In what is being described as progress in the $100 million renovation of the closed Balsams resort, its owners are asking state officials for permission to take water from the Androscoggin River for expanded snowmaking.
“The fact that we have submitted an application to withdraw water for our snowmaking operation is a significant step forward for the project,” said Scott Tranchemontagne, a spokesman for developers, Dan Hebert, Dan Dagesse and Maine businessman Les Otten.
The additional snowmaking would allow the ski area to be expanded, described as a key part of the effort to make the Balsams a successful, year-around resort.
The request asks the state’s Department of Environmental Services for permission to pump water about ten miles from the Androscoggin River near Errol to Dixville Notch.
It would withdraw a maximum of 3 million cubic feet of water “on an intermittent basis between November 1 and March 15, according to the request.
Tranchemontage declined to say whether the developers have all the necessary funding for the renovation but said that effort was “moving along very well.”
He said the developers still hope to begin construction this Spring.
The resort closed in 2011, putting about 300 full or part-time employees out of work.
