Vail Daily letter: How Chaffee got Wyndham work
As the developers and owners of the Wyndham Vacation Resort at Beaver Creek, we are naturally concerned about the accusations being made of unethical behavior on the part of Todd Goulding and Chris Evans on the Avon Town Council. Wyndham Worldwide globally has a zero tolerance policy toward any improprieties in the performance of any corporate business. Wyndham can state absolutely that these accusations are entirely baseless.
The selection of a contractor to build the project began in about March 2012, long prior to our engagement with town officials and approval processes for the current project. Wyndham was not involved in discussions for services or business with Evans-Chaffee Construction Group at any time prior to approvals.
Our project originally had four candidate contractors proposing on it: CFC Construction, PCL, Inland Construction, and G E Johnson. In late 2012, we reconsidered our contracting and development strategy and engaged with discussions with Inland and GE Johnson, as well as development strategies with Parkhill Development and Horizon Development.
Again, we were not approached by nor did we approach ECCG. Finally, we engaged in a final bid process with Inland, Hyder Construction and Horizon Construction. Evans-Chaffee was not a bidder or a candidate. We selected Horizon in January 2013 prior to when our project was approved by the Avon Town Council in February 2013.
Because Horizon is not locally based, our partners in the project, Guggenheim Capital of New York City, wanted a local project management team in place. Evans-Chaffee Construction Group was recommended to Guggenheim by a local contact due to their reputation, experience and capabilities.
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Guggenheim approached Chris Evans in mid-April, fully a month and half after we had our approval. Following the resignation of our full-time project manager and after some two months of discussions, Wyndham hired Evans-Chaffee as our local project managers for an interim period expected to end in September. Horizon Construction remains the general contractor on the project.
We are certain that the inquiry into these issues will clear Wyndham’s name, as well as those of Chris Evans and Todd Goulding.
Ted Hunter
Senior Vice President, Development Planning and Construction
Wyndham Worldwide