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Show B-5 B-1 MEMBERS WELCOME AT NONPROFIT CLUBHOUSE NEED A LIFT? GYMS ARE ALLOWED TO REOPEN. WAY WE WERE, A-7 STAY UP TO DATE COLUMNS, A-8 WORKERS’ SOLIDARITY WAS TOO WOBBLY, IN THE END Follow us on Twitter at @parkrecord for all the latest and breaking news in Park City and Summit County AMY ROBERTS MARKS OFF APOCALYPSE BINGO 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 Wed/Thurs/Fri, May 6-8, 2020 Serving Summit County since 1880 County will monitor for compliance Vol. 139 | No. 27 50¢ The power of the paddle Businesses will be shut down for ‘egregious’ health order violations ALEXANDER CRAMER The Park Record About 40 government workers whose day jobs range from fire protection to education to recreation will shift from their normal responsibilities this week to help the Summit County Health Department inspect businesses that are beginning to open. Businesses are not required to receive a certification from the county to resume operations, officials said, but those in the restaurant and salon sectors will have their safety procedures reviewed by the Health Department to ensure compliance with the May 1 public health order that lifted the stayat-home mandate and implemented other broad restrictions meant to guard against another coronavirus outbreak in the community. Gyms, daycare facilities and other businesses will not be inspected in the first round of site visits, Environmental Health Director Nate Brooks said, but may be the subject of a subsequent round of compliance checks. He added that the Health Department will follow up on complaints from the public about businesses’ health practices, as well. The county requires businesses in the restaurant and salon sectors, including bars, nightclubs, massage parlors and tanning salons, to submit an online registration form that attests they are complying with the safety protocols outlined in the health order. Some restrictions in the order apply to all businesses, like stringent sanitization and social distancing guidelines. Others are business sector-specific mandates, like limiting dine-in service in restaurants to groups of six spaced at least 6 feet apart from other groups. Once the Health Department reviews an application, it will send the business an orange decal to post in a prominent location that identifies the business as a “stabilization supporter.” The decal will have a “pending” mark in restaurants and salons until an inspector has certified their efforts, at which point it will be marked “approved.” Other businesses are encouraged to submit the form and display the decal but will not be inspected in the first wave of site visits. They are allowed to operate without inspection from the county. Brooks estimated there would be about 350 inspections in the initial days. His office of eight people normally inspects the county’s roughly 300 restaurants annually. The county’s Please see Businesses, A-2 TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD Decals are issued to businesses that attest they are complying with the county’s public health protocols. Businesses in the restaurant and salon sectors are allowed to operate under a pending status until they are inspected this week, after which officials may stamp the decal “approved.” Other businesses will not be inspected in the current round of site visits, though inspectors will respond to citizen complaints. 2 sections • 20 pages Classifieds .............................. B-8 Editorial.................................. A-9 Restaurant Guide.................. B-10 Weather .................................. B-2 TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD Patty Martinez, left, and Audrey Lee paddle on the Jordanelle Reservoir on Thursday. The reservoir is open for recreation, though state park officials urge visitors to practice social distancing. Main Street businesses start to Silly Market reemerge, any way you slice it cancellation Customers welcomed back as rigorous coronavirus-fighting measures are put into place JAY HAMBURGER The Park Record Red Banjo Pizza at 5 p.m. on Saturday reopened the dining room and deck after a closure that lasted for longer than six weeks, stretching from what would have been the final weeks of the ski season through the first month of the spring shoulder season. The restaurant had been offering to-go and delivery services during the Summit County-mandated shutdown of the dining room, part of the County Courthouse’s broad, community-wide efforts to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus. The eatery had also been providing a family in need with a free dinner each night. But on Saturday Red Banjo was able to welcome people inside again. Tana Toly, whose family owns the longtime restaurant, said the people who came to Red Banjo on Saturday were chatty and some said they had not been to the restaurant in years. Parkites tipped well and praised the staffers, she said. “People are ready to get out of their home to go and eat,” she said, adding, “Have some fun again.” Red Banjo and the other businesses in Park City and surrounding Summit County must adjust to tight restrictions that health officials mandated as the local economy begins to reopen from the coronavirus shutdowns. Restaurants are especially impacted by the restrictions since they prepare food and typically draw crowds to tight quarters. Red Banjo is limiting hours for now and the available seating has been temporarily slashed to meet social distancing guidelines designed to keep people separated. The main floor normally has 13 tables available, but that number has dropped to five. The deck typically offers five tables, a figure that has been reduced to two, while the lower floor remains closed, leaving 13 tables unavailable on that level. Sales dropped over the weekend from what normally would be expected, but Toly described the numbers as “pretty good” nonetheless. She said there is cautious optimism Red Banjo will have a solid spring. “This has been a good opportunity to get locals back on Main Street,” she said. Main Street and the wider business community have suffered terribly under the shutdown conditions, which led to a punishing end to the ski season as the mountain resorts closed several weeks earlier than scheduled, the lodging industry cratered and crowds disappeared. The Park City Chamber/Bureau in March released a forecast showing season-end spending by visitors through the end of April was projected to drop by 16.7% from the previous ski season. The lodging numbers were projected to drop similarly. City Hall, meanwhile, is preparing for what will be the most difficult budget talks since the depths of the recession a decade ago as leaders cope with falling sales taxes. There were at some points just a scattered person or two seen on Main Street just after the shutdown started in March. There would normally be crowds on the shopping, dining and entertainment strip until the early morning hours at that time of year. The business group that represents the interests of Main Street, the Historic Park City Alliance, has drafted a monthslong plan to reignite the street as it outlined a series of Please see Main Street, A-2 TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD Red Banjo Pizza reopened the dining room and deck on Saturday as the local economy starts to reemerge from the coronavirus shutdowns. There is cautious optimism at Red Banjo for a solid spring. Members of the ownership family, from left: Donovan Toly, 7, Tana Toly, Scott Toly and Mary Lou Toly. addressed Mayor expresses support for the organizers’ decision in the face of ‘daunting’ circumstances JAY HAMBURGER The Park Record The cancellation of the Park Silly Sunday Market for 2020 continues to draw attention as the Park City community lingers on what was a dramatic move by the organizers to opt against holding the event this year. Mayor Andy Beerman during a recent City Hall-hosted online event addressed the cancellation of the Silly Market. He spoke in response to a question during one in a series of online events designed to provide Parkites with regular updates about the community response to the spread of the novel coronavirus. He told the event audience he backed the decision by the Silly Market organizers to cancel in 2020, explaining that there could be some sort of restrictions remaining in the summer. “I believe that the social distancing will continue through the summer, and so they found it daunting and not economically feasible to move forward. So, it was ultimately their decision, but I am supportive of that decision,” Beerman said. “And I hope we’re able to bring the Silly Market back next summer, but unfortunately this summer we’re not going to see them.” Another elected official who participated in the online event, Park City Councilor Max Doilney, explained that there are restrictions on groups of more than 50 people and said a vaccine for the novel coronavirus is needed before there is a return to normalcy. The Silly Market draws thousands of people, and Doilney said the restriction on the size of crowds is crucial as organizers consider whether to hold events this year. He noted the restriction as it relates to the Silly Market. Charlie Sturgis, who is the executive director of Mountain Trails Foundation, joined the elected officials as one of the speakers at the online event. He explained there are up-front costs to events as well as a “big planning curve.” “Those organizers that had to pull the plug, I know they didn’t do it without really having to know that Please see Market, A-2 CORONAVIRUS TRACKER Summit County Utah Known cases: 382 Hospitalizations: 33; Deaths: 0 Known cases: 5,449 Hospitalizations: 456; Deaths: 56 DATA AS OF MAY 5, SOURCE: UTAH DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH |