Fresh start for Sandy aquarium?
Criminal charges were filed Thursday against a former aquarium financial clerk accused of stealing aquarium funds. Meanwhile, three new board members were voted onto the aquarium's board.
The Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office charged Michelle Baer, who was an accounts-payable clerk at the aquarium for four months, with theft and forgery, both third-degree felonies; theft by deception and another count of theft, both class A misdemeanors.
Sandy police and the district attorney have been investigating the case for two months. Baer, 41, is accused of taking deposits and altering payroll records. She was fired in February, after aquarium leaders noticed she was reducing the medical and dental benefits on her paychecks.
"It's a good thing she was caught and identified, and I hope she gets help as a result of this," said aquarium board chairman Brad Carroll. "I'm sad for Michelle because I know this is going to be a tough road for her. At the same time, I'm glad from the aquarium's perspective that our financial systems were in place to catch it quickly."
The total loss to the aquarium was about $5,700, but Carroll said Baer was terminated for theft of approximately $700 in aquarium funds.
Amid the financial turmoil, 10 of the Sandy aquarium's 12 board members have resigned in the past three months.
The three new board members appointed Thursday are local doctor Fred Grimmer; James Marshall, owner of Sandy restaurant Johanna's Kitchen Restaurant; and David Pack, a local entrepreneur. The board now has five members, and aquarium leaders would like to eventually have a 14-member board.
Carroll and aquarium executive director Brent Anderson hope a new board and other private donors will help provide funds to eventually build a larger exhibit somewhere in Salt Lake County. Carroll and Anderson want to seek a donation of three to five acres where a 90,000-square-foot aquarium exhibit and 5,000-space parking lot could be built.
The aquarium leaders are also "entertaining offers from government entities," Carroll said, although the aquarium officials announced earlier this month that they would no longer pursue a $34.5 million bond from Salt Lake County. The announcement came after most Salt Lake County Council members said they would not support a bond for a new aquarium facility, in light of the recent resignations of the aquarium's board members, mounting financial problems and rumors of bad management.
Aquarium leaders also have decided they will not build at 336 S. 400 West in Salt Lake City. That land is owned by the city's redevelopment agency and has been preserved for the aquarium expansion for years.
The current aquarium is a small-scale preview exhibit located on 43,000 square feet inside an old grocery store at 725 E. 10600 South in Sandy.
Contributing: Leigh Dethman
E-mail: astowell@desnews.com
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