Colorado town trustees approve purchase of Eldora ski area

Nederland Town Trustees on Tuesday night gave unanimous approval to a bold plan to purchase Eldora Ski Area. The price: $120 million.

That's a big bite for a town of 1500 with an annual budget of a little over $3 million a year. But the town says it will not be taxpayers on the hook for the purchase because the money to pay back bonds will come from operating revenues.

Town administration Jonathan Cain has described it as a minnow swallowing a whale. "I think so, and we've been taking little bites, and we've got a bunch more to take, but I think we're getting there."

The town will go into business as the operator of the ski area by also approving a plan for a two-year transition in which the current owner, Powdr, will continue to run the ski area while the town gets up to speed. The ski area has hundreds of workers who would eventually become employees of the town.

The vote Tuesday night was to approve the purchase. The next step will be at a Jan. 20 meeting at which trustees will have to approve the issuance of bonds to cover the cost. Those bonds will be so-called revenue bonds, typically used in enterprise funds that will be paid back over the years from the ski area's profits. The town says it will set aside money for capital expenditures and hopes to make improvements.

It would be the only municipal owner of a ski area. Denver owns Winter Park, but the city leases it and does not operate the ski area.

There have been worries from some locals expressing skepticism that the town can successfully go into business. And even with the bonds paying for the purchase of the ski area and its assets, there are those who wonder about ancillary costs for things like road improvements and housing for workers.

The town sees some daylight in the financial calculations it's made, says its estimates are conservative. 

"There are certain benefits that we have and efficiencies that we can offer the mountain. And there are certain things that a big corporation has that we're not going to be able to do. But by having that transition services agreement with Powdr is we can take the best of both worlds," said Cain.

Nederland will need one critical approval from the U.S. Forest Service, which owns a big chunk of the land at the ski area. The town is already thinking about the potential of the ski area. Down the road, it hopes to look at adding night skiing and year-round activities.

"I'm so excited for kids who'll be skiing at Eldora, for it to be a place where families gather, and you know, a good Nordic place to do that as well. We have an opportunity to do something not only for Ned but for Colorado as a whole and keep that legacy of skiing alive," said Cain.