Town Council requests additional details on Krabloonik programs, insurance
Best Practices Review Committee back up to six members
At a special meeting Monday, the Snowmass Village Town Council identified several items related to Krabloonik Dog Sledding’s lease with the town that the facility’s owners must address in the coming weeks.
Krabloonik’s to-do list includes providing the facility’s liability insurance policy for review by town staff and also providing more details on an adoption program, spay and neuter program and off-tether exercise program for the dogs to “check all those boxes,” Mayor Bill Madsen said in the meeting.
The council met with Krabloonik owner Danny Phillips at the March 14 meeting to discuss the facility’s compliance with its lease from the town. Krabloonik leases the land on Divide Road from the town of Snowmass Village at $10 per year through 2026, provided the operation is in compliance with its lease and the attached best practices plan.
Council members requested more details and documentation after Best Practices Review Committee member Seth Sachson, former Krabloonik employees and other members of the public raised concerns about whether Krabloonik was meeting the requirements and promises set out in its lease and in state regulations.
The insurance policy will need to be to town staff to ensure it meets lease requirements within 15 days of Monday’s meeting, Madsen said.
Krabloonik has maintained the same insurance policy for the past seven years; it’s the same policy that was in place when Danny and Gina Phillips took the reins from former owner Dan MacEachen in 2015, Danny Phillips said. He said he has submitted documentation every year and the town never previously identified a need for more coverage.
Mayor Madsen said the council was presented with information indicating that Krabloonik was unable to procure fees in a recent lawsuit, which prompted Madsen’s request that town staff review the policy for adequate coverage and that Krabloonik update that policy if necessary. Phillips said that Krabloonik has since settled that suit.
The council requested that other documentation be provided by April 11, when the council hopes to meet with the reassembled Krabloonik Best Practices Review Committee at a scheduled work session.
The Best Practices Review Committee was down to just one member — the town-appointed Sachson — in February. It is supposed to have three town-appointed members and three Krabloonik-appointed members.
The town of Snowmass Village selected Bill Fabrocini and Karyn Spiropolous to join the committee at a March 7 meeting; Sachson joined the committee when it was initially established several years ago and remains in that role.
The owners of Krabloonik have selected Andrew Gillis, Stacy Rothenberg and veterinarian Bisque Jackson to its three seats on the committee.
Krabloonik had previously indicated that it may select Rothenberg, Ed Foran and Blake Greiner to the committee, but Foran and Greiner were not named in the appointments Monday.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Stacy Rothenberg’s name, which was misspelled in town documents referenced for reporting here.
