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Mayor Larson Announces Spirit Mountain Task Force Appointees

[Duluth, MN] Mayor Larson announced thirteen members of the public selected to be a part of the previously announced Spirit Mountain Task Force.  The Task Force will work in partnership with City staff, Spirit Mountain staff, and consultants to draft recommendations for the Mayor, City Council, and the Spirit Mountain Board of Directors.

The Task Force will examine all options to achieve long-term financial and operational sustainability for Spirit Mountain, including:

1)    Business improvement strategies addressing pricing, scope of services, marketing, days and seasons of operation.

2)    Capital infrastructure right-sizing and renewal

3)    Adjustments to tourism tax support

4)    Strategic partnerships with nonprofits, units of government, resort management firms, and/or developers for sale, lease, contract operation, and/or redevelopment of all or portions of Spirit Mountain facilities and operations

Applications for the Task Force opened on June 24 and closed on July 8. In total, 106 applications were submitted from a diverse and talented field of residents. Similar to the Mayor’s Affordable Housing Task Force, appointed members do not need to be approved by the City Council to serve.

“This great number of applications just reaffirmed for us the importance of the conversation that needs to be had on this topic and the depth of which the community wants to be involved,” Mayor Emily Larson said.

Selected members include:

-    Matt Baumgartner

-    Amy Brooks

-    Barbara Carr

-    Michele Dressel

-    Mark Emmel

-    Dan Hartman

-    Hansi Johnson

-    Noah Kramer

-    Dale Lewis

-    Sam Luoma

-    Chris Rubesch

-    Aaron Stolp

-    Scott Youngdahl

*Councilor Arik Forsman, Co-Chair

*Councilor Janet Kennedy, Co-Chair

Working closely with internal staff, community, and leadership at Spirit Mountain, the Task Force will include the thirteen residents and Councilors Forsman and Kennedy for a total of 15 voting members. Brandy and Jody Ream from Spirit Mountain, Anna Tanski from Visit Duluth, and Tim Miller and Bjorn Reed from AFSCME will serve as ex-officio members of the Task Force.

The group will begin meeting in August to submit a report to the Mayor, City Council, and the Spirit Mountain Board of Directors in February of 2021.

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