The used gondola at Eaglecrest Ski Area needs lots of extra parts to be installed as desired, which are going to cost more than expected due to a price surge — but officials said that also means the gondola itself is worth lots more than when city bought it a year and a half ago.<\/p>\n
Those assertions — placing the gondola’s current value at roughly twice the $2 million the city invested in it — were made during a Juneau Assembly Committee of the Whole meeting Monday night. However, Eaglecrest General Manager Dave Scanlan told Assembly members he believes the project with its additional parts can still be completed with the $6.5 million currently available for construction from other funding sources, without asking for extra city funds.<\/p>\n
In part that is due to Assembly members agreeing to a request from Eaglecrest’s board of directors for “alternative procurement,” which Scanlan said will allow more efficient use of funds than the city’s conventional contracting process. The process allows qualifications-based selection of contractors instead of traditional bids, allows portions of work to proceed prior to 100% completion of project documents, and allows for the setting of a negotiated guaranteed maximum price<\/p>\n
“Juneau is a very unique community that is full of extremely passionate Eaglecrest users with a diverse professional skill set,” he wrote in a Dec. 13 letter to Assembly members and other city leaders. “Utilizing alternative procurement will allow a team of very experienced contractors to come together and work with project engineers and Eaglecrest staff to find the most efficient way to utilize Eaglecrest specialized equipment and knowledge to find the most effective and efficient way to execute all phases of construction.”<\/p>\n
Using alternative procurement should also ensure Eaglecrest stays on schedule for opening the gondola during the 2025-26 ski season, Scanlan told Assembly members. He said that will allow time to make adjustments and ensure the gondola is fully ready for heavier traffic during the summer tourism season in 2026<\/p>\n
“In summer we anticipate a full load of passengers going up the line and down the line,” he said.<\/p>\n
Assembly member Wade Bryson, while being among those during Monday’s meeting expressing concerns about whether the inflated costs might mean more city money to install the gondola, also offered a form of congratulations to those involved in the purchase.<\/p>\n
“I don’t think that we’ve bought a single thing as an Assembly since I’ve sat here that has gone up in value 100% from the cost that we bought it,” he said. “So while it was a tough challenge, there were a couple of opportunities that if you bought right before everybody understood the impact of inflation — which is when we bought this gondola — we got a $4-million-plus dollar asset for $2 million bucks because we bought it before everybody appreciated what inflation was going to do. So we’ve scored on this one.”<\/p>\n