An important court hearing on Friday in the Park City Mountain Resort-Talisker legal battle gave some answers, but still leaves the upcoming ski season in flux. Friday afternoon, Judge Ryan Harris said that PCMR must post a $17.5 million bond by the end of the day Friday, September 12 in order to prevent an eviction.
The bond hearing was the latest in a multi-year legal drama that started in 2011 when PCMR failed to properly renew its lease of the upper portion of the ski area from Talisker Land Holdings, LLC. There's been a little bit of everything since, from PCMR threatening to dismantle its lifts if it loses the lawsuit to the CEO's of Powdr Corp. and Vail Resorts engaging in a public pen pal feud.
After siding with Talisker in the lease disagreement, Judge Ryan Harris signed an eviction notice for PCMR but delayed it and ordered both sides to mediation in June. After multiple extensions of the mediation deadline, both sides reported on Friday that they were unable to reach any sort of agreement. That's sure to enrage a public that's frustrated by this whole lawsuit and worried about its impact on the upcoming 2014-2015 ski season.
PCMR has said they want to appeal the judge's original ruling on the lease, and in order to do so they must post a bond to remain on the disputed property. And like everything else in this lawsuit, PCMR and Talisker didn't agree on how much the bond should be. Talikser wanted the bond set at a crazy $123.9 million, while PCMR valued the bond at a measly $1.02-$6.56 million.
At the most recent court hearing, the Park Record reports that Harris spent 30 minutes carefully outlying his formula for the bond amount. The judge arrived at $17.5 million by putting the fair market value for PCMR's upper terrain at $5 million per year. According to Utah law, landlords can ask for triple the amount of the lease rate, bringing the initial figure to $15 million. The judge added an extra $2.5 million for interest capitalization and estimated attorney fees. The bond amount is ONLY for the upcoming ski season and does not include previous year's rent.
It comes down to this: will PCMR post the $17.5 million in bond and open the resort for the upcoming ski season or will they decline? If PCMR doesn't post bond, Talisker could initiate eviction proceedings.
PCMR has until the end of business on Friday, September 12 to decide.
· Park City Mountain Resort ski season still in limbo [Park Record]
· Judge Delays as PCMR & Talisker Disagree on Bond by $100 M [Curbed Ski]
· Could PCMR & Vail Resorts Be Close to Making a Deal? [Curbed Ski]
· PCMR Delays Woodward Park City Talks, Everyone Wonders What It Means For Lawsuit [Curbed Ski]
· PCMR Threatens Catastrophe, Outlines Lift Dismantling [Curbed Ski]
· All PCMR-Talisker Coverage [Curbed Ski]