The Park City School District Should Consider Moving Kearns Campus
As we wrote about in a previous article, Mr Putt goes to School Board, we are surprised and disappointed in how insular our various government agencies are. We have traffic issues. We have environmental issues. We have growth issues. How do we start to fix these things?
Park City Municipal can’t solve these issues on their own. While they are the heart of the Park City area, they only represent 7,000 people out of 22,000 people in the area. Summit County can’t solve these issues on their own. They are in some ways the unwanted step child of Park City. Many people in the Snyderville Basin think they live in Park City, but really don’t, and thus think Summit County has nothing to do with them. The School Board can’t solve these on their own. They generally view their job as providing the best educational experience for our students.
Yet, all three can come together to make measurable impacts when they try. They can also cause significant harm when they don’t realize they are part of the entire ecosystem. Nowhere is this more apparent right now than at Park City School Board Master Planning Committee meetings. This group, responsible for deciding whether to rebuild Treasure Mountain Junior High School (TMJHS), will likely do two things that contribute to more traffic. They will decide to realign grades and rebuild TMJHS on Kearns Blvd. Right now, grades 8th-12th go to school on Kearns. In the new scenario, grades 7th-12th will go to school are Kearns. This will be 400 more students, hundreds of more cars, and a complete disaster between 7AM and 8 AM.
The committee would probably say, “we looked at moving TMJHS to Ecker Hill but traffic there is even worse.” So, this is the only option. But is it? When Summit County Community Development Director Pat Putt asked the Committee about putting TMJHS somewhere else the committee members said they had talked about it but probably not. What they are really saying is there is no choice but the obvious.
We take a different view, and one that we promise isn’t as crazy as it sounds. What should the School District do? We believe they should move the entire Kearns campus. It’s a solution that would need help from Park City Municipal, Summit County, and the School District but that would solve a number of problems and benefit a number of people. We’ll write about our specific plan later today.
in Economy
Is Park City Ready for the Next Recession?
Historically, recessions have struck the national economy every 6-7 years. Some are weak like in 1969, while others are powerful like the Great Recession of 2008. What is a given, is that they happen.
With that as a backdrop, economic indicators, like orders for manufactured goods, are starting to flash the warning signs of recession. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, since we are 6 years out from the end of the last recession. This doesn’t mean we are in for another Great Recession but it does mean that economic activity will slow down. As a tourist town, recessions likely impact Park City more than the average area.
Why is that? When a recession hits, unemployment increases, people have less money to spend, and vacation trips are reduced. This impacts local business that serve the tourist crowd (everyone from Vail to Redrock and the people that work there). Likewise, as unemployment rises, the almost-rich buy less second homes. The rich typially still buy second and third homes, and in some ways that could help a place like Park City weather the storm. However, the 800 or so real-estate agents in Park City (we heard that number once and have no idea if its true… but if it is, wow), are going to be impacted significantly. It then begins a vicious cycle where the impact flows down stream to where those people spend money.
So, what impacts could arise from the next recession? This is all a guess, but here are some potential impacts:
- Vail curtails expansion plans. We’ve been told Vail is going to invest $50 million in PCMR and Canyons. While Vail is probably the best run
real-estateski resort company in the world, a bad winter and then a recession could cause them to reduce the amount of money spent to upgrade the resort. Utah’s winter has not been snow filled and looking at Colorado base snow levels, they don’t look much better. - Local hotels will struggle. Occupancy rates at Park City hotels already often seem low (that’s not news). However, a new hotel (on 224) will likely open this summer. That will increase the available rooms, right into the brunt of the recession. Hotels are resilient, though, so we wouldn’t look for any to fail, but it could impact workers (and owners).
- Village at Kimball will lose a few stores. While the name brands likely won’t be impacted (i.e., Five Guys, Zuppas, Smiths, etc.) we could see a few of the stores close down. You probably already know the ones we are talking about.
- Some Park City Heights Construction Could Be Delayed. Park City Heights construction appears paused for the winter as you might expect. It will likely resume this spring. If a recession has begun, you could look to fewer homes being constructed in the near term. They could wait to ensure that they didn’t build a glut of homes there too soon. We are pretty sure it will eventually be maxed out, but it could take longer than expected.
- The Movie Studio could struggle to continue construction. We saw a TV report on KSL that said the Film studio was near completion in mid January. However, it still looked like a construction zone with dirt floors inside. If they have enough financing to complete the project before a recession was in full steam, they will likely be fine. If not, we may have to wait a while for its grand opening.
- The 1000+ units at Silver Creek could be delayed. This project seems to be coming up more and more in conversations. However, we haven’t heard anything formal about it beginning. Construction could be delayed throughout any recession.
- Mountain Accord would likely be scaled back. If we are in the middle of a recession, we think you’ll see support for Mountain Accord dwindle. It’s really unlikely any politician would suggest spending hundreds of millions of dollars if we are in the middle of a recession, unemployment is rising, and tax dollars are decreasing.
- The bond for Treasure Mountain School could be in trouble. Regardless of what is being said, we are confident that there will be a bond election by the School Board for a new school. This will be for a new Treasure Mountain Junior High and adding on to the high school. We could easily see this bond reach $40 million. It also sounds like teacher contracts are being negotiated. Our gut tells us that the teacher contracts will require increasing property taxes again (note: this is speculation on top of speculation). If taxes are raised, a recession hits, and there is a bond election twice the size of last year’s recent Basin Rec bond, we could see some people say “we just can’t afford this.” That may be enough to put the bond on hold or defeat it at election.
- The Governor’s Office would likely cut growth forecasts. If you’ve been following local issues, you know that transportation and growth are at the forefront of discussions. The one thing to know is that when you hear our area is going to grow by X%… that X% figure likely came from a 2010 Governor’s office report on growth. Recessions tend to both keep people from moving and reduce the number of children born. Those are the two drivers of growth in Utah (mostly the latter). The down stream effects of lowered growth estimates will be interesting to watch across Summit and Wasatch counties.
So, where does that leave us? We actually believe it leaves us in good shape. We need to be reminded every once in a while that things don’t grow to the moon. While there is always growth like the Village at Kimball and the Movie Studio, the Park City area could have gone absolutely hog wild in the last few years. The Discovery Core homes in Summit Park could have been built, Silver Creek’s 1000+ homes could be almost complete, the Boyer Tech Park could have been filled up. As they say, the more you boom, the more you bust. In the scheme of things, we boomed but we didn’t BOOM.
We should know whether that’s an accurate assessment in the next couple of years.
Update: A friend also reminded us that the US dollar is rising versus other currencies. This makes is more expensive for people from other countries to visit Park City… further impacting tourism. Or as a friend put it, “All those people living in China that were going to come ski in Park City due to Mayor Williams’ Park City funded China trips are less likely to come now.”
in Sundance
in Schools
Mr Putt Goes to School Board
One of the best movies of all-time is Mr Smith Goes to Washington. Jimmy Stewart plays an idealistic and naive man who gets appointed to the Senate. When he arrives in Washington D.C. he can’t believe how badly the system actually works. In the end, he launches a filibuster, in a final attempt to make sure land in his home state is used for a worthwhile cause.
We couldn’t help but think back to this movie when Summit County Community Development Director, Patt Putt, attended a meeting of the Park City School District’s Master Planning Committee. The meeting was largely about realigning grades and where ultimately to put the new Treasure Mountain Junior High School (TMJHS) . The conversation had culminated in two ideas, put TMJHS at Ecker Hill or put TMJHS somewhere on Kearns Blvd. The problem, as the committee saw it, was that adding 800 students to Ecker Hill would cause a “traffic nightmare.” The problem with putting it on Kearns is that it would add 400 students (and probably 400 cars) to the traffic problem coming into town on 248.
Mr Putt then speaks up and asks if they have considered putting it on some other piece of land. You see, Mr. Putt has been neck-deep in trying to plan for growth in the Snyderville Basin. He, members of his staff, and the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission have been trying to come up with creative solutions to handling the growth and the traffic that comes with it. He knows what land is destined for development. He knows what the impact of that development will be. He also knows areas that could handle more development. So, his question wasn’t without merit. He obviously had some ideas.
The response he received was that the committee had discussed increasing the boundaries of the school district but that it was complicated because they didn’t want to take tax dollars away from South Summit School District. So, if he could find some land inside the current boundaries, they could talk. Then talk shifted back to the options on the table. The problem with adding schools inside the boundaries is that there just isn’t much open land and it may not be optimal for handling growth. However, there is quite a bit of land outside of those boundaries that may be able to be much better suited for this.
We heard Mr Putt try once again after the meeting concluded. He said something, to a couple committee members, to the effect of, “If there was a way to use some land outside of the boundaries, without impacting South Summit tax revenues, could we pursue that?” The answer was pretty much, “probably not.” At that point, we left. Perhaps, then logic entered the discussion, and Mr Putt was able to convince at least one member of the committee to consider something else. But we doubt it.
This should be the perfect example of organizations working together to solve our collective problems. Everyone knows there is a traffic issue. Yet, it is likely that they’ll put TMJHS on Kearns and realign the grades. That means 400 extra kids will be going to school on Kearns Blvd every day. Add that to the new Park City Heights (200+ homes) and that entry corridor, or should we say parking lot, is going to get even worse. It’s like being 50 pounds overweight, but deciding you’ll eat 3 extra pieces of pie. It’s just dumb.
Frankly, if in even this obvious of a case, our different government organizations can’t work together, we wonder if they ever could. To borrow from another Jimmy Stewart movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, it’s unlikely even a guardian angel could fix this mess. At the end of our movie, instead of little Zu Zu saying “Look, Daddy. Teacher says, every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings,” she’ll say, “I wonder where teacher was today?” Jimmy Stewart will reply, “she was probably stuck in traffic.”
in Sundance
With Another Sundance Starting Today…
With another Sundance starting today, we thought this was appropriate on a number of levels.
And no, Sundance’s economic impact to Park City isn’t lost on us. It just reminds us that everything has its price.
in Environment
Tesoro Pipeline On Hold
We just heard on KPCW that the Tesoro pipeline was put on hold on Tuesday. We don’t have any more information than that but as long as oil prices stay low, hopefully Summit County won’t have to worry about the pipeline.
in Schools
The Likely Outcome With Park City School’s Grade Realignment
Park City School District’s Master Planning Committee has been looking at realigning grades (i.e., shifting which grades are in which school buildings) as part of its exploration of rebuilding Treasure Mountain Junior High School. The committee will then make a recommendation to the Park City School Board. The board then votes on it.
During Wednesday’s meeting, the group said multiple times that it was likely they would at least recommend pre-kindergarten through 4th grade in our elementary schools and 9th grade through 12th grade at Park City High School. This leaves the question of what to do with 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. There are a couple of competing ideas, one would be to have a building with 5th and 6th graders and another building with 7th and 8th graders. A second idea is to have a campus that would house 5th through 8th but have some separation so that 5th graders are not with 8th graders.
As Wednesday’s meeting drew to a close, it seemed fairly evident that a number of committee members were opposed to housing 5th through 8th on the same campus. This was due to the question of where that campus would go (likely at the Ecker Hill school site), the traffic it would generate, and just some general “bad feelings” about the idea.
So, as of now, our money is on Pre-K to 4th at elementary schools, 5th and 6th at Ecker Hill, 7th and 8th at the new Treasure Mountain Junior High (likely still on Kearns), and 9th to 12th at the High School. That said, this of course has to be finalized by the committee, passed by the School Board, and voters would need to vote on a bond for both building a new Treasure Mountain and adding on to Park City High School. So, it has a little ways to go but don’t be surprised if its the final outcome. If this isn’t a course of action you like, ">you need to email the school board immediately. They have received very little negative feedback about this idea. So, as they say, speak now or forever hold your peace.
Receiving Areas in The Basin Being Tabled For Now
We just heard from the Summit County Community Development Department and it sounds like they are holding off on the concept of receiving areas in the General Plan Phase 2. There will still likely be some language referencing that they may be considered in the future. It appears the county wants to consider all options and have details available for the public before they would move forward
So, if you were concerned about extra development occurring in your neighborhood, it appears there will be much more discussion before receiving areas happen in the Basin.
in Boondoggles
Please Just Tell It Like It Is… The Citizens of Park City and Summit County are Paying For Our Leaders’ Trips to Switzerland
In Wednesday’s Park Record, an article discusses Summit County and Park City officials going to Switzerland to learn about trains and gondolas. While we are sure we’ll have more to say about that, what really irks right now is a statement attributed to Park City Councilman Andy Beerman. The Park Record says, “The cost [of the trip] was not known at the meeting. Beerman said it is likely the Mountain Accord will pay most or all of the cost.”
Oh, thank god! At least our tax dollars won’t be used to fund this trip.
Wait. What’s that you say? The Mountain Accord was funded by Summit County and Park City governments, using citizen tax dollars? It can’t be true.
Unfortunately, it is. Park City agreed to contribute $100,000 and Summit County also agreed to contribute $100,000 to Mountain Accord. The State of Utah also agreed to contribute $2.5 Million (through UDOT).If we recall the discussions that were happening at the time, we were told that Summit County needed to contribute money to “get a seat at the table.” It looks like they also needed to contribute to get a seat on the Jungfraubahn Railway.
So, please just tell us the truth. Tell us that Summit County and Park City residents are springing for this. Don’t try to make it sound like the trip is being funded by some benevolent organization like “Mountain Accord.” When we hear that, it just makes it seem all the more fishy.
The New County Manager Needs to Know He Doesn’t Work FOR the County Council
This morning on the radio, KPCW’s Leslie Thatcher interviewed Summit County’s new County Manager Tom Fisher. He seems like a very affable fellow. He made a number of good points like “I just want to step in and learn and listen and understand everything I don’t know because I don’t know a whole lot.” That shows humility and gives the feeling this isn’t his first rodeo. However, one statement of Mr Fisher’s gave us pause:
“The main thing to understand is that I do work for the council and they give me my marching orders and the county’s marching orders.”
In one way that is true. The County Manager is hired and can be fired by the county council. As they say, he serves at the pleasure of the council. Yet, in many aspects of his job, he is an equal to the members of the council. His job is the Chief Executive Officer of Summit County. He runs the day to day operations of the county and has the power to appoint individuals to offices and positions. The council is the legislative body of the county. The difference is that the county council does not perform any administrative or executive functions. There are many decisions, like final approval of the Canyons golf course, that have fallen to the County Manager.
This is not to say that the council and manager should be odds. They should generally be working as a team. However, there are times when the manager has to stand up say, “No. This is my decision.” That’s something that former County Manager Bob Jasper was good at.
We hope Mr. Fisher realizes that’s his role too… and comes up to speed quickly enough to make those tough decisions when they are both important and HIS to make.
Parkrag
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