New York man dies in ‘serious incident’ at Heavenly

Ashleigh Goodwin

Tahoe Daily Tribune

A New York man died Wednesday, March 1, at Heavenly Mountain Resort.

The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office identified the deceased as 46-year-old Wesley Whalen.

Heavenly Communications Manager Cole Zimmerman confirmed a serious

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to the Mosquito Road bus depot.

The last-second changes to the plans previously considered by the city council and City Manager Cleve Morris came as an unwelcome surprise to Seana Hartsell, who has managed the market since its inception.

“I feel slapped in the face because this is not what I was expecting,”

Hartsell said. “I spoke with the city manager and looked at the Fox and Ivy lots and at the Mosquito Road area, to do my research. I haven’t even looked at this lot; I didn’t even know it was there and it was never mentioned as an option. I now only have three months to prepare, to figure out what the council wants, to change permits, to change our address with payment processors. And now we’re going to lose a lot a business because we’re moving with little chance to advertise that.” incident took place and said ski patrol responded to an expert trail near Roundabout on the California side of the resort where they discovered Whalen. After further emergency care and evaluation, the man was pronounced deceased at the California Lodge base area and transferred to the El Dorado County coroner.

Hartsell indicated that of the two options presented, she felt that the Mooney Lot was preferable as the Wednesday night summer market has Main Street in the name, so relocating to Mosquito Road wouldn’t make much sense.

The long-term viability of the market may now be in question, with Hartsell referring to a study she claims indicates that moving a market is akin to having to start a new one entirely. The word of mouth that developed for the past 14 years will direct people to a market that no longer exists in the space it once did, which may lead many to assume it has closed rather than just moved down the road. Prior markets on or near Main Street have been moved in the past, one from the Fox Lot to the post office and another from the Ivy Lot to the bike trail behind the lot, and managers of both claimed a significant loss in visitor traffic as a result. Both have since ceased operations on Main Street entirely.

That questionable future viability is a concern for Hartsell but it also worries farmers like Greg Rockney, who rely on the market for income.

Sgt. Alexander Sorey said his office

“Honestly, (the choice to move the market) basically takes the clothes off my kids’ back,” said Rockney, owner of Rockney Farms in Camino. “I’m a farmer, so I can always feed my family, but when I started farming here seven years ago people were trying to get me to do the markets in (Sacramento) to make more money. But I wanted to maintain a local focus and do this market and get these goods to my community. I finally felt I was making a living doing this and now I feel like I’ve been rejected by the city. Not the community I was trying to serve, exactly, but the city in which the community lives. I’m just hurt.”

The contract between the city and the market was a murky subject for the council to consider due to unclear wording. Though the market has been operating in the same location since 2008, the first formal contract was put into place in 2014. Since then the contract has been renewed automatically every year with little to no change. Language in the contract stipulates a deadline of 120 days prior to the anticipated first day of the market to cancel the contract; what is unclear is whether that extends to amendments. Mona Ebrahimi, attorney for the city, indicated the contract did not specify conditions for alterations, though Mike Owen, board president of EDC Farm Trails, has previously indicated that he thought such changes might be perceived as a breach.

“So it’s as clear as mud,” Placerville Mayor Michael Saragosa joked during the council meeting.

Saragosa and other members of the council chose to press on with the changes, saying they thought multiple discussions expressing an intent to move the market constituted fair advance warning.

“We talked about moving this two years ago, then let them stay last year,” Vice Mayor Jackie Neau said. “The fact they haven’t done anything to prepare to move knowing that this has been part of the conversation, I’m less sympathetic towards. This feels like another stall tactic.”

Reasons for the move are multifaceted, with safety concerns, received a call at 2:49 p.m. for a report of a deceased person. A coroner detective arrived and completed an investigation. Next of kin was notified.

“Heavenly Mountain Resort, Heavenly Ski Patrol and the entire Vail Resorts family extend our deepest sympathy and support to our guest’s family and friends,” said Tom Fortune, VP and COO of Heavenly and the

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quality patient-centered care to the residents of our community.”

Danovaro’s return to healthcare also marks her return to the Sierra Nevada foothills; she raised her family in Auburn while she was at Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital prior to moving for her time at McGeorge, and she moved to Camino last year.

“I am so glad to be back in the Foothills,” Danovaro wrote. “El Dorado County is a great place to live and work. The people are dedicated to maintaining a healthy quality of life and committed to the wellbeing of the community. Residents of El Dorado County are some of the most generous individuals I have had the honor and pleasure to meet.”

Danovaro leads a new iteration of the Marshall Foundation, as the board of trustees also announced its integration with Marshall Medical Center.

The integration with the hospital is an administrative change that gives hospital leadership more involvement with the operation of the foundation, according to Lourdes Edralin, the financial considerations, parking and complaints from brick-andmortar businesses all contributing to the council’s choice.

Safety concerns stem from the market operating on Main Street without shutting off traffic down the main thoroughfare. The city spends an estimated $300 per market filling and placing water barriers around the market to protect merchants and customers, a cost incurred by the city that is not paid for by the market. Yarbrough spoke up on this matter, sharing his opinion that it was unfair to place this negative as a fault of the market when it was city officials who made the decision to place the barriers. Neau responded that the precaution had been foisted upon the city by insurance considerations.

Parking space availability was considered a potential issue no matter where the market was moved, with Saragosa commenting “it’s almost a kind of whack-a-mole game,” with any location of the market potentially drawing frustration from one business or another due to a loss of spaces.

Complaints from Main Street business owners varied in a survey regarding the market that had been distributed prior to the Feb. 14 council meeting by Morris and Terry Zeller, director of community services. Concerns included impeded traffic to stores directly behind the market, frequent uses of Placerville Hardware’s bathroom facilities by people who were only customers to the market and parking issues that created difficulty for some customers trying to pick up prescriptions at Robinson’s Pharmacy. Dennis Thomas, owner of the pharmacy, explained he was not opposed to the market as a concept but was only concerned with serving patients.

“A lot of comments were made that people hated the farmers market and that’s simply not true,” Thomas said. “I’m advocating for my patients, for people that really need quality health care. As the market has grown, it has come into conflict with our ability to service our patients. For me it’s just about the availability of parking and access to the pharmacy.” Survey responses were made public, a surprise to some downtown merchants. Those who shared concerns regarding the market have reportedly seen negative blowback on social media, with some calling for a boycott.

“None of us knew those surveys were going to be made public,” said Angie Anderson, owner of Pop Art Gallery. “I love the market and spent $50 a week there every week. Now I feel threatened by people calling for boycotts. I’m executive director of marketing and community relations for Marshall Medical Center. Edralin also said that the integration would bring about benefits such as increased administrative support that will lower the foundation’s financial overhead, allowing donor dollars to go further. honestly very hurt.”

Tahoe Region.

Heavenly, according to the company’s website, had received 86 inches, or more than 7 feet, of snow in the past week, with much coming from a blizzard on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, the day began with lingering snow showers before turning into a sunny, bluebird day.

Danovaro will be replacing Jamie Johnson, who served as executive director for the foundation from 2018 to January of this year. Foundation officials declined to say why Johnson left the position, though the change in organizational structure was identified as a potential factor.

Marshall Medical has long been intertwined with community philanthropy, the original hospital was built thanks to efforts of the county community in the late 1950s that identified a need for better medical care in the area. The Marshall Foundation maintains that spirit, raising funds that go toward the hospital and allow it to continue to operate as one of the last independent acute care hospitals in the state.

Councilmember John Clerici responded to the social media backlash, emphasizing the move of the market was not motivated by vitriol and the situation was nuanced.

“However this gets voted, the city doesn’t dislike farmers markets. They don’t dislike people having fun in public spaces. I don’t have a problem with that,” Clerici said. “These things just work out the way that they do. People calling to boycott businesses against the farmers market; folks may not like it and may not like us but there is a background on all of this. We can’t ignore all the people that come up and talk to us about the issues they’ve been facing.”

The market originally started in the summer of 2008 following a 2007 discussion between city officials, the Placerville Downtown Association and EDC Farm Trails, according to Zeller. Hartsell recalled that the PDA and the city had initiated contact with Farm Trails in the hopes it would start an evening market that would serve as a community hub and bring individuals to the downtown area.