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Letters: Bond for a high school in South Summit is not the right solution


Is bond the right solution?

Editor:
I am opposed to the issuance of a bond for a new South Summit high school. I do, however, have a favorable opinion for the construction of additional elementary schools. My wife and I attended the public meeting on this topic at Oakley town hall. Taking into consideration the facts of the presentation and discussions with neighbors who have young children, I have to concur that building more elementary schools is a better solution to address the population growth in our district than a high school.

My wife is a retired teacher, and I taught for a short time in middle and high school as well as Army ROTC at a junior college. Based on my observations, the present high school model is and has been anachronistic for the past 30 years or so. The emphasis of high school is to be a conduit for college yet many high school graduates choose not to attend college.

With current construction techniques, a high school campus built today could have a feasible usefulness well into the last few decades of the century. The building could very well be a White Elephant for future taxpayers to maintain.



I foresee in the not too distant future an increase of dual enrollments, of high school students at community colleges for technical school training or higher level academics, thus eliminating the need of the 11th and 12th grades. Moreover, online education is gaining traction over brick and mortar institutions of learning.

Jerry Heck
Oakley




Add traffic restrictions to Sundance script

Editor:
The fact is we live in a car culture. That being said, if you force this bad player into our small-scale and low-volume historic residential roads, you are asking for trouble. These two things do not mix and never will. As a longtime resident of Hillside Avenue, I watched (again) in horror at the carnage that unfolded before my eyes during Sundance.

The city staff allowed every conceivable vehicle imaginable to course through our neighborhoods. Event traffic was directed through our neighborhoods and went largely unchecked. This inability or unwillingness by the city itself to even try to stop or control it created a pumped-up madness that turned dangerous. This is unacceptable to me as a 38-year resident in Old Town. If the city can’t regulate it, then don’t have these events. What unfolded was easily remedied. During the Olympics, our neighborhoods were quiet. We had, as I remember, three or four checkpoints to ensure vehicle compatibility and it worked to perfection. One at the Empire Avenue/S.R. 224/Park Avenue entrance, one at the Main Street entrance/roundabout and one at the top of Hillside Avenue. Problem solved and business was booming. You were simply required to have a resident pass or good evidence that allowed you to use our historic residential streets. It worked perfectly and was foolproof. Unfortunately, The Park Record did not mention this and in fact misidentified where these checkpoints were located.

As far as I am concerned, high volumes of vehicles may be one the most destructive forces working against our small-scale historic residential neighborhoods and community in general. It is not difficult in any way and it is endemic upon the city to restrict and/or regulate all types of event traffic that attempts to cut through or use our residential streets for commercial purposes. The Olympic experience and model of pedestrianizing Main Street and the surrounding historic neighborhoods worked perfectly. How hard can it be?

Peter J. Marth
Old Town


A nightmare scenario

Editor,
I had a really bad dream last night. In it, Utah Open Lands failed to raise enough money to purchase Armstrong Snow Ranch Pastures, and the land became available for sale to the highest bidder. The highest bidder turned out to be a hotelier who decided to build a 1,000-room golf resort complex on the 19 acres where the beautiful Armstrong barn and fields now provide a home for some cows. Then the hotelier offered Park City Municipal a gazillion dollars for the whole municipal Golf Course.

Since over the past few decades, Park City officials have had no qualms about selling off the driving range piece by piece, as well as multiple tee boxes and the greens on the back nine, for far less capital than that, it seemed like a no-brainer to sell off the whole course, so Parkites could forget about ever getting a tee-off time again. That’s when I woke up from my nightmare to write this letter.

If you love open space or golf, please support the Utah Open Lands drive to raise enough funds by June 30 to keep the Armstrong property as open space forever. Go to utahopenlands.org for more information.

Beverly Hurwitz
Park City


Protect and preserve a farmland

Editor:

Utah Open Lands needs our help to protect and preserve the heritage farmland known as Snow Ranch Pastures in Thaynes Canyon.

This jewel has been generously offered by the Armstrong family to the people of Park City for future generations to cherish and enjoy. The family has agreed to conserve the land in perpetuity protecting our environment, our trails, our public enjoyment and the wildlife that calls this place “home.”

In order to save this land from already-approved development zoning, we need to step up as a community. Let’s show those who visit us from around the world our commitment to protect the environment and ensure our quality of life.

Join me in supporting Utah Open Lands for the preservation of this landscape. Please donate today whatever amount you can. No contribution is too small.

Margaret Hilliard
Park City

Letters

Actually, tech park makes most sense

I believe there is an opportunity to further enhance the economic vitality and resilience of our town by attracting a Fortune 500 headquarters to a mixed-use tech park.



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