Schweitzer Squabble Sends Chill Through City Sudden Opposition To Sale Of Ski Resort Has Sandpoint Businesses Wondering If There Will Be A Winter Season

Unexpected opposition to the sale of Schweitzer Mountain Resort has businesses and mountain property owners worried the skill hill will be dormant this winter.

If the sale agreement, which was signed last month, gets stalled in a court battle, it’s possible the mountain won’t open.

That would mean a loss of about 500 jobs at the resort and a huge dent in Sandpoint’s winter tourism economy.

“I’m still doing everything I can to put the deal together,” said Sandpoint attorney Ford Elsaesser. He was put in charge of the debt-ridden resort last year to keep U.S. Bank of Washington from foreclosing on it.

“I hope this doesn’t prevent a sale or an opening, but it certainly begs some questions,” Elsaesser said. The Jim Brown family has owned the resort since 1963. The family agreed last month to sell the ski hill for about $18 million to Harbor Properties Inc. based in Seattle. A judge was supposed to finalize the sale Sept. 8.

This week, two family members, Bobbie Huguenin and Jean O. Brown, filed a protest in U.S. District Court to stop the deal.

Despite having signed the agreement, the family members claim they are not getting enough money for Schweitzer.

“The biggest thing everyone is confused about is this was a consensual deal supported by Bobbie Huguenin and Jean Brown less than 30 days ago. I don’t have the answer as to why it is not a deal today,” said Gordon Zimmerman, Schweitzer’s chief financial officer.

The offer was the best Zimmerman had seen. “I’m not aware of any others that exceed Harbor’s at this point,” he said.

The deal let the Brown family retain a 10 percent partnership in the resort. U.S. Bank, which is owed $21 million, would get about $14 million and the rest of the money would pay about 200 creditors. The resort is about $28 million in debt.

If the deal is scuttled, Elsaesser said there is nothing stopping U.S. Bank from foreclosing on the resort. That would almost guarantee it would not open this winter.

A foreclosure would also leave the Brown family with no interest in Schweitzer and they would likely lose all the land they put up for collateral to secure the bank loan.

Despite the glitch, Harbor Properties officials said they are not pulling out.

“This doesn’t change our interest at all,” said Harbor President and CEO Robert Holmes. “We are still very, very interested and hopeful things will proceed. Our interest is getting it open.”

Holmes hasn’t yet reviewed the family’s complaint. “I felt we had an agreement with the family and I’m disappointed if that is not the case.”

The phone rang constantly at Schweitzer on Friday. Zimmerman said he talked with nervous employees, business owners and nearly every developer who has a project on the mountain.

“The worry is they are developing a parcel that may not have a winter operation. I don’t see that as a reality at this point, but there are a lot of unanswered questions.”

For now the resort will continue its summer operations, but the disagreement could hurt advance winter season pass sales.

“This has certainly been a topic of conversation and people are wondering what it means,” said Jonathan Coe, executive director the Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce.

“Schweitzer is the reason people come to Sandpoint in the winter. This is a critical issue for the community.”

Some locals are staying away from taking sides in the dispute. Bonnie Sanborn is the general manager for Connie’s restaurant and motel, which relies heavily on skiers to bolster winter business.

“If this goes to court and deters Schweitzer from opening it would be devastating on our business,” she said. “But I know the Brown family and respect them and I’m sure they are not going into this lightly. We are all just kind of waiting to see what happens and hope it gets resolved in time for Schweitzer to open.”

, DataTimes