The Spirit of Mammoth
Outgoing Mayor Shields Richardson presented the inaugural “Spirit of Mammoth” awards at the Mammoth Lakes Town Council meeting Wednesday night.
Richardson, in a move that showcased his renowned decisiveness, chose three award winners. He then told his fellow Councilmembers that in the future, when they became Mayor, they would only be allowed to choose one.
Richardson’s picks for this year were Jack Copeland, Sandy Hogan and Betsy Truax.
The Truax pick would seem apropos as she has long been a champion of the new Multi-Use Facility (MUF) destined to be built at Mammoth Creek Park.
I say destined because the expected challenge from neighboring homeowners’ associations to the project’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) never materialized.
Public Works Director Grady Dutton told The Sheet on Wednesday, June 21 that “The statutory deadline, according to CEQA [California Environmental Quality Act] law was June 19 at 5 p.m., 30 days after notice of determination was filed with the State.”
He said that Town staff had gone down to the Mono County Courthouse to double check that no lawsuits had been filed.
“We’re actually going to open bids for some of the site work … in a few days, and we expect to award that in July and start site work right after Labor Day,” said Dutton on Wednesday. “Expect to see activity out there, assuming we get some good bids.”
Council authorized an amendment to its existing contract with HMC Architects on Wednesday for “architectural and engineering design services and construction administration services in an amount not to exceed $695,000.”
Meaning, in the Spirit of Mammoth, we are now committed to destroying our nicest, passive recreational park in order to put up an ice rink and associated parking. In the Spirit of Mammoth, we will spend north of $10 million on an amenity which could have been finished (roof on existing rink) for $1 million.
