Base lodge renovations?

[southvillager]

According to Win's Word on the Sugarbush website, "Renovations at the Mt. Ellen base lodge and at the Valley House are well along". Has anyone seen or heard any specifics? I am very curious to know what is happening at the Valley House, it seems to have loads of untapped potential.

[HowieT2]

I might be wrong, but my impression was it was little more than some new carpeting, maybe paint. Nothing major.

[Ride Delaware ?]

According to Win's Word on the Sugarbush website, "Renovations at the Mt. Ellen base lodge and at the Valley House are well along". Has anyone seen or heard any specifics? I am very curious to know what is happening at the Valley House, it seems to have loads of untapped potential.

I'm up here right now, and didn't see too much activity up at the VH. There were a bunch of vehicles outside Mt. Ellen today (5-6), but I didn't check out to see if it was anything more than getting it ready for the season. I'm more interested in paving the roads. The one is already done and looks fantastic. I hope they get the other ones Win suggested done by the start of the season. On that list was Village Rd and the Mt. Ellen access road. Every time I drive up there (today included), I am amazed by how they let it get as bad as it is.

[ducky]

Just to be clear, Sugarbush is not repaving Village Road, the residents are at $1600 per household. We're even buying the new drainage for Rice Brook. They have done zero maintenance this year knowing this.

[Hawk]

I was wondering when this would come up. Actually there is a formula based on road usage and where you live on the road plus a usage fee. They sent out a letter to all of us which defined the parameters of the ssessment. It's a little complicated but my assesment was far less than $1,600 because we are a condo complex with many owners. Based on the estimate of costs the owners are paying $310,000 +/- and Sugarbush is paying $106,000 +/-. These are susposed to be not to exceed numbers with any savings going back to the owners.
The only quesiton I have is what happens to the road usage fees we have been paying for years on our quarterly bills to Sugarbush? I fully welcome this work and think that with all the paving going on this year, we will get a better price as all the equipment and manpower is in the valley. The road is in dyer need of maintanence. I also think that the meeting they had to discuss this on a thursday is not fair to most of the commuting owners. That is my take.

[Ride Delaware ?]

Just to be clear, Sugarbush is not repaving Village Road, the residents are at $1600 per household. We're even buying the new drainage for Rice Brook. They have done zero maintenance this year knowing this.

Was it a special assessment? My road bill wasn't more than average to my knowledge.

I'm assuming this fund has paid for plowing and repairs over the years?

I'm new to this part of condo ownership.

[Hawk]

Yes, this was a special assessment for anybody that ownes property and uses Sugarbush Village Road to access their property. So for instance Glades, Castlerock, North Links, Summit, Forum, Row Houses, Village Run, Mountain Side, etc. Everybody. I do not think this pertains to the Snow Creek side at all. I also think that even the home owers on that side that are up on the dirt sections are paying a use share also but I may be wrong. If you own up there and did not get a bill they will be looking for you at some point I bet. Condo Associations at the bottom with more units pay less because they use less of the road and divide the cost by the amount of units. I am half way up and are paying about $600. I heard that Trailside 10, Unihab and Summit are getting hit hard up at the top. They use and have to maintain larger sections of road. Billing to the owners is being done quarterly for 2 quarters. I think we paid the first already.

[ducky]

It will be spread over two bills. Not sure if it will be Oct/Jan or Jan/Apr. Usually, something, if little, is done about the potholes. This year there was one pothole repair (with Staymat gravel) done in July and only at the Village junction by the SHaRC, not further up hill, which is a disaster. SB used to have a facilities maintenance department who were good and cared. Oversight of roads is now handled by an over-burdened, though friendly, water department in a cost-cutting measure done last year when they fired 35 employees, including the roads/facility guys. The actual work is now done by a sub-contractor, not by SB. The crime is that residents are paying for anything required for the Rice Brook development in their drainage system - somewhere around $90k for that portion. My yearly utilities bill is already over $2000, now add another $1600; this on top of big Warren tax increases for more roadwork the Town is doing in and around the resort - Access Rd, West Hill, Inferno Rd. The resort's owner wrote a scathing letter to the Valley Reporter blaming tax increases on local education costs, yet most of the source of that tax increase goes to support SB's accessibility to visitors. On the other hand, Village Rd will be a definite improvement just not something SB should take credit for. I assume Mt Ellen residents are also contributing their share for that road's repaving.

[southvillager]

I do not think this pertains to the Snow Creek side at all. I also think that even the home owers on that side that are up on the dirt sections are paying a use share also but I may be wrong. If you own up there and did not get a bill they will be looking for you at some point I bet.

I have a South Village condo, just past Snow Creek, and so far I have not heard anything about an assessment for paving. The South Village dirt driveway/road goes directly onto Inferno Rd which was repaved this summer after a culvert was replaced. I think Inferno Rd is a public town owned road. I don't think we will be on the hook for this new paving job, nor will any other condo development in the valley.

However, we are currently in the middle of paying for an expensive water system improvement (a $3,000 special assessment for me this year, split into 10 payments). They have been collecting a few dollars per month from us for several years in anticipation of this expense, otherwise it would have been about double. My normal fees were already $624 per month before the assessment, so it really adds up. It is only money, right? Gotta pay to play!

[Ride Delaware ?]

I am getting a better view of the full picture.

While I don't at all agree with having to pay a portion of Rice Brook's drainage issues, and it is unfortunate that there seem to be few ongoing road repairs, I do like the idea of a quarterly road fee in principle. Whether or not that money is used appropriately remains up for debate. At least we don't have to entirely rely on the resort to repave it on their own dime because it would never get done. Their largest revenue source comes from the immediate base area and new condos, so as long as they are nicely paved they would keep it at the status quot.

Also, the paving, while nice, may be short lived. The base of the paving is terrible and with it not being repaired in any way beforehand, means it will only be a matter of time (short matter of time) before it starts deteriorating again. Village Road is in rough shape, but not nearly as bad as Mt. Ellen. If all they do is throw another coat of asphalt on there, it's a complete waste of money. That needs a complete overhaul to make a difference.

As with everything, there will be conflicting views, and while I hate continually shelling out money, I guess I kinda expected that when I bought a ski condo. Regardless, the new paving will certainly be a welcome upgrade.

Does anyone know the last time it was paved?

[ducky]

Last paved 15 years ago. It will be a complete strip and repave with new base. PS. Not all Village Rd residents live here solely for the skiing so our interest in contributing to Rice Brook is debatable. South Village should not be assessed for Village Rd. Inferno Rd (and Access Rd, West Hill Rd) is a Town-owned road, paid for through all of our Warren taxes and the budget increase thereof.

Letter to VR from SB resort owner...
http://valleyreporter.com/index.php/...147-taxageddon

[Ride Delaware ?]

As with any new development, those costs should have been put in their budget work sheet. Outside of where the Rice Brook entrance connects with Village Road, that cost should not be passed on to everyone else. Drainage for a new site is always passed on to the development, not the existing stakeholders. Very weird.

Edit: After reading Win's article, I will be very surprised to see what my tax bill looks like for the upcoming season. As with many out of towner's, I wasn't aware of the new tax hike.

[Hawk]

So this is how it was explaned to me. The Rice Brook Culvert they speak of is the exsting old culvert at the fire station. This has existed for as long as Sugarbush has been around and it allows the stream that passes Chez Henri to pass under the road. This is in need of repair from past storms and would have needed to be fixed anyway. This is not work that is directly needed for the parking lot drainage but as part of the Rice Brook developement terms, this was scheduled to be fixed. So Sugarbush split the costs with the project. I think that is fair enough. It would have cost us more to do it later when it failed.

[Ride Delaware ?]

So this is how it was explaned to me. The Rice Brook Culvert they speak of is the exsting old culvert at the fire station. This has existed for as long as Sugarbush has been around and it allows the stream that passes Chez Henri to pass under the road. This is in need of repair from past storms and would have needed to be fixed anyway. This is not work that is directly needed for the parking lot drainage but as part of the Rice Brook developement terms, this was scheduled to be fixed. So Sugarbush split the costs with the project. I think that is fair enough. It would have cost us more to do it later when it failed.

Explained that way, it seems very fair to me. I'd much rather pay for it now at half price than down the road at full price. Especially if they let it degrade to the point where it erodes away and restricts access further up Village Road. I could see it getting to the point of if it's not really broke , why fix it.

[Xskier]

Ugh!! I was wondering why my tax bill went up 17%!!! Act 60 needs to go. My tax bill has gone up 700% since 1997 when i bought my house. If I ever knew i would never have bought and now i am stuck here paying high taxes and can't sell my house because of high taxes. I am nearly a zero burden on the town and receive no services aside from plowing. So frustrating..