No big changes for tiny Ski Cooper
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- Created on Tuesday, 15 February 2011 18:20
- Written by R. Scott Rappold
In December, we wrote about the debate in Leadville over the future of its small community-owned ski area, Ski Cooper.
Some thought the family-friendly area should expand to include more challenging terrain. Others wanted a shake-up of the volunteer board that oversees the area.
After much debate, Lake County commissioners have decided to mostly maintain the status quo, and voted to renew the lease the county has with the non-profit management company.
From the Denver Post:
The Lake County Board of Commissioners has declined to solicit bids for operating the county-owned Ski Cooper ski area, choosing to renew the lease of the volunteer management team that has run the rustic, community ski area for the last 20 years. After several public meetings where vocal groups urged the commissioners to consider changes at the non-profit Ski Cooper, the county's leaders chose to renew the lease for the existing operators who have run the ski area without debt for the last two decades. The nine-man board in charge of Ski Cooper has invested $5.5 million in improvements since 1992 without incurring any debt or asking the county for financial help. That fiscal responsibility warrants the Cooper management board's continued guidance, said board president and ski area manager John Clapper. Still, the management group's request that commissioners renew a 20-year lease was whittled to 15 years. And the serve-for-life management board that has traditionally met in private will hold two public meetings every year. And the board must provide the public with an annual accounting of the ski area's revenues and expenses.
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