Powder Ridge committee finishes RFQ
Posted on:
Friday, May 22, 2009 - 6:51am
It only seems like forever ... There are lots of folks who actually remember when Powder Ridge was a working ski area, but those memories are receding further into the past. However, with the town purchase of the site last year, bringing the ski area back began to seem possible.
Now town officials are looking for someone to run the ski area. To that end, an ad hoc committee on finding an operator for Powder Ridge has developed an RFQ, or Request For Qualifications, document that is available on the Midstate Regional Planning Agency (MRPA) website (www.midstaterpa.org). The committee hopes to attract buyers for the ski area portion of the property (about 115 acres) or someone willing to be a long-term leaseholder.
According to Selectman Dave Lowry, the committee has worked diligently and its members have brought many different strengths to the table – from financial to those who worked at the ski area when it was running. “Midstate was instrumental in helping us with the RFQ,” Lowry explained. “Geoff Colegrove (Middlefield’s town planner and head of MRPA) has worked very hard on this.”
The RFQ has been circulated to the dozen or so ski operators who have expressed interest as well as every operator in the Northeast, including New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and items are or will be posted in ski industry magazines.
An open house last week brought a few new faces to the table as well.
The RFQ itself is fascinating reading that details exactly what is up there. There are nine trails, for example, four chair lifts, three rope tows and several tube runs. The uphill capacity in 2001 tested out at 5,500 persons per hour. The vertical drop is 500 feet. The site is 80 percent illuminated for night use. There is an Olympic-sized pool and parking for 1,400 cars and 20 busses.
There is a two-story, 20,000-square-foot Lodge with 15 second story apartments, a 4,480-square-foot restaurant building with a capacity of 135 diners, and a 5,500-sxquare-foot ski rental building that is largely unfinished inside.
Septic and electric service are in need of upgrades, though the Department of Environmental Protection has granted the site a permit for both a new septic system and a water diversion permit to allow pumping water for snow-making from Lake Beseck.
Perhaps most interesting to townspeople, the timeline envisions selection of finalists by late June, interviews and selection of one or more finalists by mid-July, negotiations and a contract signing by mid-August with the hope that skiing will return to Powder Ridge in 2009.
