It’s a sad day for residents of Olympic Valley.
The members of a grassroots coalition ended its bid to incorporate the Olympic Valley on Tuesday after encountering what they refered to in a letter to Placer County Local Agency Formation Commission as “hostility from the county and others,” which “has made it hard for your commissioners to support our proposal.”
According to the Sacramento Bee, the commission’s consultant indicated that the act to incorporate Olympic Valley as a town isn’t financially viable, which reportedly pleased Squaw Valley president and CEO, Andy Wirth.
“I’m most interested in putting this behind us and making this a more unified community”– Squaw Valley Ski Holdings President and CEO, Andy Wirth
That conclusion was based on the belief that a community such as Olympic Valley would need a surplus of funds to help soften the blows of any of the effects of climate change as well as economic downturns that the area could encounter in the future.
The supporters of incorporation strongly disagree with that conclusion.
However, both sides are claiming that a separate review conducted by the state controller’s office supports their view. KSL and Squaw Valley (who oppose incorporation) are supposedly pleased by the result of the controller’s findings, while incorporation advocates say that the controller’s findings support their position. That said, representatives from the Placer County Local Agency Formation Commission admit that they were confused by the consultants findings, which many believe means they are playing dumb for the time being.
Earlier this year, Unofficial Alpine found that the numbers released by the controller’s office support incorporation.
That article can be found here: STATE CONTROLLER REVIEW SHOWS THE INCORPORATION IS FINANCIALLY VIABLE
Still, the battle for incorporation has been an underdog effort for the IOV (Incorporate Olympic Valley) compared to the massive funds thrown by Save Olympic Valley (the bankrolled effort by KSL and Squaw Valley to block incorporation).
The total money spent on Save Olympic Valley totals $800,000.
Although the effort to incorporate is dead for the time being, it is possible that a resolution could be revised and resubmitted in the future. Whether that’s before KSL and Squaw Valley attempt to follow through with their grand development plans for Olympic Valley– has yet to be seen.
Related: Squaw Valley Development Comes Under Fire
Save Squaw Valley!
You can read the entire Sacramento Bee article here: Olympic Valley ends incorporation bid
