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Letters, Feb. 17-19: Park City should hold off on demolitions for arts district

Slow down, Park City

With not being able to comment on an electronic article anymore, I guess this is my next best option and I hope others will read this and ask City Hall to put the brakes on demolishing the buildings to clear the way for the planned arts and culture district.

With the fate of the entire arts and culture district up in the air due to soaring costs and other issues, why is Park City going to spend another dime on this property? Yes, I understand that someday the property will be developed and demolition will be necessary, but why not wait and see what direction that is and then let the demolition be paid for by the company that is doing the development? In the meantime, please bring back the Maverick (oops, gas tanks already gone) and Anaya’s Market.



Slow down, Park City Council and staff, please.

Rich Ford



Hideout

*****

A neighborly reminder

Dear lovers of the Wasatch and winter recreators,

Every winter the Utah Department of Transportation closes the seasonal gate on S.R. 224 in Park City, just above the Montage at the Mid-Mountain Trail parking. This is the only public access to Empire Pass and Bonanza Flat from Park City, so many people use this road for dog-walking, snowshoeing, snowmobiling and skiing. It is also the only public access to the new fat bike and cross-country ski trails in the Bonanza Flat Conservation Area.

What many people DO NOT realize, however, is that winter maintenance and plowing of this road is funded and operated by High Bonanza Community Access (HBCA), a nonprofit started by the Brighton Estates community. Brighton Estates is a well established cabin community adjacent to the Bonanza Flat Conservation Area that consists of approximately 100 cabins (and even more properties). For over a decade the Brighton Estates community has funded and operated its own plowing program to ensure safe access to and from our homes and properties, as well as for our parking, which is in itself essential.

HBCA is working with Mountain Trails Foundation to enhance public education about road use and access to the Bonanza Flat Conservation Area.

We welcome all users of the public road and would like to remind people that:

• The road is active with Brighton Estates community vehicle traffic, our plow tractor and other vehicles such as snowmobiles. Please be aware of this traffic and move safely to the sides to allow vehicles to pass.

• The road can be dangerous for a variety of reasons. Please know the weather and prepare accordingly.

• If you continue over Empire Pass to the Bonanza Flat area, remember that you are entering the backcountry at 9,000 feet. There are no amenities, and there is a wide variety of avalanche terrain. Know Before You Go.

We welcome donations for those that appreciate our efforts and would like to further support them. Please visit our website highbonanzacommunityaccess.com for more information.

Lastly, we are all neighbors who love the mountains. Travel safely, look out for one another, and let it snow!

High Bonanza Community Access

*****

Profits behind people

As the federal government considers raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and our local leaders strive to make available rental housing offered at an affordable rate, it is time for Vail Resorts to step up and get on board with this new tide of promoting equity and opportunity in our community.

Historically, the business of ski patrolling for an independent resort has been viewed as a ski bum-type seasonal job with a high turnover. Making money was usually not the priority in becoming a member of a ski patrol. If you made enough to rent a basement bedroom, feed yourself, buy a few beers after work and hopefully have a few bucks left over to get you through until your next job started, you were happy. The motivation was simple: ski for free, hunt for avalanches, work with great people and help people in need.

Today’s ski patroller has been thrown into the multinational corporate world of overbearing regulations and restrictive policies; casting a wide net over different employee groups. Nowadays the hierarchy of power isn’t even in the same state, leaving some individuals feeling powerless to resolve personal or immediate work related issues in a timely manor. Mortgages and families are common now for seasonal resort employees, who routinely return year after year. The ski patrol is a necessary evil for the resort; they don’t bring in revenue. They are an expense. What they do accomplish is they greatly reduce the likelihood of costing the corporation large financial settlements for litigation. That’s difficult to quantify, but the resort would certainly feel the impact if their committed ski patrollers weren’t extremely professional and extensively trained. A new profession has emerged, they are no longer just ski bums. These steadfast men and women who provide the safety and security to our families deserve compensation commensurate to the level of safeguard they provide the corporation and their customers.

Over a relatively short time, Vail Resorts has cultivated a dismissive reputation with the community and has positioned itself as the only game in town. Maybe it’s time to put their shareholder profits behind the people who enable them to stay open for business.

Mike Quinones

Summit Park

*****

Where’s the compassion?

On Wednesday, Feb. 10, at the Canyons Mercury run at approximately 11:30 a.m., “RB”, a 76-year-old Park Meadows resident, was enjoying a nice ski day with his son, when he was hit, blindsided by a guy (skier or boarder, he can’t remember), who then just took off, leaving him on the ground in pain. After three days in the hospital (two spent in ICU), RB was diagnosed with five broken ribs. His ski season is over and he is now left to convalesce at home on his own.

Courtesy, kindness, “Are you OK,” “Can I help?” or “I’m sorry” are just a few of the ways this person could have chosen to behave. Instead, he decided to just leave the scene. At the very least, he could have let the ski patrol know that there was a “man down.”

Whoever you are, I hope if there’s a time you need help after an accident, someone will come to your aid and show you the proper way to be helpful and compassionate.

Linda Belgiano

Park Meadows

Letters

School district must lead

Park City School District is being investigated by the federal Office of Civil Rights for persistent and ongoing violations. It’s a very big deal that has a lot of our community on edge.



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