Westlock County is exploring its options with regards to the ongoing operation and management of Tawatinaw Valley Ski Hill with the potential sale of the facility on the table.
CAO Peter Kelly said the municipality is in the midst of gauging community interest in the facility as per council’s wishes.
“Quite some time ago council directed administration to advertise in the paper to see if there was any group or organization that may wish to operate the ski hill,” Kelly said. “Whether that’s through a management agreement, operational agreement, or a purchase and sale agreement is yet to be determined.”
Kelly said the county will soon advertise for the sale or management of the ski hill and then will wait and see what kind of response they get.
“There may be some non-profit group, there may be a for-profit group, there may be some other group that may have interest or express an interest in some sort of involvement in the future,” he said.
Once the window closes the county will review any offers received and determine how to proceed. Kelly said at this point the county does not have a preference on what kind of offer they would like to proceed with.
“If there is a desire of a non-profit to operate and that can be done at less cost than we what we have endured, that would be explored,” he said. “If there’s a management group that has other operations and sees this as a possible link into theirs as well, we would be interested to talk as to what that might look like for financial return to the county.
“If there was an interested group or organization to look at its purchase, then that’s something that would also be explored depending upon what that may look like, with the understanding that it would stay in operation as a ski operation.”
Kelly said the county would entertain offers for the property itself, and for the property with its assets. As far as what would be expected as a return, a fair-market value would have to be attainted in accordance with the Municipal Government Act.
With millions of municipal and provincial tax dollars and grants spent on the ski hill over the years, Kelly said any sale would have to make sense for the municipality in order to proceed.
During the request for proposals process the county is leaving the door open for any idea that someone would want to bring forward.
“This is quite broad-brushed, this is not designed for one outcome over another, it’s designed to see who may be out there and who may have an inkling, or a desire to operate the ski hill,” Kelly said.
Aside from operating the facility as a ski hill, the county indicates there is potential to use the site as a year-round recreational facility.
“We do see opportunity there as we had the Spartan Race there which was successful,” Kelly said. “Other events could also be weddings, or business meetings. There’s an opportunity for RVs, zip-lines, biking, or paintball. The ideas are endless.”
