Mammoth Mountain crews are currently at work on the town ice rink site, behind the new library. Despite the fact that construction has begun, the ice rink project has hit another snag.

At the Council meeting this week, Public Works staff reported that construction bids have come back about a million dollars higher than anticipated. Peter Bernasconi with Public Works explained that one of the reasons for the high bids was the compressed time schedule needed to have the ice rink ready by December of this year.

To get the ice rink project back within budget, construction would have to take place next summer, with a December of 2008 completion.

The Town already owns the chiller and other equipment to set up an ice rink so there may yet be skating this winter. The thought is to set the rink up on a temporary basis before it is permanently installed.

In the meantime, Mammoth Mountain crews are working to flatten out the rocky site behind the library to work off about $500,000 in developer impact fees. If the Council decides to set the rink up on a temporary a basis, there may yet be time to do so but even that costs money.