October 24, 2007 – In June, the County of Simcoe announced that it would purchase the property on which the Hardwood Hills Nordic ski and mountain-biking facility sits for $2 million.

The announcement comes after a 12-year battle between Kim and Dave Viney (the owners and operators of Hardwood Hills) and the County of Simcoe over the effects of a local landfill site.

For years, the Vineys fought with the county over the negative effect that the landfill was having on their business, citing pollution in their water tables and bad smells that were driving customers away. In 2002, Kim Viney filed a lawsuit to that effect and the battle has been waging on in the courts ever since.

When Viney got the call about the county’s decision to purchase the property, she was actually preparing for a trial that her legal team had told her would likely cost her upward of another $400,000. Viney described the feeling when she got the news about the decision of the county as “a 200-pound weight being lifted off of my shoulders. Both the emotional toll and the physical cost of this was just horrendous,” said Viney. “It was an issue that was completely beyond our control, and it was very disheartening that it took this long for the right thing to get done.”

Ironically, this was actually the resolution that Viney first put on the table 12 years ago when the problems with the landfill site began, though it was rejected by the county at that time. “It was the only solution that I could ever see that let them essentially buy their problem back and yet let us continue to operate,” said Viney.

Viney still fully owns the operation and currently has a lease on the property until June 1, 2008. She is currently negotiating a 20-year extension to that lease. “The county tells us that Hardwood Hills is very important for the area and the community,” says Viney. “We’re just now working through the bureaucratic channels to ensure that it remains running for the long term.”

However, while working on seeing that Hardwood Hills continues on as it has in the years to come, Viney is also in the process of trying to sell a portion of the operating business, admitting that running the day-to-day operation, coupled with this legal battle, has taken a huge toll on her over the years. “I’d like to still be involved, but not be in 80 hours a week and not have 100% of the financial responsibility,” says Viney.