Eagle Crest’s board president and new general manager made a detailed presentation to the Assembly Finance Committee April 5, outlining operational shortfalls, deferred maintenance needs and the resort’s long‑range goal of supporting year‑round operations.

Board president Mike Satri and general manager Craig Simmons described a challenging winter with low snowfall, a damaged Black Bear lift that required major repair and longstanding deferred maintenance across the resort. Simmons emphasized that the leadership team was operating at high effort levels and said the area lacked staff capacity to take on intensive midseason capital work without risking retention of experienced employees. Simmons said the combination of limited staffing and years of deferred maintenance had led to higher contracted‑services costs for repairs and maintenance.

What the board asked for: The Eagle Crest board voted to ask the Assembly for roughly 6.43 full‑time equivalent positions and a 40% increase in overall wage levels to close a pay gap the presenters described as about 14–15% below industry norms. Board members said the requested personnel investments would support more instructors, lift and maintenance staffing, and year‑round positions needed to expand summer programming. The board also requested about $226,000 in capital maintenance in FY26 to address deferred upkeep.

The board framed the ask as part of a multi‑year strategy to reach sustained summer operations, both to diversify revenue and to reduce reliance on winter patterns. Presenters said additional instructors and front‑line staff would increase lessons and training capacity — a revenue driver — and also reduce reliance on expensive contract labor. The board retained a consultant (Kirk Duncan) to study capital needs and reported that the consultant’s scenario planning showed summer operations as the most durable path to long‑term financial health.

Questions and context: Assembly members pressed for a clearer five‑year revenue and expense model showing how new hires and wage increases would lead to increased local revenue and when the resort would return to sustained surplus. Eagle Crest said such models exist in draft and that staff would provide more detailed scenarios for the Assembly at upcoming meetings.

Ending: The resort said it will return with more detailed revenue‑projection scenarios and capital plans. The board asked the Assembly to treat the request as the start of a multi‑year conversation on how the city supports the resort’s transition to a financially sustainable year‑round operation.