CAMDEN — The Snow Bowl has issued a letter of apology to general public (see attached letter), and is offering a refund if any of the mountain’s 1,200 pass-holders want to turn in their season’s passes by early February, a decision that the Camden Select Board unanimously approved Tuesday evening, Jan. 20, but not without some discussion.

The mountain is currently scheduled to open Jan. 31 with the three-person chairlift operating, and Snow Bowl staff hope to extend the season, if possible.

“Clipper and Mussel Ridge trails will be open from the top,” said the Snow Bowl letter, issued after the Select Board meeting. “Depending on weather, other trails will also be open. The current terrain park will be moved up the hill and expanded by then. The carpet lift is already open. The toboggan chute is now open on weekends and holidays, and the Nordic trails are open. The double lift will not be operational this year, but Coaster and Foxy will be open as snowmaking or natural snow allow.”

The Select Board wants to meet in the next two weeks with the Ragged Mountain Foundation and the municipal Redevelopment Committee to get a grip on the finances — what has been spent, what is left to spend, and the status of the cash flow of a complex project funded by public tax dollars in collaboration with a nonprofit raising money through private donations.

At its regularly scheduled Jan. 20 meeting, the Select Board also approved issuing a $2.55 million tax anticipation note ($2 million for the Snow Bowl project, and $550,000 for sewer upgrades), as was endorsed by voters.

Select Board member Leonard Lookner, however, refused to sign the regular municipal spending warrant, which selectmen address every two weeks, and which authorizes expenditures and consistent payment of bills for general town business and across all departments. 

“It’s our responsibility of having some indication of where the money is,” said Lookner, at the meeting, during the conversation about current Snow Bowl finances and municipal expenditures for the project. 

After the meeting, he said: “I believe I have the responsibility to the Town of Camden to make sure that when I sign a warrant I know what I am signing for and where in the budget it is being expended from.”

He said Jan. 21: “Just because the Snow Bowl is a project that we value as a community and are passionate about as individuals, does not give it a season pass to fiduciary responsibility.  I am trying to uphold the responsibilities of being a Town Officer as I see it and being aware of unexpected and unbudgeted expenses is part of that responsibility before we sign a warrant."

Camden resident and Camden Budget Committee member T.C. Bland addressed the Select Board at the end of the Jan. 20 meeting, saying he “would like to see an update on the redevelopment project regarding cost overruns, and what that means for next phase.”

The next phase is the construction of new lodge, budgeted for $2 million.

The Select Board asked Town Manager Patricia Finnegan to schedule a workshop with the municipal Redevelopment Committee and the Ragged Mountain Foundation within the next two weeks to discuss the finances. That will be a public meeting.

The $6.5 million overhaul of the Camden Snow Bowl has exceeded what has been budgeted, but by how much has yet to be specified. The last figure was $800,000-plus. Over the past two weeks, the project’s bookkeeping has undergone forensics.

At the Jan. 20 Select Board meeting, Snow Bowl Director Landon Fake said he anticipated the new chairlift would be running and open to downhill skiers on Jan. 31.

The old double-chairlift, however, will not operate this season. That chairlift, which formerly ran almost to the top of the mountain, was dismantled in preparation for relocating it and using parts of it for the beginner slopes.

He said it will take too long to get the double-chair up and running, and wants to focus on the three-person chairlift. And, the Snow Bowl wants to save some money.

“We feel the frustration of the community and we are sorry,” said Fake, at the beginning of the discussion concerning the Snow Bowl project. 

The chairs, 161 one them, are now on the three-person chairlift, he reported. That chairlift, a 1984 Riblet, was purchased in 2010 from Shawnee Peak and transported to the Snow Bowl as part of the upgrade in 2011. The Ragged Mountain Foundation had purchased it for $105,000, and estimated that year that it would cost another $276,000 to refurbish it.

Fake told the Select Board Jan. 20 that Sugarloaf, the Carabassett ski mountain, sent three lift mechanics to help install the clips on the new lift, “on their dime.”

Mechanics from Stratton Mountain, in Vermont, have also been to Camden to help with the lift.

“It’s been a long, difficult project,” Fake said. But, he added he had confidence that, “finally the project has gotten down to where we feel we have control over most of the components.”

He said the support of the community has been gratifying.

What’s left to do

Fake reported three major tasks left to complete before the mountain could start the lift. The mountain is currently open to the public, and ski training programs are underway. Nordic skiers and snowshoers are able to use the cross-country trails and the lodge is open.

Alpine skiers are welcome to hike up some of the trails to ski down. Clipper and Mussel Ridge are being groomed regularly, to the top.

Fake said the Snow Bowl needed to:

1) Finish installation of the unload platform, where skiers embark and disembark from the chairlift.

2) Complete wiring. There are three different sets of electricians and three different types of wiring, including high-voltage wiring for lift, communication wiring for the lift (computer control panels and lift and cable monitoring), and regular 110 volt wiring to run to the lift operator buildings for heat and lights.

3) Complete Load testing on the chairlift. Early next week, Lake said the state inspector of tramways, a liability insurance inspector, the engineer who did lift design, an electrical engineer, and personnel from the mountain are to meet at the lift for the load test. That involves putting 200 pounds on each chair and running lift at varying speeds. It also involves testing the lift’s download capacity, because the lift is intended to be used for transporting people down the hill in warm weather, as well as up the hill. 

As for the double chairlift, Fake said it would take six more weeks to get it ready for use. That work entails pouring cement for the top terminal. It will be problematic to get the concrete to the top of the hill, and winter temperatures are not conducive to curing cement, he said.

That would delay the double’s operation to March.

“Is it worth fixing the double to just have it for few weeks,” he asked. “My recommendation is that we postpone finishing the double until summer. That would also save us some money in the short term. I think it will be a little bit cheaper in the summer, and will take less time.”

Select Board member John French said: “I think that is a wise move. Deal with it in the summer.”

The board subsequently voted 5-0 to postpone work on the double chairlift.

Refunding passholders

Fake reported to the board: “We have gotten a lot of complaints about our communications. That is frustrating to people. We haven’t always been clear about where the project is. We’re working on fixing that. There will be more frequent updates on Facebook and websites.” 

He said: “The second issue is the delicate relationship we have with the passholders.”

He said passholders, who begin purchasing passes in late August, gamble on the weather every year.

“They don’t gamble on the lift being finished,” he said.

While the snow-making at the mountain has gone well, the lifts are not ready, he said.

“We feel that we have let down our passholders, and they remain half of our ticket revenue,” he said. “That’s where our money comes from to operate in the early season.”

He suggested offering full refunds to passholders, beginning at the end of January, when the mountain starts the lift.

The deal involves offering passholders a few days of skiing on their pass, and then if they want to turn in those passes, to do so then, or the following week. The deadline will be Feb. 5. A full refund would then arrive as a check in the mail from the Snow Bowl.

After that, there are no more opportunities for passholders to recoup money.

“Of course, we hope people won’t do that, but we feel we need to make that offer,” he said.

If 10 percent of the passholders do so, the mountain will lose $30,000 in revenue.

“It will put an end to a lot of debate,” he said. “We hope it is considerably less than 10 percent.”

Select Board member Jim Heard said the issue was one of goodwill, as well as financial.

The board and Fake discussed the merits of offering the refund this year, as opposed to offering rebates to passholders next year.

Lookner said he ran into a mother who had purchased a family pass, and who “perceived the town took her money and did not offer a product in return.”

He said the Snow Bowl operating budget was substantially overdrawn and questioned, “if we do something to enhance the deficit by offering refunds, where is that money going to come from?”

Town Manager Finnegan said the deficit at the mountain existed, “because we haven’t opened for the season, yet.”

Every year, any Snow Bowl budget deficit from the prior year is funded at the beginning of the new season by passholders, which helps carry the mountain into the new season, when revenues from ticket sales and Toboggan Nationals begin supplanting the budget. This year, the mountain received $200,017 in revenue from passes.  

French said: “The budget is always front-ended. If we get going on the 31st, we have a good opportunity to make that deficit back during February vacation.”

Finnegan said the town has a trust relationship with the community.

“If you guys agree to it [refunding passholders], we will find the money,” she said.

“I think it is a great idea to have a refund,” said Lookner.

“Let’s get through this year and get it done right,” said French. “Don’t put it on next year’s budget.”

 The other select board members agreed and voted in favor of the deal.

Thanking Snow Bowl employees

“I think we owe a big thanks to the employees up there,” said French. 

He said the staff put tremendous effort into loading the chairs onto the lift, and otherwise working diligently under a variety of conditions and weather to get the Snow Bowl operational.

Finnegan also thanked the employees and acknowledged the help from other ski areas in Maine, a closeknit community.

She cited the employees as the “heart and soul” and “to get us to this point and say we are open is quite an achievement.”

Those employees include: Tom Beauregard, Sam Collemer, Landon Fake, Bill Fitzcharles, Robert Nash, Shawn Weed, Kim Ackerman, Ross Cameron, Michael Eskridge, Richelle Gagne, George Gendron, Michael Gibbs, William Glaude, John Gould, David Heft, Nik Marren, Lydia McGregor, Thomas McKay, Silas Rogers, Scott Simkins, John Weaver and Stuart Young. (If any names have been inadvertently missed, please email them.)

French suggested Fake investigate opening the Snow Bowl on Tuesdays. Currently, it is closed Monday and Tuesday.

“We’ve thought about it but haven’t come to any conclusions,” he said. “We want to do a survey and see how many passholders we hit on a Tuesday. We are also looking at extending hours.”

Finances

Although members of the Foundation and the Redevelopment Committee were present at the meeting, there was no financial update of the Snow Bowl project.

“We haven’t had a financial update since July,” said Lookner. “I assumed we were getting some report tonight from the Redevleopment Committee.”

That municipal committee was formed in 2009 to get the project underway. At their Jan. 6 meeting, selectmen formally agreed to ask Frank Morong, a former Redevelopment Committee member, to work with Snow Bowl and town staff on the project, and produce a more detailed picture of its finances.

“Maybe I am out of my mind, that the select board had been asking for it,” Lookner said. “There are certainly many people concerned about the finances.”

Finnegan said the group is: “pulling all information together. All three partners need to be ready and available to meet with the Select Board.”

She said the board wanted a workshop about how much money has been raised and where the town stood with the project.

“We sign warrants every two weeks,” Lookner said. It’s our responsibility of having some indication of where the money is. These are non budgeted items we are talking about. I feel like I am in violation every time I sign the warrant in the trust that people put in me as a member of the Select Board.”

“We did talk about having everybody at the table,” said Chairman Martin Cates.

Finnegan said, “Everyone wants to meet and lay it out very clearly.”

The goal, she said, is to determine whether there, “is a gap between where we are now and what need to do to finish the project.”

What’s needed first, she said, are the contractor bills to “know where we are with the project.”

French said the group is, “pretty close to re-categorizing some things so everything is right when they give it to us.”

On Friday, Jan. 9, Finnegan and Fake met with Co-chairman of the Redevelopment Committee Rick Knowlton and Ragged Mountain Foundation President Bob Gordon (who is also co-chairman of the Redevelopment Committee), as well as Frank Morong, to talk about the project’s progress and financial picture. Redevelopment Committee member Peter Gross also attended that meeting.

By Friday, Jan. 16, the expenditures had been fully reviewed, according to Knowlton; however, the projections for project completion required more information from contractors.

He said the committee needed to know if there is cash to finish the lodge. Knowlton was firm that the project would be completed. The issue, he said, is the timing and availability of cash to build the lodge, and whether the was enough money in the bank to move forward with the lodge this year. 

At the Jan. 20 Select Board meeting, board members agreed they would set the meeting date for next week, or the following week.

Both Lookner and Heard brought a state statute to the attention of the board, and requested that the town attorney look into its ramifications for the town.

The statute is “Public Works Contractors’ Surety Bond Law of 1971” (Chapter 14, Section 205) and requires that before any contract exceeding $125,000 in amount for the construction, alteration or repair of any public building or other public improvement, is awarded by the state or towns, that person must furnish a performance bond, which financially protects the town.

Camden has hired a number of contractors for the Snow Bowl project, and both Heard and Lookner urged Finnegan to get a second opinion by the town attorney, Bill Kelly.

Lookner said a citizen had brought the issue to his attention and it was worth investigating.

“This wasn’t just some guy cleaning windshields downtown,” said Leonard.

T.C. Bland, of Camden, spoke to the Select Board at the end of the meeting, when Chairman Cates opened the floor to citizens’ comments. At that point, there was no on left in the Washington Street Conference Room except the board and staff.

Bland told told the board he wanted to see a financial update about the project. He said he had purchased a pass, and was on the town’s budget committee, which is due to start its annual work next month.

“Where do we go from here,” he asked.

“Which is why we want all three parties at the table,” said Cates.

Bland said the committee will have a lot of questions, and he hoped the material concerning Ragged Mountain submitted to its members will “have something meaningful to make intelligent conversation and discussions. My big concern is that we keep going along on this project and come next year, where do we stand?”

Finnegan said the workshop will illuminate, “where we have been and where we need to go to finish the project.”

She said that were more than “114 subs and vendors, and a stack of invoices. They are trying to get them into categories so that you know, or anyone else in this community, will know where it went, and was it used wisely.”

Bland responded that if the town doesn’t accumulate its information until after, “can we say, was that money spent wisely?”

He said the public wants “more information and communication that starts now.”

Related stories:

Camden Planning Board to begin Snow Bowl lodge review (Jan. 9)

Camden Select Board brings in old friend to help with Snow Bowl progress (Jan. 7)

• Camden Snow Bowl to start making snow Jan. 5 (Jan. 2)

• Camden Select Board pushes Ragged Mountain redevelopment project forward over protests of many Hosmer Pond neighbors (Dec. 18)

• Snow Bowl progress report to Camden Select Board continues to be positive (Dec. 3)

• One by one, 20 chairlift towers went up at the Camden Snow Bowl (Dec. 1)

• Helicopter to help raise, place 23 chairlift towers at Camden Snow Bowl (Dec. 1)

• Report: Ragged Mountain Redevelopment Project $500,000 over budget (Oct. 8)

• Camden Planning Board approves Snow Bowl lighting plan as proposed (Oct. 6)

• Camden Snow Bowl on target for Dec. 20 opening, weather willing (Sept. 19)

• Camden to contract with South Portland firm to manage Snow Bowl lodge, base area (July 24, 2014)

• Camden Snow Bowl project remains under DEP scrutiny, making progress, more work ahead (July 11)

• Vermont trail builder takes helm with Camden Snow Bowl project, new phase gets under way (July 10)

• Camden Snow Bowl prepped for more rain, assembling working group to assist with next steps (July 2)

• Snow Bowl mountain mud runoff causes headache for neighbors, town (July 1)

• Camden Snow Bowl anticipates ending season in the black; work begins on Ragged Mountain (March 19)

• Homage to Camden’s Big T (March 15, 2014)

• By wide margin, Camden voters approve Snow Bowl improvement bond (Nov. 5, 2013)

• Camden voters consider $2 million Snow Bowl bond, three zoning amendments (Nov. 3, 2013)

• Camden committee selects new parks and recreation director (Sept. 6, 2013)

• Camden considers $2 million Snow Bowl bond, ordinance amendments Nov. 5 (Sept. 4, 2014)

• Camden ready to put $2 million bond before voters (Aug. 21, 2013)

• Camden pursues federal money to help with Snow Bowl upgrade (July 10, 2013)

• Camden learns about refurbished chairlifts, woven grips and haul ropes (April 10, 2013)

• Last run for Jeff (Jan. 21, 2013)

• Stellar start to season at Camden Snow Bowl (Jan. 9, 2013)

• Camden’s Ragged Mountain loses a good friend (Nov. 7, 2012)

• Ready for packed powder? Camden Snow Bowl to make it quicker, sooner with updated snow guns (Sept. 12, 2012)

Editorial Director Lynda Clancy can be reached at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657