A superior court judge has agreed to allow a receiver to take over the Hermitage Ski Resort in Wilmington.
Berkshire Bank is foreclosing on the troubled private ski club. The bank asked the judge to appoint a receiver to oversee the property during the foreclosure.
On Friday, Windham Superior Court Judge John Treadwell granted the bank’s motion to appoint the receiver.
The Hermitage has not been making payments to the bank on the $17.1 million in loans it has. The company also owes money to carpenters, utilities and suppliers.
The state of Vermont shut down the Hermitage in March because the company was not paying its taxes.
At a hearing earlier this month, the bank argued that the resort’s golf course needs to be maintained while the foreclosure process proceeds, and that the property needs to be prepared for next year’s ski season.
The bank also said the property was in danger of being vandalized, and that expensive equipment could be stolen without having someone around to provide security.
In his decision, the judge said the owners of the Hermitage “lack sufficient resources to adequately protect and preserve the subject property.”
Berkshire Bank is foreclosing on the main ski resort on Haystack Mountain, along with a number of inns the company owns throughout the Deerfield Valley in southern Vermont.
