Gunstock Changes

In an article I found at Patch, about some changes that have been in the works for a while, I found a few items that could use some clarification.

By Paula Tracy, InDepthNH.org

GILFORD, NH — Belknap County-owned Gunstock ski area is in for some changes as its longtime general manager and its marketing director leave. And legislation is proposed to give legislative leaders more control over the makeup of its governing board and the ski area’s money.

The writer kicks off this article with a pretty clear bias against legislators. The FACT is the legislators and the commission worked together to address deficiencies in the law that unduly restricted Gunstock from more efficient operation.

News of the change at the helm in the middle of the ski season came a day before legislation was heard on a bill to give the county legislative delegation more control over who operates Gunstock and where the money goes.

As to management of the ski area, it is functionally the end of the year and time to begin planning for future operations. As to ‘the money‘, this is more than a small quibble for control of a couple of bucks. The ski area has been rescued by the county taxpayers twice in recent decades. The last was a $6,000,000 bailout in 2000. If you can be bothered to do the math, there is hardly a return on investment, if you chose to look at in such terms.

The current law states that no more than one person from the same municipality can serve on the board but the bill looks to drop that requirement and it would add term limits.

The current law states that no more than one two persons from the same municipality can serve on the board.

The Gunstock Area Commission has a regularly scheduled meeting set for Jan. 29 at 6 p.m. at the ski area.

From the Gunstock web page;

The next meeting of the Gunstock Area Commission will be held Wednesday January 29th at 6pm at the Belkanp County Complex, Meeting Room 2, 34 County Way, Laconia NH 03247.