A failed effort to purchase Telluride Ski Resort has led to another resignation, an administrative leave and a pair of investigations.
On Sunday, the Town of Mountain Village announced an investigation into former Mayor Marti Prohaska’s efforts to purchase the ski resort. That follows a similar announcement from the Town of Telluride, which authorized a third-party review of Mayor Pro Tem Meehan Fee’s work as a part of the same effort to buy the mountain. Fee announced her resignation on Monday, while on Tuesday, Mountain Village said its town manager, Paul Wisor, would take administrative leave to allow the investigation to play out.
The towns of Telluride and Mountain Village both border and rely on the ski resort. The two municipalities are connected via a free gondola. Earlier this month, the Colorado Sun reported the details of an effort by Fee and Prohaska to purchase Telluride ski resort.
Details of the offer, which was made amid a labor strike by Telluride Ski Patrol, were eventually leaked online by an anonymous account that posted images of the offer to a Facebook group. The pitch involved a $127.5 million offer for a 51 percent ownership stake.
Details of the towns’ investigations are sparse, but at the special Sunday meeting, Mountain Village Mayor Pro Tem Scott Pearson said new information had come to light that prompted the extra measures.
“Without in any way prejudging the propriety or impropriety of any actions taken, we now believe it is appropriate to undertake a thorough, all-encompassing, independent investigation into the events and actions that took place with regard to our former Mayor’s efforts to purchase a portion of the ski company,” Pearson said in a statement. “We need to understand what happened so that we can determine an appropriate response. And we believe the people of Mountain Village deserve transparency.”
Fee and Prohaska both said in public statements that they did not intend to act as representatives of either town. Still, concerns have risen that public commitments would have been involved in any sale.
“Upon review of the proposal, there are several elements within the agreement that would require public processes, including budget allocations or amendments, approval by resolution, and executed agreements between the Towns of Mountain Village and Telluride and Telluride Ski & Golf,” the Town of Telluride noted in a release explaining the authorization of a third-party investigation “These elements included water rates, housing collaborations, and flight-related budget allocations.”
The copy of the purchase offer that was posted online includes considerations for the sale that would involve the municipal governments in some capacity. One clause discusses efforts to broker a cessation of the ski patrol strike that was going on at the time. Prohaska, the former mayor of Mountain Village, is a member of Telluride Ski Patrol.
Other items included a planned agreement between the towns and resort on employee housing, spending on air travel development and agreements on water prices for snowmaking.
