The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - Columbia County officials agreed Tues­day morning to look into the possibility of taking over the easement of about seven miles of U.S. Forest Service road leading to Ski Blue­wood,

including two miles of road on privately owned property. Following a presentation given by Marcene Hen­drickson, a member of the county's Economic Steering Committee, county commis­sioners

tasked Drew Woods, county public works director, with completing a quick, but in-depth, study into the feasi­bility of such an action. The need for immediate results comes from a sense of urgency with the approach of winter and first snowfall as well as a negotiation on the table for purchase of the endangered ski resort. Owners Stan and Nancy Goodell stated last week that they're in talks with a poten­tial buyer, but they suggested that the county could help Bluewood's chances by tak­ing over the road easement, which represents an annual expense of close to $50,000 for the ski resort.

Hendrickson told com­missioners Tuesday that Ski Bluewood is the last remaining ski resort in the Pacific Northwest still pay­ing $20,000 annually to the Forest Service for use of its road. Commissioner Chuck Reeves stated that in addition to Woods' study, community leaders should look into this "fundamentally unfair situ­ation,"

which Hendrickson believes places the local ski resort at an economic disad­vantage. Woods said he may be able to have such a study com­plete

by the end of the month. The cost of taking over the road, he said, is something he can easily calculate. "But the fact that some of the road goes through private ground muddies the water."

The public hearings, sur­veys and contracts involved in the county taking over roads on private property "is not something that happens overnight," he said.

Commissioners suggested that once Woods has com­pleted his study of the pro­posal, they will likely come to the table again to discuss the creation of a task force or steering committee to aid in taking any action forward.

"There are a lot of things I have concerns about, but I think the only way to deal with them is to have Drew do an in-depth study," con­cluded Commissioner Rich­ard Jones. Ski Bluewood, which contributes thousands in county taxes each year, has an annual payroll of about $500,000, according to Hen­drickson. Between 10,000 and 60,000 skiers visit the resort each season, which means significant traffic for food, lodging and other busi­nesses in Dayton and sur­rounding locations, she said.