If things go according to plan, we will be skiing in two weeks. It doesn’t look that way outside, but things have a way of changing quickly. The opening may be one of those “white ribbon of death” experiences. We’ve certainly done that before. And the snow might come. The hornets claim it will be another big winter.
Based on the advice of these insects, I bought a new piece of snow removal equipment to beef up the tool kit. It’s a plow blade that replaces the bucket on the front end loader on the tractor. So I have the big snowblower on back, and the push blade on front. Should be unstoppable.
I’d been shopping for this for a while and not finding what I wanted, or finding it at absolutely shocking prices. I got this one in the way that most farm deals happen — a friend’s brother-in-law in Bear Lake knew a guy in Preston whose cousin in Montpellier had a used one available. Two phone calls and it was dropped in my driveway.
Used equipment being what it is, I was in the auto parts store picking up a couple of repair parts. A friend came in, almost radiant in his joy at having bought a 1990s vintage Dodge 1-ton plow truck. We were both bragging about now having the best snow removal equipment. Another guy in the store joined the conversation. He said he had found ultimate snow removal equipment — a sailboat in Florida.
I have a pile of clippings and notes on my desk, filled with items that seemed important or interesting at the time. They pile up and begin rattling around in my brain to the point of needing to be thinned out, so consider this a random dump from my cluttered brain:
The Park City School District continues to struggle with the piles of mine tailings behind the Treasure Mountain building. There’s been a 40-year debate locally about how toxic it really is, but there’s no question that there is a whole lot of it, and it’s certainly not a health food.
The EPA had demanded a remediation plan by January. That was extended to March, but the Park City School District has not come up with a plan. It’s now November, and the official word from the school district seems to be that “the dog ate my remediation plan.”
A friend sent me an article saying that actor Matthew Perry, who was found dead in his hot tub this week, had been playing pickleball earlier that day. Authorities were reluctant to say that pickleball was the cause of death, but can’t rule it out. So that’s something to consider when you are voting on the city’s recreation bond this month. At least the tailings at the junior high school haven’t killed anybody.
Speaking of taxes, the Summit County tax bills were an interesting format this year. For the first time, they had a pie chart showing where your property taxes go.
In my area, which is unincorporated Summit County with few services provided, almost 70% of the property tax bill goes to state and local school funding; 16% goes to Summit County; and 14% goes to a whole pile of “special districts” ranging from mosquitos to giant multi-county water districts.
On my house, a paltry $75 goes to the South Summit Fire District. That wouldn’t cover the cost of the fuel to respond if my house caught on fire, which might explain why the insurance premiums keep going up.
Another item that has been fulminating for a while is a news story out of Ukraine, by way of Logan. Logan-based developer Dell Loy Hansen has been working with a non-profit to build new housing in Kiev. They just announced they had built 82 houses in four and a half months. With bombs falling on them and a difficult labor market because anybody able bodied is in the war. Eighty-two houses in 22 weeks.
One of my neighbors spent two years and $15,000 in flood plain engineering to get the permit to build a garage. Two years.
The Snow Park plans are now well into their second year with no permits or progress, and certainly no dirt being moved. The Park City Mountain parking lot developer let the option expire after years of decisional paralysis.
But in Kiev, in a war zone with missiles flying, they were able to completely build 82 houses in 22 weeks. I suspect the approval process didn’t get bogged down in traffic counts, dark skies, or the location of pickleball courts. They probably didn’t have to install silt fences or get a flood plain certificate showing that they were above the 100-year flood plain (because the existence of adjacent houses, 70+ years old and unflooded in that time, isn’t good enough).
I’m not saying we need to quit regulating development. In fact, I’d be happy if we just stopped issuing building permits at all and declared Summit County to be finished. But somehow there has to be a reasonable middle ground between requiring a conditional use permit for a dog house and building 82 finished houses in four months. At some point, four years in front of the planning commission quits improving things.
Tom Clyde practiced law in Park City for many years. He lives on a working ranch in Woodland and has been writing this column since 1986.