Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Volume 42 | Number 38 s u n
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IDAHO MOUNTAIN
Hemingway plan gets the OK
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Sun Valley showcases Cold Springs project
Camp Rainbow Gold Decision possible Thursday Page 7
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Legislative bill roundup Page 4
AND GUIDE R a n k e d N o . 1 f o r l o c a l n e w s b y t h e N at i o n a l N e w s p a p e r A s s o c i at i o n a n d I d a h o Pr e s s C l u b
Community splits over Quigley Farm annexation Hailey mayor calls for final decision May 3 By TO N Y T E K A RO N I A K E E VA N S Express Staff Writer
Express photo by Willy Cook
The Bigwood River flows with gusto beneath Magic Dam and its spillway Sunday. As of Tuesday, Magic Reservoir was 97 percent full with 185,290 acre feet of water within its confines and an inflow of 6,030 cubic feet per second and an outflow of 6,000 cfs. Water started going over the spillway Wednesday, March 29.
Magic Reservoir gushes out West Magic cut off by flooded road B y M A D E LY N B E C K
M
Express Staff Writer
agic Reservoir’s gushing spillway is causing unprecedented problems. Blaine County Commissioner Larry Schoen compared the visual impact of the spillway to Shoshone Falls as water gushes out at about the same flow that snowmelt is rushing in. He said the Big Wood Canal Co. removed boards to allow for spillover last week, which then impacted the West Magic Reservoir Road for the first time in his or the company’s memory. Wood River Fire & Rescue Chief Bart Lassman said it was also the first time in his 30 years with the department that his swift-water rescue team had to make a flood rescue involving a vehicle.
The rescue Lassman said he got the call at about 2 a.m. Friday. A woman in her 30s or 40s was driving east along West Magic Reservoir Road on her way to work, he said, when water on the road obscured her view of the ground beneath. About two miles west of state Highway 75 at a spot called
the “S curves,” she drove off the road, said Friday afternoon that the woman headed for the Big Wood River. Lass- had been released and the county had man said that once she was stopped and closed the road. He said that by then, he had contacted as many stranded, the water came West Magic residents as up to her lap in the car. possible to tell them that After about 45 minthe county had closed the utes, the woman started road as a safety precauto shake in reaction to the tion. Hartman said there cold water, Lassman said, are about 100 people either which is about when he living or staying in West and other emergency perMagic, and that the road sonnel showed up on the Derek Voss was their only way out this scene. He said she wanted Blaine County Administrator time of year. to get out of the vehicle because she was so cold, The road only to step into water up to her neck. Residents feared being stranded and “We went in to get her,” he said. Lassman said a member of the Wood about 70 residents and interested parRiver Swift Water Rescue team went ties met with public officials Saturday into the water with a rope attached night at the West Magic Resort, accordand with two personal flotation devices ing to Hartman. Schoen said it was then to meet the woman. The rescue team that a protocol was put in place to get member walked to the woman and residents out during the week. gave her the second PFD before they Starting at about 5 a.m. Monday, both walked back to dry ground. County Road and Bridge Manager The woman was warmed in an Steve Thompson walked the road, makambulance, Lassman said, and taken to ing sure that it was stable under water St. Luke’s Wood River because her core levels that were temporarily lowered to about 2 feet. Between 5:30 a.m. and temperature was a bit low. West Magic Fire Chief Don Hartman See emergency, Page 16
“Instead of a dry run, this is a wet run to solve the problem.”
To annex, or not to annex. That was the question posed by Hailey Mayor Fritz Haemmerle to a packed house during a well-attended public hearing about the proposed Quigley Farm development held before the City Council on Monday at the Community Campus. A planned-unit development application in Blaine County was halted in February when the Quigley Farm development team suggested instead a city-initiated annexation of the 200-unit development. Initial county zoning estimates limited the development to 129 units, but that limit was expanded after further analysis by the county to 200 units, based on a density bonus for “superior design.” A Quigley Farm annexation would bring 1,134 acres into the city, 160 of which would be developed as housing, open space, playing fields, commercial space, mixed-use dwellings, a retreat center, a school and offices to the lower third of Quigley Canyon. The plan includes 27 community housing units that would be deed restricted. The vast majority of Quigley Canyon would be dedicated as open space in perpetuity under an annexation agreement, and also preserved under a county application. County officials have said similar commercial uses would be approved under county zoning regulations, but a municipal well site, valuable water rights and about $3 million in city fees would be off the table for negotiations without a city annexation. Some attendees Monday saw annexation as a way to control details of the development. Opponents saw the annexation as an uncertain bet that would cost taxpayers, threaten downtown commercial interests and bring increased traffic impacts. With a development team eager to get started, Mayor Fritz Haemmerle said he plans to make a final decision on annexation by May 3. The Quigley Farm developers—Dave Hennessy, Harry Weeks and Duncan Morton—worked for about a year with the city under an area-of-cityimpact requirement that requires them to hook up to city water and sewer services. Yet the developers
3 million in
$
city fees would be off the table for negotiations without a city annexation.
See quigley, Page 12