With increasing challenges at the city-owned Hickory Hills Recreation Area – including “operational costs, infrastructure needs, staffing challenges, and uncertainty with weather-dependent operations,” according to Parks and Recreation Director Michelle Hunt – the city is looking to get creative for the future. Commissioners Monday unanimously approved hiring Traverse City-based North Country Alpine Services to operate the park for one year on the city’s behalf, with the goal of increasing programming and revenues and reevaluating the partnership in 2027.

While City Manager Benjamin Marentette called Hickory Hills a “community treasure,” he outlined difficulties with its operation in a memo to commissioners. While the property has received several million dollars in improvements in recent years, those have been due to “generous financial support from private sources,” he noted. Though parks should “not be viewed as a business that breaks even or requires no taxpayer support,” Marentette said, the operating model for Hickory Hills “that we have used over the past few years, despite good intentions, has not worked well.”

Challenges covered by The Ticker at Hickory have ranged from corroded or malfunctioning snowmaking equipment to staffing woes that have delayed the ski park’s opening to climate change-affected winters that have dramatically shortened ski seasons at local resorts. Marentette said staff have been evaluating two paths forward: continuing with the same model of city operations and hiring a full-time Hickory manager, or trying something “new and bold” by hiring an outside company to run the park.

Enter North Country Alpine Services (NCAS). The Traverse City-based ski area operations and infrastructure management company has two decades of experience in “mountain operations, lift systems, snowmaking infrastructure, preventative maintenance, and long-term asset stewardship,” Hunt said. The company has worked with Mt. Holiday and The Homestead on safety, compliance, and systems upgrades, and has provided services at Hickory in the past. NCAS “was identified as a lifeline by members of the Hickory community,” Marentette wrote.

Under the proposal, the city would retain ownership of all Hickory Hills assets and “guide the long-term vision and public purpose of the facility,” Hunt said. “NCAS would provide professional operational management, including seasonal staffing coordination, snowmaking oversight, lift operations management, preventative maintenance planning, operational readiness, and performance reporting.”

The agreement would run through April 1, 2027, covering one full ski season. Mid-winter, commissioners would determine whether to continue with an outside operator model – which would then go out to bid – or return to the “traditional model where the operation is fully run by the city,” according to Marentette. Some hybrid of the two models is also possible, he added.

The goal is to elevate the user experience at Hickory while reducing costs to the city, Marentette said. He cited the expertise of NCAS to bring in more special events and recreational programming, such as expanded tubing facilities. Under a longer five-term vision, NCAS outlined potential improvements like snowmaking pipe modernization, lighting upgrades, beginner terrain enhancements, mountain bike trail development, accessibility improvements, and summer event infrastructure. The agreement incentivizes NCAS to increase revenues, as it calls for a guaranteed $512,000 fee plus an 80-20 split with the city on revenues over that amount.

While Hickory’s current projected revenues are $419,000, the city will still save money by eliminating the open manager position and reallocating a current employee, Marentette said. That and other operational efficiencies would represent a $274,500 savings to the Hickory Hills fund and a general fund savings of $83,800. Those savings will help cover the difference for the NCAS fee, some equipment, and the reallocated employee, who would be able to focus on “parks maintenance, urban forest maintenance, with potential support for winter sidewalk snow clearing,” Marentette wrote. The city could realize further savings if NCAS is successful in expanding programming because of the revenue split, he added.

The city’s Hickory Hills Advisory Committee received the NCAS proposal “very favorably and with enthusiasm, recognizing we are using a radically different approach than that which is traditional,” Marentette said. “They also noted, like I have, that we can't keep trying the exact same approach and expecting a different result.” Committee members spoke during public comment Monday in favor of the proposal. After others in public comment suggested the city could be doing more to market Hickory Hills to help with its sustainability, Marentette said he completely agreed and indicated the NCAS partnership plus the city’s work with a special event coordinator should help on that front.

In its proposal, NCAS emphasized that the agreement is “not a privatization initiative. It is an operational partnership designed to improve financial predictability, reduce deferred maintenance exposure, preserve public access, and position Hickory Hills for long-term sustainability.” The company encouraged the city not to depend solely on the winter ski season but to maximize the property’s year-round offerings. “The lodge is already built. The land is already here. The opportunity is activating Hickory Hills for all four seasons,” NCAS wrote, citing possible options ranging from family movie nights to summer concerts. 

“By thoughtfully developing these programs over time, Hickory Hills can evolve from a seasonal ski hill into a year-round destination that serves residents, visitors, families, businesses, and community organizations while preserving the character and mission that have made it a Traverse City landmark for generations,” the company wrote.