OCR Text |
Show C-1 B-2 THE FRENCH QUARTER AWAITS NEWCOMERS MINERS ALL SMILES ON NATIONAL SIGNING DAY SCENE & HEARD, B-8 HOUSING TOUR PROVIDES ROYAL TREATMENT RESTAURANT GUIDE Check out our restaurant guide on page A-15 for places to dine. Learn more at bit.ly/eatpc TOM CLYDE WITNESSED A SUNDANCE MIRACLE COLUMNS, A-16 Park Record. The PA R K C I T Y, U TA H | W W W. PA R K R E C O R D . C O M Vol. 140 | No. 02 Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, February 8-11, 2020 Serving Summit County since 1880 Massive water plant finished after five years $1.00 POWER PLAY UTAH’S FIRST SUPER TUESDAY WILL GIVE VOTERS A BIGGER SAY IN DETERMINING PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEES JAMES HOYT THE PARK RECORD I TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD The new, $50-million Silver Creek wastewater reclamation facility came in nearly $2 million under budget, the district’s director said. It doubles the previous facility’s capacity while cleaning water to higher standards. $50 million facility doubles the capacity of the one it’s replacing and cleans to higher standards ALEXANDER CRAMER The Park Record Underneath one of the busiest intersections in the area, where S.R. 248 hits S.R. 224, another sort of flow hits a similar diversion point that is every bit as well-trafficked. That’s where the wastewater coming from Deer Valley and Park City is sent to one of the Snyderville Basin’s two water reclamation facilities — either one at East Canyon or a newly completed $50 million facility at Silver Creek. Despite the project’s magnitude — it cost nearly the same as the entire annual budget of Summit County — the new wastewater facility is just about as visible in the public’s mind as the 300 miles of pipeline the Snyderville Basin Water Reclamation District maintains below ground. Unless something goes wrong, that is. The new facility was built on the same site as the facility it’s replacing, something the district’s general manager Mike Luers likened to remodeling a home while the people are still inside. The new plant was turned on for the first time in April, major construction finished in November, final punch-list items were completed by the end of the year and when the December numbers came in last month, Luers said the project came in nearly $2 million under budget. But the biggest success of the new plant might be its ability to remove damaging material from the wastewater like phosphorus and nitrogen an entire order of magnitude more successfully than it could before. Those nutrients threaten the health of the area’s water system, most directly on the post-treated water’s path, which Please see Plant, A-8 owa, New Hampshire — Utah? The 2020 presidential primary election on March 3 marks the first time that Utah has counted itself among the 14 states taking part in Super Tuesday, the largest single day of action in the race and one of the most significant. Unlike 2016’s ill-fated shift to a caucus system to decide which presidential candidates earned Utah’s delegates, this contest is a traditional primary election with Utah’s usual mail-in ballots — no hourslong gatherings in high school gyms, negotiating with neighbors or shadowy smartphone apps are in the mix. “It’s a regular primary election. ... It should feel exactly how a primary election feels in other years,” said Justin Lee, Utah’s director of elections. The state of Utah will mail out ballots for the Democratic open primary and the Republican closed primary on Tuesday, Feb. 11, the same day of the New Hampshire primary election. Anyone may vote in the Democratic primary, while only registered Republicans can vote in that party’s contest — which does include candidates other than President Trump. The state Legislature passed a law last year to hold the state’s GOP and Democratic primaries on Super Tuesday, a move officials have touted as giving Utah voters more influence in determining who ultimately wins the parties’ nominations. In the past, Utah voters sometimes made their selections well after a frontrunner had essentially locked up the nomination. “I’m feeling good about it,” said Meredith Reed, chair of the Summit County Democratic Party, of the state’s move up in the calendar. Reed said that with a crowded Democratic primary field, voters will benefit from demonstrating some restraint as the New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina primaries play out and the race matures before the deadline for voters to return their mail-in ballots. “If that’s who you wanted to mark on the ballot, that’s who you marked on the ballot,” she said. As with typical vote-by-mail elections, primary ballots this year will need to be postmarked by March 2, the day before votes are counted. Summit County will also host voting assistance centers at various locations throughout the region, as well as in-person voting at the County Clerk’s office in Coalville. The Democratic candidates will be vying for 35 delegates in total from Utah, 29 of which are determined by the popular vote and six of Please see Power, A-2 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT UTAH’S 2020 PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES IMPORTANT DATES Feb. 11: Ballots mailed out Feb. 18-21, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.: Early voting at the Summit County Clerk’s Office Feb. 24-28, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.: Early voting at the Summit County Clerk’s Office March 2: Deadline for mail-in ballots to be postmarked March 3: Presidential primary election BALLOT DROP BOX LOCATIONS Coalville City Hall, 10 N. Main St., Coalville County Clerk’s Office, 60 N. Main St., Coalville Summit County Services Building, 110 N. Main St., Kamas Park City Municipal Building, 445 Marsac Ave., Park City The Market at Park City, 1500 Snow Creek Dr., Park City Sheldon Richins Building, 1885 W. Ute Blvd., Park City Fresh Market Jeremy Ranch, 3151 Kilby Road, Park City VOTING ASSISTANCE CENTERS March 3, 7 a.m. - 8 p.m. Coalville City Hall, 10 N. Main St., Coalville Summit County Services Building, 110 N. Main St., Kamas Park City Municipal Building, 445 Marsac Ave., Park City Sheldon Richins Building, 1885 W. Ute Blvd., Park City Early voting takes place at the County Clerk’s Office on 60 N. Main in Coalville from Feb. 18-21 and Feb. 24-28 from 8 a.m. through 5 p.m. Source: Summit County Clerk’s Office PARK RECORD FILE PHOTO County’s emergency planning Soar into a World Cup questioned amid staffing talks Fisher:‘We still have trouble fully preparing our community’ for large-scale disasters ALEXANDER CRAMER The Park Record A seemingly innocuous agenda item at Wednesday’s County Council meeting turned out to be anything but when a discussion about a change in an employee position chart led to county councilors hearing that staff is deficient in emergency preparedness and that a plan to remain in compliance with state regulations might leave the county without a full-time emergency manager while a new one is hired. The county combined its emergency manager position with the public health emergency planning position in 2017, Health Director Rich Bullough told the council. The job has been filled by the county’s emergency manager, Chris Crowley. Bullough said the responsibilities are too much for one person and that the arrangement imperils a 3 sections • 36 pages Classifieds .............................. C-7 Events Calendar ..................... C-6 Restaurant Guide.................. A-15 Scoreboard ............................. B-5 $174,000 federal grant that pays for public health emergency planning. The emergency manager works to ensure the county is prepared for catastrophes like wildfires or floods, County Manager Tom Fisher said in an interview. “The emergency manager function — you’re largely preparing for things you hope never happen,” Fisher said. “It’s about testing the infrastructure that you plan for to see whether it’s ready to handle the beginnings of a disaster.” Bullough is requesting the public health planning position be moved back into the Health Department full time to remain in compliance with the grant requirements, which would leave the emergency manager position unstaffed. “It has been made clear to us that increasing our (public health emergency planning) capacity is a condition of continued funding,” Bullough and others wrote in a staff report accompanying the request. “Each time our program is audited, the County is called out for not having a full-time (public health emergency planning) (employee).” The council did not decide whether to split the Please see Planning, A-2 TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD Hannah Soar of the U.S. team skis down Champion run at Deer Valley Resort Thursday evening during the super finals of the moguls competition at the FIS freestyle World Cup. The moguls event kicked off the annual three-day World Cup. See page B-1 for more on Thursday’s competition, or visit parkrecord.com for coverage of Friday’s aerial skiing and Saturday’s dual moguls events. VISITOR GUIDE ‘What is Love?” Egyptian Theatre audiences will find out. Synth-pop and electronic-music pioneer Howard Jones will perform through Sunday, Feb. 16, excluding Monday, Feb. 10, at the Egyptian Theatre, 328 Main St. For schedule and ticket information, visit parkcityshows.com. |