Hearty souls on the Snowdon Quad in the snow. 

Yesterdays dreary weather moved out of the area with a roar last night. R@*n and sleet gave way to heavy snow showers and high winds as temperatures plunged from the mid 30's to the mid teens around midnight.

At noon time today, the Killington Resort was open with limited lifts. The fixed grip lifts of the Snowshed Double, Snowdon Triple and the Snowdon Quad were operating, as well as the detachable chair, the Ramshead Quad. Heavy icing from the rapid temperature drop, combined with high winds resulted in the limited operations. Inn guests who ventured on the mountain today reported that the open terrain was in good shape, but the high winds and continuous snow fall resulted in a very cold day on the slopes. So it goes.

Let it snow.

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep."
Robert Frost 

It is a wet, dreary, day at Killington. The weather has been the usual spring mix of r@*n, sleet, and snow. Not the best of days to be on the mountain.

Snow surfaces look like they are still holding up. I was actually surprised when I saw the net gain on the snow stake overnight. The storm did start yesterday with several inches of snow early in the evening. Since then, it has been primarily wet, although it is supposed to finish off with snow this evening. We can hope.

Let it snow.

Mary and I are still sidelined from skiing due to the after effects of last weeks flu. We are on the mend, but have a lot of catching up to do.

Our Chef, "Frizzie", who came in 1st runner up in last weekends Jack Daniel's Cook Off, did venture out onto Pico this morning. According to Frizzie, the word for the day is "Loud". Conditions at Pico were very firm. Groomed surfaces were skiable with a lot of noise. Un-groomed surfaces not so good. Frizzie thought that conditions would continue to soften up as the afternoon sun had a chance to work on the terrain. I have not had a chance to speak with our guests who went to Killington this morning. I would guess that they will be enjoying spring like conditions in the afternoon sunshine.

Let it snow.

Long time Killington Town Manager, Dave Lewis, being recognized for his service to Killington at Town Meeting. 

In a ceremony fit for a skit out of Saturday Night Live, two town constables were called to approach the podium at Town Meeting before the discussion of Town Meeting Article 8 began. In quick succession, Town Moderator MB Neisner stepped down from the podium and was quickly wrapped in a flak jacket by the constables. Regaining his composure, MB implored to the huge, and now laughing, town meeting crowd: "No Head Shots Please".

So goes town meeting day at Killington. For the Civics students, it is always a direct lesson in participatory democracy. For many, it's a classic Greek drama..a little comedy, a little tragedy. For everyone it is a chance to express how they want the town of Killington to be governed for the following year.

This year the most contentious item was Article 8 placed on the ballot by the Selectboard to raise a 1% local options tax on meals, rooms, alcohol, and retail sales. The funds, which will start being collected October 1, are destined to fund an office of Economic Development within town government.

Debate on the article was vigorous, both for and against. Chris Nyberg, President of the Killington Resort, and who is not a Killington citizen, was granted special permission to address the crowd. Chris presented an alternative to Article 8 that Powdr was recommending to local voters. Bill Bauer, who along with Chris Karr, leads the Killington Economic Growth Initiative gave an impassioned speech near the end of public discussion imploring town citizens to reject Powdr's alternative and vote yes on Article 8. After almost 90 minutes of floor debate, the article was voted 167 in favor, 87 against. Killington will have a local option tax in October. So it goes.

The rest of town meeting had little contention. The only other segment with any drama was for the one position up for re-election this year on the select board. In a rare challenge, Jim Haff challenged incumbent selectman Mike Miller for the position. The vote was split almost 60/40 in favor af Mr. Miller who retained his seat on the selectboard.

Dave Lewis, retiring town manager, was honored with a standing ovation during the meeting. A fete for Dave to be held June 8th at the Summit Lodge was announced today during the ceremonies. And Dave Gouchberg was honored by the recreation department as the Kenneth Kranz Volunteer of the Year.

Let it snow.

Taking picture of the snow stake after last nights snowfall. 

As I sit here at my desk, still suffering from the effects of the flu, I look outside my window in amazement at the amount of snow that is piled high around the inn. In the last week alone, the snow stake has recorded a solid 10 inches of additional snow, moving the total from 24 1/2 inches to 34 1/2 inches in the last seven days. And the snowiest part of the year is still to come. Hopefully later next week I will have a chance to go out and play in it.. so it goes..

Let it snow!

PS... I have caught up on all my reading. Between Scientific American, the Atlantic, Information Week, Conde Nast Traveler, DR Dobbs Journal, and Ski Magazine, I have been keeping the brain engaged. Of course, I have found myself switching to the History Channel on TV to get away from the incessant Obama/Hillary confabulation occurring on all of the news channels. But thats for another day.

 

The Vermont Council on Rural Development Killington Community Meeting jointly sponsored by the Killington Select Board and the Killington Economic Growth Initiative is scheduled to take place this evening starting at 6:30PM in the Sherburne Elementary School on Schoolhouse Road in Killington. This meeting, which was rescheduled from Tuesday the 26th due to the snow storm Killington experienced, is a follow up meeting from the community meeting held in late January.

Let it snow!

Mary coming across Great Eastern at the top of Bear Trap. 

I have been out of action for the last 30 or so hours with what may be a case of the flu.

Pretending to be healthy, Mary and I ventured out on the mountain for a few runs yesterday. I lasted 4 runs before calling it quits and heading off to bed for the rest of the day....so it goes.

Last night, Mother Nature dumped on Killington once again. The snow stake at the inn is sitting at 32 inches, which I believe is a record since I put it up 3 years ago. I will have to check back in the photo library to make sure, but there is a lot of snow on the ground at the Inn and on the mountain.

Monday evening, at a regularly scheduled meeting of the Select Board of the Town of Killington, Town Meeting Article 8 was discussed. Article 8, for those of you who are interested, reads:

Article #8: "To see if the Town will, pursuant to Title 24 Section 138 VSA, assess (1) a one percent sales tax; (2) a one percent meals and alcoholic beverages tax; and (3) a one percent rooms tax, all being effective as of October 1, 2008. The revenue shall be expended by the Board of Selectmen only for municipal services which will be used for the creation, funding and staffing of a municipal Department of Economic Development and a volunteer advisory Commission and to generate additional four season business activity while stimulating the local economy through diversification and expansion of entertainment, special events and infrastructure to ensure that the Town of Killington remains a dynamic and vibrant destination."

Parsing Article 8 on the town meetings agenda into it's constituent elements leaves you with:
A. A program to begin focusing on ways to improve the Killington economy and;
B. A method to fund that program in a sustainable manner via tax collections.

Around town, there is almost unanimous support for the creation of a program to improve the Killington economy. At the margins, people will debate in a spirited fashion the scale and scope of such a program, but it would appear that many in town are in favor of it.

The method of funding a program to stimulate economic growth is another issue. On this issue, there is much debate.

Many in town favor the collection of a 1% option tax. Support for this is all over the map ranging from a belief that it is sustainable, that is is not voluntary, and that it gets most of its money from the Killington Resort; who by the way is the largest individual collector of sales, meals and rooms, and alcohol taxes in the community.

Others in town favor funding the program directly from the business community, either through the Killington Chamber of Commerce, or through the creation of a private foundation. One of the primary drivers for funding the effort privately revolves around the uncertainty of allocating tax money. Private funds can be directed by the "board" controlling the funds. Tax money is directed year to year, based upon town budgets. While the current board of selectmen have committed to spend any moneys collected from a local option tax on economic development, by law they can not commit funding for future boards or town budgets.

Another driver for funding the activity privately is the way taxes are collected in the state of Vermont. Any local option tax collected by Killington will only return about 65% of the proceeds back to the town. The State of Vermont will keep approximately 35% of the proceeds with 30% allocated to a program named PILOT and 5% used for administrivia.

Into this mix, the Killington Resort presented the board of selectmen with an alternative proposal on Monday evening. The resorts proposal, assuming town meeting Article 8 does not pass, included the following elements:

1. The Killington Resort would make an immediate contribution of $250,000 to the Killington Chamber of Commerce.
2. The Killington Resort would make an annual contribution equal to 1% of their revenue generated by rooms, meals and alcohol sales on an annual basis to the Killington Chamber of Commerce. This contribution would be conditional, provided that local businesses match by contributing 1/3rd of 1% of their revenue generated by rooms, meals and alcohol to the chamber as well. To put this number in perspective, Killington would contribute annually on the order of $200,000 with local businesses being asked to match the contribution with an additional $100,000 using tax figures available from 2006.

Where this will all go is a big open question as we head to town meeting day next Tuesday. In the past, I have strongly been in favor of creating a group to pursue economic development in Killington. I have also gone on record in public as saying that funding that group by tax collections, in so many words, stinks, but if no other method of sustainable funding could be found, I would have to hold my nose and vote for the tax.

While many of the details of the Killington Resorts Plan need to be finalized, I do believe that the resorts proposal provides a viable alternative to create a sustainable funding mechanism to reach the goal, without increasing taxes. Therefore, I no longer need to hold my nose while voting. I can comfortably vote no on Article 8.

As a reality check, for business owners in Killington, it is a zero sum game. They will either need to raise prices 1% through increased taxes, or find 1% in their operating budgets to provide as a voluntary contribution. Either way for a business, 1% is 1%. To the general public, however, raising taxes is a very negative message. Voluntary contributions by businesses working together for the good of the community is a very positive message.

No matter which way the town of Killington votes on Article 8 next Tuesday, much has been accomplished this year by local citizens working together. Whether Article 8 gets voted up or down, at the end of the day on March 4, the town of Killington will have in place a method with sustainable funding to pursue growing the local economy. And that is a very good thing.

Let it snow!