Oak Creek Fire Protection District personnel will not fulfill ski patrol duties for Discovery Land Company’s envisioned private ski area in Stagecoach.

That is according to Discovery founding partner Ed Divita and Oak Creek Fire Chief Brady Glauthier.

Divita is serving as the point person for Discovery’s plans to construct nearly 700 luxury homes, a private ski area and a golf course on 6,000 acres in the Stagecoach area in South Routt County. He said last week that using the fire district’s personnel was initially an option for providing ski patrol services at the private area, but that is no longer the case.

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“Quite some time back, when we first talked to the fire district, I want to say the district chief … had mentioned the possibility of firefighters also being patrol people because there is a crossover in skills,” Divita said last week.

“But I have actually followed up with him and it’s not really something that is in alignment, so we are no longer pursuing that per se,” he added. “For sure we will be recruiting patrol, and I suppose it is possible that a firefighter would be able to be a patrolman or want to be a patrolman, but we have reevaluated it and it’s not really a community benefit and it’s not something we are promoting.”

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The idea that the fire district’s employees might patrol the slopes of the private area came up at a community meeting in July led by Divita and Discovery inside the fire district’s station in Stagecoach. The notion drew criticism from many in attendance including one person who asked how a public entity would run a ski patrol operation for a private entity.

Speaking on Sunday, Glauthier initially said the fire district and Discovery had “never talked about it,” but later acknowledged that some informal discussions did take place.

“There was a lot of brainstorming about what could happen up there, but there was nothing — the fire department never approached Discovery to run the ski patrol,” he said. “We were talking about the possibility of them working there depending on what they are going to do with their employment. I have no idea what they are going to do with their employment.”

The fire chief said his firefighters often have second jobs because of the high cost of living, and if Discovery is going to be hiring ski patrollers, “it would make sense to hire a firefighter that is a skier because that would make a great crossover.”

“Does it make sense? Yes, it does,” Glauthier said. “It absolutely makes sense to have a firefighter working on ski patrol.”

Discovery has yet to submit a formal planning application to the county for its project in Stagecoach, but Divita said last week that his team would most likely file in early September.

Despite the lack of a formal application, Discovery has been engaging with the Oak Creek Fire Protection District and other local entities on matters related to the intended development.

Glauthier said the district has collected roughly $150,000 a year for at least three years for fire mitigation work performed on properties included in the development plans, but the work was part of creating fuel breaks in the area.

He added that the fire district is slated to perform additional mitigation work in the coming months and noted that the revenue generated from the work is inconsequential for the department.

In October 2021, Glauthier reported the fire district purchased a set of trailers from a mining company for $400,000 to use as housing for fire district personnel. Those plans hit a snag when the district placed the trailers on an Oak Creek property without receiving the necessary permission from the county.

Discovery and its local partner Chris Wittemyer subsequently stepped in to provide land for temporary storage for the units under the condition the trailers would also be used as short-term housing for the real-estate firm’s employees along with the district’s firefighters. The county has yet to formally review a proposal that would allow the trailers to be used as temporary housing for both entities.

Divita has also indicated Discovery would be ready to help fund renovation work for the Oak Creek Fire Protection District’s firehouse in Stagecoach.

“We are very interested in that,” Divita said. “We have already publicly put that idea out in the community, and so far … there has been no negative feedback on that. It has all been positive.”

While the station was built in 2015, Glauthier said it does not meet the necessary standards for the firefighters who live there. For example, he said there is no exhaust-collection system for vehicles at the station and common areas including the station’s living room and kitchen do not have a heat supply.

“The windows all need to be replaced because they are not energy efficient,” he added. “Plus, the building size also needs to be increased.”

Divita said any community benefits paid for by Discovery to the fire district or other public entities are not set in stone and the company will continue to take feedback.

“We haven’t yet put our application in yet,” Divita said. “We have presented the community benefits as to what we are hearing and what we want feedback on, so we haven’t completely pinned them down, but we have gotten a lot of feedback.”

“It has evolved, I would say, over the last month or so,” he added. “I think it will continue to evolve until we put our application in and I am going to guess, by the time we put our application in, it will end up being a subject of discussion publicly.”