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Juneau assembly moves to terminate Pulse gondola project and sell parts; forwards repayment ordinances
Summary
The assembly voted to forward two ordinances to the May 18 meeting to repay Goldbelt and terminate the RSA, then adopted a motion to terminate the Pulse gondola project and sell all parts and equipment; staff outlined projected costs and timelines for storage and sale.
The Juneau Assembly moved to close out the Pulse gondola project and sell its parts and equipment after staff presented options that ranged from marketing the completed system to third‑party operators to disposing of components spread across several countries.
Two ordinances to enable repayment and termination of the existing RSA were forwarded to the May 18 assembly meeting (motion carried 8–1). After debate about whether to keep the parts and attempt to market the system or sell components, the assembly adopted a motion to terminate the project and sell all parts and equipment.
Financial and operational context: staff said bringing parts from Europe into the U.S. would incur tariffs, fuel surcharges and transport and estimated about $1,000,000 to repatriate parts from Austria. Disposal and brokerage costs were estimated in staff tables (inventorying, marketing brokerage and storage costs) and staff estimated a potential multi‑year timeline to realize recovery of value. If the RSA is repaid and parts are sold, the project CIP would retain roughly $766,000 after payoff, according to staff.
What the assembly decided: the body instructed staff to move to option A (terminate and sell) and to forward the related ordinances for public hearing. Several members asked staff to coordinate additional work with the Eagle Crest board and to explore marketing Eagle Crest operations separately.
Next steps: the ordinances will be heard at the May 18 meeting; staff will proceed with sales and disposal plans and will work with the Eagle Crest board on any possible marketing for the ski area or summer operations.
