Local Residents Sound Off About Burke Mountain Development

[kingdom-tele]

riv- i think some of the concern maybe that this project MAY create such a divide, so much so that the company is hiring out their own personel and not bothering to hire anyone in the community, not only will you not be able to afford skiing there-but the board of directors will decide its cheaper to bring in the seasonal workers from florida or wherever else - again, when it comes to bottom line decisions vs. preserving an atmosphere anything is possible

boss- i would like to think this discussion gets notice because the people who know burke, and seen it through some ups and downs, truly love the place

 

[nek_crumudgeon]

Don't get me wrong, anyone, but who in here has actually had to hire, train and retain employees from the NEK? It's been a real pain for me, and I continue to try to work with the community at-large to provide local employment. Mostly, these problems are with contractors, who don't show up on time or at worse, at all, don't return phone calls, etc. We're not talking McWork here either $15 to $40 an HOUR for work in the NEK or anywhere is pretty good.

Ginn DID hire a bunch of local contractors for the baselodge deal and met with a lot of the same issues. They continue to employ a lot of locals, especially kids who were unpaid interns under the old mgmt. I feel like no one gives Ginn any credit at all.

Complain as we may about McJobs, Caledonia County has the 2nd highest unemployment rate in the state. Regardless of pay and skill level there IS a workforce here who could be utilized. Sure, there are better answers than service and entry level jobs, but it's a start, and I don't see anyone else stepping up for the NEK right now. We can villify low paying service jobs all we want, but this isn't a caste system, and for better or worse service jobs ARE the backbone of our national economy.

As far as professional jobs go, well, yeah, Ginn or anyone for that matter more or less hires out of state personnell. Look at the area's other large employers: LSC, the 3 academies, Weidman, etc. and you'll see a legacy of hired-in professionals. The NEK needs a better educated workforce, but that begins with choices that those who live here make - you or I or Ginn can't solve that. I think they've been fair in retaining resort managers who were there before. Some of the lifties that were here under Northern Star are still here. Ask them how bad the job is, some apparently don't find it too disagreeable since they've been working here 7+ years. Are jobs like these a future? Clearly not for some of us, but we're not everybody.

 

[nelsapbm]

Town Plan

Re: Town Plans.....ours has been in the works for three years, so yes, it does take time. Riv-if you are at interested in land use law, you are in the right state! Boss - are you studying land use law at VLS?
Re: Ginn/Burke - I'll say it now and I'll say it again...no Ginn = no Burke Mountain. The town of Burke is smart - the town plan drives zoning, so they really need to make clear in the town plan what they want for the future. Hopefully it works out for everyone.

 

[kingdom-tele]

well said nek, i agree completely, jobs are jobs, and without the mountain obviously alot of people would be a pinch, and from what i've seen no one has lost a job under ginn, its great that they would use the contractors they used, even better if the development offers a greater number of "service" jobs, but to state how promising this development plan is for the NEK and then state how defecient the work force is in the NEK seems a little hypocritical and further drives home my opinion. if the work force is so "undereducated", and a majority of the develpomant money is going to the "qualified" work force from outside companies (and rightly so for development reasons), explain again how this is so wonderful for caledonia county and the citizens of the NEK,

the NEK is and will always be a economy driven by the staples of the region, dairy farms, logging, and the support services for those workers and their families, hospitals, schools, etc. these are the jobs that will provide in the long term, not the development of a destination resort for the privelidged - kudos to ginn for utilizing the established work force already in place at burke, and hopefully those jobs only become more lucrative for those individuals,

there is clearly a number of ways to look at it, my only hope is burke and the neighboring towns aren't heading down a road which will leave the area devoid of its unique presence, residents, and opprotunity to escape the ever popular bigger is better attitude

 

[nek_crumudgeon]

I'm not sure that statistics support your argument that the NEK will always be what could loosely be called 'farm based', KTele. I'm not against what you're saying, obviously I love Burke, too, but let's not wear rose colored glasses here as to the area's reputation vs. the reality.

I think that, yes that's the traditional labor force for the NEK and VT, but that's been changing for the past decade, like it or not. To not admit that is idyllic at best. In the DOL labor statistics just released, out of the 362,000 eligible workers in the state, 306,000 are distinctly non-farm payroll. Another 13,000 are unemployed leaving approximately 43K farm jobs for the whole state or around 12%. That % has been falling for years while most of the gains have been made in the goverment, educational and service sectors.

 

[riverc0il]

if the work force is so "undereducated", and a majority of the develpomant money is going to the "qualified" work force from outside companies (and rightly so for development reasons), explain again how this is so wonderful for caledonia county and the citizens of the NEK,

even IF the higher paying and higher skill level jobs go to folks outise of the NEK (who, by the way, are then from the NEK once they accept the job...), a burke resort promises to yield a lot of jobs as new businesses (many locally owned i suspect, but even if not, a NEW job for a high unemployment area IS a new job) once development begins. people visiting burke are going to want places to shop, things to do, restaurants, equipment stores, etc. the small development in burke before the access road won't be enough. of course the development needs to be controlled! but clearly new jobs are going to be created. if the NEK is concerned with keeping high school grads here and giving them jobs, a burke resort only stands to increase opportunity. but the problem of kids coming of age and leaving VT is nothing new and will continue to be a problem. VT will never have the opportunity and amount of things to do that exist else where, burlington excluded.

nek_crumudgeon, great points all around.

 

[kingdom-tele]

nek- numbers don't lie, i wouldn't argue what you say, let me re-emphasize my view a little, while the numbers of workers in this industry are shrinking, the natural resources of the NEK still support the potential, not unlike northern maine, granted i am sure if you looked at the maine stats the number of potato farmers and loggers are diminishing, but that doesn't mean the land is being transformed into government buildings etc to support those types of jobs. while i am neither a dairy farmer nor a logger, i am fortunate enough to "make a living" here as a professioinlal, i haven't met anyone who lives here because they are capitalising on the tremendous profits, in fact, just about all of my friends and family live here because the NEK still offers the natural riches beyond a salary and convenience. not to say its good or bad to want that life, some of my best friends live in boston, they love to visit, but couldn't imagine living here. that is my reality, the reputatioin that coming to the NEK still holds- to me burke is a unique feature of that reputation, its not the only one, but it is a gem, to see it lost in a potential wave of high priced homes, lift tickets, and catering to all but the people of the NEK is my only fear.

and let me reiterate- i'm not against ginn and their desire to want to make burke a destination resort, just make it a destination for all the right reasons -

 

[nek_crumudgeon]

Riv - Thanks. I think you illustrate my point perfectly as far as where I stand. Being a "young professional" in the NEK I see your point every day at work! I don't think Ginn alone is the answer, but part of an equation that can make the area stronger, and that's why I'm upset with those who want to tear it down.

Another topic all together in the Caledonian this morning: Burke 2000 buys wind development rights? What the . . .

 

[Greg]

Very interesting reading here. I'd like to commend everyone for a positive and civil debate/discussion...
:beer:

 

[thetrailboss]

Very interesting reading here. I'd like to commend everyone for a positive and civil debate/discussion...
:beer:

Yep, that is very true. Passions run high on this issue similar to Sugarbush, but folks are doing a great job offering actual debate and not ad hominum attacks.

 

[thetrailboss]

Another topic all together in the Caledonian this morning: Burke 2000 buys wind development rights? What the . . .

Yep. No surprise. Part of Ginn's plan. Buy 'em out.

 

[halfpintvt]

[Re: Ginn/Burke - I'll say it now and I'll say it again...no Ginn = no Burke Mountain. The town of Burke is smart - the town plan drives zoning, so they really need to make clear in the town plan what they want for the future. Hopefully it works out for everyone.[/QUOTE]

The Town of Burke already has a Town Plan in place, what they need to do now is update their Town Plan to reflect the fact that alot of development will be occuring and not just on the mountain. The "Mountain" has a master Plan and a PUD (planned unit development) which dictates what can be done. The Master Plan says that approximately 72% of all the land must remain "open" When the mountain was sold off in 2000 2 large tracts of land were lost to private investors (about 780 acres). Ginn needs these parcels to meet the open space requirement and still have the density of housing units listed in the PUD. They have purchased back 611 acres of the original 780 at a cost of about $2.5 million dollars. In addition they have purchased several other large parcels totalling about 254 acres which had been in private hands since the early 1960's. This should allow them to meet the requirements of the PUD. To be honest, I don't think Burke's biggest worry will be Ginn, it's the other speculators who will subdivide a 15/20 acre parcel into 15 or 20 housing lots and then take the $$$ and run. One such subdivision has already been proposed (not a local owner). I doubt it would be in Burks'e best interest to be carved up into 1 acre lots.
Another worry is commercial development, All of Burke is zoned "rural residential" which means you could put a commercial project just about any where you wish. I wouldn't like to see a McDonalds on the Pinkham Rd or The Gap and Starbucks all over. This development can be a great opportunity for Burke if it is managed properly but it could also turn into a nightmare. A moratorium would allow Burke some time to get a few rules in place about what development can occur and where it can occur.

Just my 2cents.

 

[thetrailboss]

The article on Burke and windfarms. I guess Burke bought one of the windfarm interests and is allowing another one to go ahead.

 

[thetrailboss]

The deal has closed on the Old Cutter Inn. Closing price" $1.15 million for the property, two buildings and 36 acres Ginn says that their "buying frenzy" is almost done.

 

[thetrailboss]

Burke will be holding a meeting to release their development plans. Depending on schedule, I may be there.

 

[thetrailboss]

More concerns from a former community of mine.

 

[thetrailboss]

The building rush has begun.

 

[thetrailboss]

Burke selectmen are going to be voting on the moratorium soon.

 

[riverc0il]

nice to see things slowing down to a crawl so the town can make sure they have a say and development is done right. i wonder if ginn was prepared for this type of critical analysis of their plans or if they were trying to build up before the town could adjust? seems prudent to make sure it is done right, they are only going to get one go at the development before the lay of the land and town is permanently altered.

 

[thetrailboss]

nice to see things slowing down to a crawl so the town can make sure they have a say and development is done right. i wonder if ginn was prepared for this type of critical analysis of their plans or if they were trying to build up before the town could adjust? seems prudent to make sure it is done right, they are only going to get one go at the development before the lay of the land and town is permanently altered.

Bobby Ginn was asked about the review process and its impacts, specifically re: Act 250 and its progeny. His response, "all the better, bring it on. It only works to protect my investment after it is built...I won't have to stare at clear cuts or anything." So they understand. I just hope that this does not impact the snowmaking work slated for this season...MUCH needed work.

Methinks that they are taking it easy after a tough season...