Panel May Decide Who Will Run Mount Spokane

Fri., July 26, 1996

Eric Torbenson Staff writer

The Washington State Parks Commission meets today in Long Beach, Wash., most likely to decide who gets the 20-year concession to run Mt. Spokane Ski Area.

The legal battle between the Mt. Spokane Skiing Corp. and Mount Spokane 2000 Study Group has been a laborious two-year process, and both sides hope the commission takes action.

The ski company has run the area for 21 years. When the state opened bids for the next concession in 1994, only the ski company, headed by Gregg Sowder, responded.

The Mount Spokane 2000 Study Group, made up of civic and business leaders, started negotiating with the state for the concession later that year.

The group contends Sowder doesn’t pay enough attention to skiers’ needs. It wants profits from the area to be invested in making Mount Spokane a better place to ski.

In July 1995, the state sided with the study group, endorsing its version of how to run the ski area. But Sowder had the right of first refusal for any concession deal with the state and he exercised that right in April 1996.

Sowder agreed to run Mount Spokane by the study group’s terms, meaning the company would pay the state more rent and conform to stricter operating rules.

The catch in Sowder’s agreement to the study group plan is this: the company would get to pay dividends to its shareholders, along with other expenses like taxes, before committing profits to improvements.

The study group believes Sowder’s interpretation doesn’t meet the nonprofit requirement. That means Sowder isn’t accepting the new rules, according to study group attorneys.

Since Sowder has not given the state financial projections about how much he’ll make if he runs the ski area, the commission doesn’t know if there would be money left for snow plowing - a big concern - and future improvements.

If the study group gets the concession, it has to buy out Sowder’s investment and equipment on the hill, which was assessed at $3.5 million in 1994. The state is worried that will lead to substantially higher lift ticket prices.

The study group proposes creation of a public development authority to run the ski area. The authority could sell bonds to pay for buying Sowder out.

“I think they’ll make a decision,” said Ted Stiles, Spokane attorney and spokesman for the study group. But the commission could also decide to take yet more time to study the two sides’ proposals.

Sowder said he’s disappointed by the commission’s many delays in making a decision because the short construction season on the mountain is dwindling. He has plans for lodge improvements, a new day-care facility and a new play area for kids that includes inner tube runs.

“We can’t do anything until we get the signed concession from the state,” Sowder said. “It’s been very frustrating for us and for the skiers.”

, DataTimes

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