Rutland Herald
April 18,2014
In regards to the April 15 article, “Plan
could bring mountain bikers to Killington,” I sure hope this is not a
case of “here we go again,” like what happened with the Green Mountain
National Golf Course. In that case the town of Killington duplicated an
already existing amenity in the town, which cost the town
significant amounts of money, which we are still paying for. These funds
were diverted from essential municipal projects, such as road
maintenance, for which the town recently approved borrowing millions to
address, and taxes are going up to pay for now and in future years.
This proposal also flies into the face of the hypocritical “non-compete with local businesses” philosophy that the town has espoused in the management of the golf course, thereby hamstringing its operations by not allowing it to engage in revenue-generating activities, such as after-hours restaurant and lounge operations, cross country skiing, clubhouse rental for functions, etc., which further increases its dependence on taxpayers to pay off its debt. Killington Resort already has an extensive mountain bike trail facility, as well as a golf course. Mike Solimano has also announced expansion of the network this summer. This proposal would directly compete with their operations. I thought we were in kumbaya mode with the resort wherein the town and resort would partner in economic development and not compete with each other. So much for that partnership.
Additionally the townspeople were promised that the golf course would not cost them a penny, as it would be self-sustaining. While not exactly the same situation as this proposal, which looks to get some funding from other agencies, the promise again seems to be the townspeople will fund little to nothing for this project. My fear is that the ball will get rolling on this, little to no money will be forthcoming from outside sources and the taxpayers once again get stuck with the bill.
VITO RASENAS
Killington
This proposal also flies into the face of the hypocritical “non-compete with local businesses” philosophy that the town has espoused in the management of the golf course, thereby hamstringing its operations by not allowing it to engage in revenue-generating activities, such as after-hours restaurant and lounge operations, cross country skiing, clubhouse rental for functions, etc., which further increases its dependence on taxpayers to pay off its debt. Killington Resort already has an extensive mountain bike trail facility, as well as a golf course. Mike Solimano has also announced expansion of the network this summer. This proposal would directly compete with their operations. I thought we were in kumbaya mode with the resort wherein the town and resort would partner in economic development and not compete with each other. So much for that partnership.
Additionally the townspeople were promised that the golf course would not cost them a penny, as it would be self-sustaining. While not exactly the same situation as this proposal, which looks to get some funding from other agencies, the promise again seems to be the townspeople will fund little to nothing for this project. My fear is that the ball will get rolling on this, little to no money will be forthcoming from outside sources and the taxpayers once again get stuck with the bill.
VITO RASENAS
Killington
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