HomeMy WebLinkAboutcoa.cclc.ag.020613 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
SISTER CITIES MEETING ROOM
February 6, 2013
8:30 A.M.
8:30 I. Roll call and approval of minutes— January 16, 2013
minutes.
II. Public Comments not on the agenda (please limit your
comments to 3 minutes)
III. Jim Pomeroy— sign code
IV. Update on Winter Fest meeting
V. Election of Chair and Vice-chair
VI. Adjourn
A white, man-made Christmas
(Retyped from Roger Marolt's article in The Aspen Times)
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! Because in Aspen, we don't have a Plan B. If anyone
in town has sincere misgivings about the end of the world or worse,the end of skiing, it isn't
apparent. I thought we were supposed to be a leader in dealing with climate change.
I don't think Aspen Skiing Co. is. I don't think the city of Aspen is. I don't even think the
guy who wants to preserve our water rights by running our water through a hydroelectric plant
on Castle Creek is.
Skico first put the fear in us about the death of snow, right before it put in a land-use
application to build a million square feet of tourist accommodations in Snowmass Village. The
city of Aspen turned the heat up with its Canary Initiative a few years back and now aments the
fact that a developer recently pulled the plug on plans to construct a seven-story luxury hotel at
the base of Life 1A on Aspen Mountain.The supporter of the hydroelectric plant believes man
can live on alternative energy sources alone.
Obviously, constructing colossal structures on a remote, mountainous part of the planet
where everything has to be trucked in from the coasts is not reducing Aspen's Sasquatch sized
carbon footprint, even if all the new light bulbs are energy efficient. But that's not what I'm
getting at.
Dealing with the prospects of global warming is not only about preventing, reducing or
slowing down the onset of a global atmospheric meltdown that might hit full-force within a few
hundred years. It's also about adjusting to it now.This isn't just about saving our great-great-
grandchildren's butts.
You would think that a community whose bread is buttered with the tip of a ski would
be thinking about preserving the reason that we need tourist accommodations and electric
plants in the first place: I'm talking about snow! Anomaly or not, the early-season skiing around
here hasn't been worth a crap in eight out of the past 10 seasons. The past two have been
abysmal. It is indicative of a problem when locals are writing letters to the editor about how
great the golfing is in December.
Aspen might be the royalty of ski resorts, but the emperor has no snowmaking
capabilities. While the rest of the skiing world is investing heavily in cutting edge snowmaking
technology, Aspen is sticking its head in the rocks. It might be worth mentioning that the newer
technologies result in softer snow and use far less energy.
Considering that Skico has been at the forefront of global warming, it was interesting
that one of its executives was quoted recently as saying, "We have relied on bountiful snowfall
and will continue to do so." Excuse me for being confused. Is global warming a threat to skiing
or not?
One would assume that perhaps expanding snowmaking on our slopes is too difficult,
but that would be a bad assumption.The same Skico executives also said about expanding
snowmaking in Aspen, "It's not a huge project."
What is the delay, then? Perhaps it's that Auden Schendler, the resident Skico duke of
doom in charge of fear sales, hasn't been able to sell his company on the threat. Not,
apparently, has the city been made to see the immediate danger to our livelihood unless, of
course, you count the ban on plastic grocery bags as a significant step in improving the quality
of our skiing right now.
If Skico and the city (i.e., all of us) are serious about the danger that global warming
poses to the future of snow sports, now would be a good time to react. Invest in expansive
snowmaking infrastructure, and use the city's surplus water rights to feed that system. Most
large resorts are far ahead of us in this. Their actions are speaking louder than our words.
Hyperbole is not an ingredient of snow.
The cost of participating in skiing and snowboarding is too high for would-be visitors to
take a chance booking early in a resort that relies almost entirely on nature to provide
adequate coverage of its slopes. It's too easy to go somewhere else that guarantees more of its
slopes are in great shape, without lying.
As posh as Aspen is, it is not the nice hotels, great restaurants and fine shops that bring
people here. While our visitors certainly enjoy all of these things while they are here, it is still
the snow they come for.
EEEEJEE ASPEN SATURDAY MARKET
PROFIT/LOSS
JANUARY 1 throu h DECEMBER 31, 2012
Ordina Income
Booth Fees 46,283.00
Ba s 0
Less Booth refunds 1,636.00
Total Income 44,647.00
Ex enses
Tents 1,289.9
Advertising 3,894.7
Contract Labor
Acct/Bookkeeper 1,098.00
Market M r 13,500.00
A M r 1,250.00
Barricades/Storage 1,600.00
Entertainment 7,390.00
City Hall 5,336.00
Insurance 449.00
Office and Posta e 37.04
Taxes 690.00
Bas 5,215.41
AG Meeting 571.96
ACE Hardware/Other Su 619.27
Uniforms & si ns 3,094.35
License 150.00
Bank Char es 12.00
Computer 1,885.96
Total Ex enses 48,083.50
Net Income -3,436.50