Tamarack Legal Update
Membership Update - Legal
1. Foreclosure. TMA is monitoring the state court foreclosure proceedings. Closing Briefs from competing creditors - Credit Suisse, Teufel Nursery, Banner Sabey, Secesh Engineering, and others, will be filed with Judge Owen in March. Judge Owen is expected to reach a final decision about priority and amount of competing liens in April or May. Post trial motions may be filed, which may extend the time estimates noted here. If post-trial process is expeditious, the case may proceed to a sheriff's sale in August or September. Judge Owen has no strict timeline for reaching a decision but has a reputation for promptness. These time lines are only best estimates and are subject to change.
2. Sheriff's sale. Counsel is engaged in discussions with others to maximize likelihood that, in the event of a sheriff's sale, critical amenity assets are sold intact, not piecemeal. Amenity assets include the state lease portions of the ski hill and golf course, as well as the privately owned parts of the ski hill (the rest of the golf course is not subject to the foreclosure). Most creditor parties prefer selling the whole resort to a single purchaser if possible. Areas that may be excluded from a single, combined sheriff's sale are the Village Plaza, Lake Wing, and BAG hotel lot. Reasons to include or exclude will become clearer as the briefs are filed and as Judge Owen clarifies priorities in those distinct properties.
3. Market based resolution. TMA is aware of discussions for purchase and sale of the entire property, including purchase and sale of ownership, creditor and debtor, and lessor and lessee interests, that can control or acquire the entire property prior to, or in the event of, a sheriff's sale. Those discussions continue, along with numerous due diligence inquiries. The discussions and inquiries remain subject to confidentiality agreements that are normal in complex transactions. Aside from responding to due diligence inquiries, TMA is not a principal in the discussions regarding purchase and sale of the Resort, and TMA is not involved in or made privy to the day-to-day details of those discussions. As TMA receives information from principals, and as those discussions reach certainty or result in public records, TMA will provide that information to its members.
4. Observations and prognosis. TMA cannot guaranty a positive outcome but remains committed to working with all parties for the best interests of TMA members and the Resort's future. Based on reliable but confidential reports from principals, TMA senior management and counsel are cautiously optimistic that pending purchase and sale discussions will keep the resort and its future under single ownership. The same team that put the current ski season together is working hard but quietly to protect TMA members' interests and assure the Resort's future after Tamarack Resort LLC is foreclosed or bought out. All parties realize that Tamarack Resort LLC's involvement in the Resort will conclude in the near future and that conclusion must occur expeditiously and economically.
5. Discussion of Winter 2011-2012. TMA's board has authorized a directors' subcommittee and its counsel to investigate what approach to winter 2011-2012 operations may be in TMA's best interests, including having TMA designated by the State Department of Lands as the Department's ski area operator. Discussions regarding extension or termination of the State Lease are in their early stages, subject to confidentiality agreements. The Lease contains a provision that allows for the State to appoint a ski hill operator in the event the Lease is terminated. That provision of the Lease allows the State's designated operator to use buildings and land outside the State property (the domes and the ski maintenance building, for example) that are associated with ski operations. TMA is also exploring what role it might have in future ski operations if a purchase is consummated.
6. How close are we to having a ski season next year? TMA senior management will provide members with more information about the 2011-2012 season in the next 2 weeks. We are doing everything possible to be open next year. The TMA Board recently approved the pre-selling of season passes for the 2011-2012 season. We will provide you with many more details when the program is launched. As with this season, the money will be put aside and fully refunded in the event that we do not open. Of course, some significant hurdles are in front of us, not the least is the State land lease. However, negotiations and discussions are underway. The process remains complex and sensitive, but we are optimistic that operations may return with or without a new owner.
7. Thanks for your patience. In the next few months, the legal issues will sort themselves out. Many interconnecting nuances will direct the Resort's future in ways not totally predictable. TMA's involvement, through its legal Counsel, will be very active, albeit confidential. We greatly appreciate your patience regarding updated information as we navigate through this next and delicate cycle in our history.
Regards,
Steve Lord
TMA Counsel