THE HILL AT Giant Pine Mountain will be the hub of activity in roughly two weeks as the Kiwanis Ski Club hosts the 2024 Continental Cup international ski jump competition Feb. 23-25 at the Dickinson County-owned property in Breitung Township. (Terri Castelaz/Daily News photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — The Dickinson County Board has decided to postpone action on a new agreement with the Kiwanis Ski Club over use of the Pine Mountain ski jump venue.

After a roughly one-hour meeting with about six Kiwanis representatives, the board acknowledged it would be too much to ask the club to adjust to a new arrangement with the international Continental Cup competition only a few weeks away on Feb. 23-25.

But Monday’s special meeting did allow county and club officials to discuss concerns about managing the annual event, which in 2023 drew an estimated 13,000 spectators to the county-owned land at the base of the Giant Pine Mountain ski jump in Breitung Township.

“This is such a huge event,” Commissioner Joe Stevens said. “We want it to stay that way, and to stay safe.”

The county developed the new “memorandum of agreement” about the Kiwanis Ski Club’s lease and expectations for conducting the event after Dickinson County Sheriff Scott Rutter last summer again warned crowds had outgrown what his department could handle.

Commissioner Barb Kramer said an attorney also told her the current 99-year usage agreement — put in place in 2019 so the non-profit club could qualify for grants for hill improvements — is too long to be binding, adding that the club has not paid the $1 a year fee for the site in the past four years. So a new agreement is warranted, she said.

But Kiwanis Ski Club members took exception to several items in the proposed revision, with Jim Petroff saying it looked “micromanaged” by the county.

For example, they cited a section that spectator shacks can’t be set up earlier than the Wednesday before the event and must be gone no later than the week after, with the ski club liable for cost of removal and disposal if the county has to do the work and the owner won’t pay. The people who reserve these spaces usually have jobs that would make a midweek setup difficult, they explained. The club, too, has a spring cleanup on the grounds but not that quickly of a turnaround time, and charging them for taking down some of the structures would be a financial hardship for the non-profit.

Pointing to another section that forbids overnight parking, ski club official Nick Blagec observed that 98 vehicles remained on site on Saturday night at the 2023 competition to avoid having those who may have drank too much from getting out on the road.

As to security, the Kiwanis Ski Club already hires the LongRiders MC to restrict access to the hill itself, which is the club’s responsibility under the use agreement. County Controller Brian Bousley advised the club members that law enforcement would have to be contacted with a complaint to step in on the hill.

All agreed the sheriff’s department must be allowed to patrol the property and, if needed, oust or even arrest anyone who causes a disturbance, especially on Saturdays, when attendees can remain on site until 7 p.m. Rutter, who was not at Monday’s discussion, had noted at a June board meeting that the 2023 jumps on Saturday ended at 2 p.m., leaving his department to look after “five hours of partying.”

Club officials expressed appreciation for what the sheriff’s office provides, with Susie Fox saying they can understand how the behavior of some at the event can make for a sour mood by Sunday morning.

But they also asked that hours enforcement be consistent — some in the past have been told to vacate by 6 p.m., including visiting international team coaches and jumpers — and allow club members to remain late Sunday to do some initial cleanup and “wind down” after the competition ends.

“It’s just a little special to be up there” when the event has come to a successful close, club member Dean Lefebvre said.

The club has some new plans in the works for improving parking and traffic flow in the area. Each year it has evolved as the event has changed, Petroff said.

The board voted unanimously Monday to table the agreement indefinitely, though it is expected to be taken up again after the ski jump competition later this month.

One part of the proposal that could start even without the new agreement is the county board having a liaison member to the Kiwanis Ski Club board, which meets on a Tuesday each month except in summer. This liaison could help keep the board advised of developments in the non-profit organization and the future of the competition.

Pine Mountain has been the site of world-class ski jumping since 1939. A $3 million renovation was completed two years ago to meet International Ski and Snowboard Federation standards, but an elevator at the scaffold is needed for full compliance. The club has continued fundraising and seeking grants to pay off its debt from the initial renovation.