Big Burke announcement

[dlague]

I grew up in that area and Newport has always been depressed with promises of large businesses moving in, then at the last second poof the deal was dead. It is nice to see this one coming to light! Many locals are upset still - they are complaining that the jobs are mostly low wage. Unemployment is high there so I am sure this will help!

 

[thetrailboss]

I grew up in that area and Newport has always been depressed with promises of large businesses moving in, then at the last second poof the deal was dead. It is nice to see this one coming to light! Many locals are upset still - they are complaining that the jobs are mostly low wage. Unemployment is high there so I am sure this will help!

I think that low wage jobs is a [short term] concern. Eventually this will lead to more jobs and help to create development of new higher wage jobs eventually. Any new economic development is good economic development.

 

[kingdom-tele]

unemployment isn't high because of a lack of minimum wage jobs, I suppose a minimum wage job in a new building though may be different.

TB- they said the same thing about the wind towers in lowell, any green energy is good, come to find out the new england grid doesn't even use it to its potential and they are dumping energy or only running a portion of the wind farm.

The foresight of these "developments" is second only to a mole.

The NEK is the new field of dreams.

 

[dlague]

Hopefully training and education a part of the plan! Or higher wage jobs will be produced through promotions.

 

[kingdom-tele]

tell that to the 4 long term burke employees just let go. jay is looking for more shuttle drivers so maybe they just got relocated?

I guess I just don't always see all economic development as good economic development, but then again I am happy living here as it is, so my vision of the future is more skeptical.

It will be something if this goes how they plan it, but the kingdom has a way of ingesting and spewing out businesses and people who want to make it something other than what it has been, for good or bad. Investing in the community is what sticks, it's to small otherwise, putting economic bottom lines first at the expense of the small group who are here doesn't last long, there just aren't enough people otherwise to sustain it.

Newport razing begins in January, be interesting to watch this evolve.

 

[the original trailboss]

Minimum wage jobs are just that - opportunity for advancement and pay increases are few and far between. In Vermont, minimum wage employees enjoy a (sort-of) regular pay increase because the state's minimum wage law is tied to an index (name escapes me), not because their job opportunity improves or advancement is likely.

 

[thetrailboss]

My point was that the creation of new jobs will lead to a demand for other services and other jobs that pay more. I agree that jobs at the resort are not likely to be very well paying or offer the opportunities for advancement within the company. And I'd say that [normally] this would lead to more economic growth except that we're talking about Vermont and that KT's point of "economic development vs. good economic development" seems to happen more often than not.

 

[awf170]

I don't think EB-5 money can be usedfor aproject like that since the money invested has to "produce" a certain return of jobs created. Snow making costs a lot of money with few additional jobs easily tied to it. The kind of investment has to come out of Q-Burke's pockets I think. Same goes for other "improvements" to the skiing experience (trails expansion, lifts, etc).

On another note, the mountain has been pretty quite this summer other than some expansion of lower mtn MTB trails. There hasn't been really any movement on the new hotel/lodge.
The Act 250 permit has yet to be approved and I can't really tell if the following is what is holding up the progress.

A neighbor (owner of the "Stone House") has filed a Party Status Petition stating the new development will create a traffic issue that will harm their home and make accesing the driveway of their home unsafe.

Initial Complaint - http://www.anr.state.vt.us/imaging/planning/7C0206-13-5/Compiano-Ryczek Party Status Petition.pdf
Q-Burke response - http://www.anr.state.vt.us/imaging/planning/7C0206-13-5/Applicant response-Compiano.pdf
Complaintant Response to the response - http://www.anr.state.vt.us/imaging/...ty Status Petition response June 11, 2013.pdf

That corner is kind of blind and it is easy to speed through there . Burke proposed some reasonable modifications to make things safer. However, other than an outright redesign of the road, I think the owner is going to have issues. I could see removing the curve altogether and bring the road down from the Mid-Lodge to a 4 way intersection with Pinkham Rd and Rexford Rd. The vast majority of traffic would have to make right turn going up the Mountain Rd. Traffic coming down would have to Stop and turn left.
Seems pretty simple, however I'm sure there are a whole range of additional permits and such that would need to be waded through to do something like this.

Solution A:

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I'm honored that something I (partially) wrote has found its way onto AlpineZone (I work for RSG)!

Interesting idea about the rerouting.... man that is a whole lot of money for one silly house. How steep is that area where you sketched your proposed road in? When/If this project gets back to us I'm going to cite "from_the_NEK" as one of sources. Thanks for the free consulting work! ;-)

 

[from_the_NEK]

I'm honored that something I (partially) wrote has found its way onto AlpineZone (I work for RSG)!

Interesting idea about the rerouting.... man that is a whole lot of money for one silly house. How steep is that area where you sketched your proposed road in? When/If this project gets back to us I'm going to cite "from_the_NEK" as one of sources. Thanks for the free consulting work! ;-)

I'm not sure this project is going to come back to you. The Act 250 board approved the Hotel project without any physical modifications to the road. Just better signage and some vegetation removal to improve sight lines.
The intersection above wouldn’t have been super steep. However, I could see there being issues with cars turning right to go up the hill from a complete stop on a slippery roads conditions day.

On a sad and frustrating note, I reformatted my computer and lost the contents of the My Places that I had spent years building in Google Earth. The My Places contains all of the polygons, lines, image overlay placements, etc. It is going to take a while to recreate a lot of that stuff. I still have my 3D building files that I created since I did back those up correctly.

 

[jimmywilson69]

ah man. you had lots of google earth...

you even spured me to learn how to do that. I have used the plan overlay for work proposals plenty of times!

 

[jaytrem]

On a sad and frustrating note, I reformatted my computer and lost the contents of the My Places that I had spent years building in Google Earth. The My Places contains all of the polygons, lines, image overlay placements, etc. It is going to take a while to recreate a lot of that stuff. I still have my 3D building files that I created since I did back those up correctly.

That sucks, have you tried to recover the files? I had some luck with this over the weekend...

http://www.piriform.com/recuva

Got back about 90% of the pictures on a reformatted SD card.

 

[the original trailboss]

minimum wage jobs do not lead to a demand for other services

My point was that the creation of new jobs will lead to a demand for other services and other jobs that pay more. I agree that jobs at the resort are not likely to be very well paying or offer the opportunities for advancement within the company. And I'd say that [normally] this would lead to more economic growth except that we're talking about Vermont and that KT's point of "economic development vs. good economic development" seems to happen more often than not.

Minimum wage jobs do not lead to a demand for other services, other than social services. And, as you alluded to, economic development does not always lead to benefits for other than a few.......

 

[zeke]

With the Jay improvements over the last several years, it shouldn't be a tough track record to measure. Has that economic development and the jobs it created helped the area? if so, this model works.

 

[kingdom-tele]

http://www.google.com/search?client...county+VT+unemployment+rate&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Salvation? The trend is pretty clear up here. Maybe adding 9300 people to the work force is the best way to hide the consistent 1,000 or so who have no interest in working.

How about them social services? Any idea what a part time, seasonal employee has for medical coverage? They aren't really going out of their way to unburden the social safety net if you know what I mean.

There are changes though, local B&B/Inns are selling out, hockey teams are spending tons of cash, local tradesmen are busy fixing all the backwards construction, etc. Not sure I fully understand the model they are using, I suppose as long as they keep building infrastructure those job numbers work out, if nothing else we'll have some of the finest empty buildings in the country, 930 investors and counting...

 

[the original trailboss]

Part-time jobs and more part-time jobs

http://www.google.com/search?client...county+VT+unemployment+rate&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Salvation? The trend is pretty clear up here. Maybe adding 9300 people to the work force is the best way to hide the consistent 1,000 or so who have no interest in working.

How about them social services? Any idea what a part time, seasonal employee has for medical coverage? They aren't really going out of their way to unburden the social safety net if you know what I mean.

There are changes though, local B&B/Inns are selling out, hockey teams are spending tons of cash, local tradesmen are busy fixing all the backwards construction, etc. Not sure I fully understand the model they are using, I suppose as long as they keep building infrastructure those job numbers work out, if nothing else we'll have some of the finest empty buildings in the country, 930 investors and counting...

Just to throw a little fuel on the fire - Sen. Leahy has proposed an amendment to the EB-5 program which would allow projects to hire multiple part-time employees instead of a single "full-time" employee (example: two 20-hour per week part-time employees would equal one full-time employee). Its not hard to believe that the part-time jobs will likely always be at or near minimum wage. This also might affect some of the state agency/education system plans to offer "training" for all these new jobs - wow! they'll need more administrators and instructors to handle all those extra part-timers they'll need to train! And those ARE good-paying jobs.............

 

[bigbog]

awf170 has been heard from!

 

[thetrailboss]

Just to throw a little fuel on the fire - Sen. Leahy has proposed an amendment to the EB-5 program which would allow projects to hire multiple part-time employees instead of a single "full-time" employee (example: two 20-hour per week part-time employees would equal one full-time employee).

Yeah, that's not a good idea.

 

[the original trailboss]

My good friend Roo Moore was by this weekend and he tells me that there will be no bulldozers at Burke until spring. A sigh of relief and a flickering hope that the next six months will bring a re-thinking of the two hotel/base lodge package at mid-Burke.......

 

[from_the_NEK]

I stopped up at Mid-Burke last night and nothing had been done. I was wondering if they were delaying this project until the Jay Stateside project is complete. And hopefully they do rethink the design and let Burke have some of its own identity by using a design that isn't a reproduction of the Tram Haus Lodge. I also think they are getting A LOT of grief about the planned removal of the Bear Den.

 

[oldtimer]

Me thinks this is about the $. In the press release announcing the approval of the Act 250 permit there was a short comment about "fundraising" being done before the start of this phase. Sounds like they have investors who have not funded the work yet, only promised. Thus it is now time to see what part of the money is serious.

As far as the grief about the Bear Den, I think you may be being overly optimistic. This crew does not seem to be very sentimental. 5 long term emps (most of the top of the management team) are gone and many I know in important positions have not heard a peep from Q junior and the team from Jay.

I do not expect inspired and creative things this winter. I expect a survival mode approach with a creep of the Jay Way in all departments.