Big Burke announcement

[River19]

I asked the same question. The short answer is no, there is no full service restaurant. The cafeteria is the only place to get a burger. There is a mid-mountain bar but no burgers are served at the bar. And it does no good if your wife already has her boots off in the main lodge.

Not to beat a dead horse here but........

If they don't put beer in the same place as the burgers.....I fail to comprehend how they can say they are putting in a honest effort at running a viable "resort" or ski mountain. This is the most obvious and basic thing a mountain can do......reall pathetic.

This whole situations reeks of an operation about to go belly up under the weight of some of the most epic bad decision making in any business case I have ever come across. I never would have fathomed it could be this bad with these guys.

Anyone hear anything from our favorite condo marketer? I am actually beginning to really worry about him.

 

[thetrailboss]

So did anyone go to the Passholder Meeting? If so, how did it go?

Was it more of the same?

 

[Edd]

Saddleback in a coma and Burke is a seemingly terminal patient. I'm at Crotched today raising my glass to better days ahead. It's pretty nice here today.

 

[thetrailboss]

Saddleback in a coma and Burke is a seemingly terminal patient. I'm at Crotched today raising my glass to better days ahead. It's pretty nice here today.

Amen.

 

[MEtoVTSkier]

So... wonder if they closed food service to save cash or they ran out of credit from food service vendors...

 

[River19]

So... wonder if they closed food service to save cash or they ran out of credit from food service vendors...

If I were any type of vendor I would demand payment up front before any product or service is delivered. COD or nothing.....

Anyone want to buy a mountain with an overly large hotel on it? Like new, never been used.......

 

[thetrailboss]

Anyone hear anything from our favorite condo marketer? I am actually beginning to really worry about him.

Yes, we have not heard from the three people who think that we are a bunch of negative nannies. After the news about the Hotel, I think it is fair to say that all is not well in Qville. That's just a fair observation.

 

[the original trailboss]

Today is the first day for the new general manager, according to what I was told this morning - identified as Mike Pappalardo, owner of Mike's Electric Inc (MEI)

 

[River19]

Yes, we have not heard from the three people who think that we are a bunch of negative nannies. After the news about the Hotel, I think it is fair to say that all is not well in Qville. That's just a fair observation.

Anything to the contrary would require a long explanation and some incredible proof as all indications point to a bad ending.

I have a feeling the Hotel may end up "as is" for a while and while that mess lingers the Mountain operations themselves will be run with a skeleton crew as come the end of ski season Jr can reduce staff significantly and then sit still for several weeks until bike season opens and that can run with a much smaller group of employees.

 

[thetrailboss]

Today is the first day for the new general manager, according to what I was told this morning - identified as Mike Pappalardo, owner of Mike's Electric Inc (MEI)

Another new GM?! What is this, the third or fourth one in a year?

 

[Gman]

Yet they're blowing snow on Ledges and Lower Foxes today. I have a hard time believing that directive is coming from Ary.

 

[VTKilarney]

Another new GM?! What is this, the third or fourth one in a year?

And how many have had ski area experience? None?

 

[yeggous]

The TamaraQ was open that day for a special breakfast, and as regularly scheduled in the afternoon at 2pm. But it's regular schedule does not include lunch. I can verify that this is different than last year.

This did hold a bridal show at the hotel on Sunday. I saw exhibitors bringing in supplies.

 

[VTKilarney]

Yet they're blowing snow on Ledges and Lower Foxes today. I have a hard time believing that directive is coming from Ary.

I'm impressed that they are blowing snow at all.

 

[thetrailboss]

The TamaraQ was open that day for a special breakfast, and as regularly scheduled in the afternoon at 2pm. But it's regular schedule does not include lunch. I can verify that this is different than last year.

This did hold a bridal show at the hotel on Sunday. I saw exhibitors bringing in supplies.

Very interesting. Was Peaks the one hosting the event? How would Q get the keys and yet not be able to book rooms?

 

[thetrailboss]

And how many have had ski area experience? None?

Well, Ary DID complete that INTENSE internship at a "luxury hotel" in Europe when he was younger.

 

[VTKilarney]

Very interesting. Was Peaks the one hosting the event? How would Q get the keys and yet not be able to book rooms?

There was an article about it in today's Caledonian Record. All it said was that the contractor allowed the use of the hotel even though the COs had not been handed over.

The article said that some people have weddings booked at the hotel. If I were those people I would be getting nervous.

 

[thetrailboss]

There was an article about it in today's Caledonian Record. All it said was that the contractor allowed the use of the hotel even though the COs had not been handed over.

The article said that some people have weddings booked at the hotel. If I were those people I would be getting nervous.

Interesting. Here's what the preview of the article says:

EAST BURKE -- For the first time, the QBurke Hotel & Conference Center was open for business on Sunday as a huge white limo parked at the rear entrance of the grand new facility signaled a function presented by Exquisite Bridal & Formal Wear of St. Johnsbury.

Just when we thought we have seen it all at Burke.....

:roll:

 

[MEtoVTSkier]

I would guess that it kind of makes sense to have a show like that there, if they are going to be booking weddings and all...

if they ever open...

 

[halfpintvt]

Editorial in the Caledonian Record

[FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, Times, Serif]2/20/2016 8:00:00 AM[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, Times, Serif]Editorial: Betting On Bill Stenger[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, Times, Serif]The new hotel and conference center at Burke Mountain is ready to open after recently receiving state Certificates of Occupancy. But unpaid bills to general contractor Jerry Davis are keeping doors to the impressive new facility closed. Grand openings have been repeatedly delayed as developer Bill Stenger has dealt with neverending series of setbacks. Those headaches have exacerbated the financial torment of a calamitous lack of snow and visitors this winter. Meanwhile a whole bunch of local people anxiously await the possibility of new jobs and opportunities at the mountain. The problem started two years ago when a small handful of foreign investors complained to the state after experiencing some buyer's remorse. They weren't complaining about their newly minted green cards - the crown jewel of the EB-5 program - just that they suddenly believed the totally legitimate, above-board deal they willingly signed should somehow be made sweeter. They got upset when Bill Stenger and Ari Quiros dissolved "Jay Peak Hotel Suites, LP," the legal entity created to build the resort's Tram Haus lodge. With the move, 35 limited partners (each who invested $500,000) lost investor status. In exchange, they got promissory notes, backed by the value of the resort. The state of Vermont's EB-5 Regional Center, as one might expect from a state agency dealing with complex issues, pretty much had no idea what was going on. They looked totally foolish when their advice to the disgruntled investors was essentially "call Bill Stenger... he's such a great guy." [/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, Times, Serif]The investors were confused. Vermont's highest ranking pols (Governor Peter Shumlin, Senators Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders, and Rep. Peter Welch) were crawling over each other to take credit for Stenger and Quiros' successes. So how was it, with such a suddenly high profile program, that Vermont's only regulatory body appeared to be no more than glorified cheerleaders? Well if there's one thing bureaucrats and politicians hate, it's being outed as buffoons. The political class, few of whom have ever built companies or created jobs, started whispering about fraud, corruption, conspiracy, ponzi schemes, dirty capitalists, end-of-the-world, etc. And the way they always deal with that kind of thing is to invent ways to show the world how tough, smart and useful they can be. Typically that spells death for free enterprise. The state made a couple of statutory changes and focused its vast, taxpayer-funded focus and energy into regulating Stenger, et al. That meant that the men who created thousands of jobs, and on whose coattails Governor Shumlin rode so boastfully for years, suddenly had to answer to a handful of pencil-pushers before they could write checks or tie their shoes. No big surprise... with their hands tied, Stenger and Quiros have since been beset by headaches, setbacks and delays. The biggest irony? The foreign investors who turned to the state years ago because they "lost confidence" in Stenger and Vermont's ability to control him, were really just looking for ways to safeguard their money. By summoning the "power" of the state, those pigeonhearts put otherwise solid investments into serious jeopardy. We didn't think there were "guarantees" in the investment world. We thought it worked like this: do your homework, pick a strong company, caveat emptor, and place your bets. For our money, we would have stuck with the guys who turned an obscure federal program into $650 million in local investments over Montpelier desk-jockeys who've never created anything in their lives. [/FONT]