CLARK CO. CONSIDERS CHAIRLIFT INVESTMENT
Friday, May 23rd, 2008 -- 10:29 AM
At a board meeting Thursday night, Clark County supervisors delayed action on a resolution that would authorize $200,000 in Forestry and Parks money to purchase a new chairlift.The Clark County Board has been supportive of [url=http://www.fobmi.org]Bruce Mound Winter Sports Area[/url], but some members openly questioned if this is the right time to pump more money into the facility.
The county's contribution would leverage a $100,000 donation from the Lunda Charitable Trust and $100,000 from the Friends of the Bruce Mound to purchase and install a "refurbished" chair lift.
Brian Staff of the Friends of Bruce Mound was on hand. He projected increased usership because of the list would "pay back" the investment in 5 years.
"The reason we couldn't put a chairlift in 5 years ago?is because everyone knew if you build a chairlift, the (old) chalet would be inadequate," Staff said.
A new $700,000 chalet opened last year, built almost entirely through donations, Staff said. "We know we're going to have a lot more people. We're going to have 20-percent more visits. We might have 50-percent more visits in a couple of years."
But, Finance Committee Chairman Charles Harwick urged caution.
The county just learned their projected interest income would be well below estimates; plus, the usership projections could be thrown off if gasoline jumps to $6 per gallon.
"I like the kids that go there, but I think we have to be a little bit reasonable on what we spend $200,000 for," Harwick said, inviting other board members to offer their ideas to save money when his committee meets next on June 16th.
While the vote had to be postponed for procedural reason, Staff requested a straw poll to gauge support. 18 of the 27 board members in attendance showed support for the resolution, which requires a 2/3-majority. Two were absent. The resolution would require 20 votes if all 29 supervisors were in attendance.
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