Resort community says it won’t block Elk’s snowmaking

BY STACI WILSON

A private community nestled on property that borders Elk Mountain in Herrick Township is no longer looking to stop the ski resort from taking water from its pond for snowmaking.

A lawsuit filed in Susquehanna County Court onDec. 19, 2011, is the culmination of an ongoing dispute between the Village of Four Seasons, and the mountain over property access rights. President Judge Kenneth Seamans is presiding over the case.

George Reihner, an attorney representing the Village of the Four Seasons, told the court, Friday, Jan. 13, the village was now seeking a permanent injunction to have the water used for snowmaking byElkMountain, as well as water put back into the lake by Elk, monitored for possible future compensation.

The 8-acre pond on the village property is separated by a berm from a 4-acre pond onElkMountainproperty. There is a gap in the berm that allows water to flow from the Village pond to the Elk pond for snowmaking.

The village community is also seeking a preliminary injunction to have an access gate open which leads from a village parking area to the mountain.

Elk Mountain Ski Resort, Inc. president Joseph Moore Jr. was the only witness who provided testimony at Friday’s hearing.

Moore, who has been an owner of the ski resort since 1961, discussed the relationship and agreementsElkMountainhas had with the Village of the Four Seasons since the mid-1960s when the private resort community was constructed.

Moore detailed the provisions of a 1984 easement the village granted to the ski resort that allowed Elk to expand parking near the lodge and address drainage issues on village property.

In 1985,Mooresaid Elk entered into an agreement with the community association in which the village acknowledged that Elk owned access gate. The purpose of the agreement,Mooresaid, was so that the gate would not have to be closed during the ski season in order for Elk to protect its ownership rights.

The ski resort, however,Mooresaid, still had the right to close the access gate any time it wished.

In the early 1980s, Elk began to close the gate for at least one day each year during the ski season in an effort to maintain its full property ownership rights.

In court,Mooresaid Elk and the village had attempted to negotiate a property trade deal between the neighboring entities in 1988, 2002 and 2010 but an agreement in the matter was never reached.

After failing to agree on terms in 2010, Elk closed the access gate following the ski season in May 2011, according to court testimony, which also noted that access was not denied from 2002 until May 2011.

Mooretold the court that although the access gate is closed, village residents and guests can still gain entry to the mountain either through the main gate or via a walkway on village property that leads to the ski resort.

More testimony is expected in the suit with the next court date set for Jan. 25.