CAMDEN — The Camden Select Board Tuesday night learned that the Ragged Mountain Redevelopment Project is currently about $500,000 over budget, with much of the overage due to additional engineering costs and higher lighting bids, which came in at four times what was originally budgeted.

But the news was not all bad, as Camden Snow Bowl Manager Landon Fake told the board that the project's capital campaign committee was aware of the overage, and was committed to helping raise the additional funds.

During his regular Redevelopment Project update to the board, Fake said that the reasons for the engineering lines being over budget were due to additional work on erosion controls and the prolonged planning board process that required two engineers to weigh in.

"The lift engineering was a little more expensive than we anticipated as well," said Fake.

As for the lights, Fake said they account for $400,000 of the overage, which includes the electrical work necessary to change over from high pressure sodium lights to LEDs, which are more efficient and provide better visibility for night skiing.

In an effort to find savings, Fake said that the Northeaster Trail would not be lit, as it requires all new poles and lighting.

Since that trail won't be lit for night skiing, Fake said they need to figure out ways to get some light on the chair lift for when people are coming up portions of the Northeaster Trail.

"We need to get some light on the lift line so people aren't riding up in the dark" said Fake. At the top of the chair lift, where skiers and snowboards have the option of going right to ski down Northeaster or left to ski down the Clipper and Mussel Ridge trails, Fake said the latter two trails would be lit and skiers would be guided in that direction at night.

He also said that they are trying to cut costs where they can, which means that some of the trail they were going to do is not being done, some of the ledge to blast is not going to be blasted and rerouting the cross country ski trail has been put on the shelf.

In addition to higher engineering and lighting costs, Fake said that the trail work is over budget "for a number of reasons."

"One of those is that Tom [Wells, Royal Trail Works] bid on 15 acres, and there was more than 15 acres due to erosion and we did not measure well," said Fake.

Wells also told the board that it took a while to take of the erosion problem and that a lot of his company's additional costs were due to the logger's work in the spring.

"Just about everywhere we went was further [more acreage] than it was supposed to be. We are still finding debris from the loggers every day. It was left a mess," said Wells. "The method I used when I took over logging, of not dragging trees down the mountain, that worked really well and I will be doing that again, it worked so well."

On the positive side of the project update, Fake said that they are closing in on finishing the new snowmaking and Wells said the trail work should be in a few weeks.

Seven tower footings have been poured and set so far, with nine more to go.

"Fitzy's [Bill Fitzcharles] crew has built all the forms and Fariello is delivering the concrete to fill them. In was an interesting day yesterday as all of the concrete trucks have to be towed up the mountain by a skidder as it's too steep for them to drive. So it was a long day for everyone because it took two truckloads to fill the form," said Fake.

One trip up the mountain, skidder pulling cement truck, can take as much as an hour, and then it has to be slowly towed back down the mountain.

Fake said that the decision was made to bring the towers up the mountain by helicopter, versus a crane. That means the work can be done in one day, again versus three weeks by crane.

Town Manager Pat Finnigan took a moment to praise everyone that has worked on the project so far, calling this stage of the project a "milestone moment."

"It's easy to say the trail work is 99-100 percent done," said Finnigan. "But I want everyone to understand the incredible team work that made that possible. Tom Wells was not expecting to need to deal with the larger area opened up by the logging operation. But the fact that we are in such good shape now, with erosion controls and water bars. To be here on Oct. 7 and see how far we have come is incredible. Tom is a mountain surgeon, as he has been nothing less than that. This mountain is as much his now as it is ours. And I think you can see the mark of Royal Trailworks on every inch of the mountain. Wanted to be sure and thank Royal and the mountain employees for their hard work. October used to be my favorite time of year and I think it is again looking at the mountain how it looks now."

The board members, including chairman Martin Cate, Don White, Leonard Lookner, John French and Jim Heard all thanked Fake, Will Gartley, Fitzcharles, Wells and all of the town employees for the work they have done thus far.

"Thank you very, very much; you are exactly what this community needed," said Lookner to Wells. "You have done an exemplary job, far and above, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your work."

Following the update, three residents of Hosmer Pond, adjacent to the mountain, addressed the board, two of them displeased with a variety of issues.

Dorie Klein read a letter from Dana Strout, president of the Hosmer Pond Association and Klein’s husband.

In his letter, Strout began by saying that the lighting plan seems to provide a good balance for everyone now. But he took issue with the fact that the need to balance safety with light pollution was not originally asked of the lighting consultant.

"Why did the individuals responsible for this project not request that at the beginning?" said Strout in his letter. "Until this question was raised, it seems the neighbors of the Snow Bowl have not been taken into consideration... Who can we count on to look into what is going on and keep us and our interests in mind going forward?"

Strout also said the "nobody trusts Landon Fake to be straight with us on any level," mentioning the fact that at the last planning board meeting, Fake was asked about how neighbors could contact someone at the Snow Bowl when lights were left on after closing the facility.

"He was asked if there was a number to call if the lights are not turned off, and he provided no number. Why this was not considered, we want to know," said Strout.

Klein herself told the board that she had concerns about mud that is extending past the mud curtain in Hosmer Pond, and that she thinks one of the lower trails is too steep and dangerous, opening the town up to "a great liability,"

John Scholz, a member of the Planning Board as well as a resident of Hosmer Pond, spoke as a resident and told the board that he had found himself in a difficult spot Tuesday night, as he also serves as vice president of the Hosmer Pond Association.

"I disagree with some of the material that was just presented to you [in Strout's letter]," said Scholz. And while he too continued to have concerns about silt collecting in the pond, he came to Fake's defense as he said he has spent a lot of time talking and working with him, as well as with Finnigan and Wells, about the project.

"Landon came into the project after the planning was done, and I think he has done his darndest to get up to speed," said Scholz. "He had to learn both what the mountain was about, and what the project was about, and I think at times he chose to not say anything when he wasn't sure of the correct answer."

Finnigan also spoke up after the public comments, saying that she wanted to ensure that information was accurate.

"Regarding Ragged Mountain Redevelopment, I can't control people's feelings. Regarding the lighting, I want to make it very clear that I, Beth [Ward], Landon, Will [Gartley] and Fitzy were very clear that there could be an impact on the neighborhood. Landon had been on the job maybe two weeks, and I told him right then, that lighting needed to be seriously looked at as it affects the neighbors. We did exhaustive research on the lighting fixtures. The second round with the planning board was more detailed. I would not want the Hosmer Pond Association to think that we are not sensitive to the impacts on their neighborhood. I don't want any of you, the Select Board, thinking that this is something your staff is not aware and sensitive to," said Finnigan.

She also told the board that the state Department of Environmental Protection had been out to the mountain to check on the project and make sure it continued to move in a positive direction as far as erosion controls.

She said that the DEP representative was pleased to be able to see all the way to the bottom of Hosmer Pond, and that they walked over to view the turbidity curtain, used to contain any runoff.

"Hosmer Pond is lower in level than earlier in the summer, and the DEP felt that the silt bar there, that you can now see, has been there for a long time," said Finnigan.

The DEP's positive findings about the project, which early on had angered neighbors and resulted in the agency’s scrutiny for poor erosion control, were also reported to the board by Scholz and Fake.

When asked by French how long the work to complete the towers and the new chairlift would take, Fake said, "[However long] to be open by Dec. 20."

Related stories:

• Camden Planning Board approves Snow Bowl lighting plan as proposed

• Camden Snow Bowl on target for Dec. 20 opening, weather willing

• Camden Snow Bowl project remains under DEP scrutiny, making progress, more work ahead

• Vermont trail builder takes helm with Camden Snow Bowl project, new phase gets under way

Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards can be reached at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com or 706-6655.