Ashland Pays $85,000 To Cover Mount Ashland Ski Association's Legal Fees

The Ashland City Council Tuesday night voted against appealing a court ruling siding with the ski association. They also agreed to pay $85,000 to cover the ski are'a legal fees.

The two and a half year legal battle is over who should deal with the forest service in a timber sale required for the expansion to move forward. The battle has cost the city more than $300,000, prompting city leaders to vote to cut the city's losses.

"A new page is turning in the relationship between the city and Mount Ashland association. And we just look forward to forming a strong and supportive relationship that we had enjoyed with the city for the first eight or nine years," says Rick Saul, Mount Ashland Ski Area's marketing director.

It's a relationship that's been strained in recent years over the association's plans to expand.

"The Mount Ashland Association agreed to comply to the terms and then when it came down to it they were unwilling to comply with the terms that we put on the project," says Councilman Eric Navickas, who for years has been an ardent opponent of the ski area's expansion plans.

The city holds the special use permit that allows the ski area to operate. So the city argued that it should be the one to deal with the forest service on the critical timber sale that would make room for the expansion.

The ski association believed since it has a lease from the city and actually operates the ski area it should be in charge.

Rulings have gone back and forth on appeals, most recently with an October ruling in favor of the association. That left the city 30 days from when the ruling was filed in November to file a new appeal. But they decided not to.

Navickas was the only member to vote against the proposal to drop the appeal feeling the city could still overturn the ruling.

"I think the council was unanimous that we had a strong case on appeal. I think it strictly came down to financial issues; the cost the city would incur if we were to lose on appeal," says Navickas.

Mayor John Morrison says the city certainly has an interest in what happens on the mountain being the source of the city's water. The majority of the council decided it wasn't wise to draw out the fight any longer.

The decision not to appeal comes with an agreement between the two sides that the city will pay $85,000 for the association's legal costs.

So what's next for the expansion project? It's now up to the forest service to provide a new environmental impact study. The council we have a chance to comment on it.