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Haystack / Hermitage news

icecoast1

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Jim Barnes will be facing? Hopefully he wasn't stupid enough to have this in his name and not a corporation. It would be the club that would be facing litigation.

It was his company which he was the president of and he was the one doing the shady stuff, how is anyone other than him liable?
 

cdskier

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If the company is still in business and he is out, it is the company that is the responsible entity not the individual. Corporate law.

I'm not a lawyer, but I do know that a couple former execs at my company were specifically named in a lawsuit from another former employee even though they were gone by that point. No idea what the end result was or will be, but it certainly wouldn't be the first time an executive was specifically named in a suit.
 

Smellytele

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I'm not a lawyer, but I do know that a couple former execs at my company were specifically named in a lawsuit from another former employee even though they were gone by that point. No idea what the end result was or will be, but it certainly wouldn't be the first time an executive was specifically named in a suit.

Did he do anything illegal (besides cutting trails where he wasn't supposed to) or just run into money issues?
 

icecoast1

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Did he do anything illegal (besides cutting trails where he wasn't supposed to) or just run into money issues?

He was taking progress payments that were contractually supposed to go towards paying contractors to build houses and condos and using it to pay other debts. Essentially a ponzi scheme. Collecting money for sales tax and using it for business operations and not turning it over to the state is illegal too, no?
 
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sull1102

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And in a separate Reformer piece I just read they mention that the construction on the lower mountain, lookers left, is being foreclosed upon as well, for $1-million(not much at all for 90% of members at the Club OR any respectable upstanding condo developer). This really is starting to look like a hilarious situation where total scum(or just complete and utter moronic fools) are using mother nature's good looks to con the rich out of cash quick.

Even the new "savior" is pretty entertaining, he looks 100% fake, maybe even worse than Jim. Guy claims he has this magical final seconds offer of $26-million and yet cannot pay $5 grand in condo fees up the street........... RIGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHTTTTTTTTTTTT. If the town/state officials are stupid enough, or corrupt enough because I am starting to think they are very much involved in this money maker for all but the littlest guy, to fall for this garbage then I hope it all burns to the ground(not literally, that Clubhouse is way too nice to lose) in a blaze of glory someday soon and then the town gets to stare at a barren mountain with no tax revenue. This is just silly.
 

icecoast1

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And in a separate Reformer piece I just read they mention that the construction on the lower mountain, lookers left, is being foreclosed upon as well, for $1-million(not much at all for 90% of members at the Club OR any respectable upstanding condo developer). This really is starting to look like a hilarious situation where total scum(or just complete and utter moronic fools) are using mother nature's good looks to con the rich out of cash quick.

Even the new "savior" is pretty entertaining, he looks 100% fake, maybe even worse than Jim. Guy claims he has this magical final seconds offer of $26-million and yet cannot pay $5 grand in condo fees up the street........... RIGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHTTTTTTTTTTTT. If the town/state officials are stupid enough, or corrupt enough because I am starting to think they are very much involved in this money maker for all but the littlest guy, to fall for this garbage then I hope it all burns to the ground(not literally, that Clubhouse is way too nice to lose) in a blaze of glory someday soon and then the town gets to stare at a barren mountain with no tax revenue. This is just silly.

Something doesnt smell right there. Almost as if it's a friend of Barnes and/or a backroom deal with Barnes so he doesnt lose it all to the bank. And the alleged deal is already void because barnes missed a payment. I'm sure the bank doesnt care what happens as long as they get paid but the only shot the place has to succeed long term is if it goes through foreclosure and gets sold to the right person/s such as the group of members that wanted to buy it from Barnes before. They need to completely rid themselves of Barnes and anyone like him or associated with him
 

sull1102

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GOOD NEWS!!! The State of Vermont finally had an uncorrupt person step up and do the right thing here instead of allowing this disaster to continue under Barnes and his friends. This will be much better for the Club in the long run.
 
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machski

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GOOD NEWS!!! The State of Vermont finally had an uncorrupt person step up and do the right thing here instead of allowing this disaster to continue under Barnes and his friends. This will be much better for the Club in the long run.
Maybe, but I don't think receivership put in place by the bank was what the club members necessarily wanted. An interesting saga to continue to follow.

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drjeff

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Receivership may be the only way to truly get Barnes out of the picture. I'm sure that there were other more palatable options that members had attempted, but ultimately it appears that those wouldn't of gotten Barnes out of the picture....

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icecoast1

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Maybe, but I don't think receivership put in place by the bank was what the club members necessarily wanted. An interesting saga to continue to follow.

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It's still better for them than the backroom deal with Barnes that was being proposed as an alternative. It gets Barnes completely out of the picture provided the bank completes the foreclosure process and it goes to auction. Then they just buy it at auction...
 

drjeff

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Looks like Barnes is done.

For the sake of friends that I have that are members there, I really hope that he's not like a herpes lesion, in that he goes away for a while, and then all of a sudden, BAM, comes roaring back!! :lol:
 

sull1102

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VT Digger article from a few days ago says the golf course is not opening this year. That's a pretty bad shot to take for the Club and members. No golf=no activity at the Club=no revenue.

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icecoast1

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VT Digger article from a few days ago says the golf course is not opening this year. That's a pretty bad shot to take for the Club and members. No golf=no activity at the Club=no revenue.

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The bank probably only wants to do the basics to keep it in selling shape. It will be interesting to see what happens for the winter of it isn't sold yet, the judge is requiring another motion by the bank to allow the reciever to ready the mountain for the winter and potentially operate it, even if/when its approved you would have to think things would get scaled back quite considerably and given the financial situation they may struggle to find staff to even operated it
 

drjeff

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VT Digger article from a few days ago says the golf course is not opening this year. That's a pretty bad shot to take for the Club and members. No golf=no activity at the Club=no revenue.

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The bank probably only wants to do the basics to keep it in selling shape. It will be interesting to see what happens for the winter of it isn't sold yet, the judge is requiring another motion by the bank to allow the reciever to ready the mountain for the winter and potentially operate it, even if/when its approved you would have to think things would get scaled back quite considerably and given the financial situation they may struggle to find staff to even operated it

The reality is with that little play the course got, and I will 100% say that of the 2 local courses up there, the Mount Snow Golf Club and the Hermitage Golf Club (as a single digit handicapper, I prefer the layout of the Hermitage's course over Mount Snow's course), that even if it was open for public play, chances are that in what it would cost to keep staff employed to keep the course in shape, especially the tees and greens, in satisfactory condition for any future possible sale, I question if any revenue they would generate from greens fees would offset the added cost of pro shop staff, cart maintenance and/or lease (most golf courses lease their fleet of rental carts instead of owning them) and/or food and beverage staff/costs for the course vs just keeping a few on staff to maintain the grasses and run the irrigation system and do any needed work as it arises (fix blown out irrigation pipes, removed downed trees post storms, etc) makes any financial sense.

In the end, my guess is that while the Mount Snow golf club will see an up tick in annual business as a result of this, the valley really hasn't been an area that in all but a few days a golf season, really has the need for 2 courses...
 
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