Grow organized the committee's second meeting on Friday, suggesting the best way to proceed was to subdivide into three subcommittees that would focus on different issues pertinent to any proposed uses of Wasatch Mountain canyons - not just interconnecting tunnels.
After nearly 90 minutes of debate Friday, there was no consensus that this was the best approach to take.
Salt Lake City attorney Pat Shea was particularly critical, protesting that the neutrality of the process could be tainted if issues such as transportation are explored in depth before the overall group determined what it hoped to accomplish.
But Grow prevailed, contending the only way to make progress was to move past philosophical discussions and "get down to details."
To critics of the process like Shea, he invited them to be on all three subcommittees so they could make sure one area of emphasis doesn't get ahead of the others and exert undue influence on the ultimate conclusion.
"I'd like to get people focusing on answers to key questions," he said. "If one [subcommittee] is a cart and one's a horse, rather than the cart getting before the horse I'd like them to go side by side."
Friday at the state Capitol, three subcommittees will meet one after the other to explore issues related to recreational use of the Wasatch. The meetings are open to the public.
First off is the "Economic Development and Related Impacts Committee" at 1 p.m.
It will be charged with exploring how the mountains handle increased tourism, who benefits economically, whether resorts can maintain their individual characters, the impacts of and on backcountry skiing and summer recreation, the effects of connecting resorts in one way or another, and the quality of the recreational experience.
At 2:15 p.m., the "Mountain Transportation Committee" will take over.
Its focus will be on various transportation options - from ski lifts and gondolas to tunnels, light rail and road improvements - and their ability to handle growth and increased tourism, to lessen canyon traffic, and the implications for air quality and public safety.
The "Watershed and Technology Committee" then will meet at 3:30 p.m. to look at watershed protection and hydrology and the environmental impacts of various transportation and interconnect options, including tunneling.
Participants in Friday's meeting represented Ski Utah and four individual ski resorts, Salt Lake City Water Department, Save Our Canyons, U.S. Forest Service, Utah Department of Transportation, Town of Alta , Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo Bank, Black Diamond Equipment Inc. and Sen. Carlene Walker, R-Cottonwood Heights.
mikeg@sltrib.com
