During Wednesday’s Summit County Council meeting, council members Chris Robinson and Claudia McMullin were having a heated\u00a0debate over whether there should be a connection between the Cottonwood Canyons and Park City as part of Mountain Accord. McMullin argued there was “no way in hell” that it should be allowed while Robinson asked\u00a0something to the effect of \u00a0“isn’t there SOME\u00a0circumstance by which it MAY\u00a0be possible we would allow a\u00a0connection?” We believe McMullin clarified her stance with her original statement.<\/p>\n
However, we began thinking about Mr Robinson’s choice of words and what he may really mean. We heard\u00a0earlier in the meeting\u00a0that having rail up Little Cottonwood Canyon, may require a connection\u00a0to Park City\u00a0to\u00a0make it economically viable.\u00a0So, for conjecture’s sake, let’s say that’s true. Let’s also say, for conjecture’s sake, that there are some powerful forces behind Mountain Accord. If the Little Cottonwood Rail has to happen, and Park City is needed to make it happen, and the backers would do almost anything to make it happen, what would we need to LET\u00a0it happen?<\/p>\n
What if somehow property tax equalization could be Would you trade a tunnel for any of those? Desperate people offer crazy things. Perhaps Chris Robinson knows something we don’t. Perhaps he knows just how desperate someone is.<\/p>\n So, is Chris Robinson playing chess while we’re playing checkers? Maybe. It appears that he thinks there is enough potential there to keep us playing the game. The problem we see is that the likelihood of Summit County actually winning the game is pretty low.<\/p>\n First, Park City has (or could annex) the land needed for a tunnel to the Cottonwoods. Therefore, their whims would be served first.<\/p>\n Second,\u00a0the horse trade will likely turn out to be underwhelming… Something like UDOT agreeing to upgrade 3 buses to Natural Gas and giving us a 10% off coupon to Arby’s.<\/p>\n Third, the farther this progresses and the less specifics around what benefits us, the harder it\u00a0will be to pull out of the Accord (if necessary). At some point, face-saving will put us in a bad situation. While we think we may have leverage in the future, that leverage could be compromised over time.<\/p>\n So, while we think Mr. Robinson may be playing a more intelligent game that we are, we still doubt the outcome. We’d likely prefer a nice game of tic-tac-toe instead. As they say, “Strange game. The only winning move is not to play.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\nended<\/del>\u00a0drastically reduced and our tax dollars stayed in the Park City School District? Or what if a rail loop was built from PCMR to Kimball Junction to Quinn’s and back to PCMR for us? Or what if UDOT provided and operated 30 buses for use within the Snyderville Basin (with no charge to us)?<\/p>\n