New Meadows Feeling Closure Effects
Brundage Mountain, which closes for the season on April 13th, has 20 employees who live south of the slide. April Whitney said none of those 20 employees has been laid off, and that Brundage has provided accommodations for their workers and gas reimbursement if they have to drive the long way around and work for five days and then return home.
Whitney said, “The road closure would have been so much worse if it had happened earlier in the season.”
Brundage does not reopen until June.
Shore Lodge White Tail has 7 employees who live south of the slide. John Wood, director of lodging, said that some employees have chosen to take time off, while others are staying with friends and family in McCall. Still others are being housed in seasonal rentals. One employee brought up his camp trailer and is staying there.
Jenny, who manages the Chevron in New Meadows, and who did not wish to give her last name to preserve her privacy, could only say that business is slow. She did not know how much revenue was down. For her personally, the road closure has been difficult because she lives in Cambridge. Fortunately, she has been able to stay with a friend in New Meadows.
Nicholas Bohnstedt with the Payette National Forest said they currently have three employees that live north of the slide and can’t make it to their offices and one that lives south of the slide and can’t make it up to his or her office, so they are working at the offices they are able to get to.
McCall Albertsons Director Dan Buckley said his store has seven employees who live south of the slide, and Albertsons has gotten each of them a motel room for a month. He said that luckily, none of those employees have kids they need to care for.
Ridley’s Market would not say how many employees they have that live south of the slide, only that Ridley’s is trying to accommodate them.
Rite Aid said they have no employees who are affected.
Both the Heartland Hotel and the Meadows Valley Motel in New Meadows say their businesses are down from a typical year. Jennifer Walker, manager of the Heartland Hotel, said two flaggers who are working on the highway have been staying in the Hotel long term. She also said they have had a lot of cancellations because people cannot get through to them.
Brown’s Mountain Market in New Meadows said they have noticed minimal change in their business.
