Article in September 20, 2007 Standard-Examiner
UTA signs on to begin studies, planning for cableway
BY SCOTT SCHWEBKE
Standard-Examiner staff sschwebke@standard.net
OGDEN - The city has inked an agreement with the Utah Transit Authority to earmark $247,500 for engineering, planning and other studies associated with a proposed urban gondola system, even though the future of the project is in question.
The contract, obtained by the Standard-Examiner, was signed Aug. 29, despite an earlier promise from Mayor Matthew Godfrey that Mount Ogden Golf Course won't be sold to developer Chris Peterson to help fund the urban gondola estimated to cost about $20 million.
Godfrey said concerns from residents who fear the city's trail system in the foothills along the East Bench would be adversely affected persuaded him not to sell the golf course.
Godfrey said transportation information from studies funded through the contract will benefit UTA, not Ogden, because the city wouldn't own, operate or maintain the urban gondola.
"They (UTA) requested the contract," he said. "They need to find out if it (the urban gondola) is viable to get people from point A to point B."
However, a July 20, 2006, letter from Mick Crandall, UTA's deputy chief for planning and programming, to John Arrington, the city's finance manager, indicates at the time the municipality was interested in using the $247,500 allocation to further study the gondola proposal.
"Ogden city has determined that its preferred use of the funds would be to refine the proposal for the aerial cableway which the city is pursuing as part of a public-private cooperative endeavor," the letter says.
Even though the city won't pay for it, the urban stretch of gondola to run from the intermodal hub at 23rd Street and Wall Avenue to near Weber State University could still be built if Peterson finds a way to fund it, Godfrey said.
Peterson did not respond to an e-mail from the Standard-Examiner seeking comment.
Peterson had hoped to buy Mount Ogden Golf Course, along with about 60 acres of adjoining city property and Weber State University-owned land off Skyline Drive, to pave the way for an upscale subdivision.
He also wants to run a separate gondola from Weber State to a resort he had proposed building at Malan's Basin. The Weber State Board of Trustees has refused to sell university property to Peterson.
The agreement between the city and UTA says the gondola's alignment would link the proposed
FrontRunner commuter rail line to Weber State University, providing an important "connection" to UTA's transportation system.
Funding for gondola-related studies would be allocated in exchange for a $247,500 Federal Transit Administration appropriation awarded to UTA last year for a bus purchase to serve the Ogden area, the agreement says. The city helped secure the FTA funding.
UTA will allocate a portion of the funds to pay Salt Lake City-based Lewis, Young, Robertson & Burningham $16,250 for a gondola fiscal impact study completed in November 2006.
The city hired the firm even though, at the time, it didn't have a formal agreement with UTA to do so.
With the exception of the Lewis, Young, Robertson & Burningham bill, UTA will be responsible for all contracts financed in connection with the agreement.
In addition, the city and UTA will jointly develop a "scope of work" for gondola studies that maximizes "benefits to the constituents" of both entities, the agreement says.
It hasn't been determined when that scope of work will be completed, said Chad Saley, a spokesman for UTA.
The city and UTA will also designate an equal number of representatives to a committee that will review gondola-related study proposals, according to the agreement.
In addition, UTA will review all invoices submitted by each consultant to determine eligibility for payment.
Saley said other than Lewis, Young, Robertson & Burningham, he is unaware of Peterson or anyone else seeking payment from UTA for gondola-related work.
After UTA pays Lewis, Young, Robertson & Burningham, the balance of the funds available through the contract won't likely be expended, unless Peterson finds a way to fund the urban gondola, said John Patterson, the city's chief administrative officer.
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