Marolt: The next lawsuit against RACHIL needs to be for divorce

So, now Related Amalgamated Conglomerated Homogulated Incorporated LLC (RACHIL) is embroiled in a lawsuit accusing it of using a mole from Aspen Skiing Co. to act as an illegal liaison between it and the Town Council to conduct some ex-parte negotiations about Baseless Village. In fairness, I’m not saying this actually happened. But, as a betting man, my money says it did.

This lawsuit is on top of another lawsuit filed earlier this year accusing RACHIL of pulling the rug out from underneath an agreement that would have allowed some building progress to take place for the first time in a decade in that wasteland. Again, this is only an allegation, but since I am a betting man, I’d wager that RACHIL thought it had a sweeter deal that came with some boys at Beaver Creek, so it reneged on a signed deal with some local guys to start a new hotel out there. The deal with the Beaver Creekers fell through, so RACHIL got what was coming to it, if you ask me, but we all got screwed because of its alleged nefarious actions, too.

What’s the bottom line here? Well, the first lawsuit has brought things to a complete and utter standstill at Base Village. I know — you didn’t even notice. It just seems like the same old thing out there, because it actually is. The hell of it is that this lawsuit was actually probably a good thing for RACHIL. Tangling this thing up in legal quagmire buys it more time to sit still and gives it an excuse to do it.

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“Hey RACHIL, why don’t you get to work?”

“We can’t. We’re shut down because of the lawsuit.”

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“That’s a bummer.”

“Yeah. We’re devastated.”

So, although everything keeps coming up crap for RACHIL, it seems to be quite comfortable wallowing in it.

However, the second lawsuit alleging RACHIL talking out of turn with the Town Council just may be the end to this incredibly awful relationship with this scraggly developer who shaved and claimed to be our brother when he knocked at our door but ended up failing the paternity test we demanded after he never went to work and pretty much became a stain on our sofa.

This lawsuit might negate the extension of the vesting period for the building rights. This lawsuit could prove that the original building rights have already expired and, thus, there were no building rights that could have possibly been extended. Quite simply, this lawsuit could be the brightest spot for Baseless Village in 15 years! It turns out the original promotional slogan was wrong — the excitement isn’t building. The excitement is dissolving!

Think about what it would mean should the courts come down on the side of liberty and justice for all of Snowmass Village and find that loose lips sank the biggest ship in this receded tide. It would mean that RACHIL would have an ownership in fractionally finished real estate and nothing approved to do with it. It would have to start the process over! We would get to have a real election over it! We could let it know what we truly think! It would be like a do-over on the biggest mistake in our town’s history. How incredible is that?

There could be no better punishment for a developer that owns half the unfinished town and has neither the money nor motivation to finish the job it started. My feeling is that it would have no choice but to sell, and to sell at rock-bottom prices, because it would basically be left with nothing but the value of the land that has been partially ruined by a 2007 master plan that was drawn up in a fictional time of easy money for foolish investments.

It is time for RACHIL to move on. It has done so much damage that it will never be able to recover here. It is not liked. It is not wanted. Even the Town Council has recently taken to calling it like it is with RACHIL. It is long past the time that we should ever consider making another concession with it again. We gave it the key to our city, and it has used it to lock us out.

Of course, there is the legal process that we have to respect wholeheartedly and give it all the time it needs to come to its just conclusions. But in the meantime, it sure as heck isn’t going to hurt anything to do some serious cheering with our fingers crossed.

Roger Marolt hopes the good news keeps coming for Base Village. Email him at roger@maroltllp.com.