Publicly Owned Tram at JHMR
Jackson Hole News & Guide
New tram may be public
State-funded replacement would be owned by local government, leased
to resort for operation.
By Jim Stanford
In the next two months, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is likely to ask the Wyoming Legislature to fund a new aerial tram that would be owned by a public entity and leased to the resort.
That entity likely would be some form of local government, such as the Teton Village Resort District, Teton Village Association or a joint powers board one or more of those groups could form with Teton County, Larry Wolfe, an attorney for the resort, said Tuesday.
Whatever entity assumes ownership of the new tram would work out a lease with the resort for operation of the lift, Wolfe said.
"What we're going to be asking for is a substantial appropriation," said Wolfe, a partner in Holland and Hart in Cheyenne.
The Wyoming Legislature convenes Feb. 13 in Cheyenne for a 30-day budget session, during which lawmakers will decide how to carve up a projected $1.8 billion surplus.
The resort needs to act quickly and have the Legislature consider a proposal this session, said Wolfe, who also is a registered lobbyist.
"Our view, since the tram is coming out of service at the end of next summer, is unless you want to contemplate not having a tram for a number of years, we really have to move this session," he said.
If funding is appropriated in March, construction on a new tram could start next summer and be finished by the winter of 2007-08, Wolfe said.
Resort officials have pegged the cost of replacing the 40-year-old aerial tram, Jackson Hole's signature lift, at $25 million. So far resort owner Jay Kemmerer and his family have pledged about $5 million toward the project.
Resort President Jerry Blann cautioned that his company is still investigating all avenues available for state and federal funding, but he conceded that any public money for a new tram would have to go to a municipal entity.
"If state or federal agencies step up in any major way, that seems to be a given," Blann said Tuesday.
Eligibility questions
Whether the Teton Village Resort District qualifies as such a municipal entity has been the subject of debate in recent weeks.
Tucker Fagan, chief executive officer of the Wyoming Business Council, the arm of state government that distributes money for economic development, said during a trip to Jackson last week that a resort district would not be eligible for funding under the council's Business-Ready Communities program.
Fagan did say that a joint powers board could be formed to meet the Business Council's requirement.
The Wyoming Consti-tution specifically prohibits state and local government from giving money to a corporation. "Neither the state nor any county, city, township, town, school district, or any other political subdivision, shall loan or give its credit or make donations to or in aid of any individual, association or corporation, except for necessary support of the poor. ..." the Constitution states.
The state statute that deals with Business Council funding lists recreational facilities as a type of economic infrastructure eligible for grants and loans. Ted Ladd, a Wilson resident and member of the governor-appointed Business Council, said this wording was inserted by Senate President Grant Larson, R-Jackson, when lawmakers approved the legislation. Larson has pledged to go to bat for tram funding during the upcoming session.
Tourism funding falls under the Business Council mandate. The Business Council recently recommended a $410,850 community enhancement grant for the City of Evanston to improve the Bear River, including making a whitewater park for kayaking, canoeing and tubing.
Resort attorney Wolfe said there is "plenty of flexibility" in state statutes to work out an agreement with one of the existing districts at Teton Village or to form a new joint powers board.
Next: Convince public
But the biggest issue facing the resort, he said, "obviously is going to be convincing the Legislature and the general public that an appropriation for the tram has got a lot of benefits for the state and Teton County."
Blann was reluctant to identify state funding as the resort's preferred course, out of fear of being "presumptuous," he said.
"We're continuing to meet with the people guiding us," Blann said. A tram advisory committee composed of local officials, skiers and residents will meet later this week. The resort has declined to identify all of the members of this committee, dubbed the "Tram Team," but Blann said a list would be forthcoming after the first meeting.
The Teton Village Resort District was created last year to provide infrastructure. An additional 1 cent of sales tax is collected at the village to pay for landscaping, lighting and improvements in the parking area.
The Teton Village Association was formed in 1998 by business owners to deal with transportation issues, as required by the Teton County Board of Commissioners in approving the resort's master plan.
Any arrangement for municipal funding for the tram likely would be subject to review by Wyoming Attorney General Pat Crank.
Crank said Tuesday that he could not comment on the situation until he is asked to make a formal review. But he provided some historical background on the constitutional provision.
Lessons from the East
In the late 1800s, as Wyoming and other Western states were drafting their constitutions, several Eastern states such as Pennsylvania nearly went bankrupt loaning money to railroads and canal builders.
Wyoming, Oregon and Montana took notice and structured their constitutions to avoid such pitfalls, Crank said.
Rep. Pete Jorgensen, D-Jackson, whose district includes Teton Village, said he would wait to see what sort of arrangement the resort proposes before taking a position.
But Jorgensen, who is in Cheyenne this week for budget hearings, said the state is besieged with funding requests for education, Medicaid and other health programs.
"In my mind, it would have to stack up against the social needs, which government is clearly and uniquely responsible to address," Jorgensen said.
At this point, replacing the aerial tram doesn't outweigh other funding requests, he said. "If we have enough money, maybe we can address those social needs," he said. "We're not close to addressing all those social needs."
