‘We are going to gamble together’

2015-2016 budget accommodates growth, addresses deficit

Mon, 07/20/2015 - 1:30pm

Lynda Clancy

The Camden Select Board joins Snow Bowl crew to look over the state of affairs at the bottom of the mountain, July 13. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)

In the Camden Snow Bowl workshop, looking over equipment.

The Camden Select Board approved the Snow Bowl’s $947,464 budget July 13, on the deck at the Snow Bowl lodge. From left to right: Ragged Mountain Foundation board members Patrick Jones and Bob Gordon, Camden Town Manager Patricia Finnigan, Camden Select Board members Leonard Lookner, Don White and Martin Cates; Snow Bowl administration director Beth Ward; Select Board members John French and Jim Heard; and Snow Bow General Manager Landon Fake.

Camden Snow Bowl’s Assistant Manager Beth Ward shows Select Board members Leonard Lookner and Don White how the software runs at the Snow Bowl. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)

Camden Select Board member Leonard Lookner and Camden Snow Bowl General Manager Landon Fake. In the background, William Fitzcharles, Camden Snow Bowl operations manager. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)

The old granite blocks came from an old wharf at the harbor, and now will be used to create a sloped wall around the chairlift at the bottom of Ragged Mountain. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)

The Camden Select Board joins Snow Bowl crew to look over the state of affairs at the bottom of the mountain, July 13. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)

In the Camden Snow Bowl workshop, looking over equipment.

Camden Snow Bowl’s Assistant Manager Beth Ward shows Select Board members Leonard Lookner and Don White how the software runs at the Snow Bowl. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)

Camden Select Board member Leonard Lookner and Camden Snow Bowl General Manager Landon Fake. In the background, William Fitzcharles, Camden Snow Bowl operations manager. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)

The old granite blocks came from an old wharf at the harbor, and now will be used to create a sloped wall around the chairlift at the bottom of Ragged Mountain. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)

CAMDEN — The Camden Snow Bowl will begin the season $81,000 in the red, but the town hopes that a strong start over the Christmas-New Year’s week will bode well financially for the rest of the fiscal year. Banking on that, and on the expectations that the facility overhaul at Ragged Mountain will draw attract more skiers, the Camden Select Board unanimously approved, July 13, a $947,464 budget for the mountain.

That represents a $73,326 increase over the 2014-2015 budget. Included in the expenditures are new software, a second-hand snowmobile, a track all-terrain vehicle, and marketing services from the private Camden-based company Naretiv.

To mitigate the increase and the deficit, daily ticket sales and season passes will increase, on average, by 5 percent.

Projected revenue for this coming season at the Snow Bowl is $967,480. That $20,000 difference in revenue over expenditures is to be applied immediately toward paying down the deficit.

Camden Snow Bowl General Manager Landon Fake is hoping to see a revenue increase of $174,555 more than what was realized last season, which was $792,925.

Of the anticipated 2015-2016 revenue, he projects $40,000 more this year in ski ticket sales than last year, and $46,000 more in season pass revenue; likewise, he has projected more income to derive from ski lessons and race programs, rentals, and even $13,000 more from Toboggan Nationals.

The Snow Bowl is adding three new races to its schedule next winter, Fake told the Select Board, which will also help increase revenue. Part of the mountain expansion that occurred last year was to extend a trail section at the top of the hill that meet more length requirements for competitive downhill races.

See attached budget for complete numbers.

The Snow Bowl’s upgrade, which officially got underway in March 2014, included new trail construction, new lift installation, sewer and parking lot work, and the anticipated construction of a new lodge. The $6.5 million project grew in expense to $8.4 million this year. Most of it is being raised through private donations; but Camden citizens, who ultimately own the Snow Bowl, also agreed to issue a $2 million bond. Approximately $5.5 million is now expected to be spent on the project through 2015, while the nonprofit Ragged Mountain Foundation continues to raise money to pay for a new $2 million lodge.

While owned by the town, the Snow Bowl is treated as its own economic entity and is managed as an “enterprise budget.” This means its revenues and expenditures are maintained outside of the town’s general fund. The budget runs on a July 1-June 30 fiscal year.

There are few cross-over expense lines with the town’s recreation budget, such as some shared salaries; however, because the Snow Bowl is a business, as well as a municipally-run department, the goal is to have most of its operations funded by its own income stream.

Town leaders are hoping that the mountain, with its ski area improvements and push towards developing it more as a four-season facility, will increase recreational traffic, and economic activity both in town and for the region.

The Select Board met at the Snow Bowl July 13, first to tour the bottom of the mountain and see firsthand the Snow Bowl equipment, its trucks, plows, tractors, snowmobiles and associated hardware. It was an important visit, said Select Board member Leonard Lookner and Jim Heard, because it provided a first-hand review of mountain assets and conditions. And currently, the Snow Bowl remains a construction zone, with the parking lot getting rebuilt to a depth of two feet, erosion control continues on some slopes, and the double chairlift gets installed.

After a 40-minute grounds tour, the board gathered on the lodge deck to discuss the budget for approximately 90 minutes. The majority of that time was spent talking about the proposed purchase of $30,000 software that, according to its proponents, is more than point-of-sale software tools.

Changes in season passes prices

Camden resident and nonresident passholders can expect to see an increase in what they pay this coming winter.

Camden families purchasing a family pass, for example, will note an increase from $661 for to $719 if they pay by Oct. 25.

After that, the family pass will increase to $929.

Nonresident family passes, purchased by Oct. 25, will increase from $899 to $999. After Oct. 25, they will cost $1,229.

Senior citizens (over age 70) will no longer get a $10 (Camden resident) or $50 (nonresident) season pass.

Going forward, they will be treated like students or military members.

However, those Seniors who have held these passes last year will be able to get the same $10 and $50 pass if they pay prior to Oct. 25.

For that category, Early Bird passes will go for $219 (Camden residents) and $319 (nonresidents).

After Oct. 25, the rates will rise to $279 and $399, respectively.

The reason for raising the family rates is because there are many families with six to eight skiers, said Fake.

The Camden Parks and Recreation Committee approved the rate hikes in July.

Tickets will also increase in price, although they have yet to be set.

Of that $30,000 expenditure, half is to be paid for by the nonprofit Ragged Mountain Foundation, $9,000 from the Snow Bowl budget and $6,000 from the town’s parks and recreation budget. The software also requires a $10,000 annual maintenance contract that continues as long as the software — the open-source e4Soft.com — is being used.

Bob Gordon, president of Ragged Mountain Foundation, was at the July 13 meeting and told the Camden Select Board that the $15,000 donated for the software would derive from the Foundation’s endowment, not its capital campaign to raise $6 million for the Snow Bowl project.

“That’s a solid ‘we will do our best to make it all happen,’” said Gordon.

The advantages of the new software lies in its capabilities that extend beyond being of point of sale, said Patrick Jones, who also sits on the Foundation board.

Conventional POS software systems track customer orders, process financial card orders, and connects to other network systems.

“POS is selling it short,” said Jones, who described the software is an enterprise resource planning system.

The system will combine and link ticket sales, rental and lesson transactions, and enable someone from a long distance away to order tickets and reserve equipment so that he or she “is off and running” on arrival at the Snow Bowl.

The software can also be used for event management, human resource scheduling, and projecting into the future to answer management questions. The fiscal books can be interfaced with the town’s fiscal software, which the Snow Bowl books currently are not tied to.

“People expect it,” said Jones. “They expect to show up in a hospitality situation and everything is just going to flow.”

He cited industries that use such software, such as real estate, car rental, and restaurant reservation.

“This is the norm, or is becoming the norm,” said Jones. “Particularly in the hospitality business.”

It is the way people are used to being marketed to today, he said.

It also requires a “deep commitment” from all users (mountain employees), “up front and in advance” so that the “whole team understands any kind of transaction needs to go into the system.”

He added that management must set aside time to review “business intelligence to get the benefit of what they’ve learned; otherwise, just a consolidation of a bunch of spreadsheets.”

Some Select Board members were skeptical of the additional expense of the software, wondering if it would demand more dedicated employee time.

Board member Leonard Lookner asked if it would be added labor, not less labor.

“Once up and running, it would take less time,” said Fake.

Jones warned that the Snow Bowl’s existing software is 15 years old, and should it break, there will be no system.

“You will be on paper if it breaks,” said Jones.

The Select Board also questioned the proposed $35,500 expenditure dedicated to marketing. In 2009, the Snow Bowl spent $7,203 on marketing. Last year, $15,000 was budgeted for marketing and $36,856 was spent on that line.

This year, the Snow Bowl and recreation department is contracting with Narretiv to market and advertise the Snow Bowl and the town’s year-round recreational assets, mostly online. Traditionally, the Snow Bowl has spent a good portion of its money on radio advertising, but is migrating to the Internet.

Most mountains, said Fake, spend 10 to 15 percent of revenue on marketing.

Last year, he recorded 12,000 ticket searches online for the Snow Bowl. He anticipates selling more than $26,000 worth of tickets online this coming season.

Last year, the Snow Bowl had created a marketing position, but is now going with a private contractor.

Narretiv is also to create a new website for the Snow Bowl.

The need for a strong Holiday week start to the season

The Holiday Season, which traditionally beings the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, is considered vital to the fiscal health of the Snow Bowl.

For many years, the mountain made just enough snow, whatever the weather was doing at the time, to cover the trail called Foxy. The Little T-bar ran skiers up the short hill, and while there may not have been exceptional ski conditions, the community generally turned out to ski what it could.

More structure to staff operations

Snow Bowl Manager Landon Fake reached out to Brimstone Consulting, with offices in Camden, for ideas on improving management at the Snow Bowl.

The facility has approximately 60 fulltime and parttime personnel at the height of the winter season, and to Fake, is now ready for a stronger management structure.

As a result, Tony Contakos, of Brimstone, has offered, for free, four days of consulting with people associated with the Snow Bowl.

A strategic planning process is underway, with two days of discussion this week, and two more days scheduled for August.

The goal is to produce a master plan, said Fake.

“What we really need to do now is figure out how to use infrastructure,” he said. “We are a much bigger ski area now. Fitzy has 10 guys working for him. He needs lieutenants.”

He added that sales also needs more defined roles, and the roles of the ski club and ski area need stronger clarification.

“We have to come to grips with who are target market is,” he said. “It’s been a community ski area. In order to pay for it, we need to bring in people from away. We have to maintain a balance.”

The strategic planning team includes Fake, Town Manager Patricia Finnigan, Assistant Director Beth Ward, Facilities Manager William Fitzcharles, Recreation Committee Chairman Ray Andresen, Ski Cub Director Charlotte Horowitz, Ski Patrol Director Duncan Matlack, Toboggan National Committee Chairman Holly Edwards, Operations manager Tom Beauregard, ski school racing instructor Jeff Deck, Camden Community Planning Director Karen Brace, and a representative from the Ragged Mountain Foundation.

Last year, because of construction setbacks and warm weather, the Snow Bowl did not open until mid-January, subsequently losing the Christmas-New Year week of revenue.

The 2015-2016 budget is depending heavily on a holiday start.

“I think we are gambling that we going to have successful Christmas,” said Select Board Chairman John French.

“It is more a stretch goal for us but something is on the record, and we plan on what we can do to get as much business here as possible,” said Finnigan.

“Can we make this budget if we don’t have Christmas,” asked French.

Fake replied that the budget depended on that holiday week.

“What do you project for numbers if you don’t get Christmas,” asked French.

“We will get much more aggressive about not having employees here,” said Fake. “We will have fewer lift attendants.”

Snow Bowl Facilities Manager William Fitzcharles said that for eight of the last 10 years, the Snow Bowl had opened its chairlift before the end of Christmas week.

Last year, he said, the mountain could have had skiing off of the double chairlift (which is taking the location of the former Little T-bar) over Christmas, “with a strong effort right off the bat.”

He said optimum temperatures for making snow is 28 degrees F, but “24 and below is when it really pays off.”

The budget also projecting $90,000 in income from the Toboggan Nationals, held every February. This year, the Nationals produced $63,917 in revenue to the Snow Bowl.

Expenses from that weekend are expected to be $46,148, up $10,000 from this year’s $38,324.

Back to software

The Select Board then circled back to the software purchase, debating its importance to a financially-struggling ski resort, owned by taxpayers.

“We have had this risk every single year, year after year,” said Select Board member Martin Cates. “We need to give our people the tools to operate this mountain properly.”

We’re looking at this from two different angles,” said Select Board member Don White. “We have dedicated staff but we need to give them the tools they need for modern technology. I realize it’s a gamble. The whole thing is a gamble. Give staff the tools they need.”

White added: “I’m favor of the budget the way it is. We are going to end up spending between $7 and $8 million and we know that we have already invested. I am totally in favor that we’ve got to go forward.”

Board member Lookner cited other systems at the Snow Bowl in need of investment.

“As for a POS, the timing is off,” he said. “There are more important things to spend money on. It is a prohibitive expense.”

“People have expectations,” said Finnigan. “The plan is that we are going to be bringing more people to this area. One thing we have to maintain in this whole community is people’s experience, that they feel that are getting treated very personally. This can help us with that. We are at a crossroads of how we are viewing ourselves. We cannot market this mountain and if we have sold it only to ourselves, we have not done well by the taxpayer.”

Then, the took a vote, which resulted in unanimous approval of the budget.

We are going to gamble together,” said French

Camden Snow Bowl Redevelopment Committee, Ragged Mountain Foundation hold community meeting (posted March 2, 2015)

• Camden Snow Bowl project up to $8.4 million, fundraising resumes (Feb. 3, 2015)

Making tracks in some dreamy snow at Camden Snow Bowl (Jan. 30)

Snow Bowl to fire up chairlifts; refunds offered to passholders (Jan 21)

Camden Planning Board to begin Snow Bowl lodge review (Jan. 9)

Camden Select Board brings in old friend to help with Snow Bowl progress (Jan. 7)

• Camden Snow Bowl to start making snow Jan. 5 (Jan. 2)

• Camden Select Board pushes Ragged Mountain redevelopment project forward over protests of many Hosmer Pond neighbors (Dec. 18)

• Snow Bowl progress report to Camden Select Board continues to be positive (Dec. 3)

• One by one, 20 chairlift towers went up at the Camden Snow Bowl (Dec. 1)