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Ketchum gets introspective

By Allen Best Ketchum perplexed about loss of tourism economy KETCHUM, Idaho –Ketchum’s introspection about its future continues.

By Allen Best

Ketchum perplexed about loss of tourism economy

KETCHUM, Idaho –Ketchum’s introspection about its future continues. Although it is North America’s first destination ski resort, skier days at Sun Valley have been flat, even declining, during the last several decades. The tourism economy more generally has been flat.

“When you talk to business owners around town, you will find a consensus that the town is not sleepy, but that it is comatose,” writes Rick Kessler, a 33-year resident of the town.

“One doesn’t need a lot of statistics to know that year-round residents are an endangered species, that business is down, that activity in town is way down, and the spirit of this community is slowly being crushed,” he writes in the Idaho Mountain Express.

Some have blamed the erosion of hotel beds, some 320 in just the last four years. Developers have wanted, and received, permission for a hotel that would combine for-sale units with the so-called “hot” beds available for rental, similar to what is being offered in most destination resorts of the West. They also want to go higher, a trend also found in nearly all other destination resorts.

The town has conceded the new real-estate component, but not necessarily the height. Kessler thinks opposition is a knee-jerk reaction to change. “We’re just too damned used to things being as they were.”

What is at the core of Ketchum, he says, is not the physical structure, but the people. “The heart, soul and character of this town consist of the people who live, work and visit here.” A five-storey hotel, he adds, will not “change the character of the people who live and work here.”

Ketchum, he says, should “quit treating all developers as fly-by-night hucksters. People who are betting $60 million on a project are going to have to work very hard to ensure its success.”

But another view comes from Milton Adam. Also writing in the Idaho Mountain Express, he argues that “additional hotel rooms will not magically bring customers that never came before.”

He brings evidence that Ketchum and Sun Valley, compared with other resort areas, have far less lodging occupancy than other resorts. Summer occupancy is highest, at 57 per cent, and winter is at 54 per cent — far below most other major ski resorts in the West.

Another number-crunching exercise shows Vail and Beaver Creek had 554 skier days per accommodation unit, followed by Aspen-Snowmass at 356, Steamboat at 299, and Ketchum-Sun Valley at 289.

 

The price of open space

TELLURIDE, Colo.   – What amounts to a giant community bake sale continues in Telluride as organizers scramble to come up with $50 million needed to pay for land the town has condemned at the municipal entrance. Meanwhile, the land owner, Neal Blue, of General Atomic Energy, has indicated through his attorneys that even if the town finds the money, he may continue to fight the condemnation in the courts.

The 590 contested acres are now mostly used for cattle grazing in summer, and a clear majority of town residents during three elections have demonstrated their wishes to prevent development. A jury set the value of the land at $50 million. Also to be paid are attorney fees of $3.5 million and environmental restoration.

The town government has $26 million allocated, and private fundraising has yielded another $16 million. That leaves $8 million still unaccounted for.

The Denver Post reports donations large and small. One anonymous donor gave $5 million, and there are a handful of million-dollar donations. But a bartender also donated his tips for a day, a third-grader raided his piggybank. The paper reports rumors of a donation from Tom Cruise, the movie actor who owns a home at nearby Mountain Village.

However, a substantial minority in Telluride think the effort was ill-advised, even an injustice. The Telluride Watch tells of opposition from Telluride resident Wade Davis to a proposed allocation of $100,000 — in addition to a previous $100,000 — from the San Miguel County treasury.

“You are stealing from the poor to give to the rich,” Davis told the county commissioners.

Davis, a retired corporate CEO, counts himself as among Telluride’s rich. He owns property in Telluride plus 600 acres outside Telluride. The value of both, he says, will be enhanced by preservation of the open space. What’s not to like about it?

“My objection is that they are taking money which should be spent on much-needed projects in the county, especially in the poorer areas, to buy a playground for the rich,” he said.

Davis believes the town has demonstrated a history of refusing to negotiate with land-owners, and because of this no-budget stance, getting less from developers in the way of affordable housing than they should.

Telluride voters last year rejected a compromise negotiated by the town council that would have left 91 per cent of the land in open space, but allowing the developer the right to build 22 mansions. A school site and affordable housing also would have been included. That settlement would have cost the town nothing.

 

DUI no longer legal in Wyoming

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. – The good, old days are over in Jackson Hole and the rest of Wyoming. State legislators have finally passed a law that makes it illegal to have an open container of alcohol in a car on state roads. Wyoming, reports the Jackson Hole News & Guide, was one of the last states to crack down on drinking and driving in accordance with federal wishes.

“When I came to Wyoming 17 years ago, a person could be drinking a beer and have a loaded gun and wave to a cop at a stoplight, and it was legal,” Capt. Jim Whalen of the Teton County Sheriff’s Department told the newspaper.

In Wyoming, as in many other parts of the West, distances have jokingly been defined by consumption of six-packs of beer. One attorney testified that it wasn’t all a joke. Once, after winning a case at the state capitol in Cheyenne, he submitted his costs: a six-pack of Budweiser.

“Given our sparse population and vast geographic distances, Wyoming courts have long recognized the legitimacy of road beer in moderate amounts (one beer for each 160 miles in this case) as a taxable ‘cost,’” said the attorney, who was not identified.

What has changed? Sources say that the death of six collegiate cross-country runners near Laramie, Wyo., in 2001 caused by a drunken driver heightened awareness of the dangers. Others say Wyoming’s libertarian streak is decreasing as younger legislators gain office.

 

Kleenex remains in lift lines

ASPEN, Colo. – Kleenex, the brand-name of facial tissues manufactured by Kimberly-Clark, has been dropped from hotels, clubs, and restaurants operated by the Aspen Skiing Co.

Two environmental organizations, Greenpeace and the National Resources Defense Council, say the company is plundering endangered forests and failing to use recycled paper. The company, reports The Aspen Times, denies at least some of the charges.

But Aspen is leaving Kleenex in the lift lines, at least for now. That may also change. Auden Schendler, Aspen’s director of community and environmental responsibility, is confident environmentally preferable substitutes will be found.

 

Carbondale debates jobs

CARBONDALE, Colo. – Carbondale continues to debate whether it can hold its nose and allow an 80,000-square-foot Home Depot store into the town. Some people think it would make Carbondale look and feel like suburban Denver. Others, however, say the town should accept the need for such a store to boost the town’s finances.

One of the issues reported by Carbondale’s Valley Journal is employees. The store would hire 75 full-time employees and 75 part-timers. Wages would be tops among Home Depot stores nationwide, $9 to $18 per hour, plus benefits. Comparable wages are paid to Home Depot employees in Avon.

But is that enough to survive in Carbondale? The journal cites different viewpoints.

Colin Laird, who tracks economics of the Roaring Fork Valley, thinks it’s not enough. The median wage of $16.80 in Colorado, he tells the Journal, is too little to pay for housing in the Carbondale area.

“It’s not to say $16 an hour is terrible, but our economic level of activity requires more than that; everything costs so much more here,” he said.

But the Journal notes some pricked ears at the employment opportunities, as the insurance benefits alone are attractive to some people.

Carbondale has been debating the future of the 24-acre parcel near the center of town for about four years. Indicators point toward a decision sometime during the next several months.

 

Wabbits get headlines in Canmore

CANMORE, Alberta – Canmore’s prolific feral population of rabbits is again getting broad publicity. Town officials sent out a survey asking the public what should be done, but the survey produced more inquiries from various television and radio stations and newspapers across Canada and the U.S. than local responses, reports the Rocky Mountain Outlook.

In its editorial columns, the newspaper seemed equally annoyed and amused by the limelight. “An ‘issue’ like wascally wabbits woaming the streets is, at the least, an opportunity for non-Valley residents across the country, apparently, to chuckle at the plight of a high-rent mountain town,” said the newspaper.

The Outlook suggested such attention more appropriately should have been bestowed on efforts of a local school bus driver to aid the children in Uganda.

 

Avalanche claims skier

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. – An avalanche claimed the life of a Colorado man in the Tetons on Saturday, while a snowmobiler from Wisconsin died last Tuesday after slamming into a tree.

The Colorado man, Paul Maniaci, was climbing up a peak on the west side of the Teton Range with his brother, who lives in Driggs, Idaho, when they were swept by an avalanche. Using a transceiver, the brother was able to locate the victim within about 10 minutes. He was buried under four feet of snow. However, he had died of trauma and suffocation, the county corner ruled.

Avalanche danger that afternoon had been predicted to be low, says the Jackson Hole News & Guide. The newspaper says the victim, who was in his mid-20s, had been planning to celebrate his birthday the following day.

The snowmobiler, Michael Earl Wilson, 61, was riding the Continental Divide Trail near Togwotee Pass at a speed of about 35 mph when he missed a corner and slammed into a tree.

 

Beetle districts’ bill considered

GRANBY, Colo. – Colorado lawmakers are reviewing a proposal to allow municipalities and counties to form or join special districts to address the bark beetles. The proposed law would allow voters to tax themselves, both by property and sales tax.

Such districts would then be allowed to manage forest improvements, offer incentives for private landowners, and promote local wood products industries. The Sky-Hi News reports a broad consortium of interests testifying on behalf of the bill, although some doubts have been expressed about the effectiveness of such districts.

 

Carbon tax debated

CRESTED BUTTE, Colo. – The Crested Butte Town Council has adopted a moratorium on installation of snowmelt devices. Town officials intend to explore whether to regulate use of such devices, such as heated tape on roofs and heated driveways, or impose a carbon tax.

One other Colorado municipality, Boulder, several months ago attracted broad attention when it enacted a carbon tax. Many global warming activists, as well as most economists in a recent poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal, believe that a carbon tax will be necessary to deal with accumulating emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

The Crested Butte News quotes a town building official as saying that it will probably take a year to craft such a carbon tax.

 

Geothermal heat studied

KETCHUM, Idaho – City officials in Ketchum are investigating whether geothermal sources in the area can be tapped, and if so, whether the energy could be used to create hot springs or perhaps melt snow on city streets.

“I think we should at least ask the question,” said Randy Hall, the city council president. The investigation and planning is allotted six months.

The Idaho Mountain Express explains that Ketchum had a resort using the area’s natural hot springs almost a decade before the Sun Valley ski area was started.

 

Truckee looks for energy

TRUCKEE, Calif.—Now that directors of the Truckee Donner Public Utility district have rejected involvement in a new coal-fired power plant in Utah, how will they meet the growing demand for electricity?

The Sierra Sun reports a plan to acquire energy produced somewhere along the West Coast at a small hydroelectric plant, and possibly geothermal generation in Nevada and also wind generation coupled with natural gas.

In a case that fanned a loud community debate and attracted the interest of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the utility district’s directors this winter rejected the certainty of the coal-generated electricity from the Utah plant and the lower prices that would have been likely.

Responding to the new public interest in power supplies, the utility plans to appoint two 20-member panels, one to advise the directors about conserving water and power. The other is to advise about power supplies.

 

Date-rate cases reported

TELLURIDE, Colo. – A rash of people in Telluride have reported effects consistent with ingestion of the so-called date-rape drugs, GHB or Rohypnol, or “roofies.” But unlike most such reports, at least some of the victims in this case were men.

“I felt so terrible the next day, I just felt poisoned,” one man said. “The tough thing for all of us is it’s hard to remember anything about what happened.”

Melanie Montoya, of the San Miguel Resource Center, said all of the victims reported nausea, vomiting, and extended periods of extreme confusion, and the onset of an extreme intoxifying effect within just minutes.

 

The topics du jour

TELLURIDE, Colo. – Energy and climate change are the topics du jour, and they will be the headlining subject for this year’s Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride. The event, now in its 29 th year, is always held on Memorial Day weekend.

Confirmed speakers to complement the films include Richard Holbrooke, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (and second-home owner in Telluride); James Howard Kunstler, author of “The Long Emergency;” and Leonardo Maugeri, author of “The Age of Oil: The Mythology, History and Future of the World’s Most Controversial Resource.”

 

Charter school aiming at immigrants

EAGLE VALLEY, Colo. – A new charter school opening next fall will take aim at recently arrived immigrants in Grades 9 to 12 who still struggle with English.

“It’s really a young adult language immersion program,” explained Mike Gass, an Eagle Valley schools’ official.

The goal is to curb the drop-out rate, and match the new immigrants with basic language schools and, as a corollary, high school diplomas. For Caucasians, the drop-out rate is 1.2 per cent in local public schools, which includes the Vail and Beaver Creek ski areas. For Latinos, the drop-out rate is 6.5 per cent.

About half of students in public schools there are Hispanic, most of them immigrants.

But unlike at other schools, explains the Eagle Valley Enterprise, students in this new charter school will not be singled out for lacking English skills amid a student body that mostly speaks English. All the students will be equal in their struggles, and hence should find the environment more nurturing.

The charter school will be operated by New America, which already has three similar schools in the Denver area. There, 95 per cent of students come from Latin American countries.

New America was founded by Jared Polis, a younger Democratic Party activist who has become wealthy through several new generation electronic devices.