A new victory for Squaw residents opposed to Andy Wirth's water park development in iconic valley - Eco Truckee

Eco Truckee Tahoe News

The Incorporate Olympic Valley Board — with Jamie Schectman, Bev Wilson, Fred Ilfeld and Tom Day.

Local residents opposed to Squaw Valley CEO Andy Wirth’s scheme of turning one of the most iconic U.S. ski resorts into a water park with associated high-rise buildings have claimed a new victory in their efforts to incorporate the area to prevent such development from being launched.

The California State Controller’s Office (SCO) released last week its review of the Draft Comprehensive Fiscal Analysis (Draft CFA) for the proposed town of Olympic Valley. The SCO found significant flaws in the draft CFA and its conclusion that the proposed town may not have enough revenues.

“IOV is excited and energized by the feedback and perspective from the State Controller’s Office, who validated the majority of concerns raised in our request to have the draft CFA reviewed”, said Fred Ilfeld, Chairman of the Incorporate OV Foundation. “The results clearly demonstrate that the proposed town of Olympic Valley is financially viable,” Ilfeld stated.

Incorporate Olympic Valley “Incorporate Olympic Valley” is the name of Incorporate OV’s registered political committee. It raises and spends money to advocate for the incorporation of Olympic Valley. Incorporate OV Foundation is a nonprofit corporation that funds nonpartisan analysis, study, and research to educate the public about the likely effects of incorporation. These entities run and funded by local residents operate under the slogan: “It’s Our Valley. Decide Its Future.” (Website and Facebook)

“With the SCO’s reversals on key issues in the draft CFA, revised data and analysis reveals positive net revenue and growing general fund equity balances. The bottom line demonstrating financial viability is unequivocal.” said Tom Sinclair, Principal Consultant, Municipal Resource Group.

Andy Wirth, president and CEO of Squaw Valley Ski Holdings LLC, had a different interpretation of the latest California State Controller’s Office’s review of the draft CFA.

“This is yet another independent entity confirming that the proposed town of Olympic Valley is not financially feasible,” Andrew Wirth was quoted on Rocklin & Roseville Today site.

Opponents of his development plans do not buy his argument.

Popular local blogger Mark Fisher wrote on his UnofficialAlpine.com site:

“It appears that Wirth didn’t spend enough time on his homework.”

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“We encourage you to consider supporting the effort to incorporate the town of Olympic Valley. We’ve seen time and time again that we cannot leave the future of Lake Tahoe to KSL Capital and Placer County. We believe that we need local people to be in control over what the future of the region looks like. More information about donating or volunteering time to the Incorporate Olympic Valley movement can be found at the IOV website,” Andy Fisher wrote in his UnofficialAlpine.com post.