Confidential Role Information for City of Tamarack
Your negotiation team, consisting of members of the Tamarack City Council, has the authority to enter into any agreement that it deems to be in the best interest of the city of Tamarack The problems that were described in the "Background Information" have existed for a long time. City officials have met periodically with officials of the Twin Lakes Mining Company to discuss these problems. While some small cleanup measures have been taken by the company, the meetings have always ended with the major issues unresolved. The Twin Lakes representatives have always maintained that they did not have the economic resources to spend that much money on cleanup activities. Now the federal and state agencies have mandated a cleanup. While you are pleased that the company people are under pressure to make some changes, you would rather not see the company close its operations. This outcome would have a negative economic impact on the city of Tamarack.
Of course, you would prefer to pay for as little of the cleanup projects as possible, while still having Twin Lakes stay in business. You hope to continue to develop tourism in your city, and that industry is in a growth phase that requires a considerable amount of money. By getting Twin Lakes to finance as much of the cleanup as it possibly can, you can channel your resources into the
tourism industry and the city can develop with the support of both the mining and tourist industries. If Twin Lakes does go out of business in the Tamarack area, tourism will take over as the primary industry, and will receive most of the resources Tamarack has at its disposal. Several options for each of the issues have been discussed in the last few meetings between the city of Tamarack and the Twin Lakes Mining Company. Both parties have agreed on which options for each issue are the most feasible. A detailed explanation of each issue and the available options is
provided in this confidential memorandum. In addition, a point system has been devised so that all
of the issues can be rated on a common metric, to assist you in negotiating. The point system allows you to combine several interests - minimizing expenses and maximizing current and future
revenues, while incorporating opportunity costs and legal considerations - into a single "currency". Each option has been assigned a point value to indicate the quality of that option to YOlL Within each issue, an option with a high point value is a better outcome for you than options with lower point values. Across the five issues, more important issues are assigned a higher maximum level of
points than less important issues. The more total points you gain, the better the outcome is for you.
Your task is to try to earn as many points as possible in this negotiation.
1. Site of Next Mine. There are five locations that the Twin Lakes Mining Company is considering for a new mine site in the Tamarack area. You would certainly like to see the revenues that would accrue to the city as a result of a new mine site. Any of the sites would generate about the same revenue for the city. However, the location of the new mine could have a dramatic effect on future revenue from tourism. Open-pit iron ore mines and tourist resorts are not compatible when they are in close proximity. Some of the potential mining locations have great potential for drawing tourists, and you plan to see that resorts are built in at least some of these areas. Ideally, you would like to see the new mine located at the Eagle Falls Site, because this location has virtually no value
to you as a potential tourist area. This is the best option for you. The remaining four potential mine sites are all relatively valuable to you as future resort locations. They would not make good mining sites from your perspective. According to your projections, there should be enough resort