Middlefield Board of Selectmen holds Powder Ridge meeting
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 - 10:28am
Mostly, it seems, people are tired of speculating what may or may not be happening on the Ridge, aka Powder Ridge Ski Area. The Middlefield Board of Selectmen (BOS) has been holding an executive session after most regular meetings to discuss ongoing negotiations with Alpine Associates, Inc., the current applicant for buying the property. However, the BOS decided at the last minute to hold a special meeting on Thursday, July 15, in an effort to provide Middlefield residents with information on where the town currently stands in regard to the possible sale of Powder Ridge to Alpine Associates, Inc.
According to First Selectman Jon Brayshaw, the attorneys for both parties are currently handling the majority of the negotiations. At the present time, no contract has been reached, merely a discussion on what Middlefield and Alpine expect out of the deal based on an exchange of three letters since May.
The correspondence began with a May 17 letter from attorney John Corona, who is representing Alpine. That letter listed 12 understandings that would make it possible for Alpine to go forward with the deal to buy the ski area. Town attorney Ken Antin and Corona have been doing the major negotiating, and by last Thursday’s special meeting, both parties have reached agreement on six of the 12 items, while the remaining six were the primary points of discussion at the meeting.
Areas of agreement at this time seem to be development rights (no residential development), tree and equipment removal (leave the quad lift, be sparing with trees), sale of personal property (town may sell snow guns), due diligence period of 90 days after signing contract for Alpine to closely investigate property, reversion rights to Camp Nerden (town gets these), and deposit upon signing contract ($25,000, except Alpine wants it refundable under certain circumstances).
Of the areas of disagreement, the biggest seem to concern the state DECD grant of $540,000. Both parties agree that no one can predict what the state will do though the grant seems secure. Whether or not it is received and in what form may ultimately affect purchase price however.
Another issue is just how much of the property will be conveyed. Alpine currently wants all of the Powder Ridge property, while the town initially wanted to keep seven acres of land along Powder Hill Road as open space. As Alpine is willing to offer a conservation easement on that part of the property, Antin believes that the town has no issue with granting Alpine all of the land. However, Antin appeared unsure about whether the state grant was contingent on developing the property for business, in which case whether Alpine owns it all is immaterial, or if the state is more concerned with open space, which might point to the town holding that seven acres. However, Antin stated, “I personally don't consider it a deal breaker.”
Alpine is offering $1 million to the town to offset the $2.8 million used by the town to buy Powder Ridge from Middlefield Holdings. Should the town fail to get the state grant, Alpine wants to apply the $225,000 closing fee to Middlefield Holdings against the $1 million offset, reducing it to $775,000. Antin felt that the town would be unwilling to agree to that, but noted that failure to obtain the grant during Alpine's due diligence period could be grounds for the group to reclaim its $25,000 deposit to the town.
Another item to be resolved, mostly by town action, is accessing Lake Beseck for creating snow. Antin noted that Powder Ridge may be the southernmost ski area in New England, necessitating the creation of artificial snow. While diversion permits are in place, Antin explained that they “do not correspond to the reality on the ground,” as they grant access to the eastern side of the lake through a winding path that makes it unrealistic for water to reach Powder Ridge. Rather, the permit must be changed to grant access to the western portion of the lake. This presents a problem because of the various land owners between Powder Ridge and the western portion of the lake. While the town has negotiated with most of them, an agreement has yet to be reached with Budding Rose, purchaser at auction of the property formerly known as the Green Forty. First Selectman Jon Brayshaw explained that he was negotiating about bringing a waterline through the Budding Rose property, but Alpine also wants to run an access road from the Powder Ridge property to the lake. So far, the access road has not been brought up with Budding Rose. In order to reach an agreement with Alpine, Antin stated that the town may need to invoke the right of eminent domain for lake access. However, he added that it's currently “up in the air.”
Another concern for the town and the state is its inability to read through two years of financial documents for Alpine. Antin explained that this documentation is unavailable because Alpine is an umbrella company that helps set up opportunities, which are then passed to someone else to own and operate. While Alpine's financial information for running ski resorts is unavailable, attorney Corona was able to provide resumes for the individuals who will operate Powder Ridge. Christopher Bradford, Dennis Abplanalp and Rick Sabatino are the three people Alpine is currently working with to run the ski resort once it’s operational. Bradford and Abplanalp represent Alpine for Powder Ridge, while the plan is for Sabatino's company, Apollo Consulting, Inc., to eventually own the property.
The meeting finished off with commentary by town planner Geoff Colegrove. Colegrove noted that the project will eventually need to go to a public hearing, and then a town meeting, but added that information on the project will “Need to be open and it needs to be detailed and it needs to be as complete as possible” before it reaches that point. In the meantime, most of the documentation regarding the project is currently available at Town Hall, including the letters fully detailing the current items of discussion between Middlefield and Alpine.
