WESTLOCK — A Westlock County resident offered to do a cost analysis for the Tawatinaw Valley Ski Hill for $1 and come up with a “middle ground” solution for the future before they sign a new contract with the ski hill’s current operators.
In a presentation to councillors at the May 18 governance and priorities committee meeting, David Woynorowski, frequent critic of county council and the ski hill, said the county is spending too much money on the facility.
Woynorowski and Donna Kinley said they “personally support the ski hill and would like to see it continue operations” but for cheaper. To Kinley, how much money the county spends on the ski hill should be tied to the number of county users.
They questioned if the ski club’s reporting of 15,573 visitors at the hill represented unique individuals or included repeat users, asked for more clarity on the numbers, and delved into a cost analysis of what they called subsidies to non-residents.
Woynorowski said that since only 14 per cent of the ski hill visitors were county residents, about $215,000 of the annual $250,000 the county spends on the ski hill goes to subsidize other people.
Coun. Lou Hall pointed out that if the numbers reflect individual people, the 14 per cent who used the hill, or 2,189 people, also means about a third of county residents.
“I’m not a skier, however I do support the ski hill and I know you do too. It's just how you throw in the numbers,” Hall said.
Woynorowski also contrasted the ski hill with Town of Westlock recreation facilities, where a majority of users come from the area. Compared to other nearby ski hills, he said, Westlock County pays more for operating their facility.
“How we get to $250,000 for Tawatinaw is something I think we need to look at really hard, when you look at two comparable ski hills in the area on either side, they run their hills for the benefit of their county residents at a much lower cost,” he said.
Overall, prices are higher at Tawatinaw than the other ski hills, although the margins are small. A season pass for adults, for example, costs $200 at Misty Ridge in Barrhead, $320 at Long Lake Ski Area in Thorhild, and $350 at Tawatinaw.
The two presenters also claimed the county is currently subsidizing the chalet’s use in competition with other local businesses for weddings, events, pub nights and meetings, but later suggested the county should assess the supposed impact.
“It is unfair for private businesses who pay property taxes to the county to have to compete for business,” Kinley said. “We believe ratepayers do not want their tax dollars being used to allow Tawatinaw Valley Ski Club to compete with private sector.”
Kinley was also skeptical that the ski hill contributes to economic development locally, with only 25 part-time jobs in the winter and what she called “little evidence” that out-of-towners spend their money at county businesses when they visit the ski hill. She also doesn’t believe the ski hill can attract residents, since the population has declined while they’ve been operational.
Spending as much as $200,000 per year in the future on the ski hill, they argued, wasn’t justified since the county has increased taxes and made cuts into other services.
Woynorowski ultimately marketed his own services, and said that “there is due diligence that should be conducted, there are issues that needs to be addressed, we need to verify the numbers, both visitors and individuals.”
He added: “I’ve got 35 years of economic development experience, I feel passionately about this and I think it should be done.”
For the $1 fee, he offered to rate the terms of reference, do the analysis and give advice. In contrast, he said, hiring a consultant would cost anywhere between $5,000 and $10,000.
“It is council’s decision to what level of funding is appropriate, justified, and reasonable in the circumstances. I would simply complete analysis and options for your consideration,” Woynorowski said.
Councillors commended both and said they’d use the information in any decisions they make. The current operators, Friends of Tawatinaw, are looking to renew their contract with $200,000 in county funding per year, $50,000 less than the 2018-2021 contract.
“I think we all agree that we’d like to keep the ski hill operational but we want to find ways to reduce the impact on tax payers. That's the goal of all of us so we’re going to do the best we can,” said deputy reeve Brian Coleman.
