This story by Chris Mays was published in the Brattleboro Reformer on Oct. 30.
[N]EWFANE — The court-appointed receiver will stay the course at the Hermitage Club’s foreclosed private ski resort at Haystack Mountain. “The request of defendants raised at the hearing that maintenance of the ski lifts and snowmaking equipment be increased to a higher level than currently being performed by the receiver to preserve the equipment from deterioration is denied,” Judge Robert Gerety wrote in an order following a hearing Thursday.
Berkshire Bank foreclosed several Hermitage properties in February and the Vermont Department of Taxes closed down Hermitage establishments in March for failure to pay taxes. Courtappointed receiver Alan Tantleff of FTI Consulting had estimated getting the lifts ready for the resort to open this winter would cost about $300,000.
Hermitage officials have said they are working on securing a loan between $25 million and $30 million. The hope is to reopen the resort this winter.
The bank, which is lending the money to fund the receiver’s work, objected to the Hermitage’s request to have chairlifts inspected and lift maintenance workers certified. Tantleff is charged with preserving the value of properties and protecting them until they are sold.
In the same order, Gerety approved the receiver’s July and August reports “in all respects” and called the reporting format “acceptable to the court.”
