Chuck Horning this week sent a memorandum to Mountain Village officials stating that land for the proposed Mountain Village Family Adventure Center would be conveyed by the Telluride Ski and Golf Co. to the town. The conveyance would be subject, however, to indemnification by the town to protect Telski and Horning, who is Telski's principal owner, from any legal actions that may arise associated with the facility's financial performance.

Horning said on Wednesday that a letter detailing the terms of the conveyance would be transmitted to the town by the end of the week. Mountain Village officials will meet next week to discuss the status of the rec center, but as of Wednesday afternoon, having not yet received the letter from Telski, they said they were prepared to pull the plug on plans to move forward.

Mountain Village Mayor Davis Fansler said on Wednesday morning that he had spoken with Penelope Gleason, chair of the Mountain Village Owners Assn. board of directors, and Jim Wells, chair of the Mountain Village Metro District board, and that all three had "collectively decided to recommend to our boards that we abandon the site and move on." After receiving the memorandum from Horning, Davis stated that the recommendation to the boards "could be different if circumstances change."

It all depends, Fansler and several other officials said on Wednesday afternoon, on whether a letter from Telski detailing the terms of the land transfer is received, and on whether it contains conditions that the boards feel are acceptable.

The question of the land transfer has roiled Mountain Village politics for the last several weeks. Just prior to the November election at which voters in the Mountain Village Metro District approved $14 million in bonding for the $18 million rec center, Horning raised questions about the financial projections of the facility's operations prepared by town officials and planners, which he has said are based on "rosy" assumptions of future hotel occupancy and future use of the facility. He vowed to block the construction of a facility that would be a burden to Mountain Village taxpayers, and hired a consultant to review the plans developed by the town.

On Wednesday, Horning said he would deliver the report from the consultant to town officials, and would urge them to heed its warnings.

His inability to meet the deadline of last Friday set by the town for conveyance of the land was due to the fact that the numbers supporting the rec center's financial plan were difficult to understand and verify, Horning said.

"It's been a very frustrating experience trying to work with the town," he said. Specifically, Horning said that town officials had not fully shared information and data.

For their part, town officials, speaking off the record, expressed equal frustration in trying to work with Horning, but said that they did not want to inflame the situation or jeopardize future relations by making public comments.