Yeepers! Time keeps zipping right along. It’s been a year since the last newsletter. I got caught up in the rush of work last year and never got a chance to sit & write. Anyhoo, here goes…
Projects: 1997 was a very busy season filled with several construction projects. We built an impressive carport in front of Cascades Lodge in Killington with stone pillars and a massive wood roof (details at http://www.vermontel.com/~kacs/cascade.htm). KACS, Inc. did an extensive repair & exterior remodeling job to the Jennings residence in Pico Village (details at http://www.vermontel.com/~kacs/jennings.htm). The Merrill residence received new finished spaces in the basement and garage areas. We built a large tri-level addition to the Leonard house on Rebecca lane. Starting in September, the Foster home was built in Killington East. Mixed in between projects were some smaller roof, siding, repair and interior finish jobs. Meanwhile over 100 replacement windows were installed and full time property management was ongoing. Phew! By the end of the year, I had enough work for a while and have taken a 2 month hiatus. Fortunately the skiing has been excellent this year at Killington and my psyche has been realigned.
Killington: The ski resort continues to grow and improve. A new gondola replaced the chair to the peak. A huge new hotel has been built next to Snowshed along with incredible engineering feats needed to accommodate it. A footbridge over the highway was constructed next to the Skyeship base station. A second underpass was built under the road between Ramshead & Snowshed. A night time fun park called "Ground Zero" located near the Killington base lodge was set up containing a skating rink, sledding hill, a 400’ long snowboard half pipe, luge run, and gondola rides to the summit for dinner. Plans are underway for dramatic increases in snowmaking capability and the planned interconnect between Killington & Pico. (more details at http://www.killington.com/Press/revolution.html )
Other news: Last year, the state legislature enacted Act 60, a law that dramatically changes how education is funded in Vermont. Killington and several other so-called "gold towns" have been targeted as cash cows ripe for plucking. Over the next couple of years, property taxes in this town will triple and will have other adverse effects on the Vermont economy. The educational benefits of the law are also questionable. More info can be found at http://www.act60.org
Costs, rates, fees, prices and other fun stuff: As predicted, the hourly rate for services & construction will increase from $23 to $24. But wait a minute! What’s this?! The cost of property management services is staying the same!! That’s right! There is no increase in monthly fees this year. Holy smokes! Is he crazy? How can he afford to do that?