Page 2: Snowcreek suffers small setback
Owner Ralph Lockhart confirmed this week that yes, another pipe had burst at Snowcreek Athletic Club. But he also stressed that progress is being made. From his return email:
“Yes, unfortunately there was another leak in a pipe a few feet away from the first one. It was likely the stress and excavation from the first repair efforts that contributed to the demise of the other section. All of that set us back a couple of days. We now have replaced ALL the water main under the building so I think we are in good shape for the future. We should hopefully have water back on today [Thursday] sometime. Electricity is back and we are continuing with the rehab efforts.”
To follow up on Wednesday’s Council meeting, it’s been quite awhile since we’ve had a Rusty sighting, so we may as well review his latest appearance on the stump.
Reporter Katie Vane said Councilman John Eastman pretty much held Mr. Gregory captive with questions for 20 to 30 minutes. One of his questions was what Mammoth has to do in order to be developer-ready (oooh, big fat softball. I think he’s gonna hit this one … ) Rusty’s response:
“We’ve got to do well in the shoulder season and off-peak season to get to a stabilized 65% of the occupancy. We’ve got some great places to stay in town, but the old stuff we have in town, that stuff will never do that kind of occupancy, because nobody wants to stay in units that old, and every year that goes by they get older and older …
“We need air service: we have that. We need great marketing to let people know about the place: we have that as well …
“The biggest impediment to our occupancy today is that we don’t have the kind of transient occupancy options that people want to stay in enough to get to that number, which means we need new development.”
Lunch observation: My unit gets older and older every year but my wife still likes it, and from the commercials I see on television, the pharmaceutical industry would much prefer a rehab of units versus building new ones, which require expensive public education and Samsung tablets. But I digress …
Rusty also put his foot in his mouth regarding investment partners with the Mountain. He was talking about how investors are looking to secondary markets, Mammoth Lakes being one.
Gregory: In the Midwest, you’ll see if you look on Google that Intrawest, excuse me, that was the last partner–
Eastman: It’s a Freudian slip.
Gregory: They come, they go, you know…. George, if you could not put that out [nervous laugh]. Starwood, they just bought seven malls, a lot of it across the Midwest, so they’re now looking at markets that are not the primary markets, and [our] resort fits into non-primary markets….
Having given Rusty a bit of a hard time, now some positive spin. June Mountain Ski Area General Manager Carl Williams dropped off a $3,780 donation to the June Lake Loop Chamber of Commerce this week.
These were the proceeds from the one-day, discounted sale of season passes to June Mountain. MMSA contributed $10 from each ticket sold.
Carl also said he hopes to do even better on December 13th. June Mountain is scheduled to open on Friday, December 13 and charge only $10 for lift tickets. All lift ticket sale proceeds will be donated to the Chamber as well. If we get snow, he hopes to sell between 1,000 and 2,000 lift tickets.
MMSA Communication Manager Joani Lynch says that as of Thursday evening, Mammoth had received a foot of snow out of the most recent storm and is “looking to open Chair 2 by Thanksgiving.”
Police seek assistance
Police Chief Dan Watson sent out the following press release:
“Sometime during this past weekend, an unknown person lost control of their vehicle and allowed it to collide with a street light, causing significant damage. The vehicle appeared to have been traveling up Canyon Blvd. near the Village at a high rate of speed. The vehicle’s tires lost traction forcing the vehicle to over steer, slide across the oncoming lane of traffic, onto the sidewalk and into the light post. The driver left the scene and has not contacted the Mammoth Lakes Police Department to report the damage.
“Upon discovering the damage, MLPD officers and Town Public Works employees were also concerned that the driver had left the scene without concern for potential injuries to others from possibly exposed electrical lines. MLPD is investigating the collision based upon evidence located at the scene. They are asking for anyone with who may have witnessed the collision or has any information to call the Mammoth Lakes Police Department.”
Finally …
Greg Bissonette was recently hired as the Mammoth Lakes Foundation’s new Director of Development.
He previously worked as Fund Devlopment Coordinator at Mammoth Hospital, is married to the chiropractor Shanna Bissonette, and has two children ages 13 and 10.
And while we have lauded all the great accomplishments of our various fall sports teams, we ought to recognize the accomplishments of a lone long distance runner.
Posted by Mammoth High School Boosters: “Congratulations to Jody Meads for running away from the field at CIF Southern Cross Country Prelims this past Saturday, winning by more than 50 seconds.
Good luck Saturday in the CIF Southern Cross Country Finals at Mt. San Antonio College.”
