After long discussion Tuesday, Drumheller Town Council decided to offer the 1997 Drumheller Valley Ski Club a short-term lease agreement, which would be terminated at the end of April. The lease would see the club paying their outstanding debt to the town.
Ski hill general manager Zrinko Amerl said he must wait for the proposal to be delivered before he could say if the club will accept the offer. The proposal was said to be delivered prior to January 7, Mayor Terry Yemen told inSide Drumheller.
Amerl said he was disappointed in council’s decision to not allow the sale of land in the agreement, as it “does impair my ability to run the ski hill.”
“But I do see that priority number one is to see the hill in operation,” said Amerl. “The ski club and Ski the Badlands Ltd. will do everything to see that happens.”
“We’re trying to facilitate skiing, so it’s positive action to salvage up what is left of the ski season,” said Yemen. “We’re responsible for the assets, and this way, we still have control of the land.”
The short-term lease agreement would expire at the end of April, because the town wishes to see the results of two known court actions against the ski hill before committing a long term deal. A contracting company out of Airdrie has civil action against the hill for bills not paid, and a lawsuit spurred by a chair-lift accident is still standing against the club.
“In the long run, maybe we were too cautious. Maybe not. You can never tell,” said Yemen. “By offering this lease, it provides all parties the opportunity to benefit from the ski season and give all parties more time to resolve outstanding issues."
Yemen says the club can either accept the terms in the proposal, or there is no deal.
Look in next week’s Drumheller Mail for the results of this proposal and the fate of the 2011 ski season.
