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Catherine Avalone | The Middletown Press | @CAvaloneMP 08.16.12 Middlefield residents Kathy and Gerald Begin pick up a ballot from Sharlene Menard to vote for the sale of Powder Ridge to Sean Hayes, owner of Brownstone Exploration & Discovery Park Thursday afternoon at the entrance to the Middlefield Community Center.
Catherine Avalone | The Middletown Press | 8.2.12 The Middlefield Board of Finance scrutinized the agreement between the town and the Powder Ridge buyer at a three hour long meeting last night at the Middlefield Community Center. There will be a public hearing on August 9 at 7 p.m. at the Memorial School auditorium at 124 Hubbard Street in Middlefield and a referendum on August 16 from 6 p.m to 8 p.m. at the Middlefield Communtiy Center for residents to decide to sell Powder Ridge ski area to Sean Hayes, owner of Brownstone Exploration and Discovery Park in Portland .
Catherine Avalone | The Middletown Press | @CAvaloneMP 08.16.12 Middlefield resident Matt Williams picks up a ballot at the Powder Ridge referendum held Thursday afternoon at the Middlefield Community Center.
Catherine Avalone | The Middletown Press | @CAvaloneMP 08.16.12 Middlefield residents, Richard DiLauro, no relation to Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, James Crompton, 19 and Heather Poturnicki, 17, encourage Middlefield residents to vote yes for the sale of Powder Ridge to Sean Hayes, owner of Brownstone Exploration & Discovery Park Thursday afternoon at the entrance to the Middlefield Community Center. Poturnicki and Crompton are employed by Brownstone.
MIDDLEFIELD? After months of negotiations, meetings and public hearings, Powder Ridge ski area?has been sold.
While there are?some people opposed to the $700,000 sale of Powder Ridge to Portland sports park owner Sean Hayes, the majority of those who voted in Thursday's referendum overwhelmingly supported the idea.
Voters approved the sale to Hayes 1132-466.
"I can't wait to see the first person go down the ski slope," First Selectman Jon Brayshaw said, accepting the passing of the deal with "great gratitude and relief."
Selectman Ed Bailey said more people came out to vote in the referendum than they did in the municipal election last year.?The?passage of?the sale of Powder Ridge just reaffirms?that it's the will of the people, Bailey said.
"We always felt that we were doing what the public wanted us to do, which was to find someone to operate Powder Ridge," he said, adding that when he went door-to-door campaigning all people would ask was "when are we going to get Powder Ridge back?"
And residents showed up at the Middlefield Community Center to take matters into their own hands.?They voted on?one very important question, ?Shall the town of Middlefield sell the Powder Ridge Ski Area property to Powder Ridge Mountain & Resort, LLC under the terms stated in the agreement of sale dated July 16, 2012, pursuant to the resolution adopted by the Board of Selectmen on July 16, 2012??
Resident Nancy Curlin said she?s in favor of the deal between the town and Powder Ridge Mountain Park & Resort, thus explaining why she voted ?yes? at the referendum?Thursday afternoon.
?I want it back to producing income,? Curlin said. ?The town voted to make it recreational, so let?s have the recreation and get on with it. The market is not getting any better.?
Resident Rebecca Johnson, who learned how to ski at Powder Ridge when she was 12 years-old, said she bubbled-in ?yes? on her ballot. Continued...
?I?m supporting the deal,? Johnson said. ?I don?t think the town should keep going back and forth, arguing about restoring it. If someone wants to come in and turn into what it used to be ? I have no problem with it.?
Johnson said she believes in Hayes? vision to transform the abandoned and dilapidated ski area into an adventure winter sports park.
Hayes plans to invest between $3.5 million to $5 million just to open the doors and have downhill skiing up and running by Dec. 31, 2014. The sales agreement with the town requires Hayes to invest at least $2 million in permanent improvements on the property.
Tom Babowicz of Middlefield said the best thing the town could do with the land is to restore it.
?That?s what it?s always been and that?s what it should be,? said Babowicz, whose grandkids once skied at Powder Ridge.
He jokingly said the second best thing the town could do with the 226- acre parcel was to make it a military gravesite.
Marie Moore of Middlefield said she supported the deal because she feels the town needs something like a winter destination.
?The kids need something to do to keep them active,? Moore said. ?I think it?s good for the town.?
Moore, who applauded Brownstone for being willing to ?fix? up the place, said Hayes has done a good job in Portland with turning the quarry into Brownstone Exploration & Discovery Park.
?If we don?t get rid of it now it will continue to be vandalized,? Moore said. Continued...
Hayes expressed his enthusiasm for the referendum outcome and said he is looking forward to getting some work started. He said he hopes to get a crew on site in the next several months
Former Powder Ridge employee Shawn Monthei reminisced when Powder Ridge was an operating ski resort.
?My son used to ski there every day,? said Monthei, who worked for eight years under the ownership of the Zemmel brothers. ?[Residents] got season passes for $25 and employees skied for free.?
Breanna Rzeczka said she supported the sale, and also took a stroll down memory lane, remembering the ?good old days? at Powder Ridge.
?I learned to ski there in the third grade and it closed when I was in the seventh grade,? Rzeczka said. ?I haven?t skied in Connecticut since?
Rzeczka said Independent Day School students used to take trips to the ski area frequently.
?[Powder Ridge] was busy every night,? she said. ?Schools had ski clubs. It was something to look forward to.?
Rzeczka also mentioned that if the sale of Powder Ridge goes through, the townspeople would benefit from its employment opportunities. There would be both seasonal and year-round jobs available at the facility, which would be ?good? for the town, she said.
Rzeczka said she worked at the Okemo Mountain Resort in Vermont and would love to get a job as a night instructor at Powder Ridge.
Monthei worked at the ski area from December through April, and said she thought it was a good idea to also incorporate summer activities at the resort. Continued...
?You can?t have a winter business here. There?s not enough snow. You have to have something in the summer, ?Rzeczka said.
Powder Ridge has been closed since 2005 and Monthei said it?s been ?way too long,? and she can?t wait to see it open its gates again.
But not everyone thinks it's?time to sell the property just yet.
New York Life Insurance employee and Middlefield resident Kathy Smith said ?most? of the townspeople don?t want to Powder Ridge up and running again.
Smith said when Ken Levitt proposed creating a water park at the property, people thought it would bring in too much traffic and disturb the ?quiet little town.?
Smith said the town?s mill rate would increase if the deal was approved. She said the town should consider negotiating a lease agreement with another buyer perhaps.
Middlefield residents Betty and Robert Paulson said they, too, were against the deal. ?I don?t feel it will work,? Betty said.
?Brownstone is paying too little money for [Powder Ridge],? Robert said.
Robert also said it will be difficult to run a?weather-dependent operation. ?I?m not against skiing, I was in the ski business for years,? said Robert, who owned the one-time Paulson Sports Shop on Main Street in Middlefield.?Even Zemmel had a tough time running the ski area. You can?t depend on it to make a decent living. It?s going to be a tough road.?
Robert said he?d rather see a closed ice skating rink and a nice restaurant there.
Despite what some?people may say, more?seem to want Powder Ridge back.
Patty and David Hettrick said they were both for the sale. ?It create jobs and help other businesses in the community,? Patty said.
Besides, she said, the property isn?t doing anything just sitting there.
David said he learned how to ski there, but since it?s been closed for so long his children haven?t had the opportunity get the same experience. The parents said their son is very excited to ski at Powder Ridge.
Along with a number of other residents, George Ennever said he wanted to see the ski area return to Middlefield also. He said his son learned to ski at Powder Ridge through a school program.
?I?m very happy and want it to return to its former glory,? Ennever said. ?I understand the people who say ?no? but how long is it going to go on for??
Ennever said it?s time to ?stop the bleeding?
The closing of the sale will take place in three weeks. In the meantime, Hayes will be completing a?hefty pile of paperwork.
Jonetta Badillo can be reached by email at jbadillo@middletownpress.com.
Source: http://www.middletownpress.com/articles/2012/08/17/news/doc502d626d773da201815194.txt
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