While the Town of Mammoth Lakes sweats the recent $30 million damage award from the Hot Creek lawsuit verdict, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area and its CEO await their turn with Hot Creek.

The Hot Creek developers had also filed suit against Mammoth Mountain and CEO Rusty Gregory, personally. In fact, there was discussion about combining the Mountains suit with the Towns, but the Judge had other plans. He kept the two lawsuits separate.

Dan Brockett, attorney for the Hot Creek group, said that their other lawsuit alleges that Mammoth Mountain and Rusty Gregory induced the Town to break its development agreement with Hot Creek. Brockett alleges that the Mountain used its economic leverage to cause the Town to break its development agreement. Like the suit against the Town of Mammoth, the suit against the Ski Area claims $150 million in damages.

MMSA CEO Gregory said that he and the Ski Area have a very different opinion than Hot Creek, and it will all play out in months to come. Gregory says hes saving his pennies for the $150 million claim.

Meanwhile, Town officials have not yet arranged settlement discussions with Hot Creek, although they plan to. The Town Manager did issue a list of frequently asked questions about the court decision, with some answers.

Perhaps the one of most interest The question, Will the Trial Court decision result in reduced services or layoffs? The answer, No, every effort will be made to maintain services and staffing levels during the appeal process. However, there will be budget constraints.

Officials also say that they will have to dip into the reserve for economic uncertainty to cover legal costs on the case and other budget shortfalls.