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October 02, 2006
Battle Of Elk Meadows Heating Up
Compiled from staff and wire reports
It'll have it all: iron gates, mega condos, a golf course blessed by Mssr. Nicklaus and your own personal Utah ski slopes - pristine and closed to all but mega-millionaires like yourself.
When it is completed, a defunct ski property will have risen from the ashes and a $3.5 billion uber cool resort patterned after Montana's Yellowstone Club will stand in its place. That is, if the locals can't find a way to stop it.
Residents of Elk Meadows, a 450-acre area outside Salt Lake and a fair piece away from better-known Wasatch resorts, know they're in Craig Burton sights. Burton, managing partner of CPB Development LC of Holladay, Utah, wants to develop the area, razing some existing 70s-era condos and building luxury homes in their place - 1,200 homes to be precise, many with deep pockets buyers waiting in the wings.
When he gets the green light, Burton said, those buyers will be able to acquire his multi-million dollar ski homes and enjoy unparalleled views of the nearby Tushar mountain range, where volcanic peaks reach 12,000 feet. Membership dues will support restaurants, a spa.
Burton said Elk Meadows will become "one of the finest ski and golf resorts in the world." He is scheduled to close on the ski area and 1,200 acres of adjoining property today.
About 200 property owners living in those 70s-era condos met Saturday to discuss a course of action.
"I think this is gonna be a disaster for the mountain and the community," resident Gary Kantor told a local newspaper. "Someone's gonna make a huge amount of money and then walk away. It's disgusting."
Since the land is currently under bankruptcy, Kantor said he and other owners will have to sell their homes at "fair market value," trade their property for other land on the mountain owned by the developer, or exchange the value of their property for membership into the club.
Burton said he would buy out Kantor and the others, clear the land and build his homes and high-speed lifts.
He acknowledged he won't be able to demolish any condos unless he secures all the units in a building.
"A lot of them will choose not to sell, and we respect that," he said. "We would expect them to respect our ownership rights, and then we'll work through the issues."
Written by J.D. O'Connor on October 2, 2006 01:00 AM |
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Comments
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Elk Meadows is not a viable ski area. Any future potential will involve obtaining a USFS permit and this is highly unlikely. The current home owners should be pleased that a buyer is interested in their properties. |
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Posted by: Ted Farwell Winterstar Valuations, Inc. | October 2, 2006 09:39 AM
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Elk Meadows is a lovely little ski area with only 1300 feet of vertical and less than 500 acres of skiing. It is a little less than 4 hours from either Salt Lake or Las Vegas. Real estate sales have been strong for the last 2 years and most of the current homeowners aren't interested in selling. A private ski area with homes and a golf course at around 10,000 feet in the middle of nowhere sounds like bussiness model destined to loose a ton of money. I hardly think this project could interest the type of buyer looking at the Yellowstone Club or the Battle Mountain project. |
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Posted by: Erik J. Miller | October 3, 2006 04:52 PM
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What I want to see is a win-win for everyone. There is plenty of this mountain to go around and share. There are also environmental issues here that Burton is not taking into consideration regarding the pollution of wild life, trees, land, water, and everything that makes this mountain so naturally beautiful. And...what about the local farmers who use much of this land as open range for cattle that provide our families with food? The plan as it stands, is a disaster, unclear, and thoughtless. It is now time to remove the GREED, and treat the property owners like intelligent human beings. We are the ones with a passion for the real beauty. Respect what is ours now seems like a much better approach. I have a vision too - it includes using this mountain to bring healing, peace, and amazing experiences to those who want that. Jet fuel pollutes and there is enough of that and SEGREGATION in our world already. |
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Posted by: Jill Petsche | October 4, 2006 06:16 AM
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This is one of the highest wildfire hazard areas identified in Utah. Bring marshmellows with your home purchase. |
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Posted by: | October 6, 2006 09:29 AM
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There are alot of unanswered questions because it's the first step in a long process. A small hill such as Elk Meadows will never produce enough revenue from the locals to ever support itself. The best thing for Elk meadows is development for 2nd homes to the wealthy in SLC or Vegas. These people are not bad people and are not only going to increase the current property values in Beaver 10 fold but also bring with them their deep pocket books that are going to become the backbone Beaver and in all reality create better lifestyles by increasing the mean income of Beaver. You can't fight evolution...The people of Beaver and surrounding areas need to be preparing themselves to prosper from a development of this magnitude! |
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Posted by: Brandon Pearce | October 6, 2006 10:26 AM
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I'm all for developing Elk Meadows as an upscale ski resort similar to Vail or Aspen - available to the public for the price of a lift ticket and condo rental. Respect the owners and community who have come to love this pristine, peaceful mountain - and this will be a win-win solution for all. |
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Posted by: Kim Roda | October 12, 2006 12:08 PM
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I was the Elk Meadows Mountain Manager for two years (88-90) and it was the time of my life. The snowfall arrives later than our neighbors in the Wasatch, but when it does, it rivals the best days at Alta and Snowbird. I knew that one day a developer would discover Elk Meadows and that day has finally arrived. The developer and property owners need to work this out, otherwise it will be a loss for everyone. The existing infrastructure will eventually fail if an agreement cannot be achieved. Work it out for everyones sake. |
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Posted by: John Staats | October 12, 2006 03:23 PM
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What a gross misuse of wealth! It is sad that great places to ski and ride are turing into theme parks for the rich. I think Taos, Alta and Powder Mountain are the only mountains left where normal folk can ski awsome terrain and not have to take out a loan to do it. What could be and should be a great community mountain, is turning into what can only be considered rape of our mountains for the privelegded few. If you must develop, make it accessable to all. Don't gate off our mountains! |
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Posted by: Ben | October 16, 2006 02:50 PM
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Can grass grow at 10,000 ft? Not without mass pollutants seeping into the water that flows down stream and supplies water for Beaver and their surrounding towns! This is just pathetic. |
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Posted by: Brit | November 2, 2006 09:06 AM
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Ads dropped after claims by ski resort are challenged
By Paul Foy
The Associated Press
www.sltrib.com
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:12/11/2006 01:11:02 AM MST
SALT LAKE CITY - Developers of a gated ski-resort community have
pulled advertising copy that claimed they could run ski lifts and
snowcats as high as 12,000 feet onto national forest land designated
as non-motorized.
''It sounded good,'' said Craig Burton, one of the players behind
the redevelopment of the bankrupt Elk Meadows ski area near Beaver,
Utah. ''It only stayed on our Web site for a week.''
Burton said he agreed to drop those claims after the U.S. Forest
Service told him it wasn't possible to run lifts or snowcats up Mount
Holly, a 12,000-foot peak that towers over the tiny ski area. The
description appeared as fact in a full-page ad in the Wall Street
Journal on Dec. 1 and still can be seen in an ''eBrochure'' at the
Robb Report's vacationhomesmag.com.
Elk Meadows closed four years ago and left a set of chairlifts
hanging in the air.
It offered 1,400 vertical feet of skiing, a modest figure by U.S.
standards.
Burton said he wanted to add lifts for a 2,500-foot vertical drop.
That would put the new lifts on roadless national forest land.
The ad boasted that ''extreme'' snowcat skiing is also available,
up to 12,000 feet above sea level.
''We don't know what they're talking about,'' said Terry Krasko, a
ranger for the Beaver district of the Fishlake National Forest, who
asked Burton to drop the advertising claims. ''We don't have anybody
permitted to do that.''
The exclusive resort is still months away from approval by Beaver
County planners and commissioners. But the Mount Holly advertisement
suggests it's already been built and is open for the ''2007''
season -
it wasn't clear if that meant this winter or next.
U.S. Olympic skier and gold medalist Ted Ligety ''serves as
director of skiing,'' the ad said.
Ligety is busy on the World Cup circuit this winter.
''We know they don't exist yet,'' Krasko said of the proposed $3.5
billion resort. ''Everything is conceptual.''
The Mount Holly Club Web site features scenic photographs of skiing
that appear to have been taken in British Columbia's mountains, said
Alec Hornstein, a former helicopter ski guide in Canada who runs
backcountry ski tours out of Elk Meadows.
It shows a mountain setting for a Jack Nicklaus-commissioned golf
course that doesn't exist yet at the Mount Holly Club.
Hornstein said at Elk Meadows' elevation, nearly 10,000 feet,
golfers would be lucky to get two months of cooperative weather a
year.
Burton, a principal for CPB Development LC of Holladay, represents
a group of unidentified investors who plan to transform Elk Meadows
into a resort worth seven times the total property value of rural
Beaver County.
Burton is securing rights to about 600 acres of private land around
nearby Puffer Lake to add to the 1,400-acre ski area, which sits
inside the national forest, 18 miles east of Beaver up a serpentine
access road.
The project won conceptual approval last month from Beaver County's
planning commission.
Planners gave Burton six months to submit detailed engineering and
environmental studies that he said were nearly finished. His
investors
are taking deposits on expensive mountain homes.
Burton said he had no control over vacationhomesmag.com, which
continues to run his ad as if it were an article.
James Dimonekas, a Robb Report publisher, refused to comment Friday
and referred The Associated Press to a public-relations
representative
who didn't return a phone message.
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Posted by: Clark King | December 13, 2006 11:23 AM
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"Conceptual," yeah, that's the ticket. Make up s*** and call it "conceptual."
Puhhhlleeeze. |
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Posted by: Dwight Halstuck | December 13, 2006 11:59 AM
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Project's owners try to distance themselves from Jenson's troubles
By Mike Gorrell
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:
A central figure in the effort to turn bankrupt Elk Meadows ski area into a super-exclusive resort will be in Utah's 3rd District Court on Monday to face state charges that he is a con man.
Marc Sessions Jenson, 46, of Holladay, will be arraigned on five counts of securities fraud and one count of racketeering, all second-degree felonies, for allegedly providing misinformation to three Salt Lake County businessmen who invested money with him for various ventures in 2000 and 2001.
The Utah Attorney General's case against Jenson also maintains he failed to disclose to the investors that he had been sentenced to federal prison in 1991 and served time for failing to file a federal income-tax return, had declared bankruptcy at least twice, had faced numerous federal and state tax liens, and had been the defendant in multiple civil suits filed by other disenchanted business partners.
Although the criminal charges represent the most serious allegations Jenson faces, they are not the only ones. He also is a defendant in two civil cases in U.S. District Court for Utah and a third in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
The bankruptcy case involves the failed National School Fitness Foundation, which sold fitness programs and equipment to more than 600 schools in Utah and 19 other states, but didn't live up to promises to repay them with money from federal grants and corporate donations. Last month, a federal jury in Minnesota convicted foundation executives Cameron Lewis and his father, former San Juan County Commissioner Ty Lewis, of 29 felony charges of fraud and money laundering for operating a Ponzi-type investing scheme.
Jenson, according to a bankruptcy court trustee, played a peripheral role in trying to hide some of the foundation's assets.
He has played a more prominent role, though not that of direct owner, in the grandiose plan to convert Elk Meadows, a quiet little resort 18 miles above Beaver, into the "Mt. Holly Club," a gated community for up to 1,200 wealthy members willing to pay an initial one-time fee of $250,000 and annual dues of around $10,000.
Beaver County has approved a conceptual plan for the proposed development, which envisions a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, a private ski area, multimillion-dollar lots and equally expensive residences, and four recreation-oriented lakes. The projected value is $3.5 billion.
Downplaying ties: Jenson got involved with Elk Meadows in February 2003 when one of the 19 companies he is listed as managing, Nimbus Loan Fund LLC, loaned $3.6 million to the resort's former owner, a cash-strapped company called Meadows Operations Inc.
When Meadows Operations could not repay the loan with its 18 percent annual interest, Nimbus foreclosed. Meadows Operations went bankrupt. In the complicated bankruptcy proceeding that ensued, Jenson and Nimbus helped arrange for title to the bulk of the resort's assets to be transferred to CPB Development, a company that shares a parking lot with Jenson's businesses on a side street in Holladay called Phylden Avenue (4660 South).
CPB Development is one of the three co-owners of Mt. Holly Partners LLC, which is developing the exclusive resort. The others are MHU Holdings, a company registered in Delaware by a Rob O'Neil, and Ares Funding LLC, which is owned by Marc Jenson's brother, Stephen, and has the same business address as Marc Jenson's companies.
In a meeting last month with The Salt Lake Tribune, CPB Development owner Craig Burton and two hired public relations representatives insisted that Marc Jenson has no ownership interest in Mt. Holly Partners. "Any statements suggesting or implying the contrary would be categorically false," they said in a prepared statement. They contend that Marc Jenson is only an independent marketing consultant for the club, with no other financial connections.
Marc "has incredible marketing capabilities and so we felt, as owners, he could provide some help on that marketing process," Burton said of Jenson, whose picture had been featured on the Mt. Holly Club Web site (http://mt.hollyclub.com) until The Tribune began making inquiries about his relationship to the club in mid-December. Then his photograph was removed.
"He is a marketing consultant and his picture was there because of that. But we felt, with these ongoing proceedings, it was better to not even have him there," Burton said, referring to a preliminary hearing last month in which 3rd District Judge Joseph Fratto found the Attorney General's office presented sufficient evidence to bind Jenson over for trial on the criminal charges.
The Tribune had gone to the meeting, arranged with help from Jenson's attorney, Rebecca Hyde, expecting Marc Jenson to be there. But he did not show up. "Because of the trial," explained Mt. Holly Partners' spokesman Bill Quick, "[Marc] and his attorneys thought it would be best [for him] not to make comments. There will be an opportunity down the road."
CPB Development's Burton said he and the other Mt. Holly Partners owners were aware of the charges against Marc Jenson, but were not concerned.
"I can say without reservation I've known Marc for many years," Burton said. "I know little of the issues that are there. I've been made aware of those, but I never had any reason to question his integrity on the transactions I've been involved with."
Loan arranger: Court records show that other business associates clearly question Jenson's integrity.
"He's a predator. He's a financial predator," said Michael Bodell, one of the three Salt Lake County men who the Attorney General contends was defrauded by Jenson. Bodell is president of Bodell Construction Co., general contractor on the latest Salt Palace Convention Center expansion.
According to the criminal charges, in spring 2000, a mutual friend introduced Bodell to Jenson, whom he had known from a distance as a neighbor and fellow churchgoer. After a series of meetings, Bodell invested $1 million in a Jenson company, MSF Properties, which makes short-term loans with high interest rates until a borrower can arrange long-term financing. Jenson pledged to repay the money, with 25 percent interest, by year's end.
While that investment was outstanding, Jenson persuaded Bodell in August 2000 to invest another $4 million with him, this time to purchase the bicycle division of Brunswick Corp. The complaint says that Jenson told Bodell he was putting $4 million of his own money into the acquisition, assured him that his lawyer had done a due diligence check of the bike company's books and provided bank documents that suggested Jenson had access to $165 million to complete the purchase and operate the bike company.
At the same time, according to the Attorney General's charges, Jenson used a similar sales pitch to persuade Salt Lake County resident Morty Ebeling to invest $2.5 million into the bicycle company purchase, again with assurances that Jenson had his own money in the deal, this time $5.5 million.
Only later, after Jenson failed to make initial payments on the money he owed Bodell and Ebeling, did the alleged victims learn that Brunswick actually had sold its bike division to Pacific Cycle Inc. in January 2001. They also were informed that Jenson's assurances of financial backing were contingent on the bike deal going through. The Attorney General's charges state that Bodell got some of his money back after filing a civil lawsuit against Jenson, but still is owed $2 million, while Ebeling has received no compensation.
The Attorney General also alleges that Jenson defrauded Salt Lake County resident Ricke White, whom he met at a Ferrari dealership where another of Jenson's brothers worked. After a half dozen meetings in the first half of 2001, White agreed to invest $5 million into another Jenson company, Wilshire Investments LLC, set up to provide short-term, high-interest loans.
White was supposed to receive a 20 percent return on his "risk-free" investment, a deal sealed only with a handshake. But, once again, Jenson failed to deliver until White filed a civil lawsuit against him, the state maintains. So far, White has recouped only $3.5 million of his investment.
Posh life: The image of Jenson as a flamboyant pitchman in a world of fast cars and luxurious living was embellished further in a federal court lawsuit filed against him in November by Steven J. Hansen and his company, Colton Capital Partners.
Jenson wanted Hansen's wife, Wendy, to care for his elderly father. So to dissuade the Hansens from moving from the Salt Lake area to St. George, the civil lawsuit contends, Jenson flew the Hansens to Sun Valley several times on his private jet. He told them he frequently spent weekends at a posh hotel in Beverly Hills and invited them to his home, where he displayed "a fleet of luxury vehicles and what he told Hansen was a collection of watches worth over $4 million."
The lawsuit alleges Jenson persuaded Steven Hansen not to move to St. George and to invest $1.2 million instead in his loan-arranging businesses, at one point claiming, "I have access to money like you have access to air."
Hansen's main investment - $1 million - was made in November 2004 to a company recommended by Jenson, Utah Wetlands Co., which allegedly set up a mitigation bank to help ensure there was no net loss of wetlands because of land development. Hansen expected a return of 5 percent interest per month, but when his note came due a year later, he got nothing - and was told by the Utah Wetlands developer that the money actually had gone to Jenson.
In his lawsuit, Hansen contends he confronted Jenson, who acknowledged he had received the proceeds of the investment and would take personal responsibility for it. But Jenson refused to put his oral guarantee into writing and has not repaid the money. Hansen is asking the federal court to force Jenson to pay more than $3 million in damages, accusing him of fraud, racketeering, conspiracy and breach of contract.
The other federal court lawsuit accuses Jenson and others of fraud, racketeering and breach of contract in depriving R. Michael Anderson and his brother, Robert, both of Provo, of their $4.9 million interest in property in Midway that had potential to be developed into a resort.
In their August 2005 suit, the Andersons allege that Jenson and some conspirators manipulated multiple loan and purchase agreements, then stopped payment on a $700,000 check with the intent of causing the brothers to default on a loan, thus losing their 61 acres of resort property to foreclosure.
A similar allegation is lodged against Jenson within the Elk Meadows bankruptcy settlement.
Meadows Operations contended it was unable to make good on its debt to Jenson's Nimbus Loan Fund because it was counting on a short-term loan from Trinity Trust Financial Corp., a company Jenson recommended. But Trinity Trust unexpectedly backed out of the deal at the last minute, Meadows Operations said, enabling Nimbus to foreclose and setting the stage for the Mt. Holly Club to come into being.
Despite this litany of allegations, Mt. Holly co-owner Burton stands by Jenson.
"If he's convicted, we'll have to look at what his involvement is on that marketing side. We'll deal with that when it happens, if it happens. I think it's really an 'if,' but we'll let the process take its course."
Added company spokesman Quick: "We're confident that when the facts are all uncovered and the process is gone through, that Marc will be acquitted and we'll move forward."
mikeg@sltrib.com
* MT. HOLLY CLUB is a proposed gated community for members that would feature a golf course, a private ski area and multimillion- dollar lots.
The man
* TIMELINE: The litigious life of Marc Sessions Jenson. See PAGE E2
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Posted by: c king | January 7, 2007 02:28 PM
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I was raised in Beaver on a ranch, my family ran cattle in the mountains, We hunted, fished spent valuable family time in the Beaver Mountains,plus made a living off it.
As a child it was my sanctuary my escape from all the city, town stuff, I rode countless hours in the mountains on my horse and im the better person for it. I am so tired of THE RICH ruining all these other places and when they grow tired of one place they swooped down on whats left of the real beauty in our world. I consider Beaver Mountains to be one of those places. Its been known for years as a great hunting and fishing area, and recreational enjoyment FOR ALL OF US not just for the rich and famous who don't know or care about OUR LAND OUR INHERITANCE, its only another make the almighty dollar to them. Wheres the enviromentalist in all this they stop every other thing that can help the residents make a living like timbersells, grazing cattle,etc. these things are an assest to the land, not only providing familys with jobs and a way of life but helping the forest to grow better for the future , cattle cultivate the land the same as one would weed and cultivate a garden, timbersells take the useless timber and or (weeds of a garden) and let the more useful trees grow. but a blocked off ski resort with golf courses, pollutants, houses build on land that had to ripped up and destroyed for the comfort of some rich person only provide for the rich until they grow tired of this area.Come on eviromentalist this is what you need to stop this is what your always saying will destroy the natural beauty, the habitat of the wildlife etc not the timbersells and the grazing of cattle A BIG COMMERCIALIZED PRIVATE SKI RESORT. Come on Beaver fight for your land fight for what your forefathers built for you the way of life they provided for you, Im thinking if you all had wanted that other kind of life you wouldn't still be living here. I have land left in Beaver and I have every intention of moving back to my sanctuary to retire because of my love for the place. Do you really think the rich and famous care what happens to Beaver. If it goes under they will just move on Can you the residents of Beaver just move on. Leave the life you have lived, your parents have lived etc. My aunt and uncle Marge and Bob Schramn ran Puffers Lake for years everyone was welcomed, everyone was family no one was gated off or made to pay a fine to pass through. What a sad day Beaver if you take to heart what these people are trying pull over your eyes. I pray the U.S. Forest Service will NOT ALLOW any permits of any kind. These people are not going to buy from Beaver they will have everything needed at the Blocked off Private ski resort so if you think you will benefit from this think again. I have worked around people who con the little guy into believing great things only to forget who you are when they get what they want. I see the residents of Beaver being forgotten once these people get what they want out of you. |
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Posted by: Shirlee Bell | January 22, 2007 07:36 PM
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As a former WED Enterprise (Walter E. Disney) imagineer who witnessed the public outcry when "Disney" was announced as the buyer of 90,000 acres in the Florida swamp outside Orlando, I can't help wondering why history must repeat itself so painfully for the magnificent project planned at Beaver. "They'll ruin what our family built over several generations, and when the taxes go up, we won't be able to afford to live anywhere near" Wrong! Talk to those who stayed in Orlando! Success after success, and happier now than ever before. Some have even paid for their grandchildren's college from the spin off. "They'll never build it in two years, they'll just take the money and run." Wrong! We drained the swamp with the largest civil engineeing project since the Panama Canal, and built it in two years (with alot of grief from local residents). "Nobody will come when it opens." Wrong! The traffic jams along I-4 were legendry and so was the attendence. Disney took the Orange County Commissioners to California to see and talk to their counterpart in local government in an attempt to prepare and plan for the impact..all to no avail. To the citizens of Beaver and to the Planning Board: You have a winning project here, and a wonderful opportunity to make a contribution to your children and their children....don't blow it. |
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Posted by: Paul Gogulski, P.E. | February 5, 2007 05:00 PM
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Legendary traffic jams. Nothing quite says environmental care like sitting in a traffic jam spewing emissions into the air. Sorry, with all due nods to the engineering feat you pulled off, which I'm sure was no small feat, this sprawling development is not what the world needs right now. Smaller, more efficient homes and businesses need your expertise, not land swallowing mega-plexes.
Jamie |
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Posted by: Jamie Oakes | February 6, 2007 01:55 PM
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Trust me, Beaver and surrounds. These people do NOT care about you. |
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Posted by: K.Moore | February 10, 2007 01:27 PM
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I personally think that it is wrong for them to make the community privite to all but those who have millions just lying round and they probably wont even be up there to ski they will most likly have those places just to make them look richer then all the rest of their friends but the people who just want to have fun and want to have a get away for just that will be shut out and of course our say doesn't mean a damn thing to any of the multi-millionaires like your selves |
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Posted by: Nicole Cox | February 12, 2007 01:31 PM
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Re Paul Gogulski, P.E. Former Walt Disney Engineer comments about Elk Meadows.
I am glad that you profited from the Disney Resort. These developers that want to develope Elk Meadows are all about GREED. Is the Disney resort a millionaire only club? No it is opened to the public. Back in the day if people wanted to take a risk and buy property around Orlando it was very feasible for the average person to invest if they so desired. These Developers have a vision to create a private club for millionaires only. Where do you see the oppurtunity for the average person?
If these MT Holly Club Developers wanted to make a ski resort for the public I could see the oppurtunity for the small guy to profit from it. A public ski area would bring business to the City of Beaver, in the way of motels, restaurants, ski shops etc. As it stands now if this plan goes through the rich will stay on the mountain and spend there money at the private club. The ones that gain to profit the most is Mt Holly Club Developers. These guys are no Walt Disney. |
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Posted by: Steve Reiss | February 13, 2007 04:11 PM
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Word has it that the developers have plans to bring water from Lake Powell, and an extension of the highway from I-15, making this development one of the most viable resort communities since Vail, Colorado. Except for the fact that prices start at a little over one million, I'd like to buy a couple lots. |
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Posted by: Paul Gogulski Gogulski & Associates, Inc. | March 12, 2007 12:26 PM
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School fitness foundation lawsuit settled
But one key figure with a prison record faces more litigation for alleged securities fraud and racketeering
By Mike Gorrell
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:03/14/2007 02:16:20 PM MDT
Correction: A story in Tuesday's Tribune about the settlement of a lawsuit involving the bankrupt National School Fitness Foundation cited a bankruptcy trustee's allegation of wrongdoing by businessmen Dale Holt and Marc Jenson. While that allegation appeared in a complaint filed on July 5, 2005, the trustee removed the allegation from an amended complaint filed on April 20, 2006.
One lawsuit spawned by the bankruptcy of a Utah company accused of fraudulently selling exercise equipment to more than 600 schools has been resolved in an out-of-court settlement.
In a document filed Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Utah, the court-appointed trustee for the bankrupt National School Fitness Foundation and attorneys for Salt Lake County businessmen Dale Holt and Marc Jenson said a settlement had been reached, eliminating the need for a trial that had been scheduled to begin March 30.
Terms were not disclosed in the court document. Attorneys for trustee R. Kimball Mosier and Holt declined to comment. But Jenson's attorney, Mark James, said the businessmen agreed to pay $130,000 of the $350,000 sought by the trustee. He declined to say how much each defendant paid.
Mosier had sued to collect the money on behalf of the American Fork-based foundation, which sold fitness programs and equipment to schools in Utah and 19 other states.
Foundation officials told participating schools they would be repaid with funds from federal grants and corporate donations. But after many repayments were not made, the Minnesota Attorney General's Office launched an investigation. The probe resulted in felony charges against foundation founder Cameron Lewis and his father, former San Juan County Commissioner Ty Lewis, and the bankruptcy of the foundation.
Last December, a federal jury in Minnesota convicted the Lewises of 29 felony counts of fraud and money laundering for operating a Ponzi-type investment scheme.
The case resolved on Friday involved a series of financial transactions involving Holt, Jenson, the foundation and a company (Taylor'd Systems) that the trustee claims was controlled by Cameron Lewis. The trustee contended the foundation received "no value or consideration" for the $350,000 it laid out in these transactions, and sought reimbursements.
Attorney James said his client, Jenson, loaned money and received a payment in return.
"My client feels good to have it resolved and doesn't feel like it was a particularly fair settlement," James said Monday. "When you loan someone $300,000 and get back what you loaned them and have to give up part of that in a settlement, it doesn't seem like a good settlement. But when you factor in the costs of litigation and the risks of litigation, yes, we feel good to have it resolved."
Jenson, a key figure in the plan to turn bankrupt Elk Meadows ski area outside of Beaver into an exclusive private resort, still faces more litigation.
His criminal attorney, Rebecca Hyde, filed a motion in 3rd District Court for Utah last Wednesday to overturn Judge Joseph Fratto's decision in December to bind Jenson over for trial on five counts of securities fraud and a sixth count of racketeering. All are second-degree felonies.
The Utah Attorney General's Office filed those charges in August 2005, alleging Jenson provided misinformation to three Salt Lake County businessmen who invested money in Jenson's business ventures in 2000 and 2001.
Jenson also allegedly failed to disclose to the investors that he had been sentenced to federal prison in 1991 and served time for failing to file a federal income tax return, had declared bankruptcy at least twice, had faced federal and state tax liens and had been the defendant in several civil suits filed by former business associates.
Assistant Attorney General Charlene Barlow has until April 7 to respond to the motion to overturn Fratto's decision, which was based on a two-day preliminary hearing.
mikeg@sltrib.com
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Posted by: adam fuller afuller inc | March 16, 2007 04:37 AM
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School fitness foundation lawsuit settled
But one key figure with a prison record faces more litigation for alleged securities fraud and racketeering
By Mike Gorrell
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:03/14/2007 02:16:20 PM MDT
Correction: A story in Tuesday's Tribune about the settlement of a lawsuit involving the bankrupt National School Fitness Foundation cited a bankruptcy trustee's allegation of wrongdoing by businessmen Dale Holt and Marc Jenson. While that allegation appeared in a complaint filed on July 5, 2005, the trustee removed the allegation from an amended complaint filed on April 20, 2006.
One lawsuit spawned by the bankruptcy of a Utah company accused of fraudulently selling exercise equipment to more than 600 schools has been resolved in an out-of-court settlement.
In a document filed Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Utah, the court-appointed trustee for the bankrupt National School Fitness Foundation and attorneys for Salt Lake County businessmen Dale Holt and Marc Jenson said a settlement had been reached, eliminating the need for a trial that had been scheduled to begin March 30.
Terms were not disclosed in the court document. Attorneys for trustee R. Kimball Mosier and Holt declined to comment. But Jenson's attorney, Mark James, said the businessmen agreed to pay $130,000 of the $350,000 sought by the trustee. He declined to say how much each defendant paid.
Mosier had sued to collect the money on behalf of the American Fork-based foundation, which sold fitness programs and equipment to schools in Utah and 19 other states.
Foundation officials told participating schools they would be repaid with funds from federal grants and corporate donations. But after many repayments were not made, the Minnesota Attorney General's Office launched an investigation. The probe resulted in felony charges against foundation founder Cameron Lewis and his father, former San Juan County Commissioner Ty Lewis, and the bankruptcy of the foundation.
Last December, a federal jury in Minnesota convicted the Lewises of 29 felony counts of fraud and money laundering for operating a Ponzi-type investment scheme.
The case resolved on Friday involved a series of financial transactions involving Holt, Jenson, the foundation and a company (Taylor'd Systems) that the trustee claims was controlled by Cameron Lewis. The trustee contended the foundation received "no value or consideration" for the $350,000 it laid out in these transactions, and sought reimbursements.
Attorney James said his client, Jenson, loaned money and received a payment in return.
"My client feels good to have it resolved and doesn't feel like it was a particularly fair settlement," James said Monday. "When you loan someone $300,000 and get back what you loaned them and have to give up part of that in a settlement, it doesn't seem like a good settlement. But when you factor in the costs of litigation and the risks of litigation, yes, we feel good to have it resolved."
Jenson, a key figure in the plan to turn bankrupt Elk Meadows ski area outside of Beaver into an exclusive private resort, still faces more litigation.
His criminal attorney, Rebecca Hyde, filed a motion in 3rd District Court for Utah last Wednesday to overturn Judge Joseph Fratto's decision in December to bind Jenson over for trial on five counts of securities fraud and a sixth count of racketeering. All are second-degree felonies.
The Utah Attorney General's Office filed those charges in August 2005, alleging Jenson provided misinformation to three Salt Lake County businessmen who invested money in Jenson's business ventures in 2000 and 2001.
Jenson also allegedly failed to disclose to the investors that he had been sentenced to federal prison in 1991 and served time for failing to file a federal income tax return, had declared bankruptcy at least twice, had faced federal and state tax liens and had been the defendant in several civil suits filed by former business associates.
Assistant Attorney General Charlene Barlow has until April 7 to respond to the motion to overturn Fratto's decision, which was based on a two-day preliminary hearing.
mikeg@sltrib.com
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Posted by: adam fuller afuller inc | March 16, 2007 04:39 AM
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Feds skeptical of posh resort's ads
HUD investigator seeks facts about Mt. Holly plan
By Nate Carlisle
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Launched:04/07/2007 12:11:20 AM MDT
BEAVER - An investigator has been in this central Utah city on a "fact-finding inquiry" into whether developers of a proposed $3.5 billion mountain resort are in compliance with federal laws governing real estate advertising.
Beaver County Attorney Von Christiansen said this week that the investigator, G. Wesley Dunlap of Fairfax, Va., told him he was under contract with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Dunlap also talked to other county officials about the Mt. Holly Club, which plans the deluxe resort on the site of the former Elk Meadows ski area in the Tushar Mountains 18 miles east of Beaver.
Christiansen said Dunlap told him he was looking into whether Mt. Holly Club and its developers had violated the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act and whether HUD had jurisdiction on such a case.
Christiansen said the inquiry was spurred by the possibility the club had produced misleading advertising. Dunlap said "it would likely be some time before HUD took action," Christiansen said.
Mt. Holly Club issued a written statement Friday saying no one from HUD has contacted the resort and that the club is not subject to HUD registration.
"We are still awaiting county approval before selling lots," the statement said. "And our marketing is consistent with HUD regulations. Mt. Holly has been working with sophisticated counsel from Washington, D.C., for months with respect to all issues of HUD compliance and we will continue to do so."
A HUD spokesman in Washington, D.C., said the agency could not confirm an investigation is under way. Dunlap, however, also went to Beaver County's planning office, where he left a business card and a letter from HUD saying the federal agency had contracted him to conduct fact finding.
The developer, CPB Development of Salt Lake City, want to convert the ski resort into a private, exclusive community. Under the plan, the existing ski runs would be complemented by a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course and luxury housing.
Public reaction has been mixed. Some Beaver County residents have praised the idea as an alternative to failed efforts to run Elk Meadows as an open-to-the-public resort. Others have said the plan is too lofty to succeed and will burden the county financially. Questions also have arisen about whether the expanded community would siphon water from the town of Beaver and whether current condo owners would be allowed access to Mt. Holly Club amenities.
On April 16, the Beaver County Commission will consider whether to approve a development agreement with the club.
HUD's attention might have been caught initially by U.S. Forest Service objections to a full-page advertisement that appeared in the Dec. 1 Wall Street Journal .
The ad said the resort could run ski lifts and snow cats up to 12,000-foot-high Mount Holly. However, the peak is on national forest land where motorized equipment is restricted, and the Forest Service asked the club to stop the advertisements.
The club's Web site, www.mthollyclub.com, contains photographs of scenery that does not appear to be at the resort. Mt. Holly Club spokesman Bill Quick said Friday he did not know where the photo was taken. There is also a sentence on the site saying: "Mt. Holly Club is the only private resort that offers ski-in, ski-out wintertime amenities and a signature Jack Nicklaus championship course all in a convenient golf cart community."
The golf course is not operational and Web site visitors need to click on a subhead to read a fact sheet that says the course is under construction. Visitors must click on the contact page to find a sentence reading: "This is not an offer."
The Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act gives HUD authority over large residential real estate projects. The act also prohibits anyone selling or leasing a property from issuing advertising that is untrue or omits "material fact." The act carries possible civil penalties or criminal penalties of up to 5 years in prison.
The HUD investigator also called on Lynn Kitchen, district conservationist for the U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service. Kitchen said Dunlap wanted to know much snow annually falls on Mount Holly and Elk Meadows. Kitchen said he supplied data.
On Friday morning, a fact sheet on Mt. Holly Club's Web site claimed the club "receives an average of 450 inches of fresh powder each year." When The Tribune reviewed the fact sheet again in the afternoon, the amount was lowered to 400 inches.
Kitchen said the area received 415 inches in 2005 - one of the heaviest years on record. A more typical annual figure is 200 to 300 inches, he said. But Kitchen added: "If people measure in a big snow drift, you could get about any figure you want."
Mt. Holly Club spokesman Quick said previous owners of Elk Meadows and publications have reported the resort receives 400 to 450 inches of snowfall per year. The fact sheet was amended Friday to reflect the lower end of that range, and because Mt. Holly Club talked with the conservation service to learn more about how resorts measure their snowfall, he said.
ncarlisle@sltrib.com
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Posted by: adam fuller A. Fuller Inc. | April 7, 2007 08:44 PM
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Mount Holly ski resort plan on hold
By Mark Havnes
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:04/20/2007 12:15:57 AM MDT
BEAVER - Developers eager to build a posh, private ski resort in southwestern Utah will have to wait before they start turning any dirt.
The Beaver County Planning Commission has some questions - about water (will there be enough?), about financing (will there be enough of that, as well?) and about the proposed golf course (will the 10,000-foot-or-so elevation pose any problems?).
Until they have satisfied those questions - and more - the planning commissioners aren't about to approve preliminary plats for the proposed $3.5 billion Mount Holly Club.
Mount Holly Partners LLC hopes to build 1,200 upscale homes and town homes on 2,000 acres of private land - surrounded by Fishlake National Forest - in the Tushar Mountains, nearly 20 miles east of Beaver.
Club members would have exclusive access to an 18-hole golf course and runs at the now-closed Elk Meadows ski resort.
Many county residents oppose the club. They worry about dwindling resources, an invasion of rich outsiders and lost access to the ski runs and other recreational areas.
During a public hearing at Wednesday night's planning meeting, residents also expressed concerns about possible pollution to streams and whether the developers are following county ordinances concerning planned-unit developments.
Others in the county of 6,400 residents back the project. They see it as a way to bolster business and beef up tax coffers.
In the face of this community split, the Beaver County Commission approved a development agreement for the project earlier this week.
Construction can't begin, however, until the development wins preliminary and final plat approvals. And planning commissioners want proof that the developers have adequate water before they sign off on the 45 housing units planned for 572 acres in the project's first phase.
"Until the state proves they have the 'wet' water and not just the rights, it [development] isn't going to happen," vowed commission member Dennis Miller.
Commission members also want assurance that the project has enough financing, and they delayed a request for a conditional-use permit to begin construction of the golf course. The panel plans to investigate if other courses built at high elevations faced any problems.
Bill Quick, a spokesman for Mount Holly Partners, conceded that the Planning Commission's lack of action was disappointing.
"Sure, we're anxious to get started and would have loved to have been approved, but we also understand the process and are committed to providing information necessary to get approved," Quick said.
mhavnes@sltrib.com
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Posted by: Adam Fuller | April 20, 2007 01:50 PM
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Shirlee, the rich aren't ruining anything. In fact, they're the ones funding your charities and medical research. It certainly isn't the "noble" poor that are doing such things for society at large.
The people you SHOULD blame are the DEVELOPERS! And, no, they aren't one in the same.
It isn't like a bunch of rich Californians are sitting around a table saying, "Yeah, let's get together and destroy Elk Meadows." The reality is that right now the rich could care less about Elk Meadows. Really, the only one that does care about the place is the developing company.
Here's the deal, Shirlee: If you don't want a developer to buy Elk Meadows and turn it into an exclusive resort for jet-set Californians and Texans, then perhaps YOU should buy the resort and keep it just the way it is. (And preserve all those precious childhood memories in the process.)
Oh, silly me--you have to be RICH to save Elk Meadows!
I spent an entire winter in Elk Meadows. It's cute, but I don't know if it's worth saving. And the town of Beaver...what a bunch of rednecks. |
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Posted by: Lala72 | August 8, 2007 03:44 PM
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