On January 11, 2009, an informational meeting was held at the Sherburne Elementary school in Killington.  Members of the Killington Economic Development and Tourism Commission (EDTC) as well as Select Board members and other town volunteers presented the rationale for purchasing a 37 acre parcel of land located on Killington Road known as the “Fireside” property.  Well over 100 people attended the meeting to hear the presentation and voice their support, concerns, and/or questions.

The EDTC contends that the land is necessary to host events critical to building a vibrant four-season economy for the town.  The conceptual site plan presented at the meeting indicates proposed event areas, parking, trails, and access points.  The land is being offered to the town for $850K.  Costs have been estimated at approximately $700K for site development, not including bathroom facilities. 

The EDTC and Select Board are proposing that the town voters approve a Municipal Bond in the amount of $1.4 million to cover the outstanding costs.  According to the presenters at the meeting, revenues associated with the Options Tax will be sufficient to cover the cost of the bond spread over 20 years.  The vote will be held through Australian ballot at the Killington town meeting to be held the first Tuesday of March, 2010.  Absentee ballots will be available prior to the meeting.

Although attendees at the meeting were generally supportive of bringing new events and business to the town and many attendees seemed supportive of the land purchase, a number of the attendees requested that revenue projections be presented supporting the expenditures.  No revenue models or new visitor projections were developed or presented.

An additional meeting prior to the town meeting in March will be “warned” and held for further comment and discussion.  Watch for future announcements.

At a meeting of the Killington Town Planning Commission last evening, November 4, 2009, the Conceptual Master Plan for a ski village at the base of the Killington Resort submitted by SP Land Company was overwhelming approved (by a vote of 8 to 1).  The application for the PUD and Conceptual Master Plan was submitted to the town and a Public Hearing was held starting on May 27, 2009.  Several subsequent meetings were held with the Planning Commission clarifying the intent and refining details of the plan.  Last night’s approval clears the way for SP Land to develop more detailed plans within the framework approved and begin the State of Vermont’s process for Act 250 approval.

Last night’s Planning Commission approval marks a major step forward toward the realization of a new and exciting development in Killington.  Details of the plan will be available within the next few days on the town of Killington’s website.

Last night, I had the pleasure of attending the premier of “The News in Revue” at the Killington Grand Hotel.  I found this 70-minute musical production to be very well done and extremely entertaining.  Billed as ‘Saturday Night Live’ meets ‘Sixty Minutes’, the cast cleverly satired a broad range of current news personalities and events.  Where else in Vermont could you find Hillary & Bill Clinton, Sarah Palin, Marian Robinson, John Edwards, Mark Sanford, Bobby Jindal, and the Swine Flu all in the same place??

The facility proved to be very comfortable and appropriate for the show.  The production will be playing at the Killington Grand Ovations Restaurant nightly except Mondays, September 25th through October 10th.  Tickets are available with a three-course prix-fixe dinner for $49.95 per person or “show only” for $30 per person.  I strongly recommend that you check it out.

Tickets can be reserved by phoning 800-621-6867, online at www.newsinrevue.com, or in person at the Front Desk at the Killington Grand.

The Town of Killington has signed an option to purchase 37.45 acres of land on the Killington Access Road. The land is to be used to stage community events and activities which are open air and tented events and will not compete with existing venues.

The purchase and cost of initial site improvements to the property would be funded by a bond that would be paid through the Economic Development and Tourism Commission (EDTC) which is funded by a local option tax.

Killington, VT registered voters will determine if the town should or should not proceed with this purchase at Town Meeting in March of 2010.

Last night, in a meeting of the Killington Select Board, the town discussed the intent of the Select Board and the Economic Development and Tourism (EDT) Commission to purchase a parcel of land in town.   The EDT has recommended consideration of the purchase of a parcel of land to provide a venue for events desired in the future.  Members of the Select Board clarified that an option to purchase the land (not the purchase of land itself) was likely to be approved.  The option would cost $25,000 and would be funded through revenues collected under the town’s 1% Options tax approved at the Killington town meeting held in March 2008.

Many of the questions raised by attendees at the meeting were deflected by the Select Board stating that the details of the arrangement would be discussed only in Executive Session.  That said, the Select Board confirmed that they were considering and would likely approve the $25,000 expenditure to purchase an option, only.  The Board stated that they were empowered to authorize this expenditure, however, purchasing the land, itself, would require a vote by the town at the Killington town meeting to be held in March 2010. 

More details are likely to become public in September after the option is purchased.  For complete details of the discussion at the meeting, visit the Killington town website for access to the minutes of the meeting dated August 24, 2009.  The next Select Board meeting will be held Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at the town offices.

Big news for Killington this coming week!

First, according to the Rutland Herald this week, the Select Board has approved spending $25,000 of revenue from the 1% Options tax to move forward on the purchase of real estate.  Although the location of the property being purchased has not been formally announced, it is my understanding that it is a large parcel of land located on Killington Road.   The property is to be used to host new town events.  The purchase is expected to be announced formally at the Killington Select Board meeting to be held Monday evening, August 24th.  Stay tuned for further details.

Second, the Killington Planning Commission will be discussing, and hopefully moving forward on Wednesday evening, August 26th, with some type of approval of the PUD application, submitted by SP Land Company several weeks ago.  This meeting is the continuation of the public hearing process which has been discussed and recessed from meeting to meeting over the past couple of months.  Although we don’t anticipate approval of the complete PUD, we are optimistic that the Commission will approve the Conceptual Master Plan and the PUD, with conditions.  This should allow SP Land to move forward with more detailed design and engineering.  Many more steps are required before any construction may begin, including Vermont’s Act 250 procedures and detailed building and site plan reviews.  This could, however, signal an important first step towards the development of the much anticipated Killington Village.  Again, stay tuned for further details.

Follow these links for copies of Select Board and Planning Commission minutes and agenda.

After a meeting of the Killington Planning Commission on May13th, the Commission voted 6-3 to publicly warn a meeting whereby the Commission will review SP Land’s application for a Planned Unit Development (PUD) permit and Conceptual Master Plan Review for the long-awaited Killington Ski Village.  This is the first step in what I expect will be a long application, review, and approval process which will involve both the town of Killington and the state of Vermont.

There were arguments by the Killington Town Planning Manager and Planning Commission members both for and against the public hearing.  The argument against the public hearing was led by Dick Horner, town Planning Manager because he felt that the application was incomplete.  Mr. Horner felt that the application lacked the level of detail necessary to fully evaluate the plan and the town would only get “one opportunity to get it right.”  David Rosenblum, Chairman of the Planning Commission argued for the public hearing by suggesting that a project of the magnitude proposed by SP Land (a 20-25 year phased-in development) could not be expected to have every detail determined upfront.  Mr. Rosenblum felt that the application should be publicly reviewed and discussed.  At that time, the Planning Commission could identify additional information/detail that would be required to approve the plan.  The idea of a “conditional” approval was also discussed and acknowledged as a possibility.

The result of the discussion was the warning of a public meeting at the Killington town offices on Wednesday, May 27th at 7:30pm.  I urge anyone and everyone with an interest in the future of Killington to attend this meeting.

For the Rutland Herald prospective on this meeting…

Killington Resort announced that it will extend the 2008-09 ski and snowboard season to Saturday May 2, 2009, weather and conditions permitting.

The Town of Killington Economic Development and Tourism Commission announced that on July 4th a Triathlon will be held in Killington.  It will consist of swimming, biking and running. 

Carl Spangler has been selected to head the Killington’s new Economic and Tourism Department.  Spangler has held positions in state and local government and has been involved in Vermont’s recreation industry for over 30 years.   Spangler has also served as a senior planner and development officer for several ski resorts including Killington and Sugarbush. 

This Department is being funded from a 1 percent local option tax which is estimated to generate over $600,000 annually.  The goal of the Department is to create and sustain year-round programs to boost Killington’s local economy.  Mr. Spangler is a firm believer in the development of a Village and should be a strong liaison between the town of Killington and S.P. Land, the developers.