2016 Camden Town Meeting...

Wed, 06/15/2016 - 09:03 pm

Holly S. Edwards

The 2016 Camden Town Meeting will go down in the record books as being as popular as town meetings used to be in the 1970s and 1980s, with the Camden Opera House filling to near-capacity Wednesday night, June 15. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)

The Camden Snow Bowl on Dec. 21, 2015, four days before what is usually the start of the ski season on Ragged Mountain and leads into a busy Christmas vacation week of outdoor fun and recreation... and revenue. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)

CAMDEN - Following some passionate discussion on both sides of the much talked-about and publicly debated $297,303 Snow Bowl deficit, the full house of Camden voters at the Opera House voted in favor of dipping into the town’s undesignated Fund Balance to cover the recreational facility’s operating losses.

According to Camden Tax Collector Brenda Fisher, she counted more than 330 registered voters at Town Meeting Wednesday night, June 15, although there was at least another 75 people not counted as voters scattered among the Opera House seats, including the balcony. Camden voters had 17 Articles to decide by floor vote, while another nine Articles were decided by secret ballot on Election Day June 14.

After deciding on the a handful of budget articles, Article 14 was “To see if the Town will vote to appropriate funds from the Town’s undesignated Fund Balance to fund the operating budget losses incurred by the Snow Bowl in FY15 in the amount of $81,000 and in FY16 in the amount of $216,303.”

Camden resident Dana Strout was first to speak against the motion, saying that his concern was that the Snow Bowl and the town have no plan for moving forward, including how to fund and build a new lodge, one that was supposed to be included in the original phases of the Ragged Mountain Redevelopment Plan.

“In three years, we have lost $300,000 and this project has been grossly mismanaged from day one,” said Strout. “It’s atrocious to come asking for this money with no plan, without knowing how to pay for this going forward. That's why I am opposed to this article.”

Beedy Parker, another Camden resident, brought up the issue of climate change, and how it will likely continue to impact winter sports and the Snow Bowl. She also questioned whether the town and the Snow Bowl had a plan for dealing with climate change, as it seemed to her it was not part of future plan talks.

John Scholz, a Camden Planning Board member and resident, said he, like everyone else, knows that the Snow Bowl is a wonderful asset to the community. But, he said, the redevelopment project has been lacking in communication and factual information from the start, as evidenced to him by the different answers he gets to the same question, no matter who he asks.

Having spent time reviewing the Snow Bowl Redevelopment plans, he said he has come to believe that the cost of an expanded facility would never be able to be covered by the additional revenue the facility could generate.

“My fear is that if you take from surplus now, you will be back again next year. It will be a different amount but you will be back,” said Scholz. “"Until you can come up with a plan that's credible to us, we should not take from surplus. Surplus is for emergencies, and I don't see the Snow Bowl as an emergency.”

Dorie Kline said “the elephant in the room” is the 2-acre algae bloom currently residing in Hosmer Pond. She said the town and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection don’t know what to do about it, and it's another issue with no plan for mitigation. She said that was concerning because the algae bloom could move and clog the pipes in the pond that the Snow Bowl relies on for snowmaking.

Paul Cavalli spoke in favor of Article 14, saying that as a member of the budget committee and the new Snow Bowl four-season committee, there is much that is positive in the works, including reviews of what the trends have been and how they apply to the future.

“This coming year is the first year that the Snow Bowl will be running at its potential and we can work toward remedies,” said Cavalli.

Ed Doudera asked what would happen if the vote failed and the town did not fund the deficit. Select Board Chairman John French said that the Snow Bowl would have to find the money in other ways, and likely take many years to pay off the debt.

Brian Robinson is a Camden resident, a Snow Bowl volunteer of more than 1,500 hours and has served on the Parks and Recreation and Budget committees. He said that on average over the last 10 years, the Snow Bowl has lost $11,000 annually.

“Its not a whole awful lot,” said Robinson. “"But the last few years have been very atypical.”

He said that the Snow Bowl relies on key vacation weeks and long weekends to make a lot of its revenue, and Mother Nature produced warm weather and rain, which meant no snow, for Christmas vacation week, Martin Luther King week, the Toboggan Nationals and Winterfest week and February vacation week.

“We have yet to see a reasonable year, recently, to have typical revenues,” said Robinson.

French said that everyone has been a big supporter of the Snow Bowl in many ways, and acknowledged the loss and the role town leaders played in some of it.

“Yes, we lost money last year, and I toke responsibility for the deficit, but we’re trying to do what’s right,” said French in asking the town to vote in support of Article 14.

Another supporter in the audience said that the amount being asked for “is a lot of money,” but he said he “didn’t think we should strangle them by not passing this.”

Ragged Mountain Foundation President Bob Gordon, whose organization spearheaded the Redevelopment Project and the majority funding that came from private donations, told the audience that contrary to what some had said earlier in the evening, the project began with a plan and a feasibility study. He also said the growth figure was for 33,000 skier days, which he called “good numbers.”

Skier days represents one person visiting a ski area for all or any part of a day or night for the purpose of skiing or snowboarding.

NOTE: This story was updated June 17 to correct background figures related to the Ragged Mountain Redevelopment Project.

The original cost of the project, including a new lodge, was $6.5 million, but grew in expense to $8.4 million in 2015. Most of the funding has been raised through private donations; but Camden citizens, who own the Snow Bowl, also agreed to issue a $2 million bond if matched by a minimum of $4.5 million raised via private money.

He said Wednesday night that the Foundation has held up its end of the agreement, raising $4.5 million in private dollars.

“We have [also] raised $1.3 million toward the new lodge and we are working hard and moving forward,” said Gordon. “Have perspective and have patience.”

When asked from the floor why that money wasn’t being used to cover the Snow Bowl’s current deficit, Gordon said that the Foundation’s mission doesn’t go there.

“Our mission is to help with capital improvements, not operating costs,” said Gordon.

After Gordon’s comments, the motion was called and the question moved to a vote, which passed.

• Camden Select Board chastises itself for Snow Bowl deficit, forms new committees to help

• Camden leaders make plan to reduce Snow Bowl's two-year deficit

• What to do about the Camden Snow Bowl’s $260,000 deficit

• Sales, revenue up for season ski passes up at Camden Snow Bowl

• Camden readies Snow Bowl for new season; ticket, season pass price increases included (July 20, 2015)

• Camden approves Ledgewood contract for phase 2 of mountain work (May 20, 2015)

• With record snowfall, Camden's Ragged Mountain Recreation Area begins making financial headway

• Camden Snow Bowl Redevelopment Committee, Ragged Mountain Foundation hold community meeting (March 2, 2015)

• Camden Snow Bowl project up to $8.4 million, fundraising resumes (Feb. 3, 2015)

• Making tracks in some dreamy snow at Camden Snow Bowl (Jan. 30)