A handful of people, representing property owners near the 3,500-acre Cache County side of the Power Mountain Development, said they were satisfied developers were working to alleviate concerns over water, pollution, emergency access and trespassing.

Lee Atwood, mayor of Paradise, said developers will get water from the Weber Basin Water Management District, although new wells will have to be drilled.

However, Atwood said he worries about long-term contamination of the surface water that his residents need.

He told county officials his town must be allowed to withdraw from an interlocal agreement that could require Paradise to provide emergency medical and fire services to the resort's Cache side.

Unimproved Cache roads leading to the resort make it impossible for firefighters to respond in a timely manner, Atwood said, and Paradise residents don't want those roads improved. Atwood said his constituents oppose development dribble "from this project to another project, to another project as it comes down the canyon on the Cache County side.”

Developers put in writing their commitment to leave the gravel road as it is.

Cache County Deputy Fire Chief Craig Humphreys said Weber County will respond to all firefighting calls at Powder Mountain. Cache County Attorney George Daines said all emergency medical, fire and inspection issues will be addressed in a tri-county agreement.

Developers pledged to preserve open space around proposed subdivisions, lodges, restaurants and facilities to accommodate cycling, equestrian trails and other activities. Spokesman Brook Hontz said the plan is to do minimal cutting in the wilderness; ski runs on the Cache side will be increased from three to 11.

"We don't intend to cut more trees. Most of the area is already skiable," Hontz said.

Developers submitted the master plan more than 12 weeks ago, and the group hopes the Cache Planning and Zoning Commission will make a positive recommendation to the County Council, Hontz said.

"It is really our desire to breathe new life into the resort for next winter by putting in new lifts and a lodge and ushering in the new year," Hontz said.

Alvin Cobabe opened Powder Mountain in 1972. The project is being developed by his family's partners, Craig Cox and Mark Arnold. The group plans to build out 7,960 acres in Cache and Weber counties, six miles north of Eden and 19 miles northeast of Ogden.

abrunson@sltrib.com