MORGANTOWN — Costs associated with improvements to the Chestnut Ridge Park sledding hill continue to snowball.
On Wednesday, the Monongalia County Commission opened a pair of bids to reshape the hill and install the tow lift system that will pull tubers back up the slope.
The bids include a $144,810 offer from Blue Gold Development, of Rivesville, and a proposal of $233,785 from Morgantown’s Laurita Inc.
Factoring in the lower of the two bids, this latest expenditure will put the cost of the project north of $315,000.
In 2019, the commission used funds from the parks, trails and recreation levy to purchase a three-phase generator and snow-making attachment from HKD Snowmakers ($122,120) and 300-foot Sunkid tubing tow lift ($48,350).
The snowmaker went into action in January of 2020.
In October 2020, the commission approved $26,485 to Vandevender for installation of the tow lift system. That effort was ultimately scrapped due to geometry issues with the slope.
The commission has confirmed the sledding hill and snow machine will be in use this winter, but the tow system won’t be ready until winter 2022.
According to information provided by the commission, the hill will ultimately feature large “bumpers” to help keep tubers on track.
Tweet @DominionPostWV
