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No news is not necessarily good news as Park City Mountain Resort and Talisker Corp. announced Friday they could not reach an agreement to end a land-lease dispute by a court-ordered deadline.
But an announcement by attorneys for the companies wasn't all bad. They informed 3rd District Judge Ryan Harris they would like to continue mediation negotiations until Aug. 24.
For decades, Talisker had leased 2,800 acres of ski terrain to PCMR. But the entities landed in court after PCMR failed to meet an April 30, 2011 lease renewal deadline.
Talisker also leases ski terrain to Vail Resorts at neighboring Canyons Resort. Vail attorneys are taking the lead in litigation against PCMR and have stated they would like to operate the storied ski operation.
Earlier this year, the judge ruled in favor of Talisker/Vail and is prepared to order an eviction of PCMR if the parties cannot reach an accord for a new lease.
But PCMR owns the base facilities in Park City and contends the resort cannot operate without them. Further, PCMR said it would appeal the eviction ruling to the Utah Supreme Court.
In response, Talisker/Vail offered last month to allow PCMR to operate the resort throughout the appeals process if PCMR posted a non-refundable bond for lease monies dating to May 1, 2011 — plus attorney fees.
An Aug. 27 hearing is scheduled for Harris to consider what the bond amount would be.
Alan Sullivan, an attorney representing PCMR, said his client is amenable to a bond if it is not too high.
Meanwhile, resort employees, hoteliers, restaurateurs and sporting good shops are watching the deliberations with growing anxiety, hoping an agreement is reached soon.
If PCMR doesn't announce soon that it will be open for the 2014-15 ski season, it could impact bookings and the town's entire economy.