By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
JACKSON – After his refusal to shut down snowmaking at Black Mountain following an anonymous noise complaint to police at 2 a.m. the week before Thanksgiving, general manager Erik Mogensen said the town select board has come to a settlement with him.
He said he will drop a federal civil rights suit and a right-to-know suit while the town agrees to drop its efforts to remove a state liquor license at the Alpine Cabin at mid-mountain.
The federal suit was filed in October following a series of police encounters with the 37-year-old new owner and began in January after he offered to pay customer parking tickets.
There were several other dustups but the dispute exploded when the town select board voted 2-0 to withdraw its support for the liquor license at the mid-mountain Alpine Cabin, which was due to go to a state hearing this month, but is now dropped.
“This is a big win,” Mogensen wrote to passholders on social media Monday afternoon. “The hardest challenge in this remarkable comeback story has been the tension that we have had with the Town of Jackson. I want to be clear, 99 percent of the people and business in town have been nothing but extremely helpful and welcoming. Black Mountain is not only its single largest employer and destination in the town but a huge piece of Jackson’s world class winter recreation identity.”
With the settlement, he wrote “we have a system in place to collaboratively manage the mountain’s growth with the town improving parking, restrooms and communication.”
Jason Dennis, attorney for the town wrote in an email to InDepthnh.org that “the parties have reached an agreement that will have the effect of bringing both the federal case and the 91-A case to a close. The Town worked hard to arrive at an agreement that addresses a variety of issues in a way that the Town very much hopes will provide for more open communication and cooperation between the two parties going forward.”
The agreement states that Black will construct two bathrooms at the Alpine Cabin there before next season to be used for staff and for limited use by the public. The deal also gives Black the right to two fireworks displays a year indefinitely, including one this New Year’s Eve which he had been seeking unsuccessfully from the town since July.
There are no compensatory damages being awarded and all litigation is dropped. The town’s building inspector will be the mountain’s primary contact, rather than in the past where Police Chief Chris Perley has been the point person on the town’s behalf.
The primary police contact for the mountain is now Lt. Michael Mosher, according to the settlement. Mogensen said the settlement agreement came together last Tuesday night after numerous closed door sessions of the select board meeting and at the end of the meeting at 7 p.m. in which he was the only member of the public present. “It was dramatic,” he said of the 3-0 unanimous vote.
Asked why the town agreed, Mogensen said he believed the town was getting a lot of public pushback.
“There was a public outcry, to be honest, and 99 percent of the people were saying ‘what the hell? We love Black Mountain. Why are you messing with them?'”
This comes as Mogensen tries to revive the state’s oldest ski area. It is in the midst of a comeback and undergoing considerable investment – over $7.5 million to date – and recently was the first ski area to open in the state, and the earliest in its 91 years.
The deal was almost rejected by Mogensen – and a sticking point which the select board had no control over. It was Chief Perley’s charge that Mogensen violated OHRV laws when he drove one across a state road as he was called to meet with the chief, May 3 during the 90th Birthday.
Mogensen said there was an offer to negotiate the OHRV charge down from a six months to three months suspended sentence. He refused.
Two days later, and just before opening top to bottom for Thanksgiving, Mogensen said he also refused a police request to shut down snowmaking following an anonymous noise complaint. Black has had snowmaking on the mountain since 1957.
“We preexist any zoning or any ordinance with snowmaking,” Mogensen recalled saying to police and the guns kept blasting out snow. He said the Select Board was not aware of the complaint until the next day when settlement negotiations intensified.
An email to Chief Perley requesting a comment on Wednesday was not returned by publishing time on Monday.
Mogensen has a national following in the ski industry and is considered a bit of a maverick. He said he is all about reviving little ski areas to compete with the Goliaths of the “megapass” world of Icon and Epic passes.
He is the owner of Entabeni Systems, a Colorado-based data company that supports ski areas around the world. He is also known as director of the Indy Pass, which offers skiers and riders a pass for two days to ski each winter at 273 independent ski areas in the world including 11 in New Hampshire.
For the industry struggling under competition from conglomerates, Indy provides 85 percent of revenue back to those mostly small ski areas regardless of use by the passholders. The pass, which is limited in quantity, is again sold out for the third season in a row.
Mogensen said he wants to bring back the ski culture of old with plugged-in crock pots and food from home welcome in the cafeteria and reduced lift prices making it affordable again. He said it is about creating a community and bringing it together with apres ski and live music and that a liquor license is an important revenue stream to that success.
Speaking on Monday, he said he is relieved to have an agreement and that he can focus on the mountain.
Mark Hodgdon, a Jackson second-home owner, abutter of Black Mountain and retired New Hampshire Senior Assistant Attorney General, said the news of a settlement is great news.
“It is always best if parties can reach mutually agreeable resolutions. Everyone can now focus on keeping Black a healthy and vibrant part of our community.”
To celebrate, Black will be open Tuesday Dec. 2 for a powder day, though it was not expected to be open on that weekday. There is up to a foot of snow predicted for the Mount Washington Valley on Tuesday.
“We will have free skiing for all Jackson residents,” with online registration, Facebook post reads and $25 for everyone else with live music beginning at 1 p.m.