{"id":50040,"date":"2019-07-01T14:45:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T22:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/live-neighborhood-association-weighs-in-on-proposed-eaglecrest-plans\/"},"modified":"2019-07-01T19:31:28","modified_gmt":"2019-07-02T03:31:28","slug":"live-neighborhood-association-weighs-in-on-proposed-eaglecrest-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/live-neighborhood-association-weighs-in-on-proposed-eaglecrest-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Live: Neighborhood association weighs in on proposed Eaglecrest plans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t

Summary:<\/strong>The meeting ran out of steam. Residents were concerned about potential traffic impact and the possibility that Eaglecrest could become overrun by tourists, but it wasn’t particularly hostile.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

7:20 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

The possibility allowing school children to make use of some of the summer infrastructure came up.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“I don’t know why we wouldn’t” Scanlan said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

He also reiterated he wants it to continue to be a space that appeals to locals.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“I really do want it to be like, ‘Eaglecrest, where locals come to play,’” Scanlan said. “Seeing your friends up here might make the other commercial visitors fade away.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

He said trails would not be fee based.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

7:10 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

The necessity of a carrying capacity for Eaglecrest is being discussed.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“We really need to nail that down,” Ellefson said. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Scanlan said he understands the concern.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

7 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Dog-use is now the topic being discussed.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Scanlan said there may need to be a leash requirement on some trails.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Community members are voicing support for the keeping Eaglecrest friendly to locals.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“I’m sort of tired of tourism taking over every quiet place in this community,” said Merry Ellefson.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Scanlan said it will be a different experience but hopefully still a fulfilling one.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“How can collaborations occur with those of us who have stakes in this area?” Ellefson said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

She suggested the possibility of Audubon Society guided bird walks.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“I love that idea,” Scanlan said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

The tone of conversation has been more concerned than directly opposed to the proposed idea.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“I have asked myself honestly, and I don’t know the answer, would I rather have Eaglecrest shutdown or would I rather have it be another hotbed of industrial tourism?” Ellefson said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

6:50 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

With the vision laid out, residents are making comments.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Margo Waring said limiting access to small, electric buses would be ideal.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“It’s the great big huge ones that cause problems for people that drive on the highway,” Waring said. “Being a leader in that would be really great.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Scanlan said solar power for the proposed summit lodge is something that’s being considered.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“I look forward to more of the hiking trails, particularly if they’re not too steep,” Waring said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

She said it’s important to keep in mind a significant portion of Juneau’s population is aging.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“The needs of that group are a little different and a little less charging than maybe expert-level mountain biking,” Waring said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

6:45 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

While money generated by a potential summer adventure center would help pay for improvements and wages at Eaglecrest, Scanlan said he’d like it to also be invested in other recreation-related efforts.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“I’d love to see a community investment fun,” Scanlan said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Scanlan has acknowledged that increased traffic is a realistic concern — 12 to 18 buses are a possibility.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

However, he said Eaglecrest has the infrastructure and space to absorb the possible crowds and, traffic aside, it’s unlikely to negatively impact nearby residents.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“It’s not like some of the other high-impact tourist attractions,” Scanlan said. “Every single person in Juneau can hear the helicopters.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

6:30 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Scanlan described the proposed mountain coaster in more detail than it’s been discussed in.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

It’s essentially a cart on a steel track propelled by gravity that tops out at 27 mph. The cart would be equipped with a hand brake, so that riders don’t have to travel at the top speed. The cart would also have collision-avoiding software installed that could bring a cart to a complete stop if it detected another cart on the track.<\/p>\n

\"General<\/a>

General Manager Dave Scanlan gives a presentation to the North Douglas Neighborhood Association July 1, 2019. (Ben Hohenstatt | Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t

6:20 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Scanlan said low snowfall totals over the past five years plays a big part in encouraging Eaglecrest to try to diversify revenue streams.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

He said increasing revenue to provide more compensation for Eaglecrest employees is also a goal.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“My staff hasn’t had a pay increase in six years,” Scanlan said. “There’s just no financial capacity.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“That’s kind of framing up the why’s,” he added.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

6:10 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Scanlan is starting the night with a presentation of Eaglecrest’s plan, then take comment from North Douglas residents.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Head count is now up to seven people, a can of LaCroix and a pack of Oreos.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

6:05 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Eaglecrest Ski Area wants to expand its summertime offerings to include a mountain coaster, lift-assisted mountain biking, a new gondola, a rope course and zip line, and is starting the road toward that with a series of meetings.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Tonight, General Manager Dave Scanlan is meeting with members of the North Douglas Neighborhood Association to discuss what the proposed expansion would mean for North Douglas.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

So far, six people are present.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

\u2022 Contact reporter Ben Hohenstatt at (907)523-2243 or bhohenstatt@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BenHohenstatt.<\/b><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

<\/p>\n\t\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Live updates from the neighborhood meeting <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":474,"featured_media":50042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":9,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,4],"tags":[75],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-50040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-news","tag-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/474"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50040"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=50040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}