"If for no other reason, I hope this project goes through so we can see this restoration."
That was the response by Ketchum Councilman Baird Gourlay to a presentation on planned improvements to Warm Springs Creek done as part of the proposed Warm Springs Ranch Resort.
At a public hearing Tuesday night, Michael Homza of GeoEngineers was just one of the specialists to speak about the environmental efforts that Park City-based developer DDRM Greatplace has promoted as an integral piece of the five-star resort's design.
Homza explained that to accommodate the existing golf course, Warm Springs Creek was straightened and steepened, leading to a situation in which the water now flows at a faster rate, cutting away the banks of the waterway as it digs deeper into the riverbed.
In turn, neighboring residents have installed rip-rap to protect their property, causing the river to move still faster.
Homza said these stream alterations have kept water from naturally running into the floodplain, leaving the impacted riparian areas without necessary irrigation.
During the early phase of the resort project, Homza said that adding "boulder drops" and an irrigation pond, as well as decreasing the amount of rip-rap and reshaping the banks, would combine to help restore the natural environment along the mile-long stretch of creek.
This portion of the project was well received by the council, as was the plan to reduce the turf-covered area of the golf course by 50 percent. Landscape architect Todd Neill said that would reduce the amount of water needed for irrigation.
Along with that step, Ketchum green architect Dale Bates said the resort would use natural fertilizers on the course to further lower the impact of the facility.
While the specifics of many of Bates' plans would not be available until the design review process, he told the council that different methods of alternative energy are being considered, as is a garden to provide produce for the hotel's kitchen.
Despite the environmentally friendly intentions of the developer, some members of the public said that even if these efforts are successful, the size of the 93-foot-tall hotel would by itself keep it from being considered green.
However, Councilman Charles Conn said significant green design would help offset doubts about the resort.
"The more you do well on these fronts, the easier it is for people to accept the overall project," he said.
Due to a recently made increase in the proposed square footage of the project, the council remanded a segment of the application back to the Planning and Zoning Commission, which is scheduled to deliberate on the project's size, parking and ratio of "hot beds" on Monday, Dec. 8. The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.
The council will hold another public hearing on Wednesday, Dec. 10, to go over the project's fiscal feasibility with a presentation from the developer's economic consultant. Also on the agenda are community benefits and recreation. This meeting will take place at the Presbyterian Church of the Big Wood at 5:30 p.m.
Council deliberation on the entire project has been tentatively scheduled for the week of Jan. 12.
