Blue Hills May Receive State Funds for Snowmaking Improvements
$2.2 Billion Environmental Bond Bill Includes Earmark for Blue Hills Ski Area.
Saturday, August 2, 2014, NewEnglandSkiIndustry.com
The Massachusetts House and Senate passed H4375 on Thursday, July 31, 2014, sending the bill to Governor Deval Patrick for approval.
Under the environmental bond bill, $2.2 billion would be borrowed and spent over a 4 year period. Identified earmarks are currently subject to change.
Part of the bill calls for $1.2 million in spending at the state-owned Blue Hills ski area. The ski area was most recently leased to Ski Blue Hills Management LLC in 2007, with a new 5 year term commencing in 2013. The ski area has long been saddled with exorbitant snowmaking municipal water costs due to not having a snowmaking pond. The $1.2 million earmark is to be spent "for the improvement, rehabilitation and expansion of facilities at the Blue Hills ski area in the town of Canton, including, but not limited to, the construction of a retention pond."
Multiple earmarks would affect the greater Blue Hills area, such as $2.5 million for the Trailside Museum, $2.5 million for Eliot Tower and Blue Hills Weather Observatory, and $1 million for Broderick Stables.
