Deal may save canyon face

That left Davis and the city at odds. Billings said legal sleuthing uncovered Davis' partners, the Sperry and Cappolo families. The families agreed to sell to the city a $10,000 option to purchase their 50 percent stake in the land.

Billings said city officials had to be creative to find the money for the option and the additional $190,000 to buy the land — it comes from the debt-service fund — but they had one other problem: The city couldn't both own the land and maintain its full enforcement rights as a regulatory body.

That's where Valentine entered the fray.

The city will give the option and the $190,000 today to a new company formed by Valentine, a company he named Red Slab after the now-damaged rock formation. In exchange, Red Slab will give Provo a conservation easement. Red Slab will exercise the option and buy out the Sperrys and Cappolos.

Valentine, who is joined by two partners in Red Slab, said the deal is reminiscent of a major three-team trade in professional sports. Billings said Valentine, in his original call to the mayor, referred to the site as "my mountain." Now he's halfway to making a throwaway figurative statement a reality.

"The end result is what is important," Valentine said. "The canyon will start to be protected, Provo has enforcement rights and we can begin to negotiate with the 50 percent owner."

Billings said he won't ask the council for more money. City officials already have applied for a $200,000 grant from a state fund that they hope to pay Davis for his interest in the land.

The council hoped the solution would end the controversy, one they once worried was headed toward confrontations at the excavation site.

"People could have chained themselves to the rocks and they could have thrown rocks, but this is a very deliberate solution," Councilman Steve Turley said.

Provo's part of the deal is complete, and for $200,000 the mayor and council believe they have preserved one of Provo's gateways to the Wasatch Mountains at a cost of about 90 cents per taxpayer.

"This is a legacy investment," Billings said. "This is an investment in the future."

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