The Provo/Utah County Ice Sheet Authority might build its Olympic practice ice facility at Seven Peaks Resort if the proposal meets guidelines needed to qualify for tax-exempt bonding.

Seven Peaks owners want to build the authority's $7 million ice sheet at their resort in exchange for running the facility. Instead of one sheet, however, the group is proposing to build a structure with two ice sheets for the same price.The ownership group has changed its proposal several times to address concerns of authority members, and the proposal sounds more enticing each time.

"We basically had to go back to the drawing board," Seven Peaks co-owner Max Rabner said.

Authority members were first concerned about joint ownership of the facility. Seven Peaks came back and agreed to donate land for the building and let the authority own it. Concerns were then expressed over management fees and proposed sharing of profits and losses.

Last week Seven Peaks presented another proposal where it would build the facility with the authority's $7 million, the authority would own it and Seven Peaks would lease it back for an annual fee. By leasing the facility, Seven Peaks would keep any profits but would also assume all losses.

Seven Peaks is proposing to lease the facility for 20 years, with three consecutive 10-year renewal options. The annual lease payment would be 5 percent of the authority's annual debt service, which would amount to an annual payment of between $25,000 and $30,000 a year.

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"This is an approach that has been used to build several sports facilities around the country," Rabner said.

The group's new proposal also calls for the authority to buy about two acres from Seven Peaks for $400,000, and Seven Peaks would use the money to purchase operating equipment the authority would otherwise have to buy.

The authority plans to build the structure with $7 million in bonds issued by the Provo Municipal Building Authority. Provo will repay $2 million and Utah County will repay $2 million. The Salt Lake Olympic Committee will repay $3 million from revenue received from the 2002 Winter Games. To build the facility now, the SLOC and Utah Sports Authority agreed to pay almost $1 million in interest.

To qualify for tax-exempt bonding, Larry Denham, financial adviser, said the proposal needs to meet rules established by the U.S. Treasury Department, which could limit lease and management agreements of the facility.

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