MONTE VISTA — Chairman of the Friends of Ski Hi Karla Shriver gave an update on the Ski Hi complex and the finances needed to finish it during a Sept. 16 Monte Vista City Council meeting. 

Friends of Ski Hi is a collaborative group with a vested interest in the Ski Hi complex. The group has been a part of the construction of the Ski Hi complex since the beginning.  

Shriver spoke at the meeting about Friends of Ski Hi along with the City of Monte Vista, putting together a proposal to submit a USDA Grant for conference center furniture.

“We’ve narrowed it down and we are ready to submit a proposal, it's time, now that we have it built, to go before the USDA and submit a grant for this furniture,” Shriver said.

Shriver explained that this particular grant has a maximum amount on the local level of $50,000. She added that if it was to be escalated to the state level, the board might be able to seek $100,000.

Shriver said that the furniture itself would still cost over $200,000. There was some discussion of the types of furniture that would be put into Ski Hi project including, tables, chairs, whiteboards, and video and audio equipment. Shriver said she needed the City’s approval, as the grant would be under the City’s name, to submit the proposal. A motion was passed at the Council meeting to move forward with the grant proposal in the City’s name.

Shriver also spoke of a fund account that was put on reserve, from a previous loan that was taken out for the Ski Hi complex. Shriver asked for council approval to request $300,000 from this reserve for purchasing additional furniture and recreation equipment, if it is needed, such as basketball equipment and scoreboards. Shriver said if $300,000 was used from this reserve there would still be $100,000 available in the reserve.

The total budget for the Ski Hi complex project was $8.6 million according to Shriver, who added that they were not over budget. A motion was approved by council for the money to be withdrawn for the project.

A small discussion was also held by Interim City Manager George Dingfelder regarding a 2007 Economic Assistance Policy resolution that has been on the City’s website since 2007. Dingfelder requested the assistance of the council, regarding whether the policy should be continued. Dingfelder said, "It does have its good points, my question is should we leave it out there, and revise it, or what do we do with this policy, as we do not know of anyone that has actually used this policy.” A motion was made to pull the policy from the website and examine it.

The next City Council meeting will be held on Oct. 7.