OCR Text |
Show B-1 STAY UP TO DATE ON TWITTER Follow us on Twitter @parkrecord for all the latest and breaking news happening in Park City and Summit County NONPROFIT’S SERVICE PROJECT OFFERS A WINDOW INTO THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT LETTERS, A-13 A DESIGNATED TIME FOR PARKITES TO GROCERY SHOP? COLUMNS, A-12 THE SKY DIDN’T FALL, BUT NEITHER HAS THE SNOW Park Record. The PA R K C I T Y, U TA H Serving Summit County since 1880 City aligns with racial equity pact | W W W. PA R K R E C O R D . C O M Vol 140 | No. 93 Wed/Thurs/Fri, December 23-25, 2020 A salute to heroes $1.00 County takes ‘huge step’ in transit split ‘We call out racism wherever we see it,’ statewide pledge says Elected officials move forward with forming own system that could one day serve the region JAY HAMBURGER ALEXANDER CRAMER The Park Record Park City leaders recently voted to formally support the Utah Compact on Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, another step in City Hall’s broad social equity efforts. The Park City Council adopted a resolution aligning the municipal government with the statewide effort. Mayor Andy Beerman and the City Council touched on the idea that the compact tracks closely with City Hall’s own work toward social equity. By supporting the compact, leaders, importantly, acknowledged a key section of the document saying “racism exists, and our actions make a difference. We call out racism wherever we see it and take purposeful steps to stop it.” The compact also says: “We view racism as more than just an individual character flaw. It is a system of ideas, beliefs, practices, structures, and policies that give some people greater opportunity to be fully human and live a happier and healthier life than others. Unraveling centuries of internalized and systemic racism requires bold anti-racist actions and policies right now.” The compact also includes principles and actions like: • investing “our time and resources to create greater opportunity for people of color” and that “eliminating racial and ethnic disparities requires our significant effort and investment.” • advancing “solutions to racial ills by listening and creating policies that provide equal opportunity and access to education, employment, housing, and healthcare.” • affirming “our commitment will not just be a passing moment, but a legacy movement of social, racial and economic justice.” The elected officials showed broad support for the compact and the ideals underpinning the statements it makes. The mayor described the compact as a “a positive step forward for our state” as he noted Utah leaders like Gov. Gary Herbert were early supporters. Beerman also said the compact Please see Equity pact, A-2 The Park Record government would recoup some of the monies by selling land to the Kimball Art Center and Sundance. It would also generate revenue through leasing workforce or otherwise affordable housing that is also included in the project. “Maybe this is not the right time,” Butwinski said at the recent meeting. He said officials are “pinning your hopes on a market recovery that we all hope is going to happen” as he spoke about a funding option that is under discussion, called the transient-room tax, that is charged on lodging. The tax is highly dependent on tourism numbers. Butwinski also told the mayor and City Council he is concerned about “Kimball and Sundance actually stepping up to pay their share of this. It’s a big chunk of money.” Both of the organizations suffered layoffs during the pandemic. “This is a tough one. ... The numbers, for me, are really scary,” he said. Butwinski in an interview expressed concern about the costs of the district, saying they have “gone through the ceiling.” “We’re going to rob the cabinet of every single dollar that’s in there to do this” and then hope the tourism industry rebounds, adding, “That’s a lot of ifs and maybes for me.” One option Butwinski described is to move forward with the part of the project that involves City One of the last orders of business for the Summit County Council in 2020 may impact the way people move around the Wasatch Back for decades to come, though officials hope transit riders won’t be able to tell any difference, at least at first. The council last week unanimously approved an ordinance governing the structure and rules for the Snyderville Basin Public Transit District, drastically reshaping an entity that has technically existed for 15 years, but that will now employ staff, own buses and operate transit lines. Starting July 1, the district will operate the mass transit programs in unincorporated Summit County and soon, officials hope, in municipalities and neighboring areas outside of the county, as well. The move is in some ways the culmination of a lengthy effort to split the county’s transit operations from Park City Transit, though much work remains to be done to meet the July 1 deadline for the new district to take over operations of the county’s bus lines. It comes amid a massive drop-off in ridership due to the pandemic that officials have said provides a unique opportunity to reshape transit services. The county has contracted with transportation company Via Transportation Inc. to plan operations for the new district, and officials anticipate entering into a roughly $3 million contract for the firm to operate the county’s bus lines this summer. Park City officials have said Park City Transit has reached its capacity and that any expansion should be led by Summit County. Now, the county has officially created an entity officials hope is capable of leading a regional effort. “If you talk about a huge step, this is a huge step, because we’re forming an entity that will be operating on its own to provide services to the broader county and, clearly, from the objectives, beyond the county,” Summit County Tom Fisher said. Park City Transit operates the vast majority of mass transit in the area, and Summit County contributes millions of dollars to it annually, a number that has continued to grow. Before the pandemic hit, the county was budgeted to contribute $8.5 million to Park City Transit in 2020, a system that has a $14.9 million operating budget and millions more in capital costs. Much of that money comes from regional sales taxes approved by the county and collected throughout the area, including within municipal limits. Officials are still working out how to disentangle finances, Fisher said, including discussing how certain sales taxes will be allocated, what will happen with the portion of capital assets like buses the county helped to purchase and what the fund balances — or savings — will be used for. The County Council’s No. 1 strategic goal remains Please see Arts district, A-2 Please see Transit split, A-2 TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Alex Brown salutes a commemorative wreath Saturday morning during a ceremony at the Park City Cemetery. The gathering was part of National Wreaths Across America Day, an initiative in which wreaths are placed at the graves of U.S. veterans. Brown, who served 24 years with the Air Force, was accompanied by her son, Ethan Brown. See page B-8 for more photos from the event. Economic uncertainty spurs questions about arts district Pinning hopes on quick market recovery could be risky, former city councilor warns officials JAY HAMBURGER The Park Record Alex Butwinski this week described his reaction in 2017 to City Hall’s announcement it would acquire land to develop an arts and culture district as “over the moon.” An arts district was “exactly what we needed,” he said in an interview about his opinion of the plans at that time, noting a district would help diversify the Park City economy from one that is heavily dependent on the ski industry. Three years later, amid the continued spread of the novel coronavirus and the economic uncertainty it has caused, Butwinski has raised questions about City Hall’s plans. Butwinski, a former member of the Park City Council who left office in early 2014, testified at a recent City Council meeting centered on the future of the district, envisioned to be anchored by the Kimball Art Center and the Utah offices of the Sundance Institute. He told the elected officials he has supported the efforts since the start but there are concerns at this point regarding the cost, with the City Hall portion estimated at $88.4 million. The municipal District proud to have avoided shutdowns for virus Opening schools was ‘hard’ choice that has paid off, leader says ALEXANDER CRAMER The Park Record Halfway through this one-ofa-kind school year, the Park City School District hasn’t once closed the doors of a school because of COVID-19, something that many wouldn’t have predicted in the runup to schools reopening in August. Park City Board of Education President Andrew Caplan called the fact that the district had stayed open — unique among Summit County’s three school systems — an “incredible success,” while acknowledging it was something of a surprise. He lauded Superintendent Jill 2 sections • 28 pages Classifieds ..............................B-9 Editorial................................A-13 Restaurant Guide..................A-11 Weather ..................................B-2 Gildea’s administrative leadership as well as the district’s commitment to using scientific data as a guidepost. “The intention for the administration and the board was always one of, ‘Children belong in school,’” Caplan said Monday. “‘How do we get them back safely?’” He touted the board’s willingness to invest upward of $2 million in COVID safety protocols, including infrastructure spending to increase sanitization efforts and air circulation systems. And he said the district’s past decisions to save rainy day funds allowed the flexibility to cover unforeseen COVID-related costs. While Park City has avoided shutting its schools like it did last March, there have been more than 200 COVID cases districtwide and some 2,000 COVID-related absences. Health officials have indicated that schools have not been significant spreaders of COVID-19, with most cases contracted at home or when out in the community. The Board of Education invested in policies aimed at keeping students in schools, but some parents and teachers have pushed the district to do more for COVID safety. One proposal is to adopt a hybrid learning model that would reduce the number of students in classrooms and allow for increased social distancing. The board has so far resisted those and other measures, like preemptive shutdowns following the Thanksgiving and winter breaks. Aaron Webb, the co-vice president of the Park City Education Association, said this school year has been exhausting for teachers, who have the additional workload of managing Please see District, A-2 PARK RECORD FILE PHOTO Blue panes of plexiglass divide spaced-out tables in a classroom at McPolin Elementary School before the school year began in August. Halfway through the year, the Park City School District has yet to close a school because of an outbreak of COVID-19. CORONAVIRUS TRACKER Summit County Utah Known cases: 2,890 Hospitalizations: 98 Deaths: 5 Known cases: 255,085 Hospitalizations: 10,218 Deaths: 1,173 Data as of Dec. 22, Source: Utah Department of Health |