Westlock County Coun. Bud Massey says ratepayers should decide what the municipality should do with the Tawatinaw ski hill.
Following the Feb. 28 signing of an 18-month, $120,000 operator’s agreement with DK Consulting Service Ltd. to run the facility, Massey brought forward a motion at council’s March 29 meeting that will see councillors debate the merits of a plebiscite on the ski hill at their next meeting April 11.
Council voted 6-0 for the proposal at its March 28 meeting without any discussion.
“The ski hill has cost the residents of Westlock County hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Massey. “Millions to build the ski chalet and hundreds of thousands to operate it over the years. We have spent a lot of money on it and the people of Westlock County should have a say in it.”
Massey argued that the county was getting a bad deal on the ski hill operator’s agreement and that ratepayers should have a say in what’s done with the facility.
“We’re now paying private enterprise, where we pay the person, they receive the revenue and we keep the expenses, by and large,” he said.
“Our taxes are higher than several of our neighbours,” Massey continued.
“People should have a right to say that they don’t want to pay anymore.”
He stressed that he wanted to see a number of options on the table for residents, noting that there were several directions they could go with the ski hill.
“I would like to see the question on whether they want us to retain it, sell it, operate it, or hire management to operate it, or lease it, or if they want us to mine the frac sand and go from being a ‘have-not’ county to a ‘have’ county and maybe reduce taxes.”
Massey said he would like to see the plebiscite as part of the municipal election in the fall to minimize costs.
“If we’re going to do that, we need to have the time to have our administration to develop the questions and a discussion in council on what those questions should be,” he said. “It would be the most cost-effective way for people to have a say.”
Tawatinaw has been an ongoing issue for the municipality for much of the last decade. A volunteer operated the hill from 1967 to 2006, but turned management duties back to the county due to mounting difficulties maintaining the hill.
In December 2015 the county signed a $2.2 million lease/purchase agreement with DK Consulting Services Ltd., but suspended the agreement in June 2016.
Then, in December 2016 the county agreed to reinstate the company’s payments to the county and renegotiate the contract. Council voted 7-0 after an in-camera session on Jan. 24 to present the current deal to DK Consulting Services Ltd.
