Mayor Nann Worel in late March delivered a political bombshell during the State of the City address, telling the crowd she would not seek reelection.
The announcement in many ways overshadowed the rest of the remarks that evening. But she also made other statements that were noteworthy, including outlining a plan to seat a committee that would be tasked with considering the early steps of City Hall’s preparations for the 2034 Winter Olympics.
Nearly three months later, there has apparently not been significant movement toward the creation of a local committee that will be designed to address the Games.
City Hall on Monday said the timeline to form the committee has been delayed slightly as a result of staff changeover at the Marsac Building with the arrival of a new deputy city manager. The municipal government indicated there will be progress toward a committee shortly, but it did not provide details or a schedule.
Worel herself during her March remarks provided few details of her vision for a committee, but it appeared it could include former leaders of Park City. There are numerous people remaining in the area who held important duties during the 2002 Winter Olympic era, including two former mayors. She did not address a timeline when she made the announcement.
It is not known what sorts of figures will be appointed, the precise work that will be conducted nor an expected completion date. Although the mayor will leave office in early January, it seems that the committee’s work would not necessarily need to be completed prior to the end of her term since the group will be addressing a topic that stretches through the next nine years, regardless of which mayoral administration is in office.
The Park City area is critical to the overall plans for the Games, as was the case during the 2002 Winter Olympics. Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park are identified as competition venues. The area will also be key to the transportation, security and celebration plans.
City Hall itself will ultimately be expected to have a heavy Games-related workload as it crafts the blueprints for operations within the community. Numerous decisions will be made in the years before the Games, including the role Main Street will play, the use of other public properties, and how the transit system and the police force will be integrated into the broader plans that will be made by the organizing committee putting on the 2034 Winter Olympics.
The apparent lack of progress since the announcement of the committee follows months after another expected early effort related to the Games did not proceed as planned.
The Park City Chamber/Bureau last summer delayed hiring a consultant to assist with the early work toward 2034. The Chamber/Bureau, City Hall and the County Courthouse were cooperating on the plans to tap a consultant to create a 10-year plan for the Games. The completion date for the work at the time of the posting of a request for proposals for a consultant was Jan. 15. The Chamber/Bureau at the time of the delay indicated there was broad interest in the request for proposals, but the tourism organization wanted to reconsider the scope of work and then re-issue a request. A new date has not been publicized.
The Park City area, regardless, holds influence as the Games region starts the planning. There are numerous people from Park City and surrounding Summit County named to posts within the hierarchy of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games that is organizing the event.