October 20, 2004

City won't appeal ski expansion

By Vickie Aldous
Ashland Daily Tidings

The Ashland City Council voted unanimously not to appeal a U.S. Forest Service decision authorizing the Mt. Ashland Ski Area expansion.

Instead, on Tuesday night the council directed city staff to work with the Mt. Ashland Association to enact safeguards to protect the municipal watershed and the city's financial interests in the ski area.

The council wants the Mt. Ashland Association to formally agree to the formation of a Quality Assurance/Quality Control team that will monitor expansion construction and require changes, if necessary, to control erosion.

Additionally, the Mt. Ashland Association should maintain enough liquid assets to restore the mountain if the ski area went out of business, the council agreed.

Jeff Hanson, general manager for the ski area, said the Mt. Ashland Association supports the formation of the Quality Assurance/Quality Control team and will work to meet the city's needs.

"It adds an element of cooperation and trust that I think is important," Hanson said.

The city and the association will have to work out the details of who pays for the team of experts, but Hanson said the association intends to pay for at least a component of the team.

The council's decision to work out an agreement with the Mt. Ashland Association came after numerous residents spoke, either in favor of the agreement or in support of an administrative appeal of the expansion decision.

Resident Paul Copeland, citing concern over impacts to old growth trees, an Englemann spruce grove, wetlands and other environmental values, asked the council to appeal.

"If you don't do it, you're stepping back from your duty to the citizens," he said.

But Chris Adams urged the council to make an agreement with the Mt. Ashland Association, saying that crowded conditions on the mountain make expansion necessary and that the association has planned for responsible development.

"The parties involved have bent over backwards to accommodate the environmental concerns," he said.

As of Tuesday evening, the Forest Service had yet to receive any appeals on the expansion decision, although the agency expects to receive appeals by the Nov. 8 due date, according to Steve Johnson, Ashland Ranger District recreation specialist.

In other business, all councilors voted in favor of a resolution that expresses opposition to Measure 36, the amendment to the Oregon Constitution that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

Mayor Alan DeBoer, who votes only in case of a tie, did not cast a vote but did object to the resolution that was brought forward by Councilors Kate Jackson and Cate Hartzell.

"Do not ask me to change the meaning of marriage. ... I cannot sign it if you pass it," DeBoer said.

City Attorney Mike Franell said he will have to research what happens to the resolution if it is not signed by the mayor.

Jackson said the constitution should not be changed to allow discrimination against a group of Oregon residents.

Also Tuesday night, councilors approved awarding $274,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding to the Rogue Valley Community Development Corporation for the development of six townhomes for affordable housing in Ashland, and authorized a electricity rate reduction of 1.1 percent to the bill of the average residential user.