On Monday, councilors are expected to vote on whether to give Spirit Mountain $300,000 worth of funding to help them stay open.

Spirit Mountain has been closed since this spring as a result of the pandemic, and has suffered financial hardship as a result.

City Councilor Arik Forsman is working on a task force to address the challenges Spirit Mountain is facing.

Forsman says he will vote in favor of supplying Spirit Mountain with the needed $300,000 because of the recreation it brings locals and tourists, and the revenue it brings the economy.

"The overwhelming amount of emails that I've been getting is that people, either parents or kids themselves are reaching out and saying, 'hey, this is the main thing we do in the winter, and with everything else that we've lost, please don't let Spirit Mountain also be one of those,' and I think that those, especially coming from the kids, those have been very impactful for me," Forsman said.

Forsman adds Spirit Mountain has not received any federal funding during the pandemic. Therefore, he plans to propose a resolution tomorrow that would call on the federal government to provide Spirit Mountain emergency aid through the winter.

City councilor Derek Medved expressed concerns about supplying Spirit Mountain with more funding. He says he is afraid this will set a precedent should they experience another harsh winter or have to shut down again as a result of the pandemic.

Instead, Medved says he would like to see an independent or private party invest in Spirit Mountain.

He says he plans to vote in favor of the funding because he'd like to see Spirit Mountain stay open.

"We need to keep Spirit Mountain open, we need to keep the doors open, operation moving. We need to keep all the equipment in good repair, and keep the good employees and the staff members working because at the point that Spirit Mountain were to be leased or sold, it's a lot more valuable to have a working, operational ski hill fully in tact than it would be a ski hill that is shut down or maybe that was shut down for a year," Medved said. 

Last winter, the council approved a $235,000 bailout for Spirit Mountain to help them stay open.

To see the original article and read related reporting, follow this link to the WDIO-TV website. https://www.wdio.com/duluth-minnesota-news/duluth-council-future-spirit-mountain/5876184/?cat=10335