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Show ii-liiii - I r in - - - - in--- Mining claims could foil bid for hilltop park I ihHiMiiimmh,. K i I ( 1 : J I - i , . :. . y I ! hy V" : i II , ' 7 :y ( ,y i $ ft .-.tv f ' - . w- ijs ' ' " -' ' .-' v 1 "v :' .-: . ! . ; . Dhoto bv Randv Hanskat by Christopher Smart Park City is still taking a back seat to local mining interests on its bid to lease 88 acres of federal land north of Deer Valley, even though the Deer Valley Resort has removed one obstacle to the plan. The 88-acre parcel, located at the top of a hill between Deer Valley and Prospector Park, is under the jurisdiction jurisdic-tion of the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The city is trying to negotia'e a lease and to open the area to the public as "Gambel Oak Park." On Tuesday, Deer Valley Resort Executive Vice President John Miiller informed the municipality and the BLM that the resort was withdrawing its protest to the lease. He urged the BLM to grant the city use of the lands. Miiller said Deer Valley Resort had lodged the protest in a Nov. 30 BLM hearing because the company needed more time to study the proposal. After some investigation, Miiller said, the resort has found the city's plan to "be the best use of the land." He explained that the city's proposal calls for the land to remain "open space." But a local mining interest, known as the Leo Rhea Partnership, made up largely of the members of the Hurley family, has first claim to the land according to Dave Watson, a spokesman spokes-man for the BLM. Watson said the group has claim to the mineral rights on the property that runs from the Day Star and Pinnacle projects in Deer Valley north over the mountain. That acreage is bounded on the east by Solamere and on the west by the Aerie subdivision and the Surprise PUD. Under an 1872 mining law, Watson said, the BLM can't lease the lands to the city without the permission of Leo Rhea. Additionally, the law holds that the surface,can be interrupted by the mining interests, which means that machinery and mine shafts could be placed on the proposed park acreage. If Leo Rhea can demonstrate that mining is economically feasible, Watson Wat-son said, it can apply for the deed to the grounds. Once land is deeded to any private interest, he said, it can be developed in ways other than mining-including mining-including housing units. Leo Rhea representatives, however, would not comment on their plans for that 88-acre parcel. Meanwhile, the city will not make any financial investment in the proposed park land because, according to City Attorney Tom Clyde, mining activities could make a park unrealistic. unrealis-tic. Beyond that, he added, if Leo Rhea shows the economic feasibility of mining in the area, the lands could become the property of the mining partnership no matter what improvements improve-ments the city might have made. At the BLM hearing, Nov. 30, Clyde said, Leo Rhea proposed a five-year exploratory program to spend $1 million over the next five years to determine how extensive the mineral deposits are on the property. According Accord-ing to law, however, the company only needs to spend $100 a year to retain the mineral rights, he said. The city won't move towards developing the park until that five-year project is completed, Clyde said. However, if the mineral claims are abandoned, the city w ill be next in line for the land, Clyde said. The city has been trying to gain title to the acreage since 1968. According to Clyde, the BLM can give the federal lands to municipalities under certain conditions. Short of that, he said, the BLM can lease the land to the city at 25-year increments. The city could gain title to the lands if it is shown that mining is not economically feasible, Watson said. In that event, all mining claims would be declared invalid. He added, however, that the economic determination won't be made until Leo Rhea applies to patent the deed to the lands where it now holds only mineral rights. Presently, due to low mineral prices and the expense of mining ores of relatively low mineral concentrations, the mining market is depressed, Watson said. He said that these conditions have kept Leo Rhea from applying for the deed to the land because the company is afraid its claims will be declared invalid. However, that might change in the future. Watson added that until recently there had been little interest in mining claims in the Deer Valley area. |