Phillip Willis
DRIGGS, Idaho (KIFI) — A town hall meeting for the community of Teton County began at 6:00 p.m. Thursday. It’s purpose, to allow the community to discuss their thoughts on the Grand Targhee Resort’s plans to expand. Brad Wolfe opened the meeting, and turned the time over to presenters who laid out several downsides and considerations to be made concerning the expansion.
“I believe that they should be allowed to expand,” says Craig Van Wagner, a snow sports enthusiast who has traveled the world looking for the best slopes. “I mean they’re very very careful about their environmental impact and making sure everything is preserved as much as possible.”
“The DEIS is a biased, flawed document with misinformation and omissions. Grand Teton paid for this study, so that explains the biased right there,” said Howie Garber, a concerned citizen who came with prepared remarks to the meeting.
A 2022 study showed that an expansion would economically benefit Wyoming, but that Idaho would “experience only costs” according to former County Commissioner Cindy Riegel, who championed the $50k study. Riegel said expansion would not be in Idaho’s favor, and according to Commissioner Michael Whitfield, she is still concerned about the expansion years after the completion of the study.
The three current commissioners have been debating this topic fiercely.
Things came to a head a few months back when the commission could not decide who to send to an open house held by Grand Targhee Resort on April 10th. Commissioner Michael Whitfield tapped Rob Marin, the county’s point person in the expansion so far, who would share the results of the study. Commissioner Ron James wanted an elected official, himself, to represent Teton county instead. He said Marin was not open minded about the expansion. This meeting is part of the commission’s attempt to serve their community better by getting their thoughts about the expansion.
Geordie Gillett, owner of the Grand Targhee Resort, was invited to the meeting but did not attend.
A representative from the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, Jay Pence, was the first speaker of the meeting. He says the expansion is a complex situation with many facets to consider, including the cumulative effects of the expansion.
Hilary Eisen, a representative from Winter Wildlands Alliance, spoke about the current forest plans. In a brief summary, she spoke about how wildlife would be affected by expansion, including white bark pines, wood peckers and keeled bladderpod. She also spoke about the aquatic influence zones and concerns about what will be done with waste water in isolated structures.
Kim Keeley, the Teton county clerk, spoke about the economic detriment that the expansion would have on Teton county. She talked about how the city budget was not robust enough to handle the current situation. She says the need to repair roads as tourism increases would be devastating, and that tourists will not increase the sales tax revenue of the county because of the way taxes are divided up by Idaho.
“I’m all about building bridges, but it sounds like we need to build a toll booth at the state line,” shouted an attendee. Others agreed, at least in principle, with the statement.
The meeting was recorded, and can be found online.
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