareness about mental health and substance abuse in the community, as well as the resources that were available to those suffering and their family members. She was named part-time executive director in early 2017 and hit the ground running. “Early on we started normalizing the conversation and what that did was it really made people sit down and start listening about the importance of mental health,” she said. “It inspired people to start seeking help and we continued with programming for adults and children. We felt like we needed a central hub so people knew where to go for services.” Wiest recently stepped down as the executive director to take on a new position with the Christian Center of Park City, but not without recognizing the organization’s growth over the last few years. CONNECT is currently searching for a new, full-time executive director. Sheri Fisher, the educational programing director, is currently acting as interim director. Wiest said one of the biggest accomplishments came when the Summit County Council listed mental health and substance abuse as a strategic goal, alongside affordable housing and transportation. CONNECT was later instrumental in the creation of the Mental Wellness Alliance and plan to address the needs of the community. “I believe CONNECT played a very powerful role in that,” she said. Wiest said she, along with Ed and Lynne Rutan, founding SH E I L A HA L L ASSOCIATE BROKER 435.640.7162 | sheila @ sheilahall.com 2200 Park Avenue | Park City, Utah 84060 PARK RECORD FILE PHOTO President and CONNECT Summit County co-founder Ed Rutan, far left, participates in a panel discussion about the community’s efforts to address mental health and substance abuse. CONNECT has grown exponentially over the last three years, continuing to add services and staffers. members of CONNECT, worked “so hard” to get the organization off of the ground. “Now we are seeing the fruits of those labors,” she said. “People are trusting CONNECT and the future is positive. It is a welloiled machine at this point. There is not only community buy-in, but financial buy-in. We are receiving the support of major donors who realize the importance of mental health in the community. “It was amazing and it was a great ride to be able to work with Ed (Rutan),” she added. “It is incredible that we were able to take a $5,000 a year organization to an almost $400,000 a year organization in less than three years.” Fisher said CONNECT’s growth is not just about new funding sources, but an increase in momentum to expand programs and services. She emphasized the important roles volunteers have played in the organization’s success over the years, especially during the annual Mental Health Awareness Month. The organization has received sizable donations within the last several months to help with the hiring of additional staff, including Fisher. Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz and his wife Elana Amsterdam, for instance, gifted CONNECT $120,000 in December as part of a matching grant for a variety of programs and the hir- ing of additional staff. The organization is not only looking for an executive director, but also a part-time education coordinator and communications and outreach coordinator. Rutan attributed the organization’s growth over the last few years to a number of factors, including timing. “Mental health was an issue that was just below the surface,” he said. “People wanted to talk about it, but they didn’t feel comfortable. But now, there has been a whole community dialogue and that has been a major accomplishment to get mental health out into the public.” Rutan said he is optimistic about the coming year. One of the things he would like to see CONNECT take on is identifying the gaps in the mental health system within Summit County to facilitate a solution. “That is one thing I would like to see CONNECT do, in addition to educational programming and reducing the stigma surrounding mental health,” he said. Another priority is continuing the educational programs that CONNECT has provided over the last several years, particularly during May’s Mental Health Awareness Month, as well as working with law enforcement. “We are ready to move to the next level and what we are doing now is making that leap,” he said. Weather closes parts of I-80 Access restricted Monday morning into Summit County ANGELIQUE MCNAUGHTON The Park Record The Utah Department of Transportation made the difficult decision to close the eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 at Parley’s Summit Monday morning for a couple hours when snowplows were unable to keep up with the significant accumulations of snowfall. John Gleason, UDOT’s public information officer, said the snowplows are able to handle about an inch of snowfall per hour. However, several inches were coming down in the early morning hours of Monday, preventing the plows from doing their jobs. “Not only could we not get through there, the snow continued to pile up to where it became a hazardous situation and we didn’t want to send any more vehicles into it,” he said. “That was by far the biggest snow that we’ve seen this season.” More than 15 inches of snow blanketed the Wasatch Back on Monday. UDOT, along with the help of the Utah Highway Patrol, closed the eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 at Parley’s Canyon at around 7:50 a.m. The westbound lanes were restricted to four-wheel drive vehicles and vehicles with chains during that time. Gleason said there is about a 3,000-foot climb in the canyon. “What happened was there were a lot of slide-offs and people who weren’t equipped to be driving in those conditions,” he said. “We made the decision to close it down and get the plows in there. We don’t like to do that very often because anytime you are closing a major interstate, that can have serious impacts to travel. But, yesterday the determination was made to close the canyon because we were receiving several inches of snow per hour.” Cpl. Chris Bishop, with the Utah Highway Patrol, said there was one crash involving a snowplow at around 7:30 a.m. near the summit of Parley’s. He said that caused some problems because it took the plow out of commission. Another accident involving a semi-truck near Morgan in the westbound lanes closed Interstate 84. “There was just a lot of snow,” he said. “With it being the holiday, there were a lot of people trying to get out and go do something and get up in the canyon.” The interstate near Parley’s Summit was eventually reopened at around 10 a.m., but remained restricted to vehicles with chains or four-wheel drive. Interstate 84 was reopened after 11 a.m. Troopers with the Utah Highway Patrol had responded to 189 crashes statewide as of 3 p.m. Monday. Lt. Andrew Wright, with the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, said deputies responded to three traffic accidents and nine slideoffs on Monday throughout the county. The numbers were a little lower than what Wright would anticipate during a heavy snow storm on a Monday. “Part of the reason for the low numbers could have been because it was a holiday and we have less commuters coming in and out for work,” he said. “The shutdown of the interstate may have also played a role into the less traffic.” Law enforcement encouraged commuters to keep an eye on the weather and road conditions during heavy snow storms, emphasizing the need to plan ahead especially during the Sundance Film Festival, which begins Thursday. “Plan extra time for your trip. There will be lots of visitors in town over the next couple of weeks, so know where you are going and what your conditions are,” Bishop said. “Keep your speed. Just because you can’t see ice doesn’t mean it is not there. Keep speeds reasonable and low and increase following distances.” Sheriff’S report According to the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, law enforcement responded to several calls between Monday, Jan. 14, and Sunday, Jan. 20, including several reported cases of domestic violence. Sunday, Jan. 20 Deputies responded to a potential domestic violence incident at a home in the Snyderville Basin. But, they were unable to find evidence that an assault had occurred. No arrests were made. Deputies responded to a medical clinic in Park City for an assault that occurred in Samak. The victim identified his friend as the assailant. But, the suspect gave a different account of what had transpired. The case was forwarded to the county attorney’s office to screen for charges. Saturday, Jan. 19 A manager of a business in the Tanger Outlets contacted dispatch after an incident at his store. The manager said two men came in and loaded a bag with several items, including a $150 pair of shoes. The manager asked the suspects if they were going to pay for the items and one of them stated he did not want to hurt anyone. Deputies were unable to locate the vehicle the suspects left in. An investigation was underway. Dispatch received several reports of a suspicious vehicle with driving around Kimball Junction. Callers believed the suspects may have been casing the area. © 2018 BHH Affiliates, LLC. An independently owned and operated subsidiary of HomeServices of America, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, and a franchisee of BHH Affiliates, LLC. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of HomeServices of America, Inc. Equal Housing Opportunity. VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY Summit County Arts & Parks Advisory Committee-Recreation The Summit County Council is seeking an individual to serve on the Summit County RAP Recreation Committee. The purpose of the committee is to review recreation grant requests and forward funding recommendations to the County Council. Interested applicants must submit your online application at: http://www.summitcounty.org/321/Volunteer-Boards. For further information, contact Anita Lewis at (435) 336-3220. Deadline for receiving applications is Wednesday, January 30, 2019 at 5:00 pm. Get your subscription to The Park Record! 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